Noir fiction (or
roman noir) is a
literary genre closely related to
hardboiled genre with a distinction that the protagonist is not a detective, but instead either a victim, a suspect, or a perpetrator. Other common characteristics include the self-destructive qualities of the protagonist. A typical protagonist of the Noir fiction is dealing with the legal, political or other system that is no less corrupt than the perpetrator by whom the protagonist is either
victimized and/or has to victimize others on a daily basis, leading to
Lose-lose situation.