Kanji for darkness: 暗 vs 闇, nuance? meaning? use cases?


In Heisig's book _Remembering the Kanji_ , 16th edition, kanji #519 (暗) is
named Darkness. In Yu-gi-oh however the darkness element uses 闇

According to the following link, 暗 does indeed mean dark, darkness. The same
site mentions the added meaning of gloom to 闇:
<https://jitenon.com/kanji/%E6%9A%97>

Why are there two kanji with the same basic meaning and how would I know when
to use one or the other?

Are there implied differences that can be inferred without actually explaining
by using one versus the other?




You would know which to use because they are used differently.

You don't actually use single kanji very often, so there isn't much confusion
(just like in English you know when to use "darkness" or "dark").

闇 is often used as a noun or のadjective to mean "dark", "darkness" or "the
dark".

暗 is often used as an いadjective to describe something that is dark (暗い).

If you need more imagery to separate them in your head, you could think of 闇
as having more figurative uses like "the dark age" or "an emperor of darkness"
while "暗" might just be talking about a dimly lit room.

