History ComicBook / AnimalMan

** During his peyote trip, Buddy sees an image from the [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths Crisis]], then another one that tells of a second Crisis. Whether it is foreshadowing the events in the comic (with the Psycho Pirate), ComicBook/ZeroHour, ''or'' ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis is your own guess.

** The yellow aliens. [[spoiler:And Grant Morrison himself, of course.]]

->''Who makes us suffer this way?''
->''Who writes the world?''

** He first got his powers by radiation when the alien ship exploded, which also made him sterile, in pre-Crisis continuity. But in post-Crisis, the ship is intact and the aliens grafted his body, and he is able to have children.

** Animal Man and Rip Hunter apparently meet for the first time in ''Animal Man'' #22. Their pre-Crisis team-ups appear to be no longer canon. Though they wonder [[HaveWeMet if they ever met before]].

** At one point, during a peyote trip, [[spoiler:[[http://images.wikia.com/marvel_dc/images/b/b6/Buddy_Baker_001.jpg Buddy actually sees the reader.]]]]

** Also, the radiation that gave him his powers made him sterile in pre-Crisis continuity. But in post-Crisis, he is able to have children.
** Pre-Crisis, he was 30 when he first got his powers. Post-Crisis, he was in his mid-to-late 20's when he got it.

* AllJustADream: One of the ''only'' times it was done right. [[spoiler: Grant Morrison ends his run by retconning it into a dream as a favor to the title character.]]

* AlternateUniverse: [[spoiler: Peter Milligan's arc involves Buddy going into a coma as a result of the trauma he endured in Morrison's arc, waking up to find he's now in a different world where his marriage to Ellen is a sham, Hitler was executed for war crimes, and the president isn't George Bush (the arc was published in 1990 when Bush was still President). As it turns out, according to the compendium included in the Absolute Edition of ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' this world was designated Earth-27 in the original Multiverse.]]

* AuthorTract: Lampshaded by Buddy's friends: "You don't have conversations anymore, you give lectures!" and later by Morrison himself. [[spoiler:Grant Morrison admits to this himself in his final issue.]]

** When Buddy [[spoiler: meets Grant Morrison]], it's actually written as a subversion. Buddy angrily attacks him, smashing him through a window and killing him for [[spoiler: killing his family]]. However, he appears fine later, [[spoiler: explaining that he wrote that emotion, that response, that anger--he's the ''reason'' Buddy feels at all. He also tells Buddy that he (The Writer) is also a character which the real author put in the book and speaks through, and that Buddy can neither harm nor reach the real Grant Morrison.]]

* DependingOnTheWriter: Morrison's last issue is kind of the metaMETAexemplary example of this, as [[spoiler: Grant Morrison '''tells''' Buddy straightup about the 2D nature of his universe, and demonstrates how Buddy only does whatever he does because Grant writes him that way. And he SAYS that "maybe some new writer will make you do something completely different."]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: Morrison's run ends with this.]]

* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: [[spoiler: Subverted. Psycho Pirate recreates all the lost characters and goes to wage war on the readers who control their lives and judge them, but he's stopped. When Buddy actually confronts Morrison, Morrison makes it a point that Buddy (and everyone else to that extent) can't actually break the fourth wall, all his actions, thoughts and dialogue, including the belief that he can see the readers has all been written by him. Morrison further notes that he can't actually talk to Buddy, but had to create a character in a book to talk to him directly.]]

** That Ellen is suddenly acting like she and Buddy are ''not'' this in Milligan's run is one of the earliest indicators [[spoiler: this is the wrong universe]].

* MeatVsVeggies: Buddy's connection to animals gradually persuaded him to become vegetarian, leading to friction with Ellen on the subject. Though it wasn't exactly the idea of becoming vegetarian itself that was the problem, but the fact that Buddy unilaterally decided the issue for his whole family without actually discussing it first, informed her of this only when she came upon him throwing all the meat in their refrigerator into the trash, and his high-handed and self-righteous attitude about it, culminating in him storming off in a huff when called out about it, didn't help matters. [[spoiler: Later, in his confrontation with Grant Morrison, Morrison admits that he'd just been using Buddy as an AuthorTract for his own vegetarian beliefs, and also makes an interesting contrast between the self-righteousness of his animal rights message and the various cruelties he'd subjected Buddy to over the course of his run on the title, pondering if both cruelty to animals and cruelty to fictional characters ultimately stem from the same sadistic impulses.]]

* LovecraftianSuperpower: In the [[Comicbook/{{New 52}} newest]] ''Animal Man'' series, Buddy becomes infused with more power from The Red (the metaphysical manifestation of the Animal Kingdom, and the animal equivalent to ''ComicBook/SwampThing'''s The Green), and his power to use animal abilities is morphed into actually physically manifesting animal characteristics. These transformations are [[TransformationHorror visceral and not pleasant to look at]].

* ShowWithinAShow: The Penalizer, a CaptainErsatz of ThePunisher, during Tom Veitch's run of the comic.

* HappilyMarried: With two children! He adds a denim jacket over his regular skintight costume so he can carry around his keys and notes from his wife. He's the only superhero with "bring home milk" on his crimefighting agenda.

* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: A big part of Morrison's original run was focused on showing what a formidable fighter the C-list superhero Animal Man could be if his powers were handled right. Being able to absorb the abilities of nearby animals is a decent power, but it wouldn't be that useful for combat indoors or in a city, right? Well, not unless you consider being able to absorb the proportional strength of an ant (which can lift over 50 times its body weight), or the regenerative healing of an earthworm, or the jumping ability of a flea, or the [[SelfDuplication multiplying ability of a bacterium]], or any number of other possibilities.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Dr. Myers, head scientist of a terrible animal experimentations, got what's coming to him when B'wana Beast, grieving over the death of his gorilla friend, used his power to merge Myers with the gorilla's body. He ends up getting dissected alive by his collegues.

* NotHimself: In ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'', Buddy realizes Anansi is affecting him when he ''eats chicken''.

** HeartIsAnAwesomePower: It turned out that these seemingly lame heroes were the only ones capable of fighting the Angel Mob. And even then, Front Page and Notional Man were quite dangerous. Nowhere Man himself was quite good at finding ways to make his power work.

Until 1988, when Creator/GrantMorrison was given the chance to write Buddy's new series. Then, Buddy became more than just your generic superhero: he started caring about animals, fighting for animal rights. There was also the drama of his family, who fully knew he was a superhero and tried to support it. And ''then'' things took a turn for the weird...

->''"When I was young... when I was young I had an imaginary friend called Foxy. He lived in a vast underground kingdom. A utopia ruled over by peaceful and intelligent foxes. I used to signal him. My parents bought me a torch so I could signal him. Not a flashlight. We call them torches over here. I used to stand at the top of Angus Oval and shine my torch out towards the hills. Foxy always signaled back. That was more than twenty years ago. I've come to send a signal out into the dark. It seemed like the only thing worth doing. Are you there? Can you see me? Foxy, I came back. I didn't forget. I came back. ... The line of the hills stays dark."''
-->-- '''Creator/GrantMorrison'''

* HaveAGayOldTime: The Gay Ghost, an obscure DC character in Limbo, doesn't want to return to continuity since the word "gay" has a different meaning in today's world. However, he did appear a year before (in ''SecretOrigins'' #42); fortunately, his name was changed to the '''Grim''' Ghost. He is "brought back", after he was rescued by Superman, along with all the other inhabitants in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''.

* CelebrityParadox: In an early issue, Buddy listens to Music/{{REM}}'s "Superman" on his Walkman about 10 seconds after having a conversation with Franchise/{{Superman}} himself, making you wonder what the song's lyrics look like in a world where Superman is an A-list celebrity rather than a fictional character.
** Looking at [[http://www.lyricsbox.com/rem-lyrics-superman-mmd9b79.html the lyrics]], it could very well (a) exist in the DCU as-is, and (b) have been written by ComicBook/LexLuthor.

* AuthorTract: Lampshaded by Buddy's friends: "You don't talk anymore, you just make speeches," and later by Morrison himself. [[spoiler:Grant Morrison admits to this himself in his final issue.]]

* TheyKilledKennyAgain: Crafty the wolf (a WileECoyote expy) gets killed multiple times in both his cartoon world and Animal Man's world. By the end of the story, he dies for real.

->''"When I was young... when I was young I had an imaginary friend called Foxy. He lived in a vast underground kingdom. A utopia ruled over by peaceful and intelligent foxes. I used to signal him. My parents bought me a torch so I could signal him. Not a flashlight. We call them torches over here. I used to stand at the top of Angus Oval and shine my torch out towards the hills. Foxy always signaled back. That was more than twenty years ago. I've come to send a signal out into the dark. It seemed like the only thing worth doing. Are you there? Can you see me? Foxy, I came back. I didn't forget. I came back. ... The line of the hills stays dark."''\\

[[AlliterativeName Buddy Baker]], also known as Animal Man, was one of many {{Super Hero}}es created during [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks the 1960s]]. He first appeared in ''"Strange Adventures''" #180 (September, 1965). Created by writers France Herron and Dave Wood, and artist Carmine Infantino. The new character was about as fun and exciting as wet cardboard. He could take the abilities of any animal who was nearby and was granted this power by yellow aliens. He mainly used it to be a FlyingBrick, though.

* FunetikAksent: The (2nd) Mirror Master has always had a Scottish Brogue, with its severity DependingOnTheWriter. When written by Morrison he becomes downright unintelligible at times. Arguably a bit of SelfDeprecation, as Morrison is originally from Scotland.

* HappilyMarried: With two children!. He adds a denim jacket over his regular skintight costume so he can carry around his keys and notes from his wife. He's the only superhero with "bring home milk" on his crimefighting agenda.
** He love so much his wife that, when is trapped on a planet far away from home with Adam Strange and ComicBook/{{Starfire}}, he think only to his family even with Starfire bathing naked!.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: in the Milligan run, it turns out that the Animal Man we've been following is an alternate universe version. The usual one shows up at the end.
* HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs: In an issue, a peyote trip helps the eponymous character realize [[spoiler:[[NoticingTheFourthWall he's a character in a comic book]]]], though he forgets it once the trip is over. Animal Man is accompanied by a Native American called James Hightower, and the peyote ritual is depicted in stereotypical Native American terms, but with the twist that [[MeaningfulName Hightower]] is a scientist and not a shaman of any sort. Both of them also get an [[SpiritAdvisor totem animal guide]] for the trip.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Dr. Myers, head scientist of a terrible animal experimentations, got what's coming to him when B'wanna Beast, grieving over the death of his gorilla friend, used his power to merge Myers with the gorilla's body. He ends up getting dissected alive by his collegues.

* NotDistractedByTheSexy: During 52, he, Starfire and Adam Strange all got trapped on the far side of the universe where Starfire spent most of her time bathing naked in pools. Buddy totally ignore this talking with her like nothing.

** As well, the yellow aliens have stated that ''they'' posed as Anansi to make the totem that gives Vixen her power. Which means that either the yellow aliens impersonated Anansi, Anansi impersonated the yellow aliens...[[NoFourthWall or there is simply a man with a typewriter in a room]].

** In the New 52 reboot of the series it's revealed that his powers may have come from Yellow Aliens, but those aliens are stated to be agents of The Red, implying a mystical origin.

* SpaceWhale: Earth's Franchise/GreenLantern in the timeline of ''The Last Days of Animal Man'' is a very literal one.

* TouchedByVorlons: The origin of Buddy's superpowers. Long story short: Buddy finds a spaceship, ship blows up and incinerates Buddy, yellow aliens rebuild him and give him animal powers. (Note that in the recent Justice League, Buddy is stated to have gotten his powers by Anansi similar to Vixen. ''But'' Anansi pretty much outright states he is a liar and is only there for Vixen).

[[quoteright:326:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/animal-man-1_new52_8820.jpg]]

* ExiledFromContinuity: Discussed in one issue. Many of the characters that were erased from continuity and fade back in reality question this reason. However, James Highwater tells them they can ''still'' exist since the comics they appear in are still in print, even if they're no longer canon.

* VillainousBreakdown: Metamorpho shrugs off his attack and advances on him, smashing his hourglass (the source of his powers), and reducing him to tears as he feels he's going back to the mental institute where the doctors tried to make him sane and "destroying the clockwork" he sees in his mind. Ultimately, he foresaw his future defeat earlier, and it comes to pass with Metamorpho breaking his nose as the "clockwork" in his head symbolically breaks. When Animal Man needs to time Travel, he locates the Commander who is just in his cell trying to put his mind back together