History ComicBook / DarkNightsDeathMetal

* GrandFinale: For the Perpetua/Dark Multiverse that Snyder began with ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'' and continued into his ''[[ComicBook/JusticeLeague2018 Justice League]]'' run.

* ChekhovsGun: The notion of an energy released by the various Crises the multiverse has gone through was established over in ''The Flash'' a few months prior, as part of a villain's plot there.

* DayInTheLimelight: ''The Last Stories of the DC Universe'' and ''The Last 52: War of the Multiverses'' focus on various [=DC=] characters before and during the final battle. Hell, even the Penguin gets a moment to shine.

-->'''The Darkest Knight:''' I ''know'' what you wanted. [[DisappointedByTheMotive But all you gods, you fail to understand us at your most fundamental level]]. Beings like you, you see humanity, see our dark instincts...[[MessianicArchetype and you try to save MessianicArchetype us]]. But the mistake ''all'' of you make is thinking that we ''[[EvilFeelsGood want]]'' to be saved, rather than ''[[TheUnfettered unleashed]]''. The big secret, the truth, is that in the end it's ''you'' gods [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters who want to be saved from us]]. So die knowing this: we look at you, all you who beg to our better angels...[[PreMortemOneLiner and we laugh]]. (he punches the fragments with Perpetua inside)

** The Batman Who Laughs' speech when he first appears in the story, meeting up with the Justice League members and their respective Dark Knight handlers, can be read as a TakeThatAudience at readers who have gotten tired of the character but still reads the story:

* TakingYouWithMe: Pulled by Owlman in the ''Multiverse's End'' one-shot. He is locked in combat with the [[ItMakesSenseInContext evil baby Batman]], who gloats that he lost by siding with the heroes, only for [[spoiler:Owlman to flash a [[SlasherSmile wicked grin]] as he kills off the Rainbow Batman Corps with a detonator]] before laying a ReasonYouSuckSpeech onto the evil baby and destroying the tower planted by Perpetua on Earth-3, causing both to go up in flames.
--> '''Baby Batman''': Stop ''smiling''. You're about to ''die''. You don't get to ''enjoy'' it!
-->'''Owlman''': [[ShutUpHannibal Yes I do]]. You see...[[YouCannotKillAnIdea I'm going to live forever. As long as there's a Batman in this Multiverse, there will be an Owlman]]. His ''true'' [[EvilCounterpart dark reflection]]. I'm too ''good'' an ''idea''. But you...you evil baby Batman from the Dark Multiverse, with your stupid Rainbow Batmen? You're a ''dumb'' idea. And ''nobody'' is going to remember you.

-->'''Owlman''': [[ShutUpHannibal Yes I do]]. You see...[[YouCannotKillAnIdea I'm going to live forever. As long as there's a Batman in this Multiverse, there will be an Owlman. His ''true'' [[EvilCounterpart dark reflection]]. I'm too ''good'' an ''idea''. But you...you evil baby Batman from the Dark Multiverse, with your stupid Rainbow Batmen? You're a ''dumb'' idea. And ''nobody'' is going to remember you.

* AllianceOfAlternates: The event begins with Perpetua having taken over the earth using an ''army'' of evil Batmen from the Dark Multiverse recruited by the Batman Who Laughs.

* CameBackStrong: [[spoiler:The Darkest Knight is this to the Batman Who Laughs, as while Laughs is technically dead, his brain is in a new, ''much'' more threatening body.]]

** Various villainous (or at least morally ambiguous) versions of the Justice League from across DC Comics' history appear in panels and sidecomics. ''Multiverse's End'' has Justice Incarnate defeat [[ComicBook/TheMultiversity Overman, the Nazi Superman of Earth-10]], the Justice League of Vampires of Earth-43, and [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague the Justice Lords of Earth-50]].
** ''The Last Stories of the Multiverse'' features several Titans' members gathered, including ones who haven't reappeared since Flashpoint.

* ContinuityNod: Among the many things the Batman Who Laughs Sees in his glimpse of the Dark Multiverse is Murder Machine killing the New 52-era Teen Titans. Might also count as a TakeThat, given the unpopularity of that run.

** Wally asks Jay if he remembers him, and Jay says he'll "never forget [Wally] again". While it's possible he was just bantering -- even though it would be a weird thing to joke about given Wally's rough last couple of years -- it doesn't seem that way. The thing is... Jay never forgot Wally. Post-Rebirth, when Jay showed up in "The Button", he brought Wally up to Barry almost immediately.

*** Before that, ''Speed Metal'' also had Wally and Barry express the statement that Wally was ''always'' in Barry's shadow, and that he had ''only just'' came to terms with his passing and surpassed him as the Flash right before Barry's return. While it's right about the other issues (Wally being sidelined by Barry's return), Wally came to terms with Barry's death and surpassed him back in ''1992'' in ''ComicBook/TheReturnOfBarryAllen'', five years after Barry's disappearance and seventeen years before Barry returned. ComicBookTime aside, Wally spent more time being his own man, creating his own mark and legacy, than he did chasing Barry's legacy.

* DivineConflict: This occurs between [[spoiler:the Darkest Knight]] and Perpetua in ''Rise of the New God''. [[spoiler:The Darkest Knight wins, killing Perpetua]].
* DopeSlap: Jay Garrick does this to both Barry and Wally when they start arguing about their next course of action in ''Speed Metal''.

* EnfantTerrible: The Robin King is revealed to be a young psychotic Bruce Wayne who is responsible for his own parents' murders.

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: When Kill-All, the Last Sun, battles Luthor, he notes that his armor is powered by a black hole engine and that one wrong hit would cause it to collapse on itself. [[spoiler: He only realizes too late that [[TakingYouWithMe that is]] ''[[TakingYouWithMe exactly]]'' [[TakingYouWithMe what Luthor plans on]]]].

* GoldenSuperMode: [[spoiler:Wonder Woman shines golden when she finally channels the power of the Anti-Crisis Energy.]]
* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: ''Secret Origin'' is this: [[spoiler:Superboy-Prime decides to take on the Darkest Knight head on and ultimately sacrifices himself to give the heroes and villains a fighting chance. However, since they think Prime took off as a chicken, they have no idea who did it except for Krypto, who was there for Prime's sacrifice.]]

** [[spoiler:It's implied, and later confirmed, that ''prime'' Bruce Wayne has also became this, as he's actually dead and is just using a Black Lantern ring to stay in the fight. At first his use of a Black Lantern ring seems to be ContinuitySnarl as it's not supposed to reanimate anyone but the wearer, but this proves to be foreshadowing, with other hints being dropped until Bruce finally admits to Diana he's already dead.]]

--->'''Batman Who Laughs:''' Oh, I know, I know, "You again? We're so sick of you." Yet here you are... because deep down you love it, don't you? Being bad with me.

** Robin King always has a feeling he's being watched and he's hoping they're cheering him on. Hell, in ''Scary Stories to tell in the Dark Multiverse'', he addresses to the readers directly.

* OffModel: The Wonder Woman of Earth 6 (the ''Just Imagine'' universe) is very... white in ''Multiverse's End''. She's meant to be a dark-skinned Peruvian woman.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Besides the one given by [[spoiler:Owlman]] (see TakingYouWithMe), the Darkest Knight lays onto Perpetua before he [[spoiler:kills her]].
-->'''The Darkest Knight:''' Your power is nearly gone. But just for fun, I've got one last surprise for you. These fragments...do you recognize them? They're [[spoiler:parts of the]] ''[[spoiler:Source Wall]]'', [[spoiler:the structure the]] ''[[spoiler:Hands]]'' [[spoiler:imprisoned you inside for eons]].
-->'''Perpetua:''' No! All I wanted was to evolve your kind! To make you strong and-- [[spoiler:(gets interrupted as she is BoundAndGagged by the fragments) mmph!]]
-->'''The Darkest Knight:''' I ''know'' what you wanted. [[DisappointedByTheMotive But all you gods, you fail to understand us at your most fundamental level]]. Beings like you, you see humanity, see our dark instincts...[[MessianicArchetype and you try to]] ''[[MessianicArchetype save]]'' [[MessianicArchetype us]]. But the mistake ''all'' of you make is [[EvilFeelsGood thinking that we]] ''[[EvilFeelsGood want]]'' [[EvilFeelsGood to be saved, rather than]] ''[[TheUnfettered unleashed]]''. The big secret, the truth, is that in the end it's ''you'' gods [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters who want to be saved from]] ''[[HumansAreTheRealMonsters us]]''. So die knowing this: we look at you, all you who beg to our better angels...''[[spoiler:[[PreMortemOneLiner and we laugh]]]]''. [[spoiler:( he punches the fragments with Perpetua inside, killing her)]]

* {{Retcon}}: ''Multiverse's End'' reveals that Perpetua was behind the events of ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', ''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'', ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' and ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'', as each Crisis-level event cracked the Source Wall enough to allow her to escape, thus she coerced, mentally, the Anti-Monitor, the possessed Hal Jordan, Alexander Luthor, Jr., Darkseid and Barbatos to initiate their plans.

** Calvin Ellis, AKA President Superman, is the last survivor from Earth 23 in addition to being the last Son of Krypton from his universe, so he pulls double duty.

* StrikeMeDown: Diana's decision to [[spoiler: bisect the Batman Who Laughs with a laser chainsaw]] seems to make sense at the time, as there seems to be no hope for a victory that doesn't end in his death. This is immediately lampshaded as a Very Bad Idea by the other heroes, particularly Batman, who is so used to the [[spoiler:One Who Laughs]] and his ridiculously CrazyPrepared [[XanatosGambit Xanatos Gambits]] (he is a [[spoiler: twisted version of Bruce Wayne, after all]]) that he all but assumes that the [[spoiler:One Who Laughs]] used his death as part of a grander scheme and will almost immediately return in an even more powerful and dangerous form to taunt and then slaughter everyone. [[GenreSavvy He is proven right almost immediately]], as [[spoiler:the Batman Who Laughs has his minions place his brain into a body with [[FromBadToWorse the omnipotent and omniscient powers of Dr. Manhattan]].]]
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: After being TheHeavy for most of the Dark Multiverse stories [[spoiler:The Batman Who Laughs]] is apparently destroyed by Wonder Woman at the end of the first issue of ''Death Metal''. [[spoiler:Subverted, as [[ThanatosGambit he planned on this anyway]].]]

* TakingYouWithMe: Pulled by [[spoiler:Owlman]] in the ''Multiverse's End'' one-shot. He is locked in combat with the [[ItMakesSenseInContext evil baby Batman]], who gloats that he lost by siding with the heroes, only for [[spoiler:Owlman to flash a [[SlasherSmile wicked grin]] as he kills off the Rainbow Batman Corps with a detonator]] before laying a ReasonYouSuckSpeech onto the evil baby and destroying the tower planted by Perpetua on Earth-3, causing both to go up in flames.

-->'''[[spoiler:Owlman]]''': [[ShutUpHannibal Yes I do]]. You see...[[spoiler:[[YouCannotKillAnIdea I'm going to live forever. As long as there's a Batman in this Multiverse, there will be an Owlman.]] [[EvilCounterpart His]] ''[[EvilCounterpart true]]'' [[EvilCounterpart dark reflection]]]]. I'm too ''good'' an ''idea''. But you...you evil baby Batman from the Dark Multiverse, with your stupid Rainbow Batmen? You're a ''dumb'' idea. And ''nobody'' is going to remember you.

* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:The Darkest Knight is reduced to begging for his life when Wonder Woman overpowers him in the final issue, until he is annihilated in the Sun.]]
-->'''Darkest Knight:''' [[spoiler:This is your ''last'' chance, Diana. We can still win. You can't create worlds from your energy but I ''can''. I'll kill the ''[[PowersThatBe hands]]'' and give everyone an Eden... [[AintTooProudToBeg It doesn't have to end this way!]]]]

* {{Retcon}}: ''Multiverse's End'' reveals that Perpetua was behind the events of ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', ''ComicBook/ZeroHour'', ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' and ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'', as each Crisis-level event cracked the Source Wall enough to allow her to escape, thus she coerced, mentally, the Anti-Monitor, the possessed Hal Jordan, Alexander Luthor, Jr., Darkseid and Barbatos to initiate their plans.

* MirrorMatch: In ''Multiverse's End'', Calvin Ellis (President Superman) and Maria Mendoza (''Just Imagine'' Wonder Woman) fight the Earth 3 incarnations of Superman and Wonder Woman.

* MotionComic: The event received an AdaptationDistilation as an official motion comic released on DC's [=YouTube=] channel with famous stars as {{voice actor}}s and a DeathMetal soundtrack of its own.

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:In issue #4, Diana is able to persuade Superboy-Prime to take a chance on them saving the multiverse and channel the Crisis Energy into the Mobius Chair, but it turns out the Darkest Knight had ''already'' prepared for this and had modified the Mobius Chair enough to funnel that power to him, allowing him to create his "Last 52" multiverse.]]

* {{Allegory}}: Whilst LeaningOnTheFourthWall heavily with regards to its own narrative is pretty much a feature of DC Crisis-like storylines, this story goes overboard with the literal manifestations of metanarrative concepts. The entire battle for the future of the multiverse is eventually framed as a conflict between 'Crisis Energy' and 'Anti-Crisis Energy'. Crisis energy is the urge to live in the moment, to make single, pivotal decisions that will impact everything irrevocably. Anti-Crisis energy represents the generational, historical and moral ties that bind beings to each other and themselves. That these are literal manifestations of the conflicting urges that comic book writers have when tasked with revitalising a property (Do we throw everything away in favour of a new, bold direction or appeal to the rich history and build on themes from a time when the property was more beloved?) isn't hard to see. Perpetua herself is a representation of the authors who were responsible, with her aim being to create 'A multiverse with no memory, that would live forever in a self-renewing loop of its own importance'. Her species, the Hands, an allegory for both the executives of comic publishers and the readers themselves, who were dissatisfied with her endless crises, imprisoned her in the Source Wall, remade everything and allowed the universe to continue without interference. Perpetua's greatest fear is that her own kind will eventually erase everything for good, and so she causes the great Crises of the DC universe and is responsible for many of the shifts that changed it irrevocably and resulted in characters, settings and established histories being substantially changed. She believes that whilst her endless escalation of the multiversal conflicts and crises may be bad for the multiverse's inhabitants, she ultimately sees it as necessary to stave off their ultimate extinction. Again, easy to see as an allegory for the American comic book industry as a whole, trying desperately to constantly reinvent itself for new audiences whilst retaining the iconic characters and histories that older fans and the wider media recognise.

* ShoutOut: One of the alternate Batmen appears to be a [[ComicBook/JudgeDredd Judge]].

When the event ended, it was followed by ''ComicBook/DCFutureState'', which showed a vision of a possible future created after the event. The ComicBook/DCInfiniteFrontier iniative followed the event proper, with a full-scale relaunch of DC's titles.

** In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, ComicBook/SavageDragon of all characters shows up for a panel in ''Multivere's End''.

''Dark Nights: Death Metal'' is a summer 2020 crossover event for Franchise/DCComics written by Creator/ScottSnyder and illustrated by Greg Capullo. Perpetua and ComicBook/TheBatmanWhoLaughs have taken over the multiverse, ruling over everything with an iron fist. Now, the Trinity must reunite and overthrow her and her army of corrupted horrors.

* {{Allegory}}: Whilst LeaningOnTheFourthWall heavily with regards to its own narrative is pretty much a feature of DC Crisis-like storylines, this story goes overboard with the literal manifestations of metanarrative concepts. The entire battle for the future of the multiverse is eventually framed as a conflict between 'Crisis Energy' and 'Anti-Crisis Energy'. Crisis energy is the urge to live in the moment, to make single, pivotal decisions that will impact everything irrevocably. Anti-Crisis energy represents the generational, historical and moral ties that bind beings to each other and themselves. That these are literal manifestations of the conflicting urges that comic book writers have when tasked with revitalising a property (Do we throw everything away in favour of a new, bold direction or appeal to the rich history and build on themes from a time when the property was more beloved?) isn't hard to see. Perpetua herself is a representation of the authors who were responsible, with her aim being to create 'A multiverse with no memory, that would live forever in a self-renewing loop of its own importance'. Her species, the Hands, who were dissatisfied with her endless crises, imprisoned her in the Source Wall, remade everything and allowed the universe to continue without interference. Perpetua's greatest fear is that her own kind will eventually erase everything for good, and that whilst her endless escalation of the multiversal conflicts and crises may be bad for the multiverse's inhabitants, she ultimately sees it as necessary to stave off their ultimate extinction. Again, easy to see as an allegory for the American comic book industry as a whole.

* {{Allegory}}: Whilst LeaningOnTheFourthWall heavily with regards to its own narrative is pretty much a feature of DC Crisis-like storylines, this story goes overboard with the literal manifestations of metanarrative concepts. The entire battle for the future of the multiverse is eventually framed as a conflict between 'Crisis Energy' and 'Anti-Crisis Energy'. Crisis energy is the urge to live in the moment, to make single, pivotal decisions that will impact everything irrevocably. Anti-Crisis energy represents the generational, historical and moral ties that bind beings to each other and themselves. That these are literal manifestations of the conflicting urges that comic book writers have when tasked with revitalising a property (Do we throw everything away in favour of a new, bold direction or appeal to the rich history and build on themes from a time when the property was more beloved?) isn't hard to see. Perpetua herself is a representation of the authors who were responsible, with her aim being to create 'A multiverse with no memory, that would live forever in a self-renewing loop of its own importance'. Her species, the Hands, who were dissatisfied with her endless crises, imprisoned her in the Source Wall and remade everything into the New 52 continuity. Perpetua's greatest fear is that her own kind will eventually erase everything for good, and that whilst her endless escalation of the multiversal conflicts and crises may be bad for the multiverse's inhabitants, she ultimately sees it as necessary to stave off their ultimate extinction. Again, easy to see as an allegory for the American comic book industry as a whole.

''Dark Nights: Death Metal'' is a summer 2020 crossover event for Franchise/DCComics written by Creator/ScottSnyder and illustrated by Greg Capullo. Perpetua has taken over the multiverse, ruling over everything with an iron fist. Now, the Trinity must reunite and overthrow her and her army of corrupted horrors.

* StrikeMeDown: Diana's decision to [[spoiler: bisect the Batman Who Laughs with a laser chainsaw]] seems to make sense at the time, as there seems to be no hope for a victory that doesn't end in his death. This is immediately lampshaded as a Very Bad Idea by the other heroes, particularly Batman, who is so used to the [[spoiler:One Who Laughs]] and his ridiculously CrazyPrepared [[XanatosGambit Xanatos Gambits]] (he is a [[spoiler: twisted version of Bruce Wayne, after all]]) that he all but assumes that the [[spoiler:One Who Laughs]] used his death as part of a grander scheme and will almost immediately return in an even more powerful and dangerous form to taunt and then slaughter everyone. [[GenreSavvy He is proven right almost immediately]], as [[spoiler:the Batman Who Laughs has his minions place his brain into a body with [[OhShit the omnipotent and omniscient powers of Dr. Manhattan]].]]

* {{Allegory}}: Whilst LeaningOnTheFourthWall heavily with regards to its own narrative is pretty much a feature of DC Crisis-like storylines, this story goes overboard with the literal manifestations of metanarrative concepts. The entire battle for the future of the multiverse is eventually framed as a conflict between 'Crisis Energy' and 'Anti-Crisis Energy'. Crisis energy is the urge to live in the moment, to make single, pivotal decisions that will impact everything irrevocably. Anti-Crisis energy represents the generational, historical and moral ties that bind beings to each other and themselves. That these are literal manifestations of the conflicting urges that comic book writers have when tasked with revitalising a property (Do we throw everything away in favour of a new, bold direction or appeal to the rich history and build on themes from a time when the property was more beloved?) isn't hard to see. Perpetua herself is a representation of the authors who were responsible, with her aim being to create 'A multiverse with no memory, that would live forever in a self-renewing loop of its own importance'. Her species, the Hands, who were dissatisfied with her endless crises, imprisoned her in the Source Wall and remade everything into the New 52 continuity. Perpetua's greatest fear is that her own kind will eventually erase everything for good, and that whilst her endless escalation of the multiversal conflicts and crises may be bad for the multiverse's inhabitants, she ultimately sees it as necessary to stave off their ultimate extinction. Again, easy to see as an allegory for the comic books industry as a whole.