Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Disambiguated - swapping page and redirect
Changed line(s) 1,68 (click to see context) from:
[[quoteright:289:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nemesis_millar.png]]
[[caption-width-right:289:You evil, evil man!]]
What if Franchise/{{Batman}} was ComicBook/TheJoker?
Nemesis follows the adventures of a rich playboy that enjoys the finer things in life: fast cars, beautiful women, and [[NeverSayDie "dealing"]] with someone on a 28-day (violent) crime spree. Marketed as the comic that "Makes ''ComicBook/KickAss'' look like shit!", this was written by Creator/MarkMillar for Icon Comics, an imprint for creator-owned works at Creator/MarvelComics. The series was illustrated by [[Creator/SteveMcNiven Steve McNiven]].
In August of 2022, it was announced that Millar would be writing a new Nemesis comic book, titled ''Nemesis: Reloaded'', with art by Creator/JorgeJiminez. The book is set to be five issues long, the first of which was published in January of 2023, this time by Millar's comic book studio Millarworld with Creator/ImageComics. Millar has said that it will lead into a crossover series involving ''Nemesis'' and three other Millarworld series, ''Big Game''.
A movie adaptation has been in the works for years, initially with Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, but the rights have since gone to Creator/WarnerBros. In 2021, Millar said that Creator/EmeraldFennell had written the most recent draft.
Should not be confused with ''ComicBook/NemesisTheWarlock'' or ''Film/StarTrekNemesis''. Nor should he be confused for [[ComicBook/SuicideSquad the vigilante with the same name]] from Creator/DCComics or the horror board game ''TabletopGame/{{Nemesis}}''. You may be looking for Nemesis from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis''.
----
!!''Nemesis'' contains examples of:
* AntagonistTitle: Officer Morrow is the actual hero of the comic, but it's titled after its super-villain.
* ArtisticLicensePharmacology: When Morrow is first informed about "the Nemesis situation," he calls for a full meeting of his team, plus [[MustHaveCaffeine fourteen americanos]] and one green tea for Casey Mitchell, who's given up caffeine for Lent. Green tea naturally contains caffeine; you'd need to order a ''decaffeinated'' green tea specifically.
* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Invoked by Nemesis during his prison break. He elects to [[OneManArmy take on nearly a hundred riot cops by himself]] in front of the locked-up convicts just to show what he is capable of. After freeing them all, he becomes their leader.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Blake's almost as prescient about what criminals will do as Nemesis is about what Law enforcement will do.
* CanonWelding: The ending of Kick-Ass 3 as well as the author himself reveals that the Kick-Ass/Hit-Girl series, the Wanted series, the Superior series, the Kingsman series, the MPH series, and this series are all set in the same universe. Also counts as SharedUniverse and TheVerse.
* CopKiller: Nemesis' main recreational activity. His main target isn't politicians or landmarks, but well known police commissioners.
* {{Deconstruction}}: The series is this to comic book series focusing on the [[EvilFeelsGood escapist exploits]] of [[VillainProtagonist supervillains]], by stripping out everything that creators typically use to make us root for characters like that. Nemesis isn't fighting people who are [[BlackAndGreyMorality as bad or worse than him]], he has [[FreudianExcuse no tragic]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds backstory]] or [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes loved ones]] to make the audience sympathise with him, he's not a NobleDemon like ComicBook/DoctorDoom or ComicBook/BlackAdam; in fact he's {{Jerkass}} with no AffablyEvil or FauxAffablyEvil traits, and his evil isn't cartoonish and over-the-top enough to make him fun like the Joker or ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}.
* {{Expy}}:
** Blake Morrow is obviously one for Commissioner Gordon.
** Nemesis himself is a fusion of Batman's intelligence and resources with Joker's sadistic, hostile, and violent personality and mannerisms, and this horrible amalgam is not played for laughs. See below.
* ForTheEvulz: Nemesis' motivation for everything he does. He kills, destroys and torments people on a whim all for his sick pleasure. While he tells Blake he is doing this out of revenge for busting his parents and sending them to their deaths (see ItsPersonal) [[spoiler:it's actually false, and he is just doing this for kicks]]. The heroes exploit this when they managed to arrest him by tricking him into stealing a little girl's heart transplant (its actually a pig's heart with a tracker) because they knew he couldn't resist doing something so cruel, [[spoiler:though it turns out getting arrested was part of his plan]].
* FreudianExcuseDenial: Nemesis states that he's the son of criminals that Blake Morrow busted, supposedly the reason why he becomes a super-villain. [[spoiler:When Blake confronts him about it, Nemesis admits he was lying just to screw with him. He has no reason for what he does, [[ForTheEvulz he's just rich and bored.]]]]
* GainaxEnding: The comic otherwise had no supernatural elements but at the end, Morrow checks into a hotel and finds a letter summarizing the story's events has been left for him. [[spoiler:The hotel clerk said the letter was left there ten years ago.]]
* GambitRoulette: Over the course of the book the [[SerialEscalation ante is sequentially upped]] until the planners appear to have outright clairvoyant omniscience.
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:The mysterious group that turned Nemesis into a supervillain. Their existence is only revealed at the end of the comic, they are still at large and planning to expand their operations, though they promise to leave Blake and his family alone]].
* ItsPersonal: Nemesis' parents were two psychopaths that Blake busted and sent to their deaths and this is the reason why he wants to torment the good officer so badly. [[spoiler: Subverted when its revealed Nemesis is merely impersonating the son (who died years before the story began as an opium addict in India). Nemesis is just some rich, bored guy looking for kicks as a supervillain.]]
* KilledMidSentence: The Japanese police commissioner at the comic's prologue is tied by Nemesis and left to be ran over by a train, dying while cursing him.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Considering that [[spoiler:Stewart]] willingly helped Nemesis with his atrocities and is actively gloating about it its not hard to feel sorry when Nemesis blows his brains out.
* LightIsNotGood: Nemesis who is a villain in a pure white costume
* MedicalRapeAndImpregnate: [[spoiler: Nemesis artificially inseminates Blake's daughter using her own brother's sperm. Nemesis then made sure that, if they made her have an abortion, Blake's daughter would never be able to bear more children. She is later seen with triplets]].
* OneManArmy: During the prison break away scene, Nemesis mows down 97 riot cops by himself in front of some convicts just to show what he is capable of.
* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: When Blake is faced with a SadisticChoice, the President or his wife, both of whom are rigged with explosives, the President enforced a third option. He gets in Nemesis' face and orders Blake to blow him up.]]
--> '''President:''' [[ShutUpHannibal OH, FUCK YOU!]]
--> '''Nemesis:''' ... Excuse me?
* PlayedForHorror: This comic turns the ComicBook/{{Batman}} mythos into a horror story by showing what would happen if a character very similar to Bruce Wayne turned out to be more like [[Literature/AmericanPsycho Patrick Bateman]] instead of Batman.
* PracticallyJoker: Again, as stated above, Nemesis is what you would get if you gave Batman's resources and skills to the Joker, he even wears a similar costume (its all-white and lacks the ears).
* PrettyLittleHeadshots: A messier version, but this is how Blake finally kills Nemesis, with his blood and brain splattering the sidewalk.
* RefugeInAudacity: The only way "Holy shit. I'm covered in old person." works at all.
* RuleOfCool: How else is Nemesis able to stay on the outside of a plane mid-flight?
* SadisticChoice: Nemesis puts Blake through this at the climax where he [[spoiler: straps chest bombs in his wife and the President's chest, forcing Black to choose between saving his family or his career.]]
* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler:When Nemesis forces Blake to chose between saving his wife and the President, the choice is taken out of his hand when the President decides to take out Nemesis himself and orders Blake to detonate the bomb strapped on him]].
* TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: Exaggerated in the most ludicrous way, though in letter format instead of an actual video tape. [[spoiler:At the end of the comic, Blake receives a letter from Nemesis' benefactors congratulating him for defeating him and revealing they are an organization that provides bored rich people to live out a perverse supervillain fantasy. The kicker? The letter was written ''10 years'' ago and somehow managed to correctly predict all that happened in the comics such as Blake's daughter being impregnated and having triplets]].
* VillainProtagonist: The titular character, though Commissioner Blake shares as much screentime with him.
* VillainousBreakdown: Nemesis gets flustered when the [[spoiler:President is willing to die in order to stop him]], and is openly enraged after Blake beats the crap out of him.
* WhiteShirtOfDeath: Nemesis's costume is entirely white, leaving blood highly visible on it whenever he's slaughtering people.
* XanatosSpeedChess: This is what Blake's playing at least. Just as Nemesis planned he would.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Nemesis does this to his henchmen.
----
!!''Nemesis Reloaded'' contains examples of:
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: Joe Costello ends the comic alive, but buried in a casket with the skeletons of Nemesis' parents, which itself if buried beneath city hall.]]
* CanonWelding: [[spoiler: Explicitly takes place in the same universe as ComicBook/{{Wanted}}, as Nemesis joins the Fraternity at the end.]]
* ContinuityReboot: The series is effectively the same as the previous one but with notable changes to Nemesis' backstory, with the story starting off with him narrating "Everything you heard before is a lie". Specifically that [[spoiler:he really is Matthew Anderson and that he was trained by Wesley Gibbons of ''Wanted'']].
* Expy: This Nemesis is one to minor Batman villain The Wrath as [[spoiler: both are children of criminals who became killers targeting specific policemen - the key difference being the Wraith's parents were gunned down, while Nemesis' were drug dealers that were framed for murder by a group of hotshot cops, leading to their executions.]]
* FramingTheGuiltyParty: [[spoiler:It's revealed at the end that Joe Costello and his comrades busted Matthew Anderson's drug dealer parents by framing them for a series of serial killings. The real serial killers are the old couple that Nemesis conscripts as henchmen in the beginning]].
* HeroAntagonist: Joe Costello, the recently-elected mayor and former District Attorney of Los Angeles who was elected via his career as a hero cop with a tough on crime stance.
* SecretHistory: Nemesis final task for his master is uncovering the mystery of the forgotten President of the United States. [[spoiler: The reason no one can remember him is due to the Fraternity's altering of reality.]]
* SequelHook: The final issue's revelations lead into the Millarworld crossover ''Big Game.''
* ShoutOut: The [[spoiler:forgotten American President's name was Ernest George (E.G) Marshall, whose brief, tumultuous time in office is said to have ended with three alien fugitives invading the White House. Along with the trophy of the tattered Superman expy's cape, it seems like something resembling the plot of Film/SupermanII actually happened in the backstory.]]
* WhamShot: Two right after the other in the final issue. [[spoiler: the proof of the secret history of the world is (Not)Superman's cape, and Nemesis' master is none other than Wesley Gibson]]
----
[[caption-width-right:289:You evil, evil man!]]
What if Franchise/{{Batman}} was ComicBook/TheJoker?
Nemesis follows the adventures of a rich playboy that enjoys the finer things in life: fast cars, beautiful women, and [[NeverSayDie "dealing"]] with someone on a 28-day (violent) crime spree. Marketed as the comic that "Makes ''ComicBook/KickAss'' look like shit!", this was written by Creator/MarkMillar for Icon Comics, an imprint for creator-owned works at Creator/MarvelComics. The series was illustrated by [[Creator/SteveMcNiven Steve McNiven]].
In August of 2022, it was announced that Millar would be writing a new Nemesis comic book, titled ''Nemesis: Reloaded'', with art by Creator/JorgeJiminez. The book is set to be five issues long, the first of which was published in January of 2023, this time by Millar's comic book studio Millarworld with Creator/ImageComics. Millar has said that it will lead into a crossover series involving ''Nemesis'' and three other Millarworld series, ''Big Game''.
A movie adaptation has been in the works for years, initially with Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, but the rights have since gone to Creator/WarnerBros. In 2021, Millar said that Creator/EmeraldFennell had written the most recent draft.
Should not be confused with ''ComicBook/NemesisTheWarlock'' or ''Film/StarTrekNemesis''. Nor should he be confused for [[ComicBook/SuicideSquad the vigilante with the same name]] from Creator/DCComics or the horror board game ''TabletopGame/{{Nemesis}}''. You may be looking for Nemesis from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis''.
----
!!''Nemesis'' contains examples of:
* AntagonistTitle: Officer Morrow is the actual hero of the comic, but it's titled after its super-villain.
* ArtisticLicensePharmacology: When Morrow is first informed about "the Nemesis situation," he calls for a full meeting of his team, plus [[MustHaveCaffeine fourteen americanos]] and one green tea for Casey Mitchell, who's given up caffeine for Lent. Green tea naturally contains caffeine; you'd need to order a ''decaffeinated'' green tea specifically.
* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Invoked by Nemesis during his prison break. He elects to [[OneManArmy take on nearly a hundred riot cops by himself]] in front of the locked-up convicts just to show what he is capable of. After freeing them all, he becomes their leader.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Blake's almost as prescient about what criminals will do as Nemesis is about what Law enforcement will do.
* CanonWelding: The ending of Kick-Ass 3 as well as the author himself reveals that the Kick-Ass/Hit-Girl series, the Wanted series, the Superior series, the Kingsman series, the MPH series, and this series are all set in the same universe. Also counts as SharedUniverse and TheVerse.
* CopKiller: Nemesis' main recreational activity. His main target isn't politicians or landmarks, but well known police commissioners.
* {{Deconstruction}}: The series is this to comic book series focusing on the [[EvilFeelsGood escapist exploits]] of [[VillainProtagonist supervillains]], by stripping out everything that creators typically use to make us root for characters like that. Nemesis isn't fighting people who are [[BlackAndGreyMorality as bad or worse than him]], he has [[FreudianExcuse no tragic]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds backstory]] or [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes loved ones]] to make the audience sympathise with him, he's not a NobleDemon like ComicBook/DoctorDoom or ComicBook/BlackAdam; in fact he's {{Jerkass}} with no AffablyEvil or FauxAffablyEvil traits, and his evil isn't cartoonish and over-the-top enough to make him fun like the Joker or ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}.
* {{Expy}}:
** Blake Morrow is obviously one for Commissioner Gordon.
** Nemesis himself is a fusion of Batman's intelligence and resources with Joker's sadistic, hostile, and violent personality and mannerisms, and this horrible amalgam is not played for laughs. See below.
* ForTheEvulz: Nemesis' motivation for everything he does. He kills, destroys and torments people on a whim all for his sick pleasure. While he tells Blake he is doing this out of revenge for busting his parents and sending them to their deaths (see ItsPersonal) [[spoiler:it's actually false, and he is just doing this for kicks]]. The heroes exploit this when they managed to arrest him by tricking him into stealing a little girl's heart transplant (its actually a pig's heart with a tracker) because they knew he couldn't resist doing something so cruel, [[spoiler:though it turns out getting arrested was part of his plan]].
* FreudianExcuseDenial: Nemesis states that he's the son of criminals that Blake Morrow busted, supposedly the reason why he becomes a super-villain. [[spoiler:When Blake confronts him about it, Nemesis admits he was lying just to screw with him. He has no reason for what he does, [[ForTheEvulz he's just rich and bored.]]]]
* GainaxEnding: The comic otherwise had no supernatural elements but at the end, Morrow checks into a hotel and finds a letter summarizing the story's events has been left for him. [[spoiler:The hotel clerk said the letter was left there ten years ago.]]
* GambitRoulette: Over the course of the book the [[SerialEscalation ante is sequentially upped]] until the planners appear to have outright clairvoyant omniscience.
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:The mysterious group that turned Nemesis into a supervillain. Their existence is only revealed at the end of the comic, they are still at large and planning to expand their operations, though they promise to leave Blake and his family alone]].
* ItsPersonal: Nemesis' parents were two psychopaths that Blake busted and sent to their deaths and this is the reason why he wants to torment the good officer so badly. [[spoiler: Subverted when its revealed Nemesis is merely impersonating the son (who died years before the story began as an opium addict in India). Nemesis is just some rich, bored guy looking for kicks as a supervillain.]]
* KilledMidSentence: The Japanese police commissioner at the comic's prologue is tied by Nemesis and left to be ran over by a train, dying while cursing him.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Considering that [[spoiler:Stewart]] willingly helped Nemesis with his atrocities and is actively gloating about it its not hard to feel sorry when Nemesis blows his brains out.
* LightIsNotGood: Nemesis who is a villain in a pure white costume
* MedicalRapeAndImpregnate: [[spoiler: Nemesis artificially inseminates Blake's daughter using her own brother's sperm. Nemesis then made sure that, if they made her have an abortion, Blake's daughter would never be able to bear more children. She is later seen with triplets]].
* OneManArmy: During the prison break away scene, Nemesis mows down 97 riot cops by himself in front of some convicts just to show what he is capable of.
* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: When Blake is faced with a SadisticChoice, the President or his wife, both of whom are rigged with explosives, the President enforced a third option. He gets in Nemesis' face and orders Blake to blow him up.]]
--> '''President:''' [[ShutUpHannibal OH, FUCK YOU!]]
--> '''Nemesis:''' ... Excuse me?
* PlayedForHorror: This comic turns the ComicBook/{{Batman}} mythos into a horror story by showing what would happen if a character very similar to Bruce Wayne turned out to be more like [[Literature/AmericanPsycho Patrick Bateman]] instead of Batman.
* PracticallyJoker: Again, as stated above, Nemesis is what you would get if you gave Batman's resources and skills to the Joker, he even wears a similar costume (its all-white and lacks the ears).
* PrettyLittleHeadshots: A messier version, but this is how Blake finally kills Nemesis, with his blood and brain splattering the sidewalk.
* RefugeInAudacity: The only way "Holy shit. I'm covered in old person." works at all.
* RuleOfCool: How else is Nemesis able to stay on the outside of a plane mid-flight?
* SadisticChoice: Nemesis puts Blake through this at the climax where he [[spoiler: straps chest bombs in his wife and the President's chest, forcing Black to choose between saving his family or his career.]]
* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler:When Nemesis forces Blake to chose between saving his wife and the President, the choice is taken out of his hand when the President decides to take out Nemesis himself and orders Blake to detonate the bomb strapped on him]].
* TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: Exaggerated in the most ludicrous way, though in letter format instead of an actual video tape. [[spoiler:At the end of the comic, Blake receives a letter from Nemesis' benefactors congratulating him for defeating him and revealing they are an organization that provides bored rich people to live out a perverse supervillain fantasy. The kicker? The letter was written ''10 years'' ago and somehow managed to correctly predict all that happened in the comics such as Blake's daughter being impregnated and having triplets]].
* VillainProtagonist: The titular character, though Commissioner Blake shares as much screentime with him.
* VillainousBreakdown: Nemesis gets flustered when the [[spoiler:President is willing to die in order to stop him]], and is openly enraged after Blake beats the crap out of him.
* WhiteShirtOfDeath: Nemesis's costume is entirely white, leaving blood highly visible on it whenever he's slaughtering people.
* XanatosSpeedChess: This is what Blake's playing at least. Just as Nemesis planned he would.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Nemesis does this to his henchmen.
----
!!''Nemesis Reloaded'' contains examples of:
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: Joe Costello ends the comic alive, but buried in a casket with the skeletons of Nemesis' parents, which itself if buried beneath city hall.]]
* CanonWelding: [[spoiler: Explicitly takes place in the same universe as ComicBook/{{Wanted}}, as Nemesis joins the Fraternity at the end.]]
* ContinuityReboot: The series is effectively the same as the previous one but with notable changes to Nemesis' backstory, with the story starting off with him narrating "Everything you heard before is a lie". Specifically that [[spoiler:he really is Matthew Anderson and that he was trained by Wesley Gibbons of ''Wanted'']].
* Expy: This Nemesis is one to minor Batman villain The Wrath as [[spoiler: both are children of criminals who became killers targeting specific policemen - the key difference being the Wraith's parents were gunned down, while Nemesis' were drug dealers that were framed for murder by a group of hotshot cops, leading to their executions.]]
* FramingTheGuiltyParty: [[spoiler:It's revealed at the end that Joe Costello and his comrades busted Matthew Anderson's drug dealer parents by framing them for a series of serial killings. The real serial killers are the old couple that Nemesis conscripts as henchmen in the beginning]].
* HeroAntagonist: Joe Costello, the recently-elected mayor and former District Attorney of Los Angeles who was elected via his career as a hero cop with a tough on crime stance.
* SecretHistory: Nemesis final task for his master is uncovering the mystery of the forgotten President of the United States. [[spoiler: The reason no one can remember him is due to the Fraternity's altering of reality.]]
* SequelHook: The final issue's revelations lead into the Millarworld crossover ''Big Game.''
* ShoutOut: The [[spoiler:forgotten American President's name was Ernest George (E.G) Marshall, whose brief, tumultuous time in office is said to have ended with three alien fugitives invading the White House. Along with the trophy of the tattered Superman expy's cape, it seems like something resembling the plot of Film/SupermanII actually happened in the backstory.]]
* WhamShot: Two right after the other in the final issue. [[spoiler: the proof of the secret history of the world is (Not)Superman's cape, and Nemesis' master is none other than Wesley Gibson]]
----
to:
[[caption-width-right:289:You evil, evil man!]]
What if Franchise/{{Batman}} was ComicBook/TheJoker?
Nemesis follows the adventures of a rich playboy that enjoys the finer things in life: fast cars, beautiful women, and [[NeverSayDie "dealing"]] with someone on a 28-day (violent) crime spree. Marketed as the comic that "Makes ''ComicBook/KickAss'' look like shit!", this was written by Creator/MarkMillar for Icon Comics, an imprint for creator-owned works at Creator/MarvelComics. The series was illustrated by [[Creator/SteveMcNiven Steve McNiven]].
In August of 2022, it was announced that Millar would be writing a new Nemesis comic book, titled ''Nemesis: Reloaded'', with art by Creator/JorgeJiminez. The book is set to be five issues long, the first of which was published in January of 2023, this time by Millar's comic book studio Millarworld with Creator/ImageComics. Millar has said that it will lead into a crossover series involving ''Nemesis'' and three other Millarworld series, ''Big Game''.
A movie adaptation has been in the works for years, initially with Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, but the rights have since gone to Creator/WarnerBros. In 2021, Millar said that Creator/EmeraldFennell had written the most recent draft.
Should not be confused with ''ComicBook/NemesisTheWarlock'' or ''Film/StarTrekNemesis''. Nor should he be confused for [[ComicBook/SuicideSquad the vigilante with the same name]] from Creator/DCComics or the horror board game ''TabletopGame/{{Nemesis}}''. You may be looking for Nemesis from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis''.
----
!!''Nemesis'' contains examples of:
* AntagonistTitle: Officer Morrow is the actual hero of the comic, but it's titled after its super-villain.
* ArtisticLicensePharmacology: When Morrow is first informed about "the Nemesis situation," he calls for a full meeting of his team, plus [[MustHaveCaffeine fourteen americanos]] and one green tea for Casey Mitchell, who's given up caffeine for Lent. Green tea naturally contains caffeine; you'd need to order a ''decaffeinated'' green tea specifically.
* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Invoked by Nemesis during his prison break. He elects to [[OneManArmy take on nearly a hundred riot cops by himself]] in front of the locked-up convicts just to show what he is capable of. After freeing them all, he becomes their leader.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Blake's almost as prescient about what criminals will do as Nemesis is about what Law enforcement will do.
* CanonWelding: The ending of Kick-Ass 3 as well as the author himself reveals that the Kick-Ass/Hit-Girl series, the Wanted series, the Superior series, the Kingsman series, the MPH series, and this series are all set in the same universe. Also counts as SharedUniverse and TheVerse.
* CopKiller: Nemesis' main recreational activity. His main target isn't politicians or landmarks, but well known police commissioners.
* {{Deconstruction}}: The series is this to comic book series focusing on the [[EvilFeelsGood escapist exploits]] of [[VillainProtagonist supervillains]], by stripping out everything that creators typically use to make us root for characters like that. Nemesis isn't fighting people who are [[BlackAndGreyMorality as bad or worse than him]], he has [[FreudianExcuse no tragic]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds backstory]] or [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes loved ones]] to make the audience sympathise with him, he's not a NobleDemon like ComicBook/DoctorDoom or ComicBook/BlackAdam; in fact he's {{Jerkass}} with no AffablyEvil or FauxAffablyEvil traits, and his evil isn't cartoonish and over-the-top enough to make him fun like the Joker or ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}.
* {{Expy}}:
** Blake Morrow is obviously one for Commissioner Gordon.
** Nemesis himself is a fusion of Batman's intelligence and resources with Joker's sadistic, hostile, and violent personality and mannerisms, and this horrible amalgam is not played for laughs. See below.
* ForTheEvulz: Nemesis' motivation for everything he does. He kills, destroys and torments people on a whim all for his sick pleasure. While he tells Blake he is doing this out of revenge for busting his parents and sending them to their deaths (see ItsPersonal) [[spoiler:it's actually false, and he is just doing this for kicks]]. The heroes exploit this when they managed to arrest him by tricking him into stealing a little girl's heart transplant (its actually a pig's heart with a tracker) because they knew he couldn't resist doing something so cruel, [[spoiler:though it turns out getting arrested was part of his plan]].
* FreudianExcuseDenial: Nemesis states that he's the son of criminals that Blake Morrow busted, supposedly the reason why he becomes a super-villain. [[spoiler:When Blake confronts him about it, Nemesis admits he was lying just to screw with him. He has no reason for what he does, [[ForTheEvulz he's just rich and bored.]]]]
* GainaxEnding: The comic otherwise had no supernatural elements but at the end, Morrow checks into a hotel and finds a letter summarizing the story's events has been left for him. [[spoiler:The hotel clerk said the letter was left there ten years ago.]]
* GambitRoulette: Over the course of the book the [[SerialEscalation ante is sequentially upped]] until the planners appear to have outright clairvoyant omniscience.
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:The mysterious group that turned Nemesis into a supervillain. Their existence is only revealed at the end of the comic, they are still at large and planning to expand their operations, though they promise to leave Blake and his family alone]].
* ItsPersonal: Nemesis' parents were two psychopaths that Blake busted and sent to their deaths and this is the reason why he wants to torment the good officer so badly. [[spoiler: Subverted when its revealed Nemesis is merely impersonating the son (who died years before the story began as an opium addict in India). Nemesis is just some rich, bored guy looking for kicks as a supervillain.]]
* KilledMidSentence: The Japanese police commissioner at the comic's prologue is tied by Nemesis and left to be ran over by a train, dying while cursing him.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Considering that [[spoiler:Stewart]] willingly helped Nemesis with his atrocities and is actively gloating about it its not hard to feel sorry when Nemesis blows his brains out.
* LightIsNotGood: Nemesis who is a villain in a pure white costume
* MedicalRapeAndImpregnate: [[spoiler: Nemesis artificially inseminates Blake's daughter using her own brother's sperm. Nemesis then made sure that, if they made her have an abortion, Blake's daughter would never be able to bear more children. She is later seen with triplets]].
* OneManArmy: During the prison break away scene, Nemesis mows down 97 riot cops by himself in front of some convicts just to show what he is capable of.
* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: When Blake is faced with a SadisticChoice, the President or his wife, both of whom are rigged with explosives, the President enforced a third option. He gets in Nemesis' face and orders Blake to blow him up.]]
--> '''President:''' [[ShutUpHannibal OH, FUCK YOU!]]
--> '''Nemesis:''' ... Excuse me?
* PlayedForHorror: This comic turns the ComicBook/{{Batman}} mythos into a horror story by showing what would happen if a character very similar to Bruce Wayne turned out to be more like [[Literature/AmericanPsycho Patrick Bateman]] instead of Batman.
* PracticallyJoker: Again, as stated above, Nemesis is what you would get if you gave Batman's resources and skills to the Joker, he even wears a similar costume (its all-white and lacks the ears).
* PrettyLittleHeadshots: A messier version, but this is how Blake finally kills Nemesis, with his blood and brain splattering the sidewalk.
* RefugeInAudacity: The only way "Holy shit. I'm covered in old person." works at all.
* RuleOfCool: How else is Nemesis able to stay on the outside of a plane mid-flight?
* SadisticChoice: Nemesis puts Blake through this at the climax where he [[spoiler: straps chest bombs in his wife and the President's chest, forcing Black to choose between saving his family or his career.]]
* TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler:When Nemesis forces Blake to chose between saving his wife and the President, the choice is taken out of his hand when the President decides to take out Nemesis himself and orders Blake to detonate the bomb strapped on him]].
* TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: Exaggerated in the most ludicrous way, though in letter format instead of an actual video tape. [[spoiler:At the end of the comic, Blake receives a letter from Nemesis' benefactors congratulating him for defeating him and revealing they are an organization that provides bored rich people to live out a perverse supervillain fantasy. The kicker? The letter was written ''10 years'' ago and somehow managed to correctly predict all that happened in the comics such as Blake's daughter being impregnated and having triplets]].
* VillainProtagonist: The titular character, though Commissioner Blake shares as much screentime with him.
* VillainousBreakdown: Nemesis gets flustered when the [[spoiler:President is willing to die in order to stop him]], and is openly enraged after Blake beats the crap out of him.
* WhiteShirtOfDeath: Nemesis's costume is entirely white, leaving blood highly visible on it whenever he's slaughtering people.
* XanatosSpeedChess: This is what Blake's playing at least. Just as Nemesis planned he would.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Nemesis does this to his henchmen.
----
!!''Nemesis Reloaded'' contains examples of:
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: Joe Costello ends the comic alive, but buried in a casket with the skeletons of Nemesis' parents, which itself if buried beneath city hall.]]
* CanonWelding: [[spoiler: Explicitly takes place in the same universe as ComicBook/{{Wanted}}, as Nemesis joins the Fraternity at the end.]]
* ContinuityReboot: The series is effectively the same as the previous one but with notable changes to Nemesis' backstory, with the story starting off with him narrating "Everything you heard before is a lie". Specifically that [[spoiler:he really is Matthew Anderson and that he was trained by Wesley Gibbons of ''Wanted'']].
* Expy: This Nemesis is one to minor Batman villain The Wrath as [[spoiler: both are children of criminals who became killers targeting specific policemen - the key difference being the Wraith's parents were gunned down, while Nemesis' were drug dealers that were framed for murder by a group of hotshot cops, leading to their executions.]]
* FramingTheGuiltyParty: [[spoiler:It's revealed at the end that Joe Costello and his comrades busted Matthew Anderson's drug dealer parents by framing them for a series of serial killings. The real serial killers are the old couple that Nemesis conscripts as henchmen in the beginning]].
* HeroAntagonist: Joe Costello, the recently-elected mayor and former District Attorney of Los Angeles who was elected via his career as a hero cop with a tough on crime stance.
* SecretHistory: Nemesis final task for his master is uncovering the mystery of the forgotten President of the United States. [[spoiler: The reason no one can remember him is due to the Fraternity's altering of reality.]]
* SequelHook: The final issue's revelations lead into the Millarworld crossover ''Big Game.''
* ShoutOut: The [[spoiler:forgotten American President's name was Ernest George (E.G) Marshall, whose brief, tumultuous time in office is said to have ended with three alien fugitives invading the White House. Along with the trophy of the tattered Superman expy's cape, it seems like something resembling the plot of Film/SupermanII actually happened in the backstory.]]
* WhamShot: Two right after the other in the final issue. [[spoiler: the proof of the secret history of the world is (Not)Superman's cape, and Nemesis' master is none other than Wesley Gibson]]
----
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* ShoutOut: The [[spoiler:forgotten American President's name was Ernest George (E.G) Marshall, whose brief, tumultuous time in office is said to have ended with three alien fugitives invading the White House. Along with the trophy of the tattered Superman expy's cape, it seems like something resembling the plot of Film/SupermanII actually happened in the backstory.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
* ContinuityReboot: The series is effectively the same as the previous one but with notable changes to Nemesis' backstory, with the story starting off with him narrating "Everything you heard before is a lie". Specifically that [[spoiler:he really is Matthew Anderson and that he was trained by Wesley Gibbons of ''Wanted'']].
Deleted line(s) 63 (click to see context) :
* {{Reboot}}: The series is effectively the same as the previous one but with notable changes to Nemesis' backstory, with the story starting off with him narrating "Everything you heard before is a lie". Specifically that [[spoiler:he really is Matthew Anderson and that he was trained by Wesley Gibbons of ''Wanted'']].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* FramingTheGuiltyParty: [[spoiler:It's revealed at the end that Joe Costello and his comrades busted Matthew Anderson's drug dealer parents by framing them for a series of serial killings. The real serial killers are the old couple that Nemesis conscripts as henchmen in the beginning]].
Added DiffLines:
* {{Reboot}}: The series is effectively the same as the previous one but with notable changes to Nemesis' backstory, with the story starting off with him narrating "Everything you heard before is a lie". Specifically that [[spoiler:he really is Matthew Anderson and that he was trained by Wesley Gibbons of ''Wanted'']].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 59 (click to see context) from:
* CanonWelding: [[spoiler: Explicitly takes place in the same universe as ComicBook/Wanted , as Nemesis joins the Fraternity at the end.]]
to:
* CanonWelding: [[spoiler: Explicitly takes place in the same universe as ComicBook/Wanted , ComicBook/{{Wanted}}, as Nemesis joins the Fraternity at the end.]]
Added DiffLines:
* HeroAntagonist: Joe Costello, the recently-elected mayor and former District Attorney of Los Angeles who was elected via his career as a hero cop with a tough on crime stance.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 59 (click to see context) from:
* CanonWelding: [[Explicitly takes place in the same universe as ComicBook/Wanted , as Nemesis joins the Fraternity at the end.]]
to:
* CanonWelding: [[Explicitly [[spoiler: Explicitly takes place in the same universe as ComicBook/Wanted , as Nemesis joins the Fraternity at the end.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
----
!!''Nemesis Reloaded'' contains examples of:
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: Joe Costello ends the comic alive, but buried in a casket with the skeletons of Nemesis' parents, which itself if buried beneath city hall.]]
* CanonWelding: [[Explicitly takes place in the same universe as ComicBook/Wanted , as Nemesis joins the Fraternity at the end.]]
* Expy: This Nemesis is one to minor Batman villain The Wrath as [[spoiler: both are children of criminals who became killers targeting specific policemen - the key difference being the Wraith's parents were gunned down, while Nemesis' were drug dealers that were framed for murder by a group of hotshot cops, leading to their executions.]]
* SecretHistory: Nemesis final task for his master is uncovering the mystery of the forgotten President of the United States. [[spoiler: The reason no one can remember him is due to the Fraternity's altering of reality.]]
* SequelHook: The final issue's revelations lead into the Millarworld crossover ''Big Game.''
* WhamShot: Two right after the other in the final issue. [[spoiler: the proof of the secret history of the world is (Not)Superman's cape, and Nemesis' master is none other than Wesley Gibson]]
!!''Nemesis Reloaded'' contains examples of:
* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: Joe Costello ends the comic alive, but buried in a casket with the skeletons of Nemesis' parents, which itself if buried beneath city hall.]]
* CanonWelding: [[Explicitly takes place in the same universe as ComicBook/Wanted , as Nemesis joins the Fraternity at the end.]]
* Expy: This Nemesis is one to minor Batman villain The Wrath as [[spoiler: both are children of criminals who became killers targeting specific policemen - the key difference being the Wraith's parents were gunned down, while Nemesis' were drug dealers that were framed for murder by a group of hotshot cops, leading to their executions.]]
* SecretHistory: Nemesis final task for his master is uncovering the mystery of the forgotten President of the United States. [[spoiler: The reason no one can remember him is due to the Fraternity's altering of reality.]]
* SequelHook: The final issue's revelations lead into the Millarworld crossover ''Big Game.''
* WhamShot: Two right after the other in the final issue. [[spoiler: the proof of the secret history of the world is (Not)Superman's cape, and Nemesis' master is none other than Wesley Gibson]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 28 (click to see context) from:
* FreudianExcuseDenial: Nemesis states that he's the son of criminals that Blake Morrow busted, supposedly the reason why he becomes a super-villain. When Blake confronts him about it, Nemesis admits he was lying just to screw with him. He has no reason for what he does, [[ForTheEvulz he's just rich and bored]].
to:
* FreudianExcuseDenial: Nemesis states that he's the son of criminals that Blake Morrow busted, supposedly the reason why he becomes a super-villain. When [[spoiler:When Blake confronts him about it, Nemesis admits he was lying just to screw with him. He has no reason for what he does, [[ForTheEvulz he's just rich and bored]].bored.]]]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Asskicking Leads To Leadership is the new name of the trope.
Changed line(s) 19 (click to see context) from:
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Invoked by Nemesis during his prison break. He elects to [[OneManArmy take on nearly a hundred riot cops by himself]] in front of the locked-up convicts just to show what he is capable of. After freeing them all, he becomes their leader.
to:
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Invoked by Nemesis during his prison break. He elects to [[OneManArmy take on nearly a hundred riot cops by himself]] in front of the locked-up convicts just to show what he is capable of. After freeing them all, he becomes their leader.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 10,11 (click to see context) from:
A movie adaptation has been in the works for years, with an early script having been written by Joe Carnahan (''Film/TheATeam'', ''Film/SmokinAces''). It was greenlit after the surprise success of [[ComicBook/TheSecretService another Millar adaptation,]] ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService''. The rights were originally optioned by Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, but went to Creator/WarnerBros when they expired with them. In 2021, Millar said that Creator/EmeraldFennell had written the most recent draft.
to:
A movie adaptation has been in the works for years, initially with an early script having been written by Joe Carnahan (''Film/TheATeam'', ''Film/SmokinAces''). It was greenlit after the surprise success of [[ComicBook/TheSecretService another Millar adaptation,]] ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService''. The rights were originally optioned by Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, but went the rights have since gone to Creator/WarnerBros when they expired with them.Creator/WarnerBros. In 2021, Millar said that Creator/EmeraldFennell had written the most recent draft.
