History Comicbook / GrantMorrisonsBatman

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_rip_notext_2072.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Believe me, everything you've heard about [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness The Black Glove]] is true... Call me [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Dr. Hurt]]."]]

->''"Batman and Robin will '''never''' die."''

[[Creator/DCComics Detective Comics]] published the first story of "The Bat-Man" in May of 1939, written by Bill Finger and illustrated by Creator/BobKane. In the years since then, Franchise/{{Batman}} has become one of DC's premier superheroes; along with Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/WonderWoman, Batman comprises a vital part of [[PowerTrio DC's Trinity]]. And in the decades that have followed his debut, the Caped Crusader has been influenced by a slew of great artists and writers; each having a unique interpretation of the character and a good number leaving a lasting impression on the Dark Knight and his world.

Yet being published in at least one, then two, book(s) continuously for 70 years presents two problems: (1) how to keep the character of Batman interesting and (2) how to keep the character from becoming too esoteric as time goes on. Batman, like most of the DCU, had at least two attempts to reconcile this, by first separating the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Batman from the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Batman and then later by partially rebooting Batman's history with the {{Crisis Crossover}}s of ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' and ''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime''.

In the wake of ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', Batman's history was rebooted yet again. But as the readers would soon discover, this reboot would not remove anything from Batman's past this time around; in fact the exact opposite occurred.

After the end of Batman's "One Year Later" story, noted writer Creator/GrantMorrison became the head writer for the eponymous "Batman" monthly magazine. As Morrison's run went on, fans soon discovered that all of the previously removed portions of Batman's history had been restored to full {{Canon}} status in some way or another. '''[[ContinuityPorn ALL OF IT.]]''' (Even the bits that contradict the other bits!)

Morrison has stated that they intend their work to be [[WordOfGod part of a series]], with [[WritingForTheTrade "four [collected] volumes and, if the cards are right, a fifth volume, a final volume"]]: Their complete Batman run includes the following:

* ''Batman and Son''
* ''The Three Ghosts of Batman''
* ''The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul'' (A BatFamilyCrossover)
* ''The Black Glove''
* ''Batman R.I.P.''
** ''Last Rites'' ("The Butler Did It" and "What the Butler Saw")
** ''The Missing Chapters''
* ''[[ComicBook/BatmanAndRobin2009 Batman and Robin]]''
* ''Batman #700''
* ''Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne''
* ''Batman: The Return''
* ''Batman Inc.''

Previously, Morrison wrote a Batman story called ''Batman: Gothic'', which explores some of the same themes as this run. See also ''Comicbook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth'', released in 1989 by the same author.
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!!Tropes particular to Morrison's Batman:

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[[folder:A - F]]
%%* NinetiesAntiHero: Red Hood is a deconstruction/parody of the trope.
* AdaptationDistillation: Inverted! This story takes ''everything'' that's ever happened to Batman in the mainstream continuity as canon and merges and reworks anything that doesn't work out.
* AllThereInTheManual: ''The Black Casebook'', a collection of older stories which Morrison used to build their MythArc and which are referred to several times throughout the story. While not necessary to understand the events on what is going on per se, it can provide the proper context to the backstory of what Morrison is writing.
* AndTheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler:The final issue ends on an unusually somber version of this. Talia is dead, Gotham is saved and Bruce sincerely wants to retire as Batman, but that fantasy is short-lived as Damian and Talia's graves have been robbed and Ra's Al Ghul seems to be mounting a new plan using Damian's clones. The last issue ends with the acknowledgement that Batman's mission will never end.]]
* AndThisIsFor: "And '''this'''? '''This''' is for [[spoiler:'''Mr. Unknown.''']]"
* TheAntichrist: Assuming Batman is the Christ:
** Devil-Batman is initially implied to be this.
** Batman mentions having visions of his son Damian becoming the Anti-Antichrist in a possible future.
** It's later implied that the Heretic might be the real deal. His origins do seem strangely prophetic.
* ArcWelding: A particularly epic example, as everything from the origin of Vandal Savage to various wacky 1960s adventures are tied together as the work of [[spoiler: Darkseid's Hyper-Adaptor and its eventual host, Simon Hurt/Thomas Wayne. Several ideas from Morrison's ''JLA'' run also make a return here, such as their interpretation of the fifth dimension and the ArcWords of "Batman and Robin will never die!" being from there as well.]]
* ArcWords:
** "Zur En Arrh."
** [[spoiler:"Gotcha!"]]
** [[spoiler:"Batman and Robin will never die!"]]
** [[spoiler:"The Hole in Things"]]
* ArchEnemy: As the leader of the Leviathan Organization, [[spoiler:Comic/TaliaAlGhul]] is hoping to, through high grade enough evil, become Bruce's. [[spoiler:Damian's death]] puts the individual as high in the running, alongside [[spoiler:the Heretic]].
* AxCrazy: Flamingo can give the Joker a run for his money in this department. ''He literally eats faces''. Also Professor Pyg but again, Flamingo's got him beat.
* BackFromTheDead: ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul]]'', after Creator/GregRucka killed him off in ''Death and the Maidens''.
* BadassLongcoat: If Damian ever becomes Batman as he was portrayed in 666 and 700, he will forego the cape in favor of one of these.
* BadFuture: We see one in 666 and 700 where Damian has become Batman and Gotham is worse than ever.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: Averted by the Joker, who [[LampshadeHanging lampshades it]] [[MediumAwareness in the]] [[GenreSavvy process.]]
** Played straight much later on, with a radical new set of clothes.
* BatmanGambit: Of course. There are a few, but the one from ''Return of Bruce Wayne'' stands out. [[spoiler: Essentially everything after Bruce says "Trust me" to Superman in the second chapter and has his [[MemoryGambit memory wiped]] is a scheme to confuse Darkseid's Omega Adaptor into fixating on the wrong entity (one of the archivists from Vanishing Point who impersonates Bruce) so it can be brought back to the 21st century to be separated from him and dealt with by the Justice League. It's a BatmanGambit as Bruce has no idea how the JLA will deal with the adaptor, he just knows that they'll figure it out somehow.]]
* BatterUp:
** The main weapon of [[spoiler:[[PunnyName the Bat-Man]] of Zur-en-Arrh]] is an ordinary wooden baseball bat. And his loony enthusiasm.
** And [[ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest the Bat-Radia]]. Alright, [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus his three main weapons are...]]
* BatDeduction: Occurs in "The Butler Did It," where a flashback shows Batman and Robin figuring out that the Joker is going to attack a sea plane display...based on the Joker leaving them a playing card.
* BecomingTheMask: Alfred observes that as his crimefighting continued, Bruce eventually stops referring to Batman as his disguise.
%%* BigBad:
%%** Doctor Hurt for the Black Glove arc.
%%** [[spoiler:ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul]] for the Leviathan arc with Batman Incorporated.
* BigBadWannabe: Ultimately [[spoiler: Dr. Hurt and the Black Glove are this in the grand scheme of things. Joker calls them out on it while slaughtering the lot of them.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: The Club of Heroes for Robin, and Nightwing for Batman.]]
** "It's all over." The ''real'' [[spoiler:Bruce Wayne]] comes back!
* BilingualBonus: ''Batman Inc.'' #3 has ''whole narration boxes'' in Spanish.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Talia, Dr. Dedalus, the Heretic, and Leviathan as a whole have been destroyed, but Damian and Knight died in the process. Ra's al-Ghul has been freed from his prison and is setting to work reforming the League of Assassins, The Joker has reinvented himself and will continue to do so as long as he lives. Batman attempts to investigate Spyral, which will most likely result in nothing of real note, meaning that they'll all get away with their crimes[[note]]and will lead him to become desperate enough to send his olden surrogate son as a double agent later on[[/note]]. Dr. Hurt and the Black Glove have been defeated, Jason has redeemed himself in the eyes of the Bat-Family by temporarily acting as the new Wingman, and Squire takes on Knight's mantle. Kathy Kane is actually alive but she and Batman will never be together again. Batman Inc. go their separate ways having saved the world, but all feeling that the cost was too great. In the end Batman himself, though devastated by Damian's death, refuses to give up and sets to work protecting Gotham and the world once more being ready, willing, and able to save everyone... [[InspirationalMartyr except himself]].]]
* BodyHorror: The Dollotrons. First you get a mask that bonds ''irrevocably'' to your skin. Then, Pyg does... something to you (implied to be a form of lobotomy/[[spoiler:genital mutilation]]), leaving you looking and acting like a melted Kewpie doll. And Pyg thinks this is an ''improvement.''
* BookEnds: The first issue of the run begins with Batman trying to get back to normal as Bruce Wayne after an impostor Batman shoots the Joker in the face. The final issue of Morrison's run ends with [[spoiler:Bruce realizing he will never be able to stop being Batman after Kathy Kane shoots Talia in the head.]]
* BrattyHalfPint: Damian. Initially to the absolute point of being TheScrappy. He [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap gets better]] in ''Batman and Robin'' (he's less bratty, for one thing).
* BreakTheHaughty: Jason believed that his lethal brand of vigilante justice brought results and made him better than less ruthless crimefighters. Cue Flamingo.
* BrickJoke:
** Odd, reverse example - Dick occassionally complains how difficult crime fighting with a cape is. Guess what article of the original Batsuit Damian didn't include in the previously published 666th Batman issue?
** A more straightforward example where ''Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes! #1'' has Knight and Squire asking Batman about a rumor that he had a shrink ray. Later, Batman Japan tells Batman about a fellow superhero he has a crush on who is only a few inches tall...and asks for the shrink ray.
* BroadStrokes: A necessity as Morrison's run was concurrently running with the ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' and ''ComicBook/New52'' reboot. Much of the new developments and re-establishment of old Batman comic history had to be done away with or quietly ignored in order to line up with the ''New 52'' timeline, resulting in Oracle disappearing, Dick Grayson suddenly becoming Nightwing again, and all references to ''Final Crisis'' being incredibly vague.
* BuriedAlive: Towards the end of ''RIP'' the Club of Villains bury Batman alive. Unusually for this trope, their plan is to dig him up just ''after'' air has run out, thus leaving him alive but brain-damaged. He gets out (he's the Goddamn Batman) and he is '''PISSED.'''
* CallBack: The intro sequence of B&R #16 is one to Peter Milligan's ''Dark Knight, Dark City'' story.
* CameBackWrong: A serious case by the looks of it. [[spoiler:According to Superman, if Bruce returns to the 21st century on his own, EverybodyDies]]. [[spoiler:Although Superman [[IdiotBall was not exactly at his brightest]] during Bruce's absence and completely failed to consider that the Goddamn Batman might know what he was doing. Even after Bruce said "Trust me", Superman's reaction was to try to smash the time sphere being constructed around him and the other heroes.]]
* CanonImmigrant:
** [[spoiler:[[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond Terry McGinnis]]]], at least in a 'future' continuity of New Earth that may never be.
** [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-Zagged]] with Lord Death Man, a villain from Japan in ''Batman, Inc.'' While he is identified with [[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Batman_Vol_1_180 the earlier villain "Death Man,"]] he's far more closely based on the version who appeared in the 1960s licensed ''Manga/{{Batman}}'' manga, but had become a BreakoutVillain in the US fandom when selections of the manga were translated into English and published in the US in 2008. At the end of the second issue, after [[spoiler:Jiro has become Batman Japan]], we also see Professor Gorilla, another one of the original villains from the manga. (Who was also loosely based on a one-off villain from [[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Detective_Comics_Vol_1_339 an earlier American comic.]])
* CardCarryingVillain: Dr. Hurt and the rest of the Club of Villains. As the former put it, "[[MindRape What we are about to do will be a work of art.]]"
* CerebusRetcon: Applied to the Silver Age stories. Although they are brought back from CanonDiscontinuity status, they are done so in a darker light as they are associated with drug influence or resulting from Batman's containment experiment. Many scenes from the Silver Age comics are redone in darker and creepier ways (particularly the "Robin Dies at Dawn!" and the altered version of the Joe Chill story). It's especially evident in the revised origin and backstory for [[spoiler:the 1950s Batwoman]], now revealed to be [[spoiler:a master spy whose entire heroic career was an assignment to learn all of Batman's secrets]] and possibly [[spoiler:the daughter of an unrepentant Nazi war criminal]] It's a far cry from the early Silver Age innocence that the character usually signifies.
* CharacterDevelopment:
** Damian Wayne, who goes from being a whiny snot to a boy doing his best to live up to his father's legacy.
** Done more subtly and depressingly with Batman himself. Towards the end of "R.I.P." he seems exhilarated by the idea that he can confront the "ultimate evil" himself, and he openly acknowledges that he's often attracted to the evil in his more morally ambivalent or outright criminal lovers, confident in his ability to detach himself when he needs to as he does with [[spoiler:Jezebel Jet]].. After the FateWorseThanDeath he escapes in battle with [[spoiler:Darkseid]] and the horrifying personal and general CollateralDamage from his conflict with [[spoiler:Talia]], who sets out to be the ultimate villain specifically to [[spoiler:win his affections]], as well as learning the AwfulTruth about his previous romantic partner [[spoiler:Kathy Kane]], he seems to be more sadly resigned to his endless battle with evil and troubled by his romantic interest in "bad girls" by the end of ''Batman, Incorporated''.
** Jason Todd begins as an arrogant, trigger-happy AntiHero BlackSheep of the Bat-family [[spoiler:and ends the series as still an aloof asshole who likes to push buttons, but is generally overwhelmed by Bruce's continuing kindness towards him to finally try to leave behind his Red Hood days and prove himself a worthy addition to Batman Incorporated as the new Wingman.]]
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In another example of CerebusRetcon, this trope as it applies to the Joker is reworked into another element of his insanity, where he completely changes his personality every few years.
* ChekhovsArmory: Pretty much everything in his run, no matter how strange, comes into play/is tied together during or after R.I.P., among the most significant being the "Zur-En-Arrh" graffiti and the Bat-Radia. The Silver Age stories also could count as Chekhovs Guns that come into play when he brings them up.
* ChekhovsGun: ''Batman and Robin'' #15-16. Keep an eye on [[spoiler: the Joker's banana peel.]]
* CloningBlues: Tad hard to hate [[spoiler:Damian]] now, isn't it?
* TheComicallySerious: As usual Batman is stern, stoic, and unmoving contrasting him nicely with the more colorful members of Batman Inc.
* ConfrontingYourImposter: In the third issue of the [[spoiler:''Return of Bruce Wayne'']] miniseries, a time-displaced character washes up on a beach in 1718, and is taken for the notorious masked pirate whose ship has just been sunk. One of the characters gathered around narrates:
-->As for the stranger, of him I knew one sure thing only. He could not possibly be the Black Pirate.
* ContinuityPorn:
** Hey, remember all those old [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] stories where Batman visited other worlds? Well, it turns out those were all true (albeit actually hallucinations brought on by sensory deprivation).
** Also, Morrison manages to bring back the entire International Club of Heroes (sometimes known as the Batmen of All Nations).
* ContinuitySnarl: All of which seem to stem from Morrison's apparent uncertainty of whether or not their run has connections to the wider DC Universe.
** In ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'', Bruce Wayne's skull is dug up and transformed into a Black Lantern to invoke an emotional response in all of Batman's allies while Dick Grayson is busy attempting to ward off all the undead villains that are attacking Gotham. Meanwhile, in Morrison's run, the Blackest Night is apparently not happening in Gotham ''or'' in London as Grayson had transported Wayne's body (which is kept under Wayne Tower as opposed to the unmarked grave ''Blackest Night'' claims it is buried in) to the latter in an attempt to resurrect Batman using a Lazarus Pit. There's a throwaway ContinuityNod in which Batwoman expresses dismay that Grayson is "talking about raising the dead...after what the whole world's just been through." This still doesn't explain the Batman skull from the ''Blackest Knight'' tie-in miniseries, though and there are some complications with Damian being temporarily paralyzed in Morrison's series and running around with Batman in the ''Blackest Night'' tie-in.
** ''Batman'' #700, "Time and the Batman" features Chief O'Hara alongside Commissioner Gordon when they come to the aid of Batman, Robin, and Professor Nichols. The problem? Post-Crisis, the death of Chief O'Hara kicked off the events of ''ComicBook/DarkVictory'', his death being a full year before Dick became Robin.
** By the New 52, [[spoiler:Jason Todd is simultaneously running around as both the redeemed Red Hood and the working-to-be-redeemed Wingman II. Overall, Morrison seems to be pretending that ''ComicBook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws'' isn't happening.]]
* CoolOldGuy: Man-Of-Bats and Legionary are the oldest members of Batman Inc., but that doesn't make them any less badass.
* CoversAlwaysLie: The "Bat-Pilgrim", "Bat-Pirate", and "Bat-Detective" outfits that appear on the covers to ''The Return of Bruce Wayne'' #2, 3, and 5 don't actually appear in the story.
* CrazyPrepared: Batman has a backup personality in case of psychological attacks. Yes, a backup personality. Not wholly unheard of however: there was an earlier 00's Batman story where Bruce's brain responded with a pre-set trigger to forget he was Batman when Professor Strange tried to MindRape him into outing his secret identity.
* CurbStompBattle: Deathstroke vs. Batman, with Deathstroke on the receiving end. Twice. In the same issue.
* DeadMansHand: In the prologue, Batman speaks to The Joker in Arkham Asylum. The Joker taunts Batman with his upcoming destruction while dealing out aces and eights.
* DeathByOriginStory: Batman Inc. introduces two more characters with similarly tragic pasts to Batman. Mr. Unknown, the future Batman of Japan, took on the role after his friend and mentor was tortured and killed in a very gruesome manner. Batwing is a former child soldier from Congo whose parents died of AIDS when he was a boy.
* DecoyAntagonist: Otto Netz, aka Doctor Daedalus, had a lot of build up as the final boss of Morrison's run. He's not only a Nazi scientist, but has connections to El Gaucho, Professor Pyg ([[spoiler:he was their superior]]) and Kathy Kane ([[spoiler:he's her father]]) in the form of Leviathan's parent organization Spyral. He's also shown to be quite TheDreaded, several international heroes dying just to imprison him on an island, only for said island's entire environment to be under his control as well as having escaped long before Batman and his allies ever set foot on it. In spite of his age, his criminal genius has shown to nearly best Batman in terms of physicality and mentality, with only a [[spoiler:blade through his eye by Damian to truly end his threat once and for all. However, it would eventually turn out that he's not the true threat, as Talia al Ghul would be revealed as the series' final BigBad as well as the one aiding Netz with his endeavors.]]
* DesignatedGirlFight:
** Batwoman winds up taking on Scorpiana in ''Batman Inc.'' #5.
** Used much more darkly when [[spoiler:Kathy Kane]] abruptly and casually kills [[spoiler:Talia]].
* DoingItForTheArt:[[invoked]] To hear El Sombrero say it, this is the appeal behind creating complicated deathtraps - the potential for aesthetic appreciation. Plus the fact that compared to most criminals' brilliant plans of "shoot the guy, go to a strip club, do cocaine", they often ''are'' works of art.
* DontYouDarePityMe: [[spoiler: The reason Hurt wants to destroy Thomas and Martha Wayne's legacies - they dared to try to ''help him''.]]
* DoomedPredecessor: In the backstory, the British government sent a superhero team to the Maldives back during the Falkland War to try and prevent one of their former agents from using the war as a cover for his escape from prison. It didn't go well. Years later, Batman, Batwoman, El Gaucho, and the Hood travel to the same place to find the same operative, and come across the corpse of the Iron Lady, one of the members of the British team.
* DrivenToSuicide: In Batman 673, [[spoiler:this seems to be established as Joe Chill's latest canon fate; after stalking/tormenting Chill, Batman finally reveals his identity and then gives the depressed Chill the same handgun that he had used to kill Bruce's parents. The next page shows Batman stoically staring on with two gunshots being fired.]] Also, [[spoiler:winds up being Professor Carter Nichols' fate in Batman 700.]]
* EldritchAbomination:
** Darkseid in ''Final Crisis'', whose very presence is enough to bring about Earth's DarkestHour and potentially send all of reality into a dark oblivion.
** Darkseid's pet Hyper-Adapter. A time-travelling squid thing that torments Bruce Wayne in ''The Return of Bruce Wayne''. It's implied that the Hyper-Adapter is the reason Dr. Hurt and Vandal Savage were able to live beyond their mortal lifespans, simply by coming into contact with it.
** Mandrakk, the Vampire Monitor. An ancient entity that lives in the darkest depths of the universe, waiting for Darkseid to drag reality right into his open drooling maw.
** What the hell was that thing on Bat-Mite's back?
* EnemyMime: Pierrot Lunaire is a villain who dressed like a mime and even remains silent.
* EnfantTerrible: Damian, initially. Although both Bruce and Alfred can tell that most of his erratic initial behavior is pure bluster born of uncertainty, fear, and a desire to impress the father he never knew with how tough he is.
* EntertaininglyWrong: Batman concludes that the Joker's playing card suits were a reference to the red and black poisoned flower petals used against Batman during the climax. They weren't. The Joker was addressing Batman's skill at solving these kinds of things by providing a riddle with no answer. The Joker's crazy, you can't expect him to be honest all the time.
* TheEpic: A massive storyline that spans across the globe and across time; starting from the Dawn of Man to the heat death of the universe. And if we were to completely count all of ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', the story also spans the entire multiverse. Meta-wise, it grows in scale by incorporating '''''all''''' of Batman's history. Including Final Crisis in the metameaning, grows to encompass the nature of comic books themselves.
* EvilerThanThou: [[spoiler:Oberon Sexton]], a new vigilante who had earned Batman's (both of them) trust and been allowed into the batcave, [[spoiler: a man known to the common man as the Clown Prince of Crime]] is the one to take down Dr Hurt, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech whilst telling him why he's pathetic]] [[spoiler: all with a line of Dominoes and a smile.]] This was [[TemptingFate why Dr. Hurt told Oberon that he had a tendancy to engage foes he could not hope to defeat]].
* EvilVersusEvil: [[spoiler: The Joker]] of all people ends up helping Batman take down [[spoiler: Dr. Hurt and the Black Glove]].
* FaceHeelTurn:
** [[spoiler:Wingman]], who was once personally trained by Batman. [[spoiler:John Mayhew]] counts as well. [[spoiler:Jezebel Jet]] turned out to have been TheMole all along.
** Subverted with [[spoiler: El Gaucho, who pretends to betray Batman to Dr. Dedalus in order to sneak Batman an antidote for the poisonous gas Dedalus was hitting him with.]]
* FakeBrit[=/=]OohMeAccentsSlipping:[[InvokedTrope invoked]] [[spoiler: Oberon Sexton]]
%%ZCE* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: Kathy Kane]]
* FemmeFatale:
** Talia al Ghul, [[spoiler:Jezebel Jet]], Scorpiana, and arguably [[spoiler:Kathy Kane]] following the {{Retcon}} in the second volume of ''Batman, Incorporated''.
** St Hadrian's Finishing School For Girls, which is [[InvokedTrope designed to turn girls into this]].
* FlyingCar: Foreshadowed in one panel of ''Batman and Son'' when Damian pulls the tarp off an unfinished chassis; Used in ''Batman and Robin'' as Dick and Damian's main vehicle; and, based on interior art from the ''Batman Incorporated'' reboot, remains the main vehicle for the Dynamic Duo.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** The creation of Batman Inc. is foreshadowed from the ''beginning'' of the story, with Batman encountering multiple impostors to his name and wondering if there's a better way to strike terror into criminals.
** Much of the later "R.I.P." arc is foreshadowed with with the Joker prose story, "The Clown at Midnight," as are some elements of the ''Batman and Robin'' arc.
** Also in Batman 666, which introduced Professor Pyg and Flamingo long before their present-day debuts in ''Batman: Reborn''. Also in the same issue, Damian claims he was never as good as Bruce or Dick, implying that Dick would also become Batman.
** Damian's description of Oberon Sexton: [[spoiler: There's something funny about him.]] Additionally, there's Commissioner Gordon's introduction of him: [[spoiler:"His face was '''scarred''' by criminals who killed his '''wife''']], which is inadvertently MetaphoricallyTrue. And Sexton's own first on-panel dialogue: [[spoiler:"It seems we have a '''mutual''' interest in crime.]]
** Cassandra Cain's cameo in Fabian Nicieza's ''ComicBook/RedRobin'' #17 heavily foreshadowed her eventual involvement in Batman Inc., where Morrison made her into the Batman of Hong Kong in issue #6.
** [[spoiler: There was a portrait of Mordecai Wayne in Wayne Manor during R.I.P., which was actually a portrait of an amnesiac and time-lost Bruce.]]
** The minor [[TheReveal reveal]] that [[spoiler: El Penitente]] is [[spoiler: Simon Hurt]] is foreshadowed by his use of [[spoiler: inverted religious motifs, just as he did with his "AntiChrist Batman" the last time out. After all, he is a former Puritan turned pseudo-devil-worshipper.]]
** Batman's description of the "ultimate villain" in ''Batman'' #674 mentions this hypothetical foe possessing "access to allies, weapons, and tactics [Batman] couldn't imagine" as well as being "[a]n adversary whose plots and grand designs were so vast, so elaborate, that they went unnoticed." While this sets up the Black Glove and [[spoiler: Dr. Hurt]], it also sounds suspiciously like a description of [[spoiler: Darkseid, who turns out to be the Greater Scope Villain of Batman RIP and The Return of Bruce Wayne.]] Likewise, the devil imagery effectively sets up [[spoiler: the Religion of Crime, as well as Darkseid's traditional role as the archfiend of the DC Universe.]]
** At the end of "Batman R.I.P.", [[spoiler:the Joker]] bets against the Black Glove and on Batman, even making an argument that he fits the membership criteria for the organization [[spoiler:and killing one of the five members to free up a slot for himself.]] Much later in ''Batman and Robin,'' it's revealed that [[spoiler:the Joker, as Oberon Sexton, is essentially playing a murderous game of dominoes against Hurt from the first issue. And killing the remaining Black Glove members, making him the only person Hurt can play against.]]
** In "Batman R.I.P.," Bruce notes that he was attracted to "the bad in" [[spoiler:Jezebel Jet]] much as he was in women like Catwoman and Talia; this not only sets up [[spoiler:Talia]]'s motivation in ''Batman, Incorporated'', but also foreshadows the {{Retcon}} of [[spoiler:Kathy Kane]] in the same series.
* ForWantOfANail: "Last Rites" includes a scene where Alfred tells Bruce about his brief ponder about what could happen if it wasn't a bat that inspired him to become Batman. Possibilities included a moth, a snake, a curtain, and apparently just a skeleton because Alfred lost track of his thought process.
* FourthWallPsych: "NOW DO YOU GET IT!?"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:G - L]]
* {{Gayngster}}: Flamingo, with his pink outfit and flamboyant personality.
--> '''Damian:''' I was expecting scary, not gay
* GenreShift: ''The Return Of Bruce Wayne'' sees Bruce go through various settings and disguises as he emulates the tone and trappings of the pulp predecessors of the superhero genre (cavemen, pirates, cowboys, etc.) as he [[spoiler:is punted through time by the Hyper-Adapter.]]
* GildedCage: [[spoiler: After Talia usurps control of the League of Assassins and absorbs it into Leviathan, she puts her father under house arrest, locking him in a room that at very least is well stocked on books, has a chess set, and a panoramic view of the surrounding mountains. Ra's himself even admits it's not that bad.]]
* GrandTheftMe: Since Batman cremated Ra's al Ghul's body after his death in ''Death and the Maiden'', when his spirit comes back, he takes over a few bodies before [[spoiler: settling on Dusan, the son he disowned]].
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler: Darkseid. The Hyper Adapter which corrupted Thomas Wayne, Jr. and turned him into Dr. Hurt is Darkseid's creation. Mandrakk, a cosmic vampire, also counts.]]
* GreenEyedMonster: Wingman is extremely jealous of both Batman and the international superhero groups like the Justice League. [[spoiler: It ends up driving him into betraying Batman Inc.]]
** Bat-Mite makes fun of Batman hallucinating that he had superpowers in his imaginary Zurr-En-Arrh adventure, citing that his fantasy was probably due to repressed feelings of jealousy towards Superman's abilities.
* HealingSpring: Not only are the Lazarus Pits featured, but so is the Fountain of Life, a fountain in Nanda Parbat that Ra's al Ghul believes to be a prototype version of the Pits. It also helps restore Batman after the Sensei breaks him arm and blinds him.
%%ZCE* HeelFaceTurn: Issue 12.
* HighConcept: "The Return of Bruce Wayne" #6 has Red Robin do this for the entire Batman franchise.
-->'''Red Robin:''' Bruce, the ''Omega Effect'' took your ''memory''. But you're ''Bruce Wayne'' and you wear a ''disguise'' to frighten bad people, okay?
* HijackedByGanon:
** Doctor Hurt and Doctor Dedalus have both claimed credit for Professor Pyg's current status as a mad scientist villain.
** And the true mastermind behind Levithan turns out to be [[spoiler: Talia Al Ghul]].
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Deathstroke]], though to be fair, it wasn't technically his Petard. He still got his ass kicked though.
* HollywoodPsych: Lobotomies are a (now ''thoroughly'' disfavored) treatment for psychosis. A lobotomy will not turn a law-abiding family man into a cannibalistic assassin. That's actually just about the opposite of what it would do.
* HumanoidAbomination:
** Dr. Hurt and Talia both fancy themselves as avatars to Satanic deities who exist only to plunge humanity into ruin for the sake of it. You've got to wonder if they're telling the truth...
** The Joker treads into this territory after recovering from his injuries. His bodily fluids are now toxic.
* {{Hypocrite}}: In the final issue of ''Batman: Incorporated'', Talia al'Ghul sneers that Batman is a "pompous, posturing bastard". While a fair criticism, ''no one'' from the House of al'Ghul -- Talia included -- has much room to be criticising others on ''any'' of those counts.
* ICouldaBeenAContender: Played straight and subverted with the different members of the Batmen of All Nations; the team-up that could have propelled them to international repute ended up sputtering out after only two meetings. The members ended up reacting quite differently, running the spectrum of this trope; some, like El Gaucho and Man Of Bats, ended up thriving and being quite content operating within their local spheres of influence rather than as an international JLA-style powerhouse (and Man Of Bats actually prefers being a defender of the little guy). On the flip side of the coin, we have Wingman, who for all his over-compensating clearly suffers from this trope worst of all. [[spoiler: It's what prompts his FaceHeelTurn.]]
* InjunCountry: The stomping grounds of Man-Of-Bats and Raven Red, described by the latter as "America's own third world."
* ItsAWonderfulPlot: In "Last Rites", Bruce hallucinates a reality where his parents never died, and he grows up to be a bumbling mama's boy.
* JudgeJuryAndExecutioner: Red Hood's run as an AntiVillain is this, with him killing criminals left and right without any remorse. Unnervingly, half of Gotham citizens support his view, considering that their city is a WretchedHive filled with the criminally insane. [[spoiler: Thanks to this, the cartel sent the Flamingo to deal with him.]]
* KarmaHoudini: Doctor Hurt and the Black Glove are convinced that they're this, having enough power and influence to blackmail, bribe and threaten their way out of any possible punishment for their deeds. [[spoiler: They didn't count on Batman, the Joker and Talia Al Ghul, however.]]
--> '''[[spoiler: Jezebel Jet]]:''' There's nothing you can do, Bruce -- no court on the planet we can't buy, no judge or jury beyond threatening or bribing. There's ''you'' rich, down here. ''[Gestures]'' And then there's Black Glove rich. Oh! I'm just not tall enough.
* KickTheDog: The villain of the week in ''Batman, Inc.'' #7 is introduced in the act of literally kicking his dog. [[spoiler: Naturally it [[TheDogBitesBack bites back]] at the end, just in time to save Man-Of-Bats and Red Raven from getting shot dead.]]
* KilledOffForReal:
** [[spoiler:Knight, at the climax of The New 52's Batman Inc. #6, gets his neck snapped by [[TheDragon the Heretic]].]]
** [[spoiler: Damian Wayne in The New 52's Batman Inc. #8]]
* LampshadeHanging:
** The "The Butler Did It" two-parter pretty much has Bruce talk about how ''goddamn weird'' his Silver Age adventures with Dick were.
** Dick whines about the chore of having to fight in the flowing cape of the Batman costume.
* LargeHam: Professor Pyg was explicitly designed as one of these, to contrast with the never-speaking Flamingo. Also makes for an awful pun.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Batman R.I.P. includes a sequence where ThroughTheEyesOfMadness, the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh is able to see the "grids" that makes up Gotham City and its streets which created Batman. In other words, Batman is seeing the comic panel grids that Gotham and his world exists within.
* LegacyCharacter: Knight and Squire. The current Knight is the original Squire and the son of the original Knight. [[spoiler: History repeats itself after Knight dies fighting the Heretic, with Squire taking over as the new Knight.]]
* LegionOfDoom: The Club of Villains.
* LickingTheBlade: ComicBook/TheJoker does this to a knife when he confronts Batman at the end of ''R.I.P.'' [[spoiler:and he ''splits his tongue'' when he does so.]]
* LockedRoomMystery: Batman #700.
* TheLostLenore: Kathy Kane for Batman. [[spoiler: Except she isn't actually dead...]]
* LouisCypher: Doctor Hurt claims to be this.
* LukeIAmYourFather: Doctor Hurt at the conclusion of RIP. Bruce pretty much shrugs it off and even comes up with his own alternate theory. [[spoiler:While Hurt himself is definitely not Bruce's father, him being an incarnation of Darkseid's Hyper-Adapter, aka the Bat-God Barbatos, had inadvertently and retroactively cemented Batman's legend all across time, thus by technicality Hurt is indeed the father of Batman.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:M - R]]
* MadArtist: Professor Pyg who also qualifies as MadScientist.
-->"I'm an artist! I can't be expected to work on antipsychotics!"
%%ZCE* MagicalNegro: Honor Jackson... maybe...
* MeaningfulName:
** Oberon Sexton, "The Gravedigger." [[spoiler:Not only are Shakespearean Gravediggers also referred to as "Clowns", as mentioned below, but Oberon's the King of the Fairies, or, alternately, King of the Fey. Fey-king = Faking. [[ComicBook/TheJoker It's a joke, kids!]]]]
** Much earlier, Harley Quinn breaks into Arkham Asylum to break the Joker by pretending to be a psychiatrist named "Jane Wisakedjak". As Batman points immediately points out, Wisakedjak is an Algonquin trickster spirit. The joke is rather spoiled by the fact that there was a real psychiatrist of that name, and Harley simply killed her and stole her credentials.
%%ZCE* MindScrew: Both chemically and narratively.
* TheMole:
** [[spoiler:Hood, revealed at the end of the new Batman Inc. #7 as actually working for Spyral.]]
** Bruce initially suspects that Talia only sent Damain to live with him at the start of the run to disrupts his work. [[spoiler:He really isn't one, and is just desperate to please and know his father.]]
%%ZCE* MoralityPet: Inverted. Dick Grayson is this to Damian.
* MultipleChoicePast: Batman, Incorporated ends up with one owing to having to tell the same story over a continuity reboot that rendered it's original backstory unfeasable. Instead of Bruce announcing to the world that he has been secretly funding Batman and plans to go global with the "Brand", the New-52 origin is Bruce announcing the initiative to a group of investors in a private meeting.
* MythArc: Not apparent at first, but becomes a bit more clear around ''Batman, Inc.''.
* MythologyGag:
** There are numerous references to the famous scene of ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'' where Bruce decides on whether or not to call Alfred for help when the bat crashes in the window, implying that was the moment that man became legend. The tale of Barbatos and Hurt originated from the "Dark Knight, Dark City" arc in the ''Batman'' monthly.
** The Batcave West features mementos from past adventures of the Outsiders, including Black Lightning's afro mask and the costume of Dad from the Nuclear Family. There's also a giant penny with Simon Stagg's face on it, a gag on Joe Coyne's giant penny in the original Batcave.
** Many have speculated that Batwing owes his design to an ImagineSpot from the classic "The Batman Nobody Knows" story from the '70s.[[http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/6/62444/2315926-1807059_batmanafrica_super.jpg]]
** [[ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns Mutants]] also make an appearance in ''Batman Incorporated #1'', indecipherable slang and all.
** Referring to the 1989 ''Film/{{Batman|1989}}'' movie, Bruce publicly announces his "Batman Inc." program by saying, "A lot of people has asked, [[WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys 'Where does Batman get all those wonderful toys?']]..."
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Really, is anyone surprised a character named [[spoiler:Jezebel]] turned out to be evil?
* NeverFoundTheBody: Flamingo is still out there...
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Jason's violent and lethal methods of crime fighting causes the crime lord El Penitente to send up Flamingo, a nigh-unstoppable assassin who is known to eat human faces. For once, Jason is brutally beaten for his actions, and is arrested for murder and effectively bringing the gaudy lunatic to Gotham.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler: Dr. Hurt and the Black Glove end up bringing ''the Joker'' down on their heads. They don't last much longer after that.]]
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Three teachers at St. Hadrian's Finishing School for Girls, which is a school for female super villains and super spies, are unnamed expies of [[spoiler: Music/LadyGaga, Music/KatyPerry, and Music/{{Rihanna}}.]] The principal Ms. Hexley is an expy of [[spoiler: {{Music/Madonna}}]].
* NonIndicativeTitle: [[spoiler:Batman "dies" in ''Comicbook/FinalCrisis'', not ''Batman R.I.P.'', although the Club of Villains certainly ''think'' they killed him]].
* NotDisabledInVR: Barbara Gordon gets to be Batgirl again...in cyberspace.
%%ZCE* OffhandBackhand: Damian, to a ninja, while walking down a hallway.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Reinvigorated by his walkabout Post-ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis, Batman proceeded to utterly curb stomp crime in Gotham, both super and otherwise. It's never shown on-panel, which might be just as well since [[spoiler:a lot of it was facilitated by the Black Glove trying to lull him into a false sense of security.]]
* OhCrap: Hurt knows he's completely and utterly FUCKED when he sees [[spoiler:the trail of dominoes the Joker has set.]]
%%* OldSuperhero: The Legionary
%%* OnlySaneMan: Batman himself for Batman Inc.
* OnlyThePureOfHeart: The Fountaion of Life, which Ra's considers to be the source of the Lazarus Pit is one such artifact, as despite the Sensei being warned that he can't touch it and his intention to taint it, when he ends up in it during his fight with Batman, he's destroyed while Batman is healed of the injuries the Sensei inflicted on him.
* OutOfFocus:
** His run excludes a portion of Batman's supporting cast (particularly Oracle, Huntress, the police other than Gordon) as well as most of his rogues gallery (with the main exceptions being The Joker and Talia, as well as brief appearances by Harley and Langstrom) in favor of new characters as well as the characters being brought back from obscurity. Although on the flipside, most of the characters he ignores are covered in Paul Dini's Bat-books. This is a JustifiedTrope in that most of the RoguesGallery is in either [[BedlamHouse Arkham]] or prison.
** Subverted in Batman Inc., where most of the characters Morrison was accused of excluding have appeared. Oracle, Batgirl, Cassandra Cain, and Red Robin have all shown up in some capacity so far.
** Then played straight again - Batwoman, Oracle and Batgirl are all absent from the New 52's version of Batman Incorporated, though with the latter two it's kinda understandable.
* PetTheDog: The first thing we see Damian do as Batman in the BadFuture? Save a little girl from one of Professor Pyg's acid-spewing dollotrons.
* PocketProtector: In ''Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne'', an amnesiac Bruce Wayne wakes up in hospital; his life apparently having been saved from a bullet by Mordecai Wayne's journal he was carrying in his pocket.
* ProperlyParanoid: Man-Of-Bats has multiple run-ins with Sam Black-Elk, the son of his old archenemy, and is totally convinced that he's running the drug trade in the area and following in his father's footsteps. The truth is, if anything, even worse than that; [[spoiler: Sam's an agent of Leviathan, sent to kill off Man-Of-Bats and Red Raven.]]
* PureIsNotGood: The drug lord El Penitente goes through severe scourging to absolve himself of sin, cleansing his soul to pointedly free him to commit further atrocities. [[spoiler: Probably subverted when it turns out it's just another alias of Simon Hurt.]]
* RaceLift: There is a trio of obscure female Batman villains from back in the 1960's named Tiger Moth, Silken Spider, and Dragon Fly. In their first (and for several decades, ONLY) appearance, all three women were white. When they finally reappeared 40 years later during ''The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul'' storyline, Silken Spider was now shown to be black, while Dragon Fly was Asian-American.
* RealMenWearPink: Flamingo can take a lot of punishment in that flamboyant ensemble.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The Joker gleefully gives one to the Black Glove.
-->"I'll bet that you have no idea who you're dealing with."
* {{Reconstruction}}: A common theme of Morrison's. This is essentially meant to show that all of the goofier stuff (such as Silver Age stories and plot devices) can still be awesome if done right, and that Batman can be cool and entertaining even if he isn't a brooding grimdark AntiHero.
* RedeemingReplacement: The new Wingman, whoever he is, is one by design.[[spoiler: He's Jason Todd, the BackFromTheDead second Robin, who is simultaneously redeeming ''himself'' too.]]
* RedHerringShirt: During R.I.P., the "Bat-Radia" which the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh had turned out to have been more important than anyone thought. Previously in the arc, it was just thought as being another call back to UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}.
* {{Retraux}}: ''Batman'' #668 (from ''The Black Glove'') flashes back to a Silver Age art style, shoddy newsprint ink and all.
* TheReveal:
** ''The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul'' revealed that the Sensei was Ra's's father.
** You know what Gravediggers are also referred to in Shakespearean literature? [[spoiler: Clowns.]] Now what is old Oberon's real name again?
** After the Black Glove's escape from Arkham, it had been revealed that almost all of the core members were murdered over the course of several months. At first, we are lead to believe that it was due to the League of Assassins. As it turns out, not only was the League ''not'' responsible, all the murders had a striking similarity to them: [[spoiler:they were murdered in such a way that only the Joker would find them funny]].
** Doctor Hurt is [[spoiler:a result of Darkseid's fall through space and time prior to Final Crisis.]] More specifically, Doctor Hurt was [[spoiler: "Thomas Wayne", an 18th century ancestor of Bruce Wayne's who worshipped a Bat Devil known as "Barbatos". However, "Barbatos" turned out to be Darkseid's Omega Adaptor, which turned Thomas immortal and insane (moreso). Bruce's parents tried to help Hurt by putting him in Willowood Asylum (a reference to an old Silver Age story where Bruce has a brother, Thomas Wayne Jr, who went insane and had to be put in an asylum), but he didn't want their pity, so (after they were dead) Hurt arranged to tarnish their names and summon "Barbatos" again using a secret box that's said to bring about the end of the world when opened. What's inside the box, though? A batarang and a note that says "Gotcha".]]
** The Heretic, [[spoiler:Talia's]] {{Elite Mook|s}} in Batman Incorporated, is [[spoiler:a clone of Damian birthed inside of a whale.]]
* RevivalLoophole: Used in the final issue of ''The Return of Bruce Wayne'' -- Bruce Wayne has been imbued with dangerous Omega energies that will cling to him until he dies... you can see where this is going. (That's not all there is to it, though.)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:S - Z]]
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere:
** After a short but traumatic stint as a vigilante, [[spoiler: Scarlet takes the Red Hood's mobile headquarters]] and drives the hell away from Gotham, laughing at all the pain and misfortune that befell her during her time there.
** {{Subverted|Trope}}, actually, in that [[spoiler: Red Hood]] told [[spoiler: her]] to run.
* SequelHook:
** [[spoiler:After Knight is killed in action, a government official reminds the British Prime Minister that there's still a Lazarus Pit laying around somewhere in England as shown in ''Batman And Robin'', hinting that Knight has a chance to resurrect as well as Morrison giving future writers a backdoor if they aren't in the mood to use Beryl Hutchinson as the new Knight.]]
** [[spoiler:In the finale, Ra's al Ghul recovers Damian and Talia's bodies and begins cloning an army of Damians.]]
* ShipTease: Dark Ranger II and Squire get really flirty with each other and are mentioned to have been inseparable after their first exchange of communication. If they got together, ''Batman Inc.'' doesn't show it.
* ShooOutTheClowns:
** Occurs in-universe; Batman is so embarrassed by many of his sillier adventures that he hides away all evidence of them, only saying they occurred in the Black Casebook.
** Also, Bat-Mite (even though he's more creepy than comic relief in this depiction) leaves Batman before he enters Arkham for the big confrontation with Dr. Hurt.
* ShoutOut: A rather cruel use of the trope - Near the end of "The Revenge of the Red Hood", Jason Todd finds himself shot, unmasked, beaten and at the total mercy of a gaudily dressed psychopath. Said psycho has a LOVELLLLLLYYYYY smile by the way...
** Morrison has stated that they intended to leave as many Joker shout-outs in ''Batman and Robin'' as they could without being too obvious. At the end of the Pyg arc, Batman and Gordon meet to arrest the gang and Gordon states he wishes he could burn the circus base down to the ground. ''That's'' when you realize that the base Pyg used was the Joker Circus from ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke''.
** [[AnimalMotifs Scorpiana's]] distinctive fluted stinger-helmet might just be a coincidence, [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 or might not.]]
** Chris Sims, writer for Comics Alliance, host of War Rocket Ajax and "the world's foremost Batmanologist", makes an appearance in Batman Inc. #6 -- as a rotting corpse being eaten by Gotham City seagulls. Congrats Chris!
** The Swagman's armour is very clearly modelled on that of UsefulNotes/NedKelly.
** In Batman Inc. (vol. 2) #11, a Japanese villainess refers to a schoolgirl as "[[Franchise/SailorMoon Sailor Pizza Face]]".
** Batman Japan's post-ComicBook/New52 costume was explicitly inspired by that of the original Series/KamenRider, [[WordOfGod according to the artist]].
* ShroudedInMyth: One of the aspects of Batman, Inc. is bringing this facet of the Batman mythos to the fore -- Batman is now everywhere. He's black, he's white, he's a woman, he can fly, he's Bruce Wayne, he was never any one person... Bruce actually spreads these rumors himself on various chatrooms and message boards.
* SmallNameBigEgo: This may just be the ''least'' of Red Hood's problems.
* SmugSuper:
** Wingman and El Gaucho practically duel to see who gets to embody this trope; Wingman insists he came up with the "dark knight" persona before Batman did, while El Gaucho thinks Wingman is a scrub because he's never been mind controlled by a gorilla.
** Well maybe Wingman was. What El Gaucho was trying to say was that Wingman shouldn't look down on the Knight just because he's had some problems in the past... One of which just happened to be mind-controlled by a gorilla.
** Red Hood believed his was the next epoch in crime fighting. Then he got shot in the face.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The fandom seem torn between spelling the new Robin's name as Damian or Damien. Officially it's the former.
* SupermanStaysOutOfGotham:
** The events of ''Batman Incorporated'' has worldwide ramifications that sends Gotham into a state of anarchy and chaos that has deteriorated to the point of Batman becoming a wanted vigilante for the first time since his inception. Despite this, none of the Justice League, which Batman is a member of both before and during the New 52, seem to take notice and lend a hand.
** And before that, we have ''The Return of Bruce Wayne'', which averts this as it deals with the Justice League trying to figure out how to prevent Batman from destroying the universe. However, it plays it straight once more as ''Batman And Robin'''s "''Batman and Robin Must Die!''" arc is happening simultaneously as ''Return'' and the Justice League don't join Batman in taking back his city. After this, Morrison's run separates itself completely from the larger DC universe.
* TakeThat:
** "The Three Ghosts of Batman" and "RIP" seem to be a concerted TakeThat and [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of the dominant Creator/FrankMiller-inspired interpretation of Batman as just as mad as his enemies, and Bruce Wayne as a mask. Both stories show what a "Batman" without the compassion, determination and restraint of Bruce Wayne would be like, and it's reminiscent of ''Comicbook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder''.
** The Red Hood, who is laughably self-conscious about his branding as a Nineties Antihero.
*** The Wingman plays this role earlier, making it especially appropriate that [[spoiler:Jason Todd eventually atones by adopting and redeeming the Wingman identity as part of Batman, Inc.]]
** A vigilante with his own website? Unmasking your enemies live over the internet? Sounds like Jason's been reading far too much ''ComicBook/KickAss''.
** Dr. Hurt seems like a direct one at Hush. They both make themselves out to be these unstoppable forces of evil, with an astounding amount of control and money, [[spoiler: but Dr. Hurt turns out to be every bit as pathetic as most fans see Hush as when compared to Batman.]]
** Hurt's opinion of the Joker? That he has a KNACK for engaging foes he CANNOT defeat. [[spoiler:Hurt turns out to be wrong about this, like he is about pretty much everything else.]]
*** Hilariously turned on it's head when the Joker basically tells Hurt he and the Black Glove don't have a clue who they're dealing with when it comes to Batman, despite the fact the Glove have buried, straitjacketed and chained Bruce in six feet of dirt.
** The later issues of ''Batman Inc'' contain a heavy stream of Take Thats at DC, the New 52, and the very concept of StatusQuoIsGod, finally culminating in Talia telling Batman to just go back to beating up mental patients [[spoiler: before Kathy Kane, a character who hadn't appeared for decades, shoots her in the head.]]
* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: Red Hood poisons Blackgate Prison this way, with 82 confirmed dead and hundreds more in critical condition as part of his gambit to kill every inmate.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: The Hood and el Gaucho ''really'' don't like each other, due in no small part to the lasting enmity between Britain and Argentina
%%* TenLittleMurderVictims: "The Black Glove"
* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: The middle half of ''R.I.P'', which takes place from the perspective of "The Batman of Zurr-En-Arr", which appears to be Bruce's mind utterly snapping under the duress of his situation. [[spoiler: This is actually somewhat of a subversion, as it's revealed that Bruce created this "Zurr-En-Arr" personality as a backup in the event that his normal personality becomes "corrupted" somehow. Upon seeing Jezebel in danger, the personality releases control back onto Bruce, who tries to save her. ]]
* TongueTrauma: The Joker cuts his tongue in half during "Batman R.I.P.", giving it a forked appearance.
* TookALevelInBadass: The Batmen of All Nations. Most of them, though. The Knight and the Gaucho both qualify, given the Gaucho is considered an A-List superhero in Argentina and one of the most competent people at Mayhew's get-together. To drive this further home, the Gaucho saves Batman at one point, and Batman thanks him.
** The Musketeer actually retired from regular crime fighting after he wrote a book about his time in an insane asylum and made millions.
** The Ranger changed his name to Dark Ranger in order to keep up with the ever-changing underworld, although he points out that he did so out of necessity and doesn't come across as a typical nineties antihero. He's one of the more amicable and rational of those at the party.
** The Legionary let his city fall into the hands of Charlie Caligula and has let himself go badly. Instead he spends his time regaling himself on past victories when not stuffing his face or wallowing in misery. Though he does go out heroically.
** Wingman is the most pathetic of the bunch, given that he more resembles Batman now then did previously, and tells people that he thought of his crime fighting identity a year before Batman did. He also tries to assert his superiority over Batman in the others in a "casual" way.
** There's also Man-Of-Bats, who seems more down to Earth than the rest and comes to believe that, while most of the group perform heroic deeds, they're just men in costumes who were inspired by another man in costume to remake themselves. In ''Batman, Inc'' #7 we see out of costume he's a doctor on a reservation in South Dakota, but also spends most of his time in costume performing work for the community. Despite the seeming troubled relationship with his son/sidekick, Raven Red, the two genuinely love each other and whatever trouble they do have isn't as bad as when first presented.
** Beyond the Club of Heroes, there's also Morrison's reworking of Kathy Kane, the first Batwoman, in ''Batman Incorporated'' #4. Originally a circus stuntwoman who inherited money from a dead uncle and later becoming a token "girlfriend figure" for Batman, here, Kathy Kane (nee Web) was a stuntwoman, an underground film director, and an author before she married Nathan Kane. After he died, Kathy was approached by a representative of the spy organization called Spyral, and joined as part of an investigation into the life of Batman. Kathy legitimately fell in love with Batman and decided to quit Spyral after learning the organization was run by Otto Netz, a.k.a. Doctor Daedalus. [[spoiler: And is possibly her birth father. Kathy is still good, only now she's become the Headmistress of Spyral/Agent Zero and has been acting as a mole in Leviathan along with her young operatives. She ends up shooting Talia in the head.]]
** Really, Damian. From the start of Batman Incorporated pre-Flashpoint to the New 52's Batman Incorporated #7, he's [[spoiler: survived a gunshot wound to the head, did a short stint as the vigilante Redbird when he knew his mother was out for his blood, managed to keep hold of three lively pets without killing them, can imitate Bruce's voice well enough to foil Wayne Manor's vocal sensors, and can hack through most of the rest of Bats' security measures to keep him in the cave. All this from a kid who, despite his training, regularly got his ass handed to him by circus villains and Red Hood. As he states at the end of #7, "There really is no stopping me."]]
* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Made really obvious in ''Batman, Inc'' #6, in which Batman briefs his various allies on what's going on, but all the reader gets are the bits where he says "Listen carefully, I will say this only once..." or "... and now you know as much as I do", without any of the good stuff in between. Not to mention the bit where Batman and an ally are going over a plan that relies on nobody knowing the ally's identity -- including, apparently, the readers.
* VerbalTic: Bruce's "hh" carries over from Morrison's previous works, and Damian is shown to have a similar "tt".
* VictoryByEndurance: During ''The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul'', Batman foguht the Sensei, who had centuries more experience. Despite not landing a blow during the fight, the damage the Sensei did, and Sensei's taunt that he wouldn't last a minute, Batman manages to make the Sensei sweat and outlast him.
%%* VillainousBreakdown:
%%** Professor Pyg. "Sexy disco hot."
%%** Hurt suffers one during his total defeat in B&R #16.
%%* VillainousHarlequin: Pierrot Lunaire
* VitriolicBestBuds: Though they start out hating each other, Hood and El Gaucho develop into this.
* WeHaveReserves: Spine blasted to bits? That's okay, Damian's got a spare.
* WhamEpisode: Batman #680. Along with the FaceHeelTurn, Batman actually unmasks and reveals his secret identity to The Joker of all people. Joker doesn't seem to care about this and then starts indirectly addressing the audience.
** Honestly, though, ComicBook/TheJoker probably doesn't ''care'' who's under the mask or may be just crazy enough to forget about it anyway.
** The Joker pretty clearly already knew - and didn't give a damn.
*** In ''Arkham Asylum'' (also by Creator/GrantMorrison), the Joker makes it clear he doesn't care who's under the mask when the other inmates want to see Batman's real face, stating the mask ''is'' his real face.
** Batman #701-702: After resting for three days after his confrontation with Hurt in Batman R.I.P., Bruce finally ventures into the RoomFullOfCrazy hidden in Wayne Manor, with the names "Barbatos" and "Thomas" scribbled all over the walls.
** You think Darkseid just used the Omega Sanction on Bruce? WRONG. [[spoiler: After hitting Bruce with the Omega Sanction Darkseid pulls out the Ancestor Box which, as the box itself puts it: "It learns! It knows! It bonds! It lives to become the fate you can't escape! Omega is death that gives and gives forever. Omega ‘tailor makes’ an unbeatable ‘life trap’ just for you. It uses 'history’ to do it!”]]
** Aside from learning about the most important elements from RIP and Doctor Hurt, Bruce's narrative from RIP came from the beginning of BTROBW.
** Three consecutively in the New 52's Batman Inc.
*** #6 - [[spoiler:Knight gets his neck snapped by Talia's {{Elite Mook|s}} The Heretic, and Batman is captured by Leviathan.]]
*** Building upon the former point there, Batman Inc. #7 reveals [[spoiler:the Heretic is actually Damian's clone, shown at the end of Batman and Robin #12.]]
*** #8 - [[spoiler:The Heretic brutally murders Damian on Talia's orders, although later is revealed that she didn't order Damian's death. It was the impulse of her large, unstable Damian clone and her Leviathan goons. ]]
* WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys: [[spoiler: "[[InternalReveal Well, the answer is me.]]"]]
* WordSaladHorror: Professor Pyg. He's a somewhat more realistic depiction of insanity than most of Batman's foes in that most of what he says is complete gibberish.
--> "On Mondays it's Tiamat ''this'' and Tiamat ''that.'' Tohu va Bohu and ''boo-hoo-hoo.'' On Tuesdays the Gorgon Queen comes to visit, a thousand writhing ''snakes'' for hair. That's what it's like to grow upside down in a world where a ''hug'' is a ''crucifixion''..."
* YouHaveFailedMe: [[spoiler:Talia [[OffWithHisHead beheads]] the Heretic for daring to insinuate that she needs him after what she assumes to be his failures.]]
* YouMonster: [[spoiler: Ra's al Ghul, ''of all people'', says this to his daughter Talia after the events of Batman Inc # 8. However, he doesn't really seem to dislike her for it, even seeming [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame congratulatory]].]]
-->'''[[spoiler:Ra's al Ghul:]]''' You have become a monster at last.
[[/folder]]

----

->''[[ComicBookDeath Batman never dies]]. [[StatusQuoIsGod It never ends]]. [[TearJerker It probably never will]].''

** [[Hood, revealed at the end of the new Batman Inc. #7 as actually working for Spyral.]]

* [[ComicBook/BatmanAndRobin2009 ''Batman and Robin'']]

* ''Batman and Robin''

Yet being published in at least one, then two, book(s) continuously for 70 years presents two problems: (1) how to keep the character of Batman interesting and (2) how to keep the character from becoming too esoteric as time goes on. Batman, like most of the DCU, had at least two attempts to reconcile this, by first separating the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Batman from the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Batman and then later by partially rebooting Batman's history with the {{Crisis Crossover}}s of ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' and ''ComicBook/ZeroHour''.

[[Creator/DCComics Detective Comics]] published the first story of "The Bat-Man" in May of 1939, written by Bill Finger and illustrated by Bob Kane. In the years since then, Franchise/{{Batman}} has become one of DC's premier superheroes; along with Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/WonderWoman, Batman comprises a vital part of [[PowerTrio DC's Trinity]]. And in the decades that have followed his debut, the Caped Crusader has been influenced by a slew of great artists and writers; each having a unique interpretation of the character and a good number leaving a lasting impression on the Dark Knight and his world.

* AxCrazy: Flamingo can give the Joker a run for his money in this department. ''He literally eats faces''. Also Professor Pig but again, Flamingo's got him beat.

* BigBad:
** Doctor Hurt for the Black Glove arc.
** [[spoiler:ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul]] for the Leviathan arc with Batman Incorporated.

* ContinuityLockout: The run is famous for liberally referencing the wackiness of UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks; however, many of those comics have fallen into obscurity over the years. In an attempt to avert this trope, DC put out ''The Black Casebook'', a collection of several of those Silver Age comics, including the first appearances of the Batmen of All Nations and Bat-Mite.

* DesignatedGirlFight: Batwoman winds up taking on Scorpiana in ''Batman Inc.'' #5.

* [[spoiler: EvilerThanThou:]] Oberon Sexton, a new vigilante who had earned Batman's (both of them) trust and been allowed into the batcave, [[spoiler: a man known to the common man as the Clown Prince of Crime]] is the one to take down Dr Hurt, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech whilst telling him why he's pathetic]] [[spoiler: all with a line of Dominoes and a smile.]] This was [[TemptingFate why Dr. Hurt told Oberon that he had a tendancy to engage foes he could not hope to defeat]].

* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: Kathy Kane]]

** Damian's description of Oberon Sexton: [[spoiler: There's something funny about him.]] Additionally, there's Commissioner Gordon's introduction of him: [[spoiler:"His face was '''scarred''' by criminals who killed his '''wife''']], which is inadvertently TrueFromACertainPointOfView. And Sexton's own first on-panel dialogue: [[spoiler:"It seems we have a '''mutual''' interest in crime.]]

* ForWantOfANail: "Last Rites" includes a scene where Alfred tells Bruce about his brief ponder about what could happen if it wasn't a bat that inspired him to become Batman. Possibilities included a moth, a snake, a curtain, and apparently just a skeleton because Alfred lost track of his thought process.
* {{Gayngster}}: Flamingo, with his pink outfit and flamboyant personality
--> '''Damian:''' "I was expecting scary, not gay"

* HeelFaceTurn: Issue 12.

--> [[spoiler: Jezebel Jet]]: There's nothing you can do, Bruce -- no court on the planet we can't buy, no judge or jury beyond threatening or bribing. There's ''you'' rich, down here. ''[Gestures]'' And then there's Black Glove rich. Oh! I'm just not tall enough.

* MagicalNegro: Honor Jackson... maybe...

* MindScrew: Both chemically and narratively.
* TheMole: [[Hood, revealed at the end of the new Batman Inc. #7 as actually working for Spyral.]]

* MoralityPet: Inverted. Dick Grayson is this to Damian.

* NinetiesAntiHero: Red Hood is a deconstruction/parody of the trope.

* OffhandBackhand: Damian, to a ninja, while walking down a hallway.

* OldSuperhero: The Legionary
* OnlySaneMan: Batman himself for Batman Inc.

** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], actually, in that [[spoiler: Red Hood]] told [[spoiler: her]] to run.

** [[AnimalMotifs Scorpiana's]] distinctive fluted stinger-helmet might just be a coincidence, [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} or might not.]]

** Batman Japan's post-ComicBook/{{New 52}} costume was explicitly inspired by that of the original Series/KamenRider, [[WordOfGod according to the artist]].

* TenLittleMurderVictims: "The Black Glove"

* TongueTrauma: The Joker cuts his tongue in half during "Batman R.I.P.", giving it a forked appearance. In fact, it's currently the trope picture.

* VillainousBreakdown:
** Professor Pyg. "Sexy disco hot."
** Hurt suffers one during his total defeat in B&R #16.
* VillainousHarlequin: Pierrot Lunaire

->''[[ComicBookDeath Batman never dies]]. [[StatusQuoIsGod It never ends]]. [[{{Tearjerker}} It probably never will]].''

* AndTheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler:The final issue ends on an usually somber version of this. Talia is dead, Gotham is saved and Bruce sincerely wants to retire as Batman but that fantasy is short lived as Damian and Talia's graves have been robbed and Ra's Al Ghul seems to be mounting a new plan using Damian's clones. The last issue ends with the acknowledgement that Batman's mission will never end.]]
* AndThisIsFor: "And '''this'''? '''This''' is for [[spoiler: '''Mr. Unknown''']]"

** [[spoiler: "Gotcha!"]]
** [[spoiler: "Batman and Robin will never die!"]]
** [[spoiler: "The Hole in Things"]]

** The main weapon of the [[PunnyName Bat-Man]] of Zur-en-Arrh is an ordinary wooden baseball bat. And his loony enthusiasm.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Talia, Dr. Dedalus, the Heretic, and Leviathan as a whole have been destroyed, but Damian and Knight died in the process. Ra's al-Ghul has been freed from his prison and is setting to work reforming the League of Assassins, The Joker has reinvented himself and will continue to do so as long as he lives, and attempts to investigate Spyral will most likely result in nothing of real note, meaning that they'll all get away with their crimes[[note]]and will lead him to become desperate enough to send his olden surrogate son as a double agent later on[[/note]]. Dr. Hurt and the Black Glove have been defeated, Jason has redeemed himself in the eyes of the Bat-Family by temporarily acting as the new Wingman, and Squire takes on Knight's mantle. Kathy Kane is actually alive but her and Batman will never be together again. Batman Inc. go their separate ways having saved the world, but all feeling that the cost was too great. In the end Batman himself, though devastated by Damian's death, refuses to give up and sets to work protecting Gotham and the world once more being ready, willing, and able to save everyone... [[InspirationalMartyr except himself]].]]

* BookEnds: The first issue of the run begins with Batman trying to get back to normal as Bruce Wayne after an impostor Batman shoots the Joker in the face. The final, issue of Morrison's run ends with [[spoiler: Bruce realizing he will never be able to stop being Batman after Kathy Kane shoots Talia in the head.]]

* BuriedAlive: Tiwards the end of ''RIP'' the Club of Villains bury Batman alive. Unusually for this trope, their plan is to dig him up just ''after'' air has run out. Leaving him alive, but brain-damaged. He gets out (he's the Goddamn Batman) and he is '''pissed'''.

* CameBackWrong: A serious case by the looks of it. [[spoiler: According to Superman, if Bruce returns to the 21st century on his own, EverybodyDies]]. [[spoiler: Although Superman [[IdiotBall was not exactly at his brightest]] during Bruce's absence and completely failed to consider that the Goddamn Batman might know what he was doing. Even after Bruce said "Trust me", Superman's reaction was to try to smash the time sphere being constructed around him and the other heroes.]]

** Done more subtly and depressingly with Batman himself. Towards the end of "R.I.P." he seems exhilarated by the idea that he can confront the "ultimate evil" himself, and he openly acknowledges that he's often attracted to the evil in his more morally ambivalent or outright criminal lovers, confident in his ability to detach himself when he needs to as he does with [[spoiler:Jezebel Jet]].. After the FateWorseThanDeath he escapes in battle with [[spoiler:Darkseid]] and the horrifying personal and general CollateralDamage from his conflict with [[spoiler:Talia]], who sets out to be the ultimate villain specifically to [[spoiler:win his affections]], as well as learning the AwfulTruth about his previous romantic partner[[spoiler:Kathy Kane]], he seems to be more sadly resigned to his endless battle with evil and troubked by his romantic interest in "bad girls" by the end of ''Batman, Incorporated''.

* ArchEnemy: As the leader of the Leviathan Organization, [[spoiler:Talia]] is hoping to, through high grade enough evil, become Bruce's. [[spoiler:Damian's death]] puts the individual as high in the running, alongside [[spoiler:the Heretic]].

** [[spoiler:Talia al-Ghul]] for the Leviathan arc with Batman Incorporated.

* SequelHook: [[spoiler: In Morrison's finale issue, Ra's al Ghul recovers Damian and Talia's bodies and begins cloning an army of Damians.]]

Morrison has stated that he intends his work to be [[WordOfGod part of a series]], with [[WritingForTheTrade "four [collected] volumes and, if the cards are right, a fifth volume, a final volume"]]: His complete Batman run includes the following:

* AllThereInTheManual: ''The Black Casebook'', a collection of older stories which Morrison used to build his MythArc and which are referred to several times throughout the story. While not necessary to understand the events on what is going on per se, it can provide the proper context to the backstory of what Morrison is writing.

* ArcWelding: A particularly epic example, as everything from the origin of Vandal Savage to various wacky 1960s adventures are tied together as the work of [[spoiler: Darkseid's Hyper-Adaptor and its eventual host, Simon Hurt/Thomas Wayne. Several ideas from Morrison's ''JLA'' run also make a return here, such as his interpretation of the fifth dimension and the ArcWords of "Batman and Robin will never die!" being from there as well.]]

* ContinuitySnarl: All of which seem to stem from Morrison's apparent uncertainty of whether or not his run has connections to the wider DC Universe.

** Morrison has stated that he intended to leave as many Joker shout-outs in ''Batman and Robin'' as he could without being too obvious. At the end of the Pyg arc, Batman and Gordon meet to arrest the gang and Gordon states he wishes he could burn the circus base down to the ground. ''That's'' when you realize that the base Pyg used was the Joker Circus from ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke''.

* CharacterDevelopment: Damian Wayne, who goes from being a whiny snot to a boy doing his best to live up to his father's legacy.

* ContinuitySnarl:
** All of which seem to stem from Morrison's apparent uncertainty of whether or not his run has connections to the wider DC Universe. In ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'', Bruce Wayne's skull is dug up and transformed into a Black Lantern to invoke an emotional response in all of Batman's allies while Dick Grayson is busy attempting to ward off all the undead villains that are attacking Gotham. Meanwhile, in Morrison's run, the Blackest Night is apparently not happening in Gotham ''or'' in London as Grayson had transported Wayne's body (which is kept under Wayne Tower as opposed to the unmarked grave ''Blackest Night'' claims it is buried in) to the latter in an attempt to resurrect Batman using a Lazarus Pit. There's a throwaway ContinuityNod in which Batwoman expresses dismay that Grayson is "talking about raising the dead...after what the whole world's just been through." This still doesn't explain the Batman skull from the ''Blackest Knight'' tie-in miniseries, though and there are some complications with Damian being temporarily paralyzed in Morrison's series and running around with Batman in the ''Blackest Night'' tie-in.

* MultipleChoicePast: Batman, Incorporated ends up with one owing to having to tell the same story over a continuity reboot that rendered it's original backstory unfeasable. Instead of Bruce announcing to the world that he has been secretly funding Batman and plans to go global with the "Brand", the New-52 origin is Bruce annoncing the initiative to a group of investors in a private meeting.

* MindScrew

* [[spoiler:TheMole: Hood, revealed at the end of the new Batman Inc. #7 as actually working for Spyral.]]

* CerebusRetcon: Applied to the Silver Age stories. Although they are brought back from CanonDiscontinuity status, they are done so in a darker light as they are associated with drug influence or resulting from Batman's containment experiment. Many scenes from the Silver Age comics are redone in darker and creepier ways (particularly the "Robin Dies at Dawn!" and the altered version of the Joe Chill story). It;s especially evident in the revised origin and backstory for [[spoiler:the 1950s Batwoman]], now revealed to be [[spoiler:a master spy whose entire heroic career was an assignment to learn all of Batman's secrets]] and possibly [[spoiler:the daughter of an unrepentant Nazi war criminal]] It's a far cry from the early Silver Age innocence that the character usually signifies.

*** The Wingman plays this role earlier, making it especially appropriate that [[Jason Todd eventually atones by adopting and redeeming the Wingman identity as part of Batman, Inc.]]
** A vigilante with his own website? Unmasking your enemies live over the internet? Sounds like Jason's been reading far too much ComicBook/KickAss.