History Comicbook / TheQuestion

* ARiddleWrappedInAMysteryInsideAnEnigma: Had his name, face and past erased, not only from his mind but from all of history for doing...something.

[[folder: Who is Vic Sage?]]

[[folder: Who is Renee Montoya?]]

[[folder: Who is The New 52 Question?]]
* AchievementInIgnorance: Due to the fact that he has no knowledge of his past sins, as well as a need to question everything, The Question is the only member of The Trinity of Sin that does not believe he was judged justly. [[spoiler: This allows him to break free of the subconsciously self-inflicted punishments of the Redemption Box.]]

* AmbiguouslyEvil: Right off the bat, we know he did something to earn a part in The Trinity of Sin. Also, during the creation of the trinity, he was the only member to act defiantly, vowing to rise up and take revenge on the wizards. As The Question, he has done some pretty questionable things, mostly involving backstabing the other members of the trinity, but also some unambiguously good things, such as saving a kidnapped child.

Renee Montoya made her film debut as a major character in ''Film/{{Birds of Prey|2020}}'', played by Rosie Perez, though she doesn't assume the identity of the Question during it.

Renee Montoya is set to make her film debut in ''Film/{{Birds of Prey|2020}}'', though her identity as the Question isn't yet confirmed.

As of the ''ComicBook/{{New 52}}'', the Question seems to have been completely reinvented, appearing in the Free Comic Book Day oneshot as one of the beings on the [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Rock of Eternity]], punished along with ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger and Pandora for undisclosed sins. His punishment is that his name and face will forever be forgotten; that's not a mask any more. Funnily enough, being supernaturally driven to uncover conspiracies and questions surrounding his own identity and various other nefarious goings-on actually puts his character in practice closer to the JLU version. Renee has also appeared in the ''New 52,'' but her tenure as The Question has been retconned and she's back in the GCPD. And Vic Sage has also been introduced as a character apparently unrelated to the unnamed Question, as Amanda Waller's boss in ''Comicbook/SuicideSquad''.

The Vic Sage incarnation of the Question made his post-[[ComicBook/{{DCRebirth}} Rebirth]] debut in ComicBook/ActionComics #1005, and has appeared several times since. And, as of ''ComicBook/LoisLane2019'' #1, so has the Renee Montoya incarnation of the Question.

Renee has appeared in the ''ComicBook/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' prequel comic, and was the main character in a ''Convergence'' mini series. She also had a brief appearance during a few issues of ''Detective Comics'' during the ComicBook/New52.

* HeroesWantRedheads: Myra, Vic Sage's love interest, was a redhead, and even Montoya has a history with the redheaded Kate Kane, the second ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}.

* ThouShaltNotKill: Zig-zagged at times, and mostly averted for both Questions despite their disgust of murderous criminals. Vic was originally highly against killing, often feeling very conflicted on how far to go in enforcing justice due to his own repeated temptation to kill criminals. His mentor Professor Rodor kept him from crossing that line, until he ended up killing to save the sister of his love interest. At some point [[ItGetsEasier it got easier]], as Vic kills again in the 1991 Brave and the Bold mini-series and the 2005 Question mini-series, but was implied to have a change of heart when he strongly advocates against murder in Huntress' mini-series. Montoya is agonized over the issue of killing criminals, even refusing to kill the murderer of her partner in the GCPD, but ends up killing a child suicide bomber later on and has a DespairEventHorizon after the fact.

* TokenMinority: After some complaints about the [[MonochromeCasting complete lack of minorities]] in the ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'', author Creator/GailSimone confirmed that she would be use Renee as a guest start in a storyline.

The Vic Sage incarnation of the character made his post-[[ComicBook/{{DCRebirth}} Rebirth]] debut in ComicBook/ActionComics #1005, and has appeared several times since.

* TokenMinority: After some [[InternetBackdraft complaints]] about the [[MonochromeCasting complete lack of minorities]] in the ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'', author Creator/GailSimone confirmed that she would be use Renee as a guest start in a storyline.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/question_9.jpg]]

The Vic Sage Question also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'' voiced by Creator/JeffreyCombs in which he was a [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan favorite]]. Indeed, while Question had been around for decades before JLU, it was his appearances there that skyrocketed his popularity amongst comics fans. He also appeared as minor character in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' voiced by Nicholas Guest but had a larger role in the spinoff film, ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndBatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', where he was again voiced by Combs.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/question.png]]

The Vic Sage Question also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' voiced by Creator/JeffreyCombs in which he was a [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan favorite]]. Indeed, while Question had been around for decades before JLU, it was his appearances there that skyrocketed his popularity amongst comics fans. He also appeared as minor character in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' voiced by Nicholas Guest but had a larger role in the spinoff film, ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndBatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', where he was again voiced by Combs.

* SwordOverHead: In one memorable scene, the Question warns a hoodlum about to drop an innocent off of a very tall building. "Drop her and you're going straight after her." The unfortunate innocent is dropped: the Question rushes the thug and leaves him hanging by his finger-tips over certain death. Question: "I told you what would happen if you dropped her, didn't I? (waves)... Bye." He then walks away, only to turn back seconds later and pull the thug to safety. However, he then delivers a CrowningMomentOfAwesome as he pummels the tar out of the now tearfully-grateful thug: "Just one thing: don't THANK me. Don't EVER thank me." He then walks off, musing to himself, "I'll never be played by Chuck Norris. Or Charles Bronson."

->''"I will gather evidence -- document every foul lie. I will forge my manifesto. My challenge to any free mind that may find it. Like a note in a bottle. Cast into the ocean. [...] The mind of man must be reclaimed -- if not by this generation or by the next, then some day. Some decade. It is not in my power to effect the change. I haven't the might. I am not the answer. I am only the Question."''

The Vic Sage Question also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', in which he was a [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan favorite]]. Indeed, while Question had been around for decades before JLU, it was his appearances there that skyrocketed his popularity amongst comics fans.

The Vic Sage Question also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'', in which he was a [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan favorite]]. Indeed, while Question had been around for decades before JLU, it was his appearances there that skyrocketed his popularity amongst comics fans.

* AdaptationalSexuality: The comics' character is a lesbian, whereas mentioned below, the SeriesBible originally intended to have had a dead husband as part of Montoya's backstory in ''B: TAS''.

A classic ComicBook/{{CharltonComics}} character created by Creator/SteveDitko who later [[CanonInvasion migrated]] over to [[Franchise/TheDCU DC]]. The Question first appeared in the backpages of ''Blue Beetle'' vol. 5 #1 (June, 1967). Vic Sage was a television reporter for [[WretchedHive Hub City]] [[note]] the considerably less corrupt "Crown City" in the original Charlton comics[[/note]] when he was visited by his friend and former professor Aristotle "Tot" Rodor, who had invented an artificial skin he called "pseudoderm." Unfortunately, Tot had discovered that pseudoderm occasionally became toxic when exposed to open wounds and he decided not to produce or distribute the material. His partner decided to continue to manufacture pseudoderm anyway and, to stop him, Tot provided a "mask" of pseudoderm to Vic to use in his investigations. Thus the Question was born.

A classic ComicBook/{{Charlton|Comics}} character created by Creator/SteveDitko who later [[CanonInvasion migrated]] over to [[Franchise/TheDCU DC]]. The Question first appeared in the backpages of ''Blue Beetle'' vol. 5 #1 (June, 1967). Vic Sage was a television reporter for [[WretchedHive Hub City]] [[note]] the considerably less corrupt "Crown City" in the original Charlton comics[[/note]] when he was visited by his friend and former professor Aristotle "Tot" Rodor, who had invented an artificial skin he called "pseudoderm." Unfortunately, Tot had discovered that pseudoderm occasionally became toxic when exposed to open wounds and he decided not to produce or distribute the material. His partner decided to continue to manufacture pseudoderm anyway and, to stop him, Tot provided a "mask" of pseudoderm to Vic to use in his investigations. Thus the Question was born.

* DependingOnTheWriter: Sage's characterization depends a lot on the writer. Steve Ditko wrote him as an abrasive Objectivist vigilante, Denny O'Neil had him mellow into a Zen-like investigator, In "The Dark Knight Strikes Again" Frank Miller wrote him as a libertarian anti-government conspiracy theorist, while in "52" he was enigmatic and fatalistic, but not particularly committed to any philosophy.

--> -- '''Richard Dragon''' to Renee Montoya (The Question II), ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo''

In the beginning of Dennis O'Neil's series the Question is viciously beaten by Comicbook/LadyShiva, then shot in the head with a pellet gun and [[LeftForDead left for dead]]. Shiva, however, deeply respects him enough to rescue him, taking him to train with Richard Dragon, who also provides him with a new Eastern philosophical outlook that gives him a more nuanced morality. When he returns to Hub City he finds his old flame Myra is now married to the drunken mayor and [[BadCopIncompetentCop the crime is worse than ever]]. O'Neil's series has mostly been collected into six trade paperbacks.[[note]]Only the quarterly issues and the annuals remain uncollected.[[/note]]