History DarkerAndEdgier / Batman

After many years of campiness due to the UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode, in the 70s and 80s Batman started getting dark and gritty again and his villains became much more brutal and sadistic (or returned to form in the case of ComicBook/TheJoker). Batman is currently one of the grittiest heroes you'll find with an emphasis on fear and a brutal fighting style, most of what he does stemming from what he views as his failures and an insanely violent RoguesGallery. Despite this, [[DarkIsNotEvil his strong moral integrity remains one of the most consistent in comics, movies and other media]].

* Indeed, UsefulNotes/{{The Dark Age|OfComicBooks}} was an instance of this for the entire American ComicBook medium.

* The WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies was aiming for older comic fans with it's is a line of "[[UsefulNotes/RestrictedRating R]]" animated movies, with most being lighter versions of their darker comicbook counterparts. Some expanded on the darker elements of the comics:

* In the '90s the ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} mantle was brought back after a decade's absence for[[ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2000}} Cassandra Cain]], a character who came complete with a much darker origin (she's a mute [[{{Tykebomb}} trained from birth to be an assassin]]) and a costume that wouldn't look out of place at a BDSM club. Fortunately, she was written well enough in her own series to not come off as ridiculous, in particular being one of the most moral and kindly members of the Bat-family despite her grim background and [[DarkIsNotEvil sinister look]].

* From ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily'', a number of people might laugh and say that Joker can't possibly achieve this trope at this point. They would be wrong, because his treatment of [[spoiler: Harley Quinn]] is even worse than it was before! [[KickTheSonOfABitch Though given who she is...]]

* [[ComicBook/{{Knightfall}} Bat-Azrael]] was a [[AntiHeroSubstitute darker, edgier, more brutish version of Batman]], created to show what makes the true Batman ''not'' a vigilante. However, DC was ready to keep Azrael as Batman, if it sold well enough. Newflash it didn't and he's dead and doesn’t exist.

* The WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies is a line of animated movies aimed for older comic fans. ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheKillingJoke''[[note]]which takes after the 20th Anniversary UpdatedRerelease in its more subdued coloring, Batman lacking the yellow oval around the batsymbol on his costume, and Joker crying TearsOfBlood during his first laugh[[/note]], ''WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamByGaslight'', ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDarkApokolipsWar'', and ''WesternAnimation/DCShowcaseBatmanDeathInTheFamily'' all got rated "[[UsefulNotes/RestrictedRating R]]".
** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanVsTheTeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' is the first animated ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' movie, as well as the first animated Nickelodeon movie, to be rated PG-13. There are a number of brutal moments in the movie including, but not limited to, [[spoiler:Shredder nailing a Foot Soldier in the head with a shuriken, Mr. Freeze's DisneyDeath, Leo's Scarecrow induced nightmare of his brothers dying as ''rotting corpses'', and Donatello's brutal arm shatter.]]

* Jason Todd: a thuggish, heavily armored Batman who guns criminals down with his [[GunsAkimbo pair of pistols]].

** ''Film/BatmanReturns'' compared to [[Film/Batman1989 the 1989 film]]. ''Batman Returns'' became so dark it becomes a StealthParody since Burton couldn't really replicate the feel of the original Batman books and his characterization of Batman almost completely removes his most notable trait: ThouShallNotKill.

** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanVsTheTeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' is the first animated ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' movie, as well as the first animated Nickelodeon movie, to be rated PG-13. There are a number of brutal moments in the movie including, but not limited to, [[spoiler:Shredder nailing a Foot Soldier in the head with a shuriken, Mr. Freeze's DisneyDeath, Leo's Scarecrow induced nightmare of his brothers dying as ''rotting corpses'', and Donatello's brutal arm shatter.]]

* In the '90s the ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} mantle was passed from Barbara Gordon to [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2000}} Cassandra Cain]], a character who came complete with a much darker origin (she's a mute [[{{Tykebomb}} trained from birth to be an assassin]]) and a costume that wouldn't look out of place at a BDSM club. Fortunately, she was written well enough in her own series to not come off as ridiculous, in particular being one of the most moral and kindly members of the Bat-family despite her grim background and [[DarkIsNotEvil sinister look]].

* ''Film/{{The Batman|2022}}'' is hands down the darkest live-action film so far, even topping ''Film/{{Joker|2019}}'' and ''Film/BatmanReturns''. Here, Batman is a brutal vigilante with a reputation as TheDreaded, both by the police and the criminal underworld of Gotham, and his TerrorHero shtick is basically turned UpToEleven, speaking in a [[SoftSpokenSadist hateful whisper]] not unlike Creator/MichaelKeaton, and his brutality is put on full display when he gives an unfortunate {{mook}} an incredibly brutal NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that scares the crap out of the criminals witnessing this. Also, there's the fact the film portrays ComicBook/TheRiddler, who's normally a LaughablyEvil yet NotSoHarmlessVillain, as an incredibly gruesome PsychopathicManchild SerialKiller in the vein of [[Film/Zodiac2007 the Zodiac Killer]] and [[Film/{{Se7en}} John Doe]]. And that's just the trailers.

** Darker still was its follow-up series, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', set in a gritty {{Cyberpunk}} future Gotham City. It was ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' UpToEleven: more mature stories, edgier violence, and an even bleaker tone. And to think the network originally wanted it to be a "kid-friendlier" Batman show.

* ''Film/{{The Batman|2022}}'' is hands down the darkest live-action film so far, even topping ''Film/{{Joker|2019}}'' and ''Film/BatmanReturns''. Here, Batman is a brutal vigilante with a reputation as TheDreaded, both by the police and the criminal underworld of Gotham, and his TerrorHero shtick is basically turned UpToEleven, speaking in a [[SoftSpokenSadist hateful whisper]] not unlike Creator/MichaelKeaton, and his brutality is put on full display when he gives an unfortunate {{mook}} an incredibly brutal NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that scares the crap out of the criminals witnessing this. Also, there's the fact the film portrays ComicBook/TheRiddler, who's normally a LaughablyEvil yet NotSoHarmlessVillain, as an incredibly gruesome PsychopathicManchild SerialKiller in the vein of [[Film/{{Zodiac}} the Zodiac Killer]] and [[Film/{{Se7en}} John Doe]]. And that's just the trailers.

* ''Film/{{The Batman|2022}}'' is without a doubt going to be a lot darker than any of the previous live-action films so far, even topping ''Film/{{Joker|2019}}'' and ''Film/BatmanReturns''. Here, Batman is a brutal vigilante with a reputation as TheDreaded, both by the police and the criminal underworld of Gotham, and his TerrorHero shtick is basically turned UpToEleven, speaking in a [[SoftSpokenSadist hateful whisper]] not unlike Creator/MichaelKeaton, and his brutality is put on full display when he gives an unfortunate {{mook}} an incredibly brutal NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that scares the crap out of the criminals witnessing this. Also, there's the fact the film portrays ComicBook/TheRiddler, who's normally a LaughablyEvil yet NotSoHarmlessVillain, as an incredibly gruesome PsychopathicManchild SerialKiller in the vein of [[Film/{{Zodiac}} the Zodiac Killer]] and [[Film/{{Se7en}} John Doe]].