Line #57 ComicBook/DarkNightsDeathMetal


1	[[quoteright:450:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dark_knights_death_metal_002_1207165.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:450:''[[{{Tagline}} Ready for the Encore?!]]'']]
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4	''Dark Nights: Death Metal'' is a summer 2020 crossover event for Franchise/DCComics written by Creator/ScottSnyder and illustrated by Greg Capullo. Perpetua and The Batman Who Laughs have taken over the multiverse, ruling over everything with an iron fist. Now, [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} the]] [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Tri]][[ComicBook/WonderWoman nity]] must reunite and overthrow her and her army of corrupted horrors.
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6	The series is a sequel to ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'' and follows the events of ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague2018'' and ''ComicBook/DCYearOfTheVillain'', as well as incorporating the ramifications of ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'', showing that Dr. Manhattan's essence has bonded to the fabric of the DC Multiverse, and thus is exploited by the Dark Knights.
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8	When the event ended, it was followed by ''ComicBook/DCFutureState'', which showed a vision of a possible future created after the event. The ComicBook/DCInfiniteFrontier initiative followed the event proper, with a full-scale relaunch of DC's titles.
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10	The event also received an official MotionComic on DC's Website/YouTube channel called "[[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYq7H1T5SzMfkV0kEkTXMfn-4FjfsOvef Sonic Metalverse]]", with their own (DeathMetal) soundtrack and the voices of Creator/DavidHasselhoff as Superman, Creator/AndyBiersack as Batman and Music/ChelseaWolfe as Wonder Woman. The production is directed by Tyler Bates (composer of ''Film/ThreeHundred'', ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy\|2014}}'', ''Film/{{Slither}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Primal\|2019}}'') himself.
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12	----
13	!!The series has the following Tropes:
14	* {{Allegory}}: Whilst LeaningOnTheFourthWall heavily with regards to its own narrative is pretty much a feature of DC Crisis-like storylines, this story goes overboard with the literal manifestations of meta-narrative concepts.
15	** The entire battle for the future of the multiverse is eventually framed as a conflict between 'Crisis Energy' and 'Anti-Crisis Energy'. Crisis energy is the urge to live in the moment, to make single, pivotal decisions that will impact everything irrevocably. Anti-Crisis energy represents the generational, historical and moral ties that bind beings to each other and themselves. That these are literal manifestations of the conflicting urges that comic book writers have when tasked with revitalising a property (Do we throw everything away in favour of a new, bold direction or appeal to the rich history and build on themes from a time when the property was more beloved?) isn't hard to see.
16	** Perpetua herself is a representation of the authors who were responsible, with her aim being to create 'A multiverse with no memory, that would live forever in a self-renewing loop of its own importance'. Her species, the Hands, an allegory for both the executives of comic publishers and the readers themselves, who were dissatisfied with her endless crises, imprisoned her in the Source Wall, remade everything and allowed the universe to continue without interference. Perpetua's greatest fear is that her own kind will eventually erase everything for good, and so she causes the great Crises of the DC universe and is responsible for many of the shifts that changed it irrevocably and resulted in characters, settings and established histories being substantially changed. She believes that whilst her endless escalation of the multiversal conflicts and crises may be bad for the multiverse's inhabitants, she ultimately sees it as necessary to stave off their ultimate extinction. Again, easy to see as an allegory for the American comic book industry as a whole, trying desperately to constantly reinvent itself for new audiences whilst retaining the iconic characters and histories that older fans and the wider media recognise.
17	* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:In issue #4, Diana is able to persuade ComicBook/SuperboyPrime to take a chance on them saving the multiverse and channel the Crisis Energy into the Mobius Chair, but it turns out the Darkest Knight had ''already'' prepared for this and had modified the Mobius Chair enough to funnel that power to him, allowing him to create his "Last 52" multiverse.]]
18	* AllianceOfAlternates: The event begins with Perpetua having taken over the Earth using an ''army'' of evil Batmen from the Dark Multiverse recruited by the Batman Who Laughs.
19	* AllPowerfulBystander: [[spoiler:The Chronicler is a being sent by The Source of the Omniverse to chronicle everything that happens within a Multiverse, but isn't supposed to intervene.]]
20	* ArcWelding:
21	** Wally West’s info dump in the opening issue not only expands on Perpetua’s malign and subtle influence during ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'', but also more explicitly ties the events of that story to the events of ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', ''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'', ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', and ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''.
22	** Doctor Manhattan’s actions during ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'' are also tied into the plot and [retconned] as an attempt at repairing damage the Perpetua wrought to the DCU Multiverse.
23	* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler:It is said that Wonder Woman does this as part of her sacrifice to restore reality.]]
24	* AuthorAppeal:
25	** As the DC Rebirth-era ''Flash'' writer, Joshua Williamson unsurprisingly has custodianship of the Flash-centric ''Speed Metal'' one-shot. Ironically, James Tynion was actually originally intended to write it before Williamson (who realized he could use it as a coda for his ''Flash'' run).
26	** Geoff Johns likewise returns to co-write the ''Secret Origin'' one-shot and once more chronicle the (mis)adventures of his favorite Meta chew toy (i.e. Superboy-Prime).
27	* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:The Chronicler resurrects Metron, who was killed by Doctor Manhattan at the end of ''Darkseid War'', to get another perspective on the multiverse.]]
28	* BackForTheFinale: As ''Death Metal'' is the sequel of ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'' (and the climax of the overrearching Myth Arc it kicked off), Greg Capullo, inker Jonathan Glapion, and colorist FCO Plascencia all return on creative duties.
29	* BadassAdorable: [[ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew Captain Carrot]] reappears as a member of Justice Incarnate fighting to evacuate as many people as he can amidst Perpetua's onslaught. Despite his fluffy and cartoony appearance, he's still his universe's equivalent of Superman and kicks just as much ass as his more humanoid compatriots.
30	* BadassBiker: To go with the whole Post-Apocalyptic world created by Perpetua and the Batman Who Laughs, Batman rides in a skeletal Bat-Cycle.
31	* BadWithTheBone: In a radioactive wasteland, Harley encounters a hulked out mutant Captain Boomerang that has a rib cage growing upwards out of his back. He breaks off the ribs to use as boomerangs.
32	* BetrayalInsurance: Perpetua's insurance policy to prevent the Batman Who Laughs from backstabbing her. She ''knows'' he's untrustworthy, but she ''also'' correctly reminds him that she's the only thing shielding the DC Multiverse from the Omniverse. Kill her and the Judges of the Source will finally become aware she's escaped from the Source Wall. They'll them descend upon the DC Multiverse and destroy both it and the Batman Who Laughs in the process. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, she doesn't realize until it's too late that the Batman Who Laughs ''wanted'' this outcome. He was just biding his time and waiting for certain conditions to be fulfilled.]]
33	* BigBadassBattleSequence: ''The Last 52: War of the Multiverses'' features the heroes and villains all fighting together against the Darkest Knight and his army.
34	* BigBadEnsemble: The Batman who Laughs and Perpetua.
35	* BigDamnHeroes: Issue #5 [[spoiler:Lex Luthor and the flying Hall of Doom arrive just in time to save the Justice League from Castle Bat.]]
36	* BitingTheHandHumor: Creator/GarthEnnis's Bat-Baby short story (consisting of a Batman who arranges for his mind to be transplanted into a new body after death, only to wind up in the body of a helpless infant and left lying on the ground crying), which is basically Ennis taking the piss out of the event's entire idea and conceit to deliver his signature irreverent humor based on his hatred of superheroes.
37	* BoyishShortHair: Instead of her signature pigtails, Harley Quinn has a buzz cut, and it's dyed red and black.
38	* CameBackStrong: [[spoiler:The Darkest Knight is the Batman Who Laughs, as while Laughs is technically dead, his brain is in a new, ''much'' more threatening body.]]
39	* TheCameo:
40	** Various evil (or at least morally ambiguous) versions of the Justice League from across DC Comics' history appear in panels and sidecomics. ''Multiverse's End'' has Justice Incarnate defeat [[ComicBook/TheMultiversity Overman, the Nazi Superman of Earth-10]], the Justice League of Vampires of Earth-43, and [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague the Justice Lords of Earth-50]].
41	** ''The Last Stories of the Multiverse'' features a veritable army of ComicBook/TeenTitans members gathered, including ones who haven't reappeared since Flashpoint.
42	* CanonWelding: The first issue uses the phrase "The Presence, of the Source", implying that DC's representation of the [[ComicBook/TheSandman1989 God]] of [[ComicBook/{{Lucifer}} Judeo-Christian faith]] is the same entity as the Source the ComicBook/NewGods revere, thus tying the cosmology of the mainline DCU and that of Creator/VertigoComics, which are technically in the same universe, but are usually kept separate.
43	* ChekhovsGun: The notion of an energy released by the various Crises the multiverse has gone through was established as part of a villain's plot in ''The Flash'' a few months prior.
44	* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: In the ''Rise of the New Gods'' one-shot, [[spoiler:Metron explains to the Chronicler that the DCU is built off of belief, with even the Source being shaped by the New Gods' belief. With an emissary from the greater Omniverse becoming a believer in this multiverse's stories, even if it dies, he has ensured its stories will live on forever in the Omniverse and possibly even make it real again.]]
45	* ContinuityNod: Among the many things the Batman Who Laughs sees in his glimpse of the Dark Multiverse is Murder Machine killing the New 52-era Teen Titans. Might also count as a TakeThat, given the unpopularity of that run.
46	* ContinuitySnarl:
47	** The first issue has Bruce create a bunch of zombies using a Black Lantern ring, who then have personalities. The Black Lantern rings don't work that way -- the rings reanimate the body ''wearing'' them and they approximate a personality but don't legitimately bring back the dead person or give the wearer resurrection abilities. It's [[spoiler:later revealed that Bruce ''is'' dead]], but that has its own issue, namely that he ''is'' meant to be [[spoiler:a resurrected Bruce and not an approximation of his personality]], replacing one snarl with another.
48	** Wally asks Jay if he remembers him, and Jay says he'll "never forget [Wally] again". While it's possible he was just bantering -- even though it would be a weird thing to joke about given Wally's rough last couple of years -- it doesn't seem that way. The thing is...Jay never forgot Wally. In Jay's first post-Rebirth appearance, when he showed up in "The Button", he brought Wally up to Barry almost immediately.
49	** The Darkfather threatens Batman with the gun that Darkseid himself used to send him back in time back in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''. Except Darkseid never used that gun on Batman and it was his Omega Beams that sent him back. Scott Snyder has stated it was an error on his part and it will be fixed in the collection.
50	** In ''Multiverse's End'', Overman calls Guy Gardner a sub-human and is seen fighting alongside a Nazi Plastic Man. This is in deep contrast with Overman’s characterization in ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity'' where he didn’t agree to Nazi ideology and the 2018 ''Freedon Fighters'' series that had the Nazi Plastic Men eliminated.
51	** ''Speed Metal'' had Wally and Barry express the statement that Wally was ''always'' in Barry's shadow, and that he had ''only just'' came to terms with his passing and surpassed him as the Flash right before Barry's return. While it's right about the other issues (Wally being sidelined by Barry's return), Wally came to terms with Barry's death and surpassed him back in ''1992'' in ''ComicBook/TheReturnOfBarryAllen'', five years after Barry's disappearance and seventeen years before Barry returned. ComicBookTime aside, Wally spent more time being his own man, creating his own mark and legacy, than he did chasing Barry's legacy.
52	** In Issue #4, Barry Allen is shown leading the three Flashes on their run from the Darkest Knight in both Sgt. Rock's narration and after they already retrieved the Mobius Chair, when ''Speed Metal'' established that ''Wally'' would be leading them from this point forward. Jay is also depicted as older and drained when in ''Speed Metal'' he was rejuvenated when the Flashes were corrupted and after exiting the Speedforce.
53	* CoolCrown: Wonder Woman wears one instead of her regular tiara. The Batman Who Laughs has also added onto his visor, making it one.
54	* CrapsackWorld: While the time it has lasted isn't clear, the world created by Perpetua and the Batman Who Laughs is a barren wasteland inhabited by corrupted versions of villains, constantly patrolled by different Batmen while Perpetua destroys the Multiverse one universe at a time.
55	* DancePartyEnding: [[spoiler: Like ''Metal'', the story ends with the heroes having a party.]]
56	* ADayInTheLimelight: ''The Last Stories of the DC Universe'' and ''The Last 52: War of the Multiverses'' focus on various DC characters before and during the final battle. Hell, even the Penguin gets a moment to shine.
57	* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:Bruce admits to Diana that he has been dead since their first battle against Perpetua and that's how he's been using a Black Lantern ring. Clark also admits that he doesn't think he can go back to normal after being exposed for so long to the Omega Energy by Darkfather.]]
58	* DeathEqualsRedemption: [[spoiler:Superboy-Prime sacrifices himself to damage the Darkest Knight so badly that his Dark Multiverse is destroyed. As thanks, he is resurrected back on ''his'' Earth-Prime as if it hadn't been lost to the Crisis, given his own Krypto and discovers his powers are still there, thus he has a new story to be told.]]
59	* DeathIsCheap:
60	** Discussed. In ''Multiverse's End'', John Stewart reveals to Owlman that he's not the first incarnation of him, as several versions of him have been killed over the years in various crises in the past. [[spoiler:This elates Owlman, shattering his nihilism because he now has a purpose: to be the original and perpetual EvilCounterpart of Batman. Owlman then proceeds to turn on Perpetua and the Rainbow Batman Corps, detonating Earth-3 to destroy the latter, secure in his knowledge that he's too good of an idea to let die and will be reborn when the multiverse is saved.]]
61	** In the same comic, Captain Carrot and the other members of Justice Incarnate mourn their worlds, hoping that their friends and loved ones who didn't escape will be revived when their realities are restored after the current crisis.
62	* DecoyProtagonist: While Dark Multiverse Batmen are still the main threat, Batman isn't really the main focus of this sequel; Wonder Woman is.
63	* DivineConflict: This occurs between the Darkest Knight and Perpetua in ''Rise of the New God''. [[spoiler:The Darkest Knight wins, killing Perpetua]].
64	* DopeSlap: Jay Garrick to both Barry and Wally when they start arguing about their next course of action in ''Speed Metal''.
65	* EarnYourHappyEnding:
66	** This is the way ''Speed Metal'' is portrayed. After coming back without his family in ''Rebirth'' and the traumatic events of ''Heroes in Crisis'', Wally gets to hold his own as the Flash once more, save the Flash Family, reunite with Linda, Irey and Jai before being handed leadership of the Family by Barry.
67	** This is how ''Secret Origin'' ends: [[spoiler:Superboy-Prime delivers a vicious punch to the Darkest Night, sacrificing his dreams and his life to save the multiverse and causing the Dark Multiverse to die. However, he is revived back on Earth-Prime, Laurie alive and well, with his own dog and still powered with his world none-the-wiser to his old villainous descent.]]
68	* EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Openly defied at the end of the series. [[spoiler: Due to the multiverse being rebuilt and time being untwined, two new powerful sources of energy has been created within planets. Martian Manhunter believes that one of them may be an Earth, which he calls "[[ShoutOut the Elseworld]]". As a result of this, Prime Earth is rechristened as "Earth-0".]]
69	* EarthShatteringKaboom:
70	** This is the inevitable result when Perpetua's forces come knocking on the door of a universe. In ''Multiverse's End'', Justice Incarnate isn't trying to save the world so much as save as many people as they can before the explosion.
71	** But on Earth-3, the kaboom is triggered by [[spoiler:none other than Owlman, who does it to wipe out the Rainbow Batman Corp, secure in his knowledge that he'll be revived as the perpetual EvilCounterpart of Batman while the other "stupid ideas" of the Dark Multiverse will cease to exist.]]
72	* EnemyMine: Issue #5 sees [[spoiler:the Justice League team up with the Legion of Doom along with every remaining hero and villain against the onslaught of the Darkest Knight and his own multiverse.]]
73	* EnfantTerrible: The Robin King is a young psychotic Bruce Wayne who is responsible for his own parents' murders.
74	* EverybodyLives: [[spoiler: According to Hawkgirl, not only did those who fought in the final battle be resurrected by the events of the Multiverse's rebirth, numerous other people have been noted to have been resurrected as well, though who exactly hasn't been revealed.]]
75	* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: During ''Speed Metal'', the Batman Who Laughs unleashes a horde of evil alternate Flashes. Most of them seem to be undead.
76	* ExplainExplainOhCrap: When Kill-All, the Last Sun, battles Luthor, he notes that his armor is powered by a black hole engine and that one wrong hit would cause it to collapse on itself. [[spoiler: He only realizes too late that that is ''exactly'' [[TakingYouWithMe what Luthor plans on]]]].
77	* TheFinalTemptation: [[spoiler:The Darkest Knight offers to restore the multiverse to an ideal state and destroy the Hands of Fate if Wonder Woman submits, informing her of the uncertain fate that were to lie ahead should she triumph. [[HeroicWillpower She refuses.]]]]
78	* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: [[spoiler:Wonder Woman meets with one of Perpetua’s kind, who takes up the form of Wonder Woman herself, in her Golden Age look.]]
79	* FullyAbsorbedFinale:
80	** The ''Speed Metal'' one-shot ends up being one for Joshua Williamson's ''Flash'' run (or at the very least, a coda for the character arcs and plot threads that weren't resolved by his ''Finish Line'' finale, which was deliberately released the same week as ''Speed Metal'').
81	** The ''Secret Origin'' one-shot is one for Geoff Johns' Superboy-Prime, concluding his arc that had begun 15 years earlier during ''Infinite Crisis''.
82	* GoKartingWithBowser: ''Last Stories of the Multiverse'' shows that, with the high possibility of death for everyone, heroes and villains are okay with hanging out with each other in the meantime, like Tim Drake playing cards with Magpie, Killer Croc and Despero. Mammoth, Gizmo and Shimmer are also seen hanging out with their usual foes the Titans.
83	* GodhoodSeeker: As shown in ''Legends of the Dark Knights'' in his story "I Am Here," this is the Darkest Knight's true goal. He wants to be not a reactionary idea like Batman, but the cause for ''others'' to change. [[spoiler:He succeeds at becoming a god, but does not accomplish his goal of becoming the reaction.]]
84	-->'''The Darkest Knight:''' Batman has always been a ''reactionary'' idea. [[DeathByOriginStory He was born in response to those gunshots in the alley.]] And just as he is a reaction, so too are the twisted Batmen of the dark. Even the most dominant is ''still'' a reaction to some fear that has shaped him, built him into a newer, crueler incarnation, perfectly designed to overcome it. Now, understand this, I know that I am ''not'' a Batman of any kind. Not a Batman Who Laughs, not a Batmanhattan, not even a culmination of all dark Batmen. I am more. And to be more, I must not be a reaction. I must be the thing that ''creates'' the reaction. I will be the ''bullet''. The multiverse will be the ''dark alley''. And its worlds will fall like ''pearls'' before me.
85	* GoldenSuperMode: [[spoiler:Wonder Woman shines gold when she finally channels the power of the Anti-Crisis Energy.]]
86	* GrandFinale:
87	** For the Perpetua/Dark Multiverse Myth Arc that Snyder began with ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'' and continued into his ''[[ComicBook/JusticeLeague2018 Justice League]]'' run.
88	** On a Meta level, it's also the end of Snyder and Capullo's decade-long tenure at DC Comics. While Snyder would later co-write ''Infinite Frontier'' #0 (which serves as a coda for ''Death Metal''), the old New 52 Batman creative team left DC after the event for creator-owned projects at Substack.
89	* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: ''Secret Origin'': [[spoiler:Superboy-Prime decides to take on the Darkest Knight head on and ultimately sacrifices himself to give the heroes and villains a fighting chance. However, since they think Prime took off as a chicken, they have no idea who did it except for Krypto, who was there for Prime's sacrifice.]]
90	* HesBack: In ''Speed Metal'', Wally West retakes his place as the central Flash, cemented by him briefly returning to his classic suit. He re-dons the Blue "Manhattan" suit when he re-absorbs Crisis Energy, but Barry is now following ''his'' lead and the rest of the Flash Family are right behind him.
91	* HoldingBackThePhlebotinum: As a result of Perpetua's takeover of the multiverse and destruction of most of the worlds, the Speed Force has almost been "used up", which limits how fast the Flashes can go.
92	* HorrorHost: The ''Multiverse Who Laughs'' one-shot consists of an anthology of tales about the Dark Multiverse, which has the Robin King introduce the reader to the horrific stories in a prologue titled "Scary Stories to Tell in the Multiverse".
93	* HorseOfADifferentColor: Harley Quinn rides a huge ''Hyena''. Its name is George.
94	* HumanoidAbomination:
95	** [[spoiler:While The Batman Who Laughs had always skirted that line, as soon as he's revived using Bat-Manhattan's body, he can certainly be classified as one as he changes his name to the '''Darkest Knight'''.]]
96	** [[spoiler:It's implied, and later confirmed, that ''prime'' Bruce Wayne is actually DeadAllAlong and is just using a Black Lantern ring to stay in the fight. At first his use of a Black Lantern ring seems to be ContinuitySnarl as it's not supposed to reanimate anyone but the wearer, but this proves to be foreshadowing, with other hints being dropped until Bruce finally admits to Diana he's already dead.]]
97	* TheJailer: The Batman Who Laughs forces Wonder Woman to serve as the jailer for his super-villain prison built on the ashes of a destroyed Themyscira.
98	* JokerImmunity: Lampshaded and borderline ''weaponized'' by Owlman [[spoiler: who sacrifices himself to take out Baby Batman and the Rainbow Lanterns. He has no fear of death because he's completely confident that he'll always live as long as Batman exists and needs an evil mirror counterpart. His enemies, on the other hand, aren't classic characters. They're gimmicky side-villains who will be KilledOffForReal because they aren't popular or known enough for fans and writers to want or care about their resurrections. And he's ''right''.]]
99	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
100	** When Wally West appears, he says if he could take back what he did -- referring to ''Heroes in Crisis'' where he accidentally killed a bunch of people and then framed people for it, in what ''many'' readers found to have been ''extremely'' out of character -- he would, and that he just wants to "be ''me''" again. It feels very much like Scott Snyder is taking a jab at ''Heroes in Crisis'' and DC's treatment of Wally in general.[[note]]For reference, Scott Snyder has expressed in the past that Wally West is his favourite Flash[[/note]]
101	*** In ''Speed Metal'', Wally's narration talks about how, after he was rescued from the Speed Force, he just wandered uncertainly, did things he would never do and when it seemed that he had an idea to fix things, something else stopped him. This is easily taking jabs at Wally's mistreatment since ''DC Universe Rebirth'' #1 and the abandoned "5G" plan.
102	*** Also in ''Speed Metal'', Batman Who Laughs, when taunting Wally and the Flashes, asks "is it true a Flash has to die every Crisis?" which is almost a ''direct'' jab at Creator/DanDiDio (who, according to Creator/TomKing, claimed this was the case to justify making Wally West the killer in ''Heroes in Crisis'').
103	** The Batman Who Laughs' speech when he first appears in the story, meeting up with the Justice League members and their respective Dark Knight handlers, can be read as a TakeThatAudience at readers who have gotten tired of the character but still read the story:
104	--->'''Batman Who Laughs:''' Oh, I know, I know, "You again? We're so sick of you." Yet here you are...because deep down you love it, don't you? Being bad with me.
105	** Wonder Woman lays out their plan to restart the DC Multiverse with Wally, she justifies the plan to an unsure collection of heroes by pointing out how terribly off the rails their multiverse has developed, which is ''ostensibly'' just talking about what Perpetua and the Batman Who Laughs have done, but it's also easy to read this as a jab at the New 52 line in general, and the less-then-stellar audience reception it's had.
106	** In ''Multiverse's End'', as [[spoiler:Owlman]] is laying a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech onto Baby Batman (see TakingYouWithMe), [[spoiler:he says that he always returns because he's too good of an idea to be permanently killed off while Dark Multiverse Batmen are dumb ideas and will not be remembered, which is likely a reference to how Owlman always manages to return in some shape or form after he is killed in a storyline he is featured in and/or a form of SelfDeprecation regarding the conception of the dark Batmen as one-off characters]].
107	** In Issue #4, Diana has to talk down Superboy-Prime and his desire to "protect who they were". It's quite obvious that Prime is being used as the desire for fans to just stick to the old days and just not change. He ultimately sides with her.
108	** Robin King always has a feeling he's being watched and he's hoping they're cheering him on. Hell, in ''Scary Stories to tell in the Dark Multiverse'', he addresses the readers directly.
109	** At one point Superboy Prime notes that the CrisisCrossover is simultaneously a rehash of stories that have been told better in the past ''and'' so confusing that he can no longer track what's going on, to the point where he no longer cares. This can be read as him as a proxy for burnt-out or overly-critical fans, but it can also be read as an upfront criticism of the problems with doing massive, repeated crisis crossovers and trying to hype each one as a unique world-changing event.
110	* LickedByTheDog: Everyone is convinced that Superboy Prime is still a villain and treats him like a pariah. Everyone except Krypto, who plays with him and [[spoiler: mourns his loss.]]
111	* LiteralSplitPersonality: The Batman Who Laughs' corpse is reanimated as a Black Lantern.
112	* MeaningfulEcho: When Wonder Woman [[spoiler:appears channeling the power of the Anti-Crisis Energy at the end of issue #6]], she says "I'm right here", echoing the Batman Who Laughs and the original team of Dark Knights from ''Dark Nights: Metal'' when they first appeared.
113	* MechanicalAnimals: One of the alternate Batmen is the robotic T-Rex from the Batcave that's had Bruce's consciousness transferred into it.
114	* MesACrowd: Wonder Woman takes an entire battalion of [[spoiler:Lobos]] to enter the Rock of Eternity.
115	* MirrorMatch:
116	** In ''Multiverse's End'', Calvin Ellis (President Superman) and Maria Mendoza (''Just Imagine'' Wonder Woman) fight the Earth 3 incarnations of Superman and Wonder Woman.
117	** The same in Lobo's one-shot when he battles his Batman equivalent the Batman Who Frags.
118	** Many examples in ''The Last 52: War of the Multiverses'', including the JSA fighting Nazi versions of themselves.
119	* MotionComic: The event received an AdaptationDistillation as an official motion comic released on DC's [=YouTube=] channel with famous stars as {{voice actor}}s and a DeathMetal soundtrack of its own.
120	** CreatorCameo: Snyder and Capullo were part of the voice actors of the motion comic too, making the voices of ComicBook/SgtRock and Robin King respectively.
121	* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: [[spoiler:The Batman Who Laughs]] after being killed at the start of the event, sets in motion his true plan, which involves several more evil Batmen from across the Dark Multiverse.
122	* NarratorAllAlong: Issue 7 reveals that the Narrator is actually [[spoiler: Sgt. Rock writing in Hawkman's journal before all of the memories of the battle disappear and he returns to being a normal World War II fighting vet.]]
123	* NeutralNoLonger: [[spoiler:Metron and The Chronicler choose to stop being just {{The Watcher}}s and actually help the Multiverse to continue to exist.]]
124	* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands:
125	** The Darkest Knight somehow gains superspeed thanks to having Dr. Manhattan powers, and is able to keep up with the Flashes. Manhattan himself didn't even have this, even with ''his'' unexplained new powers, in ''Doomsday Clock''.
126	* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
127	** [[spoiler: Wonder Woman's decision to murder the Batman Who Laughs allows him to set off his plan. Batman himself points out what a dumb idea it was.]]
128	** ''Death Metal'' #5 reveals that each of the Crisis events was this on a multiversal scale -- as it turns out, Crisis energy, what they were using to "fix" Crisis events, was made with fear of the truth.
129	* ThePollyanna: Subverted. Captain Carrot seems to be this, encouraging Kid Flash and reminding her how important it is that they're still able to fight even after trillions upon trillions have died to Perpetua's rampage. But in a moment of privacy he breaks down in tears over losing his universe and all of his friends to Perpetua's forces.
130	* QuantityVsQuality: Unlike the original Dark Knights, the newly introduced Batmen are more numerous, but also less powerful, and seemingly less competent.
131	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Besides the one given by Owlman (see TakingYouWithMe), the Darkest Knight lays onto Perpetua before he kills her.
132	-->'''The Darkest Knight:''' Your power is nearly gone. But just for fun, I've got one last surprise for you. These fragments...do you recognize them? They're parts of the Source Wall, the structure the Hands imprisoned you inside for eons.
133	-->'''Perpetua:''' No! All I wanted was to evolve your kind! To make you strong and-- (gets interrupted as she is BoundAndGagged by the fragments) mmph!
134	-->'''The Darkest Knight:''' I ''know'' what you wanted. [[DisappointedByTheMotive But all you gods, you fail to understand us at your most fundamental level]]. Beings like you, you see humanity, see our dark instincts...[[MessianicArchetype and you try to save us]]. But the mistake ''all'' of you make is thinking that we ''[[EvilFeelsGood want]]'' to be saved, rather than ''[[TheUnfettered unleashed]]''. The big secret, the truth, is that in the end it's ''you'' gods [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters who want to be saved from us]]. So die knowing this: we look at you, all you who beg to our better angels...[[PreMortemOneLiner and we laugh]]. (he punches the fragments with Perpetua inside)
135	* RestoredMyFaithInHumanity: [[spoiler:Wonder Woman's act of refusing the Darkest Knight's offer inspires the Hands of Fate to restore the multiverse.]]
136	* {{Retcon}}: ''Multiverse's End'' reveals that Perpetua was behind the villains in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', ''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'', ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' and ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'', as each Crisis-level event inflicted cracks on the Source Wall that eventually allowed her to escape.
137	* SelfDeprecation: The event seems to like taking jabs at itself.
138	** In ''Speed Metal'', Wally West races the Darkest Knight (the Batman Who Laughs) to the Mobius Chair, and ends the whole thing by calling him "the Batman Who Tries Too Hard", which is a common criticism of the character.
139	** Similarly, Owlman takes a jab at the entire concept of the Dark Multiverse Batmen in ''Multiverse's End'', saying that they're forgettable while he's the true evil Batman.
140	* ShoutOut:
141	** One of the alternate Batmen appears to be a [[ComicBook/JudgeDredd Judge]].
142	** When Poison Ivy comes out from her jail cell and despairs that the surface has become a scorched wasteland, the panel mirrors a similar scene with Furiosa in ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad''.
143	** A Dark Multiverse Beast Boy is morphed into the form of a [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Displacer Beast]].
144	* SinisterScythe: Batman wields a scythe for the event.
145	* SoleSurvivor: The new Justice Incarnate is made up of the sole survivors of different universes.
146	** Captain Carrot is the only surviving member of the Zoo Crew, and while he keeps a stiff upper lip as long as he can, he finds himself breaking down in tears and wishing he could have done more to save his friends and his universe.
147	** Iris West II, the Kid Flash of the ''Kingdom Come'' universe, is the last survivor of her world and is ''not'' in a good place during ''Multiverse's End''.
148	** Calvin Ellis, a.k.a. President Superman, is the last survivor from Earth 23 in addition to being the last Son of Krypton from his universe, so he pulls double duty.
149	** Maria Mendoza is the last survivor of Earth 6.
150	* StrikeMeDown: Diana's decision to [[spoiler: bisect the Batman Who Laughs with a laser chainsaw]] seems to make sense at the time, as there seems to be no hope for a victory that doesn't end in his death. This is immediately lampshaded as a Very Bad Idea by the other heroes, particularly Batman, who is so used to the One Who Laughs and his ridiculously CrazyPrepared {{Xanatos Gambit}}s (he is a twisted version of Bruce Wayne, after all) that he all but assumes that the One Who Laughs used his death as part of a grander scheme and will almost immediately return in an even more powerful and dangerous form to taunt and then slaughter everyone. He is proven right almost immediately, as [[spoiler:the Batman Who Laughs has his minions place his brain into a body with [[FromBadToWorse the omnipotent and omniscient powers of Dr. Manhattan]].]]
151	* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: After being TheHeavy for most of the Dark Multiverse stories The Batman Who Laughs is apparently destroyed by Wonder Woman at the end of the first issue of ''Death Metal''. [[spoiler:Subverted, as [[ThanatosGambit he planned on this anyway]].]]
152	* TakeThat:
153	** Crossing with LeaningOnTheFourthWall, but the event is ''not'' shy about taking pot-shots at former editor Dan [=DiDio=] and the DarkerAndEdgier era of DC that he enforced. They straight up have the Darkest Knight ''quote the man'' in his dialogue when taunting Wally West, with audience sympathy clearly meant to be rested on Wally.
154	** A lot of characters from the Dark Multiverse and [[spoiler:the Last 52 Multiverse created by the Darkest Knight]] appear to be jabs at concepts or events reviled by fans; for example, a version of Wally West that became a bloodthirsty killer is introduced as a jab to the prime Wally West's [[ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis accidental murder of Roy Harper and many other heroes]].
155	-->'''Barry''' (''to a Dark Multiverse version of the [[ComicBook/FlashForward Doctor Manhattan, Mobius Chair-empowered Wally West]]''): You're not Wally...you're just a ''bad idea!''
156	* TakingYouWithMe:
157	** Pulled by Owlman in the ''Multiverse's End'' one-shot. He is locked in combat with the [[ItMakesSenseInContext evil baby Batman]], who gloats that he lost by siding with the heroes, only for [[spoiler:Owlman to flash a [[SlasherSmile wicked grin]] as he kills off the Rainbow Batman Corps with a detonator]] before laying a ReasonYouSuckSpeech onto the evil baby and destroying the tower planted by Perpetua on Earth-3, causing both to go up in flames.
158	---> '''Baby Batman''': Stop ''smiling''. You're about to ''die''. You don't get to ''enjoy'' it!
159	--->'''Owlman''': [[ShutUpHannibal Yes I do]]. You see...[[YouCannotKillAnIdea I'm going to live forever. As long as there's a Batman in this Multiverse, there will be an Owlman]]. His ''true'' [[EvilCounterpart dark reflection]]. I'm too ''good'' an ''idea''. But you...you evil baby Batman from the Dark Multiverse, with your stupid Rainbow Batmen? You're a ''dumb'' idea. And ''nobody'' is going to remember you.
160	** [[spoiler:Lex Luthor pulls this on Last Sun near the end of the final battle by activating the self-destruct mechanism on his mech suit, unleashing the black hole that powers it and killing Last Sun]].
161	* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Hawkgirl sure as hell doesn't want to work with Lex Luthor because of his past dealings with Perpetua. Cyborg and Starfire share the sentiment, even though Luthor is willing to enter an EnemyMine situation with the Justice League.
162	* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler:The Batman Who Laughs uses his death at Wonder Woman's hands to have others insert his brain into the Final Bruce Wayne, giving him immense cosmic power.]]
163	* TookALevelInBadass: The Bat-Baby story in ''Legends of the Dark Knights'' by Creator/GarthEnnis was basically a spiteful jab by Ennis himself at being brought on to contribute to a genre he infamously despised. That didn't stop Creator/JamesTynionIV from turning the baby into the ArcVillain for ''Metaverse's End'' as well as effectively use him to give out a biting monologue from Owlman concerning other evil Batmen.
164	* VillainousBreakdown: The Darkest Knight is reduced to begging for his life when Wonder Woman overpowers him in the finale, until he is annihilated in the Sun.
165	-->'''Darkest Knight:''' This is your ''last'' chance, Diana. We can still win. You can't create worlds from your energy but I ''can''. I'll kill the ''[[PowersThatBe hands]]'' and give everyone an Eden...[[AintTooProudToBeg It doesn't have to end this way!]]
166	* WhamEpisode: Issue 2 [[spoiler:reveals that not only has the Batman Who Laughs been revived, he transferred his body to a Bruce Wayne/Dr. Manhattan, becoming an abomination he calls The Darkest Knight.]]
167	* WhamShot: At the end of the first issue, the evil Robins unveil the Batman Who Laughs' trump card, [[spoiler:the Final Bruce Wayne, who has the symbol of ''Dr. Manhattan''!]]
168	* YouAreTooLate: In ''Trinity Crisis'', [[spoiler:Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman's attempt to alter the three major ''Crisis'' is stopped as the Darkest Knight had sent Anti-Monitor, Superboy-Prime and Darkseid to those eras and changed them so that they won.]]
169	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:A newly revived Batman Who Laughs kills all the other Batmen and Alfreds that brought him back now that he has the godlike powers of Dr. Manhattan.]]

Context ComicBook / DarkNightsDeathMetal