Line #9 ComicBook/FinalCrisis


1	[[quoteright:332:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/final_crisis_4_textless.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:332:'''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis I. AM. THE. NEW. GOD.]]''']]
3
4	->''You turned your back and I '''wrecked your world'''. Deprived your people of their '''powers''', their '''hopes''', their '''future''', '''themselves'''. What will you do when your friends, your enemies, your '''lover''', are '''all''' Darkseid? When there is one '''body'''. One '''mind'''. '''One will'''. '''One life''' that is '''Darkseid'''. Will '''you''' be the enemy of all existence, then? What irony that will be, [[Characters/SupermanTheCharacter Son of Krypton]].''
5	-->-- '''[[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]]'''
6
7	''Final Crisis'' was Creator/DCComics' CrisisCrossover for the year 2008. Announced in 2006, writer Creator/GrantMorrison set out to accomplish the following goals with the event:
8
9	* Bring an end to the dual "Crisis Trilogies": TheMultiverse trilogy started by ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' and the "Hero Exploration" trilogy started by ''ComicBook/{{Identity Crisis\|2004}}''; ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' is considered the second chapter of both.
10	* Officially re-introduce TheMultiverse to the DCU.
11	* Renew interest in the ComicBook/NewGods, particularly [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]], who was suffering from massive VillainDecay.
12
13	To help achieve the last goal, Morrison did two things:
14	* They first used their ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'' series (particularly the ''[[ComicBook/NewGods Mister Miracle]]'' issues) to set up key plot points for ''Final Crisis''.
15	* They then asked DC to declare a moratorium on creators using the New Gods series, so that their return in the pages of ''Final Crisis'' would have the proper emotional impact. Whether it was done [[invoked]][[ExecutiveMeddling intentionally]] or due to miscommunication, DC editorial ignored their request, and the ComicBook/NewGods ended up getting passed around like chlamydia at Burning Man, most prominently in the weekly ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis'' series. (DC also commissioned a ''Death of the New Gods'' miniseries to be published before ''Final Crisis''. The Resulting ContinuitySnarl led Morrison to RetCon away as much of these two series as they possibly could, while [[HandWave including a scenario]] that still allows for the events of these series to have happened.)
16
17	The story to ''Final Crisis'' begins with Darkseid having killed his son, Orion; he has also sent his minion Libra to Earth to gather Earth's villains under his control and arrange for the murder of the ComicBook/MartianManhunter. In the meantime, Darkseid orders fellow god Granny Goodness to possess a ComicBook/GreenLantern, who is used to frame Hal Jordan for killing Orion, and capture Batman. As [[ComicBook/TheFlash Barry Allen]] returns from the void of death in a (failed) attempt to save Orion, Darkseid unleashes the Anti-Life Equation upon Earth, enslaving billions of humans. This event forces the few remaining non-corrupted heroes and villains into hiding as Earth struggles to defeat Darkseid and prevent the coming of a greater threat... one that looms within the multiverse and seeks to finish what Darkseid started in bringing about -- ''the end of everything''.
18
19	The series featured several tie-in series:
20
21	!!!''Final Crisis: [[ComicBook/TheFlash Rogues' Revenge]]'':
22	The Rogues, a group of the Flash's most frequent enemies, refuse to align with Libra and the Secret Society following Martian Manhunter's murder, which causes Libra to seek revenge. The Rogues also seek out Inertia, the boy who manipulated them into killing his hated rival, Bart Allen (Impulse/Kid Flash II/The Flash IV). Inertia himself has attracted the attention of Zoom.
23
24	!!!''Final Crisis: Revelations'':
25	[[ComicBook/GothamCentral Crispus Allen and Renee Montoya]] meet in their secret identities as ComicBook/TheSpectre and ComicBook/TheQuestion for the first time since Allen's death. As the Spectre goes after the Secret Society, killing off those villains who were involved in the murder of ComicBook/MartianManhunter, Libra seeks to use TheSpearOfDestiny to enslave Spectre and keep him from interfering with Darkseid's plans.
26
27	!!!''Final Crisis: Superman Beyond'':
28	Superman travels across the multiverse and meets up with the various "Supermen of the Multiverse" (including an alternate [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]], an alternate ComicBook/CaptainAtom [[ShoutOut who bears a passing resemblance]] to [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} Dr. Manhattan]], a Nazi Superman, and the insane Ultraman) in order to obtain the vial of AppliedPhlebotinum that will save Lois Lane's life after a Secret Society bomb mortally wounds her. This causes Superman to meet the Monitors -- who are recast by Morrison as Vampire Gods who must fight Mandrakk, the "first Monitor" -- in a MindScrew of a tie-in that is probably the most required reading of the tie-ins, and was actually included in the ''Final Crisis'' trade paperback's second edition. To add to the screwiness, the issues were printed in 3-D.
29
30	!!!''Final Crisis: ComicBook/LegionOfThreeWorlds'':
31	The "Crisis of the 31st Century" occurs as the Time Trapper brings Superboy-Prime to the future to kill people and ruin Superman's name in the process -- with the help of the combined might of just about every single Legion villain alive. This forces Superman to unite all three incarnations of the Legion of Super-Heroes, along with resurrecting both Bart Allen and Conner Kent (Superboy, killed in ''Infinite Crisis''), to stop both Superboy-Prime's murderous rampage and his benefactor, the Time Trapper. This miniseries has little to do with the main plot of ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', though Superman arrives in the final act of the main story just as he leaves the 31st century. ScheduleSlip led to this book not getting an ending until midway through DC's ''[[ComicBook/BlackestNight next]]'' CrisisCrossover.
32
33	!!!''Final Crisis: Requiem'':
34	The first part of this one-shot expands Martian Manhunter's death scene to show that he put up more of a fight than previously indicated. The rest of the book focuses on the reaction from [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica his friends]] as his death triggered a telepathic event in their heads that compelled them to write down the history of the now-extinct Martian race.
35
36	!!!''Final Crisis: Submit'':
37	Essentially ''Final Crisis'' #3.5, this one-shot shows Black Lightning responding to a rescue call to save the new Tattooed Man and his family from Darkseid's forces. The climax features Black Lightning giving Tattooed Man the symbol that can protect someone from being infected by the Anti-Life Equation -- right before Lightning gets turned into an Anti-Life Slave.
38
39	!!!''Final Crisis: Resist'':
40	This tie-in covers the fall of humanity; Mr. Terrific and Snapper Carr form an alliance with the villainess Cheetah to try and stay alive while Checkmate, the black ops spy organization, is corrupted by Darkseid.
41
42	!!!''ComicBook/{{Batman\|GrantMorrison}}'' #682-683:
43	The two-part "Last Rites" storyline involves more MindScrew storytelling as henchmen of Darkseid attempt to find a way to suck Batman's mind out of his body and into clones of himself that they have created using him as a template. This tie-in is largely known for two things: setting up a major plot point as far as Batman carrying around the bullet used to kill Orion in his utility belt right before his capture by Granny Goodness, and for establishing that "Batman R.I.P." takes place immediately before ''Final Crisis'', with Batman (upon crashing into Gotham River) swimming to shore, going straight to the Batcave, and promptly being summoned to help the JLA find Orion's killer.
44
45	!!!''The Dark Side Club'':
46	This is the name given to several ''Final Crisis'' tie-ins throughout Franchise/TheDCU -- ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'' #118, ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' vol. 2 #240, ''ComicBook/InfinityInc'' vol. 2 #11-12, ''The ComicBook/TeenTitans'' vol. 3 #59-60, and ''Terror Titans'' #1-6. Shortly before ''Final Crisis'', Darkseid (in the mortal guise of Boss Dark Side) captures several adolescent superhumans and forces them to fight to the death for his amusement. Mostly notable for introducing ComicBook/{{Static}} to the DC Universe.
47
48	----
49	!!''Final Crisis'' contains examples of:
50
51	[[foldercontrol]]
52
53	[[folder:A - H]]
54	* AbortedArc: The series seemingly reintroduced the iconic, classic ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, who had returned to save Atlantis in its hour of need. This was completely ignored in all subsequent books, save for a hand wave line mentioning that there had been false rumors of Aquaman's return during the crisis. WordOfGod ended up saying that this was a parallel-universe version who, like Overgirl and Kamandi, ended up in the main universe due to the breakdown of time and space.
55	* AdaptationSpeciesChange: Previous depictions of the Morticoccus pathogen identified it as a sentient virus, but Wonder Woman specifically calls it a "God-bacterium" in this series.
56	* AdaptationalWimp: In ''ComicBook/{{Kamandi}}'', Morticoccus was a massive semi-sentient virus that could kill any life form in a matter of seconds and even corrode metal. In this series, it's a bacterium that, according to Wonder Woman, was specifically designed to strip Earth's heroes of their powers. Although the infection manages to incapacitate a portion of the resistance, it's nowhere near as virulent as its original depiction.
57	* AllianceOfAlternates: Superman gathers the "Supermen of the Multiverse" to save Lois. He also brings together different incarnations of the Legion of Super-Heroes to fight Superboy-Prime and the Time Trapper.
58	* AllThereInTheManual:
59	** ''Final Crisis: Sketchbook'' gave more information on several characters than was actually provided in the series itself. Most of it wasn't terribly important (e.g. backgrounds for members of Super Young Team) but some of it, like the true identities of the New Gods in disguise, was a little more significant. (Let's just say, if you didn't read Sketchbook, it could get a little confusing reading reviews that referred to the New Gods in disguise with the names of characters they ''had yet to be revealed to be.'')
60	** The original hardcover release also got hit with this problem. While ''Superman Beyond'' and ''Submit'' were included, ''Last Rites'' was excluded in favor of being instead reprinted in the ''Batman R.I.P.'' collection. For readers who were only following ''Final Crisis'', this caused some problems; ''Last Rites'' not only explores what Mokkari and Simyan were doing with Batman, but also sets up the plot point of [[spoiler: Bruce having the Radion Bullet on him when Granny abducted him from the Hall of Justice]]. The Absolute and DC Essential Editions reprints have since corrected this.
61	* AmazonBrigade: Darkseid's Female Furies are recreated in the form of possessed superheroines and villainesses.
62	* AndTheAdventureContinues: In spite of serving as a GrandFinale for most of Creator/JackKirby's DC work, much of the event focuses on themes about never giving up the good fight for truth, justice, and the American way. ''Superman Beyond'' ends with Superman giving a giant retort to Mandrakk's threats of ending his story by etching an epitath on his gravestone that says "To Be Continued." [[spoiler:''Final Crisis'' itself ends revealing that Batman had survived being killed by Darkseid, now trapped in the past and also refusing to let his story end much like Superman did.]]
63	* TheAntichrist: [[BiblicalBadGuy Cain]], the first human to commit murder, is said to slay ComicBook/TheSpectre and herald the coming of Darkseid.
64	* AscendedExtra:
65	** Libra last appeared in a grand total of two issues of Justice League. Here, he's a major part of Darkseid's plan for Earth.
66	** Messrs. Mokkari and Simyan, Darkseid's geneticists, were never the most prominent members of his court in prior appearances, and were usually treated as ineffectual jokes. They play a large role in this storyline, having stepped into the inner-circle EvilGenius role [[spoiler: now that Desaad's on the front lines in Mary Marvel's body]]. Mokkari's even the one who e-mails the Anti-Life Equation to the globe.
67	** Before this event, the Human Flame had only ever appeared in ''one'' comic... all the way in TheFifties, no less!
68	* AssimilationPlot: Darkseid unleashes the Anti-Life Equation on Earth to deprive the majority of the population of their humanity. The victims all become an extension of his consciousness, as indicated when the new Female Furies claim to be Darkseid himself.
69	* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: The end of Dan Turpin and the return of Darkseid.
70	-->'''''"Give In."'''''
71	* BackFromTheDead:
72	** Barry Allen returns as ComicBook/TheFlash for the first time in 23 years.
73	** Superboy and a de-aged Bart Allen are revived in ''Legion of 3 Worlds''.
74	* BatmanGrabsAGun: TropeNamer. [[spoiler:Batman breaks his rule about never using guns in a "once-in-a-lifetime exception" to fatally poison Darkseid with a special bullet.]] Subsequently, [[spoiler: both Flashes and eventually Superman all break their No-Kill rules to ensure Darkseid stays gone.]]
75	* BiblicalBadGuy: ''Revelations'' reveals that [[spoiler: ComicBook/VandalSavage is Cain]].
76	* BigBad: Darkseid, fatally wounded in his battle with Orion, is killing the entire multiverse as he slowly dies. In the meantime, he and his followers possess humans on Earth and conquer the planet with the Anti-Life Equation, while his [[TheDragon Dragon]], Libra, takes over the Secret Society of Supervillains. Mandrakk the Dark Monitor is the GreaterScopeVillain, seeking to consume what remains of existence after Darkseid's fall.
77	* BigBadWannabe: He might deliver the killing blow to the Martian Manhunter, but in the end the Human Flame is basically this, trying to make a name for himself as a villain and then going on the run, continually sacrificing his humanity for power until [[spoiler:he turns himself into a living nuclear reactor that can't even move, leaving the heroes who had been hunting him free to dump him in the asteroid belt where he'll never bother anyone again]].
78	* BigDamnHeroes: This series is FULL of examples, such as Batman [[spoiler: sacrificing himself to mortally wound Darkseid's host]], Superman [[spoiler: shattering Darkseid's essence with a multiversal musical note, actually ''killing'' Darkseid for good]] or the Green Lantern Corps [[spoiler: staking Mandrakk, a technical 'vampire']].
79	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The universe is saved, Darkseid and Mandrakk have been defeated for good, the world has been freed from the Anti-Life Equation, the Monitors all cease to exist, and Nix Uotan gets to live out his life happily as a human. All thanks to Superman using the Miracle Machine to wish for a happy ending. And yet despite this, the Miracle Machine didn't revive Martian Manhunter and all the other heroes, villains, and civilians killed by the Anti-Life Equation or Darkseid's followers, leaving the ending with a twinge of bitterness, as Superman could've stopped Darkseid sooner if he returned from the future faster. Meanwhile Batman is trapped in the distant past and will have to find his own way back due to everyone else thinking he's dead.]]
80	* BondVillainStupidity: Mokkari and Simyan not even bothering to inspect the captured Batman's utility belt, let alone remove it whne they take custody of the prisoner. [[spoiler: If they had, they'd have realized Bruce had the Radion Bullet on him when Granny abducted him from the Hall of Justice. Their mistake backfires spectacularly in the closing issues. ]]
81	* BondageIsBad: The new Female Furies were designed with bondage and S&M imagery in mind.
82	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Anyone exposed to the Anti-Life Equation loses their free-will and becomes a part of Darkseid's HiveMind.
83	* TheBusCameBack: Monitor Nix Uotan bolsters TheCavalry by bringing ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew, then [[PutOnABusToHell trapped]] as [[AndIMustScream ordinary animals]], to him and restoring their humanoid forms, costumes and powers.
84	* CanonDiscontinuity: Rip Hunter's chalkboard says "don't worry about Countdown", lampshading how the poor reception towards ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis'' had rendered the series non-canon. However, Morrison did acknowledge [[spoiler: Darkseid's death]] at the end of ''Countdown'' and ''Death of the New Gods'' [[HandWave with the later issues]] of ''Final Crisis'': [[spoiler: Orion "killed" Darkseid's body at the end of Countdown, but Darkseid's spirit was tossed backwards through time, destabilizing the multiverse and allowing him to possess a human host, Boss Dark Side. This allowed him to resurrect his loyalists, build up a power base on Earth, kill Orion (who could not sense his father still being alive since Darkseid was now possessing a human body) and stabilize the current timeline]].
85	* CanonWelding:
86	** Morrison saw this series as their definitive statement about all of the themes that they had dealt with in their works, and ties up plot points left over from their runs on ''Seven Soldiers'' and ''Batman''.
87	** Some of Jack Kirby's personal creations (The New Gods, Kamandi, Dan Turpin) are brought together in order to give them all a GrandFinale.
88	* CaptainErsatz:
89	** ''Superman Beyond'' introduces Captain Allen Atom, a Superman counterpart from another reality whose powers and appearance are deliberately based on [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} Dr. Manhattan]].
90	** In ''Final Crisis'' #7, the entire army of Superman is made up of expies of Superman knock-offs from other companies.
91	* CaptainEthnic: The Great Ten (a Chinese team that includes "Socialist Red Guardsman," "Shaolin Robot," "Mother of Champions" and more) and Super Young Team (a teenage Japanese team, all of whom are basically over-the-top superhero {{otaku}} cosplayers with GratuitousEnglish codenames - and are contrasted against "traditional" Japanese heroes like, say, Rising Sun and Sonny Sumo).
92	* TheCavalry: A group of heroes from across the multiverse, all led by Nix Uotan, show up to aid Superman in the final battle against [[spoiler:Mandrakk]]. They are comprised of:
93	** The Supermen of the Multiverse
94	** The entire Green Lantern Corps
95	** The angels of the Pax Dei
96	** ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew
97	** Mister Miracle, Sonny Sumo and the Super Young Team
98	** The Forever People from the Fifth World
99	* ChekhovsGunman: The Superman of Earth 23, President Calvin Ellis, briefly appears as part of TheCavalry. He will later get ADayInTheLimelight in the ComicBook/New52's ''ComicBook/ActionComics #9'', and is a key character in ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity''.
100	* CoDragons: Darkseid has his son Kalibak and his {{herald}}s Libra and Vandal Savage/Cain, though the last of these is dealt with in the ''Revelations'' miniseries.
101	* ContinuityPorn:
102	** Grant Morrison intended this story to be the final chapter in ''two'' trilogies of Crisis events, as well as to continue plot threads left hanging by ''Seven Soldiers'', ''52'', ''Batman RIP'', and even his ''JLA'' run, which had concluded eight years prior to Final Crisis's publication. Not to mention the story's references to ''Cosmic Odyssey'', a Jim Starlin story that was ''twenty'' years old at the time. So, naturally, Final Crisis pretty much made ''entirely'' of this trope.
103	** Two of the heroes that join TheCavalry in issue 5 are Iman, the champion of Mexico City who had exactly one prior appearance, and the G.I. Robot, a largely forgotten character from DC's long-canceled military comics.
104	* CoversAlwaysLie: The covers for ''Final Crisis'' featured Darkseid wearing a modified version of his classic get-up with an omega symbol decorating the torso of his tunic and on the back of each of his gloves. Outside of the covers and a game piece Libra was handling in the ''Secret Files'' story detailing his backstory, Darkseid doesn't actually wear most of it, only sporting the helmet, Turpin's pants and shoes, and braces on his legs. That said, he does don the outfit in the novelization right after Mokkari, Simyan, and Glorious Godfrey die.
105	* CrisisCrossover: Hyped as [[TitleDrop "The Final Crisis of Man and the Multiverse"]]. While this is certainly not the final Crisis Crossover that DC will put out, this is the last one to deal with the destruction/rebirth of the Multiverse... for now.
106	** DC announced that ''Final Crisis'' was the third part of two "trilogies". Final Crisis is the final part of the Multiverse Trilogy (which, natch, is about the life, death, and resurrection of TheMultiverse starting with ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'') and the final part of the Hero Exploration Trilogy (which takes an intimate look on the heroes and villains of the DCU, starting with ''ComicBook/{{Identity Crisis\|2004}}''). In both cases, ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' is the second part.
107	%%* CurbStompBattle: The Justifiers versus the Checkmate strike force. Mr. Bones and Count Vertigo would turn out to have survived; Negative Woman and the Atomic Knights weren't so lucky.
108	* DealWithTheDevil: The story starts when Libra shows up on Earth promising supervillains their fondest wish at the low cost of their souls, promising an era when Good has lost its battle with Evil.
109	* DeathByAdaptation: In comics following this, Director Bones is depicted as having survived the first failed attempt to lay siege to Darkseid's fortress in Bludhaven and Count Vertigo's fate is unknown. In the novelization, they died with Negative Woman, the Atomic Knights, and several Checkmates agents.
110	* DefiantToTheEnd:
111	** Green Arrow grants Black Canary and the Tattooed Man a chance to escape by making a last stand against the possessed minions of Darkseid, up until he's converted.
112	** ''Requiem'' reveals that even after Libra stabbed him, J'onn still put up a hell of a fight, even telling Libra he'd lose before he died.
113	* DemonicPossession: People are possessed by New Gods.
114	* DespairEventHorizon: Darkseid had to break a strong-willed host's spirit in order to fully manifest.
115	* DeusEstMachina:
116	** Superman uses one at the end to erase Darkseid's lingering presence and restore space/time. However, rather than being a god from a machine, the machine ''is'' the god, who can perform any one task.
117	** The Thought-Robot from ''Superman Beyond'' is another example - it's a metafictional HumongousMecha powered by the very concept of the heroic ideal, as embodied by Superman in particular.
118	* DidntThinkThisThrough: At the end of ''Legion of Three Worlds'', Superboy-Prime manages to break reality (again) [[spoiler: and doom himself to being an unpowered kid in a world where everyone hates and fears him]] by punching out the Time Trapper [[spoiler: who is his own future self]].
119	---> '''Brainiac:''' What an idiot.
120	* DirtyCoward: Darkseid. Superman points out he could have used Batman as his host, but the god snarls he would have resisted for longer than he'd have liked, whereas Turpin just fought enough to nurture Darkseid before breaking.
121	* DisabledInTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:The novelization sees Dan Turpin fall into a coma after Darkseid is purged from him, whereas the extended version (seen in the later collected editions) does show Turpin briefly dazed, but still conscious afterward.]]
122	* DisneyVillainDeath: Luthor blasts Libra at point-blank range... but there's no corpse left behind. An irritated Sivana outright calls it a classic "We haven't heard the last of him!" situation.
123	* DoNotAdjustYourSet: Simyan and Mokkari's contribution to Darkseid's plan, giving him three billion soldiers in the blink of an eye and effectively enslaving Earth.
124	* DoNotGoGentle: ''Requiem'' reveals that the Martian Manhunter did not, putting up much more of a fight than the series proper had let on before dying.
125	* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Thanks to being weakened by Dr. Light and Effigy using [[KryptoniteFactor fire]], ComicBook/MartianManhunter, perhaps the most powerful member of the Justice League, lasts two pages against Libra --in the series proper. In the ''Requiem'' one-shot, however...
126	* DyingMomentOfAwesome: ''Requiem'' reveals that J'onn didn't go down with Libra stabbing up in the back, but managed to make the Society actually fight to put him down, managing to get some of his friends to tell his life story as he went down.
127	* DyingToBeReplaced: Zoom and Inertia are [[spoiler:depowered and killed]], respectively. This conveniently means [[spoiler:there are no active Reverse-Flashes]] by the time Eobard Thawne returns in ''The Flash: Rebirth'', which is in part a follow-up to ''Final Crisis''.
128	* EldritchAbomination: Morrison's revamp of Darkseid and his minions reposition them as spirit-beings that can possess and destroy their hosts from within, though most of them (Glorious Godfrey and the scientists) were literally reborn as humans.
129	** Mandrakk the Dark Monitor and the rest of the [[spoiler: vampiric]] Monitors.
130	* EnemyMine: All over the place. Luthor and Sivana hate each other but come together to take out Libra, Luthor's villain army backs up Superman, Cheetah joins up with Checkmate, and Captain Marvel enlists the aid of Black Adam.
131	* EvenEvilHasStandards:
132	** When being told that Darkseid was the power behind Libra, the Rogues in ''Rogues' Revenge'' essentially tell Libra (who they have refused to work for) to go tell his master to get the hell off of their planet.
133	** Luthor may be a miserable sociopath, but he loves life more than he does having to live in a evil-driven world run by Darkseid.
134	** Dr. Sivana turns against Darkseid when he sees what the Anti-Life Equation does to his daughter.
135	* EverybodyHelpsOutDenouement: At the end of the series, the surviving heroes are all seen working together to repair the damage done by Darkseid.
136	* EvilIsEasy: When freed of the Justifier helmet, Green Arrow still remains under the control of Darkseid. When Black Canary confronts him, he can only wearily moan just how ''easy'' Anti-Life is.
137	* {{Expy}}: ''Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 3D'' features Captain Adam, an alternate universe version of ComicBook/CaptainAtom who's a clear Expy of Dr Manhattan, ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'''s ComicBook/CaptainAtom Expy.
138	* FanDisservice: Think Evil Mary Marvel is wickedly sexy? [[spoiler: That's not Mary, it's [[DirtyOldMan Desaad]] driving her body]].
139	* FateWorseThanDeath: Darkseid's Omega Sanction causes the victim's soul to tumble through an endless number of worse and worse realities until the victim's spirit breaks from the despair. As a later issue of Grant Morrison's run on Batman reveals, [[spoiler:all his Omega Beams did to Batman was cause everything that had happened to him up until that point. Yes, even Darkseid's Omega Sanction couldn't make Batman's life worse than it already is.]]
140	* FixFic:
141	** ''Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds'' is essentially a fix fic by Creator/GeoffJohns, simultaneously clearing up the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' continuity boggle '''and''' bringing back two unfairly dead characters, [[ComicBook/TheFlash Kid Flash]] and ComicBook/{{Superboy}}, the latter of which Johns had to kill off in ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''. (It was either Superboy or ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}, so all things considered...)
142	** Johns and Scott Kolins' ''Rogues Revenge'' serves a similiar purpose for the Flash mythos. It recounciles the out-of-character depiction of the Rogues during the lead-up to Bart Allen's murder and fixes the damage in preperation for the then-impending Barry Allen relaunch.
143	* FlatCharacter: The Monitors are a whole race of flat characters. But then they start developing backstories, and feelings and dreams and love triangles, and it's freaking them out.
144	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Some towards Dan Turpin being revealed to have become a vessel for Darkseid. He admits to taking ''way'' too much pleasure in beating the shit out of the Mad Hatter much to his own disbelief and a panel focuses on his reflection in a cracked mirror, giving him Darkseid's signature cracked rocky visage.
145	* FullyAbsorbedFinale: ''Rogues Revenge'' is one for Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins' Wally West-era run on ''The Flash''. While tying into ''Final Crisis'' (and clearing the deck for the Barry Allen relaunch), it also ties up the last loose ends Johns wasn't able to resolve during ''Rogue War'' 3 years earlier (ex. the fate of Captain Cold's abusive father. Weather Wizard's young son, etc.).
146	* FutureSelfReveal: In ''Legion of 3 Worlds'', [[spoiler:[[Characters/SupermanSuperboyPrime Superboy-Prime]] arrives in the future and is received and treated as a god by the ComicBook/{{Legion\|OfSuperHeroes}}'s villains who admired him for years and asked him to lead them to destroy the Legion. All of this was made by the Time Trapper, who brought Prime to this future. Later, it's discovered that this Time Trapper comes from Earth-Prime, and even more, it's revealed that his identity is a future version of Prime with long hair and beard but with the same [[GoodScarsEvilScars Superman symbol scar]], confirming they're the same person.]]
147	* GenericDoomsdayVillain: Mandrakk the Dark Monitor pretty much just wants to kill everything because he wanted to feed on the Bleed and the Multiverse that existed within it. It didn't help that he was also a DiabolusExNihilo, unless the reader had already read a particular tie-in.
148	* GodIsEvil: Black Adam mentions that with his new power, Darkseid has displaced all Earthly deities, effectively becoming a truly malevolent monotheistic God.
149	* GodOfEvil: The BigBad, Darkseid, is a malevolent God that personifies the concept of tyranny.
150	* GodzillaThreshold: It takes Darkseid coming back and causing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt for Batman to finally use a gun. He even calls it his "once-in-a-lifetime exception." It also marks the point where even Superman, and both Wally West and Barry Allen decided "ThouShaltNotKill" has a limit and thus, it no longer applies to Darkseid.
151	* TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin: Libra intends to defy this:
152	--> Your enemies fight and win again and again because they ''truly'' believe their actions are in accordance with a higher moral order. But what happens in a world where good has ''lost'' its perpetual struggle against evil?
153	* HijackingCthulhu: Sivana, ''seriously'' ticked off at Libra after being forced to see his daughter be Anti-Life'd, [[spoiler:reprograms his watch to override the Justifiers' command line, giving Luthor the army he needs to kill Libra and engage Darkseid.]]
154	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Libra probably shouldn't have let Luthor power his suit up to maximum]].
155	* HumanoidAbomination: Darkseid's physical body is that of [[spoiler:Dan Turpin, but he suffered a series of modifications to more closely resemble the God's original appearance, such as his prominent red eyes]].
156	* HypnoTrinket: The Justifier helmets are a particularly nasty version, coupling Mad Hatter's technology with a constant broadcast of the Anti-Life Equation, so even removing the helmet won't do anything to help the sap inside. [[spoiler: This comes to bite Libra in the ass when it turns out Sivana can override Hatter's tech to transmit Luthor's voice as Darkseid's, instantly stealing Libra's army.]]
157	[[/folder]]
158
159	[[folder:I - N]]
160	* IHaveYourWife: Almost subverted in the comic miniseries ''Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge''. The agents of the Big Bad Libra kidnap the father of Rogues leader Captain Cold. They threaten to kill him unless Cold and the Rogues surrender. But the bad guys don't understand that his father's sadistic abuse and terror was the main factor in shaping Cold's personality. So he tells them that he will hunt them down, kill them, and ''kill his father himself''. The Rogues do kill the bad guys, but Cold does not kill his father. Instead he orders his teammate Heatwave to burn him to death.
161	* IndividualityIsIllegal: After Darkseid unleashes the Anti-Life Equation on Earth, the majority of humans become part of his HiveMind. The few individuals who are immune (such as Nix Uotan and the man who is hosting Metron's spirit) are thrown into jail cells.
162	* InternalAffairs: The Alpha Lanterns serve this role for the ComicBook/GreenLantern Corps. In the pages of the Green Lantern books, the Alpha Lanterns were specifically created to ensure they would be absolute, incorruptible Lanterns, specifically to ensure the ComicBook/BlackestNight would never happen. [[spoiler: They weren't expecting Granny Goodness to possess one of them]].
163	* LastOfHisKind: The ultimate fate for [[spoiler:Nix Uotan. The Monitors cease to exist at the end of the story, but he nevertheless gets to experience life on Earth in his human body]].
164	* LouisCypher: Darkseid's first human host body is a nightclub owner operating under the not-at-all-suspicious alias of "Boss Dark Side." Glorious Godfrey bodyjacks a televangelist and calls himself "Reverend G. Godfrey Good." (It's a ShoutOut to ''ComicBook/{{Legends\|DCComics}}'' and G. Gordon Godfrey.)
165	* MadnessMantra: Those taken by the Anti-Life Equation tend to start ranting out things like "Anti-Life justifies my hate!"
166	* MagicalComputer: Mokkari's laptop, which he uses to simultaneously e-mail the Anti-Life Equation to every electronic device on the planet. Even super-genius Oracle isn't sure how he did it.
167	* {{Metafiction}}: All over the place in ''Superman Beyond'' and anything having to do with the Monitors. Interestingly, ''Legion of 3 Worlds'' dabbles with this in the end as well. Superboy-Prime is whisked back to the restored Earth-Prime and sees the comics with him in them. The last couple pages of the final issue is Prime literally reading the very issue the actual reader is reading.
168	** Furthermore, it has him [[BasementDweller living as a leech in his parent's basement]], [[ThisLoserIsYou ranting about how the modern comic industry is ruined]], and [[TakeThat fingerpecking a rant on the Official DC Comics forum in a thread about whether or not Superboy-Prime could be redeemed]].
169	** The final issue makes much more sense once you realize that it's really a battle between Comics Should Be Fun and Grim 'n Gritty for control of the DC Universe. (Morrison, optimist that they are, had Comics Should Be Fun win. Reality had other ideas, sadly.)
170	** Monitor-Mind the Overvoid, the immaculate infinite expanse of perfection the entire multiverse is a flaw on, is the white empty paper comics are drawn and written on if it was a character.
171	* MindControlEyes: The Anti-Life Equation makes your eyes turn red.
172	* MultiversalConqueror:
173	** Mandrakk the Dark Monitor.
174	** [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]], while normally a GalacticConqueror, ascends to this status.
175	* TheNightThatNeverEnds: Darkseid's fall from the Fourth World has enough metaphysical momentum to drag ''Earth itself'' towards the pitch-black hole at the bottom of creation.
176	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Glorious Godfrey as Reverend Good, looks like Don King (appearance-wise) with elements of Al Sharpton in his public persona (Godfrey poses as a minister and social activist).
177	* NoFourthWall: When inside the Thought-Robot, Superman is so powerful he can see the fourth wall. He hears breathing coming from "a direction that has no name" and senses a "presence" that he can almost touch.
178	* NoSell: The Morticoccus bacterium incapacitates some of the heroes by nullifying their powers, but cannot infect Frankenstein, since he is not technically alive. His arrival is what turns the tide in the heroes' favour during the battle against the Female Furies.
179	[[/folder]]
180
181	[[folder:O - Z]]
182	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: As mentioned under "Batman Grabs a Gun", "Godzilla Threshold", and "Thou Shalt Not Kill", ''four'' members of the Justice League decide Darkseid needs to die and actively takes steps to kill him.
183	* OhCrap: [[spoiler:Even at the cusp of his grand plan, Darkseid is ''still'' scared shitless when the Black Racer suddenly appears in front of him.]]
184	* OmnicidalManiac:
185	** Darkseid is dying, so he decides to take ''the whole freaking multiverse'' to his black hole of a grave.
186	** Mandrakk, an EldritchAbomination and [[OurVampiresAreDifferent cosmic parasite]] who hungers for the multiverse.
187	* OrwellianRetcon: For some reason, the ball-gag on ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}'s Female Fury outfit was taken out in the collected editions.
188	* PapaWolf: Dr. Sivana, of all characters, turns on Libra after watching his kids get Anti-Life'd.
189	* PossessionBurnout: Possession by an Apokalyptian causes the host body to burn out.
190	* PrecisionFStrike: In the digital version, Nix Uotan says "Don’t push your luck with the judge of all evil" after [[spoiler:Mandrakk is impaled by the Green Lanterns]]. However, the original text had him say "No one *** with the judge of all evil."
191	* PretenderDiss: Sivana thinks Hatter's technology is medieval junk.
192	* PsychicNosebleed: Checkmate employs a whole room of telepaths who attempt to purge the planet of Anti-Life. Every one of them is either bleeding out of cranial orifices or unconscious.
193	* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: ''Rogues Revenge'' has this on multiple levels. It brought Geoff Johns back to the Flash-corner of the DCU after having left back in 2005. It also brought back Scott Kolins, who had been Johns' main artist from 2001-2003.
194	* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler:Darkseid is mortally wounded by Orion in the backstory, but his essence lingers long enough to [[DemonicPossession possess]] Dan Turpin. Batman shoots his physical body with a bullet made of Radion, which lethally poisons him, but still isn't enough to kill. The Flashes then trick the Black Racer, the embodiment of death, into reaping Darkseid's soul, but all that accomplishes is to exorcise the villain from Turpin's body. Dying from all these injuries, Darkseid's spirit makes one last attempt on Superman's life, but the hero counters by singing a note in the precise frequency to destabilize Darkseid's, finally killing the evil god for real.]].
195	* RealityBreakingParadox: The superintelligent New God Metron, forced into a paraplegic human body by Darkseid, restores both his own powers and Nix Uotan's by [[MundaneMadeAwesome solving a Rubik's Cube in seventeen moves]], one less than the lowest number possible by humans.
196	* ReCut: Subsequent releases added more pages, recoloured existing pages and even had pages redrawn. For instance, there's now a prologue (composed of excerpts from ''DC Universe'' 0, the intended final issue of ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis'') where Libra assembles the Secret Society of Supervillains intercut with images of Darkseid falling through space. Then the final chapter features more padded scenes such as Darkseid briefly taking on Wonder Woman as a host when he's expelled from Turpin's body, confirmation that Turpin survived in the end, and an extended fight between Mandrakk and vampire Ultraman against the combined forces of the Supermen, the Green Lantern Corp and Nix Uotan.
197	%%* ReligionOfEvil: The Religion Of Crime.
198	* {{Retirony}}: In ''Rogues' Revenge'', Captain Cold and the other Flash villains intend to hang up the costumes once they've gotten revenge on Inertia for tricking them into killing Kid Flash. Once they succeed, however, Libra informs them that Barry Allen's back from the dead. They quickly realize they're not going to have any choice but to stay in the game.
199	* RuleOfSymbolism: The entire story can perhaps be summed up as "DC does [[Literature/BookOfRevelation Revelation]]," with Superman and Nix Uotan both playing UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}, Mandrakk as {{Satan}}, Darkseid as [[TheAntichrist The Beast]], Libra as the False Prophet, the Female Furies as the HorsemenOfTheApocalypse, the superheroes as the 144,000 chosen spared from the Antichrist's wrath by God, and the Anti-Life Equation as the NumberOfTheBeast. The medieval Christian concept of the "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musica_universalis Music of the Spheres]]" also gets a mention, [[spoiler:which Superman takes advantage of at the climax to render Darkseid DeaderThanDead]].
200	* SanitySlippage: Ultraman goes insane after finding out about the Monitors'existence.
201	--> '''Ultraman''': There ''is'' a god. And he ''hates'' us all.
202	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Most Excellent Superbat's screws all the rules of time, space and money by employing a suit of armor ''powered by the energy of infinite money''.
203	* SexSlave: In issue 5, Libra insinuates that ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} will be used as this once she's brainwashed.
204	-->'''Libra:''' If you show willing, I might even let you be first in line with ''Supergirl''...
205	* ShoutOut:
206	** In ''Final Crisis Aftermath: DANCE'', the Super Young Team disbands halfway through the series and everyone goes their separate ways. True to his stated desire for "constant forward motion", Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash decided to take a walk and simply kept going, eventually amassing followers who walk behind him. You know, like Forrest's cross-country run in ''Literature/ForrestGump''.
207	** In ''Superman Beyond'' a brief glimpse of Earth-6 (which seems to be identical to ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity'''s Earth-8; the Marvel parody world) shows [[ComicBook/SecretInvasion the heroes engaged in a mass battle with Durlan shapeshifters who have taken the form of other heroes]].
208	* ShutUpHannibal: Batman says he is willing to break his no killing rule by shooting Darkseid with the Radion bullet. The villain tries to protest, but Batman immediately cuts him off by yelling "Do I make myself clear?"
209	* SinisterMinister: Reverend G. Godfrey Good, who is actually Glorious Godfrey, Darkseid's propaganda minister, having hijacked the body of a preacher.
210	* SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum: Darkseid's had his heart ripped out by Orion and is falling backwards through time, leaving a black hole in his wake. He knows he's a dead man either way, so he's decided to park himself on Earth-0, the cornerstone of TheMultiverse, to drag everything and everyone that ever lived into Hell with him.
211	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: During the ''Legion of 3 Worlds'' storyline, when Superman suggests that they try to redeem Superboy-Prime, his ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes teammates think he is crazy for even suggesting it. And there was a problem with his idea, because one, Superboy-Prime was psychotic, and two, he was trying to be a villain. All the other times Superboy-Prime was trying to get back home. By this story he accepts his world is gone, and is trying to be a villain because he found out he is regarded as merely a footnote in Superman's history and ultimately has no impact on history, so resolved to be a villain with more of an impact than any other enemy of Superman. Superman trying to redeem him goes as well as you might expect it to.
212	* TakingYouWithMe: The real reason Darkseid is doing all this? He's dying and as a final "fuck you" to everybody, he's decided to ''[[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum destroy the entire multiverse]]''.
213	* ThouShaltNotKill: Notably {{Averted}}. During the course of the story, the severity of the events and Darkseid's actions were enough that Batman, both the Wally West and just-returned Barry Allen Flashes, and even Superman decide that Darkseid ''needs'' to die, with Bruce grabbing a gun (the one weapon he swore to never use), loading it with the bullet used to kill Orion, and shooting Darkseid; Barry and Wally leading the Black Death, who's hot on their trail, to Darkseid in the hopes he'd kill him; and Superman actually being the one to deliver the actual death blow to the mad god.
214	* TimeSkip: The series skips about a month (or more due to time distortion messing up the passage of time) forward in time at the end of the third issue, between the release of the Anti-Life Equation and the Flashes Wally West and Barry Allen's failed attempt to intercept the bullet that killed Orion. This was reflected with the ''Final Crisis'' mini-series skipping a month between #3 and #4, a move that was done mainly to give the book's artist a chance to catch up with deadlines. Which he couldn't do, leading to issues #4-6 being delayed and delayed again and again, forcing DC into the position to having to bring in fill-in artists to draw large portions of ''Final Crisis'' #5-6 and ultimately ''Final Crisis'' #7, due to the company refusing to delay 70-80% of their line of comics while the book was finished. Interestingly, this was mostly done on just the planet Earth, the rest of the universe went on as normal with only a few days passing everywhere else while Earth was skipping time.
215	* TitleRequiem: A tie-in one-shot, ''Final Crisis: Requiem'', which elaborates more on the Martian Manhunter's death.
216	* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: The bottom of a metafictional black hole on the brink of swallowing the very idea of Franchise/TheDCU.
217	* TokenEvilTeammate: Ultraman for the Supermen team; he even ends up becoming Mandrakk's [[TheDragon Dragon]]. He was only recruited as a tool for Superman's ascension to the Monitors' plane of existence.
218	* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: Batman's life is so hardcore that he is able to weaponize his memories in order to ruin Mokkari and Simyan's plan of using him as a template for an army of evil clones.
219	%%* TookALevelInBadass: Darkseid took ''several''.
220	%%** Talky Tawny.
221	* TrueFinalBoss: The entire series is about the heroes of Earth defeating Darkseid. Once he's beaten, the final battle turns out to be against Mandrakk.
222	* VeryPunchableMan: Human Flame. A loud-mouthed, two-bit thug that thought losing ''once'' to Martian Manhunter made him Lex Luthor's better, he was the first one in line to sign up with Libra. At his behest, Libra brutally killed J'onn, and in exchange, he forced an Apokoliptian helmet on the fool's head, [[MindRape turning him into]] [[MindControl the first Justifier]]. He was further kicked around in the folllow-up series, mostly due to his own idiotic greed, and when he finally got enough power to make the waves he wanted, he was defeated by using so much of it he became a gigantic, immobile statue.
223	* TheWarToEndAllWars: It's in the title. Much like the original source of the phrase, [[NonIndicativeName it wasn't]].
224	* WhamShot: [[spoiler:Batman getting hit by Darkseid's Omega Beams, which seemingly reduces him into a smoking skeleton and temporary takes him out of the DC comics -- though it was quickly revealed in the end that Bruce was sent to the past and during the events of ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'', it's revealed the corpse was only a clone of Bruce]]
225	* WorshippedForGreatDeeds: After going to the 31th century and shockingly seeing his name as barely mentioned in Superman Museum, Superboy-Prime found some villains of the Legion of Super-Heroes, who admired him since decades and treated Prime as a god, since his past appearances were taken as feats for them, begging him to lead them as a League of Super-Villains against the Legion and even recruiting more villains from other two Earths.
226	* WritingForTheTrade: Reading it in its original form was confusing at best, incomprehensible at worst. In the trade, where most of the important tie-ins were included, it becomes a tour-de-force, especially if you have the ''R.I.P.'' trade handy as well (as that has the Batman tie-ins by Morrison). Reading Morrison's own Seven Soldiers is important, too. Whilst the various series got lost in the build-up to Infinite Crisis and was branded as 'on the eve of Infinite Crisis, this is what Character X was doing before that!', it actually proves to be very important in the setup for Final Crisis. It explains a variety of questions - Which DC Editorial then went and trampled over by having Countdown try to explain everything and try to line up the dots, only to fail miserably.
227	* YearOutsideHourInside:
228	** Time is implied to pass this way for the Monitors. The Thought-Robot, for instance, was only created after the original ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', which thanks to ComicBookTime can't have been more than a decade ago for the characters involved, yet to the Monitors it's so unspeakably ancient that not even they have any idea what its purpose is, despite their supposed omniscience. In ''Superman Beyond'', their realm has long since gone to ruin due to Darkseid's fall, even before the Anti-Life Equation hits Earth.
229	** An inversion happens as Darkseid gains power and his very presence warps space and time around Earth. Outside of Sector 2814, only a day has passed since Hal Jordan's arrest. For anyone at ground zero, however, a relative month has passed since the Anti-Life Equation's activation.
230	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: As soon as Godfrey, Simyan, and Mokkari are finished helping Darkseid arrive on Earth, he lets their human bodies rot away without transferring their souls into new ones, which seemingly [[DeaderThanDead kills them permanently]].
231	[[/folder]]
232
233	----

Context ComicBook / FinalCrisis