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5[[quoteright:981:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kingdom_come_dc.png]]
6[[caption-width-right:981:[[{{Tagline}} The greatest superhero epic of tomorrow!]]]]
7
8->''"According to the word of God, the meek would someday inherit the Earth. Someday. But God never accounted for the mighty."''
9-->-- '''Norman [=McCay=]'''
10
11''Kingdom Come'' is a 1996 Creator/DCComics story published under the ''Creator/{{Elseworlds}}'' imprint, written by Creator/MarkWaid and beautifully painted by Creator/AlexRoss. The story depicts a dystopian future in which ComicBook/{{Superman}} has retired due to the public's preference for heroes who will use lethal force. The [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] superheroes follow him, in some cases retiring completely, in others sticking to their own small areas. With the absence of the old heroes and the abundance of a new, more reckless generation, the world has become a bit grimmer, a bit more pessimistic and hopeless, but nevertheless seems to keep turning.
12
13That is, until a tragedy strikes in Kansas. The death of ComicBook/CaptainAtom causes a nuclear explosion that destroys most of the American Midwest. This loosens the last bounds of restraint among the new generation of metahumans, who begin to fight one another with abandon. Superman returns, reassembles the Justice League, and tries to take back control, with dire consequences.
14
15Through it all, a simple pastor named Norman [=McCay=], the minister of an elderly Wesley Dodds (the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Sandman), is guided by apocalyptic imagery drawn from the Literature/BookOfRevelation and by ComicBook/TheSpectre. He must decide the fate of humanity - whether to allow the metahumans to be killed en masse and save the rest of humanity, or to allow them to survive, but doom the world.
16
17This series was followed by ''ComicBook/{{The Kingdom|DCComics}}'', which introduces the concept of Hypertime by having the Kingdom Come future superheroes fight alongside their present-day mainstream continuity counterparts, and ''Thy Kingdom Come''.
18
19Unusually for a graphic novel, ''Kingdom Come'' also has a full {{Novelization}} by Creator/ElliotSMaggin, which [[AdaptationExpansion expands slightly]] on the comic's events and is generally considered to be at least as good if not better than the highly beloved graphic novel itself.
20
21See also ''ComicBook/{{Justice}}'', a similar miniseries also painted by Alex Ross that attempts to [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstruct]] UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks and UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks after this series [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks.
22
23Although no animated adaptation has been made (and likely will never be, due to Warner Bros considering the art style of Alex Ross too hard to replicate), several elements of the comics have made it to live-action:
24* The comic's incarnation of ComicBook/{{Superman}} appears in the Series/{{Arrowverse}}'s 6th CrisisCrossover, an [[Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019 adaptation]] of ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', portrayed by Creator/BrandonRouth (who played him in ''Film/SupermanReturns'' instead of Creator/ChristopherReeve), who also plays [[ComicBook/TheAtom Ray Palmer]] in ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', with a bit of CanonWelding to move the events of ''Kingdom Come'' to the timeline of ''Returns'' and by proxy, the original ''Superman'' film series[[spoiler:; specifically, the Joker gassing the Daily Planet and killing Lois Lane]].
25** The same crossover event also features a version of ComicBook/{{Batman}}, played by Creator/KevinConroy (who had been voicing the character regularly in various media since ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''), wearing the [[ManInTheMachine exoskeleton]] used by the comic's incarnation. However, this Batman is not a straight adaptation but a CompositeCharacter with elements of the incarnations from ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'' and ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', [[spoiler:both of which it heavily {{deconstruct|edCharacterArchetype}}s by turning him into an EvilCounterpart who went after Superman with the same justification the ''Dark Knight Returns'' incarnation did, and with the same intent as and for the same xenophobic reasons the DCEU Batman did, sans the HeelRealization that stopped the DCEU Batman from going through with it]].
26* The golden eagle armor of ComicBook/WonderWoman that first appeared in this comic series makes its cinematic debut in ''Film/WonderWoman1984''.
27----
28!!''Kingdom Come'' provides examples of:
29
30[[foldercontrol]]
31
32[[folder:A-D]]
33* AbstractApotheosis: One of the least noted {{Repower}}, yet one of the most insane, is the one which took its toll on ComicBook/TheFlash (said to be [[InformedAttribute Wally West]]); in this continuity Wally became the AnthropomorphicPersonification of the Speed Force, becoming a force in perpetual motion, attaining ''[[PhysicalGod omnipresence]]'' by running ''that'' fast. Oddly enough, he doesn't seem able to use his newfound omnipresence to any actual use, especially in the ending where it might have been REALLY useful (simply because he can't pick anyone up to save them or they'll be vaporized by air friction and the Speed Force itself. The other speedsters are able to help, however.) As such, he's BlessedWithSuck: Wally achieving godhood had its sacrifices; as noted above he is in perpetual motion, he can't stop moving ''ever'', the times where he seems to be still is just Wally moving in a short space while circling through... well, ''everywhere'' else at the same time, basically an illusion. Also it forces him to cut ties with everyone he knows; since now he basically lives in another reality altogether, no one can keep up with him to even communicate with the guy, Superman is the ''only'' one who can talk with Wally, and even then, that's only by processing what Wally says some time after the actual conversation.
34* AbsurdlySharpBlade: ComicBook/WonderWoman's Hephaestus-forged sword. According to her, it can "shave the electrons off an atom." It can even cut Superman -- though she remarks this is because magic is one of the few things that Supes isn't invulnerable to.
35* ActorAllusion: In a one-panel cameo, ComicBook/TheJoker looks just like Jack Nicholson in the Tim Burton Batman movie. This is a general rule for all Alex Ross publications that feature The Joker. Likewise, Alex Ross clearly looked up what Frank Gorshin looks like as an old man in order to draw The Riddler.
36* AnAesop: The {{Novelization}} gives a potent one during the {{Denouement}}: when Clark attends Norman's sermon, the latter talks about the origins of citrus fruit, and ending it with the fact that [[WhenLifeGivesYouLemons we can make things better for ourselves]], and [[PerfectionIsImpossible we don't need to aim for absolute perfection to get it]].
37* AllThereInTheManual: Due to being filled with numerous characters, the story doesn't have the time to get into unnecessary details about each and every characters' backstory or relation to the previous generation of heroes. The collections provide guides for who's who.
38* AlmostKiss: Superman and Wonder Woman are about to kiss before the league announce they found Magog.
39* AmazonianBeauty:
40** Power Woman is ComicBook/PowerGirl when depicted as extremely muscular.
41** Wonder Woman has a muscular body befitting of an Amazon warrior, and many characers notice how her beauty has not diminished through the years.
42* AmicableExes: A middle-aged Fire can be seen at the superhero-themed bar asking if owner ComicBook/BoosterGold is around. According to the {{Novelization}}, they used to be together.
43* AndThenWhat: The comic shows what would happen if heroes went around killing all the villains. You get individuals with powers and abilities far beyond those of ordinary people with no one left to fight, and rather than give that power up (and the highs that come with using it), will sate themselves fighting each other over the stupidest of reasons.
44* AntiClimax: The anticipated fight between Superman and Magog [[spoiler:never happens because of the latter's VillainousBreakdown]]. [[spoiler: Wouldn't have been much of a fight anyway as Magog lashes out and Superman just takes it, more surprised than hurt. It's in keeping with the relative power levels of [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Dark Age]] characters versus [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] ones.]]
45-->'''Magog:''' Your fault... you bastard. The world changed... but you wouldn't. So they chose me. They chose the man who would kill over the man who wouldn't... and now they're dead. A million ghosts. Punish me. Lock me away. Kill me. Just make the ghosts go away.
46* AntiHero: Magog and his cronies are these. A large part of the book hinges on the difference between antiheroes and traditional heroes, to the point where the whole thing can be seen as a metaphor for UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks with the rise of the NinetiesAntiHero and the decline in popularity of the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] super heroes and the coinciding loss of morality in comics, and the eventual need to bring those ideals back. It also explores the differences between anti-heroes and villains. [[spoiler: That difference is what breaks Magog in the end.]]
47* ArmorPiercingQuestion:
48** Lord Naga (Kobra) asks Lex what he plans to do about Superman. It's the only time Lex is completely out of control.
49** In the {{Novelization}}, when Wonder Woman is questioned by the Amazons about her actions during the crisis, she states that Paradise Island had become too insular.
50--->'''Diana:''' For example, who among you has actually met a living soul who does not live on this Island?\
51A few hands went up among the four- or fivescore assembled sisters. Even they went down when everyone realized what their former princess meant by "living".
52* ArmorPiercingResponse:
53** A few cases, but the most notable one is when Superman first comes back to the world and is struggling to understand all the changes in attitudes and such. He asks Batman what has happened and why, and is visibly unnerved when Batman replies with "You quit."
54** When Superman expresses concern about Wonder Woman's sword, she snaps back that not everyone has heat vision.
55* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Detonating a nuclear weapon in the atmosphere, not on a surface, just spreads fallout further. [[spoiler: Captain Marvel]] would have made the bomb ''more'' destructive, not less. To be fair, it does still kill anyone who is not shielded (like those protected by Green Lantern’s shield) or invulnerable to the nuke’s effects (like Superman).
56* AssholeVictim:
57** Joker meets his end at the hands of Magog. Given how [[MonsterClown monstrous]] the Joker was, the general populace comes to praise Magog for putting an end to him.
58** Von Bach, one of the more violent metahumans apprehended by the heroes, is killed by Wonder Woman before he can claim another life during the final battle.
59* AsTheGoodBookSays: All over the place. Quotations from the Literature/BookOfRevelation bookend at least two chapters, and biblical apocalyptic imagery is heavily used throughout.
60* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:Magog]]. In the comic, [[spoiler:Magog]] can be seen sitting calmly in his cell, downbeat and presumably mourning the deaths he accidentally caused. Unlike the other residents of the Gulag, [[spoiler:Magog]] is the only rogue superhero to ''walk up to the gate'' and ''knock'' - and ''patiently'' waits for someone to come out. What follows is both humorous and touching in the {{Novelization}}:
61-->Eventually Comet walked up behind [[spoiler:Magog]] in the shadow of the Gulag. [[spoiler:Magog]] turned and smiled lightly, putting his helmet and energy spear on the ground as the older man approached.
62-->“We’ve not met,” Comet said. “I’m Adam Blake,” and he extended a hand.
63-->“I’m [[spoiler:Magog]]”, the caller said. He extended his own hand to take Comet's, the first-time someone had shaken his hand in years, he thought. “I need a place to think. I need a place out of the sun. I understand that this is the village of the damned. I understand that this is a place where I might be welcome.”
64-->“Yes,” Comet said. “Come in. We’ll find you a room.”
65* AudienceSurrogate: Pastor Norman [=McCay=] is a normal man who suddenly finds himself involved in a metahuman war after being recruited by the Spectre. Much like the reader, he can do nothing but passively watch and be amazed/terrified at the story's events, at least until [[spoiler:the final issue, where he talks down Superman before the hero destroys the United Nations in a blind rage]].
66* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler: Wonder Woman is pregnant with Superman's child in the ending. Batman is the godfather and they even discuss him having regular custody of the child, making he or she effectively a child of the Trinity]].
67%%%* BadassNormal: Oliver Queen. Played up in the {{novelization}}.
68* BadassPreacher: Norman [=McCay=], with touches of BadassPacifist. He never fires a shot or throws a single punch, but through the power of his sermons, he singlehandedly saves [[spoiler: the UN, and by extension the entire ''world'' from ''[[BewareTheSuperman Superman.]]'']]
69* BadGuyBar: [[ComicBook/TeenTitans Titans Tower]] has become one of these. Though granted, it's more of a NinetiesAntiHero Bar.
70* BatmanGambit: Batman agrees to work with Luthor, but only because [[spoiler:he wants to dismantle the Mankind Liberation Front from within. After he earns the villain's trust, Batman discovers his plan to exacerbate the tensions between humans and metahumans and takes measures to successfully apprehend Luthor and his conspirators]].
71* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The current status quo comes about partly because regular civilians reject the traditional heroes, [[ThouShaltNotKill who won't kill]] their enemies no matter what, and demand heroes who will. They get what they wanted, and millions die for it. Batman actually says this trope word for word in his conversation with Superman.
72* BewareTheSuperman: The series focuses on both the catastrophic damage and morale-depleting effects that having godlike beings on the planet positioned so far above humanity that they can essentially do whatever they want without consequence can cause. Although the younger generation of anti-heroes are the most obvious example of this, the story takes pains to point out that the older, more traditional generation aren't without blame either.
73** The trope is literally invoked in the book's climax when a grief-maddened Superman [[spoiler: nearly collapses the United Nations building upon the heads of everyone inside.]]
74* BigNo: Wonder Woman loudly screams no after Captain Comet is killed by Von Bach.
75* BittersweetEnding: Good News: Superheroes are now working properly with humanity and they can now be together in peace and the Big 3 are now friends again. Bad News: About twenty superheroes are actually alive and psychologically, they are going to need lots of help and millions of innocent lives were lost throughout the story. However it soon becomes an EarnYourHappyEnding, since we see that Superman and Wonder Woman are going to have a baby and they want Bruce to be the godfather and 1000 years in the future the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes fly over a large group of connected people which includes Superman himself.
76* BlindIdiotTranslation:
77** In the scene where [[spoiler:Superman attempts to destroy the UN building and kill everyone inside]], the Filipino delegate says "Siva ulo! Nandiyan na ang siva ulo! Papatayin niya tayo ulo!", which literally translates to "Damaged Head![[note]]i.e. "Insane" but it should be "sira" instead of "siva" for the term "damaged"; and "sira" (damaged) and "ulo" (head) should be a single compound word[[/note]] There is already the damaged head! He's going to kill us! Heads!" The authorial intent apparently is closer to "There is (or 'here comes') (the face of) death! He has death in his head (or "on his mind")!", but that requires ''much longer'' sentences for a correct translation.
78** In the climactic battle, when Von Bach is ready to kill Zatara, he says "Du wurst wie eine wanze zerquetscht!!" He's supposed to say "You'll be squashed like a bug!", but to that effect, he should have said ''Du wirst'' ("You will") instead of ''Du Wurst'' ("You sausage"). Justified in the novelization which reveals that Von Bach is a poser who likes German affectations but is not German. At one point, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII veteran Captain Comet tells him that no German would say ''Schweinhundt'', just ''Schwein''.
79* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Superman and his crew are right that the anti-heroes have become too bloodthirsty and overzealous, blurring the binary of hero and villain, losing track of concepts like collateral damage and simply not caring about the people not on their power level. ''But'' the anti-heroes are also right in their belief that simply beating up Supervillains and tossing them in jail is a temporary solution at best and useless at worst because of JokerImmunity and that they refuse to consider that their own ideology might have flaws.
80* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Billy Batson becomes subservient to ComicBook/LexLuthor after being infected with literal ear worms that had been artifically created by Dr. Sivana.
81* BrickJoke: A subtle one that spans two Alex Ross publications and a decade in between. The mind-controlling bugs that Lex Luthor uses on Captain Marvel show up also in ''{{ComicBook/Justice}}'', a 2005-07 miniseries also featuring art by Ross, with the kicker that Luthor actually stole them from Doctor Sivana in the first place, Sivana being Captain Marvel's arch-enemy.
82* BrokenPedestal: Magog actually looked up to Superman, and goes into a long rant in the {{Novelization}} about it.
83* BroughtToYouByTheLetterS: Well, this is the DCU after all...But still, look for a cameo by our old pal Marvin from ''{{WesternAnimation/Superfriends}}'', who still wears a shirt emblazoned with the letter "M".
84* CallToAgriculture: After retirement, Clark Kent is living in an artificial farm.
85* CallingTheOldManOut: All of the original Teen Titans' children are on the side of the anti-heroes in defiance of their parents. ShoutOut: They're called Batman's [[ComicBook/TheOutsidersDCComics Outsiders]].
86--->'''Ibn al Xu'ffasch:''' And they're prepared to fight tooth and nail with the generation that sired them?
87--->'''Batman:''' Aren't all young people, son?
88* TheCameo: ''Many,'' especially in the bar scene-- keep an eye out for [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} Rorschach]], who shows up a few times. Examples include:
89** Alex Ross himself, with long hair, in the Planet Krypton chapter.
90** Alex Ross' mother, twice: cheering at Superman in a crowd and in the end, watching Norman [=McCay=]'s mass.
91** Music/{{Bjork}}, on a poster in the street and in a crowd.
92** WesternAnimation/{{Fat Albert|AndTheCosbyKids}} and the gang.
93** Non, from Superman 2.
94** Lobo, bald and in bad shape.
95** An aging [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational Fire]], asking to see her old friend Booster Gold, who works as a manager at Planet Krypton.
96** Creator/MontyPython
97** Music/TheBeatles
98** ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}
99** Krypto the Super Dog and Comet the Super Horse
100** Music/VillagePeople
101** Columbia and Riff Raff from ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow''
102** ''Series/TheMonkees''
103** Tommy and the Acid Queen from ''Music/Tommy''
104** Spider Man, Captain America and Thor
105** Literature/SherlockHolmes
106** ComicBook/TheShadow
107** Chernabog from {{WesternAnimation/Fantasia}}
108* CanonImmigrant:
109** The version of Superman introduced in Kingdom Come was later incorporated into the main [=DC=] continuity and interacted with the Justice Society.
110** The Kingdom Come-verse is officially Earth-22 of the post-''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' multiverse.
111** Versions of a number of ComicBook/KingdomCome characters also ended up in the Main DCU's JSA, including Atom Smasher, Cyclone, and even Magog himself.
112** Alloy showed up in in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''. Then again, the Metal Men combining is just too good an idea not to use...
113** ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueGenerationLost'', which had a major subplot having to do with the events of ''Kingdom Come'', actually ''did'' use it. In a reversal of this, Rorschach shows up twice in the bar scene... at one point talking to the character he's an {{Expy}} of, The Question.
114** The (Kid) Flash of this series later shows up in a few other stories, and is identified as Iris West II. Taken a step further, the mainstream Wally West eventually has twins, one of whom is named Iris "Irey" West II, who becomes the second Impulse.
115* CaptainErsatz:
116** Magog is based on Cable, with elements of other Creator/RobLiefeld characters such as Shatterstar. According to Ross, the original intent was to make him "look like everything we hate in modern superhero design." Modern in this case meaning NinetiesAntiHero. The golden horned helmet and cybernetics were also meant to imply he was a "golden calf", going with the biblical motifs of the series. Though Ross also stated that he found himself liking some of the design in the end.
117** Tusk, a robot in the first fight scene is visually based on Z'gok-E from Anime/MobileSuitGundam.
118** Americommando is visually based on ComicBook/JudgeDredd, with a hint of [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} The Comedian]]. He's actually a pre-existing superhero from an alternate universe and based on ComicBook/CaptainAmerica.
119** Tokyo Rose takes some visual hints from Chun-Li of Franchise/StreetFighter, although with a more Japanese tone to it (obviously).
120** An Unnamed background character in the Gulag is visually similar to VideoGame/DukeNukem.
121** Several background characters are based on bands and musicians, including Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/TheBeatles, Music/TheMonkees, Music/VillagePeople, and King Marvel is visually very similar to an older Music/ElvisPresley. This is a recursive ShoutOut -- Elvis based his famous stage costume on Captain Marvel, Jr., his favorite superhero.
122** An unnamed background character in the Gulag is a dead ringer for Music/DavidBowie as [[Film/{{Labyrinth}} the Goblin King]], [[PaintedOnPants package and all.]]
123** Peacemaker's costume is very much modeled after [[Franchise/StarWars Boba Fett]].
124** A female-shaped robot from the Gulag scene looks a lot like the robot Maria from Fritz Lang's ''Film/{{Metropolis}}''. (This is actually a MythologyGag to a pre-existing CaptainErsatz; Mekanique originally appeared in ''All-Star Squadron'', where didn't look as much like Maria, but was created by a scientist called Rotwang.)
125* CastHerd: We've got the original "[[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]]" DCU heroes, their children, the rogue antiheroes, the former supervillains, and a number of ordinary "humans" (mostly politicians). So much work was put into creating a gigantic cast of superheroes that it almost works against the book's favor, as you have to seriously do your homework on the appendices to work out who people are a lot of the time, doubly so in the battle scenes.
126* CentralTheme: The loss of humanity through [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans justifying your actions]], whether it be taking a life or throwing your power around to get people to fall in line. All the classic silver age heroes lose their connection to the very people they swore to protect, Superman retires to his Fortress of Solitude, Wonder Woman is stripped of her royal title because she spends more time as an ambassador of peace (and crimefighter) than as a more proactive warrior[[note]]She was told by her mother that her ambassador efforts hadn't changed Mankind one iota[[/note]], Flash exists in constant motion unable to interact with anyone, Green Lantern remains in a watchtower construct in orbit over Earth and Batman polices Gotham via drones. As such the new generation, who idolized the classic heroes, are left without guidance and fight each other as much as they fight supervillains. In the {{Novelization}}, Norman's narration [[ArcWords repeats several times]] "There is a right and a wrong in this universe. And that distinction is not hard to make."
127%%* ChewingTheScenery: Many of the voice actors in the audio adaption.
128* ClarkKenting: Explored in the end, where [[spoiler: each of the heroes unmask themselves and join society, eliminating their secret identities altogether]]. While in a Justice League themed chain restaurant "Planet Krypton," featuring serving staff dressed as the classic characters, Clark, Diana and Bruce enjoy a meal together and are largely undisturbed. In the same scene Diana even mentions that Clark wrote the book on secret identities.
129* ColdEquation: The Spectre demands that Norman [=McCay=] decide on humanity's worth. When Norman points out that the world is too fragmented to allow for an accurate judgement, the Spectre simply tells him to "judge carefully". [[spoiler: At the climax Norman finally calls him out for quantifying humanity as a destructive species.]]
130* ComicBookFantasyCasting: Bruce Wayne's appearance is partially based on Gregory Peck. This is a nod to the much lauded ''[[ComicBook/BatmanYearOne Batman Year One]]'' by Dave Mazucchelli and Creator/FrankMiller.
131** Ross tend to model some characters after other comic book authors. The most blatant examples are Joker's Daughter and 666, modeled after Jill Thompson and her husband Creator/BrianAzzarello.
132* CoolOldGuy:
133** Norman [=McCay=] is an old reverend who [[spoiler:single-handedly manages to stop Superman's rampage in the final issue]].
134** In the {{Novelization}}, Norman meets Wesley Dodds, who's in his nineties, in a gym; Wesley is doing exercises a man in his ''twenties'' would be doing.
135** Elderly Bruce Wayne is no slouch either, and someone reading it today would be pleasantly reminded in some ways of Bruce's portrayal in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' a few years later.
136* CorruptedCharacterCopy
137** Magog, being a TakeThat at Creator/RobLiefeld, is a {{Jerkass}} and demented version of ComicBook/{{Cable}}, though this is subverted somewhat as Magog manages to be redeem himself after a DespairEventHorizon and helps the Justice League. He still proves to be the villainous opposite of Cable in later comics though, as seen in ''ComicBook/InfiniteFrontier'' where he joins the Injustice Incarnate whom mean to keep the worlds of the Multiverse separate, whereas Marvel's Cable is all about hopping between universes for the greater good.
138** Minor character Americommando is a bloodthirsty, psychotic version of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica.
139* CrapsackWorld: Ten years after Superman and most other famous superheroes have retired, the world becomes overrun with more and more violent metahumans. Their fights are a constant source of collateral damage and put countless civilian lives in danger; many now compare hero/villain fights to gang wars. The Kansas tragedy sterilizes America's breadbasket, throwing the world's economy into near-collapse with the threat of global famine. There are also more subtle signs of how crappy this world is, like when Norman [=McCay=] is offered a signed baseball from the last world series ever played.
140* CruelMercy: Superman opting to spare Magog so that the latter will live with his sins can be interpreted as this.
141* DareToBeBadass: Superman's words to Billy Batson.
142-->'''Superman:''' I don't know what to do! You can see that, can't you? Every choice I've made so far has brought us here-- has been wrong! So listen to me, Billy. Listen harder than you ever have before. Look around us. Look what we've come to. There's a bomb falling. Either it kills us-- or we run rampant across the globe. I can still stop the bomb, Bill. That much I'm sure of. What I don't know is whether I should be allowed to. Superhumans or mankind... one will pay the ultimate price. And that decision is not for me to make. I'm not a god. I'm not a man. but you, Billy... you're both. More than anyone who ever existed, you know what it's like to live in both worlds. Only you can weigh their worth equally. Fight the brainwashing, Billy. You can let me go... or with a word... you can stop me. Do you understand the choice that can be made by you alone? Then decide. Decide the world.
143* DarkAgeOfSupernames: The list of new generation of anti-heroes and/or villains appearing in this story include such standouts as NIL-8, Joker's Daughter, Germ-Man, Swastika and Shiva the Destroyer.
144* DarkerAndEdgier: {{Invoked|trope}} when Batman notes that black (replacing the yellow in the "S" insignia) is a new look for him. Superman (in the novelization) replies it's "[[AndThisIsFor for Kansas]]." Batman harshly chuckles and snarks, "[[ArmorPiercingResponse Is there anything you can't justify?]]"
145* DeathByAdaptation: In the novelization, [[spoiler:Kid Flash]] is stated to have died in the blast, despite this never being depicted on panel (plus her being alive and well in the follow-up series ComicBook/{{The Kingdom|DCComics}}.)
146* DecemberDecemberRomance: MLF members Selina Kyle and Edward Nygma (Catwoman and the Riddler) are both much older now, and are in a relationship.
147* DeconReconSwitch: Deconstructs the Dark Age by showing the consequences of violent vigilantes willing to kill becoming the breed of hero accepted by the general public, reconstructs the Silver Age by showing how it's better for heroes to stay in touch with civilians, figure out how to solve problems without endangering them and generally strive for figuring out how to improve the world.
148* DeconstructionCrossover: For the sake of exploring the moral and philosophical differences between the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Dark Age]] ideals of hero. Although it's generally considered primarily a deconstruction of the latter, the former don't escape unscathed either.
149* DeconstructorFleet:
150** When a bunch of “superheroes” with a [[NinetiesAntiHero darker and grittier approach towards crime]] than Batman and other classic heroes starts targeting villains, they wipe out a significant amount of them in about 10 years. But when there is no one else to fight, they begin fighting each other, and everyone nearby feels the full effect of their battles.
151** Superman is easily [[TheCape one of the greatest superheroes of all, if not the greatest]]. He’s the paragon of the classic superhero age, and almost everyone looks up to him. So what he happens when a great figure many look up for guidance just leaves? Who do people go to for advice or help? When public support swings toward anti-heroes, everyone looks to Magog the preeminent crimefighter among the new breed. But his catastrophic actions only make things worse and help usher in a dark age.
152** [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans Killing dozens of villains for peace]] may eliminate a good chunk of crime, but that does not mean crime is gone for good. Also, after years of HeWhoFightsMonsters battles, the “heroes” are no longer fighting villains but fighting each other; sometimes out of dislike, mostly of them out of boredom, and all of society suffers in the long run.
153** [[IdealHero Having a set of uncompromisingly moral superheroes]] may look good on paper, but the very inflexibility of the classic superheroes' moral compasses lead to a constant tug of war between good and evil, with no end in sight. This in turn makes people look up to "heroes" that have far less qualms about end things once and for all via lethal means. This is most noticeable with Superman and Magog's case, where, after public opinion swings in favor of Magog after his murder of the Joker, the Man of Steel elects to exile himself from the world, rather than publicly confront his rival and his ideals, along with the possibility that his own ideals might have flaws.
154** Often, for purely narrative purposes, comic stories depict superheroes either [[LetsYouAndHimFight fighting each other or knowingly provoking a superhuman brawl on public ground]], causing reckless, almost wanton destruction and after everything is resolved, they simply walk (or fly) away as if nothing had happened, without any consequences, often even making light of it. Examples: A superhero, just by RuleOfCool, will pick up a random car on the street and bludgeon some supervillain with it, or makes a dramatic entrance by landing onto a vehicle. In this story it is shown how ridiculous, violent and selfish a metahuman would need to be to so thoughtlessly destroy public property and risk the lives of civilians just for the sake of showing off.
155* DefeatMeansMenialLabor: After events unfold, the defeated members of Lex Luthor's alliance are put to work in a hospital for victims of the final battle. They are forced to wear collars to keep them compliant, and the worse they acted in the course of the story, the dirtier the work. Lex himself is forced to do the most humiliating task... cleaning bedpans.
156* DemBones: Deadman is considerably more skeletal than usual when depicted here.
157* DesignatedHero: {{Invoked|trope}}; this is a reality where the {{Nineties Anti Hero}}es have gone so far, many have become no better than the villains they fight despite still claiming to be heroes. Standouts include Americommando, whose solution to illegal immigration is taking an Uzi to the immigrants in question (though he's under MindControl at the time it's implied that it simply brought his worst qualities to the forefront), proud Neo-Nazi Von Bach, leather-clad TortureTechnician Pinwheel, and the briefly-mentioned Genosyde, who apparently gets his jollies blowing up prisons full of already-convicted criminals.
158* DeusExNukina: [[spoiler:The United Nations try to put an end to the metahuman war by nuking the Gulag. Subverted in that Captain Marvel destroys it with his magic lightning, so that a few metahumans might still live.]]
159* DidntThinkThisThrough:
160** Diana (Wonder Woman) becomes so consumed with regaining her "Amazonian honor" that [[spoiler:she doesn't consider until it's too late how normal humans will react to the League's war against the dangerous metahumans.]]
161** The League don't seem to realize that putting ''hundreds'' of angry metahumans in a gulag might not go well if containment is breached. ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} does, which is why he refuses. In the {{Novelization}}, an angry US Secretary-General tells them that ''un-powered'' criminals manage to break out of high security prisons on a regular basis:
162--->Superman, Wonder Woman, we have lots of prisons in Montana. Federal prisons. State prisons. Local jails. Detention centers. People -- normal, nonsuperpowered people -- find a way to get out of them all the time. But we've learned something about prisons where I come from. One of the most important, basic things we've learned is that you don't put the slyest, craftiest, most escape-prone people you've got all together in one place. Because if one of them gets out -- and one of them will, somehow, get out, that's pretty much the rule -- then in that case the rest of them are always going to follow.
163* DisproportionateRetribution: Savage kills a secretary [[NeckSnap by snapping her neck]] because she didn't put two sugars in his coffee. According to the {{Novelization}}, she ''did'' -- but Luthor stocked the small cubes of sugar, so Vandal thought she didn't.
164* DoubleMeaningTitle: In issue 1, one of the graffiti on the wall is the Japanese phrase 'tenchi muyo'. The way it is written, complete with exclamation mark, makes this a ShoutOut to [[Anime/TenchiMuyo the popular 90s anime]]. One of its translations, 'no need for heaven or earth', also makes it an ominous warning of things to come, as suggested in a ''Wizard'' magazine on artist Alex Ross.
165[[/folder]]
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168* {{Eagleland}}: Since the book is essentially a gigantic CrisisCrossover, there are a number of old-time DC heroes and their replacements or counterparts with patriotic themes representing the Type 1s, but as the second act starts, Americommando and the Minutemen start going on a violent rampage against "the wretched refuse" of immigrants... though, they are being mind-controlled at the time.
169* EcoTerrorist: Former hero Hawkman has essentially become a mild version of this, who has no hesitation about using violence against loggers and others who threaten his precious Pacific Northwest.
170* {{Elseworld}}: The story takes place in an alternate universe where Superman and the majority of other heroes resign after the Joker is killed by Magog, sparking strong public support for a more ruthless form of vigilantism.
171* EnemyMine: Batman and Lex Luthor join forces against the Justice League. [[spoiler:Subverted in that Batman really wants to destroy the Mankind Liberation Front from within]].
172--> '''Luthor''': If I'd known a common enemy could bring us together, I'd have invented one years ago. This must be killing you.
173* EverybodyHelpsOutDenouement: The fourth and final issue ends with most superheroes (as well as normal people) actively cleaning up the mess they've made during the story. Batman turns Wayne Manor into a field hospital with the help of plenty of other superheroes (and villains impressed into service), Superman works on a farm, and Wonder Woman reunites with the Amazons to help them (and the ant-heroes under her tutelage) adjust to this new world.
174* EverybodysDeadDave: What Norman [=McCay=]'s visions tell him will happen. In the end [[spoiler:not ''quite'' everybody dies, but the final battle involving nearly all metahumans on Earth gets a massive nuke dropped on it. Only a few characters survive]].
175* {{Expy}}:
176** Magog is one of Cable, meant to symbolize everything wrong with UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks.
177** Americommando is an {{Expy}} of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica from Earth-8.
178* FinalBattle: [[spoiler:The Rogues break out from the Gulag, the Justice League answers the call with anger until The Outsiders arrive to try to stop everyone from killing each other; it balloons into a battle that can consume the Earth, so the joint powers of humanity decide to nuke all fighters out of existence; the only two people that can stop the nuke are fighting each other; the nuke drops with the bomber asking for forgiveness for killing the heroes of the Earth; Captain Marvel emerges from his brainwashing to give a few seconds window to the people below; he triggers the bomb before the payload is deployed, allowing a handful to survive... though they are all dead to Superman's eyes... and he's pissed]].
179* {{Foreshadowing}}:
180** Orion's segment in Apokolips serves as a warning to Superman and the Justice League of the unforeseen ramifications their actions might lead to and how their noble intentions could backfire in the worst way possible.
181** As Diana prepares her armor, Superman grabs her sword and cuts himself on its edge, to which she reminds him that he's vulnerable to magic. [[spoiler:Cue the battle at the Gulag, where Superman is stopped from intervening by brainwashed (and fellow FlyingBrick) Captain Marvel... him being Superman's magic equal.]]
182* FoodEnd: The story ends in an epilogue with the three main heroes (Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman) having a meal at a restaurant.
183* FramingDevice: The Spectre recruits Norman to assist him in the coming apocalypse to judge the guilty, because Norman inherited the visions of The Sandman. The Spectre guides Norman as an unseen observer to the incidents providing the most context to what happens. [[spoiler: Norman only interacts with the characters twice, once when The Flash catches them observing them in the watchtower and again at the end where he intervenes himself to get Superman to calm down and reclaim his humanity. Norman also helps the Spectre regain his humanity]].
184* FunWithAcronyms: [=NIL8=]. Say each letter and number individually.
185* GaiasLament: After Captain Atom is torn open by Parasite, the entirety of Kansas, along with parts of Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri, are reduced to an irradiated wasteland.
186* GenreRelaunch: Of Silver Age era super hero comics.
187* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: The Mexican reprint in Spanish language skips the whole scene set in Apokolips, which wasn't in the original series printing but added in the trade as bonus material.
188* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: [[spoiler: The climax has Norman give a firm but sympathetic version of this to Superman as he is about to attack the United Nations staff, appealing to him that his behaviour is why they sent the nukes to wipe out superhumans to start with.]]
189* AGodAmI:
190** {{Deconstructed}} in the end.
191--->'''UN Council Member:''' We saw you as gods.
192--->'''Superman:''' As we saw ourselves. [[AGodIAmNot And we were both wrong.]]
193** In the {{Novelization}}, Deadman asks Norman if he ever considered being a god. Norm is, to say the least, highly skeptical. Boston replies he didn't mean capital G God, just a god, and gives examples like The Phantom Stranger and The Spectre, and notes that even Zeus himself was originally some normal guy who found a magic rock.
194* GodsHandsAreTied: The Spectre tells Norman that the Apocalypse is coming, but his job is only to punish the guilty, not stop the event. In the {{Novelization}}, Norm is less than amused and has a RefusalOfTheCall.
195* GoingCritical: Captain Atom. When his body is violently breached, the escaping nuclear blast and energy ravage the American Midwest.
196* GratuitousLatin: Magog kills The Joker pronouncing, ''"Sic semper criminalis!"'' It's also a ShoutOut to Abraham Lincoln's assassination (John Wilkes Boothe reportedly shouted, ''"Sic semper tyrannis!"'')
197* HandsGoDown: In the {{Novelization}}, when Wonder Woman is questioned by the Amazons about her actions during the crisis, she states that Paradise Island had become too insular.
198--->'''Diana:''' For example, who among you has actually met a living soul who does not live on this Island?\
199(''a few hands went up among the four- or fivescore assembled sisters; even they went down when everyone realized what their former princess meant by "living"''.)
200%%* HeroicRROD. Wonder Woman. Examined closer in the {{novelization}}.
201* HeroicSacrifice:
202** In the Novelization, Lois Lane. She stalls The Joker long enough for Superman to arrive and bring him to justice. Part of the reason that Superman abandoned humanity was that Magog made Lois' act a SenselessSacrifice.
203** [[spoiler:Captain Marvel ends up tanking a nuke to try to save the superheroes. While it saves many lives, there are still plenty of casualties.]]
204** [[spoiler:The Blackhawk jet fighters who deliver the nukes. According to the {{Novelization}}, they weren't expected to survive the blasts.]]
205** [[spoiler:Alloy (which is a ''literal'' amalgam of the ComicBook/MetalMen) protects Magog from dying from a nuclear blast. Magog isn't ''completely'' protected, as he shows signs of radiation sickness.]]
206* HeroInsurance. Explained in the {{Novelization}}, in which heroes tend to be impoverished and unaccountable. Auto insurance makes it impossible to own a car, damaged public property goes unrepaired (like the Statue of Liberty), and so forth.
207* HiddenDepths: Magog is a WellIntentionedExtremist, but he quickly becomes TheAtoner. For example, he's the only character who goes to The Gulag to simply introspect, spending his time in his room doing nothing but thinking (and crying, in the single panel showing him in his room). By the end, he's learned his lesson and has become a true hero (and teacher).
208[[/folder]]
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210[[folder:I-L]]
211%%* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Magog. Now he just wants "the ghosts [to] go away".
212* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler: Von Bach is killed when Wonder Woman impales him with her sword from behind.]]
213* IronicEchoCut: Superman is speaking with Wonder Woman about the sanctity of life as he rescues a woman from a collapsed building. Cue Vandal Savage snapping an office assistant's neck [[DisproportionateRetribution because she didn't prepare his refreshment properly]] in the very next panel.
214--> '''Superman:''' You're right. They seem to have learned ''little regard'' for human life, and there is ''nothing'' more ''sacred'' than that.
215--> '''Vandal Savage:''' I said ''two'' sugars. ''[neck snap]''
216* ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure: When the metahuman battle in the prison rages out of control and threatens to engulf the planet, the New United Nations resorts to this. [[spoiler:Captain Marvel, Batman, and Wonder Woman do their best to stop it, but it ultimately ends up incinerating the vast bulk of the metahumans, and sends Superman into a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.]]
217* KarmaHoudini:
218** The human race is let off fairly easily [[spoiler:for having nuked the metahuman race. Although Superman was going to KillAllHumans, he is talked down by Norman [=McCay=]. Justified in that the U.N. had sent the nukes out of fear, something that the heroes ended up causing, so it was up to everyone involved to work together and trust each other to never allow that to happen again.]]
219*** Many view the UN's actions as just retribution, as a relative handful of metahumans (Magog's "Justice Battalion" and the Parasite) are directly responsible for the nuclear razing of Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska, costing countless innocent lives.
220** Swastika is among the few to [[spoiler:survive the nuke]]. Although he technically doesn't do much notable bad stuff, he's a flagrant neo-Nazi with a swastika tattooed across his entire body.
221** Vandal Savage, as viewed by The Spectre. The Spectre would do ''anything'' to punish Savage - except for the fact ''Savage is immortal'', and out of Spectre's purview. With that said, [[spoiler: Savage ends up helping Bruce Wayne in his clinic, showing his knowledge of medicine picked up over a millennial lifetime, so you could say he earned his redemption.]].
222* KillThePoor: A brief scene sees one AntiHero, The Americommando, and his cronies declare war on meager immigrants, claiming "the poor, tired, huddled masses camping on our shores, begging citizenship" are the biggest foreign threat to the United States after the disaster in Kansas, though it's shown that he's under MindControl.
223* KnightTemplar: Wonder Woman, after being exiled from Paradise Island and stripped of her royal station, crosses the line, attempting to resolve her situation by "overcompensating", as Batman puts it.
224* LackOfEmpathy: A version applying to the heroes. [[spoiler: At the climax, Norman points out to Superman that the actions of superhumans (even the moderate, classic heroes) are so intimidating that they cause distancing from the rest of humanity. Events escalate to the point that human society becomes intimidated and scared enough to drop nukes onto the metahumans.]]
225* LargeHam: {{Lampshaded}} when Vandal Savage [[KickTheDog strangles a woman for getting his drink order wrong]] and the King calls him a "ham".
226* LaserGuidedKarma:
227** ComicBook/LexLuthor and his "Mankind Liberation Front" (a collection of Silver Age villains) attempt to exploit the metahuman war and TakeOverTheWorld. [[spoiler:They end up being forced to work by ComicBook/{{Batman}} in his makeshift hospital for the casualties of the civil war. Lex himself is emptying bedpans.]]
228-->[[spoiler:'''Batman:''' [[WhosLaughingNow Shazam.]]]]
229-->[[spoiler:'''Lex:''' Shut up.]]
230** Karma's laser is further guided by the relative sins of the various members of the Front. For example, Selina Kyle, Edward Nygma and Joe Carny, who were basically glorified thieves with a gimmick, have fairly light duties at the hospital which appear to involve mainly minor nursing / orderly duties for the patients; Edward in particular is entertaining the younger patients with magic tricks. Would-be world-conquerors and megalomaniacs like Luthor and Kobra, however, have more demeaning and menial duties such as cleaning the floors and, in Luthor's case, washing out bedpans. Savage, meanwhile, uses his extensive medical knowledge to help with burn victims. Ibn also helps, but he's the only one without a restraining collar [[spoiler: since he's a mole.]]
231* LawyerFriendlyCameo: Near the end, Norman [=McCay=] can be seen seated next to an elderly, bespectacled man with a mustache and an eyepatch, who is clearly Phillip Sheldon, the protagonist of ''ComicBook/{{Marvels}}'', which, like ''Kingdom Come'', was also illustrated by Alex Ross.
232* LeaveMeAlone: Uttered by the Parasite who attempts to escape from Magog and his Justice Battalion. But as the Battalion is made up of BloodKnight NinetiesAntiHeroes, his cries for mercy are ignored, which kick-starts the plot of the story as he lashes out in fear, ripping through Captain Atom's suit, nuking the American Midwest. One reporter even points out that Magog could have averted tragedy if he had just listened to Parasite.
233* LiteralMetaphor: Aside from being a reference to a passage in the book of Isaiah, the motto of the United Nations, where superhumans and humans finally reach an accord, is "And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (In fact, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have their picture taken in front of the plaque that bears it in the {{Novelization}}.) The end of the book as Superman using a ''giant'' plowshare, to indicate there will be no more war. (One wonders if Superman literally forged it out of swords. Knowing Supes...)
234* LiteraryAllusionTitle: Not only ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' itself a literary allusion (to either Matthew 6:10 or Luke 11:2 from the Bible), but each chapter title ('Strange Visitor', 'Truth and Justice', 'Up in the Sky' and 'Never-Ending Battle') is an allusion to the classic ComicBook/{{Superman}} introduction.
235[[/folder]]
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237[[folder:M-P]]
238* ManlyTears: Magog can be seen in one panel sobbing in his private room in the Gulag. In the {{Novelization}}, Bruce and Dick hug and sob - the first time in decades for Bruce.
239* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: At the metahuman bar, you can see Deadman noticing Norman and the Spectre milling about.
240* MenGetOldWomenGetReplaced: While many of the male heroes come out of retirement after Superman does, most of the female superheroes stay retired and have been replaced in this distant future. Examples include ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, ComicBook/BlackCanary, ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}, ComicBook/{{Starfire}}, and ComicBook/{{Zatanna}}. A handful of exceptions include ComicBook/WonderWoman, [[ComicBook/PowerGirl Power Woman]], and Jade, and only the latter has aged all that much, since it's established that Wonder Woman is immortal and Kryptonians like Power Girl not only age at a reduced rate, but get StrongerWithAge.
241* TheMole: [[spoiler:ComicBook/{{Batman}} refuses to rejoin Superman, and instead he and his "Outsiders" infiltrate ComicBook/LexLuthor's "Mankind Liberation Front" and stop them from exploiting the metahuman civil war for their own ends.]] [[spoiler: Ibn al Xuffasch is the actual mole in the MLF. Bruce suspects Ibn is his biological son, but it isn't confirmed til the very end.]]
242* MonsterModesty:
243** The Spectre is a spirit who wears nothing but a single cape.
244** Hawkman is now a humanoid bird and wears very little besides a loincloth.
245* MoreThanMindControl: [[spoiler:Billy Batson]]. The mind control bugs also appear in Alex Ross' and Doug Braitwaithe's ''Justice''. Both instances show that they're a technology stolen from said character's archenemy [[spoiler:Dr. Sivana]].
246* ANaziByAnyOtherName: According to the creators, the character of Von Bach comes from stories from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks where superheroes would fight Hitler, or thinly veiled Hitler CaptainErsatz dictators. He even speaks in German, and is covered in tattoos of far right German symbols. And the fact that the design for Swastika, whose tattoos form a giant swastika across his entire body, was originally designed as Von Bach, confirms this. The {{Novelization}} reveals Von Bach's hero is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josip_Broz_Tito Marshal Tito]].
247* NeckSnap: Vandal Savage breaks a woman's neck because [[KickTheDog she didn't put two sugars on his coffee]].
248* NeverMyFault: The antiheroes don't understand why they've been put in the Gulag, exclaiming they've stopped multiple dangerous villains and say that they're heroes. They don't bother to acknowledge the other reasons why they were imprisoned, like their rampant disregard for human lives and the fact they're a bunch of thrill-seeking adrenaline junkies constantly fighting one another out of sheer boredom.
249* NewsMonopoly: Superman sees multiple reports of the Kansas disaster in the Fortress of Solitude.
250* NinetiesAntiHero: Numerous characters, primary and secondary. And since Mark Waid and Alex Ross are [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]][=/=][[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] fans, they push the NinetiesAntiHero to the logical maximum: a bunch of superpowered gangs fighting each other because they killed all the supervillains and have nothing better to do, personified by Magog.
251* NotSoDifferentRemark:
252** A primary theme throughout the story. In flexing their strength to bring the metahuman population under control, the reformed Justice League makes the exact same mistake that the current generation of anti-heroes made. In a brief visit to Apokolips, Superman finds Orion has overthrown {{ComicBook/Darkseid}} but his reign turns out to be much the same as that of his father- he rules because the slave population finds freedom just as terrifying a prospect as fascism, and promptly elect him as their leader. Other than that, he seems to view himself more as a prison warden, keeping the worst of the 'lowlies' on Apokolips under his sway, rather than inflicting them upon the rest of the universe, and he lets Barda and Scott Free preach freedom and revolution (presumably in the hope that they'll succeed where he fails).
253** Shortly after meeting Orion, Superman end up forced to build an immense [[TailorMadePrison metahuman prison]] called the Gulag and the narration mentions how familiar it looks, particularly as it resembles the LegionOfDoom's skull-shaped headquarters.
254** After all the events are over, the Spectre tells Norman [=McCay=] that he and the superheroes he just saved are [[InvokedTrope not so different]]: both exist to bring hope.
255** Wonder Woman is Superman's lieutenant and one of the Justice League's main proponents in the cause to reestablish order by reigning in the renegade metahumans. But both Superman and Batman note, on separate occasions, that she has become nearly as violent and reactionary as the beings she fights.
256** In the second visit he pays to the Batcave, Superman tells Batman that, despite their differences, they share a principle in common: ThouShaltNotKill.
257* NotSoStoic: The novelization reveals that Bruce Wayne's favorite movie is ''Citizen Kane'', except Bruce sees it as a ''comedy''; every time he watches it, he has a full-blown laughing fit at the part where Kane says, "If I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man."
258* NotTheIntendedUse: Captain Marvel summons magic lightning by saying [[ByThePowerOfGreyskull "Shazam"]]. Normally he's struck by it and transforms, but in the final battle he repeatedly dodges his own lightning with his SuperSpeed (Speed of Mercury) to blast Superman, who can be hurt through magic. This only backfires on him when Superman tanks one blast to hold him in place so that Marvel transforms back to Billy.
259* NotUsedToFreedom: PlayedForDrama. At some point during the other heroes' retirement, Orion finally defeats and kills his monstrous father. However, when he attempted to free the enslaved population of Apokolips, the people long since broken by Darkseid's tyranny can't handle the concept. As such, they force Orion to become their new dictator, and overall nothing has changed, except that Orion doesn't actively oppress his people the way Darkseid did, viewing himself as more of a prison warden, and lets Barda and Scott Free preach liberty and revolution in the vain hope that they'll succeed where he failed. The experience has effectively broken Orion, who wearily wonders if all sons are doomed to become their fathers, and offers to help Superman by taking on all his prisoners, as they can't possibly be worse than his current subjects.
260* {{Novelization}}: Creator/ElliotSMaggin's novel follows the plot closely but with enough additional nuances and expanded characterization that it is arguably better than the miniseries in many regards. It doesn't have Alex Ross' gorgeous art, though.
261* NowOrNeverKiss: Wonder Woman kisses Superman before leaving the Final Battle.
262* OhCrap:
263** Norman's reaction to Superman's return, when he realizes it is [[OnceMoreWithClarity a key part of his vision of armageddon]].
264-->'''Norman:''' He had not turned his back at us. He stands in the sky... faith '''rewarded'''. He is returned... and-- ''(vision of screaming Superman, which changes Norman's mood and reaction)'' --dear God. The threat of '''Armageddon''' hasn't ended. It's just '''begun'''...
265** The moment when Superman learns from Batman [[spoiler: that Captain Marvel has been brainwashed and unaccounted for; and oh, ''it doesn't end well'':]] [[http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lewgh4eOPy1qa9wgxo1_500.jpg "Armageddon has arrived."]]
266* OldSuperhero: Batman is now so old and battered he needs machines to help him walk, but he's still as sharp as ever, able to execute a classic BatmanGambit and has the guts to punch Captain Marvel.[[spoiler: Who is really Billy Batson.]] It's stated that Batman in this future has basically abandoned the Bruce Wayne "personality" altogether.
267* TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The Quintessence, consisting of The Phantom Stranger, Zeus, Ganthet, Shazam and The Spectre. The Spectre bristles at their avowed unwillingness to meddle in the affairs of mortals when Shazam begs the others to help Captain Marvel, accusing them of just being too scared to interfere and just have these meetups to tell each other "no". Deadman tells Norman in the {{Novelization}} that the last time they interfered, it resulted in UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar, so naturally they're a little gunshy.
268* OnceMoreWithClarity: One of Norman's first visions is a dim, shadowed glimpse of a muscular man on his knees, screaming in a smoke-filled landscape. Apparently it's part of the looming apocalypse. At this point Superman is now bearded and cut off from the world. Over the course of the first act, he sees Superman and the Justice League return to work. He's exulting in their first public heroism like the {{Innocent Bystander}}s, until he has the vision again (or just remembers it) and it's clearly Superman in his current form. Superman's return hasn't prevented the apocalypse at all, it's a necessary step towards the end.
269* OrderVersusChaos: The Justice League stands as the order to the anti-heroes' chaos.
270** Batman for his part sees his Outsiders as the order to the chaos of the Justice League.
271* PacifismBreakingPoint: Wonder Woman shows a degree of alarm when Superman, of all people, who had been advocating for trying to reason with and teach the younger metahumans, closes his eyes and says, "We are at war."
272* PatrickStewartSpeech: Superman's final words to the UN.
273-->'''Superman:''' But I no longer care about the mistakes of yesterday. I care about coping with tomorrow, together.The problems we face still exist. We're not going to solve them for you, we're going to solve them with you. Not by ruling above you but by living among you. We will no longer impose our power on humanity. We will earn your trust... using the wisdom one man left as his legacy. I asked him to choose between humans and superhumans. But he alone knew that was a false division and made the only choice that ever truly matters. He chose life. In the hope that your world and our world could be one world once again.
274* PersonOfMassDestruction: Captain Atom. After Parasite tears him open, the radiation contained within him is unleashed into a massive explosion that makes the American Midwest uninhabitable.
275* PetTheDog: Magog saving Tokyo Rose from a nuclear blast. "Rosie, hold onto your spandex..."
276* PokeInTheThirdEye: Norman is merely an invisible spectator for most of the story, but the Flash demonstrates that he's not completely undetectable.
277* PoweredArmour: ComicBook/{{Batman}} needs an exoskeleton to move about, he's so battered from 60-odd years of superheroing. When he goes into combat, he does it in flying power armour. A number of other characters do as well.
278* PrecisionFStrike: When Magog indicates the radioactive wasteland of Kansas is his legacy, Superman responds, "You must be proud."[[note]]Which is a profoundly dickish IToldYouSo[[/note]] Magog responds, screaming, '''''"GODDAMN YOU!"''''' before blasting him with his weapon and falling to the ground, sobbing.
279* PrimeDirective: The reason the Quintessence won't interfere with the "critical path" on Earth. The Spectre snorts it's just a convenient excuse.
280* PsychoticSmirk: Bruce Wayne sports one throughout as a sign of his apparent FaceHeelTurn, quite unusual (and unsettling) considering ComicBook/{{Batman}}'s PerpetualFrowner reputation.
281[[/folder]]
282
283[[folder:Q-T]]
284* RageAgainstTheHeavens: A much more direct form than usual. [[spoiler:After the nuke clears, the Spectre is about to leave the despondent Superman to blow at the UN Assembly, but Norman stops him, saying leaving Superman to his rage would be nothing less than pure evil, and ''demands'' to be taken with him so he can calm him down and guide him to the truth he and metahumanity and humanity need.]]
285* RealMenTakeItBlack: In the epilogue to the collected edition, [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Clark]], [[ComicBook/WonderWoman Diana]] and [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Bruce]] meet up at Planet Krypton restaurant. While Clark has milk and Diana gets some water, Bruce's drink order is "Coffee. Black. And keep it coming."
286* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: During the final battle, Batman calls out Wonder Woman's wanting to wage war on the anti-heroes being an attempt to earn back her crown among the Amazons. Wonder Woman does not react well, accusing Batman of arrogantly sitting in the Batcave and letting the world fall apart until ''he'' decided it was time to save it.
287* {{Reconstruction}}: Of everything that was great about the Golden and Silver Ages, to the degree that the publication of ''Kingdom Come'' has been retrospectively labeled the end of the Dark Age.
288* RedEyesTakeWarning. Superman is, to put it mildly, none too pleased after the nuke is detonated, with the Spectre remarking that this is a signal for him unleashing "a fury that would cow Satan himself."
289* RefusalOfTheCall: Norman in the {{Novelization}}, when he learns The Spectre won't prevent the upcoming Armageddon, and merely wants Norm to judge the guilty. Norm quickly judges The Spectre and basically [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu flips him off]]. In a powerful subversion of the trope, there isn't even a TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive. After realizing Superman will be the catalyst of the impending disaster, Norm realizes that it's going to happen anyway and ''maybe'' he can help avert it in some way. [[spoiler: He does, and it's implied The Spectre knew he would.]]
290* {{Repower}}: Lots of the Golden Agers get big power boosts as Waid draws their abilities to the logical conclusion. Especially ComicBook/TheFlash, who has become one with the Speed Force and now exists as a living blur in constant, never-ending motion.
291** Superman's power level in general is boosted and he becomes immune to kryptonite due to all those years soaking up the sun. And in the {{Novelization}}, in the end Superman becomes immune to ''magic'' because he realizes its fundamental paradox.
292** Alan Scott (a Green Lantern) has fused his power battery into his chest. Unlike Superman, however, he still retains his original weakness - [[WeaksauceWeakness to wood]]. While he's effectively invincible otherwise, [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Oliver Queen]] is able to punch right through his PoweredArmor with regular arrows. [[spoiler: On the other hand, Alan survives the nuke while Oliver doesn't.]]
293** Batman uses powered armor and keeps his city safe with robotic drones. This one overlaps with DisabilitySuperpower: Batman has taken so many beatings over the years, his body has said "so long" and pretty much given up. He is dependent on an exoskeleton to be able to ''walk'', and covering that in armor wasn't a big step.
294** Doctor Mid-Nite (now called simply "Midnight"), who once used smoke bombs, now exists as a living smoke cloud that fills out his costume's cape.
295** Garfield Logan -- once called "Beast Boy" and "Changeling", now called "Menagerie" -- can only shapeshift into fictitious creatures, such as the Jabberwock from Lewis Carroll's ''Through the Looking Glass''.
296** Doctor Fate, now called Fate V, is now merely the helmet and cape, having gained sentience from the many hosts it has used.
297%%* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:Billy Batson]]. The Creeper went from being insane to completely bonkers.
298* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When Superman retires, ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' and Superboy decide to leave the present and join the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' in the 30th Century.
299* SecondComing: Superman's return from his self-imposed exile to deal with Magog and his generation of heroes is first seen as this by [=McCay=]. However, [[spoiler:the visions [=McCay=] has seen reveal that Superman's presence will catalyze the coming doom, not avert it.]]
300* SecondLove: ComicBook/WonderWoman gradually becomes this for Superman over the course of the story.
301* SecretIdentityIdentity: The revelation of Bruce Wayne being Batman leads to Wayne Manor being wrecked by Two Face and Bane, and Bruce, of course, no longer keeping up the pretense. Superman also drops the Clark identity. Indeed the ending shows ''all'' the surviving supers de-masking, and seems to be showing the end of the SecretIdentityIdentity for this universe.
302* SeenItAll: When Norman talks about approaching Armageddon on Earth, Boston pauses and notes Norman must mean the events of the "critical path" down there, hinting strongly he's seen a few of them already.
303* SelfPlagiarism: Before ''Kingdom Come'', Alex Ross designed the characters of ''ComicBook/AstroCity''. There are at least two references to this work:
304** Wonder Woman's winged armor cause her to somewhat resemble Winged Victory, herself a CaptainErsatz of Wonder Woman.
305** Joker's Daughter's clown motif and red-and-green, diamond-shape pattern costume make her look like a DistaffCounterpart to Jack-in-the-Box.
306* SharpenedToASingleAtom: Wonder Woman has a magic sword that is sharp enough to "carve the electrons off an atom". Leaving aside the ways that doesn't actually make sense, it suggests a blade with an edge thinner than an atom. Superman accidentally cuts himself on the blade.
307* SherlockScan: Batman casually examines Diana's body during the epilogue to find out that [[spoiler:she is pregnant.]]
308* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Ted Kord, Olivia Queen, Red Hood, and Alloy]] are all explicitly shown or heavily implied to have been killed by the bombing in the comic's climax, but aren't listed among the people Norman specifically sees dying in the novel.
309* StealthHiBye:
310** Clark vanishes while Bruce's back is turned to him. The latter comments "So ''that's'' what that feels like", lampshading how it's Batman who tends to disappear while the interlocutor is distracted.
311** In the epilogue, Clark wonders in bafflement how it was possible that Bruce is able to sneak up on them at a restaurant, even with his superhearing and X-Ray vision.
312** After Norman gives his speech during the climax, The Spectre removes him from the scene, leaving Superman confused and frustrating Norman, who wants to talk to him some more. Norman muses that The Spectre has a better sense of drama than Norman does.
313* StepfordSmiler: Captain Marvel, both as Billy and as Cap, is always flashing a vacant smile as a result of his brainwashing. It unnerves everyone.
314* StrongerWithAge: Superman, who is not vulnerable to Kryptonite anymore. But magic can still harm him. [[spoiler: In the {{Novelization}}, at the end not even magic can harm him, and that Hephaestus' sword can't injure him. Why? He discovered the paradox of magic.]] Then there's Power Woman, ComicBook/PowerGirl at her most muscular.
315* TakeUpMySword: In the {{Novelization}}, The Spectre says that he had come for The Sandman (Wesley Dodds, not Dream of The Endless), but when he died, the Sandman passed on the visions to Norman so he could deal with the upcoming Apocalypse himself.
316%%* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: Of the non-lethal, Talking The BewareTheSuperman Down variety.
317* ThatManIsDead: During most of the story, Superman has completely abandoned Clark Kent, giving minor {{Death Glare}}s to people who call him by that name, forcing them to address him as "Kal". (Batman, naturally, keeps calling him "Clark".) When Supes realizes that he lost a lot more than a secret identity when he abandoned being a part of the human race, he becomes Clark once more at the end. The {{Novelization}} explores it further, when Norm notes that Superman has a hard time addressing the press. When Superman becomes Clark again, he talks easily and naturally to a crowd, having regained Clark's people and reporter skills.
318* ThouShaltNotKill: Explored in the story. It's the violation of this creed that is a major part of why Superman abandons humanity. It's also the one thing that he and Batman have in common, no matter how distant their philosophies get, and the way Superman convinces him to intervene at the Gulag: to prevent as much loss of life as possible. Wonder Woman, Superman's lieutenant and future lover, does not share this credo.
319%%* ThrowAwayCountry: Kansas, and parts of the surrounding states. ''Twice!''
320* TouchTheIntangible: Norman [=McCay=] can travel unrestricted through space and time and observe events unheard and unseen. However, he does not count on ComicBook/TheFlash, who has received a power upgrade that causes him to exist on multiple planes of reality at once. The Flash senses Norman observing a meeting of the Justice League, grabs him, and yanks him back into physical reality.
321* TragicIntangibility: The reader is told Martian Manhunter has been left a nervous wreck, but we're only shown it when he's so out of it he can't even reach for a cup of tea without phasing his hand through it.
322* {{Troll}}: In the {{Novelization}}, Mera, who brings up an old rumor that Arthur and Diana were to marry to unite Themiscyra and Atlantis. When Wonder Woman and Superman are pleading their case, Mera is giggling, Atlantean-style (bubbles coming from her lips.) Neither Superman nor Wonder Woman understand the significance, but Arthur does.
323** In true Batman fashion, he continuously calls Superman "Clark", despite The Man of Steel's insistence that his human alter ego is dead.
324* TurnOutLikeHisFather: Orion ends up as the ruler of Apokolips after defeating Darkseid for good.
325--->'''Superman:''' You're more like Darkseid than ever, Orion.\
326'''Orion:''' So it was written to be. Our story has always been a generational one. It is said that many men eventually become their fathers.
327[[/folder]]
328
329[[folder:U-W]]
330* TheUnfought: After two full chapters fervently hinting that Superman and his "successor" Magog were destined to have a huge, all-out battle, their eventual confrontation consists of Magog blasting an unfazed Superman, then breaking down in tears before he surrenders.
331* UngratefulBastard: Swastika survives the massacre and is sent to Themyscira to be healed (and most likely to be set straight); he shows his gratitude by spitting during a solemn Amazonian ceremony. Fortunately Magog, the new Dean of Students there, [[DopeSlap gives him a hard clout]].
332* UnstoppableRage: Subverted. [[spoiler:After the nuke, Reverend [=McCay=] manages to talk Superman down from destroying the United Nations building and killing everyone inside.]]
333* ValuesDissonance: Invoked InUniverse. It's problems with values dissonance that cause Superman to retire in the first place because he cannot reconcile his values with those of the younger generation of heroes and, more importantly, the public that supports them.
334* VictoryIsBoring: This is what happened as a result of the new generation of heroes wiping out most of the villains for good. The numerous fights and battles that occurred happened because they were bored. The first illustrates this by showing many of the antiheroes fighting against each other, but then later on will team up with people they'd just been trying to kill for no given reason. They don't actually care who they're fighting just as long as they get to fight.
335* VillainousBreakdown:
336** [[spoiler: Magog.]] He goes down without Superman even touching him. He just collapses to his knees at the weight of the guilt [[spoiler: over the destruction of Kansas.]]
337-->'''[[spoiler: Magog]]:''' They chose the man who ''would'' kill over the man who ''wouldn't''. And now they're dead. A million ghosts. ''Punish'' me. Lock me away. '''Kill''' me. Just make the ghosts go away.
338** Luthor has a mild one part way through the story; for most of it, he's smug and in control, but when one of his confederates raises the question of whether he's concerned about Superman's return his immediate response is to violently scream that Superman will not get near him before he calms down.
339* TheVoiceless: A lot of characters have no speaking parts, but two really stand out - Hawkman, who is mute, since he's very anthropomorphised, and ComicBook/TheFlash, who was only meant to be audible to Superman, but simply ends up without speaking lines.
340* WasItReallyWorthIt: Magog wanted to take Superman's place as TheHero.
341-->'''Magog:''' You were afraid... that I was the Man of Tomorrow. You were afraid of the future I represented. ''(gestures the nuclear wasteland he inadvertently caused)'' Well, look around you. This is what I represent.\
342'''Superman:''' [[KickTheDog You must be proud.]]\
343'''Magog:''' Proud? PROUD? '''''GOD DAMN YOU!'''''
344* WeaksauceWeakness: Though he may have benefited from a {{Repower}}, Alan Scott and his constructs are still vulnerable to wood. Explains why Oliver Queen was able to put so many arrows in him during the final battle.
345* WellIntentionedExtremist:
346** Magog. While he does value innocent lives, his FatalFlaw is that he doesn't value ''all'' life as Superman does. It comes back to bite him in the ass when his zealotry costs millions of lives.
347** Superman. Green Arrow admits to people at the GoodGuyBar that Superman has the best of intentions, but he's a bull in a China shop and isn't quite suited to dealing with the current day's problems.
348** Orion. Scott Free says in his underbreath to Superman that Orion is trying his best to do good, then loudly exclaims -- so that the lowlies hear him -- that he's a buffoon tyrant.
349* WhamLine: Even Wonder Woman (who had been the story's most prominent KnightTemplar to this point) is shocked, at this declaration:
350-->'''Superman:''' We are at war.
351%%ZCE** Batman's "Hello, Billy" [[spoiler: to a fallen Captain Marvel]].
352* WhamShot: Luthor encourages Captain Marvel to go on the attack, seemingly setting up the big fight...and then [[spoiler: Bruce Wayne decks Marvel with a single punch and puts a foot to his throat. Everyone just stares before it sinks in that even at his prime, there's no way Batman could deck the World's Mightest Mortal. Which means...]]
353-->'''Green Arrow''': He's not...You're kidding me! You mean all this time [[spoiler: we've been living in mortal fear of ''Billy Batson?!'']]
354* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: In the {{Novelization}}, Spectre is baffled by Superman and Wonder Woman's relationship. Norman explains that theirs is a relationship of maturity: he needs a mature woman (like ComicBook/LoisLane was), or he needs no one else, and she needs a mature man, or she needs no one else. Spectre notes that Norman's experience as a minister is exactly what he lacks, having been separated so long from his mortal life, and no longer can comprehend human relationships. At the end, Norman is teaching Spectre to be Jim Corrigan again.
355-->'''Norm:''' These are people who come together only after doing a lot of living. Only after being vulnerable and disappointed a lot. After loving and being loved a lot. Both of them. A woman this formidable needs a man who’s weathered, sanded down around the edges—or she needs to be with no one at all. And a man this weathered needs someone capable of making him forget the ghosts of his own sad stories—or he needs to be with no one at all.
356* WhatTheHellHero: The UN delegates (and by extension, the United States) expresses anger at Superman and Wonder Woman for building a meta-human prison in the middle of Kansas without telling anyone nor even asking for permission. The UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill {{Expy}} levies a potent threat to Superman as a WhamLine:
357--->Perhaps it is time that we began to decide some things for ourselves. [[GetOut Good day.]]
358%%** Batman to Wonder Woman [[spoiler: when she kills Von Bach]].
359%%** Norman [=McCay=] to Spectre [[spoiler: when it seems the Spectre is going to allow Superman to wreak his revenge on the United Nations]].
360* WhenHeSmiles: After the events are over, in the {{Novelization}}, the President asks Superman if he's okay, because he hasn't smiled, and the Superman everyone loved always had a warm smile. Superman tells her he will again, but not now. In the comic and the Novelization, after Wonder Woman gives him a pair a glasses "to see a little clearer", he finally gives a very Superman-like smile as he pulls a gigantic plough in Kansas, ending the main story.
361* WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent: This was the public's complaint about Superman, who's too "old-fashioned" and wouldn't "get with the times".
362* WildCard: The only reason Batman bothered to infiltrate the MLF was due to Billy, whom he dubbed a "wild card" - for good reason.
363[[/folder]]
364
365[[folder:X-Z]]
366* XanatosSpeedChess: While the whole world burns with the question of what to do with the superhumans, the "Mankind Liberation Front" (led by ComicBook/LexLuthor and his gang of Silver Age villains) are plotting to exploit the events to wrest all power. [[spoiler:For this reason Lex manipulates Billy Batson into doing his bidding. Batman supposedly joins the MLF to foil this.]] Luthor even states that Superman's unexpected return accelerated his plans.
367* XtremeKoolLetterz: The younger "Dark Age" style heroes have names like "Genosyde”.
368* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Norman's reaction to the The Spectre stating their job was done after the bomb is dropped on the metahumans, leaving one '''''very pissed''''' Superman in its wake.
369** Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) says the trope nearly word for word when it's revealed that the figure of Captain Marvel that they've all been scared of is actually [[spoiler: Billy Batson grown to adulthood]].
370[[/folder]]
371----
372->They won't forgive you for this, Clark. Forgive yourself.

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