[[quoteright:316:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shadowpact_7899.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:316:Clockwise from bottom Left: Enchantress, Blue Devil, Jim Rook, Nightshade, Ragman, Detective Chimp.]]

The Shadowpact is a Creator/DCComics team that was introduced in the ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' miniseries ''Day of Vengeance'' as a hastily assembled group of supernatural heroes banding together to stop ComicBook/TheSpectre from destroying magic. Jim Rook coins the name Shadowpact, and a conversation between ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger and the wizard ComicBook/{{Shazam}} reveals that [[OrderReborn there have been many magical teams by that name]], and all have been failures.

They went on to star in their own series, which ran for 25 issues, in which they faced a powerful wizard called Dr Gotham, who was summoning a being called the Sun King. Both ''Day of Vengeance'' and the subsequent series were written by Bill Willingham, best known for ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}''.

The original membership was:

* Jim Rook: Formerly the SwordAndSorcery hero Nightmaster, who now ran the Oblivion Bar and was the team's first leader.
* ComicBook/BlueDevil: Still using demonic powers to fight crime, and now worried that he was a walking HardTruthAesop.
* Detective Chimp: Because you gotta have a monkey.
* Enchantress: Former HeelFaceRevolvingDoor magic-user, now firmly a heroine. Became team leader after Rook left.
* Nightshade: Heroine with CastingAShadow powers and shadow-teleportation. A HalfHumanHybrid whose mother came from the Shadow Dimension.
* ComicBook/{{Ragman}}: Gotham City's Tattered Tatterdemalion, who gains power from a costume made of the souls of the damned. In ''Shadowpact'' it turns out the suit is actually a tool of redemption - souls that work with Ragman instead of fighting him eventually get released to Heaven.

Later members were:
* Acheron: An illusion-casting ghost.
* Midnight Rider: A [[NewOldWest modern-day cowboy]] with magic guns.
* Warlock's Daughter: the former apprentice of a magical villain from Willingham's run on ''[[ComicBook/{{Robin}} Robin]]''.
* Zauriel: An angel, formerly a member of ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'', who is commanded to join the team while Blue Devil seeks repentance.

ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger, while not a member of the team, took an interest in them, and was shown as the comic's narrator.

(Incidentally, ''Day of Judgement'', the 1999 CrisisCrossover by Creator/GeoffJohns that ''Day of Vengeance'' was a sequel to, introduced a team called Sentinels of Magic that included Enchantress, Blue Devil and Ragman, together with other magical characters such as ComicBook/{{Zatanna}}, ComicBook/MadameXanadu and the GoldenAge ComicBook/GreenLantern. This team made one subsequent appearance (''JLA: Black Baptism'') and was then never mentioned again.)

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!!''Shadowpact'' provides examples of:

* AccidentalPervert: While trying to get Nightshade away from Congregation members who are surrounding her, Blue Devil ends up grabbing her butt. He does ask for her forgiveness and she seems more relieved to simply have been given some room.
* AffablyEvil: White Rabbit who complements Nightmaster's skills as a swordsman and Dr. Gotham who is impressed with human cuisine and architecture.
* AntiMagic: Joshua Coldrake has the power to dampen any magic in his vicinity which comes in very useful in his job as a prison warden for magically-empowered villains.
* TheApprentice: Warlock's Daughter is Enchantress's student in the magical arts.
* AscendedDemon: Deconstructed with Blue Devil. All his years of fighting against the forces of evil ended up giving a lot of good publicity to demons, both good and evil alike.
* BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad: In hell, one's status is measured by how low they fall not by how high they rise. In short, a demotion in hell is the equivalent of a promotion in earth or heaven.
* BerserkButton: Don't call Detective Chimp "Bobo".
* BusFullOfInnocents: Dr Gotham's introduction has a literal one.
* BringMyBrownPants: When discussing taking on the Spectre with Black Alice, Nightshade says she is "so nervous I could fertilize an acre of farmland - if you catch my drift".
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: In ''Day of Vengeance'', the team defeats the Spectre by channeling the energy of every magical being into Captain Marvel who uses this power to beat down the Spectre. Unfortunately, this temporarily makes Enchantress DrunkOnPower and she has to be knocked out with a great deal of effort. The following issue shows the team are greatly exhausted after the fight.
* CanisMajor: The Wild Huntsman's hounds.
* CityOfAdventure: Both Gotham and Metropolis are featured.
* CastFromLifespan: Enchantress casts a spell like this to keep Nightmaster alive.
* CoolSword: Rook's Nightblade, which grants him DangerSense and the ability to [[TruthSerum compel the truth]]. It later turns out to be haunted by the ghost of his father, who tells him it can [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower do anything he can imagine]]. The White Rabbit also has one as he is Nightmaster's EvilCounterpart in the Pentacle. It has the ability to make people fall asleep with a minor cut.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The team is called ''Shadowpact'' and includes a demon, a woman with shadow powers, a guy named "Nightmaster and a man whose costume contains evil souls.
** This was actually the source of conflict when three members of the team encountered the Congregation, a team of {{Knight Templar}}s with power over light.
-->'''Ragman''': But we're the good guys!\\
'''Congregation member''': A demon from hell, a notorious soul-stealer and a witch who conjures living darkness? Don't make me laugh!\\
'''Congregation member''': [[ObviouslyEvil It's plainly obvious you're foul to the bone.]]
* DayInTheLife: Issue 4 is a story focused entirely on Blue Devil's day-to-day activities.
* DeadpanSnarker: Most of the characters, but especially Detective Chimp.
* TheDragon: Dr Gotham is this to the Sun King.
* EvilSorcerer: Several, but especially Dr. Gotham.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Subverted. At the group's founding, during ''Day of Vengeance'', Phantom Stranger mentions how all incarnations of Shadowpact always meet a terrible end. He then pops up throughout the series to restate this fact. This is brought up on occasion by the members of the group, during times of stress or when it seems as if they will not be able to save the day. However, the series ends with them doing just that, saving the day from the Sun King. The fight involves them actually working with different Shadowpact groups throughout history, since the Sun King is stated to be attacking all points in time at once. Therefore, by managing to stop the Sun King, the Shadowpact stops him from killing their previous and future incarnations, thereby changing the doomed nature of the group.
* FanservicePack: Averted with Nightshade who used to have the standard comic book figure and had an outfit that reflected that, but in this comic has been de-aged to be in her early teens. Played straight with Enchantress whose outfit now shows more skin than before.
* GuileHero: In their first battle, Strega easily defeats Enchantress thanks to superior power and experience. However, Enchantress knew that she was outmatched by Strega and wasn't even trying to win the fight at all. Rather, she was studying Strega's attacks to analyze her spells and figure out how to undo the barrier Strega had placed on the town.
-->'''Enchantress''': When I can't be the toughest witch in town, I settle for being the sneakiest.
* GodOfLight: The Sun King is a solar deity from another dimension who feeds on other universes.
* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: The original line-up. Nightmaster fights with a sword, Blue Devil and Ragman are super strong and even Detective Chimp mixes it up in melee everyone once in a while. By contrast, Nightshade fights with shadow constructs or monsters she summons and Enchantress is a SquishyWizard.
* {{Hammerspace}}: Dr Gotham's cloak is a portal to a pocket dimension where he stores the magical artifacts that power his spells. The Enchantress defeats him by jumping into his cloak and destroying thousands of these artifacts to weaken and force him to retreat.
* HatePlague: The denizens of Myrra have been corrupted by the Mind Virus, a magical infection that transforms its victims into unfettered cannibals.
* HotWitch: Enchantress and Strega.
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Karnevil has no magical abilities yet is the most evil of the Pentacle to the point even Strega is afraid of him.
* ImNotAHeroIm: Blue Devil says this in his press conference when he tells people not to imitate him by making devil's deals of their own.
-->'''Blue Devil''': The truth is, I'm no hero, super or otherwise. I didn't make my deal with a devil to do good or save others. Instead I made a disgusting bargain entirely for self-aggrandizement. I sold my soul for nothing more noble than fame as an actor. Everything I do, every great deed I accomplish redounds to the benefit of Hell and its minions. The simple, unchanging truth is, you can't do good by doing evil. I learned that lesson at great cost. Please don't make the same fatal mistake.
* ImprovisedWeapon: As part of his 13 labors of penance, Blue Devil had to fight a giant spider monster. He killed it with a blender. For extra hilarity, he actually wanted a machete but the Italian priest he was speaking to on the radio misheard it as the Italian word for blender.
* InnBetweenTheWorlds: The Oblivion Bar caters to magic users and is featured prominently in ''Shadowpact'' as the team's headquarters since the owner of the bar is one of its members. While the Bar allows anyone from angels to demons entry, neutrality is ''strongly'' encouraged.
* LadyInRed: Strega. She is even referred to as the "Red Witch" by the Phantom Stranger in opening narrations.
* LiarsParadox: A minion of the Sun King tries to distract the Shadowpact by stating everything he says us a lie. They don't fall for it.
-->'''Demon''': Am I ''blowing your mind?''\\
(''Proceeds to get his ass handed to him'')
* LightEmUp: The Congregation destroy Nightshade's shadow constructs by generating light on the order of thirty thousand lumens per square inch. This is brighter than the surface of the sun! The intensity of this light results on Nightshade, Ragman and Blue Devil being temporarily blinded.
* LightIsNotGood: The Sun King. The Congregation could qualify in a KnightTemplar variation. They attack the Shadowpact because they think they are villains and show little regard for civilians blinded by their battle with the so called "villains". Keep in mind that the Shadowpact's heroic exploits are a matter of public knowledge and they even have a statue built in their honor by the people of Metropolis.
* {{Lunacy}}: Issue 5 has Ragman getting attacked by Blue Moon, a magically-empowered ProfessionalKiller whose powers depend on the phases of the moon. According to Enchantress, Blue Moon could have killed Ragman had she fought him during a full moon.
* LukeYouAreMyFather: [[spoiler: Jack of Fire turns out to be ComicBook/BlueDevil's brother.]]
* MagicalLand: Nightmaster's Myrra.
* MagicCauldron: The Herne-Ramsgate Cauldron, which the Enchantress borrows from a witch named Adalgisa for an entire century as part of a debt Adalgisa owes her. Enchantress refers to the cauldron as "the magic equivalent of the ultimate computer database."
* MagicIsFeminine: The male members of the team are ComicBook/BlueDevil, a stuntman and martial artist who was turned into a demon, ComicBook/{{Ragman}} who wears a mystical suit composed of souls, Nightmaster who fights with a magic sword and Detective Chimp, a talking monkey. The female characters are [[LadyOfBlackMagic the Enchantress]], a powerful and clever sorceress, and Nightshade, a mage with [[CastingAShadow shadow magic]] she inherited from her mother. The team is later joined by the angel Zauriel who is male and Warlock's Daughter, a young girl whom Enchantress takes in as her apprentice in the magical arts.
* MasterSwordsman: White Rabbit. The only reason he doesn't kill Nightmaster in their fight is because it could mess up Strega's spell.
* MistakenForGay: While talking with Black Alice in ''Day of Vengeance'', Nightshade that she and Enchantress "were very close once - two souls in one body". Alice takes this to mean that the two were a couple, to which Nightshade quickly and disgustedly corrects her about.
* OrderReborn: In the final story-arc, we see some of the earlier Shadowpacts, and even one from 2108. Despite Nightmaster having taken the name unknowingly, they all have a certain similarity.
* PragmaticHero: While White Rabbit does free Shadowpact, Enchantress still knocks him out. As she points out White Rabbit is still an enemy and if anything is more dangerous due to his tendency to switch sides for frivolous reasons (he wanted a rematch with Nightmaster).
* PowerLossMakesYouStrong: In the final storyline, Blue Devil, who has sacrificed his demonic abilities, fights Jack of Fire in his original PoweredArmor.
* ThePowerOfCreation: Nightshade can imbue her shadow creatures with some degree of sentience.
* PsychoRangers: The Pentacle, comprising the witch Strega, the swordsman White Rabbit, the demonic Jack of Fire, the shadowcasting Sister Shadow, the bizarre Bagman and the sociopathic Kid Karnevil.
** You could actually say that the Shadowpact are the Psycho Rangers to The Pentacle, judging from the way they see it - sure, The Pentacle are the bad guys, but both Strega, Bagman, Jack of Fire and Dr. Gotham note that it seems that this Shadowpact was created specifically to stop this team from resurrecting the Sun King, which would in a sense make them "good" Psycho Rangers.
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The Shadowpact team was formed by rounding up recruits from the Oblivion Bar. When Nightmaster and Ragman were taken out of commission, they try the method again to go to hell and take back Blue Devil's trident from Etrigan.
* RedemptionQuest: Blue Devil is assigned one of these by the [[ChristianityIsCatholic Catholic Church]], to atone for his actions in ''Underworld Unleashed''.
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: When the Shadowpact emerge from the magical dome the town of Riverrock was trapped in, they discover that a full year has passed in the outside world since they went into the dome. This causes the people of Metropolis to think they are dead and build a statue of them in their honor. When an old sees them walking though a park at night, he assumes they are cosplayers ''mocking'' the real Shadowpact. Blue Devil learns that his apartment has been rented out to someone else while he was gone and Ragman loses his business and has his car repossessed.
* RhymesOnADime: Occurs when Blue Devil is promoted to a Rhyming Class demon.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Issue 4, which focuses entirely on Blue Devil, has him dealing with two demons named Mr Gray and Mr Green who talk like this.
* SpiritualSuccessor: The second volume of ''Comicbook/JusticeLeagueDark'', which features a Detective Chimp who has inherited both the Oblivion and the role of Nightmaster, and has Blue Devil as a recurring character.
* SuddenSequelHeelSyndrome: Linda Danvers, who became Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} for a while and retired from superheroics after ''Comicbook/ManyHappyReturns'', returns transformed into a vengeful "Fallen Angel".
* ThreeLawsOfRobotics: Homaged by Detective Chimp as the Three Laws of Superheroics:
** First Law: The lives and safety of innocent bystanders will always be protected.
** Second Law: The lives and safety of the superhero and members of their team will be protected to the extent that it does not conflict with the First Law.
** Third Law: The lives and safety of all opponents will be protected to the extent that it doesn't conflict with the first two Laws.
* TouchOfDeath: While fighting the Wild Huntsman and his hounds, Enchantress casts a spell on herself that kills anyone that touches her. The Wild Huntsman gets around this by snaring her with his whip and then swinging her into a wall knocking her out.
* TheTunguskaEvent: How Mr Meteor of the 1908 Shadowpact got his powers.
* TheWildHunt: Infiltrated by Rex the Wonder Dog, who overthrows the Huntsman and frees the Hounds.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Blue Devil's sister never shows up, we never learn if his parents souls made it back to Heaven, and Kid Karnevil, who escaped from the prison that the Shadowpact placed him in, also never has his final fate revealed before the series' end.
* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Sister Shadow and White Rabbit. Though the latter is less evil than the former.
* WhoYouGonnaCall: The team's purpose.
* WolverinePublicity: Franchise/{{Superman}} appears in the first issue. Unfortunately, he's supposed to be depowered at the time it's set.
* WorthyOpponent: White Rabbit lets the Shadowpact go under the condition that Nightmaster hone his sword skills so they can have an even better duel the next time they meet.
* YourSoulIsMine: The Sun King has to consume souls in order to enter the human world.
* YouKnowImBlackRight: While expressing his discomfort with the Enchantress' [[InstantOracleJustAddWater Scrying Dish]], Zauriel makes an offensive comment about witches much to her chagrin.
-->'''Zauriel''': I do not like this dish. It reeks of witchcraft - witches twisted and haggish with the perversion of their art.
-->'''Enchantress''': You do realize that I'm standing right here, Zauriel?
-->'''Zauriel''': Ah, I... it was not you to whom I referred. You are... a most handsome woman.
-->'''Enchantress''': [[SarcasmMode Oh, stop. You're making me weak in the knees.]]
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