[[quoteright:247:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Warren_Ellis_3308.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:247:[-[[http://talklikewarrenellis.com/ Good evening, frightening skin machines.]]-] ]]

->''"Creator/AlanMoore once told me he works the nine-pic grid because it's cinematic. I told him I work the six-grid pic because it's television. I should think more on that some time."''

Warren Girard Ellis (born February 16, 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is known for introducing transhumanist elements to his books, and for complex stories, including {{Continuity Nod}}s, [[{{Expy}} expies]], and {{Lawyer Friendly Cameo}}s. Like other Britwave authors, Ellis often operates as a one-man DeconstructorFleet.

Ellis originally was known for his comic work, which fills a large bookshelf. Apart from dozens of creator-owned and work-for-hire projects listed below, major works include:

* ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'', with artist Bryan Hitch. ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' gained Ellis his first mainstream comics notoriety, featuring an expansive and epic art style Ellis dubbed "widescreen comics" as well as inspiring the DecompressedComic movement, which Ellis would later avert in ''ComicBook/{{Fell}}''.
* ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'', a Creator/HunterSThompson inspired CyberPunk series, created with artist Darick Robertson. The series ran for 60 issues from 1997 to 2002, proving one of the best-selling titles on the Creator/VertigoComics imprint.
* ''ComicBook/{{Planetary}}'', with John Cassaday and Laura Martin. While infamous for long production delays, the series was hailed for Cassaday’s fabulous realism and Ellis’ interweaving of historical pop culture [[{{Expy}} expies]] with a modern superhero universe.
* ''ComicBook/GlobalFrequency'', a 12 issue creator-owned miniseries that garnered critical praise and was remade as a TV pilot starring Michelle Forbes of ''Star Trek: Next Generation'' and ''24'' fame. The pilot was leaked to the internet and the show never greenlit. There have been several attempts to develop the property since, though none have yet made it to production.
* ''ComicBook/Red2003'', a 3-issue series with artist Cully Hamner, later turned into a [[Film/Red2010 movie]] involving [[AuthorAppeal Helen Mirren with a sniper rifle.]]
* ''Iron Man: Extremis'' with Adi Granov, formed the basis for both an [[Anime/MarvelAnimeIronMan Iron Man anime series]] and ''Film/IronMan3''.

Starting in the mid 2000s Ellis began experimenting with other forms of storytelling:

* ''Webcomic/FreakAngels'', with Paul Duffield, a weekly webcomic available online and later collected into six volumes by Avatar Press. Ellis described the story as "what if Literature/TheMidwichCuckoos grew up, fucked up, then tried to fix it?" and has called it his "forgotten opus."
* Ellis has written two novels, ''Literature/CrookedLittleVein'' (2007) and ''Literature/GunMachine'' (2013), and a novella, ''Normal'' (2016).
* Ellis’ was sole writer and co-producer of ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'', an animated series for Netflix, with four seasons total aired.
* ''The Department of Midnight'' is an upcoming audio play, released as a podcast, centred around the titular department's investigator Dr. John Carnack (played by James Callis). Announced in 2023 for a release later in the year, but no word of it has come since.

During the 90s and 2000s Warren Ellis was Very Online through his own e-mail lists, moderated forums, blog, and Twitter. His informal online community included and encouraged many younger creators, such as Molly Crabapple, Laurie Penny, Creator/JamieMcKelvie, Creator/KieronGillen, Creator/MattFraction, Creator/KellySueDeConnick, Creator/ChipZdarsky, Creator/BenTemplesmith, Katie West, and many more.

Recurring AuthorAppeal / {{Author Tract}}s include [[{{Nanomachines}} nanotechnology]], [[MegaCorp evil corporations]], [[IWantMyJetpack space exploration]], [[HumansAreBastards people behaving badly]], as well a rather unsympathetic [[EagleLand view of America]] and [[EvilBrit Great Britain]]. His works regularly feature BlackAndGrayMorality, ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer, and ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools None of the above makes his work any less inherently readable.]]

He's also known as one of the very few British comic writers of his generation to have never worked on ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'', though it's certainly not out of disgust.

He lives in the coastal city of [[UsefulNotes/HomeCounties Southend-on-Sea]] with his partner. He had a major health scare in June 2015; doctors initially diagnosed him with a transient ischemic attack (a mini-stroke) before realizing it was a recurrance of a fifteen-year old ''extremely'' high blood pressure problem (before he had even started smoking or begun his coffee addiction) that had put him in a coma for six weeks.

In June 2020, dozens of women mentored by Ellis [[https://www.somanyofus.com described his sexual grooming and predatory behaviour towards younger women]]. While the initiator of the accusations insisted both that she didn't want Ellis "cancelled", and that he had helped numerous other women without making advances toward them, the fallout meant that several of Ellis's scheduled works were [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor cancelled ahead of release]], and he stepped away from his role as a producer on the Netflix ''Castlevania'' series for the final season (and is not involved at all with the sequel, ''Castlevania: Nocturne''). Ellis made an apology and, by spring 2022, some of his victims reported that they were working through a restorative justice process. As of January 2023, that process had halted, with [=SoManyOfUs=].com issuing a statement that Ellis "took none of the steps we hoped he would" and that they "do not anticipate" any further involvement.

Not to be confused with the Warren Ellis who plays violin for [[Music/NickCave The Bad Seeds]].
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!!Notable Works:
[[index]]
* ''Aetheric Mechanics'': In a war-torn Victorian England that is capable of spaceflight, Literature/SherlockHolmes-{{expy}} Sax Raker investigates a ghostly "man who wasn't there".
* ''ComicBook/AnnaMercury''
* ''ComicBook/AstonishingXMen'' issues 25-35 (''Ghost Box'' & ''Exogenetic''), & ''Xenogenesis'' mini-series: Superhumans, super-tech, super-weird. Enjoy. [[spoiler:Unless you're a fan of Forge.]]
* ''Atmospherics'': A shell-shocked woman claims to be a witness to the alien massacre of a small town. Or is she crazy?
* ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'': Who’s going to stop the villains? A higher Authority.
* The[[/index]] "BewareTheSuperman" Trilogy:[[index]]
** ''ComicBook/BlackSummer'': [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Super]]ComicBook/IronMan decides that UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush Made It Happen On Purpose. VigilanteExecution ensues. Now all his friends have to deal with the aftermath.
** ''ComicBook/NoHero'': What if superhumans weren't all that humane? [[spoiler:They'd still be better than TheGovernment.]]
** ''ComicBook/{{Supergod}}'': "Praying to be saved by a man who can fly will get you killed."
* ''ComicBook/BlackGas'': Warren Ellis' take on a ZombieApocalypse. [[spoiler:[[EverybodyDiesEnding Everyone dies.]]]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Carnage}}: Mind Bomb'': An expert psychiatrist is called in to treat Cletus "Carnage" Kasady, only to end up {{Mind Rape}}d.
* ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'': A Creator/{{Netflix}} series based on [[Franchise/{{Castlevania}} the long-running series of video games]], specifically [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse the third entry]].
-->''I'm Trevor fucking Belmont and I've never lost a fight to man nor fucking beast.''
* ''Cemetery Beach'' : An off-world colony was secretly established by industrialists and scientists in the 1930s. In the present day, earth finds out and sends a reconnaissance agent to see what the colony’s grown into. Chases and violence follow. Partly inspired by Film/MadMaxFuryRoad.
* ''ComicBook/{{Crecy}}'': "The Death Of Chivalry", "How {{Nightmar|eFuel}}ishly AnnoyingArrows ''Really'' Are", or "How badass English Archers Made French [[CountryMatters Cunts]] Stop Invading England". [[invoked]]
-->''In England, the word "cunt" is punctuation.''
* ''Literature/CrookedLittleVein'': His first novel, a ''very'' odd satire of {{Eagleland}} wrapped around a detective story.
* ''Dark Blue'': Cop chases a serial killer. Sounds normal until you get into the cop's drug-induced insanity, and oh yeah, it might all be happening in a computer.
* ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'': Yes, the first game in the franchise. Co-written with fellow comics writer Rick Remender (''Low'', ''Black Science'', ''The Last Days of American Crime'').
* ''ComicBook/DesolationJones'': A former British intelligence agent/human guinea pig is hired to find stolen pornography that stars UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler.
* ''ComicBook/DoktorSleepless, [[CrystalDragonJesus Future Science Jesus]]'': [[IWantMyJetpack This is not the future we were promised.]] Is he here to give us that future... or put us out of our misery?
* ''Do Anything'': A book of short essays where Warren takes advice from the cybernetically preserved head of[[/index]] Creator/JackKirby.[[index]]
* ''Down'': A four-issue crime drama from [=WildStorm=], notable for making much of his other work look joyful.
* ''ComicBook/Druid1995'': Marvel's mystic hero Doctor Druid has fallen on hard times and made some bad decisions. Ellis and artist Leonardo Manco take him on a downward spiral into ruin.
* ''ComicBook/{{DV8}}'' #1-8 and #0.5: Warren takes ComicBook/Gen13's PsychoRangers and [[BreakTheHaughty plays with them]].
* ''ComicBook/Doom2099'': Doctor Doom takes over the United States, gets injected with alien drug blood, goes crazy, gets involved in a nanotech deus-ex-machina arms race with a proto Spider Jerusalem CorruptCorporateExecutive and his insane cannibal ComicBook/CaptainAmerica clone, becomes a plasma-shotgun toting cyberpunk revolutionary and saves the future from itself.
* ''Webcomic/EdisonHateFuture''
* ''ComicBook/{{Excalibur|MarvelComics}}'' issues #83-103.
* ''ComicBook/{{Fell}}''
* ''Frankenstein's Womb'': Where exactly did Mary Shelley get the idea of Frankenstein?
* ''Webcomic/FreakAngels'': WhatIf Literature/TheMidwichCuckoos grew up, fucked up, then tried to fix it?
* ''From The Desk of Warren Ellis'': Another series of essays, mostly unrelated to comics.
* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeResolute'': A series that opts for a more realistic aesthetic, in lieu of the more futuristic tech that the Joe's normally use. It has been described as a more "mature" take on the franchise.
* ''ComicBook/GlobalFrequency'': Kinda like a wiki. [[{{Dissimile}} But with guns]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Gravel}}'', including the ''Strange Killings'' mini-series and the eponymous ongoing. The book has since been rebooted into a new volume, ''Combat Magician'', with a different writer.
* ''Literature/GunMachine'': His second novel. A PoliceProcedural set in Manhattan that takes a few decidedly Creator/HarlanEllison-esque twists.
* ''VideoGame/HostileWatersAntaeusRising''. Digital backups of dead soldiers are uploaded into tanks, helicopters and other vehicles. NanoTech is used to stop a cabal of [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corrupt corporations]] who aren't happy about the world being at peace. Most notable for being, well, a video game written by Warren Ellis and narrated by Creator/TomBaker. On December 2, 2013, Warren informed his fans that gog.com had made the game available for non-DRM purchase for $5.99, and when a fan asked if he was still getting royalties, he replied in the negative, going on to say "That doesn't matter to me on this one."[[note]]http://www.gog.com/game/hostile_waters_antaeus_rising[[/note]]
* ''ComicBook/IgnitionCity'': ComicStrip/FlashGordon meets ''{{Series/Deadwood}}''. [[IWantMyJetpack Where did the space heroes go to die?]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Injection}}'': A group of weird investigators accidentally "infected" the world with something called the Injection. Now, they try to find out what's going on.
* ''ComicBook/IronMan: Extremis'': Tony Stark gets [[WeCanRebuildHim Rebuilt]].
* ''James Bond (‘Vargr’ and ‘Eidolon’):'' A[[/index]] ''Franchise/JamesBond'' series that extrapolates from Ian Fleming's [[Literature/JamesBond novels]] instead of the [[Film/JamesBond film series]]. Ellis wrote two arcs and has has admitted to fanboying a little over getting the job, as he's a huge fan of the books and said years ago that Bond was the only licensed property he'd ever want to work on.
* ''JLA Classified: New Maps of Hell'': The Justice League fights an eons-old sentient alien weapon that threatens Earth.
* ''ComicBook/LazarusChurchyard'': A reluctant immortal in a [[CrapsackWorld post-cyberpunk Europe]] lives on drugs, murder, and an occasional moment of shared humanity. One of Ellis’ earliest works. ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'' was a spiritual successor to this story.
* ''Ministry of Space'': An extremely realistic, if dark, picture of Britain's colonialism extending into the final frontier.[[index]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Moon Knight|2014}}'': the 2014 run with Declan Shalvey.
* ''ComicBook/{{Nextwave}}'': [[WordOfGod It’s an absolute distillation of the superhero genre. No plot lines, characters, emotions, nothing whatsoever. It’s people posing in the street for no good reason. It is people getting kicked, and then exploding. It is a pure comic book, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. And afterwards, they will explode.]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Newuniversal}}'': A reboot of[[/index]] ComicBook/TheNewUniverse brand. Sadly ended early because a computer crash destroyed his files. However, Jonathan Hickman used many of the same ideas in ''ComicBook/{{Infinity}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{Secret Wars|2015}}'', and ''newuniversal'' has become an unofficial prequel as a result.
* ''Normal'': A professional futurist has finally seen too much. Following what was apparently a very public freakout, he's sent to an isolated facility in Oregon that specializes in what's ostensibly treatment and functionally quarantine of people from around the world who have spent too much time looking into what increasingly looks like a dark future.
* ''Ocean'': "One hundred years from today," a United Nations weapons inspector is sent to the outer limits of explored, human-settled space to investigate bizarre alien technologies found on one of the moons of Jupiter. Warren Ellis InTheStyleOf Creator/MichaelBay.[[index]]
* ''Orbiter'': Spaceflight dies. The last shuttle returns. What is out there?
* ''ComicBook/{{Planetary}}'': [[FantasyKitchenSink It's a strange world. Let's keep it that way.]]
* ''ComicBook/Red2003'': I'm the [[RetiredMonster Monster]]. [[FacingTheBulletsOneLiner Do your best.]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Ruins}}'': A DarkerAndEdgier take on ''ComicBook/{{Marvels}}'' where a dying Philip Sheldon discovers many of the accidents that created the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe resulting in horrific deformities and painful deaths.
* ''Scars'': One of his earliest works for Avatar. A police officer finds himself dealing with a serial killer when that killer's latest murder strikes ''very'' close to home. Ellis has admitted the book came directly out of his anxiety as a new parent, making it the virtual embodiment of the Adult Fear trope.
* ''ComicBook/SecretAvengers'': A six-issue run (so far; he's stated that he'd be willing to write more). If you thought ''Astonishing X-Men'' was awesome, you have yet to meet the gleefully insane Moon Knight and Pilot Marko. Not to mention his Beast.
-->'''Hank [=McCoy=]''': ''I can't fire a gun! I have '''paws!'''''
* ''ComicBook/Storm1996''
* ''Webcomic/{{Superidol}}'': A ''Series/BlackMirror''-styled takedown of the IdolSinger trope.
* ''ComicBook/{{Supreme}}: Blue Rose'': Supreme reboots again, but something is wrong this time. Where is Ethan Crane? What is wrong with the universe?
* ''ComicBook/SwitchbladeHoney'': Captain John Ryder -- inspired by Creator/RayWinstone in LondonGangster mode -- commands a [[Franchise/StarTrek starship]] in a war against a JerkAss HiveMind in defense of a CrapsackWorld.
* ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' issues 110 - 121: [[AxCrazy Unstable]] [[BoxedCrook villains]] are put to work [[VillainWithGoodPublicity publically]] roudning up [[SuperRegistrationAct unlicensed superheroes]] while [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn their leader]] has a massive mental breakdown.
* ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'': Creator/HunterSThompson [[InSpace IN THE FUTURE]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Trees}}'': What if aliens landed on Earth...and did absolutely nothing? What if aliens were giant trees? How would the world change?
* ''ComicBook/TwoStep'': In an AbsurdlyCoolCity, a cute blogger complains that NothingExcitingEverHappensHere, so she JumpedAtTheCall when she noticed a "[[HeroicBloodshed freelance black market agent]]" stealing a prosthetic GagPenis from a LondonGangster. Exciting and hilarious and demented things happen.
* ''Counter-X'': A revamp of a number of X-Books, which Ellis masterminded and served as co-writer on. Notable for the below mentioned ''X-Man'' series, which had in its story-boarding notes a memorable threat by Ellis to other writers that if they tried to introduce standard X-Men elements like Sentinels and mutant-hating government officials, he would have them '[redacted] by well-matured lepers'.
** ''ComicBook/XManCounterX'': Nate Grey, an alternate version of Cable from the ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' is kidnapped by an evil alternate Jean Grey, before meeting his counterpart and going amiably (if ruthlessly) CrazySane as Earth's 'Mutant Shaman'. In that capacity, he fights an insane inhabitant of a utopian parallel Earth destroying other Earths to prevent their inhabitants from threatening his, and an alien energy being that's infected all of Earth and is preparing it for consumption by his masters, treating the multiverse as his personal stepladder, running into an {{Expy}} of ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' in the process. While that run only last 12 issues, it has formed the basis of Nate's characterisation ever since, with the arguable culmination of his journey in ''ComicBook/AgeOfXMan'' nearly 20 years later.
* Superhero anime projects: Collaboration between {{Creator/Marvel}} and Creator/{{Madhouse}}. Ellis outlines the story lines for each episode of each anime series, including ''Anime/MarvelAnimeIronMan'' and ''Anime/MarvelAnimeWolverine''.
* Overseeing the 2017 reboot of the ''ComicBook/WildStorm'' universe. While original plans were for more, only two titles were released: ''ComicBook/TheWildStorm'' and ''Wildstorm: Michael Cray'', a collaboration with writer Bryan Hill.
* Works for[[/index]] ComicBook/UltimateMarvel:[[index]]
** The ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'': Ellis turns Galactus into something much more intimidating than a man with a TV screen on his head.
** Ultimate Human: [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] tries to save [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]], while somebody plots against both of them.
** Ultimate Comics Armor Wars: Tony Stark tries to find his stolen tech, while Warren Ellis is having fun.
* ''ComicBook/{{Wolfskin}}'': Warren Ellis Writes An Awesome ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' FanFic.
[[/index]]

!!Tropes associated with Warren Ellis and his works:
* AdaptationDistillation: Two of his works, ''Iron Man: Extremis'' and ''Red'' have been the basis for major films, ''Extremis'' as part of ''Iron Man 3'' and ''Red'' as, uh, ''Red''. Only in the case of ''Red'' was the storyline drastically altered, as trying to film the book as written would have probably resulted in an NC-17 rating. Ellis has gone on record as saying he didn't mind the changes, to the "Extremis" story in particular; his feeling being that "Extremis" was work-for-hire, and that since Marvel paid him for the story, it was theirs to do with as they pleased.
* AntiHero: Spider Jerusalem is easily one of the morally (definitely not socially) nicest, and he will shoot the President with [[BrownNote a gun that makes him shit himself]], then un-pawn a child's stuffed animal.
* ArtisticLicenseBiology: After he explained the difference between normal and artificial mutants (or were they mutants from alternate reality? Probably both) in his first ''Astonishing X-Men'' story, people at Scans Daily pointed out that genetics don't work that way. Ellis admitted his mistake.
** When Ellis wrote ''Iron Man: Extremis'', he explained the eponymous magic bullet (a single injection which would turn ordinary mortals into supermen) as a "Data package contained in a few million carbon nanotubes, injected directly into the brain". The information package would then rewrite the repair center in the brain -- that is, the part of the brain which keeps a complete 'map' of our organs and functions. "The brain is telling the body is wrong"... and it compliantly changes according to the Extremis instructions. Perhaps needless to say, there is no "repair center" (although the "sensory homunculus" seems a little bit like what is described). Later writers {{retcon}}ned Extremis into a viral package, which is at least borderline believable.
** And in ''Supergod'' it is a point that "mushrooms only grow on dead things". Which, well, they do not, as anyone who's ever had athlete's foot can tell you.
* AuthorAppeal: NewMedia. His run of JLA Classified is basically an {{Expy}} of Global Frequency; the Leaguers simultaneously find something so weird their brains go blue-screen, so they all call up ComicBook/MartianManhunter telepathically. ''He'' then calls up ComicBook/{{Oracle}} of [[{{Characters/BATMAN}} the Bat-clan]], who powers up all her computers and digs in.
-->'''Franchise/{{Superman}}''': ''J'onn, do you hear me?''\\
'''Franchise/WonderWoman''': ''J'onn, this is Wonder Woman. I need a consultation.''\\
'''ComicBook/GreenLantern''': ''J'onn, this is Green Lantern. I could use some extra brains here.''\\
'''Martian Manhunter''': ''I Hear You All. This is J'onn J'onzz on the Lunar Watchtower, activating the Justice League Telepathic Link.''\\
'''Oracle''': ''This is Oracle in the Gotham Watchtower. Information mining system on. [[strike:You Are On The Global Frequency.]] Justice League Is Go.''
** ''Secret Avengers'' also bore a lot of similarities to ''Global Frequency'', complete with "mini-teams" similar to the GF teams.
** He's also very interested in space-flight, trans-humanism and the Singularity, all of which tend to pop up in his works to some degree.
** Nanomachines and corrupt mega-corporations pop up all over the place in his work.
** A large number of his protagonists wear white suits.
** Guns feature heavily in his stories.
** Other times, Ellis wholeheartedly admits to creating books based around his ''artists''' Appeals to give them work and indulge a bit.
** Use of psychotropics come up. A lot.
* AuthorFilibuster: His more misanthropic characters are always ready to explain at length their views, sometimes at odd moments.
* AwesomeDearBoy: Ellis is completely okay with any and all changes made to the film of ''Film/Red2010'', because said changes ultimately resulted in Creator/HelenMirren wielding an automatic machine gun.
* BadassBoast: Ellis '''''knows''''' how a superhero battle goes down.
-->'''J'onn J'onzz''': ''We're the Justice League. We've beaten up real gods and made them cry. You are nothing to us.'' (cue League [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu delivering epic smackdown to mind-devouring abomination.]])
* BerserkButton: Holy ''shit'', does he hate [[EvilDetectingDog dogs]]. Ellis will rant about this on his website or Twitter if given an excuse, but he finds a lot of reasons in his work for dogs to die in ways that he finds funny: accidentally crushed underneath a falling unconscious goon, "culled" for being feral and sentient, infected with a zombie gas, etc.
* BewareTheSuperman: He has to like this trope very much; ''Black Summer'', ''No Hero'', ''Supergod'' are all about it, echoes of it can be found in ''Planetary'', ''Authority'' and ''Thunderbolts'', and one of his first ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'' stories quoted it explicitly.
* BlackAndGrayMorality: Many of his titles.
* BlackComedy: As a result of the above.
* CompositeCharacter: Ultimate Pete Wisdom, introduced in Ellis' ''Ultimate Human'' is a mix of mainstream Wisdom, [[Series/TheSandbaggers Neil Burnside]], and [[spoiler: Hulk's archenemy, The Leader]].
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Following the direction Creator/JossWhedon took ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}, Ellis ignored the BadassDecay the character has been subjected to by other writers, and wrote him true to the spirit of Creator/ChrisClaremont's portrayal, who'd always seen Summers as "a [[Creator/RobertAHeinlein Heinlein]] character". Maybe even took it step further, as he admitted trying to make Scott Franchise/{{Batman}} with eye beams. (Opinions vary one whether it was this trope or Scott simply [[TookALevelInJerkass taking a level in Jerkass]].)
* CreatorThumbprint: Many of Ellis's protagonists are partially or wholly defined by their addictions: smoking, drinking, caffeine, self-destructive behavior, etc. To listen to him talk on his various blogs and newsfeeds, Ellis himself wasn't far behind them for most of his life, until a health scare in the 2010s got him to cut back on most of his vices.
** Many of his protagonists are also former idealists, who've become cynical or at least more realistic due to greater experience in the world. In his longer-form works, these characters' arcs are often about overcoming that and accomplishing something anyway. ''Switchblade Honey'' in particular is notable in that it compresses that entire set of character beats into a single-issue story.
--> "I went to war and I stayed in the Navy because I knew that ''I needed the human race.''
* {{Deconstruction}}: He wrote a whole trilogy which is deconstructing SuperHero genre, telling what would happen if superheroes were too human (''ComicBook/BlackSummer''), crazy assholes (''ComicBook/NoHero'') or have no humanity at all (''ComicBook/{{Supergod}}'').
* DigitalPiracyIsOkay: Ellis has been very outspoken about how internet filesharing is just part of the future and we shouldn't try to stop it, going to far as to ask people back in the day on his old forums what the best programs for torrenting were so he could use them. Needless to say this position didn't endear him so some other comicbook authors.
* {{Eagleland}}: Any of Warren's works set in America will feature people who are either selfless, heroic martyrs, or abusive, misanthropic jackasses; and locations ranging from a splendid New York City to the most rundown trailer park imaginable. Ellis has said in Q & A's that his feelings on America are mostly that while he thinks it ''is'' the greatest country in the world, he also feels it has the potential to be far greater, and is annoyed by this.
** Somewhat inverted in his Secret Avengers run: Americans ends up being the only people moral enough to step in and stand up for some Eastern European villagers being hunted and abducted, and in the end of the issue it turns out the ones responsible for the abductions were all British, with Steve suspecting they may have government ties.
* {{Expy}}: Eli Warren, created by Creator/KieronGillen in his ''ComicBook/IronMan'' run, shares a name, an accent, an appearance and an obsession with Transhumanism with Ellis. (Of course, given that he lives in the Marvel Universe, he's more inclined to act on that obsession...)
* TheGovernment: Often opposing and critical of it. In particular, Ellis seems to like having [[OurPresidentsAreDifferent the president of the United States of America]] killed or at least disgraced in his works.
** They're also hilariously ineffective, as seen in ''The Authority'' and ''Planetary''; In the former, no government or political power can stand against the threats he lines up, and in the latter, the world's progress is actually controlled and allowed to progress at a snail's pace by an evil pastiche of a popular superhero group.
** Also in ''ComicBook/GlobalFrequency'', where TheGovernment has usually created the threat of the week but fucked it up to such a degree that they're unable to handle it when it gets out of control, and thus have to rely on the global civilian network to clean up their messes.
* InsultBackfire: Ellis related a time when someone who hated his work tried to dishearten him by showing his books in a discount bin. Ellis was instead enthused by this due to such discount bins being where he was first exposed to reading (he came from a rather poor family), which eventually led him to be a writer, which meant the hater accidentally encouraged Ellis by implying someone will be inspired by his work and take up writing as well.
* ItAmusedMe: This was literally [[http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=7227 his answer to]] why the ''Franchise/GIJoe'' character Dial Tone was {{Gender Flip}}ped in ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeResolute'' after Creator/{{Hasbro}} insisted that a tech Ellis gave a lot of dialogue to be a named Joe.
* KnightInSourArmor: His favored protagonists tend to be world-weary and cynical chain-smokers living in {{Crapsack World}}s who nevertheless possess rigid moral cores and a commitment to doing the right thing despite themselves.
* TheMentor[=/=]TeamDad: Kind of is this among current Marvel writers, as several important creators with the House of Ideas admit being influenced by Ellis: Creator/KieronGillen learned scriptwriting from his scripts, Creator/BrianMichaelBendis calls Ellis his favorite writer, Creator/JonathanHickman, Creator/MattFraction and Creator/KellySueDeConnick were frequent users of his fanforums(Fraction and [=DeConnick=] actually first got to know each other posting there, then met in real life, began dating and ended up getting married) and he introduced Creator/BrianWood as his protege in the 90s.
* MustHaveCaffeine: There's nary a character in his works that ''don't'' demand coffee.
* NoEnding: A fair few of his shorter works don't end so much as they stop.
* RandomEventsPlot: Ellis admitted that his ''Ultimate Comics Armor Wars'' miniseries was just essentially Marvel paying him for his [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_of_consciousness_writing Stream of consciousness writing.]] The result? Tony Stark beating on -- in order -- [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Dr. Wily]] with a MODOK in his head (Dr. Faustus); DrFakenstein in power armor (Dreadknight), [[Franchise/{{Halo}} SPARTAN]] ripoffs in the process of doing what the project was canonically designed to do - [[KickTheDog slaughter protesters]] (Operation: Firepower); And finally, [[spoiler:Howard Stark, Sr. AKA "Creator/ErnestBorgnine in an ill-advised love triangle with farming machinery and the wreckage of a Lincoln Continental".]]
* ShownTheirWork: Whether he's writing about bleeding-edge speculation about physics, biology, and technology; world history; or the characters of an established SharedUniverse, Ellis demonstrates a knowledge of even obscure or minor details.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Generally pretty cynical though to what extent varies from story to story. There's often a small glimmer of hope at very least, regardless of how dark the plot is. His Avatar Press Superhero trilogy is notable for veering hard right into the furthest reaches of the cynical side of the scale, all ending in a complete [[DownerEnding Downer Endings]].
* SpiritualAntithesis: Ellis himself put his ''ComicBook/BlackSummer'' in contrast with Creator/MarkMillar's ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006'', saying that latter is watered-down vision of conflict between superheroes and government and the former is what would really happen. He also responded to Creator/KurtBusiek's ''ComicBook/{{Marvels}}'' with a extremely depressing miniseries called ''ComicBook/{{Ruins}}''.
** His ''ComicBook/SwitchbladeHoney'' is this to ''Franchise/StarTrek'': it shows a future where the exploration of space is handled by a bunch of insane egomaniacs, which leads to a war with a much more powerful enemy, which humanity is losing. Heroic idealists, who would become great heroes of Starfleet in ''Franchise/StarTrek'', here end up in prison for opposing the corrupted system.
* StatusQuoIsGod: Criticized a lot, especially in ''Planetary'', which really strongly criticizes ReedRichardsIsUseless and similar tropes used by editorial mandate to make their worlds closer to ours and preventing any changes. Even John Constantine has been criticized for not really changing since his first appearance (oddly, ''Planetary'' suggests Constantine should become more like Spider Jerusalem, although Ellis insists that this was a ThrowItIn by John Cassaday and he actually didn't intend for this).
* ThouShaltNotKill: Averted; most of his heroes don't have those kind of issues. There's an oddly frequent idea in his work, that some people contribute nothing to the world but sorrow and thus ''need'' killing. It's most clearly articulated in the Hong Kong issue of ''Planetary.''
** He occasionally causes controversy when he does work for hire, because Ellis flatly refuses to write a character with an iron-clad code against killing. The closest he comes is Swift in ''The Authority'', who under his pen will kill if necessary but doesn't ''want'' to. (This was not a trait that later writers adopted.) There was a mild controversy after Ellis's first issue of ''Secret Avengers'', after he had Hank [=McCoy=] make an impossible choice: [[spoiler: either use an improvised dirty nuke to kill a few hundred members of the Shadow Council, or lose the city of Cincinnati to a weaponized time machine. Hank picked the first one, but not without comment or complaint]].
* TookALevelInBadass: It may sound impossible, but he made ComicBook/IronMan take one.
** As a matter of fact, it transpires that this ''was'', if not impossible, than at least hard to swallow: in order to make Stark more badass, Ellis first made him a bitch. Extremis in a nutshell; a RightWingMilitiaFanatic shoots up with {{Nanomachines}}, and the resulting Hulk-level sociopath [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomps]] him. The hero who once flew a nuclear reactor the size of a city block ''in the process of meltdown'' out to sea ends up in severe danger of being killed by a redneck using a ''car'' as an improvised sledgehammer. Stark survives to shoot up on nanomachines himself, enabling him to [[UnusualUserInterface plug his brain]] into a brand-new suit, then goes back in swinging an earthmover bucket like a foam rubber bat.
** Also, Ellis' [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Doc Samson]] was probably the most spot-on compelling portrayal that the character has ever received. It would have been awesome to see more Ellis work starring the literally ragingly ethical BallsOfSteel bruiser psychiatrist. Just say that Loeb's version was a clone, life mode decoy android, an anal Skrull, [[ContinuityPorn one of those alternate universe tourists that Dan Slott introduced]], or somesuch. It didn't get the history straight anyway.
* TortureAlwaysWorks: A recurring theme across his works has characters from Captain America to James Bond to Batman endorse and employ a variety of forms of torture, which is always efficacious in producing vital information. Several characters mock the idea that "torture doesn't work," typically while torturing people using techniques which are known to be immensely unreliable in RealLife.
* TrenchcoatBrigade: Ellis seems to love the hell out of John Constantine, given that a chunk of his characters are essentially {{Exp|y}}ies of him.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Thunderbolts during Ellis' run were so popular they had their own line of toys.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: The Authority and Doktor Sleepless.
* WorldOfSnark: We dare you to find a Warren Ellis book where there aren't any grumpy smartasses.
* WriterOnBoard: Often very unsubtle about his opinions. If he writes a TakeThat, you'll probably know it.
* WritingForTheTrade: In his early period Ellis made a point of avoiding this in his comics, making each issue as self contained as possible even in larger stories. More recent comics like Trees and Injection are structured like novels and tend to read better in collections than single issues.

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->''"It's been a weird old life. But I did get to buy my daughter a pony."''
-->-- '''Warren Ellis''', ''Orbital Operations''