- The first issue has Batman trying to stop a plane from crashing. It's all fun "holy shit, how is he going to get out of this?" And suddenly, we are shown he has no intention of doing so."Mother, father, would they have been proud? Is this a good death?"
- Swamp Thing completely breaking down once the realization that his father is dead and he will no longer be able to be Alec Holland with him hits. Batman giving him a giant What the Hell, Hero? as he slinks away in shame doesn't help matters.
What makes it even worse is that, prior to this moment, Swamp Thing has been rather calm about the situation, stating that life and death are just stages of change and that his father is simply changing into a new state "falling back into the green". Bruce seems to take this notion to heart in regards to his own parents' deaths, believing maybe they exist on in some other form. However, once they find the killer, he notes he killed Swamp Thing's father because he brought up that his son had taught him this philosophy, so the killer shot him because he knew answers superheroes don't tell the rest of humanity. Swamp Thing then loses all pretense of calm and murders his father's killer brutally. As Swamp Thing departs, Batman is screaming at him about what this means for his parents with no answer. - There's something deeply sad about Tom King's interpretation of what Batman is to Bruce Wayne. That after his parents died, he thought that he had nothing to go for, but as he grew up, didn't have the stomach for self harm. So, he thinks to himself that Batman is the world's longest Suicide note. That he will die doing this, and that it's the only final solution he has to the pain of loss.
- Bruce's entire demeanor in "Cold Days" after Selina leaves him at the altar. He's practically punishing his Batman persona for essentially ruining his best chance at happiness.
- "Knightmares" is ultimately an arc about Batman working out his greatest fear: that he doesn't love Selina, because he can't. He loves his crusade as Batman, and being needed in Gotham, more. Bonus points to Issue #68, a Dark Reprise of "Superfriends", and the ending, Catwoman walking out on Batman again as the pair of them cry.
- In "The Fall and the Fallen", it's revealed the ultimate plan of Flashpoint!Thomas Wayne is to resurrect Martha using a Lazarus Pit, break Bruce so badly he never becomes Batman again, and then they can all live as a family. Bruce works this out, and tells Thomas that he's buried the body in the middle of the desert where it will never be found: the look on Thomas' face is horrified despair. And then we get this...Batman: I remember the alley. Seeing you. In that moment, I learned the one truth. There is only one truth, and it will not be denied. My mother is dead. My father is dead. And I'm...I'm still here.
- Thomas got to witness his son proposing. What should've been a happy moment is unfortunately undercut by what Thomas feels he should do: destroy everything Batman-related under the impression that the life was a threat to Bruce, including his relationship with Catwoman no matter how happy it makes him.
- The death of Alfred. Damien attempts to save him, but to no avail as Bane snaps his neck. Damien takes his death nearly as bad as Bruce. He believes that everyone blames him for Alfred's death and he blames himself most of all.
- Issue 83. All of it. The entire issue focuses on Bruce finally learning of Alfred's death, and it is heartbreaking. It starts with Batman waking up seated at a dinner table, only to realize to his horror that Alfred's body sits at the other end, which he rushes to and cradles with tears streaming down his face. He then places Alfred's body on a couch and removes his cape to cover it. He glances up at the wall to see a portrait of himself as a child standing next to Alfred, with "YOU ARE NOT BATMAN" spray painted over it. And when he discovers that he is seemingly trapped in the room, he goes completely berserk, smashing and breaking everything he can find in a fit of raw, anguished emotion, before collapsing to his knees. All the while, a recording Alfred made as a posthumous last message to Bruce plays in the background.
- Charles losing his son to The Riddler, in one of the worst Shoot the Shaggy Dog moments of Rebirth, and giving a Cerebus Retcon to Kite Man's origin.
