History WesternAnimation / BatmanTheKillingJoke

[[caption-width-right:300:''There were these two guys in a -- wait, you've heard that one before, haven't you?'']]

* SlapSlapKiss: Batman and Batgirl get into an emotional argument about how he treats her. Then Batgirl assaults him physically. She lands on top of him, after which they start to make out. Doubles with CoitusEnsues and InterplayOfSexAndViolence.

** Batman [[spoiler:has sex with Batgirl. Most versions of Batman would ''never'', owing to his avoidance of sex apart from a few characters, and the fact that Batgirl is a younger protege and the daughter of one of his closest allies.]]

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[KnightInSourArmor Batman]] scolds [[WideEyedIdealist Batgirl]] for thinking being a vigilante is all fun-and-games and haven't "fallen into the abyss". Though Batgirl thinks he's being ungrateful until she has beaten Paris nearly to death.

-->'''Batman''': [[DespairEventHorizon The abyss]], the place where you [[StoppedCaring don't care anymore]]. Where all hope dies. (silence) We're done here. You're off the case.

* ShouldersUpNudity: The pictures of the naked Barbara Joker splashes over the screen never display her breasts or genitals, showing her only from the shoulders up and from the legs down.

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* PunnyName: "Paris Franz". (An alias for Parry Francesco.)

* RapeDiscretionShot: After shooting Barbara, the Joker unbuttons her blouse in a predatory manner just before the scene ends. She is later found by the police in a "state of undress."
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%% This Rape Discretion Shot entry has been added per the Is This An Example? thread (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13543987200A54420100&page=104). Do not remove or alter without first consulting that thread or Discussion. Thank you.
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* BookEnds: During the final act [[spoiler:the room where Joker is wanting Batman to laugh looks awfully similar to his former home with his pregnant wife]].

* {{Bowdlerize}}: Although the film keeps the violence of the original story intact, Barbara's nipples aren't visible in the funhouse photographs as they were in the book, nor is Commissioner Gordon's penis.

* CollateralAngst: Despite the AdaptationExpansion prologue, Barbara's role in the main plot remains the same: to be shot, stripped down [[spoiler:and possibly raped by the Joker]] to induce angst in Jim Gordon.

* CreatorThumbprint: The adaptation is written by Creator/BrianAzzarello and the prologue generally features a lot of the stuff from his comics, a really gritty seediness in its underworld setting, and over-the-top sexualized villain in the form of Paris Franz, and the InterplayOfSexAndViolence. Likewise one throwaway line later in the film, where one bad guy says that the underworld finds Batman scary but Joker terrifying owes more to Azzarello's comic, ''Comicbook/{{Joker}}'' than the Moore original. It also shows Joker as sexually active and committing rape, with this film establishing him as frequenting call girls ([[spoiler:also a choice line left certain viewers with the impression he may have committed rape on Barbara in the film itself]]), whereas Joker in the comics, even with Harley Quinn at his side, has largely been interpreted as being completely uninterested in sex to the point of being asexual.

* DomesticAbuse: In Joker's flashback, a pre-Joker goes into this when his wife said "oh" after telling her no one laughed at his stand-up jokes, thinking she sees him as a failure. Then he starts breaking down and apologizing for venting his frustration on her while she's pregnant, she forgives him.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Barbara's gay best friend asks her that her crush "yoga guy" "he's only human, right?". Barbara stays silent, thinking about Batman.

* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance: One of the pictures of the Joker shown on the Bat Computer depicts Harley Quinn, when the source material predated Harley's work of origin ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' by four years and she wouldn't be integrated into the comics universe until 1999.

** Batgirl isn't perfect, but she's usually a good person with a fairly even head on her shoulders who looks out for others. That's not the case here, where she's considerably more hot-headed, impulsive, stupid, selfish, and reckless.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Batgirl says that [[spoiler:Batman]] is "fantastic", while in the flashbacks, [[spoiler:Jeannie]] tells [[spoiler:her husband, the future Joker,]] that he's "good in the sack".

* RunningTheAsylum: Bruce Timm has always stated to be a [[spoiler:shipper for Batman and Batgirl (despite them having a father-daughter or teacher-student relationship in the comics and in most adaptations), but now he finally gets to write about them being together in one of his stories.]]

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Batgirl passes over dating nice guys in favor of [[spoiler: her mentor Batman.]]

** [[spoiler: Joker's wife]] admits that she stays with him because he's "[[SexGod good in the sack]]."

* AscendedFanFic: Bruce Timm has always stated to be a [[spoiler: shipper for Batman and Batgirl (despite them having a father-daughter or teacher-student relationship in the comics and in most adaptations), but now he finally gets to write about them being together in one of his stories.]]

* ArmorPiercingResponse: During a fight, Barbara asks Batman about being to pushed to the edge, of which she asks him of what. Batman replies "the abyss where all hope dies". There's a {{Beat}} between both of them before he tells her she's off the case.

* BaitAndSwitchComparison: Joker taunts Gordon to "throw the book" at someone who "has no regard for the law", "who treats people like meat", "a man who has no problem brutalizing his fellow man to get his way", and who "breaks the laws you are sworn to uphold, a monster who ignores ''everything'' you stand for". Gordon gives in, [[LiteralMetaphor throwing the provided book, "The Law", at the Joker]]... [[spoiler: only for a Batman cutout to pop up and take the hit instead]].

* BlackComedy: What else is to be expected from ComicBook/TheJoker? Special mention to his HurricaneOfPuns just after [[spoiler: paralyzing Barbara]].

* BookEnds: During the final act [[spoiler: the room where Joker is wanting Batman to laugh looks awfully similar to his former home with his pregnant wife]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: [[http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/14/batman-killing-joke-animated-rated-r It is the first "R"-rated movie in the line.]] As can be seen from the trailers, the color scheme mimics the re-release, which [[DeliberatelyMonochrome has next to no color]] in flashbacks, Batman's chest emblem lacks the yellow oval and when the Joker has his first laugh, [[EyeScream he cries blood]] instead of tears.[[note]] Strangely, it was only rated ''PG'' in Canada.
* DeathByAdaptation: Among the photos Bruce has on the Batcomputer once Joker escaped is a bloodied Jason Todd, based on one of the covers to ''ComicBook/ADeathInTheFamily''. The comic version of ''TKJ'' happened ''before'' the events of ''[=ADitF=]'', as the Joker's actions in the latter storyline are motivated by the GCPD clamping down on his assets after what he did to Barbara and Jim, and Barbara is even in a wheelchair at Jason's funeral.

* EasilyForgiven: Batman forgives [[spoiler: the Joker for all that he's done and asks if he can be reformed. Predictably, the Joker utterly refuses to repent.]]

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Batgirl says that [[spoiler:Batman]] is "fantastic", while in the flashbacks, [[spoiler:Jeannie]] tells [[spoiler: her husband, the future Joker,]] that he's "good in the sack".

* HeroicWannabe: [[AdaptationalWimp Batgirl]] wants to be on par with Batman's skills, but the Dark Knight frequently reminds her that working as a superhero is gruesome work that can destroy the person you once were. [[spoiler: She decides that he was right and gives up her mantle after fighting crime becomes too much for her to handle.]]

* HurricaneOfPuns: The Joker immediately after [[spoiler: paralyzing Barbara, rattling off quip after quip about her newfound physical disability]].

* InkSuitActor: Not directly, but one of the henchmen who shows up with The Joker [[spoiler: at the Gordons' apartment]], looks a lot like a younger Creator/MarkHamill.

** [[spoiler: Paris' uncle]] is found dead in his office.
** [[spoiler: Jeannie]] dies off-screen and we only hear the police officers tell this to the Joker to confirm it.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Barbara's reaction word for word the morning after [[spoiler: having sex with Batman]].

--->'''Thug''': I swear to God, man! He ain't been around!\\
'''Batman''': [[Film/BatmanBegins Swear to me]].\\
'''Thug''': You! I swear to you!

* NoNameGiven: Even in the flashbacks, the man who would become the Joker is never referred to by his real name. His wife only refers to him by the usual affectionate nicknames that spouses use: "darling," "honey," "dear," ect. But at no time is even his first name uttered.

* PlotTwist: When Batman arrives at the amusement park and sees what appears to be the Joker slumped in his throne and not moving.[[spoiler: You'd expect it to just be a mannequin with maybe a bomb strapped to it. What you get is a disguised carnival freak that attacks Batman.]]
* PosthumousCharacter: The two thugs in Joker's flashbacks have been long dead since he became Gotham's greatest villain. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, his late wife Jeannie died before his transformation too.]]

* SettingUpdate: From the 1980s to the 2010s.
* ShamefulStrip: Joker does this to both Barbara and Jim Gordon.
** Joker strips Barbara right after shooting her and takes several photos of her, naked and bloodied and later shows the pictures to Jim in an effort to break him. We never see the act itself, as the scene cuts away when Joker starts unbuttoning her top.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: According to the credits, the mobster Batman talks to is Sal Maroni, who died in ''ComicBook/TheLongHalloween'', which took place long before the events of ''The Killing Joke.'' Then again, ''The Long Halloween'' wasn't published until years after ''The Killing Joke.''[[/note]]

* VillainSong: During the climax Joker pulls out [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thEVDw9pRSk one]] to finish breaking [[spoiler: Gordon's mind complete with the images of a shot Barbara]].

* WriterOnBoard: Bruce Timm pushing the Bruce and Barbara ship. See AscendedFanfic.

* AdaptationalJerkass: Batgirl isn't perfect, but she's usually a good person with a fairly even head on her shoulders who looks out for others. That's not the case here, where she's considerably more hot-headed, impulsive, stupid, selfish, and reckless.

* RantInducingSlight:
** In Joker's flashback, a pre-Joker goes into this when his wife said "oh" after telling her no one laughed at his stand-up jokes, thinking she sees him as a failure. Then he starts breaking down and apologizing for venting his frustration on her while she's pregnant, she forgives him.
** Frustrated over Batman avoiding her [[spoiler: since they had sex]], Barbara karate throws a man for telling his needy girlfriend he needs space.

-->'''Boss''': If I knew anything, I'd tell ya. Honest. People in my uh... let's call it "line of work"-\\
'''Batman''': Criminals.\\
'''Boss''': Yeah. We may be scared of you, but we're ''terrified'' [[TheDreaded of him]].