History Characters / TheAuthorityMidnighter

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!!'''Midnighter'''
[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a82be27ee762efc288f7bf2d2864601d.png]]
[[caption-width-right:340:[[SlasherSmile He's real friendly.]]]]
!!! '''Alter ego:''' Unknown ("Lucas Trent")
!!! '''Species''': Human
!!! '''First appearance''': ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'' #4 (Vol. 2) (February 1998)

-> ''"I am not a lover. I am not a father. I am not a friend. I am what I was bred to be. And therein lies the problem.''"
-->-- [[IdentityAmnesia "Lucas Trent,"]] aka The '''Midnighter'''

Described by his creator Creator/WarrenEllis as "Radio/TheShadow by way of Creator/JohnWoo," Midnighter first appeared in Creator/{{Wildstorm}}'s ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'' #4 (Vol. 2), as a former member of a black ops squadron run by Henry Bendix, aka Weatherman. During his tenure on that team, he met his husband Apollo, a solar-powered superbeing in the vein of ComicBook/{{Superman}} to his own ComicBook/{{Batman}}. Realizing Bendix was going to send him and Apollo on a SuicideMission with their team, the two managed to escape and proceeded to spend years in hiding from Stormwatch. It wasn't until they learned of Bendix's deposition from the new Weatherman --Jackson King-- that the two emerged from the shadows, eventually becoming co-founding members of a new team lead by Jenny Sparks, called ComicBook/TheAuthority.

Midnighter served as a long-standing member of The Authority (and even received his own solo title) in the following years, before Wildstorm's absorption by parent company Creator/DCComics. Following the events of ''ComicBook/FlashpointDCComics'', Midnighter -- along with many of his Wildstorm cohorts -- was imported into ComicBook/New52 continuity, placed on new iteration of ''Stormwatch'' led by ComicBook/MartianManhunter. After a brief ContinuityReboot, reverting he and his Stormwatch teammates back to closer recollections of their Wildstorm selves ([[RatingsStunt in a bid for boosted sales]]) proved unsuccessful, the reset was undone, and DC's ''Stormwatch'' ended at #30.

Since then, Midnighter has showed up in the pages of ''ComicBook/TheNew52FuturesEnd'' and ''ComicBook/{{Grayson}}'' in supporting roles. Starting June 2015 (after ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'' and the end of DC's New 52 branding), Midnighter appeared in his second ongoing book, this time written by Steve Orlando and illustrated by ACO. Following DC's ''Rebirth'' relaunch, ''Midnighter'' ended and was replaced by a ''Midnighter and Apollo'' title, featuring Midnighter reunited with his lover, who he had been temporarily estranged from in the previous series.
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! Midnighter proves examples of:
!! General Tropes:
* AmnesiacHero: Midnighter can't remember anything before he was turned into the perfect killing machine he is, not even if he volunteered for the procedure or not, or his real name. Apollo was in the same boat in the Wildstorm Universe, but in the DC Rebirth version, he has a seperate origin story from the Midnighter and he remembers both [[DarkAndTroubledPast his unhappy childhood and every torturous part of his forced conversion into a superpowered metahuman.]]
* AntiHero: He kills people. A lot.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Midnighter's enhancements go beyond a mere SherlockScan --- they can detect how a fight will end on sight, not to mention provide possible routes of victory.
--> '''Midnighter''': I've already played this fight in my head, a million times, from each and every angle.
* BadassLongCoat: Conspicuously missing from his original [=DCnU=] outfit, but currently restored.
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: With a rebreather, he can survive a short time in outer space.
* BatmanParody: Midnighter can best be described as Batman if he were gay, had actual superpowers, and no qualms with killing.
* BreakoutCharacter: Easily one of Wildstorm's best known creations, having made the jump over to DC's New 52 with sporadic appearances across the line.
* CrazyPrepared: It's Midnighter's main selling point --- he knows what somebody's next move will be before ''they'' do, and acts accordingly.
* DarkIsNotEvil: DependingOnTheWriter, but broadly speaking he is on the side of the good guys in spite of his black clothes and lunar motifs.
* DependingOnTheArtist: The color and styling of his hair, seemingly switching with every artist --- as of his 2015 solo title, it's currently a dirty blond mohawk.
* {{Determinator}}: Especially in the DCU version. Harm Apollo, and Midnighter will ''literally'' walk through Hell to find you and end you. And he will do anything to save Apollo from death [[spoiler: (''and beyond'')]] or die trying, not even trying to keep back any reserves to get himself back to safety should he fail in the attempt. [[spoiler: (Good thing DCU Apollo is less of a DamselInDistress than in the Wildstorm Universe, and perfectly capable of getting himself out of trouble.)]]
** Though the way he took out the replacement team in the Wildstorm Auhtority series almost single-handedly, all while looking after baby Jenny all on his own for weeks, qualifies as well.
* FriendToAllChildren: Surprisingly enough, given his personality. Wildstorm!Midnighter (and Apollo, too) especially guns for villains who harm children, [[WouldntHurtAChild refuses to kill children himself]] (even if they're destined to grow up to become Hitler), and adopts baby Jenny Quantum, resulting in several BadassAndBaby moments. DCU!Midnighter has this lovely speech to some child hostage victims of an insane gang/cult he just wiped out:[[note]]It's the "This is ''not'' your fault." part that really sells it, because it implies an amazing level of empathy and understanding for how children think, especially from somebody who has hardly any personal contact with kids and can't remember his own childhood.[[/note]]
--> '''child hostage''': Where's Mister Half-beard?\\
'''Midnighter''': Mister Half-beard is studying the interior of a ''very small'' box. He and his friends were ''not'' good people. But they're all ''gone'' now. You're ''safe''. This is ''not'' your fault. These people will help you find your parents, or find you new homes. They will ''not'' fail you.\\
'''Midnighter''': (more to the adult bystanders) Because if they do, I'll be back to... ''encourage'' them. And ''no one'' wants to see me twice. ''Trust'' me.
* GoodIsNotNice / NominalHero: He's ''technically' a superhero...despite all evidence to the contrary
* HealingFactor: Part of his package of "combat enhancements" is a high-end healing ability. He mentions during Millar's run that his immune system "is as deadly as every other part of my body," allowing him to recover completely from even chronic diseases over the course of several weeks, and in ''The Magnificent Kevin'', he goes from immobile to walking under his own power in an hour once his powers are back on.
** In ''Midnighter and Apollo'' he channeled the power of an angel for long enough that it should have burned out his body and killed him, as he was warned by the sorceror who bound that angel to him. Not only does he survive (albeit unable to stand and needing Apollo to carry him to safety), but he seems perfectly fine just a few days later.
* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Midnighter went back in time under order of an affluent man to kill Hitler or else he'd ignite a bomb he put in Midnighter's chest. [[EveryoneHasStandards Upon seeing how broken Hitler was, he refused.]] Especially after he found out the real reason his client wanted Hitler dead was to allow his father, a Nazi official, to become a more effective ruler than Hitler, implying he would have replaced Hitler and would have been a worse tyrant than Hitler ever was if Hitler was killed.
* IAmWhatIAm: In all of his solo stories, it's mentioned by Midnighter how much he hates his origin as a man-made killing machine, his murderous impulses, and violent tendencies due to how it makes him little different from the criminals he puts into the ground. His whole career as a violent anti-hero is geared towards pointing those murderous instincts towards targets who he feels deserves it most.
-->'''Midnighter:''' You think I ''like'' how I was made? I can't go back. Can't ''help'' what was done to me. I can only point it in the right ''direction.''
* LogicalWeakness: Midtnighter's fighting prowess comes from numerous cybernetic enhancements throughout his brain and body, allowing him to read his opponent(s) and fight them accordingly. These make him almost impossible to beat in a fight, but they also have a number of logical weak points. Here are several ways he's been beaten over the years:
** If an opponent is simply too powerful for him to fight, as when he fought Captain Atom.
** If an enemy is faster than him, even with his enhancements.
** If an enemy is inherently unpredictable in some way. During one crossover, he had trouble fighting ComicBook/TheJoker, who's simply [[ObfuscatingInsanity too crazy to predict.]] Of course, in that case, it's more of an ''il''logical weakness...
** If his enhancements have been disabled, he's just a normal guy (albeit an extremely fit one).
** In ''The Authority: Human on the Inside'', Midnighter challenged a seemingly normal guy to a fight. Despite the guy's protests that Midnighter would kill him, he agreed. The man then refused to make a move at all, giving Midnighter's combat computer no information and leaving them in a draw. This might not count, as [[spoiler:the man was actually a super-advanced android sent to destroy the Authority from within, so he might have been able to confuse Midnighter's analysis somehow.]]
** Midnighter's abilities border on CombatClairvoyance, but they're just the result of AwesomenessByAnalysis. In his solo series, he once faced a supervillain named Afterthought, who had ''actual'' CombatClairvoyance, and who wiped the floor with Midnighter--no matter what Midnighter's combat enhancements told him to do, Afterthought would see it coming and act accordingly. He beat the guy in their second fight by [[spoiler:doubling the armor on certain parts of his costume, and letting Afterthought--who had no super strength or stamina--wail on those spots until Afterthought was too tired to throw another punch. ''Then'' Midnighter kicked his ass]].
* ManlyGay: A big part of his appeal to readers, especially LGBTQ ones, is that he's a gay superhero who is also masculine.
* OneManArmy: Numbers mean little to the guy. He tears through men like a hot knife through butter.
* SlasherSmile: As ''beamingly'' demonstrated in the above image.
* SociopathicHero: He's a killer all the way through, and he never pretends to be anything else.
** Though he's not ''fully'' sociopathic. The fact that he ''cares'' about limiting his killing to people who deserve it, and the fact that he truly, deeply loves Apollo and cares about their daughter, are pretty much the only reasons why he isn't a villain.
* ToughSpikesAndStuds: Midnighter's original outfit has spiked gloves. He has another outfit with spiked shoulder guards.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Which, compared to his Authority teammates, says a ''lot''.
* WolverineWannabe: While he has some [[BatmanParody similarities to Batman]], Midnighter arguably has much more in common with Wolverine. He has enhanced strength, speed, agility, and a HealingFactor. He also wears [[ToughSpikesAndStuds spiked]] gloves, [[BloodKnight has an insatiable appetite for violence]], and has a background in black ops.
* TheWorfEffect: When the Authority face off against the Erinyes, the ancient Greek goddesses of vengeance, Midnighter leapt at the opportunity to fight them--and was tossed aside in a single panel.
* WouldHitAGirl: Kills female enemies as much as male ones with extreme prejudice.
* WouldHurtAChild / WouldNotHurtAChild: Zig-zagged He hates fighting kids and often refuses to harm them, but push him enough and he'll attack or even kill one if needed. He killed an evil baby twin of his adopted daughter Jenny to stop her from destroying reality once. Teenagers are fair game though, as he once attacked ComicBook/Gen13 for getting in his way and killed many of Kriegstein's teenage metahumans for being baddies.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Wildstorm Universe]]
-> '''Publication history''':
--> ''ComicBook/{{StormWatch}}'' (various)
--> ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' (various)
--> ''Midnighter'' (2006-2008)
--> ''Grifter and Midnighter'' (2007)

* AxCrazy: He certainly enjoys the violence he commits, especially when he especially hates the victim in question
* BadFuture: Shown to become a violent, brain-damaged dictator in ''The Authority: Revolution''.
* BreakThemByTalking: Managed to convince a mercenary to give up and even help him by explaining how little his life matters to anyone and his employer.
* CaptainErsatz: Basically Batman if he was a vicious maniac, and in a relationship with Superman.
* CivvieSpandex: During the Wildstorm era, his costume usually consists of a cowl mask with a leather trenchcoat, logo T-shirt, jeans or combat trousers, and combat boots. In the DC era, it became more of a specialized battlesuit.
* CombatClairvoyance: His whole shtick is that he can see how a battle plays in his head out before making a step and often frightens his opponents by saying he's played out their fight a million times in his head already. Then he tried to pull it on [[FlyingBrick Captain Atom.]] Suffice to say, [[CurbstompBattle Atom was not impressed.]]
* DirtyBusiness: He takes care of this the most of the Authority roster, considering his spare time is mainly spent going to war zones and killing baddies.
* NonHeteronormativeSociety: Midnighter learns this to be true of the future, apparently to a point where the term "gay" itself is archaic and out-of-use.
* CoverIdentityAnomaly: "Lucas Trent" is known to be a nice guy -- or was, at some point, anyway.
* EverytownAmerica: Apparently Midnighter -- or "Lucas Trent", at least -- is from Harmony, Kansas.
* GetBackInTheCloset: A panel depicting he and Apollo kissing was censored, but a later example in his solo book made a point of them kissing front and center.
* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: The first story arc of his solo series.
* MalevolentMaskedMen: The Anthem group -- extremists who supposedly act in the name of peace. [[PatrioticFervor And wear country flags on their face]].
* OnlyKnownByHisNickname: He's only ever known as Midnighter.
* RapeAndRevenge:
** [[spoiler: In Creator/MarkMillar's first arc on ''The Authority'' a ComicBook/CaptainAmerica stand-in known as the Commander raped Apollo. The last we see of him, he's on the ground, paralyzed by Apollo, and it's implied that Midnighter intends to return the favor -- with a rusty jackhammer.]]
** AttemptedRape and Revenge: Some time after that story, the Authority team got usurped and replaced by new guys with the same powers, who then spend weeks torturing their originals in various ways [[spoiler:- except for the Midnighter, who makes a timely strategic retreat to protect baby Jenny. Apollo gets deprived of sunlight and used as a punching bag by his own and Midnighter's replacement. But just when Apollo's replacement has worked through his homophobia enough to talk himself into sexually assaulting Apollo, the Midnighter shows up to put a construction bolt through his brain.]][[note]]What is it with this guy and power tools as phallic symbols?[[/note]]
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Millar's first arc on ''The Authority'' had Midnighter admit out-loud that he was a racist after getting tired of dealing with some refugees the team had taken on. Well, what he said was that the stress of living with thousands of refugees made him catch himself having racist thoughts about them. It came across like he regretted that part about himself. Which is actually a pretty nice representation of how people become better persons in this regard, self-awareness being the first step and all.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Everybody in Harmony, who claim to have known Midnighter back when he was "Lucas Trent".
* TheRemnant: He and Apollo are the lone survivors of an old Stormwatch cell made of expies of the founding members of the Justice League.
* TimePolice: Midnighter deals with a few of these while attempting to kill Hitler on a mission. [[spoiler:He works out a deal with them to take out the guy who sent him to the past in the first place]].
* TokenEvilTeammate: He's this for the Authority and that's really saying something for a team of already murderous amoral superheroes. He handles most of the dirty business of the team and has admitted he's a murderous monster and killer, but accepts it as who he is.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:DC Universe]]
-> '''Publication history''':
--> ''ComicBook/{{StormWatch}}'' (2011-2014)
--> ''Midnighter'' (2015 -- 2016)
--> ''Midnighter & Apollo'' (2016)

* AscendedMeme: His chin spike. Eventually explained in-universe after much fan teasing, having saved his life during a scrap prior to the start of his Stormwatch tenure.
* HaveIMentionedIAmGay: Midnighter's sexuality was pretty dubious to Apollo, until he explicitly stated it.
* MoralityChain:
** Apollo to Midnighter. Kinda. Apollo isn't opposed in principle to killing villains, but he disapproves of the sheer level of Midnighter's brutality and unnecessarily painful ways of execution (if more because the gore could traumatize bystanders and the victims they're trying to save, not because he pities the villains). One certainly gets the feeling that if Midnighter ever were to dial it down a bit, it would be to gain approval in Apollo's eyes, though he isn't really ''able'' to change. Midnighter's acceptance of what he is, even though he doesn't like it, in contrast with Apollo's conflicting wishes to accept his lover and to make him someone better, someone Midnighter himself could live with more easily, are a central theme in the ''Midnighter and Apollo'' mini-series. In fact, wanting to be Midnighter's MoralityChain turns out to be the reason why Apollo chose his superhero name in the first place, in this version of canon:
--> '''Apollo''': "Hyacinth, [[UsefulNotes/AncientGreece Apollo's]] lover. He ''knew'' Hyacinth was doomed, but he ''refused'' to let Hades claim him. So he turned him into something better. ...I ''know'' who you are. And even if ''you'' think you're ''doomed'', I refuse to accept that. ''You'', and everyone else in the world who thinks they've fallen too far... I'll always pull you back into the ''light''."
** They even seem to have toned down the PayEvilUntoEvil aspect of Midnighter's protectiveness towards Apollo, in the DC Rebirth version of the character. If you harm Apollo, Midnighter will still go to the ends of the world and beyond to kill you, but he isn't particularly vicious or sadistic about it - especially compared with the RapeAndRevenge incident in the old Wildstorm Authority canon. Then again, RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil and all that...
* PatrioticFervor: In ''Midnighter'' #2, Midnighter wears a tanktop depicting the American flag on a date in ''Russia.'' Though that may have just been trolling, given he was on a date with a dude, in Putin's Russia.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: While Midnighter mainly just wants ethically permissable targets for his inherent violent urges and is fully aware he deserves to go to Hell someday (see the quote under IAmWhatIAm, above), Apollo has a rather unusual justification for why he often kills villains and does ''not'' feel like that makes him a bad person, even while he disapproves of Midnighter's levels of creative brutality. Basically, its because Apollo thinks their victims deserve to know that their abusers are gone ''and will never come back''. The comparison to ThouShallNotKill type superheroes like Batman or Superman isn't spelled out, but from the context[[note]]Apollo had just been explaining how his father threw him out when he came out as gay at ''age 12''. And then just a year later, aliens abducted him and torturously turned him into what he is now over the course of his teenage years. And after finally escaping, his asshole father rejected him again, now also for being "inhuman".[[/note]], it can be deduced that he thinks that these heroes are simply too privileged (white; straight; filthy rich or having a supportive family; not having been forced into their metahuman status; never having been personally tortured/abused/victimized, or at least not at a time when they were still helpless civilians, instead mostly getting {{Mangst}} type drama about ''other people'' getting hurt) to ever truly empathize with the victims of the villains they're throwing in prison only for them to escape again and again to destroy the lives of more innocent people. Note that Apollo's EstablishingCharacterMoment on the ComicBook/New52 Stormwatch reboot was taking down a child pornography ring, not dealing with some alien threat or a fantastical and crazy villain like most of Batman's rogues gallery.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Apollo, until they did in ''Stormwatch'' #18. They separated again following the [=DCYou=] relaunch, but the ''Midnighter'' solo series firmly establishes that, despite his wish to explore more relationships, Midnighter is still clearly in love with Apollo. [[spoiler: By the end of the series, they get back together.]]
* TheWorfEffect: Midnighter spends most of his issues in ''Grayson'' being somehow beaten by Dick, despite his cybernetic enhancements.
[[/folder]]
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* BashBrothers: With Grayson.
* BuryYourGays: Lampshaded and defied in ''Midnighter and Apollo'':
--> '''Apollo''': "Screw him. Screw this place. This is our story, and in ''our'' story... we ''don't die'' in the end."
* EatingTheEyeCandy: Nitey enjoys a pleasant view provided by [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick]] in ''Grayson'' #6:
--> '''Midnighter''': Your nifty ''Hypnos'' tech trick may make it so I can't see Spyral agents' faces ... but I'd know [[MrFanservice that ass]] anywhere.
* EnemyMine: [[spoiler: Midnighter cooperates with Dick Grayson to stop the Fist of Cain from setting off a telepathic assault on a crowd]].
* FoeRomanceSubtext / HomoeroticSubtext: Laid on ''thick'' during his arc in ''Grayson''.
* GoodVersusGood: With Dick in ''Comicbook/{{Grayson}}'', thanks to PoorCommunicationKills. [[spoiler:During their third encounter, Midnighter boasted about how he could take down Spyral. If he had kept his mouth shut and not threatened to hurt Helena, Dick might have just negotiated a truce with him.]]

* HeroAntagonist: During his arc in ''Comicbook/{{Grayson}}''.
--> '''Mr. Minos''': He is an angry, brutal, and resentful man ... [[GoodIsNotNice but he is also a man of duty]].

* PatrioticFervor: He wears a tanktop depicting the American flag on a date in ''Russia.'' Though that may have just been trolling, given he was on a date with a dude, in Putin's Russia.
* {{Uke}}: PlayedWith as shown in ''Midnighter and Apollo'', while he is a ManlyGay and doesn't have any feminine traits, he's depicted as being the "bottom" in a romantic moment with Apollo and it's implied it's his preferred role. Midnighter also doesn't seem to mind that Apollo transports him in a BridalCarry, though admittedly, he was badly hurt at the time. Still, considering his manly image and grouchy personality, it stands out how easily and unselfconsciously he cooperates with the pose.

** Midnighter's abilities border on CombatClairvoyance, but they're just the result of AwesomenessByAnalysis. In his solo series, he once faced a supervillain named Epimetheus, who had ''actual'' CombatClairvoyance, and who wiped the floor with Midnighter--no matter what Midnighter's combat enhancements told him to do, Epimetheus would see it coming and act accordingly. He beat the guy in their second fight by [[spoiler:doubling the armor on certain parts of his costume, and letting Epimetheus--who had no super strength or stamina--wail on those spots until Epimetheus was too tired to throw another punch. ''Then'' Midnighter kicked his ass]].

** In ''The Authority: Prime'', a seemingly normal guy challenged Midnighter to a fight. Despite Midnighter's protests that he'd destroy the man, he agreed. However, his opponent then refused to make a move at all, giving Midnighter's combat computer no information and leaving them in a draw. This might not count, as [[spoiler:the guy was actually a super-advanced android sent to destroy the Authority from within, so he might have been able to confuse Midnighter's analysis somehow.]]

* LogicalWeakness: Midtnighter's fighting prowess comes from numerous cybernetic enhancements throughout his brain and body, allowing him to read his opponent(s) and fight them accordingly. These make him almost impossible to beat in a fight--''almost''. There are a number of ways he's been beaten over the years:

** Midnighter's abilities border on CombatClairvoyance, but they're just the result of AwesomenessByAnalysis. In his solo series, he once faced a supervillain named Epimetheus, who had ''actual'' CombatClairvoyance, and who wiped the floor with Midnighter--no matter what his combat enhancements told him to do, Epimetheus would see it coming and act accordingly. He beat the guy in their second fight by [[spoiler:doubling the armor on certain parts of his costume, and letting Epimetheus--who had no super strength or stamina--wail on those spots until Epimetheus was too tired to throw another punch. ''Then'' Midnighter kicked his ass]].

* LogicalWeakness: As emphasized by his enemy in his pair series of ''Midnighter & Grifter'' while being pummeled, Midnighter's combative superiority are strictly dependent on him being faster and cleverer than his opponent. If his opponent is faster than he can react to their moves or is smart enough to predict his moves, his powers are rendered useless. In another story sponsored under ''Stormwatch: Team Achilles'', it's explained how his abilities are mainly a result of wetware and technology, meaning he's vulnerable to a surprise beating as anyone else in a fight if they can be deactivated like any tech.
** In one crossover story, he also had trouble fighting ComicBook/TheJoker, who's simply [[ObfuscatingInsanity too crazy to predict.]] Of course, in that case, it's more of an ''il''logical weakness...

* WolverineWannabe: While he has some [[BatmanParody similarities to Batman]], Midnighter arguably has much more in common with Wolverine. He has enhanced strength, speed, agility, and a HealingFactor. He also wears [[ToughSpikesAndStuds spiked]] gloves, [[BloodKnight has an insatiable appetite for violence]] and has a background in black ops.

** In one crossover story, he also had trouble fighting ComicBook/TheJoker, who's simply [[ObfuscatingInsanity too crazy to predict.]] Of course, in that case, it's more of an [[JustForPun ''il''logical weakness]] ...