History ComicBook / BatmanCurseOfTheWhiteKnight

* PapaWolf: [[spoiler: When Joker turns his violent behaviour towards his family and kidnaps his kids to punish Harley, Jack forcibly begins FightingFromTheInside to stop himself from hurting his children. Eventually, Jack [[HeroicSuicide tries to kill himself to protect his family from his evil alter ego]], [[ICannotSelfTerminate but is unable to stay in control long enough to see it through]], and resorts to begging Harley for death. [[MercyKill She grants him his wish]].]]

* PapaWolf: It's shown that whenever Joker turns his violent behaviour towards Harley and the kids, Jack will forcibly reassert himself to stop him. By the end however, he is so out of control that [[spoiler: Jack goes out of his way to ensure both of their deaths [[HeroicSacrifice in order to protect his family from his evil alter ego]], even setting Harley up to kill him due to being unable to carry it out himself.]]

* FightingFromTheInside: even when suppressed by the Joker, Jack does not make life any easier for the Clown Prince Of Crimes whenever he threatens to go too fae, with one particular moment showing Jack [[EvilHand partially taking back control]] to smash a rock into his own face, [[PapaWolf to stop himself from attacking Harley and their children]].

A sequel, ''ComicBook/BatmanBeyondTheWhiteKnight'' began publication starting March 2022.

* WeHardlyKnewYe: The story introduces the ''White Knight'' incarnation of [[spoiler:Bane, only for him to die in the ''span of three pages'']].

* AdaptationalVillainy: Azrael is an AntiHero in the mainstream continuity, while here he serves as the secondary [[spoiler: and later main]] villain of the story.

** [[spoiler: Jason Todd shows up at the very end of the series with a distinctly more rugged and mature appearance (complete with wrinkles) than his youthful twenty-something mainstream counterpart. This is coupled with the revelation in the previous comic that he was Robin ''before'' Dick Grayson, rather than after.]]
* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler: This series doesn't pull ''any'' punches; Azrael kills Gordon at the end of Issue #3, then in Issue #5, he decapitates Bane before going on to murder just about the rest of the Rogues Gallery minus Joker. Then Harley shoots Joker at the end of Issue #6, killing both him and Jack at Jack's request. Although he slits his throat at his urging, Bruce doesn't allow Azrael to die by tending to the throat wound]].
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: The moment the Joker sees that [[spoiler: Harley was pregnant]], he correctly guesses that [[spoiler: she is having twins.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Bruce ultimately defeats Azrael, ending his reign of terror and saving Gotham, then surrenders himself to the GCPD for all of his actions and donates all of his money to the city. Bullock gets promoted to Sergeant and the GCPD starts to recruit vigilantes into their force. As Bruce prepares for his trial, he seeks to talk to a certain someone who's been assigned to guard his cell -- Jason Todd.]]
* TheCameo: [[spoiler: [[ComicBook/{{Etrigan}} Jason Blood]] was the one who gave Alfred the journal that revealed the truth behind the Wayne family fortune to give to Bruce.]]
* CoversAlwaysLie: The cover of issue #6 shows Bruce Wayne fighting Bane. [[spoiler: Bane gets decapitated at the end of issue #5.]]
* DeathByAdaptation: While traditional Batman villains have been shown dying in other adaptations, ''Curse of the White Knight'' gives us a first-time adaptational death for [[spoiler: Baby Doll, a CanonForeigner who originated from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' when Azrael murders her in her cell]].
* DramaticIrony: Gordon chews Batman out for [[spoiler: getting Barbara involved in his war on crime when her identity is revealed]]. Later, after having some time to cool off, he admits that it isn't Batman's fault, he's sorry for blowing his lid, and that he just wants to have a relationship built on trust between them. Unfortunately, the person he thinks is Batman is actually [[spoiler: Azrael, who kills him shortly after. So Batman never hears his apology and continues to think Gordon died blaming him.]]
* EndOfAnAge: Serves as this to the Batman mythos and many of the iconic elements and characters associated with him, with [[spoiler: Wayne Manor and the Batcave being destroyed, Gordon being murdered, and many of Batman's rogues being killed off, with Joker dying last. After all that, Batman's secret identity is exposed and he's soon to be put on trial.]]
* FailedASpotCheck: [[spoiler: Lampshaded by Gordon after he finds out Barbara is Batgirl. It never occurred to him that he was working alongside his daughter for years just because of a dinky little DominoMask that did nothing to hide her identity.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: While fighting Azrael in Issue #4, Batman states that the Waynes are the rightful protectors of Gotham and always will be, which prompts Azrael to respond "I agree". [[spoiler: This foreshadows the reveal that Bakkar is Bruce's ancestor and that Azrael is really a Wayne.]]

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: [[spoiler: It is revealed that the defining moment where Jack Napier became the Joker was when he discovered the "joke" that Laffy wrote on the walls in his dying moments. When Jack Napier has a MomentOfLucidity and tells Harley about it, he makes her promise not to tell Batman for fear that the same thing would happen to him.]]

* ICannotSelfTerminate: [[spoiler: In Issue #6, Jack gains control long enough to try and kill himself, on the grounds that Joker will never leave Harley and their children alone. When the Joker won't let Jack do it, he begs Harley to instead, and she does.]]

* KillAndReplace: Ruth and the Elites' plan was for Azrael to quietly kill Bruce Wayne and take his place as Batman. She's quite miffed when he instead goes rogue and causes a major scene by [[spoiler: killing Gordon]].

* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler: In this sequel, Commissioner Gordon and many of Batman's Arkham rogues are abruptly and brutally killed off by Azrael. Joker also dies at the hands of Harley.]]

** [[spoiler: Ultimately defied. When Bruce ends up revealing his identity to Gotham and the world, the one thing that ''does'' happen is that Bruce goes to jail. He willingly surrenders his money to be distributed to all of Gotham, Wayne Enterprises is restructured under Lucius Fox's eye and the GCPD willingly accepts vigilantes into the force. The events of the series show that Batman ultimately had a point in his war on crime, and since Bruce was the only one to step forward and out himself, the rest of Wayne Enterprises gets to avoid connections via plausible deniability.]]
* WeHardlyKnewYe: The story introduces the ''White Knight'' incarnation of [[spoiler: Bane, only for him to die in the ''span of three pages'']].

** Issue #2, [[spoiler: Joker crashes Jim Gordon's mayoral campaign and outs his daughter as Batgirl to the public]], [[spoiler: Batman discovers that Harley is pregnant,]] and [[spoiler: Azrael has the Mad Hatter hack the Batcave, completely destroying it and Wayne Manor.]]
** Issue #3 is where [[spoiler: Azrael kills Gordon]] and [[spoiler: Harley goes into labor]].
** Issue #5, [[spoiler: Azrael (now in his own Batsuit) walks into Arkham and slaughters all of the inmates.]]
** Issue #6, [[spoiler: The truth is that Bakkar is actually Bruce’s ancestor, and that he killed Edmond Wayne and stole his identity to rebuild Gotham Valley into Gotham City. Harley also shoots Joker, killing both him and Jack.]]
** Issue #7, [[spoiler: Bruce unmasks himself and announces that he's dissolving his company and giving away his entire fortune to help Gotham. Then he goes after Azrael, [[BatmanGrabsAGun apparently prepared to kill him.]]]]
* WhatTheHellHero: After [[spoiler: Joker reveals that his own daughter was Batgirl]], Jim gives her and Batman a serious dressing down for not telling him and for Bruce backing out on his promise to unmask himself to the public.
* WouldHurtAChild: Played with. Baby Doll is actually an adult in a child's body due to her condition but there was no indication that [[spoiler: Azrael knew or cared about this before he plunges a sword into her during his massacre of the Arkham inmates]].

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Bruce, deeply affected by the events of ''White Knight'', plans to reveal that he's Batman to Gotham. Ruth, the creator of the Batman Devastation Fund and the woman who represents the people who profit off of Batman's war on crime, spells out to him exactly what would happen if he did.

* DeathByAdaptation: While traditional Batman villains have been shown dying in other adaptations, ''Curse of the White Knight'' gives us a first-time adaptational death for [[spoiler: Baby Doll, a CanonForeigner in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' when Azrael murders her in her cell]].

The sequel to ''ComicBook/BatmanWhiteKnight'' from writer/artist Sean Murphy, wherein ComicBook/TheJoker, now fully "recovered" from his stint as Jack Napier, resolves to ruin everything Batman and Jack started in cleaning up Gotham city's corruption. To this end he collaborates with the "Elites", a group of Gotham's upper crust that seek to maintain the profits they gained from Batman's previous war on crime, and together they recruit ComicBook/{{Azrael}} to take Batman's place as Gotham's new destructive crime fighter.

Batman is meanwhile still reeling from the events of White Knight, grappling with the prospect of a Gotham that's better off without him and clashing with his allies' insistence that he integrate into the Gotham PD like they have. His doubts only get worse when, in the process of laying waste to Gotham, Joker and Azrael reveal a secret about his lineage that throws into question everything he believed about his family's legacy and his place in it.

* BiblicalMotifs: Azrael's spec ops team the Blood Angels runs on this, each of them having code names based off of different angels (Azrael, Gabriel, Michael, etc).

* HistoryRepeats: It is revealed that the Joker was inspired by Lafayette "Laffy" Arkham (who the Joker actually bears a resemblance too), who has a long-standing conflict and was killed by Bruce's ancestor Edmond Wayne who wielded a whip ''made from bat-leather''.

In this explosive sequel to the critically acclaimed blockbuster ''ComicBook/BatmanWhiteKnight'' from writer/artist Sean Murphy, ComicBook/TheJoker recruits ComicBook/{{Azrael}} to help him expose a shocking secret from the Wayne family's legacy—and to run Gotham City into the ground! As Batman rushes to protect the city and his loved ones from danger, the mystery of his ancestry unravels, dealing a devastating blow to the Dark Knight. Exciting new villains and unexpected allies will clash in this unforgettable chapter of the White Knight saga—and the truth about the blood they shed will shake Gotham to its core!

* DramaticIrony: The Joker could not help but note the {{Irony}} that his children were born in the crypt where Laffy was buried, the place where his persona (and by extension, the legendary history between him and Batman) was born.

** [[spoiler: Jason Todd shows up at the very end of the series, and appears to have some wrinkles and a receding hairline. This makes him look quite a bit older than the Jason Todd of the mainstream DC Universe, who is a youthful twenty-something.]]

* RealityEnsues: Bruce, deeply affected by the events of ''White Knight'', plans to reveal that he's Batman to Gotham. Ruth, the creator of the Batman Devastation Fund and the woman who represents the people who profit off of Batman's war on crime, spells out to him exactly what would happen if he did.
-->'''Ruth''': First, the stock in your companies would plummet as the FBI seized your assets and arrested you for terrorism. ''Thousands'' of people would lose their jobs-- Not just your employees, but ''workers all over the city'' as you send Gotham's economy into a tailspin, resulting in even more crime and poverty. ''Then'' you'd lose your entire fortune as you accumulated hundreds of assault charges from decades of vigilantism. Everyone you ever worked with would be charged with aiding and abetting, '''including the entire GCPD'''. You'd '''BEG''' to go to prison-- Because that's the only way you'd be safe from the dozens of super-criminals who will seek revenge.
** [[spoiler: Ultimately defied. When Bruce ends up revealing his identity to Gotham and the world, the one thing that ''does'' happen is that Bruce goes to jail. He willingly surrenders his money to be distributed to all of Gotham, Wayne Enterprises is restructured under Lucius Fox's eye and the GCPD willingly accepts vigilantes into the force. The events of the series show that Batman ultimately had a point in his war on crime, and since Bruce was the only one to step forward and out himself, the rest of Wayne Enterprises gets to avoid connections via plausible deniability.]]

* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler: This series doesn't pull ''any'' punches; Azrael kills Gordon at the end of Issue #3, then in Issue #5, he decapitates Bane before going on to murder just about the rest of the Rogues Gallery minus Joker. Then Harley shoots Joker at the end of Issue #6, killing both him and Jack at Jack's request.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: While fighting Azrael in #Issue 4, Batman states that the Waynes are the rightful protectors of Gotham and always will be, which prompts Azrael to respond "I agree". [[spoiler: This foreshadows the reveal that Bakkar is Bruce's ancestor and that Azrael is really a Wayne.]]

* ShoutOut: Long ago, Edmond Wayne killed Lafayette Arkham with a whip of bat leather. In the present, it's [[IfJesusThenAliens speculated]] that Laffy [[LooksLikeOrlok was a vampire]]. If the latter winds up being true, then we have [[Franchise/Castlevania a vampire who was killed with a whip]].

** Bane tries to [[Comicbook/BatmanKnightfall break Azrael's back]].

** [[spoiler:Ultimately defied. When Bruce ends up revealing his identity to Gotham and the world, the one thing that ''does'' happen is that Bruce goes to jail. He willingly surrenders his money to be distributed to all of Gotham, Wayne Enterprises is restructured under Lucius Fox's eye and the GCPD willingly accepts vigilantes into the force.]]

* CharacterRerailment: In ''ComicBook/BatmanWhiteKnight'', the Joker was presented as a mischievous prankster fanboy who wasn’t as bad as the main universe counterpart, and that the Gotham police had little evidence of him involved with serious crimes. Here, his plots are more dangerous, he plans to undo the work that his alter ego Jack had done combating exposing corruption in Gotham and he brings in Jean-Paul Valley, helping him become the murderous Azrael.

In this explosive sequel to the critically acclaimed blockbuster ''ComicBook/BatmanWhiteKnight'' from writer/artist Creator/SeanMurphy, ComicBook/TheJoker recruits ComicBook/{{Azrael}} to help him expose a shocking secret from the Wayne family's legacy—and to run Gotham City into the ground! As Batman rushes to protect the city and his loved ones from danger, the mystery of his ancestry unravels, dealing a devastating blow to the Dark Knight. Exciting new villains and unexpected allies will clash in this unforgettable chapter of the White Knight saga—and the truth about the blood they shed will shake Gotham to its core!