History ComicBook / BatmanHush

* AbsoluteCleavage: Catwoman’s suit is zipped up to just before the breaking point.

* FridgeLogic: This is part of how Bruce figures out [[spoiler: the Riddler was the true mastermind. How did Elliot get the Arkham inmates onboard with the scheme? They didn't know him and thus had no reason to trust him. Bruce correctly concludes ''somebody'' in the rogues gallery must have served as a liaison -- somebody the other Arkham inmates ''did'' know and ''did'' trust and who could vouch their Elliot. The subsequent analysis of Elliot's medical records confirms it was Nygma.]]

* EurekaMoment: [[spoiler: The Riddler admits he had one after healing himself in the Lazarus Pit. As he puts it, "The Lazarus Pit gives you a unique kind of...''clarity''." This is how and where he figured out Batman was Bruce Wayne.]]

* ByTheBookCop: Gordon begs Batman to refrain from killing the Joker when the hero starts strangling the hero in a mad rage, telling him to believe in the law.

An AnimatedAdaptation by the way of the WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies has been rumored for a while, and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanHush'' was finally announced at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con as part of the 2019 lineup.

* TheLawOfConservationOfDetail: A common criticism of the story is due to this trope. [[spoiler: [[RememberTheNewGuy New character Thomas Elliot]] is introduced and is given an inordinate amount of focus only to be killed abruptly midway through the story in circumstances that other character point out as mysterious. It's not surprising to many a reader that the new character given so much backstory and [[NotSoSmallRole who barely did anything turns out]] to be the mastermind behind the whole plot.]]

* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler: Riddler explains that Hush got his name from the villains repeatedly telling each other to "hush hush." Soon after, the Scarecrow started to randomly sing "Hush Little Baby" and the name stuck. Nigma also mentions that the song fit Elliot because "it’s about a child who can never be satisfied."]]
** This Trope is also part of how Bruce realizes [[spoiler: the Riddler was Elliot's silent partner. When examining his medical records, Bruce discovers Elliot had been treating a cancer patient named Arthur Wynne...which is also the name of modern crossword puzzle's inventor. Who else ''but'' the Riddler would use such an alias?]]

** [[spoiler: Judd Winick's ''Under the Red Hood'' later (though not explicitly) re-contextualizes Riddler's vindictiveness with the reveal that a resurrected Jason had been working with Hush. Since Jason was actually fighting Bruce and Tim during the first half of their battle (before Clayface took over), the implication is the Riddler's taunting Bruce with Jason's resurrection and Batman has no way of knowing this at the time.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Bruce and Selina don’t stay together; Jason’s tomb is empty (foreshadowing his transformation into the anti-villainous Red Hood); Riddler knows Bruce Wayne is Batman;
and Hush is still out there.]]

* BeneathSuspicion: Batman immediately rules out any connection between the Riddler and the true BigBad, due to the former not changing his MO like all the other villains. It turns out the Riddler was the true mastermind behind the entire conspiracy, using his newfound intellect after bathing in the Lazarus Pit to deduce Batman's secret identity and plot his demise by recruiting the aid of Thomas Elliot.

* BlackComedy: The Joker, in one of the reprint covers, wears a shirt reading “I Killed Jason Todd and all I got Was This Lousy T-shirt.”

--> '''Gordon:''' In the eyes of the law... In '''my''' eyes, you'll be no different from him.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Bruce and Selina don’t stay together; Jason’s tomb is empty (foreshadowing his transformation into the anti-villainous Red Hood); Riddler knows Bruce Wayne is Batman; and Hush is still out there.]]

** A lot of coincidences in the attacks make it look like this might be Jason Todd resurrected and driven mad via a Lazarus Pit. Turns out he had no connection to anything.

* NeckLift: ComicBook/{{Batman}} grabs ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}}'s collar and lifts him one handed to stop him from continuing to antagonize ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}. It's the first sign the fight is staged since Tim's collar and cape are detachable and Tim grabs Bruce's wrist instead of going for the release.

* MeaningfulName: Riddler explains that Hush got his name from the villains repeatedly telling each other to "hush hush." Soon after, the Scarecrow started to randomly sing "Hush Little Baby" and the name stuck. Nigma also mentions that the song fit Elliot because "it’s about a child who can never be satisfied."

* DemotedToExtra: The Joker is reduced to a patsy in the newcomer Hush’s scheme. [[spoiler: Riddler reveals later that he and Elliot had difficult recruiting Joker for the scheme at first. He only said yes after they pitched him 'The Jason Todd Gag'.]]

** Bruce speculates to Dick that their mysterious opponent is either someone new, or someone old trying something new. [[spoiler: The final issue reveals ''both'' theories are correct. Thomas Elliot ''is'' a new Batman villain, while the whole plot is a new gambit concocted by the Riddler (i.e. one of Bruce's oldest foes).]]

** [[spoiler: This trope is also explicitly invoked when Bruce demands to know why Riddler had Clayface pose as Jason Todd. Riddler cites ''ComicBook/ADeathInTheFamily'' as the greatest failure of Bruce's career. Rubbing it in Bruce's nose was vindictive payback for all of Riddler's own, many past failures.]]

* DemotedToExtra: The Joker is reduced to a patsy in the newcomer Hush’s scheme.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: [[spoiler: Riddler's motive rant in the final issue after the reveal. Nygma rages that in the old days, he used to be a somebody in Gotham. At this point, now ''everybody'' has got a gimmick. It's lampshading how the Riddler is one of the oldest Batman villains, yet had fallen out of focus and wasn't being as utilized as much as some of the other, older rogues.]]

* EvilIsPetty: [[spoiler: The Riddler refuses to divulge the location of Jason Todd's exhumed body out of spite (especially after Bruce had just burst his balloon by correctly pointing out why knowing Batman's identity was worthless to him).

** Bruce speculates to Dick that their opponent is either someone new or someone old trying something new. [[spoiler: The final issue reveals ''both'' theories are correct. Thomas Elliot ''is'' a new Batman villain, while the whole plot is a new gambit concocted by one of the Riddler (i.e. one of Bruce's oldest foes.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: As Batman creates holograms of the villains he has already defeated, he represents the mysterious mastermind behind their crimes [[spoiler: as a comically large question mark. According to Jim Lee, this was done so that savvy readers could deduce that the HiddenVillain was none other than the Riddler, whose outfits always incorporated said punctuation mark.]]
** Bruce also speculates to Dick in this scene that their opponent is either someone new or someone old trying something new. [[spoiler: The final issue reveals ''both'' theories are correct. Thomas Elliot ''is'' a new Batman villain, while the whole plot is a new gambit concocted by one of the Riddler (i.e. one of Bruce's oldest foes.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: As Batman creates holograms of the villains he has already defeated, he represents the mysterious mastermind behind their crimes as a comically large question mark. According to Jim Lee, this was done so that savvy readers could deduce that the HiddenVillain was none other than the Riddler, whose outfits always incorporated said punctuation mark.

* RememberTheNewGuy: Thomas Elliot, old money and childhood friend of Bruce Wayne. Completely new to this story. Invoked by [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim]] and [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick]] during Tommy’s funeral, but never brought up again.

* TookALevelInBadass: The Riddler, who is generally seen as one of the least competent Batman antagonists, turns out to be the mastermind who orchestrates the entire plot. Lampshaded by Batman, who states that Nigma was never a criminal genius.

** Batman beats the everlasting shit out of the Joker after the latter [[InnocentAllAlong allegedly)]] killed Tommy Elliot.

* MotiveMisidentification: Batman figures that [[spoiler: Tommy hates Bruce Wayne because Thomas Wayne failed to save the life of Tommy's father after a car crash. Thomas reveals it's because Thomas ''did'' save his mother and ruined the perfect "accident" Eliott had arranged to kill his parents for the inheritance, forcing him to let his mother live for years before he could get the money.]]