History ComicBook / BatmanLastKnightOnEarth

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Witnessing the slaughter between the [[BeastMan grotesque]] [[ComicBook/AnimalMan Animal Men]] and the bandaged and crazed [[ComicBook/UnknownSoldier Unknown Soldiers]], Batman tells the Joker that they have to help them. Joker looks upon Batman's folly and simply asks "Which side?". Batman then says "Both of them" but realizes Joker's point and [[RunOrDie leaves the area rather than get between these powerful combatants.]]

* ChangedMyMindKid: [[spoiler:Diana changes her mind and returns to help Batman make his way to Gotham]].

* AdaptationalHeroism: [[spoiler: The Joker, having spent ten years as a head in a jar hanging on a hook in the desert, is overjoyed when Bruce finds him, and rather than attempt to torment him in any shape or form, is instead completely and utterly chummy with the Dark Knight throughout the entire story, chatting nonstop, treating him like an old friend rather than his greatest enemy. He even goes so far as to asking to be the next Robin, which Bruce initially flat out refuses, but by the end of the story when he plugs himself into an exosuit the late Tim Drake built, he doesn't betray him and stays by his side, indeed becoming the new Robin, showing his newfound friendship with Batman was genuine. By the very last page, Joker has achieved something no one ever expected: finally becoming a hero]].

* DistantFinale: "The last Batman story" and implied to be the overall GrandFinale of Snyder and Capullo's run on Batman, all taking place in a distant, post-apocalyptic, dystopian future. Also, due to the "justice vs. doom" mantra of Lex Luthor being key to it's backstory, it could count as one to ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague2018'' as well, which is also written by Snyder.

* TheWorfEffect: The villain who destroyed the world, Omega, hasn't been seen in the flesh, but we get a glimpse of his power through Diana's recollection of the war, where he's holding the severed head of ''Darkseid'' and not only took the Anti-Life Equation, but is able to amplify it to levels greater than even ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''. [[spoiler:Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]], because he's the original [[MemeticBadass Batman]].]] Despite these achievements, Neo-Batman still manages to take him down in a one-on-one fight.

* AndIMustScream: Alfred left the Joker's disembodied head to rot in the desert wasteland for a decade, with the Joker aware of every passing second. Ironically enough, 10 years without an audience mellowed him out and left the Joker more friendly, if no less insane and violent.
* AndIMustScream: All Speed Force users have all somehow been merged into a Speed Force storm, rampaging across the wasteland and randomly aging anything caught in it to dust. By all accounts, all of them are not only alive, but fully conscious as they uncontrollably become a weather phenomenon and beg for anyone to help them.

* OffScreenMomentOfAwesome: As seen in flashbacks, Omega not only managed to kill Darkseid and use his head containing the Anti-Life Equation to take over the world, but managed to kill Brainiac as well as Black Adam when they got in his way.

* AndIMustScream: All Speed Force users have all somehow been merged into a Speed Force storm, rampaging across the wasteland and randomly aging anything caught in it. By all accounts, all of them are not only alive, but fully conscious as they uncontrollably become a weather phenomenon.

* TheAtoner: After basically being responsible for how the world ended up becoming the apocalyptic shithole it is and being moved by Superman's words during their final debate. Lex has a slight case of SanitySlippage, due to regret and is trying his best to make things right by trying to bring back Clark. Through cloning, making robots based on Superman, [[spoiler:or bringing in a Baby Kal-El from another universe.]]
* BabiesEverAfter: A variation. [[spoiler:As one last act of redemption, an atoning Luthor was able to get a baby Kal-El from another universe to land on theirs instead. Which soon the Neo-Batman adopts and will raise as his own.]]

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: [[spoiler:Issue #2 reveals that Lex challenged Superman to a debate of ideals, which ended in Lex ''himself'' being moved by Superman's ideals. Unfortunately, the world chose Doom, resulting in Superman's death and sent the world on a path towards destruction. So Lex got what he wanted (the world choosing Doom and Superman dead) just as he underwent a HeelFaceTurn.]]

* CoolOldGuy: The now-elderly [[spoiler:Jim Gordon]], who's remarkably cheerful and laid-back despite the CrapsackWorld he's living in.

** During the battle between Omega and Batman, the former stabs the Dark Knight with a pike that also has the decapitated head of the former ruler of Apokalypse on it. Unfortunately for him, this allows the latter to do some LodgedBladeRecycling and GrievousHarmWithABody.

* RunOrDie: The new Batman is in over his head, in this strange post-apocalyptic world. When he encountered the Speed Force storm, he had to leave the Flashes to their fate. During his trip to the Plains of Solitude, he encounters the civil war in Fort Waller, between the Animal Men and the Unknown Soldiers. Bats wanted to save both sides, but in the end realized all he could do is go away from them.
* SecretlyDying: Omega is actually racing against the clock. With no healing magic available, he's dying from a combination of old age and his wounds from the Hall of Justice massacre catching up to him. That's why he intends to brainwash the clone Batman into the next Omega.

** This version of Batman is not only physically younger, he's missing many of the memories that made him increasingly dour and cynical. He's actually quite idealistic.
* TheWorfEffect: The villain who destroyed the world, Omega, hasn't been seen in the flesh, but we get a glimpse of his power through Diana's recollection of the war, where he's holding the severed head of ''Darkseid'' and not only took the Anti-Life Equation, but is able to amplify it to levels greater than even ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''. [[spoiler:Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope justified]], because he's the original [[MemeticBadass Batman]].]]

* MorallySuperiorCopy: While we do follow Batman, we're not exactly following Bruce Wayne. The protagonist is a Batman Clone/Copy, while Bruce Wayne ended up becoming the Big Bad Omega. The Batman clone soon becomes a Redeeming Replacement after ultimately defeating and killing Omega.

* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: Omega tells the new Batman what broke him and made him this way. He'll never forget how the people cheered and laughed when his bones were breaking. That a father helped his son to cut pieces out of Bruce for keepsakes and when he tried to tell a little girl to run away despite no longer having teeth or a tongue, the little girl set him on fire instead.

* DyingDream: [[spoiler:Omega gives Alfred one of him managing to convince the Waynes to not go see Zorro, thus preventing Bruce from becoming Batman. Being that Omega ''is'' the real Bruce, it's heartwarming in a sad way, despite having said goodbye to Clone!Bruce, Omega still allows his surrogate father to die happy]].

* AFateWorseThanDeath: All of the Speedsters, Barry Allen, Wally West, Jay Garrick, and etc. have all been merged into a traveling Speed Force Storm that randomly & rapidly ages everything it comes across.

* GrievousHarmWithABody: During the final battle between Batman and Omega. Batman makes great use of a metal pike with Darkseid's head on it as a weapon after being stabbed with said pike, earlier in said confrontation. Whom knew the head of former ruler of Apokolips would make a great bludgeon?
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:The Joker, of all people, ends up helping Batman and the resistance against Omega. Even becoming his new Robin. by the story's end, he is still standing with the heroes ]].

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: All it took for most of humanity to turn evil was Lex Luthor giving a half-hearted speech about how Evil was better than Good. That portion of humanity took it to heart and the atrocities they committed on the original Batman and the others who fell at the Hall of Justice, was worse than anything most of Batman's Rogue Gallery had done. Wonder Woman and her Amazons are just trying to protect the remaining good people on Earth -- little over 100,000 of them...
* IdiotBall: Grabbing this was what led to the Hall of Justice massacre and defilement. A huge mob of humans turned sociopathic worshippers of evil, was using a Riddler lock-picking device to break in while the Justice League was having a meeting. Diana was racing to hold the doors shut on them. So what did the original Batman do? Instead of helping her and using his nonlethal Bat-gadgets to disperse them, he went ahead and let the bloodthirsty mob in so he could reason with them. That turned out even worse than expected...

** Getting run through is how Superman dies. Lex Luthor offered a public challenge that Superman couldn't afford to decline. Over a death-trap of kryptonite skewers, they would debate each other on whether in a world on decline - it would better to be Good or Evil and loser gets impaled. Humanity voted for Lex Luthor...

* LetThemDieHappy: After injecting them with Fear Venom, Omega tells Alfred that he managed to convinced the Waynes not go to the Zorro showing, saving Bruce's parents and preventing him from growing up into Batman.

** On an unrelated note, Batman had apparently managed to sneak into Themyscira once.

* RunOrDie: The new Batman is in over his head, in this strange post-apocalyptic world. When he encountered the Speed Force storm, he had to leave the Flashes to their fate. During his trip to the Plains of Solitude, he encounters the civil war in Fort Waller, between the AnimalMen and the Unknown Soldiers. Bats wanted to save both sides, but in the end realized all he could do is go away from them.

* CivvieSpandex: A variation. Early in the comic, Batman dons an [=WayneTech=] asylum patient's outfit/straitjacket and a helmet for shock therapy, all based on his Batsuit. He does however get his trademark Batsuit later on after stumbling onto Wonder Woman.
** A more straightforward example is one worn by one of the Superman Clones.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Witnessing the slaughter between the [[BeastMan grotesque]] [[ComicBook/AnimalMan AnimalMen]] and the bandaged and crazed [[ComicBook/UnknownSoldier Unknown Soldiers]], Batman tells the Joker that they have to help them. Joker looks upon Batman's folly and simply asks "Which side?". Batman then says "Both of them" but realizes Joker's point and [[RunOrDie leaves the area rather than get between these powerful combatants.]]

* CallBack: In the final issue, Omega reminisces about the "Gotham Is" column that used to run in the Gotham Gazete before everything went to hell; the "Gotham Is" column was first referenced way back in the first issue of Capullo and Snyder's run on the New 52 Batman series. Fitting, as this comic is the GrandFinale

** A more straightforward example, is one worn by one of the Superman Clones.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: All it took for most of humanity to turn evil was Lex Luthor giving a half-hearted speech about how Evil was better than Good. That portion of humanity took it to heart and the atrocities they committed on the original Batman and the others who fell at the Hall of Justice, was worse than anything most of Batman's Rogue Gallery had done. Wonder Woman and her Amazons are just trying to protect the remaining good people on Earth - little over 100,000 of them...

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: During the battle between Omega and Batman, the former stabs the Dark Knight with a pike that also has the decapitated head of the former ruler of Apokalypse on it. Unfortunately for him, this allows the latter to do some LodgedBladeRecycling and GrievousHarmWithABody.
** Getting run through is also how Superman dies. Lex Luthor offered a public challenge that Superman couldn't afford to decline. Over a death-trap of kryptonite skewers, they would debate each other on whether in a world on decline - it would better to be Good or Evil and loser gets impaled. Humanity voted for Lex Luthor...

* KilledOffscreen: A lot of heroes have died by the time the story starts.
** [[spoiler:When Batman meets with the surviving members of the resistance against Omega, Barbara reveals that Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain, Kate Kane, Stephanie Brown, and Harold have all been killed]].

* LegacyCharacter: At some point, Bruce made a machine that would "bring a Bruce Wayne to life every generation", imbuing the subject with his memories. [[spoiler:The current Batman is the result of Alfred using the machine to try and raise a Bruce Wayne instead of a Batman.]]

* TookALevelInKindness: After "ten years without an audience", the Joker seems more than happy to see and work with Batman, not even attempting to harm him or drive him insane. Granted, it may be because he is in no position to, and it doesn't stop him from wanting to kill and maim ''other'' people. [[spoiler:In the finale, he fights alongside Batman and the remaining heroes against Omega, hooking up his head to the late Tim Drake's PowerArmor and then dubbing himself as the new Robin.]]

* CivvieSpandex: A variation. Early in the comic, Batman dons an WayneTech asylum patient's outfit/straitjacket and a helmet for shock therapy, all based on his Batsuit. He does however get his trademark Batsuit later on after stumbling onto Wonder Woman.

* ArmCannon: Joker's Robin body has powerful machine guns hidden in its elbows. When Batman was getting beaten on some EliteMook, Joker came to the rescue by putting a melon-sized hole in the guy.

* IdiotBall: Grabbing this was what led to the Hall of Justice massacre and defilement. A huge mob of humans turned sociopathic worshippers of evil, was attempting to break in. Diana was able to hold the doors shut on them. So what did the original Batman do? Instead of perhaps sneaking out onto a high ground and using his nonlethal Bat-gadgets to disperse them, he went and used a Riddler lock-breaking device to open the gates and let the mob in so he could reason with them. That turned out even worse than expected...

* IdiotBall: Grabbing this was what led to the Hall of Justice massacre and defilement. A huge mob of humans turned sociopathic evil-worshippers was attempting to break in. Diana was able to hold the doors shut on them. So what did the original Batman do? Instead of perhaps sneaking out onto a high-rise and using his nonlethal Bat-gadgets to disperse them, he went and used a Riddler lock-breaking device to open the gates and let the mob in so he could reason with them. That turned out even worse than expected...

** Getting run through is also how Superman dies. Lex Luthor offered a public challenge that Superman couldn't afford to decline. Over a death-trap of kryptonite skewers, they would debate each other on whether it was better to be Good or Evil and loser gets impaled. Humanity voted for Lex Luthor...

* {{Irony}}: A dark case of it. Batman in more than a few Elseworlds stories (such as Injustice) has been presented as the BadassNormal champion of humanity and unafraid to stand up to his superpowered colleagues. [[spoiler: Yet here, he turns against humanity after they turn against the very heroes that tried to save and help them, killing many, including his own son. When he recovered, he turned against the world itself.]]

* DyingDream: [[spoiler:Omega gives Alfred one of him managing to convince the Waynes to not go see Zorro, thus preventing Bruce from becoming Batman.]]

* GrievousHarmWithABody: During the final battle between Batman and Omega. Batman makes great use of a metal pike with Darkseid's head on it as a weapon after being stabbed with said pike, earlier in said confrontation. Whom knew the head of former ruler of Apokalypse would make a great bludgeon?