History ComicBook / BatmanZeroYear

** In his very first appearance in 1948, the Riddler robs a bank by flooding its vaults and commandeers a crossword puzzle on an electronic billboard to give clues to the police. Here, while he's far more than a mere bank robber, he floods large parts of the entire city and uses a similar electronic billboard to communicate with the citizens as they try to stump 'him' with riddles.

* EvilUncle: Well, morally-ambiguous uncle. Bruce's maternal uncle Phillip Kane has been running Wayne Enterprises during his absence. He's more then a little shady, having declared Bruce legally dead and keeping Edward Nygma on the payroll. But at the same time, he's loyal to Bruce and has more principles than most corrupt executives.

[[caption-width-right:300:[[{{Tagline}} The Dawn of the Dark Knight!]]]]

[[caption-width-right:300:{{Tagline}} The Dawn of the Dark Knight!]]]]

''Batman: Zero Year'' is a major comic book storyline set in the DC Universe, spinning out of Creator/ScottSnyder and Greg Capullo's relaunched ''Batman'' title. It is a reimagining of [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Batman's]] origin story, explaining how Bruce Wayne donned the cape and cowl for the first time and how the Dark Knight became Gotham City's greatest protector in the New 52 continuity.

* BookEnds: Bruce Wayne and Edward Nygma meet each other for the first time in the sphinx room at the museum. [[spoiler:The Riddler's lair, where the final showdown between him and Batman ultimately takes place, is... the sphinx room at the museum.]]

* BaitAndSwitch: During Phillip and Bruce's second meeting, Phillip urges his nephew to reveal his survival to the world and publicly take over Wayne Enterprises, but Bruce refuses. Earlier, Phillip's PoisonousFriend, Nygma, urged him to [[MurderIsTheBestSolution kill Bruce if he took that view.]] Phillip then tells Bruce that his nephew has left him no choice, and ominously presses a button on a remote control. However, rather than trigger a trap, or summon an assassin, the button merely turns on the lights, revealing that Phillip has organized a welcome back party to reveal that Bruce is still alive and push him back into public life.

Certain aspects of the storyline will serve as one of the inspirations for the film ''Film/{{The Batman|2022}}'', namely with the Riddler being the villain.

Certain aspects of the storyline will serve as one of the inspirations for the upcoming film ''Film/{{The Batman|2022}}'', namely with the Riddler being the villain.

** The ''Detective Comics'' tie-in sees Jim quip that he'll need a bigger flashlight after Batman comes to his aid, referencing the Bat-Signal itself.

* TwoPartTrilogy: The first act in the story, ''Secret City,'' could be read almost completely standalone save for the very end. It primarily focuses on Bruce struggling to stop the Red Hood Gang, who are acting completely separate from the Riddler. Acts two and three are more closely connected, with both of them being about Gotham going to hell after Riddler shuts off the power, and the central villain of the second act, Doctor Death, [[spoiler:works directly under the Riddler]]. The trade paperback collections even treat the stories as such, with ''Secret City'' collected in its own trade while both ''Dark City'' and ''Savage City'' are collected together in the following trade.

* AscendedMeme: At one point, Loeb refers to Batman as [[ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder "the Goddamn Batman".]]

** [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] to be the case with Batman and [[spoiler:ComicBook/TheJoker]] in the last part of "Secret City". In the third chapter of the arc, the Red Hood Gang leader tells Bruce how [[spoiler: it was the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, and the terror that the deaths of these prominent citizens to a random mugging sparked in the minds of most Gothamites, that inspired him to turn to a life of crime and similarly terrorize Gotham]]. The Red Hood Gang leader is implied to be [[spoiler: the future [[ComicBook/TheJoker Joker]]]], resulting in this trope.

The year-long arc lasted from June 2013 to July 2014 in the ''Batman'' title, with a prologue in the form of September 2012's #0 issue. During the second act of ''Zero Year'', many other titles had their 25th issue as a tie-in depicting their (at the time non-superhero or villain) characters during the storm and blackout in Gotham: ''ComicBook/ActionComics'' (focusing on an early, cocky Superman), ''[[ComicBook/{{Batgirl2011}} Batgirl]]'', ''Batwing'', ''ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}'', ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'', ''ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}'', ''ComicBook/DetectiveComics'' (focusing on Gordon and the GCPD), ''ComicBook/TheFlash'', ''ComicBook/GreenArrow'', ''[[Franchise/GreenLantern Green Lantern Corps]]'' (focusing on John Stewart as a marine), ''ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}'' and ''ComicBook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws''.

** And, in the inverse, as revealed in the finale, [[spoiler:Bruce Wayne was this to his rogues, as he also went to Arkham Asylum. The difference that makes him a ShadowArchetype is that he actually tried to change and went there to get better, and didn't treat it as a prison]].

* AscendedMeme: At one point, Loeb refers to Batman as [[ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder "the Goddamn Batman."]]
* TheBadGuysWin: Twice. The heroes fail to stop Riddler from causing the blackout and flood he uses to take over the city. [[spoiler: Subverted at the very end, when they're able to take Gotham back from his control.]]

* CuttingTheKnot: In the finale, [[spoiler:after Gordon and the GCPD disabled Riddler's signal, Batman takes this approach to Riddler, lampshading the original story with Alexander the Great, since it was the answer to the final riddle]].
* DirtyCop: [[spoiler: Gordon is shown to have been this, albeit a reluctant one, which is why he kept wearing his old trench coat. At the end, Bruce gives him a new one, showing him that its ok to start over.]]

* TheHeavy: Doctor Death serves as this in the second act. While he [[spoiler:is working directly for the Riddler,]] he's still the primary threat while the mastermind [[GreaterScopeVillain is mainly staying in the background]].

* ImagineSpot: As part of the Bittersweet Ending mentioned above, [[spoiler:Alfred]] has one in which he envisions a happy, normal life for [[spoiler:Bruce Wayne]] in which he [[spoiler:marries and settles down with Julie Madison]].

** Liam Distal [[spoiler:the true leader or puppet leader of the Red Hood Gang]] is a roundabout allusion to Bill Finger, one of Batman's co-creators. [[MeaningfulName Liam is a variation of William, and Distal is a reference to the bones in the fingers]].

** At one point, the Riddler addresses Batman as "Detective," much as Ra's Al Ghul traditionally does, and as Riddler himself did in the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries''.

* OriginsEpisode: The arc focuses on how Bruce became Batman, and how Batman became Gotham's protector. It also shows how other people developed in Gotham City, such as James Gordon, Riddler and [[spoiler: Joker]].

* ShutUpHannibal: Batman does this repeatedly to Riddler during their final encounter. A JustifiedTrope, since [[spoiler:he was just stalling him so that he would have less time to answer the critical riddles to save Gotham from an air strike]].

* TheUnreveal: Red Hood #1. [[spoiler: Ultimately, the man who falls into the chemical bath in Ace Chemicals becomes the Joker, but a Liam Distal's corpse is discovered, and revealed that he really is the original Red Hood #1. The unreveal comes from when the future-Joker replaced Distal. Was it before Bruce ever met him, during the events of "Secret City," or during the Ace Chemical showdow, when Red Hood #1 can be seen ducking or being grabbed behind a column, a man then shown with the helmet off (and a very Joker-like facial structure shown in the reflection), before re-emerging into the fight.]]
* WeWillMeetAgain: The Red Hood says this to Batman [[spoiler:before his fateful drop into a chemical bath at A.C.E. Chemicals]].

* TheBadGuysWin: ''[[UpToEleven Twice.]]'' The heroes fail to stop Riddler from causing the blackout and flood he uses to take over the city. [[spoiler: Subverted at the very end, when they're able to take Gotham back from his control.]]