History ComicBook / Irredeemable

In May 2016, news has come that Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox has the rights to a [[http://deadline.com/2016/05/irredeemable-movie-adam-mckay-tommy-wirkola-boom-studios-fox-1201749508/ film adaptation.]] The adaptation was supposed to be directed by Adam [=McKay=] (''Film/TheBigShort'' and ''Film/{{Anchorman}}''), but Disney's buyout of ''20th Century Fox'' has put the film in DevelopmentHell.

* {{Ephebophile}}: Max Damage likes 'em young: he met sidekick/girlfriend {{Jailbait}} in a brothel when she was fifteen and he [[VagueAge somewhere between 30 and 40]]. She's sixteen when the series rolls around, but his HeelFaceTurn drove him to break up with her for a JailbaitWait.

[[caption-width-right:326:No More Mr. NiceGuy.]]

->''"There's this old [[Series/TheTwilightZone Twilight Zone]] episode called, "It's a Good Life." It's about a farm town ruled by an omnipotent little boy who can change reality just by '''thinking''' about it. People live and die depending upon what'' '''mood''' ''he's in. Every second of every day, all these poor, scared people can do if they want to survive is tell what a '''good boy''' he is. They live on '''eggshells.''' They can't even '''whisper''' to each other how '''afraid''' they are because they're terrified he'll '''hear''' them. That's their '''world.''' Every morning, they wake up wondering if this is the day they do something to anger '''God.'''''"

** The Plutonian himself. Yes, he has roughly the powerset of Superman with almost no weaknesses and some extras. The only problem is that he cannot turn most of his powers off, and only control them by a constant effort of will. He is MadeOfDiamond, and even touching his hair can cut the hand of a normal person. He has tremendous SuperStrength, and because of a not-unfounded fear of accidentally splattering someone if he failed to measure exerted force just for a moment, he was never able to protect himself from bullying as a child. And of course, his super-hearing forced him to know every {{ungrateful bastard}}'s snide opinion about him. This gets especially interesting with the eventual reveal that [[spoiler:the Plutonian is actually a RealityWarper who is subconsciously using his powers to appear to be a FlyingBrick with EyeBeams and whatnot, so he's only really as strong as he believes himself to be. Nobody remarks upon it InUniverse, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to conclude all the negative attributes of his powers are his own martyr complex manifesting itself]].

* CapePunk: This comic is an illustration in what happens when you push the Silver Age Superman to his complete breaking point.

In May 2016, news has come that Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox has the rights to a [[http://deadline.com/2016/05/irredeemable-movie-adam-mckay-tommy-wirkola-boom-studios-fox-1201749508/ film adaptation.]] The adaptation will be directed by Adam [=McKay=] (''Film/TheBigShort'' and ''Film/{{Anchorman}}'').

** And hanging over the series after issue #25 is the knowledge that [[spoiler: Plutonian doesn't actually have super-strength/flight/heat vision/etc, but actually warps reality -- and he's only tapping into the most basic applications of his abilities. If he realized this and figured out how to use even the most elementary powers he's really capable of, all his destruction thus far could be nothing, very possibly even ''shattering reality''. Thankfully it's averted]].

** The Plutonian himself. Yes, he has roughly the powerset of Superman with almost no weaknesses and some extras. The only problem is that he cannot turn most of his powers off, and only control them by a constant effort of will. He is MadeOfDiamond, and even touching his hair can cut the hand of a normal person. He has tremendous SuperStrength, and because of not-unfounded fear of accidentally splattering someone if he failed to measure exerted force just for a moment, he was never able to protect himself from bullying as a child. And of course, his super-hearing forced him to know every {{ungrateful bastard}}'s snide opinion about him. This gets especially interesting with the eventual reveal that [[spoiler:the Plutonian warps reality, who subconsciously uses his powers to appear to be Superman Nobody remarks upon it, but we may thereby conclude all the negative attributes of his powers are his own martyr complex manifesting itself]].

* CorruptedCharacterCopy: [[SupermanSubstitute The Plutonian]] asks the question of "what if Superman [[BewareTheSuperman turned evil?]]". While he first appears to be a straight example of the SupermanSubstitute before his FaceHeelTurn, it's shown he has a lot more demons in his past than Superman ever had. He had a troubled childhood that psychological damaged him compared to the Man Of Steel's UpbringingMakesTheHero ([[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse though it's no excuse for his actions]]), his powers [[BlessedWithSuck proved somewhat of a hindrance]], and his motive for heroism was less "wanting to do good things" and more "[[SecretlySelfish secretly]] LoveHungry and CantTakeCriticism".

** Issue #18 also serves as a deconstruction of the BadassNormal through the [[DeadManWriting Hornet's flashbacks]]. He really did consider the Plutonian to be his best friend on the team, but he was all too aware of his lack of powers compared to his other superpowered teammates, giving him more reason to be on guard at times. It just took one simple question to make him realize Tony would snap eventually, and he [[spoiler:makes a deal with the Vespa alien empire as a contingency plan in case his worst fears did indeed come true. The Hornet ''hated'' that he had to make such a deal, but he was ultimately proven right, plus it did save humanity from being exterminated/enslaved by the Vespa aliens]].

** The Plutonian is one of Franchise/{{Superman}}, albeit gone very, ''very'' wrong, and with almost none of Superman's weaknesses. He's also very evocative of ''ComicBook/{{Supreme}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{Miracleman}}'' in appearance. In fact, his costume is nearly identical to Apollo's from ''Grounded''.

* BewareTheSuperman: The series is essentially an examination in what would happen if ComicBook/{{Superman}} went bad for real. Lampshaded by the Hornet and a US military general, who liken it to angering a god.

* {{Homage}}: Plutonian's childhood origin including not being able to control his SuperSenses is one to ''ComicBook/SupermanBirthright''.

** Bette Noir is revealed to have [[YourCheatingHeart cheated]] on her loving and supportive NiceGuy husband Gilgamos with [[spoiler:the Plutonian]]. She admits she had always sensed there [[BeneathTheMask was a darker side]] to him that she found exciting, interesting and attractive, although once she experienced what that kind of man is like, she quickly regrets it.

** Bette Noir [[spoiler:could've stopped the Plutonian way early on by getting the bullet she made out of the Nahru Visna candle wax, which is the only object known to render him powerless]]. So why didn't she act sooner? Because she got that candle wax by [[YourCheatingHeart going behind her husband's back]] with [[spoiler:Tony]]. She let millions die to cover up a single act of infidelity.

The Plutonian was Earth's champion, its first superhero, the most admired and trusted of his kind, our savior...but something has gone terribly, terribly wrong. Seemingly without reason, the Plutonian has begun to wage war on humanity, killing indiscriminately, annihilating entire cities and going overnight from the planet's greatest hero to its bloodiest mass murderer. A group of former friends and fellow superheroes, having narrowly escaped the Plutonian's ruthless and swift butchering of the superhero community, are determined to find a way to stop him; however, the Plutonian guarded his identity -- and most importantly, his weaknesses -- zealously, leaving them only with a few scraps of information to follow in order to find out why the Plutonian has turned his back on his former ideals -- and how to defeat him...

* AbusiveParents: Bill Hartigan is a strange case in that while he (and by extension his wife, who was much more lenient) was the only foster parent who didn't reject or fear Tony's powers and did try to teach him responsibility and right from wrong, his methods were sometimes... questionable (if not downright extreme). One standout example is when, at one Christmas, the Hartigans got Tony all the presents he wanted that year, and even gets to open them and see what he got. Upon thanking them for getting the presents, Bill then immediately tells him to wrap them back up and come with him to give them to homeless kids, not even allowing him to keep one. While not exactly super abusive like most examples of the trope, it's apparent this way of "teaching" was common for Bill to do, meaning Tony was probably deprived of even the slightest things that would maybe help him be a kid and might've even been the root of his perfectionist complex that added to his already long list of insecurities. Probably the icing on the cake was the next panel showing Tony listening in as his foster parents argue about the fact that the homeless kids did not even like or appreciate the presents that Tony had to grudgingly give away.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Dr. Seabrook's constant nagging at Paradigm for not sharing alien technology with humanity eventually leads to the Plutonian giving him what seems to be a harmless piece of alien tech...which ended up destroying Dr. Seabrook's lab and unleashing a deadly virus.

* GrandTheftMe: Modeus does this repeatedly via BrainUploading; [[spoiler:first to Samsara, later to his own robot duplicate and intermediary hosts, and then to Bette Noir.]] It's not clear if it's an innate power of his or something he needs assistance for. In one of the issues before Plutonian got captured and dumped on the prison world, it shows Modeus talking to Encanta in a supernatural dimension. It turns out that Modeus has moved past super-science and is now experimenting with sorcery. [[spoiler:This backfires when he tries it on Qubit.]]

* {{Deconstruction}}: Your standard deconstruction of Superman through an {{Expy}}, challenging the idea that someone given superpowers would automatically [[ComesGreatResponsibility do the right thing]] without being emotionally prepared to handle the job and the concept of happily being a SlaveToPR without actual regard for what people think. The finale puts a meta twist on this: [[spoiler:when Qubit scatters Tony's essence throughout the multiverse in an attempt to give him his second chance, part of it helps inspire a pair of artists to create the first Superman comics. Thus, Superman is the reconstruction of the Plutonian.]]

** Bette Noir is a ColourCharacter who uses trick ammunition and has ImprobableAimingSkills, a lot like ComicBook/GreenArrow. Except that [[spoiler:whereas it's occasionally suggested that Green Arrow's skills are a result of a latent superpower, Bette's are unambiguously revealed to be just that in the final act.]] Also, she's MsFanservice, has black in the name and [[spoiler:usually fights without her powers, due to their destructive nature]], all of which could make her one of ComicBook/BlackCanary.
*** Bette's dynamic with Tony before he fell from grace, [[spoiler: the reveal that she cheated on Gilgamos with him, and how she ends up spending the apocalypse in the lap of luxury surrounded by attractive men might be nods to Oliver's characterization as a wealthy, carefree, and philandering socialite (if only when he's out of costume) in canon.]]

*** Hatecrime represents Tim Drake and Harley's independence from the Joker -- Max's third sidekick, she is the only one with no romantic interest in him and by far more sane and level-headed than her predecessors. She has an AtrociousAlias, [[ComicBook/RedRobin something Tim would know something about too]], and is much closer to Alana, reflecting Harley's [[BiTheWay bisexuality]].

* WritingAroundTrademarks: In the final panel, the final panel, the drawing the young [[spoiler: Siegel and Shuster]] make is unmistakably [[spoiler: Superman, but it's not in color and the S symbol hasn't been drawn yet.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: In the end, the villains are all defeated and Plutonian gains his "redemption", but millions have died, including nearly all of Earth's heroes (the only ones that we know are still alive are Gilgamesh, Kaidan, Qubit, and the fully reformed Max Damage), most of society has broken down (the place still standing in decent condition is Coalville, thanks to Max Damage), every survivor including the remaining heroes have lost someone they cared about deeply, and a warrior alien race pissed off at Earth and liable to invade in the future is one of several threats on the horizon that Earth is vulnerable to, especially with the Plutonian no longer around to protect them.]]

** Issue #18 also serves as a deconstruction of the BadassNormal through the [[DeadManWriting Hornet's flashbacks]]. He really did consider the Plutonian to be his best friend on the team, but he was all too aware of his lack of powers compared to his other superpowered teammates, giving him more reason to be on guard at times. It just took one simple question to make him realize Tony would snap eventually, and he [[spoiler:essentially makes a devil's deal as a contingency plan in case his worst fears did indeed come true. The Hornet ''hates'' that he had to make such a deal, but he was ultimately right, plus it did save humanity from being exterminated/enslaved by the Vespa aliens]].

** Scylla and Charybdis are a grab-bag of traits from various {{Sibling Team}}s throughout comic history. They have the opposite-personalities dynamic of ComicBook/HawkAndDove, a power set similar to [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} the Marvel Family]] and power-sharing mechanics that borrow from the latter ''and'' the ComicBook/WonderTwins. They might even be nods to [[ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} the Summers]] [[ComicBook/{{Havoc}} Brothers]], especially considering the reveal that [[spoiler:they have a third brother living as a monk, which might be alluding to the subplot of a third Summers Brother in X-Men.]]

* BlessedWithSuck: Max's super-strength and invulnerability increase proportionally to how long he stays awake. However, he is just as susceptible to the mental effects of sleep deprivation and stimulant drugs as the rest of us, and will [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity exhibit poor judgment as a result]]. [[spoiler:He's also vulnerable for up to a full hour after waking up.]]

** Max Damage combines elements of Metallo ([[SenseLossSadness especially the frustration at losing his senses when he powers up]]) and [[ComicBook/WonderWoman Giganta]]. Silver Age Giganta got stronger and tougher, but less intelligent when she grew - Max loses brainpower more indirectly, through the severe sleep deprivation necessary to bring him up to full strength. Following his HeelFaceTurn, his BadassBiker-evoking design, crude habits, status as a brutal AntiHero and rugged looks also come off as nods to ComicBook/ThePunisher and SelfDemonstrating/{{Lobo}}. His habit of taking on much younger female sidekicks happens to allude to ComicBook/TheJoker.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: In the end, the villains are all defeated and Plutonian gains his "redemption," but billions have died, including nearly all of Earth's heroes (the only ones that we know are still alive are Gilgamesh, Kaidan, and Qubit), most of civilization has been destroyed (the only known civilization still standing is Coalville thanks to Max Damage), every survivor including the remaining heroes have lost someone they cared about deeply, and a warrior alien race pissed off at Earth and liable to invade in the future is one of several threats on the horizon that Earth is vulnerable to especially with the Plutonian no longer around to protect them.]]

* BrokenPedestal: Oddly, the Plutonian's pedestal broke ''before'' he went crazy. After he made a crucial mistake in the field that left thousands of children dead [[spoiler:and he initially lied about his role in this tragedy]], his sidekick stopped trusting him. Knowing his closest friend couldn't look up to him the way he used to was one of the last straws. What made it worse was that the people from the lab (where he had [[spoiler:turned over the device that led to the tragedy]]) went behind his back and [[spoiler:told Samsara about it, claiming to be too afraid of him to do it themselves]].
** Volt also sees the Plutonian as one. Plutonian helped him control his powers which allowed him to have a normal life. In a flashback we see him trying to reason with Plutonian, only for Plutonian to rip his arm off.

* CallAHumanAMeatbag: Plutonian calls Hornet’s daughter “a carbon bag of atoms and bioelectricity.”

* DeathEqualsRedemption: [[spoiler:Qubit presents Plutonian’s death this way, sending his “essence” to hundreds of worlds and dimensions, in hopes that somehow Plutonian’s legacy can be redeemed. Part of Plutonian’s essence ends up in our universe, inspiring young Joe Shuster and Joseph Siegel to create Superman.]]

* FlyingBrick: Deconstructed. The Plutonian's [[ComboPlatterPowers eclectic power set]] is the result of [[spoiler:his being a reality-warping entity, which he himself is unaware of]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In ''Irredeemable'' #18, [[spoiler:Hornet's reference to ''It's A Good Life'']].
* ForTheEvulz: But of course. This is the very reason [[spoiler: the Eleos chose to punish the Plutonian, even though they show him that his meltdown was all but inevitable due to the circumstances of his creation; he is still completely responsible for his evil actions... they just showed him why he is evil.]]

* DeathEqualsRedemption: Qubit presents [[spoiler:presents Plutonian’s death this way, sending his “essence” to hundreds of worlds and dimensions, in hopes that somehow Plutonian’s legacy can be redeemed. Part of Plutonian’s essence ends up in our universe, inspiring Joe Shuster and Joseph Siegel to create Superman.]]

** And hanging over the series after issue #25 is the knowledge that [[spoiler: Plutonian doesn't actually have super-strength/flight/heat vision/etc, but is actually an unwitting RealityWarper who's only tapping into the most basic applications of his abilities. If he realized this and figured out how to use even the most elementary powers he's really capable of, all his destruction thus far could be nothing, very possibly even [[ApocalypseHow/ClassX4 shattering reality]]. Thankfully it's averted]].

** The Plutonian himself. Yes, he has roughly the powerset of Superman with almost no weaknesses and some extras. The only problem is that he cannot turn most of his powers off, and only control them by a constant effort of will. He is MadeOfDiamond, and even touching his hair can cut the hand of a normal person. He has tremendous SuperStrength, and because of not-unfounded fear of accidentally splattering someone if he failed to measure exerted force just for a moment, he was never able to protect himself from bullying as a child. And of course, his super-hearing forced him to know every {{ungrateful bastard}}'s snide opinion about him. This gets especially interesting with the eventual reveal that [[spoiler:the Plutonian is a RealityWarper, who subconsciously uses his powers to appear to be a FlyingBrick. Nobody has remarked upon it yet, but we may thereby conclude all the BlessedWithSuck attributes of his powers are his own martyr complex manifesting itself]].

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: Tony's ability to change his hair color is the first real clue that he has more than the normal FlyingBrick powers.]]

** Irredeemable #25 also deconstructs the idea that [[spoiler:powers like Superman's or Plutonian's could ever be physically possible without absolutely shattering the laws of physics, much less accomplished by a being with the mass of an ordinary human]]. [[DeconReconSwitch Reconstructed]] -- albeit horrifyingly, given the implications for what this means [[spoiler:Tony could do if he realized it -- by the revelation that he's a RealityWarper, allowing him to sidestep physics altogether and do whatever he thinks he can.]]
** Issue #18 also serves as a deconstruction of the BadassNormal through the [[DeadManWriting Hornet's flashbacks]]. He really did consider the Plutonian to be his best friend on the team, but he was all too aware of his lack of powers compared to his other superpowered teammates, giving him more reason to be on guard at times. It just took one simple question to make him realize Tony would snap eventually, and he [[spoiler:essentially makes a DealWithTheDevil as a contingency plan in case his worst fears did indeed come true. The Hornet ''hates'' that he had to make such a deal, but he [[ProperlyParanoid was ultimately right]], plus it did save humanity from being exterminated/enslaved by the Vespa aliens]].

** Bette Noir is a ColourCharacter who uses trick ammunition and has ImprobableAimingSkills, a lot like ComicBook/GreenArrow. Except that [[spoiler:whereas it's occasionally suggested that Green Arrow's skills are a result of a latent superpower, Bette's are unambiguously revealed to be just that in the final act.]] Also, she's MsFanservice, has black in the name and [[spoiler:FightsLikeANormal due to having destructive powers]], all of which could make her one of ComicBook/BlackCanary.

** The Eleos are {{Proud Scholar Race Guy}}s with an AlienNonInterferenceClause, similar to the Watchers from Marvel while possessing a [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever size]] and [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm physiology]] very similar to ComicBook/{{Galactus}}. [[spoiler:TheReveal they are the Plutonian's birth parents ([[BizarreAlienBiology after a fashion]]) makes them loose counterparts to Superman's birth parents Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van.]]

* ItsPersonal: The Plutonian and Max Damage hate each other because [[spoiler:Max was the first victim of Plutonian's unrestrained rage back when Max was a teen and Tony was still a boy. Max was a constant reminder to Tony that he wasn't a perfect Ace]].
* MindOverMatter: There are a few psychics mentioned and seen. [[spoiler:Plutonian has this power to a god-like degree, but doesn't realize it (his psychic powers manifest in specific forms, enabling his more conventional-seeming superpowers); his birth parents have his powers to a [[UpToEleven greater degree.]]]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The Plutonian gets this a couple of times throughout the series, [[IgnoredEpiphany but it never takes him long to go back to massacring people]]. Max Damage has this after the Plutonian made him realize just what it felt like to be on the receiving end of a supervillain's rampage. [[spoiler:Unlike Plutonian, Max Damage's realization sticks and it starts his HeelFaceTurn.]]

* AbhorrentAdmirer: Modeus is this to The Plutonian. At first, the Plutonian finds it amusing, but it eventually turns ugly as Modeus is more than willing to [[spoiler:[[GrandTheftMe take possession]] of Tony's ex-girlfriend's body, beat the crap out of him and super-rape him]].

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Plutonian was sent to the end of time by his parents in issue #32, where he'd be alone and completely paralyzed for all eternity, doubling as a SealedRoomInTheMiddleOfNowhere.]]

* BatmanGambit: Qubit asks Plutonian to kill [[spoiler:the Modeus-controlled Bette, knowing Modeus [[BrainUploading would then move into Qubit’s body]] – which is exactly what Qubit wanted, so he could gain Modeus’s knowledge about the radiation that would soon cover the earth. And since Qubit had already armed his mind with psionic blockers, he could trap Modeus in his mind rather than Modeus [[GrandTheftMe taking over him]].]]
* BedlamHouse: [[spoiler:In issue #23, Plutonian ends up in one. [[UpToEleven In the middle of a sun]].]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: In the end, the villains are all defeated and Plutonian gains his "redemption", but billions have died including nearly all of Earth's heroes (the only ones that we know are still alive are Gilgamesh, Kaidan, and Qubit), most of civilization has been destroyed (the only known civilization still standing is Coalville thanks to Max Damage), every survivor including the remaining heroes have lost someone they cared about deeply, and a warrior alien race pissed off at Earth and liable to invade in the future is one of several threats on the horizon that Earth is vulnerable to especially with the Plutonian no longer around to protect them.]]

* BreakTheCutie: Kaidan's one of two members of the Paradigm that can fight Tony off and have a chance of survival. She's the only surviving member of the team who's not shown signs of a pending FaceHeelTurn, and her origin story strongly implies that she'd see such an opportunity coming and choose death without hesitation.

* TheChessmaster: Modeus. The Plutonian's arch-nemesis, and reportedly the only one he was scared of. Possibly the only one capable of finding a way to kill him. Disappeared a few years prior to the main story. [[spoiler:Is now possessing/controlling the lobotomized sidekick, egging on the Plutonian on his rampage. Oh, and a Robot Double with his exact mental patterns has started making trouble on his own. And then in the body of one of the few people that Tony has non-homicidal emotions towards. OhCrap. Thankfully, he is outwitted in the end]].

* ComicBooksAreReal: [[spoiler:The final panels reveal that Franchise/{{Superman}} was inspired by part of Plutonian’s essence being sent to many worlds and dimensions, including ours, and being received by Joe Shuster.]]

* DeathEqualsRedemption: Qubit presents [[spoiler:presents Plutonian’s death this way, sending his “essence” to hundreds of worlds and dimensions, in hopes that somehow Plutonian’s legacy can be redeemed. Part of Plutonian’s essence ends up in our universe, inspiring Joe Shuster and Joseph Siegel to create Franchise/{{Superman}}.]]

** [[spoiler:After reading a Modeus-possessed Cutter's mind, [[EvenEvilHasStandards former supervillain]] Burrows, a telepath, almost immediately commits suicide.]]

* FlyingBrick: Deconstructed. The Plutonian's [[ComboPlatterPowers eclectic power set]] is the result of [[spoiler:his being a RealityWarper [[AngelUnaware Unaware]]]].

* GenuineHumanHide: When he's captured by the Vespa, Plutonian is subdued by being placed into a LotusEaterMachine while tied up in a straitjacket revealed to be material made from his skin. Later, as Plutonian is escaping from [[spoiler:the intergalactic insane asylum/multi-layered hell he was placed in, he comes across a delusional patient with sand powers and a god complex. After killing him, he makes a replacement costume out of [[FlayingAlive the skins of the inmate's attendants.]]]]

* GreaterScopeVillain: The Vespa certainly qualify as they are planet conquering race that enslaves millions. [[spoiler: Hornet may qualify as he makes a DealWithTheDevil with the Vespa to enslave countless defenseless planets in order to [[BetrayalInsurance save Earth from the Plutonian]] on the ''[[AllForNothing chance]]'' that Tony turns. [[ProperlyParanoid He was right.]]]]
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: [[spoiler:Charybdis, after doubling in power and becoming the Survivor, is basically undergoing an accelerated version of the Plutonian's turn to darkness in his efforts to stop the Plutonian and be a true hero.]]

* HumanoidAbomination: [[spoiler:The Eleos, the Plutonian's real race, are a race of RubberForeheadAliens... with RealityWarper powers as a matter of subconscious thought. They do feel empathy and compassion, however -- Tony's own psychopathy is entirely his own personality/upbringing.]]

** [[spoiler:"Eleos" sounds a lot like [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Elohim]]. This, of course, makes the Plutonian [[FallenAngel another]] [[{{Satan}} trope]].]]

** [[spoiler:And yet another when Qubit finally imprisons him in a mental prison after he tries to escape following Bette Noir's body's destruction by the Plutonian.]]

* PetTheDog: Even after becoming a crazed, homicidal maniac with the end goal of bringing the world to its knees for not appreciating him enough, when the Plutonian finds out [[spoiler:Samsara has survived his lobotomy with his brain functions intact, he at once becomes friendly and protective of his former sidekick again (even getting food for him by murdering owners of gas stations). Naturally, the series still manages to make this terrible as Samsara isn't really back, as he's just possessed by Modeus. Then it's revealed that the Plutonian knew it was Modeus all along; he was just playing along because he was amused by Modeus' FoeYay crush on him. The PetTheDog sentiment's still there, as seen in the LotusEaterMachine example. Plutonian wants to reverse everything, but doesn't know how.]]
* PhysicalGod: Plutonian is the strongest being on the planet, and nothing in the (comic) universe so far (with the exception of Max Damage, Survivor, the Eleos, and Bette Noire [[spoiler:once Modeus taps into the full extent of her powers]]) has a chance against him. [[spoiler:He's a reality warper, making him ''more'' god-like, although he's unaware of his true abilities. His parents have his powers to a greater degree and can ''also'' TimeTravel]].

** An odd example for Kaidan, who chose Scylla over Cary, even though the former was a bit childish and cocky at times, because she liked his initiative and openness (as well as his general kindness and compassion). Cary tries to make the moves on her after Scylla's disappearance, but she and Qubit fear he is becoming [[HeWhoFightsMonsters as bad as the Plutonian]].

** Starting out somewhere between Societal Disruption or Collapse on a Regional or Continental scale and Planetary-scale Civilization Disruption; Plutonian caused massive damage to the world, but humanity hadn't died out. Yet.

** Culminating in issue #34, where Qubit confirmed that [[spoiler: life will be extinct in three generations, and his plans were not going well since the radiation was not behaving like he expected. It's ultimately averted at the final issue, but it's made clear Earth isn't out of the woods just yet]].

* BatFamilyCrossover / RedSkiesCrossover: Hard to tell, but the long-awaited crossover between the two series that promised us a fight between Plutonian and Max Damage doesn't even have them meet before the fourth part. However, it gives a good insight on their history, including their old confrontations.

** The Plutonian himself. Yes, he has roughly the powerset of Superman with almost no weaknesses, and some extras. The only problem is that he cannot turn most of his powers off, only control them by constant effort of will. He is MadeOfDiamond, and even touching his hair can cut the hand of a normal person. He has tremendous SuperStrength, and because of not-unfounded fear of accidentally splattering someone if he failed to measure exerted force just for a moment, he was never able to protect himself from bullying as a child. And of course, his super-hearing forced him to know every {{ungrateful bastard}}'s snide opinion about him. This gets especially interesting with the eventual reveal that [[spoiler:the Plutonian is a RealityWarper, who subconsciously uses his powers to appear to be a FlyingBrick. Nobody has remarked upon it yet, but we may thereby conclude all the BlessedWithSuck attributes of his powers are his own martyr complex manifesting itself]].

* {{Deconstruction}}: Your standard deconstruction of Superman through an {{Expy}}, challenging the idea that someone given superpowers would automatically [[ComesGreatResponsibility do the right thing]] without being emotionally prepared to handle the job, and the concept of happily being a SlaveToPR without actual regard for what people think. The finale puts a meta twist on this: [[spoiler:when Qubit scatters Tony's essence throughout the multiverse in an attempt to give him his second chance, part of it helps inspire a pair of artists to create the first Superman comics. Thus, Superman is the reconstruction of the Plutonian.]]

** Samsara curiously seems to be a loose expy of ComicBook/JimmyOlsen.

** Max Damage combines elements of Metallo ([[SenseLossSadness especially the frustration at losing his senses when he powers up]]) and [[ComicBook/WonderWoman Giganta]]. Silver Age Giganta got stronger and tougher, but less intelligent, when she grew - Max loses brainpower more indirectly, through the severe sleep deprivation necessary to bring him up to full strength. Following his HeelFaceTurn, his BadassBiker-evoking design, crude habits, status as a brutal AntiHero and rugged looks also come off as nods to ComicBook/ThePunisher and SelfDemonstrating/{{Lobo}}. His habit of taking on much younger female sidekicks happens to allude to ComicBook/TheJoker.

*** Jailbait represents Dick Grayson and Harley's UndyingLoyalty to the Joker -- Max's first and most devoted sidekick, but his coldness and lack of team spirit ends up making her leave only to come back later, similar to Grayson's decision to become Nightwing and Harley's on-again-off-again relations with Mr. J.
*** Headcase represents Jason Todd and Harley's MadLove[=/=]{{Yandere}} tendencies -- Max's second sidekick, the loss of her family has poisoned her like it did Jason, and she is more brutal and violent than Jailbait; she also has a dash of IgnoredEnamoredUnderling, which Harley often is to the Joker, and becomes a ClingyJealousGirl who tries to kill Armadale for supposedly coming between her and Max. In lieu of her dying like Jason did, however, Max realises her issues run too deep for him to do anything about them and has her taken away.

** The Eleos are {{Proud Scholar Race Guy}}s with an AlienNonInterferenceClause, similar to the Watchers from Marvel, while possessing a [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever size]] and [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm physiology]] very similar to ComicBook/{{Galactus}}. [[spoiler:TheReveal they are the Plutonian's birth parents ([[BizarreAlienBiology after a fashion]]) makes them loose counterparts to Superman's birth parents Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van.]]

* HistoricalInJoke: Despite Neo-Nazis' worship of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, most of them are poor, and often of what the Nazis would refer to as inferior genetic stock. Just as Hitler wouldn't have spared a decent portion of his worshipers, neither would the Plutonian have spared the Diamonds.

** Ironically enough, Max's origin is revealed to be IJustWantToBeSpecial. He started out as a common criminal, but when actual ''super'' heroes (like the Plutonian) became part of everyday life, he realized it's pretty pointless being a criminal if you can't match their powers. One huge cash payment to a mad scientist later, he's the only surviving guinea pig of a SuperSoldier Serum and [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor ended up]] being BlessedWithSuck.
* InUniverseCatharsis: The Plutonian's rampage is him letting out all his rage, frustration, and general negative feelings that were building up over the course of his life.

* VillainHasAPoint: The Plutonian dishes out a couple after his fall grace.

* DepravedHomosexual: Mobeus, the Plutonian's nemesis who it turns out is in love with him. He expresses this initially by trying to [[MurderTheHypotenuse murder any rivals for the Plutonian]], along with building {{sexbot}}s modeled on him. He is the only gay character in the comic to boot.

* VillianHasAPoint: The Plutonian dishes out a couple after his fall grace.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Besides the standard enlightened self-interest angle he usually cites, Max seems to have hit this when he saw the Plutonian wipe out an entire city. Keep in mind, Max was on the verge of wiping the city out ''himself'' in a fit of depression [[BlessedWithSuck about the drawbacks of his powers]]... but seeing the Plutonian actually doing it shook him to his core. In short, Max was on the receiving end of the treatment of a supervillian -- the sort of thing he did before. It made him feel helpless and like a victim but also made him realize he could be better. Perhaps as a side "benefit", one of the reasons he was a supervillain in the first place was because his powers prevented him from being normal. Thus Plutonian's rampage let him experience that in a very real way.