History ComicBook / TheAuthority

* CorruptedCharacterCopy: The villains of Creator/MarkMillar's first arc were this for the heroes of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse with their boss being a twisted version of Creator/JackKirby who was initially willing to kill a baby. The Americans, the stand-ins for ComicBook/TheAvengers were led by a DepravedBisexual rapist version of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and the ComicBook/IronMan expy destroys the maternity ward of a hospital. The same arc also featured a bigoted version of Nick Fury who openly mentions his disdain for Mexicans, Asians, black people and the French.

* {{Expy}}: Apollo and Midnighter fill roughly the same roles on their team as Superman and Batman, respectively.

** The villains of the first arc of Mark Millar's run were Expies, mixed with TakeThat, of Marvel's ComicBook/TheAvengers and Jack Kirby. Reportedly, in an issue of ''Wizard Magazine'', Marvel ''wasn't'' happy about how these {{Corrupted Character Cop|y}}ies acted--[[PsychoForHire a bunch of baby-killing, raping, and depraved psychopaths]].

* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: The first story arc of Midnighter's 2007 solo series is about him being coerced into going back in time and killing Adolt Hitler.

* '''Apollo''', "The Sun God" (a Franchise/{{Superman}} pastiche with [[FlyingBrick powers of flight, indestructibility and laser vision]], and the Midnighter's lover. A SuperSoldier who became a PhlebotinumRebel from a Stormwatch splinter cell before reconciling with the main organization).
* '''The ComicBook/{{Midnighter}}''', "Night's Bringer of War" (a Franchise/{{Batman}} pastiche who can work out how to win a fight in his head before it's even begun; he is also Apollo's lover and later husband. He shared an origin with his partner).

* CorruptedCharacterCopy: The villains of Creator/MarkMillar's first arc were this for the heroes of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse with their boss being a twisted version of Creator/JackKirby who was initially willing to kill a baby. The Americans, the stand-ins for Franchise/TheAvengers were led by a DepravedBisexual rapist version of Franchise/CaptainAmerica and the Franchise/IronMan expy destroys the maternity ward of a hospital. The same arc also featured a bigoted version of Nick Fury who openly mentions his disdain for Mexicans, Asians, black people and the French.

* AChildShallLeadThem: Jenny Quantum. She looks about 14, really about 8. Either way, she does her name proud.

* AGodAmI: Jenny Sparks was never known for her humility, but [[spoiler: her [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu flipping off God]] crosses the line into this when she says that the Earth is "under new management".]]

* '''Jenny Sparks''', "[[SuperheroSobriquets The Spirit of the 20th Century]]" (a woman who is reborn every 100 years, embodying that century's (or in past times, era's) central concept--in this case, [[ShockAndAwe electricity]]. She was the leader of Stormwatch's black-ops subteam, and assembled the Authority to continue their job on her terms.)
* '''Apollo''', "The Sun God" (a Franchise/{{Superman}} pastiche with [[FlyingBrick powers of flight, indestructibility and laser vision]], and the Midnighter's lover. A SuperSoldier who became a PhlebotinumRebel from a Stormwatch splinter cell before reconciling with the main organization.)
* '''The ComicBook/{{Midnighter}}''', "Night's Bringer of War" (a Franchise/{{Batman}} pastiche who can work out how to win a fight in his head before it's even begun; he is also Apollo's lover and later husband. He shared an origin with his partner.)
* '''The Doctor''', "The Shaman" (the mightiest magic-user on Earth and the latest in a long line of shamans to defend the planet; also an ex-junkie.)
* '''The Engineer''', "The Maker" (a woman whose blood was replaced by [[{{Nanomachines}} nanotechnology]], making her a ChromeChampion GadgeteerGenius who can create her gadgets at will.)
* '''Jack Hawksmoor''', "The King of Cities" (a man experimented on by aliens who were actually humans from the 70th century who has a symbiotic relationship with cities, granting SuperStrength and psychic abilities relating to a city and what happens within it. He was a member of Jenny's Stormwatch Black team.)
* '''Swift''', "The World's Greatest Huntress" (a woman with the ability to [[{{Animorphism}} grow wings and claws]], low-level FlyingBrick powers, and superhuman senses. Part of Jenny Sparks' Stormwatch team, and in fact the only character from pre-Ellis ''Stormwatch'' to survive into ''The Authority''.)

* AGodAmI: Jenny Sparks was never known for her humility, but [[spoiler: her [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu flipping off God]] crosses the line into this when she says that the Earth is "under new management."]]

* ExperimentedInCollege: The Engineer. In the "Green Inferno" arc, the renegade (and bluntly homophobic) ex-Doctor disdainfully challenges the team with the phrase "Poofs first." It's obviously aimed at Apollo and The Midnighter, but Angie steps forward first, with a cool:

* HostileTerraforming: The Authority battles God ("The Outer Dark," issues 9-12). Earth's creator is a moon-sized alien being that created the planet as a retirement home. Since Earth's creation, changes to its orbit and ecosystem led to the rise of life as we know it, instead of somewhere its creator would be comfortable. God immediately sets about "fixing" that.

* MostCommonSuperpower: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]. Swift makes no secret of her "twenty-grand boob job."

** PlotTumor: There was a two-page joke scene of Swift sleeping with ''ComicBook/{{Gen 13}}'''s Grunge in "The Nativity." Later, Adam Warren escalated it into an ongoing affair, mostly because of the effect of the reveal on Grunge's [[TheWoobie Woobie]] girlfriend.

* ArtifactTile: The later Kevin stories don't feature the Authority in the slightest despite being in the title.

* BreakingSpeech: The Midnighter delivers a ''devastating'' one to a Iron Man analogue. It proves so effective that the Iron Man wannabe simply takes off his helmet, hands it to the Midnighter... and calmly ''walks away'' never to be seen or referenced ever again.
** He does get mentioned actually, he sends Midnighter a thank you letter at the end of the storyline.

--> '''Midnighter:''' I've been there, man. I know what it's like to be in one of those black ops units where you can't even remember your own name. I didn't have a conversation in years. Nobody cares if you live or die. If anything happens to you, they'll just make another one. Nobody's interested in what you've got to say. You're just a weapon with a larynx. God, your probably forty years old and you've never even been held have you?

* CorruptedCharacterCopy: The villains of Creator/MarkMillar's first arc were this for the heroes of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse with their boss being a twisted version of Creator/JackKirby who was initially willing to kill a baby. The Americans, the stand-ins for the Franchise/TheAvengers were led by a DepravedBisexual rapist version of Franchise/CaptainAmerica and the Franchise/IronMan expy destroys the maternity ward of a hospital. The same arc also featured a bigoted version of Nick Fury who openly mentions his disdain for Mexicans, Asians, black people and the French.

* WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing: In one of the ''The Authority: Kev'' miniseries, Kev got attacked by both the PIRA and the Ulsters simultaneously. Of course, since the two factions hate each other far more than they hate him, he simply pointed them out to each other and let them kill each other off.

* OffModel: Some of the panels showing Jenny Quantum when she was a baby can make the viewer wonder if the artist has ever actually seen a human baby.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Both Swift and Jack Hawksmoor, due to the nature of their powers.

In January 2023, Creator/JamesGunn and Peter Safran announced [[https://variety.com/2023/film/news/dc-universe-superman-legacy-batman-green-lantern-supergirl-booster-gold-1235507426/ a feature film]] centered on the team as part of a slate of film and television projects comprising their re-vamp of the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse.

* FriendToAllChildren: Kids ''love'' Midnighter, [[RuleOfCool probably because they can spot a badass a mile away]]. For his part, Midnighter's pretty fond of kids, especially [[HasTwoMommies Jenny Quantum]].

* HasTwoMommies: Jenny Quantum is adopted by Apollo and Midnighter. [[{{Squee}} Aren't they cute]]?

* ANounReferredToAsX: "A Man Called Kev"

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Literally. When the Authority takes control of the United States of America, they still continue their normal crime-fighting while running the country.

* WeAllLiveInAmerica: This pops up a number of times during Mark Millar's run. For instance, at one point the American Jack Hawksmoor tells Swift to put her "knickers" on. Another more egregious example occurs when a not-so-thinly-veiled Captain America {{Expy}} inexplicably uses the term "filthy little native ''buggers''".

* '''The Engineer''', "The Maker" (a woman whose blood was replaced by [[{{Nanomachines}} nanotechnology]], making her a ChromeChampion GadgeteerGenius who can [[GreenLanternRing create her gadgets at will]].)

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: The group spawned one from both sides of the Distinguished Competition: The Elite in ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'', and the People's Protectorate in ''Franchise/XMen''.

** For all his ButtMonkey status is played for laughs, Kev Hawkins is one of these. No, he doesnt stand a ghosts piss of a chance against superpowered opponents in a straight fight, but he's still a trained Special Forces agent who uses CombatPragmatist tactics for all they're worth.

* PowerfulPeopleAreSubs: {{Implied}} with Apollo. Despite being the SupermanSubstitute of the team, Apollo seems to be the submissive in his relationship with ComicBook/{{Midnighter}}.

* DeepSouth: One of The Authority's worst foes was Seth, who was a personification of almost every rural stereotype in the book, given [[SuperpowerLottery 1,024 different superpowers]] and set on them by the G7 leaders. When he's finally defeated, they punish him by [[BalefulPolymorph turning him into seven chickens]] and then [[BlackComedyRape bringing him home to his seven uncles]].

** This was rather effectively inverted in ''Captain Atom: Armageddon''. The Midnighter saw Captain Atom as just another target for a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. Instead, Captain Atom treated the Midnighter to a total CurbStompBattle, showing that sometimes AwesomeByAnalysis is no match for raw, unadulterated, world-shaking power.

* CurbStompBattle: In ''ComicBook/CaptainAtom: Armageddon'', the team goes up against a guy who can swat them down like flies, and does so.

* {{Jobber}}: There was a period where the Authority didn't have their own ongoing series, yet were still supposed to be the most powerful superhero team of their Earth. This led to the team only being used so that they could be jerks to the protagonists of other series, then swatted down to show off how cool those other heroes were. Examples include ''Stormwatch: Team Achilles'', and Creator/GailSimone's ''ComicBook/{{Gen 13}}'' (where they substitute "[[HeelRealization realize what jerks they're being]]" for "swatted down"). Notably ''not'' the case in ''[[ComicBook/CaptainAtom Captain Atom: Armageddon]]'', where they were portrayed as the badasses they are... it's just they were up against [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter a bigger Badass than they were]].

** This was the look on ''Midnighter's'' face, right before ComicBook/CaptainAtom tosses an unconscious Apollo at him in ''Captain Atom: Armageddon''.

** In ''Captain Atom: Armageddon'', it isn't Midnighter who is used this way to show how utterly ''outclassed'' everyone in the Wildstorm universe is when compared to Captain Atom, it's Apollo. Midnighter doesn't even count as a threat to Atom, and is casually (and entertainingly) dismissed offhand.

* SimpleStaff: Midnighter's collapsible metal staff... which he can swing fast enough to ''[[SubvertedTrope decapitate people]]''.

--> '''[[LawyerFriendlyCameo Legally-distinct-parody-of]] [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk The Hulk]]:''' Comics are for retards.

* DeepSouth: One of The Authority's worst foes was Seth, who was a personification of almost every rural stereotype in the book, given [[SuperpowerLottery 1,024 different superpowers]] and set on them by the G7 leaders. When he's finally defeated, they punish him by [[BalefulPolymorph turning him into seven chickens]] and then [[BlackComedyRape bringing him home to his seven brothers]].

* CorruptHick: One of The Authority's worst foes was Seth, who was one of these, given [[SuperpowerLottery 1,024 different superpowers]] and set on them by the G7 leaders. When he's finally defeated, they punish him by [[BalefulPolymorph turning him into seven chickens]] and then [[BlackComedyRape bringing him home to his seven brothers]].

* DeepSouth: Seth is possibly one of the most mean-spirited uses of rural stereotypes ever.

* CorruptedContingency: The Children of Gamorra have a fortress built to withstand a superhuman assault. The Authority lock them inside it and then destroy it with the Children of Gamorra still inside it.