History ComicBook / TheAuthority

** The group as a whole and their views are very reminiscent of the villainous [[Characters/HunterXHunterPhantomTroupe Phantom Troupe]] on ''Manga/HunterXHunter''. The Authority are globally destructive, even though they are supposed to be a group of heroes; they don't bow down to anyone and don't follow any directive but their own; they disregard collateral damage without a second thought, but still they are remarkably charismatic in all the hubris. Though The Authority fights mostly "for the greater good" and are trying to "improve" the world according to their views, the Troupe fights mostly out of whim.

* ImpliedRape: The Commander's rape of the nurses of the hospital where Jenny Quantum was born and Apollo was handled like this.
The former with Hornet questioning "He's not really gonna do them, is he?" and Tank Man confirming it and the latter with his standing over Apollo and adjusting his belt afterward. It should also be noted that the former case is the result of DC's interference as the original dialogue for the scene does have Hornet outright ask Tank Man if Commander was going to rape them[[note]]the latter bit was also changed, but the only difference was Commander's belt buckle still being undone[[/note]].

The former with Hornet questioning "He's not really gonna do them, is he?" and Tank Man confirming it and the latter with his standing over Apollo and adjusting his belt afterward. It should also be noted that the former case is the result of DC's interference as the original dialogue for the scene does have Hornet outright ask Tank Man if Commander was going to rape them.

The former with one of his teammates questioning "He's not really gonna do them, is he/" with another confirming it and the latter with his standing over Apollo and adjusting his pants afterward.

* HollywoodTactics: This seems to be the only reason why modern jet fighters are losing the battle against the fleet of Sliding Albion. Despite their futuristic outlook and ability to fire [[FrickinLaserBeams laser tic-tacs]], the latter ones are visibly inferior to former ones in every way, courtesy of SchizoTech. They have crude avionics that still rely solely on gauges, no computerized interface nor guidance systems, primitive flight suits akin to those used in first half of twentieth century (which would greatly limit the pilot's ability to withstand the pressure caused by acceleration force - and thus, hinder the speed and maneuverability of the aircraft itself) and can fire their weapons only in line of sight like [=WW2=] fighters. Modern jets, that can take out a target from beyond visual range and whose pilots are greatly assisted by sophisticated computer systems, should make short work on such machines. Instead, they fight the Sliding Albion craft at ''suicidally'' close quarters, basically setting themselves up to be shot down and apparently make zero use of guidance systems, firing their missiles completely blindly. Suffice to say, this is ''absolutely'' not how modern fighters would operate.

* VillainousBSOD: The ''Earth Inferno'' arc, sees our heroes forced to give the previous Doctor (''a mass murderer'') his powers back for an hour, during which he one handedly thrashes the team. The current Doctor is berated because the old Doctor can alter time to make his one hour infinite, but as it turns out each Doctor is the sum of all previous ones, which causes the old Doctor to gain the new one's conscience. Realizing the horror he's done, he begs for forgiveness. Only to be [[HeelFaceDoorSlam denied and executed on the spot]].

* NightAndDayDuo: Apollo and Midnighter, a BadassGay married couple. Apollo is a SupermanSubstitute whose FlyingBrick[=/=]energy manipulation powers are fueled by [[ThePowerOfTheSun solar energy]], while ComicBook/{{Midnighter}} is an AwesomeByAnalysis cybernetic cowled vigilante.

* PayEvilUntoEvil: Makes no mistake: the Authority will treat their enemies as bad or worse than those same enemies do other people. Midnighter slammed the Carrier into Kaizen Gamorra, and the Authority's response to the Blue's invasion of their Earth is to go to the Earth the Blue took over and destroy its London and Italy. One infamous incident [[spoiler: had implied Apollo raped by a ComicBook/CaptainAmerica {{expy}}. After Apollo crippled him, his lover Midnighter, walked up to the man holding a jackhammer, implying he intended to use it to return the favor.]]

Created by writer Creator/WarrenEllis and artist Bryan Hitch, ''The Authority'' took the standard superhero tropes and shook them up with a {{manga}}-influenced "widescreen" style that used splash pages and large panels to make the business of saving the world actually look impressive for once.

The original series appeared in May, 1999. The story continued on from the recently-cancelled ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'', where most of the team members first appeared--during Warren Ellis' run--as members of the Stormwatch Black Team Division. Ellis started ''The Authority'' by blowing up UsefulNotes/{{Moscow}} and continued in suitably bombastic fashion, threatening the Earth with an imperialistic army from an alternate universe and a battle with [[GodIsEvil God]] itself. Hitch's detailed but kinetic panels conveyed the action with aplomb, and the series' style essentially spawned the trend for {{Decompressed Comic}}s.

* CrapsackWorld: The team runs into these every now and then, like Sliding Albion, where human and aliens have lived peacefully since the 16th Century, but went on so many world wars that most civilisations are destroyed, world is literally poisoned, both races are slowly dying, China has been turned into giant rape camp and all is ruled by mad dictator and mass murderer. Or alternate Earth where a maniac called Adolf X had lead to extermination of all non-black people on the planet and created fascist dictatorship. Or the Earth where life is controlled by an Eldritch Abomination, that feeds on our life energy, its whole presence causes general misery to some people and occasionally makes them commit suicide or other horrible acts. Other than that, it's a world exactly like ours.

* RapeAndRevenge: [[spoiler: As mentioned below, the Commander raped Apollo. The last we see of him, it's implied that Midnighter intends to return the favor--with a jackhammer.]]

** During the G7 Authority arc, Swift and the Engineer both get brainwashed and handed over to men they would normally loathe as a SexSlave and an abused wive, respectively. It happens off-screen, but both of them were clearly stated to have been used for sex without their consent many times. Needless to say, Swift is very, very angry once her brainwashing breaks down, and the first thing she does [[spoiler: after killing her abuser is freeing the Engineer from hers.]] Also, [[spoiler: Apollo was [[AttemptedRape almost raped]] again during this storyline, this time by his bi-curious replacement Teuton who'd been using him as a punching bag for weeks. Thankfully, Midnighter arrived just in time to put a construction bolt through the bastard's brain.]]

* {{Expy}}: Apollo and Midnighter fill roughly the same roles on their team as Superman and Batman respectively, but actualy character-wise, Apollo is actually Wildstorm's version of The Ray, a rather obscure DC character.
** Actually, Apollo being shown as a ray analogue was only in "countdown Arena", and the writer specified that the events of that book didn't actually make Apollo a Ray analogue. "Because Majestic is more or less the Superman analogue from Wildstorm. Of all the Wildstorm characters, I wanted Apollo in the book and, with Superman spoken for, the best match we could come up with was The Ray due to the solar-powered connection. It doesn't necessarily mean Apollo is a Ray analogue, just that Monarch grouped him together with the other two." Later, Final Crisis #7 depicts both Apollo and Mister Majestic as being the Superman analogues for their Earth.

With the 2011 DC reboot, the Wildstorm characters were absorbed into the larger DC Universe, and the rebooted Authority characters became the core of a new Stormwatch. After their book ended in 2014, Midnighter went on to receive [[ComicBook/{{Midnighter}} his own solo title]], starting June 2015.

[[quoteright:308:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TheAuthority.jpg]]

** The group as a whole and their views are very reminiscent of the villainous [[Characters/HunterXHunterGeneiRyodan Phantom Troupe]] on ''Manga/HunterXHunter''. The Authority are globally destructive, even though they are supposed to be a group of heroes; they don't bow down to anyone and don't follow any directive but their own; they disregard collateral damage without a second thought, but still they are remarkably charismatic in all the hubris. Though The Authority fights mostly "for the greater good" and are trying to "improve" the world according to their views, the Troupe fights mostly out of whim.

* PetTheDog: An '''''extremely rare''''' [[BloodKnight Midnighter]] example. When an Iron Man {{Expy}} is about to execute him, Midnighter is able to talk him out of it (''which is a feat unto itself'') while delivering an extremely effective BreakingSpeech that proves so effective that the Iron Man {{Expy}} is left a psychological train wreck. Cut to the next panel, where we see the Midnighter and the goon '''''[[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming actually embracing one another with a hug]]'''''. Even [[SociopathicHero Jack]] is impressed.