History YMMV / LukeCageHeroForHire

* CreatorsPet: Many fans grew tired of his overexposure over the years since he's a favorite of Brian Michael Bendis.

* CompleteMonster: [[DarkAgeOfSupernames Hardcore]] is a [[PsychoForHire merc]] hired by crime boss Cruz Bushmaster to find way to give him Luke Cage's powers. Hardcore wants to kidnap Luke's friend, Dakota North, to learn more about Luke and hires [[PersonOfMassDestruction Nitro]], a psycho with exploding powers, to do it, knowing that Nitro will kill several people in process. Luke saves North, but Hardcore escapes. It is soon revealed that Hardcore has kidnapped the scientist that gave Luke Cage his powers and is forcing him to work in his lab. Hardcore has set up a lab in Colorado that is run like a concentration camp, where Hardcore [[TestedOnHumans will kidnap people with no family and experiments on them]]. Either these experiments will kill the test subjects right away or give them powers, but eventually kill them anyway. Hardcore also kidnaps the brother of a local child Luke has befriended and uses him to lure Luke to his lab. Hardcore wants to experiment on Luke, but he escapes, so Hardcore kills the man Luke was trying to save. As Luke escapes, Hardcore reveals that he allowed one of his test subjects, a man named Steele, to escape with samples of the Power Man formula, which Steele is planning on using to poison the water supply in Colorado, to force the world to work on a cure for this condition. Hardcore allowed that to happen, simply to distract Luke and get a chance to escape. Luke stops Steele, but Hardcore blows up the lab, killing everyone left inside. Later, Hardcore kidnaps Luke again and threatens to kill several of Luke's loved ones that he has kidnapped, if Luke doesn't agree to a dangerous experiment that will give Cruz his powers. Despite being Cruz's [[TheDragon subordinate]], Hardcore [[DragonInChief is in fact]] the true BigBad of that particular StoryArc.

* BrokenBase: ''Cage'', a miniseries by Creator/GenndyTartakovsky that brings the character back to his {{Blaxploitation}} roots which lingered in DevelopmentHell before finally being released in 2016. One group is happy to see Luke "Sweet Christmas" Cage return to his roots in the {{Blaxploitation}} genre, while another group isn't so happy that the comic is reducing Cage back to an outdated stereotype after evolving as character in the years since.

* CompleteMonster: [[DarkAgeOfSupernames Hardcore]] is a [[PsychoForHire merc]] hired by crime boss Cruz Bushmaster to find way to give him Luke Cage's powers. Hardcore wants to kidnap Luke's friend, Dakota North, to learn more about Luke and hires [[PersonOfMassDestruction Nitro]], a psycho with exploding powers to do it]], knowing that Nitro will kill several people in process. Luke saves North, but Hardcore escapes. It is soon revealed that Hardcore has kidnapped the scientist that gave Luke Cage his powers and is forcing him to work in his lab. Hardcore has set up a lab in Colorado that is run like a concentration camp, where Hardcore [[TestedOnHumans will kidnap people with no family and experiments on them]]. Either these experiments will kill the test subjects right away or give them powers, but eventually kill them anyway. Hardcore also kidnaps the brother of a local child Luke has befriended and uses him to lure Luke to his lab. Hardcore wants to experiment on Luke, but he escapes, so Hardcore kills the man Luke was trying to save. As Luke escapes, Hardcore reveals that he allowed one of his test subjects, a man named Steele, to escape with samples of the Power Man formula, which Steele is planning on using to poison the water supply in Colorado, to force the world to work on a cure for this condition. Hardcore allowed that to happen, simply to distract Luke and get a chance to escape. Luke stops Steele, but Hardcore blows up the lab, killing everyone left inside. Later, Hardcore kidnaps Luke again and threatens to kill several of Luke's loved ones that he has kidnapped, if Luke doesn't agree to a dangerous experiment that will give Cruz his powers. Despite being Cruz's [[TheDragon subordinate]], Hardcore [[DragonInChief is in fact]] the true BigBad of that particular StoryArc.

* CompleteMonster: [[DarkAgeOfSupernames Hardcore]] is a [[PsychoForHire merc]] hired by crime boss Cruz Bushmaster to find way to give him Luke Cage's powers. Hardcore wants to kidnap Luke's friend, Dakota North, to learn more about Luke and hires [[PersonOfMassDestruction Nitro]], a psycho with exploding powers to do it]], knowing that Nitro will kill several people in process. Luke saves North, but Hardcore escapes. It is soon revealed that Hardcore has kidnapped the scientist that gave Luke Cage his powers and is forcing him to work in his lab. Hardcore has set up a lab in Colorado that is run like a concentration camp, where Hardcore [[TestedOnHumans will kidnap people with no family and experiments on them]]. Either these experiments will kill the test subjects right away or give them powers, but eventually kill them anyway. Hardcore also kidnaps the brother of a local child Luke has befriended and [[WouldHurtAChild uses him]] to lure Luke to his lab. Hardcore wants to experiment on Luke, but he escapes, so Hardcore kills the man Luke was trying to save. As Luke escapes, Hardcore reveals that he allowed one of his test subjects, a man named Steele, to escape with samples of the Power Man formula, which Steele is planning on using to poison the water supply in Colorado, to force the world to work on a cure for this condition. Hardcore allowed that to happen, simply to distract Luke and get a chance to escape. Luke stops Steele, but Hardcore blows up the lab, killing everyone left inside. Later, Hardcore kidnaps Luke again and threatens to kill several of Luke's loved ones that he has kidnapped, if Luke doesn't agree to a dangerous experiment that will give Cruz his powers. Despite being Cruz's [[TheDragon subordinate]], Hardcore [[DragonInChief is in fact]] the true BigBad of that particular StoryArc.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: 4thLetter! once did a countdown of (the writer's) favorite comic books. When Luke Cage came up and the "how much I know about him" section came up, it read, "Enough to know ComicBook/JessicaJones [[BiggerIsBetterInBed has trouble sitting down]]."[[labelnote:*]] The site also had some very serious and frequent discussions about how [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Luke might be Marvel's greatest example of the American Dream]] and how he reflects black masculinity in America too. It's not all dick jokes.[[/labelnote]]

* CrossesTheLineTwice: 4thLetter! once did a countdown of (the writer's) favorite comic books. When Luke Cage came up and the "how much I know about him" section came up, it read, "[[BiggusDickus Enough to know]] ComicBook/JessicaJones [[BiggusDickus has trouble sitting down]]."[[labelnote:*]] The site also had some very serious and frequent discussions about how [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Luke might be Marvel's greatest example of the American Dream]] and how he reflects black masculinity in America too. It's not all dick jokes.[[/labelnote]]

* CreatorsPet: Many fans grew tired of his overexposure over the years since he's a favorite of Brian Bendis.
* CrossesTheLineTwice: 4thLetter! once did a countdown of (the writer's) favorite comic books. When Luke Cage came up and the "how much I know about him" section came up, it read, "[[BiggusDickus Enough to know Jessica Jones has trouble sitting down]]."[[labelnote:*]] The site also had some very serious and frequent discussions about how [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Luke might be Marvel's greatest example of the American Dream]] and how he reflects black masculinity in America too. It's not all dick jokes.[[/labelnote]]

* HilariousInHindsight: SelfDemonstrating/DoctorDoom [[http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/comicsalliance.com/files/2010/08/powermandoom02-hfh9.jpg infamously once told Luke Cage]] that he was surprised to see a black man in the ComicBook/FantasticFour. Years later, when Creator/MichaelBJordan was cast in [[Film/FantasticFour2015 the 2015 adaptation]], many [[WTHCastingAgency expressed a similar kind of bewilderment]].

* [[MyRealDaddy My Real Mom]]: Mary Jo Duffy has probably had the greatest influence on the character, and before his 00s revival by Creator/BrianMichaelBendis. Honorable mentions should probably go to Creator/ChrisClaremont and Fred Van Lente too.

* MemeticMutation: "[[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2011/08/07/i-love-ya-but-youre-strange-wheres-my-money-honey/ Where's my money, honey?]]"

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: He was never really the ''Scrappy'', but he had been languishing in relative obscurity since the late 80s when Brian Bendis put him on the ComicBook/NewAvengers; a team which he now leads.
--> '''Cage:''' Wait... ''I'm'' the leader?
--> '''Jessica:''' Looks like.
--> '''Cage:''' Huh.
--> '''Spider-Man''' ''(leaning in):'' Yeah.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: 4thLetter! once did a countdown of (the writer's) favorite comic books. When Luke Cage came up and the "how much I know about him" section came up, it read, "[[BiggusDickus Enough to know Jessica Jones has trouble sitting down]]."

* [[MyRealDaddy My Real Mom]]: Mary Jo Duffy has probably had the greatest influence on the character before his 00s revival by Creator/BrianMichaelBendis.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: The character gained much more respect and notoriety when Brian Bendis rescued him from obscurity by putting him on the ComicBook/NewAvengers; a team which he now leads.

** CreatorsPet: However, many fans grew tired of his overexposure over the years.

* [[MyRealDaddy My Real Mom]]: Mary Jo Duffy has probably had the greatest influence on the character.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: 4thLetter once did a countdown of (the writer's) favorite comic books. When Luke Cage came up and the "how much I know about him" section came up, it read, "[[BiggusDickus Enough to know Jessica Jones has trouble sitting down]]."

--> '''Spider-Man''' ''(leaning in):'' Yeah.

---> '''Cage:''' Wait... ''I'm'' the leader?
---> '''Jessica:''' Looks like.
---> '''Cage:''' Huh.
---> '''Spider-Man''' ''(leaning in):'' Yeah.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: The character gained much more respect and notoriety when Brian Bendis rescued him from obscurity by putting him on the ComicBook/NewAvengers; a team which he now leads.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: The character gained much more respect and notoriety when Brian Bendis rescued him from obscurity by putting him on the NewAvengers a team which he now leads.