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1%%
2%% If you're adding a work that Grant Morrison had at least a large role in creating,
3%% make sure it's caught within one of the "[[index]](List of works)[[/index]]" sections.
4%%
5[[quoteright:202:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/grant_morrison.jpg]]
6[[caption-width-right:202:The legend who [[RevisitingTheRoots gave]] Franchise/{{Superman}} his balls back.]]
7->''"I'm the evil mastermind behind the scenes. I'm the wicked puppeteer who pulls the strings and makes you dance. I'm your writer."''
8-->-- '''GRANT MORRISON''' to ComicBook/AnimalMan, ''Animal Man #26''
9
10'''''[[https://youtu.be/KTMFBYXmvMk WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!]]'''''
11
12Grant Morrison, [[http://www.scotsman.com/news/iannucci-on-birthday-honours-list-1-2358596 MBE]] (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish writer, best known for the complex use of meta-fiction within their stories.
13
14Their first published comic book work was Gideon Stargrave in 1978. After a few attempts at Marvel UK, they started writing ComicBook/{{Zenith}} for Britain's ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'' magazine. Like pretty much every superhero comic by English/Scottish/Irish writers during TheEighties, it was both a superhero deconstruction and an excuse to take shots at UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher. It was because of Zenith that Morrison was hired to do a comic about ComicBook/AnimalMan, a character few knew and nobody cared about, and started their long tradition of taking total losers and transforming them into something completely awesome. Next was the ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'', turning them into the greatest constant MindScrew ever put into Four Colored pages.
15
16After those critical successes, they wrote ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth'', which became the best-selling graphic novel up to that point, and featured selected members of Batman's rogues gallery - as well as the Dark Knight himself - as different aspects of non-comic book, medical insanity, such as schizophrenia and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. They then wrote several miniseries in Britain and for Creator/VertigoComics, and rose to stardom with the relaunch of ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'', which featured DC's big superheroes together again for the first time in years. Besides being aptly described elsewhere on this website as "made up of back-to-back Crowning Moments of Awesome", Morrison's JLA also served as inspiration for the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse's ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', usually made up of back-to-back Crowning Moments of Awesome itself. At the time they were writing JLA, they were working on Vertigo Comics' ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'', their most personal world, which they described as information given to them by Aliens during an abduction in Kathmandu.
17
18Since then, they've worked with Creator/MarvelComics, writing the controversial ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' run, and the ''ComicBook/MarvelBoy'' and ''ComicBook/FantasticFour: 1234'' miniseries. They returned to DC, and wrote ''ComicBook/TheFilth'', ''ComicBook/{{Seaguy}}'', ''Vimanarama'' and ''ComicBook/We3'' for Vertigo before cutting loose in the Franchise/DCUniverse with the seven ComicBook/SevenSoldiers miniseries and the universally beloved ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman''. They proceeded to yet again redefine the mindscrew in their ''ComicBook/{{Batman|GrantMorrison}}'' run, attempting to reconcile the character's 70 years' worth of interpretations, and finally realized their lifelong dream of somehow making the DC Universe a sentient being in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''. They then went on to work on the new ''Batman Incorporated'' and ''[[Franchise/{{Superman}} Action Comics]]'' series.
19
20They also authored the non-fiction 2011 book ''Supergods: Our World in the Age of the Superhero'', a mix between a critical history of superhero comics as they see it and autobiography.
21
22Whether or not their stories are good is a topic of much debate. Lots of people love them, lots of people hate them, and a good amount think they're just some wacky person who can't write a story without severe WriterOnBoard and whose constant forays into ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs end up dominating their books to the detriment of plot and character. They did once state in the letters page of ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' that their protagonist, King Mob, a TuxedoAndMartini AuthorAvatar only got laid all the time because the comic book was a magic spell Morrison was casting, and so [[SympatheticMagic making their main character get laid would get]] ''[[SympatheticMagic them]]'' [[SympatheticMagic laid in turn]]. And if you think they're joking, [[CloudCuckoolander you haven't read]] their {{biography}} ''Supergods.''
23
24Recognizable in real life by their shaved head and their already difficult-to-follow topics being uttered in a nearly incomprehensible accent. In an anecdote in the first volume of ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', their conversation with the other writers and editor goes like this:
25
26->'''Grant:''' "[something in a barely intelligible Scottish accent] space heroes [Scottish, Scottish] Styx, yeah."
27->'''[[Creator/MarkWaid Mark]], [[Creator/GeoffJohns Geoff]], [[Creator/GregRucka Greg]], Steve:''' "Come again?"
28
29They also appeared in ''Film/MomAndDad'' in a cameo role and [[https://www.cbr.com/the-green-lantern-grant-morrison-non-binary/ came out as non-binary in October 2020.]]
30%%As of 2/21/2022, no statement has been made about them changing their pronouns back to He/Him. Any attempts to change said pronouns should be considered vandalism and be reverted.
31----
32!!Works by Grant Morrison with their own trope pages include:
33[[index]]
34* ''ComicBook/EighteenDays''
35* ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' (co-written with Creator/GeoffJohns, Creator/GregRucka, and Creator/MarkWaid)
36* ''ComicBook/{{Action Comics|New52}}'' (the New 52 relaunch)
37* ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman''
38* ''ComicBook/AnimalMan''
39* ''ComicBook/{{Annihilator}}''
40* ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth''
41* ''[[ComicBook/{{Aztek}} Aztek: The Ultimate Man]]''
42* ''ComicBook/{{Batman|GrantMorrison}}'' (including ''Batman and Robin'', ''The Return of Bruce Wayne'', and ''Batman, Inc.'')
43* ''[[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Batman: Gothic]]'', a four issue arc from #6 #10 from ''Legends of the Dark Knight''
44* ''[[ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal Dark Knights Rising: The Wild Hunt]]'' (co-written with Creator/ScottSnyder, James Tynion IV, and Joshua Williamson)
45* ''ComicBook/DCOneMillion''
46* ''ComicBook/DinosaursVsAliens''
47* ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol''
48* ''ComicBook/TheFilth''
49* ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''
50* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' (co-written with Mark Millar)
51* ''ComicBook/FlexMentallo''
52* ''ComicBook/TheGreenLantern''
53* ''ComicBook/{{Happy}}''
54* ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles''
55* ''ComicBook/{{JLA|1997}}''
56** ''ComicBook/JLARockOfAges''
57** ''ComicBook/JLAEarth2''
58* ''ComicBook/JoeTheBarbarian''
59* ''ComicBook/KidEternity''
60* ''[[ComicBook/KlausGrantMorrison Klaus]]''
61* ''Literature/{{Luda}}''
62* ''ComicBook/MarvelBoy''
63* ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity''
64* ''ComicBook/Nameless2015''
65* ''ComicBook/NewXMen''
66* ''ComicBook/ProctorValleyRoad'' (with Alex Child)
67* ''ComicBook/{{Seaguy}}''
68* ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiersOfVictory2005''
69* ''ComicBook/SupermanAndTheAuthority''
70* ''ComicBook/SwampThing''
71* ''ComicBook/We3''
72* ''ComicBook/WonderWomanEarthOne''
73* ''ComicBook/{{Zenith}}''
74[[/index]]
75
76!!Tropes associated with Grant Morrison:
77* AllThereInTheManual:
78** ''Anarchy for the Masses'' for one thing offers a mighty effort at deciphering ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles''. Most notably insightful are the numerous interviews with Morrison and crew. Otherwise tends to give away tons of more or less required information about their work in interviews, which usually end up unread on obscure corners of the Internet.
79** ''Final Crisis Sketchbook,'' essentially a collection of notes and "behind the scenes" comments on the creation of ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', contained tidbits of information that never appeared in the actual comic ... like, say, the identities of some of the characters.
80** The later chapters of ''Supergods'' also contain a fair amount of WordOfGod, especially regarding the genesis and intended meaning of ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' and ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''.
81* AncientConspiracy: ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' revolves around them.
82* AuthorAppeal:
83** Morrison loves the sillier Silver Age characters, something they share with Geoff Johns. If they write a title, expect [[CardCarryingVillain Card Carrying Villains]], [[PhysicalGod insanely overpowered heroes]] [[GoodFeelsGood who are nevertheless as pure as snow]], a MacGuffin, gimmicky villains, and lots and lots of NarmCharm. They fought [[WhatCouldHaveBeen (and lost)]] to have Egg Fu have his prehensile mustache in ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo''.
84** They're big into [[UsefulNotes/CarlJung Jungian]] psychology and HopeSpringsEternal philosophy. Expect a lot of their works to center around villains who are all about twisting the collective will of the public to suit their individual whims and heroes who espouse the idea that while people are distinct, they can work together to create a power greater than the sum of their parts.
85** They're a chaos magician, and their works usually include ties to occultism, mysticism or just plain religion. [[ComicBook/FiftyTwo Batman's thogal]], the apocalyptic iconography in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers the Seven Soldiers's arthurian magick]], [[ComicBook/Nameless2015 Nameless's esoterism]] or ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'''s... [[BuffySpeak everything.]]
86** They're a big cat-lover. ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' features quite a few cat characters.
87** They're big on GenreBusting, but they specially like to incorporate [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] and [[HumanoidAbomination Humanoid Abominations]] to their stories. [[ComicBook/DoomPatrol The Phone Avatar, the Candlemaker, the Decreator, the Scissormen, Red Jack,]] [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers the Nebula Man,]] [[ComicBook/KidEternity the Shichiriron, the Lords of Chaos,]] [[ComicBook/FinalCrisis Darkseid, Mandrakk, the Overmind,]] [[ComicBook/TheInvisibles the Archons, Barbelith, Mr. Quimper, Orlando, the Harlequinnade, the King in Yellow, the Blind Chessman, the Roswell Incident,]] [[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison the Hyper-Adapter, Dr. Simon Hurt, Bar]][[ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal batos,]] [[ComicBook/FiftyTwo Mr. Mind,]] [[ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth the Bat,]] [[ComicBook/{{Nameless}} the Titans and the Outsiders, the Entity,]] [[ComicBook/{{Zenith}} the Lloigor,]], [[Comicbook/{{Batman}} Mister Whisper,]] [[ComicBook/JLA1997 the Star Conqueror, Maggedon, the Pax Dei,]] [[ComicBook/ActionComicsNew52 Vyndktvx,]] [[ComicBook/TheFilth Mother Dirt, Man Yellow and Man Green,]] [[ComicBook/AllStarSuperman the Chronovore, the Sun-Eater, Solaris,]] [[ComicBook/{{Annihilator}} the Oorga,]] [[ComicBook/MarvelBoy Hexus, the Living Corporation;]] [[ComicBook/TheMultiversity the Gentry or the Empty Hand]]... The list goes on!
88*** They actually helped cure Darkseid of his BadassDecay and popularised the idea of him being this unknown eldritch horror MadeOfEvil instead of just an alien conqueror.
89** Many have noted his tendency to show suicide in their works, usually followed by a [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments touching scene of]] TalkingDownTheSuicidal. Examples include [[ComicBook/AllStarSuperman the goth girl from All Star Superman]], [[ComicBook/DoomPatrol Crazy Jane]], [[ComicBook/TheFilth Greg Feely]], [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers Sir Justin]]...
90* AuthorAvatar: A staple of them.
91** [[ComicBook/TheInvisibles King Mob and Lord Fanny]], [[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison Mo G.]], [[ComicBook/SuicideSquad "The]] [[ComicBook/AnimalMan Writer"]] [[labelnote:*]]this one was actually written by John Ostrander as a TakeThat to their appearance in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan''[[/labelnote]], [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers No-Beard]], [[ComicBook/FinalCrisis Nix Uotan]], both [[ComicBook/DoomPatrol Wally]] [[ComicBook/FlexMentallo Sages]], [[ComicBook/TheFilth Greg Feely]], [[ComicBook/TheMultiversity Doc Tornado]], [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers Mind]] [[ComicBook/FiftyTwo Grabber]] [[ComicBook/FlexMentallo Man]], [[ComicBook/We3 the homeless man]], [[ComicBook/NewXMen Professor X]], [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers The Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp]], the "Batman" architect from ''Tales of the Unexpected'' [[labelnote:*]]again by a different writer, in this case Creator/BrianAzzarello. Morrison was reportedly unhappy with the character's [[PhoneticAccent Scottish accent]][[/labelnote]], and many more.
92** As ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' was collected without the letter columns from the single issues, one deeply odd fact about Morrison has been mostly lost to memory. After their analogue, Kirk Morrison/Gideon Stargrave/King Mob, spent a few issues slowly dying of a gunshot wound to the stomach, Morrison themself nearly died from what turned out to be a collapsed lung; they just fell over one day after martial arts practice and spent three days lying on the floor. Morrison draws a straight line between what happened to King Mob and what happened to them, which may explain why King Mob spends most of Volume 2 balls deep in Ragged Robin...
93** Really, if there's a bald main character in a Morrison book, it's not a stretch to think it's just a SelfInsert of them. Even the bratty Damian Wayne shows hints of evolving into one with his decision to become a vegetarian and adopting a cat.
94* AuthorGuestSpot: Famously in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan''. Hilariously, fellow DC writer John Ostrander realized not long after that by writing themself into a comic, Grant Morrison had put themself ''in continuity'', and made "the Writer" a member of the ComicBook/SuicideSquad for [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin one issue]]. [[spoiler: They also appear in ''Series/{{Titans}}'' episode "Dude, Where's My Gar" as themself, [[BreakingTheFourthWall talking directly to Beast Boy]].]]
95* AuthorPhobia: Morrison's childhood fear of the atomic bomb (their father being a hardcore pacifist and anti-nuclear activist) has caused the themes of nuclear war to loom over most of their works. If an ultimate evil shows up in Morrison's work, expect it to be compared to a nuclear weapon sooner or later.
96* AuthorStandIn: As seen above, ''often.''
97* AuthorTract: Morrison pretty much likes to either add themself, or characters who act like them, in a large amount of their stories. Most of their comics (most notably ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' and ''ComicBook/FlexMentallo'') are tracts speaking against the Dark Age of comics, specifically the idea that comics should mirror RealLife in their violence and morally ambiguous attitudes. Morrison's takes on Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/{{Batman}} are extraordinarily optimistic and straight-forward; Franchise/{{Superman}} is often shown as a borderline God (especially in ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'') who tirelessly works toward the betterment of mankind, while Franchise/{{Batman}} represents the peak of human ingenuity and intelligence, who can break free from any trap and defeat any villain. Since they're an experienced writer in {{Metafiction}} and PostModernism, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools they usually manage to pull this off pretty well.]]
98* BittersweetEnding: ''ComicBook/We3''. [[spoiler:3 dies, but there is an investigation going into the military project and public outrage, and 1 and 2 find a loving owner with a kind homeless man.]]
99* BlueAndOrangeMorality: ''Kill Your Boyfriend!''
100* BodyHorror: One of the two defining characteristics of ''Nameless.''
101* BombThrowingAnarchists: {{Deconstructed}} in a lot of their work, especially ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles''. Unsurprising since Morrison themself is [[UsefulNotes/{{Anarchism}} also an anarchist]].
102* TheCameo: [[spoiler: In the final season of ''Series/{{Titans}}''.]]
103* CanonWelding: The concept/character of "Qwewq" or "Earth-Q" has shown up in almost all of their DC work. It was a miniature universe created as an experiment by [[ComicBook/AllStarSuperman Superman]] with [[RealWorldEpisode no superhuman elements]]. It was "poisoned" by the intrusion of a supervillain named the Black Death and the [[NinetiesAntiHero Ultramarines]] were sent in to restore order, but it was too late and the [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers Sheeda]] manipulated it into becoming Ne-bu-loh AKA The Nebula Man. It was eventually [[ItMakesSenseInContext impaled by Frankenstein.]] It's also implied that this is the "Real World" that ComicBook/AnimalMan and the ComicBook/DoomPatrol visited, and may also be the "caged baby universe" powering ComicBook/TheAuthority's shiftship. If you're feeling particularly philosophical, you could make the case that it's supposed to be our universe, meaning that Superman created us and our universe is destined to become a supervillain due to humanity's overwhelming cynicism.
104* CardCarryingVillain:
105** Morrison seems to dig villains who are openly and exultantly evil: Darkseid in ''JLA'' and ''Final Crisis'', the Black Glove in ''Batman RIP'', Luthor in ''All-Star Superman'', [[spoiler: Leviathan, a.k.a Talia al Ghul in ''Batman Inc'']], etc.
106** Also Cassandra Nova in ''New X-Men'', who gleefully commits genocide, although even ''she'' is rehabilitated in an alternate timeline presented in their run's finale.
107** Their attempt to turn ''ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'', Marvel's poster child for the WellIntentionedExtremist trope, into a CardCarryingVillain, though? Not well-received. Their succeeding writers [[ArmedWithCanon couldn't retcon the whole thing away fast enough.]]
108* CerebusRetcon: Despite their love for the Silver Age, Morrison tends to inject darkness in otherwise pretty innocent characters.
109** They retconned Batman and Robin's more cartoonish adventures involving flying saucers and weird transformations into [[AllJustADream hallucinations due to chemical attacks by the Scarecrow, the Joker or Prof. Milo]]. They also turned the original ComicBook/{{Batwoman}} into a spy hired by Spyral to find out Batman's secret identity.
110** The last half of ''The Invisibes'' deconstructs everything that lead up to it, like King Mob's killings or Sir Miles' deeds and motivations.
111** ''Seven Soldiers'' reveals that Zatanna became addicted to magic and depressed after ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis2004''.
112** Their run on ''Doom Patrol'' revealed that the accidents that turned the original three into freaks were [[spoiler: engineered by the Chief.]]
113** [[spoiler: ''Kid Eternity is an exaggerated example. Grant turned a kid who could summon historical figures to fight crime into a victim of paedophilia resurrected by demons to bring the Five, massively powerful and ancient demons, to Earth.]]
114* CloudcuckooLander: Understatement of the year, dude.
115* ContinuityPorn:
116** Morrison is known for bringing back obscure (and even unpopular) ideas. Some dislike this and believe these ideas are best forgotten, while others think they make these concepts work much better than before. This is a reflection of their personal belief that ''EVERYTHING'' that has ever been published is somehow still in continuity.
117** Their [[Series/DoctorWho Sixth Doctor]] comic "The World Shapers" from Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine features the return of the Voord [[spoiler:who evolve into the Cybermen]] and Jamie [=McCrimmon=] [[spoiler:as a mad old man who gets killed]]. This is all based on a throwaway line from ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion The Invasion]]'' about the Doctor and Jamie having encountered the Cybermen on "Planet 14". It even namedrops the Fishmen of Kandalinga, who showed up exactly ''once'', in the 1966 ''Doctor Who'' annual.
118* CorruptCorporateExecutive: ComicBook/{{Seaguy}} is pursued by an evil corporation, and Morrison's portrayal of ComicBook/LexLuthor in their ''JLA'' run was explicitly based on this.
119* CosmicDeadline: ''ComicBook/TheFilth'', ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'', ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'', ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''. It's practically their style.
120* CosmicFlaw: They seem to enjoy these:
121** The BigBad of their ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' run, Doctor Hurt, claims to be "the hole in things" and "the piece that never fit." [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that he's not ''quite'' that bad, though he is a HumanoidAbomination]].
122** [[ComicBook/NewGods Darkseid]] becomes one of these in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''; after his body was killed by Orion, he fell back in time and became a "black hole at the base of creation" that threatens to consume the entire multiverse. The series' ''other'' villain, Mandrakk, can be thought of as a metatextual version of this, as WordOfGod says he is essentially the personification of negative trends in the comic book industry itself.
123** In the GrandFinale of their ''ComicBook/NewXMen'', set in a BadFuture, [[WaifProphet the Stepford Cuckoos]] make frequent reference to the fact that reality wasn't "supposed" to have gone down that path, and that there are "holes" in existence. In the final issue, the "hole" is revealed to be [[spoiler:Cyclops quitting the X-Men; the Phoenix, which "burns away what doesn't work," sets things back on track]].
124* DarkerAndEdgier: Basically '''everything they've wrote''', but ''especially'' their run on ''New X-Men''...
125* DeathIsCheap: A recurring theme in their mainstream books is the acknowledgement by characters that in comic books, death doesn't really mean a damn thing. Some characters aren't scared to die because they know they'll just come back later, others snark about how they've died before, and ''other'' others still find a death a sad occasion but hope for a resurrection regardless.
126* DeconstructorFleet: Most of their work revolves around deconstructing, subverting, and mashing together as many tropes and genres as possible. Sometimes this covers a staggering variety of things (see ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles''), and sometimes their focus is narrowed to merely the entirety of the Creator/{{DC Comics}} universe (see ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'') or the history and mythos surrounding a particular character (see ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'', [[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison their run on]] ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''), but they're always doing it in one form or another.
127* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: While they did start writing comics in their late teens, it took them a while to start feeling it as their true calling. At one point, they worked as a filing clerk for a year.
128* DeusExMachina: They Handwave most of their run in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' themselves.
129* EveryoneHasStandards:
130** They might have experimented with drugs in the past, but they claim they've ''never'' indulged in anything as severe as crack cocaine.
131** It's also no secret that Grant enjoys [[ReimaginingTheArtifact reviving tropes and themes from the Golden and Silver Ages for the modern day]], [[{{Reconstruction}} ironing out the kinks to better fit in with modern sensibilities while keeping the same spirit of the original]]… and yet even ''they'' had nothing nice to say about Creator/FrankMiller's [[ComicBook/HolyTerror effort]] to revive [[WartimeCartoon 1940s-era wartime propaganda comics]] for UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror, calling the idea "decadent indulgence" that's offensive to the troops fighting that war in the real world.
132* GainaxEnding: As of this writing, Grant is the writer with more works in the comicbook section of GainaxEnding.
133* GenreSavvy: Both Grant themselves and their characters know how death works in comics. They made no attempt to convince people Batman wouldn't return from the dead. When ComicBook/{{Metamorpho}} died, the implication was that he was most likely going to come back. Even Jean Grey's tombstone states "She will rise again."
134* GentlemanThief: Fantomex from their ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' run is based on Italian comic book thief ComicBook/{{Diabolik}} and the French crime fiction character that inspired him, Literature/{{Fantomas}}.
135* GentlemanWizard: Grant themselves. They might've accepted female fans taking them dancing once in a while, to make the fans a little happier, but unlike lots of other celebrities they never take advantage of them.
136* AGodIsYou:
137** ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'', ''ComicBook/TheFilth'' and their [[Creator/DCComics DC]] superhero writing all contain examples of unique, bizarre or transcendent self-empowerment.
138** Deconstructed in ''ComicBook/Annihilator'' where [[spoiler:Max Nomax created our universe]] out of spite and does his best to ignore every epiphany and opportunity for self-improvement.
139* GovernmentConspiracy: Again, from ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles''.
140* HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs: Morrison talks candidly about epiphanies they've had while on drugs, and often included this trope in their works.
141* KindHeartedCatLover: Losing their pet cat impacted their writing of ComicBook/AnimalMan, and they discuss it in their appearance during the final issue.
142* LighterAndSofter: ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'', as befits [[AllLovingHero their depiction]] of the title character.
143* LostTechnology: Maggedon from their ''JLA'' run is an ancient, universe-ending weapon.
144* {{Metafiction}}: This is what they're most known for. They love to play with the rules of storytelling in comic books. Their run on ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' and ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity'' are probably the biggest cases.
145* MindScrew: At least one per issue. Also, the other defining characteristic of ''Nameless.''
146* NewMediaAreEvil: It's safe to say that Morrison might not have the highest opinion of TheInternet:
147** ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' shows Apokolips weaponize it to transmit the Anti-Life Equation to all of Earth, bending almost all of sentient life to Darkseid's will.
148** The Red Hood uses social media to broadcast his violent vigilante justice to the world, even attempting to stream ComicBook/BatmanAndRobin2009's humiliation on his website. Once they get freed they have this to say to those pathetically curious enough to tune in to the stream:
149--->'''Batman''': Batman and Robin say--\
150'''Robin''': ''Get a life!''
151** In their ''[[ComicBook/ActionComicsNew52 Action Comics]]'' run, Brainiac is revealed to be the Internet itself.
152** ''ComicBook/SupermanAndTheAuthority'' has Natasha Irons fighting misinformation sites taking corporeal forms and literal Internet trolls rampaging through the streets.
153* NoFourthWall: Some creators like to break the FourthWall. Grant likes taking an RPG to it.
154* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: A real perpetrator of this due to their tendency for, to paraphrase [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]], cramming a thousand ideas into a twenty-two-page comic book. We never really see [[ComicBook/JLA1997 Batman beating up four White Martians]] or [[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison Stephanie Brown taking down an entire student body of an assassin school by herself]].
155* OldShame:
156** Never, ''ever'' bring up their time on the UK ''Franchise/{{Zoids}}'' comic. It tends to be "conveniently forgotten" by their biographers and fandom, and they seem to prefer that it remains obscure. However, ''Zoids'' fans who know about it generally rate it high and wish [[CutShort the ending was known...]]
157** They also ''eventually'' apologized for their take on Magneto, significantly later, as before, they'd stand by the idea as they weren't a huge fan of Magneto beforehand and wanted to give them the ultimate send-off as the X-Men's ArchEnemy, being that had they gotten ''their'' way, ''New X-Men'' would've been the GrandFinale of the classic era.
158* OrderVersusChaos: A common theme in their work.
159* PornStash: According to a [[http://sequart.org/magazine/3122/sex-and-the-man-who-has-everything comment by Julian Darius in 2011]]: "Grant Morrison has confessed (in our documentary [[http://sequart.org/movies/1/grant-morrison-talking-with-gods/ Talking with Gods]]) that they used to draw superheroes having sex." You know they didn't throw those drawings out, they're hidden in a box somewhere, famous Rule34 waiting to happen.
160* {{Reconstruction}}: Morrison likes to put things back together as much as they enjoy pulling them apart, even if they do put them back together in very different ways than they started out; in particular, their recent superhero works have been largely an attempt to bring back [[MediaNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver]] and [[MediaNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] superhero tropes after the lengthy process of deconstruction they've been subject to, albeit in a way that works post-[[MediaNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Dark Age]].
161* RecursiveReality
162* ReimaginingTheArtifact: Frequently employed:
163** In their ''JLA'' run, they brought back such goofy stuff as ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'s Silver Age imp sidekick Quisp in a way that fit the tone of the new title.
164** ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'' was a project whose entire remit was to take dated or underused old characters and re-imagine them for today.
165** ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'' is almost nothing but Reimagining Artifacts from the 1960s and 1950s stories.
166** Their ''[[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison Batman]]'' run has ''tons'' of these, as part of their mission to make ''everything'' canon.
167*** Morrison's unconventional take on ComicBook/{{Robin}} with the character of Damian Wayne deserves special mention. Where many fans have previously taken the very concept of a KidSidekick with a grain of salt (see above) because of the obvious dangers of the superhero profession, Damian shook up the classic Batman/Robin dynamic in that he was a ''scarily'' competent fighter who was [[TykeBomb raised as an assassin]] from an early age, and he could be even ''[[PsychoSidekick more]]'' deadly in the field than [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson,]] who served as the Batman to his Robin.
168*** Grant also brought back Bat-Mite, who was a thoroughly Silver Age thing that wasn't used beyond that point if not in some kind of Mxyzptlk story or something. They reimagined him as the drug-fueled guide to Batman on his journey in "Batman R.I.P."... but then Mite disappears implying he actually averted this and really ''was'' an imp from the fifth dimension. Really, it's up to the reader's interpretation.
169*** The Club of Heroes that Batman belonged to is reimagined as a kind of parody of the Legion of Super-Heroes; they were formed by a bored billionaire who wanted a club of heroes of his own, and Batman never even showed up to their first official meeting, and the club disbanded after that.
170*** On a more general note, Batman's aversion to alcohol, at least as far as MediaNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks had it, was originally part of his goody-two-shoes personality. Now, it is part of his fear of losing his physical and mental edge if he drinks, so he has good reason to prefer milk.
171* TheRival: They and Creator/AlanMoore don't get along. ''At. All''. Moore has accused Grant of, essentially, being his [[{{Series/Seinfeld}} Kenny Bania]] and stealing his schtick ("It's gold, Jerry, gold!") and art style. Morrison has taken an equivocal stance over the years, variously suggesting that they consciously dulled their own "esoteric" style and mimicked Moore to get a shot at writing for DC, while pointedly emphasizing that ''THEY'' had professional comics work published first (back in the days when Moore and Morrison were both working in fanzines and British small press comics) and that they are contemporaries who came up in comics at the same time but Moore just caught mainstream attention first. Morrison also once suggested that they'd been offered an opportunity to pitch a run on ''Miracleman'' after Moore left the book and that Moore sabotaged it out of spite, though this is more debatable (Moore has long maintained that he had picked Creator/NeilGaiman to follow him on ''Miracleman'' and if Morrison was offered the chance to pitch for it, he wasn't aware of it). Though, in [[https://gizmodo.com/exclusive-grant-morrison-opens-up-about-feuding-with-a-1831011198 a 2018 interview]], Morrison did claim that the "feud" between them has been overstated by fans, saying that "a feud would actually need to involve people’s interest". Basically: while they don't like each other or their respective works very much, it doesn't go any farther than that.
172* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: In their superhero work, they're usually high up the idealistic end. Their other work can vary, but has a strong tendency towards the optimistic.
173* StatusQuoIsGod: Morrison adheres to this but also makes it clear they're not exactly thrilled about it. Almost any in-canon run they've written is done with the intent to shake up the status quo to the point where nothing was really recognizable anymore. If Grant Morrison wrote it, you'll ''know'' they wrote it by the time they're finished. That said, even with all the shake-ups, they always end each run with enough room for other writers to come in to undo it. More often than not though, these are done with a somewhat back-handed connotation. Their ''Batman'' run ends with almost everything they've built in ruins or shambles to make room for Creator/ScottSnyder's tenure with the character, and Bruce Wayne continuing his crusade against crime is treated as a tragedy rather than a heroic triumph. They even told Snyder to feel free to do his own thing and take Bruce wherever he wanted from there.
174* TheoryOfNarrativeCausality: Morrison is famous (or infamous) for using metafiction to play with the storytelling conventions underlying comic books. For example, in ''JLA: Earth-2'', they include the twist that even the narrative rule that TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin is inverted on the [[MirrorUniverse Antimatter Earth]] so it's the ''villains'' who always succeed.
175* TheUnintelligible:
176** According to the notes included by other members of the ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' writing staff in one of the [=TPBs=], Morrison themself.
177%%** 'e's got a crackin' wee scot accent, I tell ye.
178** An anecdote in Creator/BryanTalbot's book ''The Naked Artist'' has Morrison appearing on-stage at an Italian comics convention, and needing a volunteer Scottish interpreter to translate them into standard English for the official Italian interpreter.
179* ViewersAreGeniuses: Morrison writes believing this wholeheartedly. Of course, your opinion, as stated above, may vary. We suspect if you've read Creator/RobertAntonWilson's Cosmic Trigger trilogy then you'll get most of Grant's references.
180* VillainyFreeVillain: The '''Joker''' of all people. While most other writers have spent the last few decades trying to follow Alan Moore's take on the Joker as a foe who'll commit the most depraved acts imaginable just to antagonize Batman, Grant Morrison simply lets the Joker hang back and laugh while other villains try to surpass him in terms of cruelty. And yet the Joker ''still'' manages to be the scariest motherfucker in every scene!
181* WalkingTheEarth: After earning a large amount of money from the sales of ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth'', Morrison proceeded to travel around the world for a while.
182* WellIntentionedExtremist: ComicBook/TheInvisibles as a group are that.
183* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
184** Supposedly, Music/MyChemicalRomance wanted them to make an appearance in the music video for [[Music/TheBlackParade "Mama"]] that never got made, where they would've played Satan opposite Liza Minnelli (who would have played the Virgin Mary). Though the "Mama" video never came to be, fans later got a consolation prize when they played the CorruptCorporateExecutive Korse in the videos from ''Music/DangerDaysTheTrueLivesOfTheFabulousKilljoys''.
185** Morrison considered a ComicBook/SpiderMan story where the modern, popular John Romita version of Peter Parker met the original Steve Ditko version Parker.
186** They planned an [[ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Ultimate universe]] version of ''ComicBook/TheKreeSkrullWar'', ''The Kree/Chitauri War'', which would've followed up on some story threads from ''ComicBook/TheUltimates2002.'' However, they left Marvel before the story came to fruition and the ideas they planned to introduce [[note]] such as revealing [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica the Super Soldier Serum]] was an invention of Kree scientists in hiding on Earth [[/note]] were abandoned.
187** During their stint writing for Hollywood, Morrison pitched ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'' and ''ComicBook/MoonKnight'' films to Creator/MarvelStudios. They chalked up their rejection as Hollywood not having respect for comic book writers.
188** They also famously co-wrote a treatment for ''Film/TheFlash2023'' with Creator/EzraMiller, which ended up being one of the many iterations of the film that didn't go anywhere.
189* WholesomeCrossdresser: A recurring theme in their work, from Danny the Street to Sir Ystin to Jimmy Olsen. Morrison themselves mentioned (on coming out as non-binary) that they had been cross-dressing privately from a young age.
190* WhosLaughingNow: Morrison invokes this in their notes for the 15th Anniversary edition to ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth''. An early version of the script was passed around for people to look at and most of them balked at the attempt to integrate psychological horror and heavy symbolism. They then said, "Who's laughing now, asshole?"
191* WritingForTheTrade: Morrison has said their run on Batman is to be divided up into "separate books" that all go together. This makes some of the more unusual issues make more sense. ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' also becomes much more comprehensible when reading it as a trade rather than individual issues being released each month.
192* YourMindMakesItReal: Morrison is a follower of chaos magic, which practically ''runs off'' this trope. They pray daily to various Gods for a variety of reasons (to Hermes and Ganesh to aid them in their writing and has also prayed to Hermes when they had to make radio appearances). They've cast spells to make their friends' lives better and claims to have healed their cat using magic. In their view, their conviction and belief that the magic will work actually changes reality to suit them. Morrison also believes this happens to them and their readers when reading their comics, which they regard as like spells - notably, they once got seriously ill coincidentally after writing part of ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' where King Mob, their AuthorAvatar, gets seriously ill, further solidifying their belief in the magic power of their writing.
193----
194->''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou I can see you!]] [[Series/Titans2018 Can you see me?]]''

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