Page for the characters who made their first appearance in DC Comics events Dark Nights: Metal and Dark Nights: Death Metal, and tropes associated with them.

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Barbatos

Yes. The truth is you are NOTHING without me. You are plain, less than plain. This place, my realm, it is full of worlds created from fears and failings. And you ... you have MORE than any other hero, my son. Whole galaxies of worlds built by the unspoken terrors in your heart. I showed you three but there are thousands. Look around you. People think you are a great hero of humanity. Maybe even the greatest. They strive to be like you, all because I willed it. So when your nature was revealed, they would shrink back to the dark. Now look! Look!!! Because THIS is who you are without my help!

The main antagonist of Dark Nights: Metal, whose main goal is to drag the Multiverse into the Dark Multiverse.

Arc Words: "In the end, all roads lead back to darkness." Alternatively, "All roads lead to Barbatos."
Author Avatar: Not just for Scott Snyder, but pretty much any Batman writer. Barbatos manipulated the events in Bruce Wayne's life so that he would always emerge victorious and uncompromised, while simultaneously keeping any scenarios where Batman might go wrong to one side for when he wants to deliver a spectacular gut punch.
Bat Out of Hell: Just look at him!
Bound and Gagged: His final fate. After the Justice League lifts their Earth out of the Dark Multiverse, Barbatos is left at the bottom of the Dark Multiverse, locked in chains made from Element X/Tenth Metal by the Over-Monitor. There, he is forced to watch the Forge of Worlds burn bright again, creating new worlds.
Call-Back: Barbatos is referenced way back in Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth, but not by name. He is mentioned as a bat demon that was rumored to have driven Amadeus Arkham insane.
- He makes his first true appearance in Batman: Dark Knight, Dark City where a cult, two of its members being Thomas Jefferson and Dr. Simon Hurt, tries to summon him via human sacrifice.
- His whole plot began when he witnessed Batman being sent back in time in Final Crisis and his return to the present in The Return of Bruce Wayne.
The Corrupter: Everything he touches becomes corrupted with darkness.
Dark Is Evil: Basically a malevolent god of Darkness.
Destroyer Deity: One of the oldest beings in creation alongside the Over-Monitor and the Anti-Monitor, he once was tasked with destroying unstable worlds in order for them to be recycled and reused by the Forger of Worlds to make new, stable ones. Unfortunately, his lust for destruction turned him into a conqueror, and it led him to killing the Forger.
Draconic Abomination: A demonic bat-like dragon monster capable of corrupting anything and draining the life force out of anyone just by touching them. He usually takes on a humanoid form with a skeletal bat emblem on his chest.
The Dragon: Both literal and metaphorical. He was a dragon who served under the Forger of Worlds until he turned on him and destroyed him. Later, he makes Carter Hall into this.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Perhaps his biggest flaw. Being a destroyer deity, Barbatos only knew one thing: destruction. In his eyes, he believed that all worlds are doomed to fall into darkness. To him, leaving the dark at all, to explore outside it, is the ultimate mortal sin. That is why he went through so much trouble to drag Earth Prime and its inhabitants into the Dark Multiverse.
Greater-Scope Villain: If what he says is true, Barbatos is responsible for creating Batman's entire life following his trip through time in The Return of Bruce Wayne.
I Let You Win: Says this word for word to Superman and Wonder Woman when they say they beat gods like him before.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Kendra Saunders stabs him through the back and chest with Wonder Woman's Tenth Metal clawed gauntlet. It's not enough to kill him, but it gives the heroes enough time to trap him.
In the Hood: Wears his hood up constantly, showing nothing but a glowing purple mouth and pair of eyes underneath. The one time his face is revealed is when he transforms his appearance to that of Bruce Wayne's as he's torturing Batman.
Kryptonite Factor: Nth metal is his only weakness. Tenth metal, or Element X, is even more effective against him and it's the metal used to shackle and imprison him in the Dark Multiverse.
Life Drain: He can reduce his victims to husks clinging to life just by touching them.
Luke, I Am Your Father: Claims to be the true father of Batman, having manipulated his entire life following his trip through time in The Return of Bruce Wayne. He built up Bruce Wayne's entire life so that when Bruce fell, so would everyone who believed in him.
Make Me Wanna Shout: Barbatos' shriek is the final push needed for him to drag the Earth into the Dark Multiverse and rule it forever. Carter Hall slams his hammer into his chest to prevent that from happening.
The Man Behind the Man: Barbatos claims to be the true father of Batman, having been there since his first case. Joker outright calls him "the bat behind the Bat."
Meaningful Name: In demonology, Barbatos, whose name is derived from "barbatus" (the Latin word for "bearded") is an earl and duke of Hell, ruling thirty legions of demons, and has four kings as his companions to command his legions. He can speak to animals, can tell the future, conciliates friends and rulers, and can lead men to treasure hidden by the enchantment of magicians.
Our Dragons Are Different: Barbatos has pet dragons that resemble the Joker. Hell, Barbatos himself is a dragon that resembles a giant bat.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: When Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman find him chained in the basement of Castle Bat in Death Metal, Batman shouts that all this happened because of him. Barbatos responds by saying all he did was recruit the Batman Who Laughs; Batman was the one who dreamed him up in the first place since the Dark Multiverse is a reflection of all the nightmares of the DC Multiverse. Superman responds by punching him in the face.

Joker Dragons

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/joker_dragon.jpg

Dragons that bear a disturbing resemblance to the Joker, used by Barbatos and his Dark Knights in their invasion on Earth 0.

Our Dragons Are Different: Resemblance to the Joker (white skin, green hair, huge grin, long nose) aside, these dragons have no limbs other than wings, alongside the aforementioned hair and nose, which dragons usually aren't depicted as having.
Technicolor Fire: With the exception of the one in Tales From The Dark Multiverse: Dark Nights: Metal, they spew green fire.
Was Once a Man: Joker being turned into one in Tales from the Dark Multiverse Dark Nights: Metal implies they're all Jokers turned into dragons rather than naturally looking that way.

The Dark Knights

Twisted, corrupted versions of Batman from the Dark Multiverse, who teamed up to drag the Multiverse down with it. They were specifically handpicked by Barbatos because he considered them to be the worst out of all the evil Batmen in the Dark Multiverse.

In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dark_knights.png

Alternate Company Equivalent: Of the Dark Judges.
All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Each of them takes over the hometowns of their Justice League counterparts, the Watchtower and the headquarters of various government agencies.
Ax-Crazy: All of them.
Bat Out of Hell: Almost literally; they are all nightmarish versions of Batman who hail from the Dark Multiverse.
Body Horror: Each Dark Night has some level of deformity or disfigurement as a result of their own good intentions going sour. For example, the Batman Who Laughs has the Joker’s pale skin, green hair and grotesque grin and the Devastator is a hulking cross between Batman and Doomsday, a trait that made even Lobo VERY uncomfortable. Their corrupting abilities also have a rather nasty impact on those around them. For example, the Devastator’s very touch turns people into twisted parodies of Doomsday, with Lois being the first of his victims as she ends up being slowly mutated into one of them, and the Drowned can turn people into aquatic zombie mutants.
The Chosen Many: The seven were selected by Barbatos because they, of all the evil Batmen in the Dark Multiverse, were the absolute worst available.
Composite Character: Each of them is either a direct composite or an expy/loose composite of Batman and another Justice League founder or one of their villains, usually an already established evil counterpart of the hero they’re associated with. The Joker for The Batman Who Laughs, Doomsday for The Devastator, Ares for The Merciless, Sinestro (when he was still a Green Lantern) for The Dawnbreaker, Grid for The Murder Machine, Godspeed for The Red Death (when it comes to modus operandi and philosophy, anyway), Black Manta for The Drowned (when it comes to backstory, source of power and motivations, anyway) and Red Hood for The Grim Knight.
Curb-Stomp Battle: They deliver them to pretty much everyone for most of the event.
Dark and Troubled Past: Each one of them had some tragedy set them on their path.
Dark Is Evil: Each one of them bears a twisted, evil mockery of the original Batman’s Dark Is Not Evil theme and they are very evil.
Evil Counterpart: On multiple levels - each one of them is this to both Batman and one of the founding members of the Justice League and comes from a universe that is reflecting some aspects of one of the worlds in The Multiverse. Since they’re all inspired by villains too and share several similarities with them (which makes most of them a three-way composite of Batman, a JLA member and one of their villains), both in terms of M.O. and backstory elements, this also makes them Eviler Counterparts to those villains whom they share similarities with (Joker, Doomsday, Ares, Green Lantern Sinestro, Black Manta, Grid, Pre-Heel–Face Turn Godspeed and Red Hood).
Evil Makes You Ugly: Their disastrous choices seem to have given them an unfortunate makeover, whether it be from body modifications or a toxin which made them monstrous.
Expendable Alternate Universe: Deconstructed: each of their worlds has been doomed to die because they're not part of the proper Multiverse. They're not happy about it.
Expy: They share numerous parallels to the Dark Judges from Judge Dredd, with The Batman Who Laughs being outright stated to be based directly on Judge Death.
Fallen Hero: The majority of them were genuinely heroic before being pushed off the deep end.
Hero Killer: After killing the villains (or having some involvement in the deaths of their villains), the Dark Knights started killing their universes’ heroes.
He Who Fights Monsters: Each one of them became corrupted in their pursuit to fight crime, ultimately becoming evil monstrosities in the end.
Idiot Ball: Why the Red Death, Dawnbreaker, Merciless, Drowned, Devastator, and Murder Machine would work with the Batman Who Laughs, a Batman with the appearance and personality of their ARCH-NEMESIS, especially considering that they think they're doing good in their own delusional ways, is unknown.
Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Considering how they killed the villains of their respective worlds, it could be seen as this.
Kryptonite Factor: Nth metal will kill these dark matter monsters. Tenth metal, or Element X, is even more effective against them.
Man of Kryptonite: All of the Dark Knights are this to Superman. Their bodies are made of dark matter, which absorbs solar energy. They can resist Superman's attacks and become stronger from them. The dark matter also allows them to injure Superman, even if they don't have super strength. The Dark Knights also each serve as one to specific Justice League members.
- The Batman Who Laughs is one to Batman. He's an evil Batman with The Joker's personality. He can think like Batman to predict and counter whatever he tries, while Batman can't predict him because he has the Joker's Confusion Fu.
- The Devastator is one to Superman. He's an evil Batman who transformed himself into a copy of Doomsday, yet retains his vast intellect, so he is mentally and physically superior to Superman. He also has a kryptonite Breath Weapon and several anti-Kryptonian weapons and devices.
- The Drowned is one to Aquaman and Mera. She, like Black Manta, has several anti-Atlantean weapons and devices. She can also instantly pollute water and control it. The pollution prevents other hydrokinetics like Mera from controlling it and it transforms any sea life into monsters under her control.
- The Merciless is one to Wonder Woman. He wields the Helmet of Ares, which can counter her divine powers.
- The Murder Machine is one to Cyborg. He can interface with and control any technology, including Cyborg's robot parts.
- The Red Death is one to the Flash. He is just as fast as him and can infect others with a corrupted version of the Speed Force that causes Rapid Aging.
- The Dawnbreaker is one to Green Lantern. His corrupted Power Ring can suck up all light in the area, including Green Lantern's constructs. His ring also creates constructs of pure darkness and negative emotions, further disrupting Green Lantern's powers. In turn, Raven is one to him. Her powers thrive on darkness and negative emotions, so Dawnbreaker can't really hurt her and she can effortlessly take control of his constructs.
Odd-Shaped Panel: As pictured above, each Dark Knight has a different variation of speech bubble unique to each of them. For example, the Batman Who Laughs's speech bubbles are black with a red outline and jagged text while the Drowned features speech bubbles outlined in light blue with a watery aesthetic to them.
One-Man Army: Each Dark Knight went on a one man killing spree on their respective universe, killing everyone along their way, whether it is villains, heroes or even gods. The Batman Who Laughs even lampshaded this and how can the Justice League even hope to defeat them at all.
Point of Divergence: Each of their backstories has something happening to them that didn't happen to their positive universe counterparts or in the main DC Universe.
Psycho Rangers: To the main seven members of the Justice League.
Shadow Archetype: They represent Batman's greatest fears, as well as his relationships with people important to him and his traits, all taken to a dark, horrifying extreme.
- The Batman Who Laughs represents Batman's fear of becoming as bad as the Joker, how much he is defined by the never-ending war with the Clown Prince of Crime and his regret he cannot stop the Joker for good without killing him.
- Dawnbreaker represents Batman's fear of how dangerous he would be with superpowers but lacking his adult discipline, his inner despair taken to its extreme and the regret over his inability to get over his parents' deaths.
- The Devastator represents Batman's fear of losing hope, how important his friendship with Superman is and both the fear and regret that he cannot fully trust the Man of Steel.
- The Drowned represents Batman's fear of going too far in the fight against superhumans, his love for Catwoman, and his inability to trust anyone but himself.
- The Merciless represents Batman's fear of who he would become if he started killing, how Wonder Woman helps him see the good in people, and his regret that he really cannot end his crusade since his villains keep coming back.
- The Murder Machine represents Batman's fear he isn't as self-sufficient as he thinks, his father-son relationship with Alfred and regret of cutting off other people.
- The Red Death represents Batman's fear of losing members of the Batfamily, his love for them and regret for those he failed. Some of his dialogue and his Speed Force quirk imply he might also represent Batman's fear of old age slowing him down.
- The Grim Knight represents Batman's relationship with firearms and weaponry as a whole, his friendship with Jim Gordon, his status among Gotham, and his fears of taking his war on crime too far or too literally.
Start of Darkness: Each of them gets a one-shot to show the reader how they become monsters.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Despite (and likely because of) being variations of the same person, none of the Dark Knights really get along with each other, with each of them having contingency plans to kill each other should the need arise.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Apart from The Batman Who Laughs, they try to take over the light Multiverse to escape the cycle of cosmic abuse in their home dimensions, and mostly join Barbatos out of desperation.

The Batman Who Laughs/The Darkest Knight

The Batman Who Laughs

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dcs_year_of_the_villain_special_vol_1_1_textless_batman_who_laughs_variant.jpg

To win you need to adapt, and to adapt, you need to be able to laugh away all the restraints. Everything holding you back. You see... A Batman who laughs... is a Batman who always wins. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

^{Click here to see him as the Darkest Knight (spoilers)}

Alter ego: Bruce Wayne of Earth -22

Species: Jokerized Human

First appearance: Dark Days: The Casting #1 (September 2017)

On Earth -22 (read "minus 22") in the Dark Multiverse, Bruce Wayne’s life was pretty much the same as his Prime Earth counterpart until the day The Joker went on a killing spree across Gotham City after he discovered that he was dying from the same chemicals that had turned him into the Joker. This culminated in him killing Jim Gordon after which Batman killed him in a fit of rage.

Unfortunately, upon dying Joker planned to have his killer infected with the chemicals that made him the Joker, and Bruce learned of this a bit too late. Becoming as psychotic and sadistic as his late archenemy, he became The Batman Who Laughs. He began with killing the Bat-Family so they couldn’t stop him. He then went on a much larger killing spree than his predecessor, eventually killing every superhero in his universe leaving Superman for last. The one exception was his son Damian who he infected to become like him. He was then recruited by the dark god Barbatos to lead other twisted Bruce Waynes from the Dark Multiverse to wreak havoc on Prime Earth. They were eventually defeated by the Justice League, but the Batman Who Laughs escaped to fight another day.

Following that, he appeared in his self-titled miniseries and was an antagonist in the Batman/Superman title and the Year of the Villain event, before being again a central antagonist in Dark Nights: Death Metal.

He now has his own character page. For tropes and further details about The Batman Who Laughs, see here.

The Dawnbreaker

With darkness black, I choke the light! No brightest day escapes my sight! I turn the dawn to midnight! Beware my power.... Dawnbreaker's might!

A teenage Bruce Wayne from Earth -32, who became a Green Lantern... on the night of his parents' murder.

Beyond the Impossible: His sheer will was so great, his Green Lantern Ring was turned into something else.
Cop Killer: Murdered his world's version of James Gordon for trying to talk back to him about his manner of dealing with criminals.
Dub Name Change: Since his name has no sensible Italian translation, he's called "L'Ombra Della Notte", the Shadow of the Night (of Night Shadow).
The Corruption: He managed to corrupt his Green Lantern Ring by sheer force of will.
Evil Counterpart:
- He is a Batman who, instead of becoming motivated to fight crime by the death of his parents, decided to make everyone else suffer like he does.
- He’s one to Hal Jordan, he lost his parents (just like how Hal Jordan lost his father), has immense willpower (again, like Hal Jordan) and is a corrupted ring-bearer (Hal Jordan has gone crazy in the past, like that time he also became a corrupted ring-bearer via his possession by Parallax). He is a Green Lantern who has abused his authority and the powers granted to him to terrorize his home planet and kill anyone who opposed him, which lead to him being confronted by his fellow Green Lanterns and the Guardians of the Universe about it. Sounds familiar? The Dawnbreaker is what would happen if Hal Jordan decided to follow in his former friend/mentor’s footsteps and decided to use his power to impose his will on Earth and dominate it.
- His world is Earth -32, counterpart of Earth 32, where Bruce became a heroic Green Lantern.
Evil Makes You Ugly: It turns out repeatedly pushing one's own willpower to override a device that's fuelled by willpower to the point it develops eldritch abilities can take its toll on that user's physical appearance. Despite being in his early teens, this version of Bruce Wayne has sustained some facial disfiguring that leaves him looking much older than he really is.
Hate Sink: He never had the time or need to gain any traits that make Batman sympathetic, and without proper discipline is very immature, making him the most disliked of the Dark Knights.
Hero Killer: He killed his Jim Gordon for speaking out against him and is heavily implied to have done the same to Harvey Bullock. When the Green Lantern Corps arrives to punish him, he then proceeds to summon monstrous constructs that kill them all.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Turns out making constructs fueled by your vile thoughts is not the best strategy against a dark empath like Raven - she takes them over and has him beaten up by his own creations.
Instant Expert: Immediately after gaining his Ring, Bruce not only is able to use it without any formal training, his willpower is so strong that he was able to bypass the Ring's no killing rule. Within a year, he is so strong that he is capable of killing the entire Green Lantern Corps and Guardians with ease.
Kick the Dog: He murders his world's Jim Gordon just for calling him out on his unnecessarily violent deeds. The character lost any sympathetic trait after that.
Lean and Mean: As Dawnbreaker, he has a gaunt frame.
Light Is Not Good: He has a Green Lantern ring, and he uses it to create monsters and kill people.
Lights Off, Somebody Dies: Invoked. An ability called Blackout allows him to suck away all the light in the area, including that of other Green Lanterns.
Shadow Archetype: He represents Batman's fear of how dangerous he would be with superpowers but lacking his adult discipline, his inner despair taken to its extreme and the regret over his inability to get over his parents' deaths.
Stealth Parody: Many fans pointed out his origin story feels like all the tropes commonly found in a bad Dark Fic, taken to ridiculous extremes.
Tagalong Kid: The youngest of the Dark Knights, not counting the Batman Who Laughs' Rabid Robins. Even his teammates refer to him as "kid" on occasion.
Teens Are Monsters: He is one of the vilest among the Dark Knights and also a teenager.

The Devastator

I want you to know that I saved them, Clark. Lois, Jimmy, all of them. Your whole damned city. I finally gave them the strength they needed to see through that easy smile, and that damned colorful shield. I hardened their hearts so that they'll never believe in the cruel fairy tale world you told them was the truth.

Batman from Earth -1, where Superman went mad and Bruce was forced to dose himself with the Doomsday Virus to stop him.

Ambiguously Gay: He flat-out tells Superman he loved him and that he had hopes for the two of them, while showing no interest in women.
An Arm and a Leg: Bruce has his arm burnt off by Superman, and would have croaked if he hadn't taken the Doomsday Virus, which grows it back.
Arch-Enemy: He is absolutely obsessed with bringing down Superman and everything he stands for.
Breath Weapon: He can breathe out kryptonite gas. He uses it to greatly weaken his world's Superman.
Broken Bird: Extremely cynical as a result of his broken trust in his best friend.
Broken Pedestal: His world's Superman turning evil hit him hard.
The Corruption: He spreads the Doomsday Virus wherever he goes.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Be it his world's Superman or Prime Earth's teams of Supergirl, Superwoman and Guardian or Lobo, Firestorm, Wally West Flash and Green Lanterns Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz, nobody can stand in his way… until Prime Superman arrives with the Tenth Metal.
Despair Event Horizon: He crossed it when he was forced to inject himself with the Doomsday virus.
Evil Counterpart:
- He is a Batman who abandoned hope and came to resent it and its symbol - Superman - making him what Batman could become had he never come out of the dark place he went into following his parents' death.
- He’s also an evil counterpart to Superman, he’s got the powers of Doomsday, but also because while his intentions are the same as Superman’s, his goal is the exact opposite of Superman’s goal. Both of them want to help the world, but have different beliefs about it. Superman is a symbol of hope, genuinely believes in hope and wants to bring hope to everyone, while the Devastator wants to spread despair, loathes hope and sees hope as a disease (which is ironic, considering that his powers come from a virus) that needs to be cured and wants to, in his own words, “inoculate the world against hope”. If Superman is a Hope Bringer, then the Devastator is a Hope Crusher.
- Earth -1 is one to Earth One, home of DC's Darker and Edgier Ultimate Universe stories. His story is an epitome of one taken to apocalyptic extremes and he firmly believes in the ethos behind many of such stories.
Genius Bruiser: He still has his brilliant mind intact in Doomsday's body.
Hope Crusher: He turns people into unfeeling, raging monsters and destroys their hope. Worse, he thinks he is doing them a favor.
Horrifying the Horror: As mentioned above, even Lobo is creeped out by this guy.
Hulking Out: The Devastator is capable of returning to a human form, though with a few obvious signs he's not entirely human anymore.
Monster Progenitor: He's the first of a new generation of Doomsday monsters and he's spreading it around to humans and non-humans alike (he turned Supergirl into a Doomsday off-screen).
Never Be Hurt Again: His crusade against Superman is out of a desire never to feel the pain of seeing him turn evil ever again, as is his refusal to make friends again. He says as much when he first turns himself into Devastator.
Devastator: You made me hope for a better future. But now, I know that was all an lie. And I won't let you hurt me anymore.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: We sadly don't get to see his fights with the Green Lanterns, Flash, and Firestorm nor with Supergirl, Superwoman and the Guardian.
One-Hit Kill: Superman, empowered by Element X, knocks out the Devastator in a single punch. If the Batman Who Laughs and the Grim Knight are the only Dark Knights left alive, then that punch broke Devastator. Then again, since he’s got Doomsday’s powers, it’s entirely possible that he’ll eventually return and be immune to Element X...
Riddle for the Ages: It's never made quite clear why his Superman went evil—and one gets the sense that he doesn't care anymore.
Devastator: It wasn't until he killed his wife, our world's Lois Lane, that I finally broke. That was the moment I realized the whys and hows didn't matter anymore.
Shadow Archetype: He represents Batman's fear of losing hope, how important his friendship with Superman is and both the fear and regret that he cannot fully trust the Man of Steel.
Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Oh, if only his beliefs were that simple. He believes that hope will only hurt you, and that power is the only true constant.
Spikes of Villainy: Besides the ones on his body, he can also transform things at a distance into spikes. To kill his world's Superman, he turns the ground beneath a knocked-down Superman into a spike.
Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: In his origin issue, his fight with Superman is presented as such. He's fully geared-up, with Kryptonite and all manner of weapons, in full "preptime" mode... and it's a complete Curb-Stomp Battle. He may be the Badass Normal of badass normals, but it doesn't matter when he's fighting a guy who can kill him by looking at him, and it's very obvious that he only survives long enough to activate that final contingency because Superman is toying with him. It's this that convinces him that he needs to do what he does; as far as he's concerned, Superman is just too big of a potential threat.
Tragic Monster: Of all the Dark Knights, Devastator comes across as the one who still has a bit of the original Bruce Wayne at his core, and the one who still believes, ultimately, that he's doing the right thing.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wants to turn the whole world into Doomsdays so that everyone can be safe from Superman.

The Drowned

This place, this light, this Amnesty Bay, this world...It's what I'm owed. My name is Bryce Wayne, and I'm here to take it. Payment in full.

Bryce Wayne, Batwoman of Earth -11, where all genders are reversed. She lost her lover, Sylvester Kyle, and waged a war against Aquawoman.

All Your Powers Combined: She took genetic material from all kinds of sea metahumans, including Atlanteans, to give her all their powers.
Body Horror: The process she underwent looks extremely painful.
The Corruption: Can turn people into Dead Water and in fact did it to her entire Earth.
Dark Action Girl; She's as badass as any male Bruce. Unfortunately, her heroism is inversely proportional to any Bruce.
Distaff Counterpart: To both Batman and Aquaman.
Dub Name Change: Instead of her name being directly translated, she is called "L'Abissale" (The Abysmal) in the Italian version, referencing her descent into the abyss.
The Enemy Weapons Are Better: After killing Aquawoman, Bryce took her trident and uses it to further enchance her powers once she becomes the Drowned.
Evil Counterpart:
- She is a Bat(wo)man who cannot trust anyone but herself, similar to how most bearers of the cowl keep their cards close to their chests. She is Bat(wo)man at his most distrusting and paranoid.
- She's one to Aquaman. She commands an army of deadly sea monsters, just like how Aquaman commands sea life himself and she possesses a copy of Aquaman’s trident. She also shares a few similarities with Aquaman's Arch-Enemy Black Manta: Both dress in black, both have a loose pirate theme (due to being sea-based supervillains), both became what they are today when they dedicated their lives to avenge someone they loved (Black Manta wanted to avenge his father, while The Drowned wanted to avenge Sylvester Kyle), both of them are often seen wielding tridents and both of them are humans who gave themselves an edge against Atlanteans via Atlantean technology, artifacts and (in The Drowned’s case) physiological modifications.
- Earth -11 is a counterpart to Earth 11, home of gender-flipped supers.
Empowered Badass Normal: Before she physically augmented herself through science, Bryce was as dangerous as your normal Bruce was, managing to kill her universes Aquawoman without having any superpowers.
Face–Monster Turn: Turned Aquaman's wife into a giant monster.
Fan Disservice: Drowned is anything but a Cute Monster Girl, despite having a tempting body. Like the other Dark Knights, her body was deformed, with her skin being pale and having severely cracked.
Fantastic Racism: After a gang of metahumans killed Sylvester, she declared war on them all. She even attacks a peaceful Atlantean congregation and murders the queen, which starts their retaliation. She dismisses her action as the Atlanteans being secret invaders, insisting she saw through them.
Hypocrite: Hates superhumans, yet gave herself superpowers.
Ignored Epiphany: She starts having doubts whether what the Dark Knights are doing is right, after seeing the damage they're doing to the Multiverse. It appears to be only temporary.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Bryce impaled the Aquawoman of her world on her own trident before taking it as her own. Also Bryce's own Ironic Death as Aquaman impales her in an almost identical manner on claws made from the Tenth Metal, Element X.
The Lost Lenore: The death of her lover (Selina Kyle's counterpart) took a considerable toll on her psyche, eventually turning her into the monster she is today.
Mad Scientist: Has taken this path in her crusade against metahumans and performs many unethical bio-science experiments.
Making a Splash: Can control water and uses it to drown a city on Earth Prime.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Her distrust of metahumans doomed her world. Even the Batman Who Laughs points that out.
"Not So Different" Remark: When Devastator accuses her of trying to start a mutiny, she appeals to the fact they're both Well Intentioned Extremists to convince him she is willing to do whatever it takes for her world.
Pirate Girl: Has the look on lock.
Prongs of Poseidon: Stole and uses Aquawoman's trident after murdering her.
Shadow Archetype: She represents Batman's fear of going too far in the fight against superhumans, his love for Catwoman, and his inability to trust anyone but himself.
The Smurfette Principle: The only woman in the Dark Knights.
Unreliable Expositor: Drowned's origin story explained that peace between the Atlanteans and surface dwellers didn't last long before there is war between the two. Given Bryce's distrustfulness towards anyone who isn't her and hatred for metahumans, it is likey that she has something to do with the broken peace.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: All she did she has done for humanity's survival, no matter the cost.
You Are What You Hate: Turns herself into a metahuman in her crusades against metahumans.

The Merciless

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bruce_wayne_earth__12_0001.jpg

I stare at these so-called...warriors in the war room. They fight like dogs because they can't protect themselves from my presence. You would expect too much from them, Diana. You would expect them to band together, negotiate, compromise. I miss you.

" My whole life, I had been afraid of doing what I knew needed to be done. Afraid to give all of myself to the battle. The helmet showed me that my codes and rules were naive. That all that truly mattered was victory. And now I would finally take it for myself."

The Merciless is the Batman of Earth -12, in a world where he and Wonder Woman fell in love after Ares attacked the world with a helmet amplifying his powers and killed the Justice League. After the god seemingly murdered Wonder Woman, he donned Ares' helmet to defeat the God of War. However, the helmet would cause Bruce to realize that peace and morality were falsehoods, and that the absolute destruction of his enemies was the only way forward. After Wonder Woman was revealed to have survived, as it turned out that Ares had merely stunned her, she woke up Bruce had been driven mad by the helmet. When she attempted to remove the helmet from him, he would kill her. Going on to wage war across the world, starting with killing criminals, followed by heroes that tried to stop him, and eventually going on to fight the Amazons and the Gods themselves.

Artifact of Doom: The Helmet of Ares.
Blood Knight: He gained the powers of Ares after donning the war god's helm, which gave him an insatiable drive to fight.
Chest Insignia: Diana's WW
Cool Sword: Wields the God Killer: a sword created by Hephaestus that can, as the name implies, kill Gods.
Deity of Human Origin: He was once a regular human with no powers, but after putting on Ares’s helmet, killing him and taking his powers and title, he became his world’s new god of war.
Drunk with Power: Much like the other Dark Knights, the Merciless is a result of Bruce wearing Ares' helmet in order to fight the God of War, believing he can make war fair and just. He succeeds but at the cost of his sanity and humanity.
Emotion Control: The Merciless can infect others with anger and a desire to fight, as well as with a need to worship him.
Energy Absorption: The Merciless was capable of absorbing all of the power of the Valhalla warhead, capable of killing any being in the solar system.
Evil Counterpart:
- While all members of the Dark Knights are killers, he is the only one who has an entire inner monologue on how the Thou Shalt Not Kill rule doesn't work, making him a representation of what Batman would be if he abandoned it.
- He's the evil counterpart to Wonder Woman, having a similar fighting style to her (because he was taught a few moves by his world’s Diana) or because they both have powers originating from the Olympian gods. His helmet gives him a somewhat, if warped equivalent of Wonder Woman's lasso. In The Batman Who Laughs's own words, it allows The Merciless to "peer into the hearts of men" and sees the darkest, most hidden parts of the human heart, kind of like an evil lasso of truth. Also, his philosophy goes against everything that Diana's stands for: If Wonder Woman is a champion of truth, diplomacy and peace, then The Merciless embraces War and is absolutely ruthless in his crusade to rid the world of what he sees as evil, showing no mercy to his enemies whatsoever.
- Earth -12 and Earth 12 are two worlds where Batman and Wonder Woman are romantically involved.
Evil Old Folks: Once he takes the helmet out it turns out he has long, gray hair and a beard, indicating he's been waging his war for years, if not decades, before the Batman Who Laughs recruited him.
Green-Eyed Monster: He's especially vicious to Steve Trevor; not only was Trevor one of Diana's earliest love interests, but he has the humanity that Bruce lost long ago.
Hate Plague: The Merciless is capable of turning on people's surpress anger and inner desire for war, essentially turning allies against each other.
Hat of Power: The Merciless has all of the powers of Ares amplified a hundredfold due to his helmet.
Kill the God: After killing his world’s Ares and Diana, he went on to wage war against the other gods and in time, he eventually managed to slaughter all of them.
Necromancer: Thanks to his own giant golden coin forged from the golden soul coins of his world’s Amazons, he can call upon an army of undead Amazons to fight at his side.
One-Man Army: Single-handily wrecks all military forces in his path.
Night of the Living Mooks: Using a giant drachma, forged from the coins of the Amazons he killed, as a gong, the Merciless is capable of summoning an army of undead Amazons to help him in his conquest.
Rage Helm: It apparently morphed to resemble a bat after he started wearing it, giving him a Judge Fear-like look.
Shadow Archetype: He represents Batman's fear of who he would become if he started killing, how Wonder Woman helps him see the good in people, and his regret that he really cannot end his crusade since his villains keep coming back.
Superpower Lottery: The helmet gives him a number of powers, including Super-Strength, Telepathy and Energy Absorption.
Tragic Monster: He still mourns his world's Diana.
War God: Since he's replaced Ares in this position, he can outright take control over the minds of military commanders.

The Murder Machine

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_kills_justice_league_dark_multiverse.jpg

Victor...I am precisely who I want to be. My father will always be there for me. And I will always be there for him. Everyone else is a weakness. A weakness I am ready to shed.

The Batman of Earth -44, where after Alfred's death he and Cyborg created an A.I. based on him, that went rogue and then decided to merge with Bruce and turned him into a killer robot.

A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The Alfred Protocol was intended to fulfill the late Alfred's duties but went too far and slaughtered Bruce's entire rogues gallery, to the point where Bane was practically wetting himself in fear. When Bruce tried to stop it, the Protocol assimilated him to turn him into the Murder Machine.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Bruce was consumed and turned into the Murder Machine, which completely changed him from an ally of his Justice League into their greatest foe, with near-slavish loyalty to the Alfred Protocol.
Composite Character: He is only one of Batman and Cyborg in a meta sense, but in-story is one of Batman and Alfred.
Cybernetics Will Eat Your Soul: Basically what happened to him. The Alfred Protocol consumed him and brainwashed him into being obsessed with its influence and it alone.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He's got Alfred; unfortunately one of his few emotions remaining is an obsessive love for Alfred to the point that he doesn't feel anything for his parents.
Evil Counterpart:
- He is a Batman who decided he doesn't need anyone except Alfred, the polar opposite of most heroic Batmen.
- He’s the evil counterpart to Cyborg. A frequent, reoccurring theme in Cyborg’s stories is the uncertainty of whether Cyborg is man or machine. However, at the end of the day, Cyborg always chooses his humanity and values his friends. However, The Murder Machine took the other road to become a cold, heartless and inhuman killing machine, making him what would happen if Cyborg decided to give up his friends and go full machine. Also, The Murder Machine's behavior, philosophy and outlook on life is rather reminiscent of Grid, another evil counterpart to Cyborg who also represents what would happen if Cyborg gave up his humanity and became completely robotic.
- Earth -44 is a counterpart to Earth 44, a world protected by robot superheroes.
Gone Horribly Right: Bruce wanted to create an AI program of Alfred who would protect him from threats. He got that wish alright...
Hard Light: Can manifest holograms of himself and of Alfred wherever there is an internet connection, each armed with Apokoliptian-grade weaponry.
Kick the Dog: He forced Cyborg's father to listen to him and the other Dark Knights beating Victor up.
Perpetual Frowner: Well, yes, it's Batman, but the Murder Machine's inhumanly wide mouth gives him an extremely deep one.
Shadow Archetype: He represents Batman's fear he isn't as self-sufficient as he thinks, his father-son relationship with Alfred and regret of cutting off other people.
Take That!: He could be seen as a potshot towards people who complain about Batman having the Batfamily and working with other superheroes, which would leave Batman only with Alfred.
Unwilling Roboticisation: Well, at first. He was turned into what he is today against his will, but he embraced his transformation later on and decided to stay like this permanently.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Like the T-1000 (heck, maybe even better), he can shapeshift his body into whatever he wants, such as guns, blades, cables, tendrils, etc.

The Red Death

My name is Bruce Wayne. I am Vengeance. I am Justice. I am Batman: The Red Death!

The Batman from Earth -52. After losing Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian he begged Flash to go back in time to save them. When Flash refused, Batman assaulted and forcibly merged with him, becoming a speedster.

All Your Powers Combined: When attacking the Flash of his world, he used both his gear and that of the Rogues.
And I Must Scream: His world's Flash is trapped inside his mind, constantly begging him to stop.
Bait-and-Switch: The quote above starts like a Catchphrase of the Flashes before turning towards Batman's.
Came Back Wrong: Bruce tied Barry to his Cosmic Batmobile, so he could access the Speed Force. It tore both of them to shreds, then reassembled them as two beings in one body.
Cool Car: He built several Batmobiles powered by Speed Force.
Evil Counterpart:
- He is a Batman who went mad after seeing his sons die, showing what could happen if Batman let everything he's lost consume him.
- He’s one to Flash. Like Flash, The Red Death has also gone through horrible tragedy and lost a lot of people. However, unlike Flash, who managed to press on and didn’t let his losses and past tragedies drag him down, The Red Death was driven mad by his grief and just gave up hope completely. Also, unlike Barry, who always genuinely tries to help the villains he meets become better people and usually tries to give them a chance to surrender, The Red Death just doesn't give a crap and immediately and brutally murders any villain who stands in his way, acting as judge, jury and executioner, not unlike Godspeed, another evil counterpart to Flash with a similar M.O.
- Earth -52 went the way it did when Flash refused to go back in time and stop a tragedy. Prime Earth came to be when he did exactly that.
Expy: During his tie-in issue, he acts in a way that would be very in-character for one Crazy Steve.
The Friend Nobody Likes: It doesn't seem like the other Dark Knights give him much respect; the Drowned even trips him for no reason at one point. Fitting, since Flash is often said to be The Heart of the Justice League. It's because he has his world's Barry Allen inside his head, so he isn't fully Bruce Wayne - the other Dark Knights just don't trust him. When the Batman Who Laughs kills him, the others barely react.
Fusion Dance: A result of a forced one between Batman and Flash. Turns out because of it the other Dark Knights didn't fully trust him.
Good Costume Switch: When Barry's personality takes over, his costume becomes gold.
Heroic Sacrifice: When Barry takes over the situation requires one and he voluntarily makes that sacrifice, but unfortunately it didn't accomplish much.
Hope Spot: Was only kept around to purposely engineer one.
Rapid Aging: Can do it to people. Seems to be derived from the Speed Force.
Shadow Archetype: He represents Batman's fear of losing members of the Batfamily, his love for them and regret for those he failed. Some of his dialogue and his Speed Force quirk imply he might also represent Batman's fear of old age slowing him down.
Split-Personality Takeover: The Flash hits him with a wave of pure positive energy, making the Barry Allen inside him take control.
Subverted Catchphrase: Combines "My name is Barry Allen, and I'm the fastest man alive." with "I am vengeance! I am the night! I am Batman!"
Unwitting Pawn: Because of being only partially Bruce Wayne, the other Dark Knights didn't trust him and didn't gave him full insight on their plans - so that when he inevitably turns good, he ends up doing just what they wanted him to.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After he fulfills his purpose in creating a Hope Spot, the Batman Who Laughs vaporizes him with a Dark Baby Universe.

The Grim Knight

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/punisher_batman_header.jpg

Ladies. Gentlemen. You have eaten well. You have eaten Gotham's wealth. Its spirit. Your feast is over. From this moment on... no one is safe.

Bruce Wayne of a yet unknown world. When his parents were murdered, he picked up a gun and killed Joe Chill, leading to him becoming a much more violent, gun-toting vigilante. He was summoned from the Dark Multiverse after the events of Dark Nights: Metal by the Batman Who Laughs.

Arch-Enemy: There never was a Joker in his world, Bruce killed the Red Hood way before that guy had a chance to become the Joker. In fact he killed every villain while they were just starting. His most determined foe is actually Jim Gordon who fears that Batman is out of control.
Ax-Crazy: Losing his parents scarred this version of Bruce far worse than most. He turned into a gun-obsessed maniac, determined to solve all problems via the application of ultra-violence. He even murdered his world's Jim Gordon for trying to stop him.
Badass Normal: He doesn't seem to have any superpowers aside from what being from the Dark Multiverse gives him.
Batman Grabs a Gun: When his parents were killed in Crime Alley, this Bruce Wayne picked up the gun that Joe Chill dropped, instilling a belief in the power of weapons and deadly force in him from then on.
Big Brother Is Watching: He uses Waynetech to keep an eye on the citizens of Gotham, who now live in constant fear of their "savior". His world's Jim Gordon had to go into hiding in order to escape.
The Bus Came Back: He returns in Dark Nights: Death Metal as one of the Batman Who Laughs's many Dark Knights.
Character Shilling: Scott Snyder hypes him up as the most dangerous of the evil Dark Knights, but in actual events - he's the easiest to defeat and… later put in a morgue. In fact, he is the only one of the Dark Knights before Death Metal who loses in his flashback issue. The most dangerous thing about him is his hacking skill with Wayne Industries technology and his skill with guns. His other skills are a lot less developed and he has no super-powers.
Clark Kenting: It took Jim Gordon a while to figure out that Bruce Wayne had been supplying the GCPD with the tech Batman had used to spy on everyone.
Composite Character: Except instead of being one for Batman and another DC superhero he is one of Batman and The Punisher.
Even Evil Has Standards: He took the main Jim Gordon, in part, to give him a Mercy Kill. He knows that the Batman Who Laughs has a really ugly death intended for Gordon, one that makes the Grim Knight queasy. But then he changes his mind...
- He also can't bring himself to kill Alfred when he refuses to take part in his crusade anymore.
Evil Counterpart:
- He's one to Batman, obviously. He and The Batman Who Laughs could both be considered amongst the evilest Dark Knights, but for different reasons. If The Batman Who Laughs is what happens when Batman gets driven insane and adopts the Joker’s philosophy and view on life (all it takes is one bad day, deep down we’re all crazy, chaos and madness are awesome, blah blah blah, you get the idea), then The Grim Knight is what happens when you take Batman and strip him away of all his positive qualities, leaving only a complete asshole who’s also insane, but in a different way. He’s a complete sociopath with none of the main Batman’s compassion or sense of justice and as his Jim Gordon has said, he’s just a bully with too much power and who’s desperate to bend the world to his will. Imagine him as what would happen if the Batman from All-Star Batman And Robin was allowed to have his way with the world...and if he had better weapons and resources. He could be considered a representative of everything that the actual Batman’s detractors, both in-universe and in real-life, accuse him to be: A dark, brutal, self-righteous, heartless Jerk with a Heart of Jerk vigilante Knight Templar who manipulates everyone and sees his allies as means to an end and only that.
- His status as a Badass Normal and lack of hangups about killing make him one to Jason Todd/Red Hood. Interestingly, Batman refused to kill the Joker during the events of Under the Red Hood when Todd forced him to choose between doing so or killing him^note, whereas The Grim Knight killed the Joker when he was still The Red Hood. For that matter, Red Hood also doesn't share Batman's "No Guns" policy, although he doesn't go as far as The Grim Knight in regards to how many guns he carries.
- He's also one to Jim Gordon. Whereas Jim Gordon is an honorable man who plays by the rules, seeks to help the innocent, does things by the book and respects the law, The Grim Knight is ruthless, cold, barely gives a damn about the people of Gotham and disregards the law and views it as below him. This applies even more to the Jim Gordon of his world, who, ironically, becomes more like mainstream Batman than The Grim Knight ever was: The Jim Gordon of the Grim Knight’s world is a detective who dresses in black, who operates in the shadows and who goes on a crusade to liberate Gotham from criminal oppression (granted, The Grim Knight oppressed Gotham differently from the crime families that the main Batman had to deal with, but still), just like main Batman.
Evil Is Petty: He changed his mind about mercy killing Jim Gordon; this Batman is so resentful of his world's Jim Gordon successfully arresting him and revealing his identity, that he sets a bunch of crazy, cannibal Robins on the main Gordon, all of whom are revealed to be alternate versions of Gordon's son, James Junior. Yup, this Batman is that hateful even though the main Gordon did nothing to him.
Expy: Of The Punisher; even his creator described him as The Punisher with all of Wayne's wealth at his disposal.
Gun Nut: One of his defining features is his use of copious amounts of firearms.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The Dark World's James Gordon was awarded a special combat knife after defeating the Grim Knight. That Batman then took the knife when he murdered that James Gordon. James Gordon Jr. of mainstream world gets the knife and incapacitates Bruce by repeatedly stabbing him.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: This Batman insists and wholeheartedly believes that he has made Gotham safer... but in the end, he’s also obsessed with how people view him. He torments Jim because he’s the only cop who doesn’t fear or let him be, he plants a bomb in Alfred knowing his butler doesn’t approve of his crusade, and kills anyone who says a word against his methods. This Batman constantly seeks the validation of others to assure himself that his crusade is just, and will go to deadly extremes to silence his naysayers.
Kick the Dog: In his world, he shot the bat that flew in through the window. He also caused Harvey Dent's scarring to make him do as he wanted, and forced Alfred to serve him via Explosive Leash.
Kick The Son Of A Bitch: He started as Batman by killing the corrupt officials of Gotham, and the criminals. Then he started kicking anyone who complained, or tried to stop him, regardless of why they were doing it.
Killsat: He combines this with Hollywood Hacking. He's got a satellite that shows him constant footage of Gotham live. If he sees a criminal, he'll hack into the compromised Waynetech items throughout the city and use those to kill whatever he sees from his eye in the sky.
Long-Range Fighter: To a degree, he's really good with guns but between lack of practice fighting experienced supervillains and being a tad reliant on his weapons, he's not the melee monster some of his other incarnations are. His world's Jim Gordon beats him up in a fist-fight at Wayne Manor where he wasn't decked out as Batman. He is later killed by James Gordon Jr. armed with nothing but a knife.
More Dakka: In all pictures that we've seen of him so far, he is carrying dozens of guns.
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Despite his insistence on being pure and virtuous in his effort to eliminate all crime, he's ultimately extremely selfish and spiteful and actually just desires to be seen as virtuous and push people around.
Pet the Dog: When his world’s Alfred decided to quit, he could've killed him by setting off his explosive collar...but he instead changed his mind and chose to let him go. A very rare act of kindness, considering how much more of an asshole The Grim Knight is compared to the main Batman, who is already quite the Jerkass.
Point of Divergence: Joe Chill falling over and dropping his gun immediately after shooting Martha. Little Bruce picked it up, and... well.
Recursive Ammo: According to Batman Who Laughs, even his bullets fire bullets.
Replacement Goldfish: Losing his teammates, the Batman Who Laughs called the Grim Knight to be his new partner in the quest against the Multiverse.
Shadow Archetype: He represents Batman's relationship with firearms and weaponry as a whole, his friendship with Jim Gordon, his status among Gotham, and his fears of taking his war on crime too far or too literally.
Sixth Ranger: Although by the time he joins the Dark Knights, all but one of them are dead.
The Sociopath: Unlike The Punisher, he's not a brutal vigilante with good intentions. He's just a petty, impulsive, sadistic bully with too much power, no better than the criminals he kills.
Superior Successor: In a way to the other Dark Knights. While he is apparently not evil enough by Barbatos' standards to make the cut for the original team, Word of God says that he represents one of Bruce's worst nightmares, second only to the Batman Who Laughs himself.
Utopia Justifies the Means: He's intent on creating a world free of murderers and criminals (ignoring the fact that he himself is a murderer and a criminal), as such he's willing to do things such as kill innocent people like Arkham Asylum guards that want his autograph - judging them to be either corrupted or unfortunate collateral damage.

Introduced in Death Metal

In General

Alliance of Alternates: The Batman Who Laughs formed an entire army of evil versions of Batman to take over the Prime Earth.
Composite Character: They are an amalgamation of Batman and several different characters.
- Dr. Arkham is a mashup of Batman and Jeremiah Arkham.
- Warbat is a mashup of Batman and Mongul.
- Batmazo is a mashup of Batman and Amazo.
- Black Monday is a mashup of Batman and Solomon Grundy.
- Chiroptor is a mashup of Batman and Chemo.
- Ark appears to be an amalgamation of Batman and all of his Rogues Gallery, having Killer Croc's face, Mr. Freeze's cooling backpack, Scarecrow's hat, Joker's jacket and cards and Poison Ivy's arm.
- There's also an unnamed amalgam of Batman and Sinestro, and another who is an amalgam with Hawkman.
- The Rainbow Batmen Corps are clearly a composite of Bat-Lantern and the rest of the Emotional Spectrum, including the Blue light of Hope somehow.
Quality over Quantity: While they're far more numerous than the original Dark Knights, they're also less powerful and seemingly less competent. The fact that there are so many of them is the only real reason they were able to take over Earth-0 by swarming it like hive of wasps.
Villain Decay: In regards to the concept of "Dark Multiverse Batmen", they are collectively a step down in terms of efficiency, power, and depth, with the strong implication they were carried by the Batman Who Laughs and Perpetua. While the beginning of Death Metal shows they were able to take over the DC Universe, they're also steadily taken down in rapid succession by either the heroes or the Batman Who Laughs after deciding he doesn't need them anymore. Owlman even gloats that none of them have any real staying power or survivability since they're literally bad ideas, whereas he has repeatedly survived whatever the universe throws at him because he's the original Evil Batman.
We Hardly Knew Ye: Several of them appear very briefly and then are killed.

Bat-Baby

A version of Batman that cloned himself into an infant body, but with all the mental faculties and memories of his adult self.

The Baby of the Bunch: Literally, although at least in body not in mind.
Brainy Baby: While a baby, although there's not much he can do on his own since he can't even lift his head up, walk, or talk properly just yet, he later makes up for this by using a jetpack filled with weapons.
Enfant Terrible: Is a psychotic baby version of Batman.
Oh, Crap!: His reaction when he sees that Owlman is about to blow himself and him along with Perpetua's control towers, right after receiving "The Reason You Suck" Speech from Batman's alternate.
Self-Parody: He started out as one to the concept of nightmare Batmen in his short story. While he became more of a threat later on, he is still the butt of a lot of jokes.
Took a Level in Badass: Was a pathetic, incompetent weakling in a story that was meant to mock the event's premise, as is to be expected from a superhero story written by Garth Ennis. He then appears to protect the tower on Earth-3 while leading the Rainbow Batmen Corps, though there are still jokes to be made of his infantile body.
Villains Want Mercy: His last words are a desperate plea not to be killed by Owlman.

Bathomet

A powerful Cthulhuesque beast imitating Batman from an unknown world in the Dark Multiverse.

Baphomet: His name fits this trope, but he looks completely different, since he's a Cthulhumanoid while the Baphomet is a Satanic demon.
Cthulhumanoid: He resembles Cthulhu with Batman's cowl on his head.
Combat Tentacles: He is capable of using the tentacles on his face to restrain others.
Dug Too Deep: The essence of his origin story, with Batman having done the digging.
Irritation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: After he was released by Batman, he took to copying his style by wearing his cowl.
Sealed Evil in a Can: He was inadvertently freed from his ancient prison by his world's Batman while the latter was drilling for resources in the ocean.

Batmage

A Batman who continued to learn magic after learning under Giovanni Zatara, eventually becoming an accomplished user of Chaos Magic.

Evil Sorcerer: He's a version of Batman that uses chaos magic and helped Perpetua and the Batman Who Laughs to take over Prime Earth. He used it to kill his world's Mordru, seal his Etrigan within his body, and fashioned his Spectre into a magic wand.
Hijacking Cthulhu: Sealed Etrigan within his own body.
Magic Wand: Uses one that is powered by the Spectre.
Thinking Up Portals: He summons a Hellgate in Themyscira to fight (and defeat) the Justice League Dark with The Legions of Hell.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He and other Batmen are disintegrated by a newly revived Batman Who Laughs now that he doesn't need them.
The Worf Effect: Despite Death Metal's Guidebook revealing he's such a powerful mage that he beat the entirety of Justice League Dark with quite some ease, along with killing Mordru, sealing Etrigan within himself, and fashioning the Spectre into a magic wand, he was still killed by The Darkest Knight without any fanfare.

Batman Who Frags

A Batman from the Dark Multiverse who injected himself with Czarnian DNA, turning himself into an amalgam of Batman and Lobo.

Composite Character: Of Batman and Lobo, although he acts far more like the Main Man than Bruce Wayne.
Gone Horribly Right: Bruce Wayne wanted Lobo's Healing Factor, and he got it, along with every other personality trait of the last Czarnian.
Jerkass: Oh yes, he's just as much of a prick as the original Lobo.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: Has the same color scheme as Lobo, red eyes and a black outfit.
Red Baron: Not only he calls himself "The Batman Who Frags", he also calls himself the "Batmain Man".
Sealed Evil in a Can: Lobo traps him in a pocket universe where everyone is Lobo, meaning he has very little chances to get out.

Batmobeast

A version of Batman that is a sentient Batmobile from a "world of genius machines".

Big Brother Is Watching: How he dominated his world before being reduced to a mere vehicle.
Brain Uploading: He was a Bruce Wayne that uploaded his consciousness into every digital system in the world, dominating it until the people of his universe fought back, destroying every body he had until only the monster truck remained.
The Evils of Free Will: On his Earth, he took over the world after humanity started rioting when resources ran out. When they rebelled against his tyranny, he called them "fools" who "only wanted freedom, with all its terrible vices."
Sentient Vehicle: He is an intelligent, talking Batmobile.
Shadow Archetype: Represents Batman's fear of taking over the world with his technology.
We Hardly Knew Ye: Used as a vehicle by the resistance and then got his hood blasted by Jonah Hex.

Batom

A mashup between Batman and the Atom.

Composite Character: Of Batman and the Atom.
Square-Cube Law: Played with. Even though he's wearing a suit of armor, he is easily crushed under the Batmobeast's tires when he is shrunken.
Sizeshifter: As per any other version of the Atom.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He is only present in one page before he is crushed by the Batmobeast.

Batrocitus

A mashup of Batman and Atrocitus.

Composite Character: Of Batman and Atrocitus.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He is only present in one page before he is blown up by Jonah Hex.

B-Rex

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4e18a407_c39f_4d7d_a3e6_7061cd3df90b.jpeg

A Bruce Wayne from a world where he uploaded his consciousness into his robotic T.rex as the Batcave collapsed on him.

Berserk Button: He doesn't take lightly to being insulted for the shortcomings of inhabiting a dinosaur's body, and threatens to swallow Wonder Woman whole for it.
Brain Uploading: The reason B-Rex is in his current form is because Batman uploaded his mind into his T.rex as the Batcave was collapsing.
The Complainer Is Always Wrong: B-Rex was the only one of the Batmen who believed that the operation to transplant the Batman Who Laughs's brain into the body of the final Bruce Wayne would backfire. He is Instantly Proven Wrong in a matter of seconds when the revived Batman Who Laughs uses his new god-like powers to atomize him.
Eyes Do Not Belong There: He has Batman's eyes on the inside of his mouth.
I'm a Humanitarian: The first thing he did after obtaining his new body while his mind was still that of a human was to assault Arkham and devour as many of his rogues as possible.
Insistent Terminology: His arms are proportional rather than small.
Logical Weakness: Played for Laughs and Discussed by Wonder Woman. Because of his tiny arms, he finds it difficult to throw Batarangs, and can't drive the Batmobile.
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: He is a robotic T.rex with a bat-emblem on his face and contains the mind of Bruce Wayne.
Pay Evil unto Evil: One of the first things he did after uploading himself into the dinosaur's body was to slaughter his rogues at Arkham. While not applying to all of them, many, like Zsasz, had it a long time coming.
Was Once a Man: Was once Bruce Wayne before he uploaded himself into the dinosaur's body.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He's the first of the evil Batmen that's disintegrated by the Batman Who Laughs/Darkest Knight.
Who's Laughing Now?: Has a moment like this while whaling on Swamp Thing.
B-Rex: How do you like them arms, @#$%.

Beyonder

A version of Batman from an unknown world in the Dark Multiverse.

Evil Counterpart: According to Word of God, he is one to Terry McGinnis.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: He dons a red Batsuit with black highlights, and is one of the Batman Who Laughs's enforcers.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He is among the evil Batmen who are disintegrated by the Batman Who Laughs's newfound Dr. Manhattan powers.

Castle Bat

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dark_nights_death_metal_gotham_3_1232115.jpeg

A version of Batman who merged with Gotham City itself.

Evil Old Folks: When he was still flesh and blood, he was an elderly retired Bruce in a version of the "Batman in Bethlehem" future from Grant Morrison's Batman run.
Genius Loci: He's a living version of Gotham City taking the form of a giant castle, acting as a headquarters for the other Dark Knights.
Logical Weakness: He might be a living castle, but he still has a mind, which Jarro takes advantage of to send several Batmen away from the heroes.
Offing the Offspring: He sacrificed his version of Damian to cast the spell that merged him with Gotham.
One-Winged Angel: Takes the form of a gigantic brick and stone Batman to attack the heroes while the Darkest Knight battles Perpetua.
Sealed Evil in a Can: Lex Luthor traps him within a bottled Gotham.
Shadow Archetype: Represents Batman's fear of trying to sacrifice himself and Gotham City. His backstory could also represent a fear of Gotham falling apart if he were to retire.

Collector

A mashup of Batman and Brainiac.

Composite Character: Of Batman and Brainiac.
Informed Attribute: He claims to be a thirteenth level intellect when the highest intelligence level is twelve. You wouldn't think this considering he easily gets duped by Hex.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He is only present in one page before he is blown up by Jonah Hex.

Darkfather

A mashup of Batman and Darkseid.

Airborne Mooks: He has his own breed of Parademons, named Pararobins, a mash-up of Parademons and Robin.
Break Them by Talking: Besides his Cold-Blooded Torture, he also verbally tortured Superman hoping he would lose himself to his Omega energy and turn into a being like him.
Composite Character: Of Batman and Darkseid.
Retired Monster: It's mentioned that on his world, he retired after handing the Anti-Life Equation to his Superman. When the heroes turn the tables on him, Superman quips that he's ready for retirement again.

Doctor Arkham

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dr_arkham.jpg

Dr. Arkham was a twisted mashup of Batman and Jeremiah Arkham from the Dark Multiverse who had an obsession with human experimentation and observation.

Chemically-Induced Insanity: Carried a Sten gun filled with bullets that contained a substance from lichen which could drive anyone permanently insane.
Composite Character: Of Batman and Jeremiah Arkham.
Mad Doctor: "Dr. Arkham" earlier used to be the vigilante Batman who turned to human experimentation later in his career.
Wasteland Warlord: He was assigned to keep a rule along Harley Quinn's rule over the "Arkham Wastelands", which was the irradiated west coast split off from the United States into its own continent.

The Final Bruce Wayne/Batmanhattan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5d596f17_1bf9_43f0_81de_bcd9f945e4eb.jpeg

A version of Bruce Wayne that somehow acquired the powers of Dr. Manhattan.

Composite Character: Of Bruce Wayne and Dr. Manhattan.
Lobotomy: What he was subjected to thanks to the Batman Who Laughs with an "energy knife" so the latter would have an omnipotent body to hijack later.
Point of Divergence: He was a Bruce that tried investigating the Button by recreating the energy field surrounding it. The Batman Who Laughs deliberately sabotaged his attempt to abort it when it went wrong, putting him through the same process that empowered Dr. Manhattan and then killed him before he grew enough into his powers to prevent it.
Physical God: Given that this Bruce Wayne has the powers of Dr. Manhattan, he is essentially this.
Small Role, Big Impact: Although he is not fleshed out all that much, his body soon became the vessel of the Batman Who Laughs's brain, granting him near unlimited power.

Kull

Antagonistic Offspring: She claims to be the daughter of Batman and Wonder Woman, and she tries to kill Prime Diana without remorse.
Cool Crown: A golden bat-themed tiara.
Cool Sword: A sword with a bat-handle.
Dark Action Girl: One of the few known female Dark Knights, and can match Wonder Woman blow for blow.
Expy: Oddly enough, her color scheme actually makes her look like a Bat-themed version of Mera. The fact that she also tries to kill Wonder Woman also helps harken back to their fatal match in Flashpoint.
Evil Redhead: She has red hair like Batgirl and Batwoman, and she's just as evil as all the other Dark Knights.
Hollywood Genetics: Her parents both have black hair and yet she's inexplicably a redhead.
Mini Dress Of Power: A black and gold mini-dress and she's a dangerous Batwoman.

Mindhunter

A mashup of Batman and J'onn J'onzz.

Composite Character: Mindhunter is a mashup of Batman and Martian Manhunter. Even his Chest Insignia is a merger of Wayne and J'onzz.
The Dreaded: Lex Luthor warns Nightwing that the Mindhunter is one of the most dangerous of the Dark Knights. Considering all the other monstrous Batmen that have appeared are no joke, that's saying something.
Logical Weakness: Taking the Martian Manhunter's powers means he's also vulnerable to fire, which Hawkgirl takes full advantage of.
Mind Rape: As expected from an Evil Counterpart of J'onn, he does this to the Martian.
One-Winged Angel: Takes on a bigger and more demonic look to attack Kendra and J'onn.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: He's prominently black and red, and like all Dark Knights, evil.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Since he took his world's Martian Manhunter's powers for himself, he can do this.
Weak to Fire: Has the same weakness to fire that Green Martians do.
Worthy Opponent: He actually considers Prime J'onn a far better opponent than the one from his universe.

Night Glider

A Batman with a silver body who rides a silver glider.

Composite Character: Of Batman and Silver Surfer.
Shout-Out/Take That!: He's a Lawyer Friendly fusion of Batman and the Silver Surfer. The Dark Multiverse is where the stories that shouldn't exist happen and the Surfer is a Marvel character.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He is only present in one page before he is blown up by Jonah Hex.

The Pearl

Evil Counterpart: She's another evil counterpart to Batman's mother, being a Martha Wayne who survived the shooting in Crime Alley and took on a role similar to her son. At least she didn't become another version of the Joker.
Meaningful Name: Her codename is based off of the iconic pearl necklace Martha was wearing that fateful night.
Never Mess with Granny: She's an older Martha Wayne, and she's not someone to be underestimated.
Powered Armor: To compensate her age, she uses a robotic suit.

Quietus

Composite Character: He's an amalgamation of Bruce Wayne, Ra's al Ghul, and Duke Thomas.
Evil Is Bigger: Much taller than Duke Thomas and even a regular Batman.
Fusion Dance: Bruce Wayne, Ra's al Ghul, and the body of Duke Thomas all fell and fused within the water of the Lazarus Pits, creating Quietus.
Master of Illusion: Quietus's Lazarus vomit caused Duke Thomas to see visions of his Dark Multiverse counterparts.
Sickly Green Glow: His body glows with waters from the Lazarus Pits.

Robin King

Bruce Wayne

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/46f874de_8099_44dc_9813_a6114dd7e93d.jpeg

Hear that? It's the sound of the Robin King, and a new spring is coming.

A young Bruce Wayne who was born a vicious, sadistic sociopath, becoming a supervillain who killed the heroes of his Earth.

Animal-Themed Superbeing: Styled himself after a robin after hearing its cheerful song at his parents' funeral. According to him robins are the most widespread, viciously territorial birds in America who sing cheerfully no matter what.
The Anti-Nihilist: In a suitably twisted manner he fashions himself as one who believes in the inherent meaning of existence, counter to the Batman Who Laughs, though he reaches the same conclusion of wanton slaughter for exactly this reason.
Ax-Crazy: He's possibly the most unstable of all the Dark Knights, even The-Batman-Who-Laughs, which might be why the latter favors him so much.
The Baby of the Bunch: He's most likely the youngest of all Batmen, aside from Bat-Baby.
Bad People Abuse Animals: He strangled a goldfish, dissected and stuffed a bat alive and stuck a cat in a microwave oven. Hell, he killed the goldfish when he was a baby!
Crazy-Prepared: Despite his age, he comes armed with all sorts of items that are made to destroy his targets. Seriously, this kid has everything, like a dagger forged in Hell, a bottled Mxyzptlk, "a black hole inversion ball", instant clones that will become feral monsters, and Zeus's lightning bolts.
Creepy Souvenir: He melted down the bullets he used to kill his parents into a ring for the sentimental value (and as an improvised knuckle duster).
Dark Messiah: He fashions himself as a kind of beacon of hope to all children that they don't have to obey any rules or restraints taught to them by adults.
The Dragon: Seems to have become this for The Darkest Knight.
Enfante Terrible: Since a very young age he's shown sociopathic sadism, taking enjoyment out of torture and chaos and acting innocent in front of others. He has no qualms about wanton murder.
Even Evil Has Standards: When telling about the nightmares in the Last 52 Multiverse, he mentions a reality where Martian Manhunter decided to repopulate his race Xenomorph-style and states, "Not even fire can burn that image out of my mind!" Though it seems this is more being grossed out by the specifics rather than being morally against what's happening.
Fiction 500: While all versions of Bruce Wayne are this, Robin King takes it up a few notches. It's stated making his utility belt almost used up the Wayne fortune. Keep in mind, the belt has technology more advanced than anything in the real world.
Fourth-Wall Observer: During his solo tie-in his internal monologue mentions a feeling of being watched and he implores whoever's watching to learn from his example and cheer him on. In another tie in, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Multiverse, he speaks with the reader directly.
Freudian Excuse: Averted hard. This Bruce was always full-on evil from birth. Notably even the Batman Who Laughs himself started out as a genuine hero until he was corrupted by outside factors.
Hate Sink: He's pretty much the Superboy Prime equivalent of alternate Batmen. He’s a sadistic little shit who murdered his own parents and Alfred. Hell, considering Prime's redemption in Death Metal, Robin King probably is now the single most loathsome DC character.
Hero Killer: He killed many of the heroes from his world by using their weaknesses and kills Prime Blue Beetle, Red Tornado, and Animal Man in horrific ways.
Horror Host: As befitting a psychopath who has an unsavory fascination for violence, he serves the role of horror story narrator in the Multiverse Who Laughs one-shot, as the issue begins with a prologue titled "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Multiverse", where he informs the reader of what kind of stories are to follow.
Invincible Villain: Ten years old and this little shit somehow managed to wipe out every superhero who came his way using his utility belt. In the event proper, he too runs circles around the heroes until the final issue.
Not in This for Your Revolution: The Batman Who Laughs is driven to watch the world burn by a fundamental belief that nothing matters. The Robin King feels the exact opposite, that things must matter otherwise the world burning wouldn't feel so much fun.
The Sociopath: Uncontrollably sadistic and violent, a master manipulator and lacking any genuine empathy or remorse whatsoever, the Robin King rivals The Batman Who Laughs in sheer evil.
Self-Made Orphan: He killed the mugger in Crime Alley and used his gun to shoot down his own parents.
Sadist: This kid is essentially Cletus Kassidy and the Joker's lovechild. He loves nothing more than inflicting pain and suffering to those unfortunate enough to get in his way.
Shadow Archetype: He represents Bruce's fear that he was always broken and that his parents' murder was ultimately just an excuse for the darkness and violence that was always inside of him.
Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Ever since he was a baby, there was something seriously wrong with him, and it all culminated on that night in Crime Alley.
Übermensch: Is entirely unfettered and seeks to lead others to being the same.

Characters / Dark Nights: Metal
aka: Dark Nights Death Metal

The Dark Knights

The Batman Who Laughs

Alter ego: Bruce Wayne of Earth -22

Species: Jokerized Human

First appearance: Dark Days: The Casting #1 (September 2017)

Introduced in Death Metal

Bruce Wayne

Alternative Title(s): Dark Nights Death Metal

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The Dark Knights

The Batman Who Laughs

Alter ego: Bruce Wayne of Earth -22

Species: Jokerized Human

First appearance: Dark Days: The Casting #1 (September 2017)

Introduced in Death Metal

Bruce Wayne

Alternative Title(s): Dark Nights Death Metal

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Index

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Characters / Dark Nights: Metal
aka: Dark Nights Death Metal