History ComicBook / BatmanEarthOne

* ThousandYardStare: After watching his parents murdered, a panel chillingly shows Bruce Wayne in the rain and sporting an HeroicBSOD

* AdaptationOriginConnection: In an odd way: in Earth-One, Harvey Dent is a childhood enemy of Bruce (the friendship that they sometimes share across continuities is here given to Jessica) and retains a major grudge against him well into adulthood. When he dies in Jessica's arms, the trauma of it [[spoiler:somehow awakens a SplitPersonality in Jessica that identifies as Harvey, with all of his loathing of Bruce, leading her to become this universe's version of Two-Face]].
* AdaptationPersonalityChange:
** The entire point of the retelling, which makes subtle but still far-reaching changes to the established Batman mythos. Batman is ''not'' a near-perfect crimefighter, but what you'd expect from a man who's dedicated himself to revenge: a physically skilled but otherwise unremarkable vigilante who knows next to nothing about actual detective and research work. Unlike other revisions, he doesn't get better at this, instead enlisting allies in Killer Croc and Cat.
** While canonically, Gordon is the last honest cop in Gotham and Bullock is a cynical JerkWithAHeartOfGold, their dynamic is switched here. Bullock is a young idealist and Gordon is a jaded and corrupt cop who takes bribes, albeit reluctantly. The ending shows them moving towards their original dynamic with Bullock traumatized by the events and Gordon's faith in justice renewed.

%%* JabbaTableManners: Mayor Cobblepot.

* AlternateContinuity: Is in its own continuity, separate from the main DC Universe. An extra in ''[[ComicBook/SupermanEarthOne Superman: Earth One Volume 2]]'' confirms that both Earth-One stories take place in the same universe, which was backed up by ''Comicbook/TheMultiversity'' saying that ''all'' Earth One books take place in the same universe, but haven't connected yet.

** Alfred at one point says [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman "tt"]]. Mayor Cobblepot later delivers a "kk".

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Bruce badly underestimates Penguin when he eventually confronts him, unable to take Cobblepot warning him to back off with an umbrella seriously. Of course, the reader knows exactly what [[KnifeNut Penguin]] + [[IconicItem umbrella]] equals. Sure enough, Bruce is stabbed and bleeding out in very short order.

* KnifeNut: The Birthday Boy favours a carving knife.

* DatingCatwoman: Although [[TropeNamer Selina "Catwoman" Kyle]] provides some sexual tension, Bruce Wayne is courting and in love with [[spoiler:Jessica Dent, who is Two Face in this Earth One version, also knows that Wayne is Batman, and also loves him back (during her sanity moments)]].

* AdultFear: The Birthday Boy, who kidnaps young girls, is implied to cut their throats and then keep their corpses rotting in Arkham Manor's basement. The horror of it is really shown when he kidnaps Barbara on Cobblepot's orders, leading Gordon to freak out in terror when he realizes what's happened. Later, Bullock falls into the basement where the bodies are buried. [[NothingIsScarier It's not shown on-panel]], but seeing what's happened is enough to reduce him from the well-meaning crime-fighter he's been up to that point to TheAlcoholic with severe PTSD.

* CombatPragmatist: Badly losing a fight to Alfred (who's trying to show him he's not ready for the evils of Gotham), Bruce resort to kicking his false leg out from under him and incapacitating his mentor. Far from being angry, Alfred concedes he might be ready after all.

''Batman: Earth One'' is a 2012 graphic novel from Creator/DCComics written by Creator/GeoffJohns and illustrated by Creator/GaryFrank. The second installment of DC's ''ComicBook/EarthOne'' line after ''ComicBook/SupermanEarthOne'', it aims to update the story of [[Franchise/{{Batman}} the Dark Knight]] for a new generation. The book has been critically acclaimed so far, although Bat-purists are likely to... well, go batty.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The spin on Harvey Dent's tale in Volume 2: he gets hit in the face with a molotov cocktail by Sal Maroni, and though he does receive his trademark TwoFaced appearance, he quickly dies of the burn wounds due to their severity.

** After Riddler [[DestinationDefenestration throws Batman off a window]], he falls on a balcony downstairs and loses consciousness, shortly before he's found by a woman. When Batman next wakes up, he finds himself {{Shirtless|Scene}} in the apartment's bedroom, with his wounds having been dressed by said woman who's standing next to him, and he's noticeably still wearing his mask, which she did not remove. Later in the issue [[spoiler:it's revealed that woman didn't actually live there, and is actually [[ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} Selina Kyle]], who [[ContrivedCoincidence just happened to be robbing the apartment]] when he fell in there, and she decided to help him.]]

** ComicBook/ThePenguin too. Although it's very much DependingOnTheWriter most versions have at least some lines they won't cross. This Cobblepot knowingly hands over the teenage daughters of those that cross him to the Birthday Boy, a serial killer that invariably slaughters them.

** Killer Croc, in the sense that he doesn't have a three-digit killing record like his original self.

* BadassBeard: Alfred Pennyworth.

** The entire point of the retelling, which makes subtle but still far-reaching changes to the established Batman mythos. Batman is ''not'' a near-perfect crimefighter, but what you'd expect from a man who's dedicated himself to revenge: a physically skilled but otherwise unremarkable vigilante who knows next to nothing about actual detective and research work.

** He has all the heroism of the traditional Batman, but his not undertaking the usual round-the-world crimefighting education means that here Bruce is a piss-poor detective, to the point of cluelessly trampling all over a crime scene in volume 2 and asking Gordon for tutoring in this area. Volume 3 [[spoiler:sees him [[BoringButPractical paying Catwoman]] to sniff out the source of the gangs' weaponry when he proves unable to do it himself in the limited time available]].

** The Earth-One version of Batman more or less learned everything he knows about fighting from Alfred, having never travelled around the world mastering different forms of martial arts like his mainstream counterpart, never learned the different kinds of medicine and other forms of being a polymath of his main counterpart, including being a rather poor detective. It shows when he has trouble fighting off a group of cops, and when he gets caught off guard by the Penguin.

* AdultFear: The Birthday Boy, who kidnaps young girls, is implied to cut their throats and then keep their corpses rotting in Arkham Manor's basement. The horror of it is really shown when he kidnaps Barbara on Cobblepot's orders, leading Gordon to freak out in terror when he realises what's happened. Later, Bullock falls into the basement where the bodies are buried. [[NothingIsScarier It's not shown on-panel]], but seeing what's happened is enough to reduce him from the well-meaning crime-fighter he's been up to that point to TheAlcoholic with severe PTSD.

* BedlamHouse: Averted with the Arkham Mansion, which hasn't yet been converted into an insane asylum at the time of the story, although it's just as nightmarish as ever.

** Mayor Oswald Cobblepot for volume one.
** The Riddler in volume two.
** [[spoiler:Two-Face aka Jessica Dent]] in volume 3.

* CynicismCatalyst: Harvey Bullock arrives in Gotham, naive and happy, hoping to capitalize on being a detective in the most dangerous city in America. But very soon the city begins to break him as he realizes how deep the corruption and fear run, culminating in him witnessing the countless rotting corpses of Birthday Boy's victims in Arkham. Even in volume 3, he's still unable to go back to Arkham.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** The setting does this in general: Batman is not nearly as effective as he is in his mainstream appearances, Gordon is not able to keep himself clean and is forced into corruption to protect his family, and the flamboyant supervillains of the comic books are virtually absent: Oswald Cobblepot is not the Penguin but the corrupt Mayor of Gotham, Birthday Boy is an all-too realistic serial killer who targets teenage girls he is psychotically obsessed with, the Riddler is a terrorist who uses the Riddler identity as a cover for his true goal, the Catwoman isn't clad in leather and spandex ([[spoiler:though she does take on a variant of her famous costume in volume 3]]), and Killer Croc isn't a villain at all, but simply a social outcast who takes refuge in the sewers.
** The spin on Harvey Dent's tale in Volume 2: he gets hit in the face with a molotov cocktail by Sal Maroni, and though he does receive his trademark TwoFaced appearance, he quickly dies of the burn wounds due to their severity.

** As shown in RealityEnsues below, Harvey Dent is not merely scarred by the burns he receives from Sal Maroni, but dies from them.

* RealityEnsues:
** The setting does this in general: Batman is not nearly as effective as he is in his mainstream appearances, Gordon is not able to keep himself clean and is forced into corruption to protect his family, and the flamboyant supervillains of the comic books are virtually absent: Oswald Cobblepot is not the Penguin but the corrupt Mayor of Gotham, Birthday Boy is an all-too realistic serial killer who targets teenage girls he is psychotically obsessed with, the Riddler is a terrorist who uses the Riddler identity as a cover for his true goal, the Catwoman isn't clad in leather and spandex ([[spoiler:though she does take on a variant of her famous costume in volume 3]]), and Killer Croc isn't a villain at all, but simply a social outcast who takes refuge in the sewers.
** The spin on Harvey Dent's tale in Volume 2: he gets hit in the face with a molotov cocktail by Sal Maroni, and though he does receive his trademark TwoFaced appearance, he quickly dies of the burn wounds due to their severity.

* GloryHound: In Earth-One, Bullock is a former TV detective show host who transfers into Gotham because he likes the publicity of solving unresolved murder cases, aiming to solve the Wayne murders to aid his big leap into film. He gets it pretty severely beaten out of him by the end, after his faking Gordon's signature to review their case file gets Barbara almost abducted and killed once Cobblepot gets wind of it.

* DecompositeCharacter[=/=]GenderFlip: [[spoiler:Two-Face. While Harvey Dent is still present, still a D.A. determined to eliminate crime and corruption and still gets a face-full of fire to give him his famous scarring, his twin sister Jessica is the one who becomes TwoFaced and crazy after he dies.]]

* GloryHound: In Earth-One, Bullock is a former TV detective show host who transfers into Gotham because he likes the publicity of solving unresolved murder cases, aiming to solve the Wayne murders to aid his big leap into film. He gets it pretty severely beaten out of him by the end, after his faking Gordon's signture to review their case file gets Barbara almost abducted and killed once Cobblepot gets wind of it.

* AdaptationalDumbass: He has all the heroism of the traditional Batman, but his not undertaking the usual round-the-world crimefighting education means that here Bruce is a piss-poor detective, to the point of cluelessly trampling all over a crime scene in volume 2 and asking Gordon for tutoring in this area. Volume 3 [[spoiler:sees him [[BoringButPractical paying Catwoman]] to sniff out the source of the gangs' weaponry when he proves unable to do it himself in the limited time available]].

** Zigzagged with Harvey Dent. In most adaptations, he's portrayed as a troubled but nice guy before he becomes Two-Face but here Harvey is a major Jerkass from the beginning [[spoiler:and dies before he even becomes Two Face.]]

** Gordon gets hit by this, though reluctantly. While usually depicted as a resolutely incorruptible police officer, here he has a history of taking payoffs from the mob purely out of fear for his family. His character arc is learning to stop taking shit from low-level crooks and stand up to the enablers on the force, after working with Bullock reminds him of what it really means to be a cop, hinting that like Batman he will grow into his mainstream self in time.

* AdultFear: The Birthday Boy, who kidnaps young girls, is implied to cut their throats and then keep their corpses rotting in Arkham Manor's basement.

** Bullock when he discovers the Birthday Boy's previous victims.

* HyperAwareness: Jessica never actually meets Bruce in-costume, but nonetheless works out his alter ego based on a brief conversation where Bruce says he sees Batman as a symbol of hope. Given Batman's [[TerrorHero actions up to that point]], she accurately deduces the only person who could possibly think that would be Batman himself.

** After being saved from Birthday Boy by the combined efforts of her father, Batman and Harvey Bullock, Barbara draws herself as Batgirl.

* TheStinger: Each issue ends teasing a new mmember of ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'s'' RoguesGallery.

-->'''Volume 1:''' "''Who'' is Batman? What a ''[[[[ComicBook/TheRiddler riddle]]''."\\