History ComicBook / BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns

* DeathSeeker: Bruce has become one by the start of the story, and after he becomes Batman again, he frequently remarks on how certain things would be good or bad deaths as the story progresses.

--> '''Mutant leader''': ... and then I'll find your new cop - your ''woman'' cop - and I will-\\

* WorfHadTheFlu: Despite having been catatonic for a decade and his injuries, Joker has a distinct edge over Batman. The same Batman that fought his way through the a police SWAT team and stopped at Batcave only to get supplies to investigate Joker's plan for the county fair before finally catching up to Joker in one night. Not only is Bats on his second wind for their final battle, but he's making the same mistake he did with the Mutant Leader: he's letting his feelings cloud his judgement against a much calmer opponent.

::What makes this scene even more powerful is that Two-Face is the only one of Batman's enemies in the story that he is sympathetic to, as he funded Harvey's surgery and rehabilitation efforts and knows what it's like to be living a dichotomy (Bruce Wayne/Batman vs. Harvey Dent/Two-Face). For bonus points, in ''Batman: Year One'' which occupies the same universe as this book, it's made clear that Harvey Dent was one of Batman's closest allies and friends early in his career.

** Also Batman's final fight with [[spoiler:Superman]]. Literally.

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique:

---> '''Batman (internal)''' : It was tough work carrying two hundred and twenty pounds of sociopath to the top of one of Gotham's Twin Towers. The scream alone is worth it.
** Contrary to popular belief, the trope is averted. In Miller's preliminary notes for the series he says that Batman ''never'' uses physical violence in interrogation. He uses their fear of him to get what he wants.
* JekyllAndHyde: Averted. Recent breakthroughs in plastic surgery restore Two-Face's appearance, but at the unforeseen cost of [[spoiler:forever destroying the good-natured "Harvey" half of the personality and leaving the criminal "Face" in complete control.]]
--> '''Two-Face:''' Got them all to keep their lunches down when they saw my face... saying I was cured... saying I was fixed. I'm fixed all right... at least both sides match now! Go ahead, have your laugh! Take a look... take a look... \\
'''Batman (internal)''' : The scars go deep... too deep. Not fooled by sight, I see him... as he ''is''. (''the panel shows Dent with his entire head a monstrous ruin'')\\
'''Batman:''' I see... a reflection, Harvey. A reflection. (''the next panel shows a bat's snarling face'')
** What makes this scene even more powerful is that Two-Face is the only one of Batman's enemies in the story that he is sympathetic to, as he funded Harvey's surgery and rehabilitation efforts and knows what it's like to be living a dichotomy (Bruce Wayne/Batman vs. Harvey Dent/Two-Face). For bonus points, in ''Batman: Year One'' which occupies the same universe as this book, it's made clear that Harvey Dent was one of Batman's closest allies and friends early in his career.
* {{Jerkass}}: Everything Byron Brassballs says or does is custom-made to make you want him to get his ass kicked. And he only appears twice.

* CrapsackWorld

* CurbStompBattle: Batman's second fight with the Mutant leader.

* DatingCatwoman

* [[spoiler:DefeatingTheUndefeatable]]: [[spoiler:Batman beats Superman.]]

* DontMakeMeDestroyYou: [[spoiler: Throughout the fight between Batman and Superman, Supes makes it clear from the start that he doesn't want to kill Bats and practically begs him throughout to just give up so he doesn't have to.]]
* TheEighties: A lot of the action and political commentary stems from real-world politics of the period, in particular [[spoiler:the U.S.-Soviet arms race, which comes to a head in part four]].

* EyeScream: To reiterate: Sharp batarangs are sharp. [[spoiler:Joker learned the hard way.]]

* FlatlinePlotline: [[spoiler:Batman's ultimate plot in the fourth issue is to remove himself from the public spotlight by faking his death. Being Batman, he kills himself for a while using a special drug, using the fight with Superman both as a cover and as an excuse to work out his anger and frustration with Superman.]]

* GodzillaThreshold: Discussed at length. During Commissioner Gordon and his replacement Yindel's first conversation, she asks him why he's allowed a vigilante like Batman to operate in Gotham. Gordon talks about the first time he heard the UrbanLegend that FranklinDRoosevelt let [[WorldWarII Pearl Harbor]] happen in order to get the US into WWII and stop the greater evil of the Axis. He went back and forth on whether it was morally acceptable if true, until he realized the whole thing was "too big" for him to judge.
** Issues later, after Batman [[spoiler:rallies the Sons of Batman and the Mutants to quell the mass riots]], Yindel finally realizes the same. When asked by an officer if they should do something, she can only respond "No. No. He's too big."

* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Joker, in one of the most disturbing examples.]]

* IWasQuiteALooker: Selina Kyle didn't age well. [[spoiler:The Joker notices.]]

* LetThePastBurn: At almost-not-quite the end, Alfred burns down Wayne Manor so that nobody can look through it for evidence or clues after Batman's identity as Bruce Wayne is revealed to the public while [[spoiler: faking his death]].

* NeckSnap: [[spoiler:Batman snaps the Joker's neck at first, but it only paralyzes him. The Joker finishes the job for him.]]
* NeverForgottenSkill: The story starts off with Bruce Wayne retired for ten years and an alcoholic. However, once he puts the Batsuit back on, he demonstrates that ten years of retirement and alcohol have not caused him to forget his skills at all.

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[spoiler:Batman's first fight with the Mutant Leader. Robin's intervention is the only thing that saves Batman from getting killed.]]
** [[spoiler:Batman returns the favor at the end of the chapter.]]

* SmokingIsCool

** A generous interpretation of the Sons of Batman.

* SpitefulSpit: [[spoiler:After the Joker's death, Batman pauses just long enough to spit in the face of his corpse before making his getaway.]]

** WordOfGod says that [[spoiler:Batman didn't kill the aforementioned Mutant who held the baby at gunpoint when he shot him with another Mutant's M-60, stating he shot her shoulder. The film has it to where he shoots her hand to disarm her before knocking her out with the butt of her gun]].

* IAmTheNoun: "Tonight, ''we'' are the law. Tonight, ''I'' am the law."

--> '''Batman''': (breaks a rifle in two with his hands) This loud, clumsy, ''stupid'' thing... this is the weapon of the enemy. We do not need it. We will not use it.

''Batman: The Dark Knight Returns'' is a four-issue Franchise/{{Batman}} comic book miniseries written and drawn by Creator/FrankMiller and published by Creator/DCComics from February to June 198.

** You could arguably count Rob and Don here, too. They keep running into Batman but hardly play a significant role in the story.

''Batman: The Dark Knight Returns'' is a four-issue {{Franchise/Batman}} comic book miniseries written and drawn by FrankMiller and published by Creator/DCComics from February to June 1986.

In this storyline, Batman has been retired for ten years, alcoholic and consumed with grief after the death of Jason Todd, the second ComicBook/{{Robin}}[[note]]a full ''two years'' before ''A Death in the Family'', mind you[[/note]]. {{Franchise/Superman}}, still as young and handsome as ever, has become little more than an icon, answering to the government and trying to stay as neutral as possible. Commissioner Gordon is weeks away from retirement, SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker has been silently locked away in Arkham for years, and Two-Face is about to be released back into the world with a brand new skin. In Batman's absence, and in the midst of a killer heat wave, Gotham City is overrun with crime, plagued by a monstrously violent gang known as The Mutants. After encountering a Mutant gang in the alley where his parents were murdered, Bruce Wayne resurrects Batman, aided in his renewed crusade by Carrie Kelley, a 13-year-old girl who becomes the third Robin. Defeating the Mutants, though, turns out to be child's play compared to what Batman faces next...

There have been a handful of animated references to TDKR as well. The first is a ten-minute segment in the DCAU, considered to be among the best adaptations of a FrankMiller work. Damian Wayne's child, who resembles Carrie Kelley, also makes a very brief cameo as a future Robin in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', fighting mutants in a "what-if" story. One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' featured a future version of Darkwing that was heavily influenced by TDKR's depiction of Batman in the later issues.

* TheAlcoholic: Dialogue from Gordon and Alfred at the start of the series suggests that Bruce is dangerously close to becoming one.

* RobotKid: One of the Joker's mooks builds them... to spray poison gas everywhere. Then explode.

** One interpretation of Batman in this story, especially in the later chapters. AlanMoore's introduction in one printing of the TPB specifically noted that one interpretation of Batman was "revenge-driven psychopath."

* RobotKid: One of the Joker's mooks builds them... to explode.

** Batman is an UnscrupulousHero, being more ruthless than his original DC counterpart.

'''Batman (internal monologue)''' : No, Joker. You're playing the wrong game. The ''old'' game. Tonight you're taking no hostages. Tonight I'm taking no prisoners.\\

*** Also when the Mayor tries to negotiate with the Mutant Leader, Gordon has one just before [[spoiler: the Mutant tears out the Mayor's throat. With his teeth.]]

* SeeYouInHell: [[spoiler:Joker says this [[DrivenToSuicide before breaking]] [[NeckSnap his own neck]].]]

* OhCrap: The Joker realizes Batman isn't screwing around this time when [[spoiler:he gets a batarang [[EyeScream in the eye]].]]
--> [=*Joker grabs one of Carrie's friends and puts his gun to her head*=]\\

* [[spoiler:NeckSnap: Self-inflicted, no less.]]
** [[spoiler:Not at first. Batman snaps the Joker's neck at first, but it only paralyzes him. The Joker finishes the job for him.]]

* NeckSnap: Self-inflicted, no less.
** Not at first. Batman snaps the Joker's neck at first, but it only paralyzes him. The Joker finishes the job for him.

* VitriolicBestBuds: Batman and Superman, again.
** Frank Miller's interpretation is that 'these two people do not like each other'

** [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Which is quickly answered in kind]]:
--->'''Batman:''' "Okay, boy... [[BringIt Show me]]."

* DarkerAndEdgier: Robin kills. Batman mutilates. TheJoker's massacres are graphically portrayed. Creator/FrankMiller lays out his [[StrawmanPolitical grim feelings]] of [[EagleLand America]] for all to see.

* ElectricBoogaloo

** TheBrute & Dark Chick: Bruno

---> '''Reporter''': Police phone lines are jammed with citizens describing what appears to be a siege on Gotham's underworld... [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome by the Batman]].

* ImAHumanitarian: One of the Mutant leader's {{Catch Phrase}}s is his boasts that he will eat Batman's heart.

* MonsterClown: It should be [[TheJoker obvious]] at this point.

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: [[spoiler:Batman's first fight with the Mutant leader. Robin's intervention is the only thing that saves Batman from getting killed.]]

** Gruesomely played with when [[spoiler:Batman has the perfect chance to kill the Joker]] but still refuses to. [[spoiler:The Joker notices... and kills himself just to screw with Batman]].
* TooDumbToLive: Dr. Wolper. And the entire studio audience/host for that matter. At one point, Joker even states that he's going to kill everyone in the room, but [[GenreBlind Wolper dismisses it as a simple joke]].

* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:Two-Face to the Joker]].

* VomitingCop: Alluded to. After [[spoiler:TheJoker kills everyone at the TV studio]], somebody tells the commissioner that one of the rookies got sick and had to go home.

* OldSuperhero: Batman is older here.