History ComicBook / BlackestNight

* YouCantKillWhatsAlreadyDead: The comic is all about this. When the Black Lantern Corps is created, rings reanimate the dead (mostly meta-humans as well alien races) and the carriers gaining a quick regeneration and NighInvulnerability. [[spoiler:Discovered during the series that the only way to kill Black Lanterns are [[AllYourPowersCombined combining all Lantern powers]] or [[GoldAndWhiteAreDivine being a White Lantern]].]]

** Not to mention Black Lantern Firestorm. He manages to be funny even while ''[[spoiler:forcing the current Firestorm to turn his girlfriend into ash]].''

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Johns must be a troper, because he came ''that'' close [[InvokedTrope to naming the trope]] when [[InvertedTrope Black Lantern Solovar]] showed up.

'''Blackest Night''' is the big CrisisCrossover event for Franchise/TheDCU in 2009, written by Creator/GeoffJohns, intended to take a serious look at death in comics. It's a gigantic ZombieApocalypse featuring superheroes and supervillains being forced to fight against their loved ones risen from the grave. This involves plenty of [[NightmareFuel/BlackestNight Nightmare Fuel]] and [[Awesome/BlackestNight Crowning Moments of Awesome]] for everybody involved. The whole series is a detailed examination on what the ComicBookDeath actually means for the character involved, mixed with a nonstop intense thrill ride of action and kickass personal battles, fueled by a cosmic terror.

* IdiotBall: Ganthet already ''knows'' that when two or more people wear the light of avarice, they will inevitably end up fighting each other and no one else. Jordan has also heard this tale, first-hand from Larfleeze himself. Yet, they go ahead and send out an orange ring which deputizes ''Lex frickin' Luthor''. Not surprisingly, him and Larfleeze spend the entire showdown fighting with each other and make themselves completely useless; the Avarice light seems to have been brought along only for obligatory purposes. Justified for [[TokenEvilTeammate Red and Yellow rings]], as they at least had some measure of control and had been helping to take out Black Lanterns.

* TheUnreveal: In issue 5, the various Corps leaders all charge up their rings, having a roll call of their oaths - except for Larfleeze, who's hungry again. The Indigo Tribe oath can count, too; this is the first time we've heard it, but it's in [[{{Fictionary}} an alien language]]. Unlike Larfleeze's, though, the Indigo Tribe one DOES come with a reveal. [[spoiler: Abin Sur's name is part of the oath.]]

** At the end of the story, [[spoiler:Black Hand is kidnapped by the Indigo Tribe and is forced to feel compassion to counteract his natural sociopathic detachment from life.]] Considering the actions which he had caused through out the arc, the reader is less inclined to feel sorry for this fate.
** When Jason Rusch, the second Comicbook/{{Firestorm}}, [[spoiler:is absorbed by the undead Ronnie Raymond as his new Firestorm matrix, Jason is trapped inside Ronnie's head. Ronnie then proceeds to turn Jason's girlfriend into salt, while Jason is screaming in agony inside Ronnie's head. The fact that Ronnie's a dumb lug and only remembered the chemical formula for salt by reading it from Jason's mind and that Ronnie could not affect organic matter until he absorbed Jason, who COULD affect organic matter, made it infinitely worse.]]
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Jason confesses his feelings for Gehenna [[spoiler:as Black Lantern Firestorm kills her, with him trapped in the Firestorm matrix against his will.]]

** A number of people are legitimately back at the end: [[spoiler:Osiris, Jade, the first Captain Boomerang, Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond), Hawk (Hank Hall), Maxwell Lord, the Reverse-Flash, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Aquaman, the Martian Manhunter, and just to complicate matters, Deadman. Oh, and [[OhCrap The Anti-Monitor]].]]

* BreakingSpeech: As they feed on the emotions of their victims, the Black Lanterns give these pretty much '''nonstop''' trying to draw a reaction from their former loved ones. Gets ''really'' old after a while for both the characters and reader, the former of which get annoyed [[ShutUpHannibal and react accordingly]]. Of course this puts the characters right where the Corp want them. As Damage puts it: "For the last time, '''shut your rotten face!'''" And then he gets his heart completely torn out when the Atom inspires him to fight on. It doesn't really matter what emotion you are feeling for the Black Lanterns to steal your heart. Just as long as it is a strong one. Damned if you do...

* [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale Comic Book Writers Have No Sense Of Scale]]: According to BN, life originated on [[spoiler: Earth. However Earth is only 5 billion years old, while the universe as a whole is about 13.]] Many other lifeforms besides the Guardians already existed by then - the Old Gods from the ComicBook/NewGods saga for example.

* EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: [[{{Reconstruction}} Reconstructed]]: Besides being the center of the multiverse, [[spoiler:life originated on Earth, which is why Nekron is attacking it - the source of life remains there.]]

* ForgotAboutHisPowers: The murder of Firestorm's girlfriend mentioned under StuffedInTheFridge gets pretty weird if you remember that Gehenna learned to [[TeleportersAndTransporters teleport]] before even learning to walk. Subverted in that she is mentioned as trying to teleport but the power of Black Lantern Firestorm currently holding her by the throat is preventing her from doing so.

** The Spectre himself says that the only being worse than Nekron is the Anti-Monitor, and the series ends [[spoiler:with Nekron defeated but the Anti-Monitor alive and well.]]

** Used with Damage, as well. Since ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', he's generally been a brooding anti-hero, fuelled mainly by his rage. Ray Palmer manages to talk to him, convincing the young man to set aside his anger, and he begins to feels hope again... and then Black Lantern Jean Loring punches his heart out. Just to make things worse, his is the final heart needed to activate the Black Lantern's central power battery.

** Poison Ivy has one of her {{Man Eating Plant}}s swallow Black Lantern Black Mask, with the plant digesting him faster than he can regenerate.

* InNameOnly: [[spoiler:Deadman, after being one of the twelve revived by the White Light. Even he is aware of this.]]

** Not to mention Black Lantern Firestorm. He manages to be funny even while ''[[spoiler:forcing the current Firestorm to turn his girlfriend into ash.]]''

* NeverMessWithGranny: In ''Blackest Night: Superman'' #3, Black Lantern Lois Kent from Earth-2 (died of old age in ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'') gives a BreakingSpeech to Ma Kent. Ma Kent makes a torch and ''burns her'' and then sics ''Krypto'' on her.

** Speaking of Hal, [[spoiler: his merging with the White Entity to trigger the creation of White Rings. Sure, it stops Nekron and brings back a lot of deceased characters. But one of those resurrected is Barry's arch-enemy, the Reverse-Flash. That means Hal's indirectly responsible for the events of ''The Flash: Rebirth'' and the murder of Barry's mom at Thawne's hands.]]

* PeoplePuppets: Most Black Lanterns are puppeteered corpses. The handful that aren't are still puppeteered, just not quite dead yet - [[http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/5588/konbltrapped.jpg A "living" Black Lantern's soul is quite literally trapped]]; they can feel their body moving and hear the {{Breaking Speech}}es the ring spouts out, but cannot do anything to stop it.

* RasputinianDeath: Not as elaborate as Darkseid's in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', but the way that Nekron was stopped was [[spoiler:by having the White Lanterns bring Black Hand to life, which caused Black Hand to vomit up White Rings. After one of them managed to destroy the Black Central Power Battery by resurrecting the Anti-Monitor, the rest of the White Rings vanquished Nekron completely]]. Even then, [[spoiler: it doesn't really kill Nekron - it just sent him back to the Land of the Unliving.]]

* TheReveal: [[spoiler: Earth has been targeted because it is where the Entity, the source of the White Light of Creation, first arrived in the universe and where it's hiding, meaning that life began on Earth, not Maltus (the Guardians' homeworld) and the Guardians tried to keep Earth off other races' radar to prevent them from threatening the Entity. Abin Sur learned this, but the Guardians' cover-up meant everyone thought he had lost it. Learning that his best friend was right when believed insane, Sinestro took this revelation poorly.]]

* VillainDecay: While this could be considered literally true for all the zombied Black Lanterns, other villains like Larfleeze are getting this treatment. In his first appearance he ruled over an entire solar system, possessed the power of an entire corps, dictated terms to the Guardians of the Universe and commanded his own army of wrathful shades. Now he appears much diminished after his first confrontation with the Black Lanterns and his artwork has changed as a result. He is also drawn much smaller and less menacing and seems now to be [[GoldfishPoopGang comic relief]] than anything. Justified as well. Saint Walker offers to curb Larfleeze's hunger with his blue ring for as long as he helps in the fight. Not the most sane choice when the man's power directly stems from how hungry he is. He also builds his Corps on the identities people he's killed with his ring & constructs, which alone can't really do much against already dead beings. And DependingOnTheArtist is effect for his size, of course.

* AllYourColorsCombined: See below.
* AllYourPowersCombined: White Light which is created by combining the light of all seven Corps. It was supposed to be the only way to destroy Nekron (instead it helped him). Carol lampshades this, saying "I think I saw this on [[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers a Saturday morning cartoon]]." A regular Black Lantern can only be destroyed by being hit by a blast of light from at least two of the Corps, and one of them has to be a Green Lantern one.

* [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys Everything's Better With Gorillas]]: Johns must be a troper, because he came ''that'' close [[InvokedTrope to naming the trope]] when [[InvertedTrope Black Lantern Solovar]] showed up.

* [[HumanCannonBall Human Bullet]]: The various Corps used Dove as one against the Anti-Monitor.

** Oh God, Atrocitus…
** ''Adventure Comics'' #5 managed to make Superboy-Prime into one of these.

** Batman and Robin recruit Comicbook/{{Deadman}} and Comicbook/{{Etrigan}}, neither of whom the Black Lanterns can see, to bring them Mr. Freeze's cold gun, which they use to [[HarmlessFreezing freeze themselves solid]].

* AbortedArc: The War of Light was intended to be significantly longer than just the introductions and opening battles between the Corps, as the SplashPage in SinestroCorpsWar implied. Instead, elements like Mongul's implied quest for each Corps' rings, and Evil Star's presence in backstories for Black Hand and a Blue Lantern were simply abandoned to make way for the CrisisCrossover.

* DyingDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler: Kendra]] gives one to [[spoiler: Carter]] when they are dying after being stabbed, and after their killer claims she always hated him.

* WhatTheHellHero: Superboy-Prime calls the writers at DC Comics out for continuing the story and giving the Black Lanterns the advantage even though he already proved that the comic book characters all exist and really are in serious danger. It doesn't work.

-->'''TROPERS OF EARTH-PRIME.''' '''''[+++LIVE.+++]'''''

It's also the latest chapter of Geoff Johns' cycle of epic Green Lantern stories (the others being ''Green Lantern: Rebirth'' and the ''ComicBook/SinestroCorpsWar'', followed up by ''Brightest Day'') Along with having major impact on the Lanterns, it's used the concept of the dead rising to force many heroes to confront their dearly departed in unexpected ways, leading to some surprisingly emotional stories for a crossover.

* EldritchAbomination: The various alien entities that are incarnations of the various colors of the emotional spectrum, which has led to some fan speculating that these beasts may be like infant Chaos Gods from ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' in training, all except for [[spoiler:The Entity, which was born on Earth]]. Nekron especially counts; born from the original darkness of the universe itself to consume life and the Emotional Spectrum it created, Nekron had been subtly moving pieces to his advent since ''Hal Jordan'' first became Franchise/GreenLantern, and it has tried on one or two occasions to expend it's realm into ours. Nekron fits the bill of an E.A. so much, '''''it shouldn't be able to exist in the physical universe.''''' It is only able to do so through an avatar, a link to the Living World: Black Hand. Arguably a subversion, since Nekron is displayed as being mostly powerless on his own. He needs Black Hand to exist in the physical universe (and actually have a body), and needed to use the power of the Anti-Monitor (who was trapped inside the Black Battery at the time, and was what powered it) in order to create the Black Rings, control dead heroes and villains, and (temporarily) keep Comicbook/TheSpectre at bay. Without those things, he's reduced to being an empty spirit locked at the bottom of whatever hole he was tossed down in ''Blackest Night'' #8.

* HopeSpot: Literally. [[DeathSeeker Superboy-Prime]] surrenders to the Black Lanterns and puts on a black ring to become one of them, but his wild emotions end up saving him, destroying the ring and all the zombies around him. His ex-girlfriend Laurie forgives him for his past misdeeds and they hug, Prime sobbing on her shoulder, but the last shot reveals that Laurie is actually ''one of them'', and is poised to kill him. It was all a plot to fill his heart with hope, before feeding on it.

** In the tie-in ''Green Lantern'' #47, the action on Ysmault cuts away after the Black Lanterns' failed attempt to kill Atrocitus. At the end of the issue, Atrocitus suddenly appears on Okarra, with no indication of what happened to the other Red Lanterns, or the "Lost Lanterns" who had also been on Ysmault.

* YankTheDogsChain: Hawkgirl finally gets up the nerve to confess that she loves Hawkman in ''Blackest Night'' #1. Then both she and Hawkman die brutally.

* TheCreepyUndertaker: Franchise/GreenLantern villain Black Hand was reinvented as one of these in the leadup to ''Blackest Night''.

'''Blackest Night''' is the big CrisisCrossover event for the [[TheDCU DC Universe]] in 2009, written by GeoffJohns, intended to take a serious look at death in comics. It's a gigantic ZombieApocalypse featuring superheroes and supervillains being forced to fight against their loved ones risen from the grave. This involves plenty of NightmareFuel and [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome crowning moments of awesome]] for everybody involved. The whole series is a detailed examination on what the ComicBookDeath actually means for the character involved, mixed with a nonstop intense thrill ride of action and kickass personal battles, fueled by a cosmic terror.

Largely focusing on the Comicbook/GreenLantern mythos, the [[BigBad villain]] is an EldritchAbomination named ''Nekron'' who represents the forces of death on a cosmic level, and wishes to consume all positive and negative life force in the universe. To take it, he needs to draw everyone into his realm... effectively making him an OmnicidalManiac.

Following the events of ''Blackest Night'' is ''BrightestDay'', which not only further chronicled Johns' Green Lantern work, but dealt with the repercussions of the post-Blackest Night DCU.

* AllYourPowersCombined: White Light which is created by combining the light of all seven Corps. It was supposed to be the only way to destroy Nekron (instead it helped him).
** Carol lampshades this, saying "I think I saw this on [[CaptainPlanet a Saturday morning cartoon]]."
** A regular Black Lantern can only be destroyed by being hit by a blast of light from at least two of the Corps, and one of them has to be a Green Lantern one.
* AndIMustScream: The Black Lanterns don't just raise the dead, they also go after those heroes that died and were brought back for whatever reason, and those resurrected heroes who are made into Black Lanterns are forced to watch their bodies kill and operate out of their control. All the while, they are slowly dying as the Black Rings are completely killing them.

** When Jason Rusch, the second Firestorm, [[spoiler:is absorbed by the undead Ronnie Raymond as his new Firestorm matrix, Jason is trapped inside Ronnie's head. Ronnie then proceeds to turn Jason's girlfriend into salt, while Jason is screaming in agony inside Ronnie's head. The fact that Ronnie's a dumb lug and only remembered the chemical formula for salt by reading it from Jason's mind and that Ronnie could not affect organic matter until he absorbed Jason, who COULD affect organic matter, made it infinitely worse.]]
* AnyoneCanDie: Seriously. They really aren't pulling punches with this one.
** ... DeathIsCheap remains in effect, however, so they don't really punch that hard, either. Half of the onscreen deaths turn out to be negated by the powers of the characters involved one way or another, and most of the others are undone at the end of the arc
* BackFromTheDead: The Black Lantern Corps - [[CameBackWrong kind of]]. Previous resurrections are also deconstructed, as Nekron permitted them in order to have {{Manchurian Agent}}s among the living.

* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: Hal's desperate attempt to stop the rampaging Spectre by letting Parallax take him over again.
** [[spoiler:Sinestro, of all people, getting the White Lantern power. Subverted, he's smacked away soon enough after and has to be backed up by the others.]]

* BreakingSpeech: As they feed on the emotions of their victims, the Black Lanterns give these pretty much '''nonstop''' trying to draw a reaction from their former loved ones. Gets ''really'' old after a while for both the characters and reader, the former of which get annoyed [[ShutUpHannibal and react accordingly]]. Of course this puts the characters right where the Corp want them.
** As Damage puts it: "For the last time, '''shut your rotten face!'''" And then he gets his heart completely torn out when the Atom inspires him to fight on. It doesn't really matter what emotion you are feeling for the Black Lanterns to steal your heart. Just as long as it is a strong one. Damned if you do...
* BreakingTheFourthWall: In ''Adventure Comics'' #4 (and presumably #5), since Superboy-Prime lives on Earth-Prime (essentially ''our'' world) he knows what's going to happen because he's read the issue you're reading right now. This builds on the {{Metafiction}} that was assigned to Prime since the end of ''[[ComicBook/FinalCrisis Legion of 3 Worlds]].''
** Black Lantern Alexander Luthor tells Superboy-Prime that he '''dies''' next issue.
*** Of course not before Superboy-Prime tries to kill Creator/DanDidio (and all the other writers and artists in the DC building).

* CameBackWrong: The Black Lanterns.
** [[spoiler:Most of the people revived in ''Blackest Night'' #8 after being a Black Lantern have something wrong with them, related to the black ring. See ''BrightestDay''.]]

* ChestInsignia: This is done for maximum horrific effect. When a corpse rises as a Black Lantern, the Black Hand symbol is always incorporated into their new costume or clothes; sometimes in extremely imaginative ways (Tempest's, for example, is skewed in conformity to the diagonal pattern of his uniform - also, he has the symbol tattooed over his right eye, where those scars were before).

* TheChosenMany: There are eight Corps, the seven that feed off one part of the emotional spectrum and the Black Corps, who... don't.
** [[spoiler: There's a ninth, at least temporarily.]]

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Hal even refers to his group with terms like the "color-coded cavalry" and the "rainbow rodeo".
* [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale Comic Book Writers Have No Sense Of Scale]]: According to BN, life originated on [[spoiler: Earth. However Earth is only 5 billion years old, while the universe as a whole is about 13.]] Many other lifeforms besides the Guardians already existed by then - the Old Gods from the NewGods saga for example.
* ContinuityPorn: It's a GeoffJohns story dealing with dead heroes and villains [[CameBackWrong Coming Back Wrong]]. What did you expect?
* TheCreepyUndertaker: Comicbook/GreenLantern villain Black Hand was reinvented as one of these in the leadup to ''Blackest Night''.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Played with in a couple of ways. Nekron invokes this, citing life itself as the invader into a previously dark and empty universe. [[DeathSeeker Black Hand]] legitimately believes that the Blackest Night is for the best, because death will put an end to the chaos and pain in the universe that has no meaning.
** On a less-literal level, the Corps that represent more negative emotions and that had been enemies of the Green Lanterns fought together against the Black Lanterns. Sinestro and Larfleeze fought valiantly, if for selfish reasons. Atrocitus, meanwhile, joined the combined Lantern corps without having to be bribed or motivated by a quest for glory; he wasn't lying when he claimed that he fought to protect life.
*** It's also important to note that while Atrocitus is the head of the Red Lanterns - beings who are fueled by anger and rage - it's established that Atrocitus is at the very least very justified for the anger he feels, as he is the sole survivor of the extermination of his entire sector by the Manhunters. His breakdown shows that - while not completely innocent - his sector did not deserve the punishment wrought upon it.
* ADayInTheSpotlight: The event as a whole was one for the [[Characters/GreenLantern various Lantern Corps]], whilst the main series featured [[Comicbook/GreenLantern Hal Jordan]] and [[TheFlash Barry Allen]] as the primary characters, with Mera & The Atom as secondary characters.
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Scar]], she's been dead and serving Nekron ever since she was [[spoiler: scarred by the Anti-Monitor]].

* DiminishingVillainThreat: While this could be considered literally true for all the zombied Black Lanterns, other villains like Larfleeze are getting this treatment. In his first appearance he ruled over an entire solar system, possessed the power of an entire corps, dictated terms to the Guardians of the Universe and commanded his own army of wrathful shades. Now he appears much diminished after his first confrontation with the Black Lanterns and his artwork has changed as a result. He is also drawn much smaller and less menacing and seems now to be [[GoldfishPoopGang comic relief]] than anything.
** Justified as well. Saint Walker offers to curb Larfleeze's hunger with his blue ring for as long as he helps in the fight. Not the most sane choice when the man's power directly stems from how hungry he is. He also builds his Corps on the identities people he's killed with his ring & constructs, which alone can't really do much against already dead beings. And DependingOnTheArtist is effect for his size, of course.

* EldritchAbomination: The various alien entities that are incarnations of the various colors of the emotional spectrum, which has led to some fan speculating that these beasts may be like infant Chaos Gods from TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} in training, all except for [[spoiler:The Entity, which was born on Earth]]. Nekron especially counts; born from the original darkness of the universe itself to consume life and the Emotional Spectrum it created, Nekron had been subtly been moving pieces to his advent since ''Hal Jordan'' first became Comicbook/GreenLantern, and it has tried on one or two occasions to expend it's realm into ours. Nekron is fits the bill of an E.A. so much, '''''it shouldn't be able to exist in the physical universe.''''' It is only able to do so through an avatar, a link to the Living World: Black Hand.
** Arguably a subversion, since Nekron is displayed as being mostly powerless on his own. He needs Black Hand to exist in the physical universe (and actually have a body), and needed to use the power of the Anti-Monitor (who was trapped inside the Black Battery at the time, and was what powered it) in order to create the Black Rings, control dead heroes and villains, and (temporarily) keep the Spectre at bay. Without those things, he's reduced to being an empty spirit locked at the bottom of whatever hole he was tossed down in ''Blackest Night'' #8.

* EvilCostumeSwitch: Justified, it happens automatically when a dead superhero get a black power ring.

* FromBadToWorse: What's that? The dead are rising? The Spectre, quite possibly the most powerful being in the universe, was possessed by the Black Lanterns? Only one thing to do! Let the AnthropomorphicPersonification of fear out of its can and possess Hal Jordan! Yes, Parallax is back! [[KillEmAll Anyone remember the last time that happened?]]

* HeroicDog: Krypto the Superdog saves Ma Kent and ''blasts the living hell'' out of a Black Lantern.
** And he helped Superboy's BatmanGambit to [[spoiler: get free from the black ring controlling his body, while preventing Conner from killing Wonder Girl]].

* ImplacableMan: Black Lanterns don't die if you cut off their heads. They don't die if they have their hearts torn out, get cut to ribbons, or are immolated down to dust. Even if you figure out that the ring is the really dangerous part, the strength of {{Superman}} or a concentrated attack by several Green Lanterns cannot be relied upon to destroy the ring for good. And most of them, being superheroes, are strong enough to break out of ice or even solid stone when people try to trap them (of particular note, the ring hunting Superboy kept on flying towards him even once it was trapped in ice, and when Wonder Girl ''threw it to the moon'', everyone knew it was only a delaying tactic). The reader will spend the first third of this crossover wonder how it could ''ever'' be possible to beat these things.
* ImTakingHerHomeWithMe: Larfleeze was trying to grab [[{{Squick}} SCAR]] and take her with him. Hey, an undead Guardian is rarer and thus worth more than a regular one!
** In the end, he contents himself with Sayd, who offered her servitude to him in return for his help.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Both Doves exhibit this. The rings fail to turn the deceased Don Hall into a Black Lantern because his soul is completely at peace and is apparently so pure that it cannot be controlled by evil. Dawn Granger, the current and alive Dove, is completely immune to the Black Lanterns' attempts to corrupt her and they literally explode when they try.
** The various corps eventually weaponize this - more than Dawn had been doing already - by launching her right into the Black Lantern Anti-Monitor.

* KickTheDog: In ''Blackest Night'' #0, Black Hand destroys [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne's]] grave. That skull in the image is Bruce's. It's being used to create rings to help kill his former friends.
** It gets worse. In the next issue, [[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/File:Black_Hand_049.jpg he licks it]].

* LaughablyEvil: Larfleeze is a psychotic, murderous, cannibalistic glutton completely devoid of any redeeming qualities (unlike [[KnightTemplar Sinestro]] or [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Atrocitus]]). But that doesn't stop him from stealing the spotlight in this entire event, because he's just so darn funny.

* TheMillstone: Orange Lantern LexLuthor, who spends more time attacking fellow ringbearers than he does the zombies.

* NeverMessWithGranny: In ''Blackest Night: Superman'' #3, Black Lantern Lois Kent from Earth-2 (died of old age in ''InfiniteCrisis'') gives a BreakingSpeech to Ma Kent. Ma Kent makes a torch and ''burns her'' and then sics ''Krypto'' on her.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The Guardians of the GreenLanternCorps. Even without [[TheMole Scar]] manipulating things, the rest of the Guardians (sans Ganthet and Sayd) just couldn't stop screwing up. With the useless [[InternalAffairs Alpha-Lanterns]], [[MediaWatchdog censoring of the prophecy of the Blackest Night]], [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner polarizing]] [[NoHuggingNoKissing new laws]] in the [[GreatBigBookOfEverything Book of Oa]], and their hand in fully igniting the War of Light by directing Larfleeze and his Orange Lantern Corps to the location of the Blue Lanterns, the Guardians almost seemed to be '''begging''' for the ZombieApocalypse!

** What is really important is that the Black Lanterns only kill specific victims, namely those feeling strong levels of one or more of the seven emotions; they do not kill with abandon. A Black Lantern will not harm (or even detect) someone who feels no emotion at all (i.e. Jonathan Crane AKA Scarecrow) or who can empty themselves of emotion (i.e. Shiva and Renee Montoya), nor will they initially go after someone who doesn't have a heart to take (i.e. [[TheFlash Tarpit]] and [[Comicbook/DoomPatrol Robotman]]).
** There's even some internal variation of types: partway through the story Nekron manages to zombify all the heroes who have previously returned from the dead like Superman, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman etc. by forcing black rings onto their hands, thus instantaneously "killing" and transforming them into Black Lanterns. However, these "living" Black Lanterns are apparently not really dead so much as "possessed" by their black rings (as evidenced by returning to a living state upon their removal like Connor, rather than becoming an inanimate corpse as with regular vanquished BL's). Thus they effectively qualify as a different category of zombie within the larger zombie ranks. This is partly indicated by these possessed-BL's not looking like decaying reanimated corpses like all the other BL's, but instead just have pallid gray skin, although this varies slightly DependingOnTheArtist.
*** As a result you get a "sexy undead goth [[http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/files/2010/01/bn_7_revised.jpg Wonder Woman"]] (plus Donna Troy, and Ice, who doesn't appear in the picture) instead of the "heinous rotting cadaver Wonder Woman" you might have expected/feared. Again DependingOnTheArtist, some of the already dead female Black Lanterns do give off some Fetish Fuel as of their appearance (e.g. Jade).

* ThePlan: To no one's surprise, Hal unites the seven corps, beaming the White Light of Creation at Nekron. It makes him stronger. There is no way he did not plan this. In addition, the whole thing ends with Black Lantern Batman. So... Lampshading?
** Turns out Nekron ''allowed'' people to come BackFromTheDead. All so that he could eventually use them for his own purposes. See Kick The Dog.

* ThePowerOfLove: Basically, the Star Sapphires' schtick: A Star Sapphire helps revive Kyle using the love in Soranik's heart, and Carol revived Mera using Aquaman's love after Mera's Red Ring rejected her.
** It also helps to free Hal from Parallax possession. Carol's love "anchored" Hal on her, allowing the Spectre to separate entity from host.
* PreorderBonus: Depending on where you purchased it, some copies of ''Blackest Night'' #1 came with a free Black Lantern Ring. Other comics included rings for the other seven corps.
** The ''Blackest Night'' rings were such a success that DC made more rings for the ''BrightestDay'' followup: Green Lantern (again), TheFlash, and [[spoiler:White Lantern]].

* RasputinianDeath: Not as elaborate as Darkseid's in ''FinalCrisis'', but the way that Nekron was stopped was [[spoiler:by having the White Lanterns bring Black Hand to life, which caused Black Hand to vomit up White Rings. After one of them managed to destroy the Black Central Power Battery by resurrecting the Anti-Monitor, the rest of the White Rings vanquished Nekron completely]].
** Even then, [[spoiler: it doesn't really kill Nekron - it just sent him back to the Land of the Unliving.]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Most of the Black Lanterns did this to the heroes they were fighting, in order to damage them psychologically alongside the physically.
** Black Lantern Aquaman gave a rather brutal one to the Atlanteans that came to retrieve his body, calling them out for shunning him because he was blond and trying to kill him when he returned to Atlantis to claim the throne.

* SaveTheVillain: In the end, [[spoiler: the day is saved by Black Hand being brought back to life.]]

* ShoutOut: '''IN SPACE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM!!'''
** As the Lanterns of various colors combine their powers to make white light, Star Sapphire remarks, [[CaptainPlanet "I think I saw this on a Saturday morning cartoon."]]

** While extricating Ganthet and Sayd from inside the Black Lantern Spectre's mouth, Hal Jordan quips [[Main/TheEmpireStrikesBack "And I thought they smelled bad on the outside."]]

* StuffedIntoTheFridge: A flashback in BN #1 to the TropeNamer. And again later when the girl appears as a Black Lantern (complete with fridge construct ''and'' a Black Lantern Corps fridge magnet!).
** The series also features at least one genuine example, and it's a pretty bad one: Gehenna, who was killed in the most horrific manner possible, turned into salt, just to torment her boyfriend. Though this was the point as Ronnie was continuously feeding Black Lantern Firestorm emotions since they were fused together and it ''would'' have happened to anyone else who was fused with Jason to make Firestorm (such as Jason's best friend Mick if he didn't cease to exist during ''InfiniteCrisis'', or even Professor Stein).
* SympathyForTheDevil: We get a heart-to-heart moment between Saint Walker and, of all people, Atrocitus, as they commiserate that the paths that lead them to their respective corps are actually quite similar.
** Mind you, Atrocitus points out just how different he thinks they are by showing that unlike Walker, he knows that specific individuals are to blame for his misery, and that they haven't ever been brought to justice.

* TookALevelInBadass: Before Geoff Johns took some CharacterDevelopment to him, Black Hand was a seldom used character who had turned into more of a joke in his later appearances.
** His original shtick was as the "cliche villain". He based his plans on trite sayings. Like the Riddler without being ''remotely interesting.''
** While Nekron has always been taken seriously, the number of appearances he's made since his debut in the 80s could literally be counted on one hand and even most hardcore fans had never heard of him. Geoff Johns is now in the process of turning him into one of the DCU's ultimate Big Bads. {{Lampshaded}} by the Flash in issue 5.
** Mera as well. If anyone even knew who she was, it was usually just as Comicbook/{{Aquaman}}'s wife. Now there's talk of her own spin-off after Blackest Night.
*** She gets some gut-wrenching character development: "I never wanted children."
*** Mera is so hardcore that ''Atrocitus'' complements her.

* TwistEnding: To issue 7. [[spoiler:A White Lantern]]? IKnewIt! [[spoiler:White Lantern SINESTRO]]? ... Well, ''that'' was unexpected.
** It's even [[{{Lampshade}} lampshaded]] on [[http://comicrelated.com/graphics/pages/dc/032410/gl52/gl52-2.jpg this cover]].
* {{Uncancelled}}: The black rings ever brought back old canceled comics! In January, old comics that were canceled were brought back for one issue for the Blackest Night. They include: ''The Atom & Hawkman'', ''Catwoman'', ''[[ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger Phantom Stranger]]'', ''The Power of ComicBook/{{Shazam}}!'', ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'', ''TheQuestion'', ''Comicbook/{{Starman}}'', and ''Weird Western Tales''.
* TheUnreveal: In issue 5, the various Corps leaders all charge up their rings, having a roll call of their oaths - except for Larfleeze, who's hungry again. The Indigo Tribe oath can count, too; this is the first time we've heard it, but it's in [[{{Fictionary}} an alien language]].
** Unlike Larfleeze's, though, the Indigo Tribe one DOES come with a reveal. [[spoiler: Abin Sur's name is part of the oath.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: Sinestro has had more than one of these in the series. Whenever he finds out that the Guardians made Abin Sur (his only true friend) look like [[HeroicBSOD he had gone insane]] when he really was [[OnlySaneMan the only one who knew the truths behind Blackest Night]], he gets ''really'' pissed off. Understandably so!
** Also his reaction to Hal getting the Parallax entity again instead of himself and the part around the end with his need to get the White Lantern battery.

* WhamEpisode: None of the core issues draw their punches, but perhaps the first one was the strongest: in ''Blackest Night'' #1, [[TheFlash Barry]] is still trying to deal with how much things had changed since [[CrisisOnInfiniteEarths he died]]. When he learns about the the villain morgue and the hero cemeteries, he asks Hal who else had died since he was gone. Hal uses his ring to show '''everyone'''. When Barry sees [[TrueCompanions Ralph and Sue]], he actually ''sits down in sorrow.''
** And then in ''Blackest Night'' #5, when every major hero who has ever returned from the dead (Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, etc) are killed again by Black Lantern Batman and become Black Lanterns themselves. Oh, and the "white light of creation" actually helped Nekron instead of destroying him like it should have. Uh-oh.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: Prior to the release of ''Blackest Night'' #0, it was established in ''[[Franchise/{{Batman}} Nightwing]]'' that there was a black market for metahuman bodies and organs, leading to the League's confiscation of them. When at the end of BL #0, there is a shot of the Black Lantern Corps with its members rising from a graveyard, with no indication that this was to actually happen. The InternetBackdraft was substantial, saying that DC was ignoring what the ''Nightwing'' writer, Peter Tomasi, had established; but it turned out to be the opposite as BL #1 made direct reference to the ''Nightwing'' storyline. This made it all the more sillier since Tomasi had been writing for the monthly ''Green Lantern Corps'' book for at least two years previous... and what was supposed to be a non-canon group picture of the Black Lantern Corps was taken literally.
** And then there's the origins of the entities shown in ''Green Lantern'' #52. The only ''explicit'' stuff is that the avarice entity is a serpent and discussed while showing a snake and [[ForbiddenFruit an apple]], and the hope entity was said to be born from prayer; but of course it's prompted WildMassGuessing as to what other religious symbolism can be inferred about the entities. The fact that the story also makes reference to "Let there be light" doesn't help.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Where did the Spectre go when Nekron brushed him off? And if Nekron wasn't responsible for it, who took Parallax?
** These questions were answered in ''BrightestDay'': The Spectre was recombined with the soul of Crispus Allen, who then began searching for the Butcher; and Parallax was summoned and imprisoned by [[spoiler:Krona]].

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Oh God, Atrocitus...

* TheWorfEffect: The Spectre, just like the last couple of times. At least there was a somewhat believable reason: Nekron doesn't have a soul to punish.
** Nekron also One-Hit KO's ''the Anti-Monitor'', who it took [[TheMultiverse five universes]] worth of superheroes to defeat in ''CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''. Mind, he ''did'' take quite the beating during the Sinestro Corps War, allowing Nekron to capture him in the first place. (Being crushed by the ''Warworld'', having it and the Yellow Central Power Battery detonate in one's face ''and'' getting a hole punched in one's chest by Superboy-Prime cannot be very good for one's general health)
** For some reason, Superman couldn't hurt the Black Lanterns very much, while Superboy could.
*** Superman only had heat vision and super strength to use against them. Superboy has his tactile telekinesis. One would assume he was basically ''ripping them apart cell by cell from the inside out'' every time he touched them.
* WritingForTheTrade: While this crossover is not so bad on its own (the first few issues could've been condensed without missing much), this storyline lasted eight issues (nine months!) despite being only one night long. To make matters worse, Hal's storylines from ''FinalCrisis'' to ''Blackest Night'' led right into one another, so a week at most passed for Hal while everything else in the DCU took place in clearly longer segments of time, even the nominally parallel ''Green Lantern Corps'' book. It's not a bad read, but it's clearly written with an eye towards the collections, rather than allowing any breathing room between stories or accounting for characters' appearances elsewhere in the DCU.

* ZombieApocalypse: Initially, only the dead with emotional ties to the world's superheroes and supervillains get up and walk. Then Nekron arrives. ''"Coast City.'' '''Rise."''' Remembering that the dead of Coast City number ''seven million'', that's a pretty decent-sized attack.

* ZombifyTheLiving: Nekron does this, but only on those who came BackFromTheDead (e.g. Franchise/{{Super|man}}[[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman man]]). Franchise/GreenLantern and TheFlash avoid this by being JustOneSecondOutOfSync.

-->'''TROPERS OF EARTH-PRIME.''' '''''[+++LIVE.+++]'''''

* TwistEnding: To issue 7. [[spoiler:A White Lantern]]? IKnewIt! [[spoiler:White Lantern SINESTRO]]? ...Well, ''that'' was unexpected.

* IdiotBall: Ganthet already ''knows'' that when two or more people wear the light of avarice, they will inevitably end up fighting each other and no one else. Jordan has also heard this tale, first-hand from Larfleeze himself. Yet, they go ahead and send out an orange ring which deputizes ''Lex frickin' Luthor''. Not surprisingly, him and Larfleeze spend the entire showdown fighting with each other and make themselves completely useless; the Avarice light seems to have been brought along only for obligatory purposes. Justified for [[TokenEvilTeammate Red and Yellow rings]], as they at least had some measure of control and had been helping to take out Black Lanternss.

** ...DeathIsCheap remains in effect, however, so they don't really punch that hard, either. Half of the onscreen deaths turn out to be negated by the powers of the characters involved one way or another, and most of the others are undone at the end of the arc