History ComicBook / Knightfall

* NeverBeAHero: Jean-Paul tells Joe Public, a hero created in the ''ComicBook/{{Bloodlines}}'' storyline, to stop being a hero in Gotham or he'll end up dead after an encounter with the Corrosive Man.

** During the aftermath of while ComicBook/{{Azrael}} is [[TakeUpMySword filling in]] for Bruce as ComicBook/{{Batman}}, Jean-Paul's {{darker and edgier}} (and [[BrainwashedAndCrazy crazy]]) version of The Dark Knight starts off as a commentary on [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks comics of the time]], but slowly he explicitly becomes Creator/FrankMiller's [[ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns Dark Knight]], cemented when Jean-Paul makes himself gauntlets with metal claws.

** Az-Bats was a TakeThat to UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks superheroes, according to the WordOfGod.

Around the time of ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'', DC started publishing ''Knightfall'', a BatFamilyCrossover featured in ''Detective Comics'', ''Batman'', and other related DC titles in the early [[TheNineties 1990s]]. Longtime ''Batman'' writer and editor Denny O'Neil planned out a storyline wherein Bruce would face each of his major foes one last time before being crippled and replaced with a DarkerAndEdgier Batman-For-The-Nineties, before eventually being healed and taking back the cowl. The prelude to the storyline took place from September 1992 to February 1993; this part focused on introducing several new players in Gotham City and showing the mental state of Bruce Wayne. The main storyline took place from April 1993 to August 1994, and follow-up storylines lasted from August 1994 to February 1995.

** ''Defeated'' variant with Killer Croc. In the comics, Croc has avoided capture until he faces Dick Grayson as Batman in the "Prodigal" arc, where he's defeated and found by the police, tied up in a fishing net. In ''Knightfall and Beyond'', Croc's early clash with Bane in the sewers, which ends in a draw when the ledge they're on collapses under them (though Croc clearly came out the worse, suffering a broken arm), is replaced with a duel between Croc and Bruce and ends when the latter defeats Croc via crushing a cylinder of knockout gas under his nose.
** Another "Defeated" variant with Cornelius Stirk. In the comics, Batman stops Stirk as he's trying to kill Commissioner Gordon. In ''Knightfall and Beyond'', Batman simply catches Stirk as he's roaming Gotham, looking for a victim, and leaves him tied up for the police to take into custody.

->''"All very interesting, gentlemen - one man fighting another over the right to repeatedly risk his life attired like a bat..."''

For a long time, rumours competed over whether DC/O'Neil had planned the whole thing from the start as a way of sticking it to readers clamouring for a DarkerAndEdgier Batman, or had seriously intended to replace Bruce Wayne as Batman.[[labelnote:*]]Comic Book Legends Revealed even debunked the rumour that it was a ploy to stop paying Bob Kane royalties - incidentally, even if it had been, that wouldn't work, as long as they published a ''book'' called "Batman", regardless of the character's identity[[/labelnote]] Since then, many of the series' writers have been upfront about the fact that Az-Bats' rise and subsequent fall had indeed been planned from the start, at least in part as a TakeThatAudience towards the "Batman should be like ComicBook/ThePunisher!" MisaimedFandom. In retrospect, it's rather obvious, particularly when they introduced [[PlotTailoredToTheParty Shondra Kinsolving and her healing powers]] fully months before the start of the crossover.

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:Shondra Kinsolving's foster father, a BRUTAL racist (but with the public appearance of a kind, generous pillar of the community), actually adopted her just so he could beat her.]]

%%* AntiHero: Jean-Paul Valley.

** In-Universe: Jean Paul notes the cape of the traditional Batsuit just kills momentum, a flaw that almost killed him and inspired him to alter the cape. It's later commented that all the armor Jean Paul added to his version of the costume, while useful, makes him slow and unable to maneuver tight spaces.

** The Riddler straps a (fake) bomb to his waist and takes an entire TV talk show hostage all by his lonesome - just so he can have a platform to broadcast his riddles to Gotham City's viewers.

* BatFamilyCrossover

** Az-Bats does NOT react well to the Joker turning round and walking away from him.

** Jean-Paul Valley fits under this as well, especially towards the end of the arc.

* CoolCar: In addition to the Batmobile, this arc introduced the 90's-tastic Subway Rocket - a bulletproof, streamlined monster that can go to 200 MPH in seconds and do 180-degree turns on a dime.

* CycleOfRevenge: What Bruce was HOPING to avoid by not having Nightwing be Batman. Oops.

** Averted with Bane.

* DisposableSexWorker: Novelization only - Bane hires a bunch of hookers for the "usual" purposes, but once he's done, unceremoniously kills them and carves bat-symbols into their bodies in a crude attempt to tarnish Batman's reputation (especially with the police).

It's rather astonishing that there was never a retcon that had otherworldly forces of some kind be behind Bane's dreams and what they led to: It almost comes off as [[DiabolusExMachina the universe purposely making a man to destroy Batman otherwise.]] In fact, Bane's entire life has been shaped by this as well. His entire childhood was spent in prison because of a crime his father committed before Bane was even alive.

* DudeWheresMyRespect: One of the most entertaining ways the novelization differs from the actual comics - in the novel, Bane breaks Batman around three in the morning, so he can't find any audiences aside from a few bums. As a result, Gotham's underworld continues to ignore him until he starts resorting to [[IHaveYourWife even more drastic measures]].
* DumbMuscle: Played straight by Amygdala. Killer Croc is pretty dumb but has the cunning to break Bane's injection button during their fight, putting them on equal footing.

* EinsteinHair: The Mad Hatter - which is fitting, considering that he's mad and is a master of electronic mind-manipulation.
* EveryoneHasStandards: In the novelization, Alfred is so incensed by Bruce's inability to just hang them up, he cleans the mansion one last time - and leaves forever.

* TheExtremistWasRight: A minor example. Although there's no question that Azrael was a psychopath and that Batman needed to retake the mantle, near the end of the Knightsend storyline the mayor mentions that crime has gone down forty-two percent since Azrael took over.

* FromBadToWorse: In Part 3 of ''Knightfall'', Batman walks away from stopping Zsasz looking physically and mentally exhausted. And by this point, he only put away two others before him - Mad Hatter and Amygdala. It gets worse from that point - kicking Poison Ivy in spite, driven to the same mental exhaustion after stopping Firefly and the long gauntlet of the Joker, Scarecrow and Bane's goons would be the finishing touches.

* GatlingGood: Gunhawk inspires Azrael's last Batsuit upgrade by firing a minigun at Jean Paul, damaging the suit.

* GeniusBruiser: Bane. He is one of Batman's most intelligent foes.

* IHaveManyNames: In regard to the saga itself. Despite the use of "Knightfall" to talk about the whole saga, the title was only used to describe Bane's reign of terror, his attack on Bruce Wayne, and Jean-Paul Valley taking up the identity of Batman. Then you've got "Knightquest," which was two story arcs under the same umbrella name. One was "The Crusade", which details Jean-Paul's tenure as Batman and descent into madness, though outside of these elements, most of the stories published were standalone stories. The other was "The Search", which follows Bruce Wayne's search for Jack Drake and Shondra Kinsolving and his recovery from his injuries. There's "[=KnightsEnd=]", where the first half deals with Bruce Wayne's retraining and getting back into shape, and the second half deals with Bruce redonning the Batsuit and--with Nightwing, Robin and, briefly, Catwoman--confronting Jean-Paul and taking back the identity. Following that is ''Prodigal'', about Dick's tenure as Batman while Bruce finished resting up and reevaluating stuff. Lastly, there's ''Troika'', where Bruce comes back as Batman permanently.

** The treatment Robin gets from BOTH Batmen throughout this series.
** In fact, it's this attitude that Bane ''counts'' on: Bruce refuses to get serious help from others to get the Arkham escapees, and is worn down enough for Bane to take him.
* InsaneTrollLogic: In the {{Novelization}}, Jean-Paul starts believing that Bruce Wayne was never meant to be Batman, and starts inventing beliefs Wayne Manor was usurped by Bruce somehow, and that the Batman was created Saint Dumas, and Bruce intentionally defied Dumas and defiled the cowl to mock him.
* IntercontinuityCrossover: The first ComicBook/ThePunisher / Batman crossover featured Az-Bats instead of Bruce. The start of ''[=KnightsEnd=]'' even sees Jean-Paul namedrop Jigsaw as the enemies he's fought during his time as Batman.
* JourneyOfReclamation: ''[=KnightsEnd=]'' is about Bruce reclaiming the Batman identity. When he gets back to Gotham at the end of ''Knightquest'', he considers giving up being Batman and letting Jean Paul continue full time -- then he hears about how Jean Paul acted, he letting Abattior die, and how Abattoir's death led to Graham Etchinson's death. After his confrontation with Jean-Paul failed (the result of being out of shape thanks to being in a wheelchair for months), he decides to go to Lady Shiva to retrain and regain his edge, which the first half of ''[=KnightsEnd=]'' is about and the second features Bruce in full Batman costume fighting to stop Azrael.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Once the Joker surrenders to Az-Bats and goes on about "next time", he is interrupted by Az-Bats breaking his arm. Abattoir's death avoids this because his death made it so the police found his last torture victim too late.

* LightningBruiser: Bane

* MagicalNegro: Shondra Kinsolving has ''literal'' magic powers, and mostly exists as an excuse for Bruce to bounce back from his crippling (that said, she doesn't provide a whole lot of ''spiritual'' guidance - that part mostly goes to Alfred). While one might think it was why Denny O'Neil did his best to keep the ''Search'' part of Knightquest out of print, it remains in the {{Novelization}} (which O'Neil himself wrote, so it's probable he felt more comfortable with her in prose.)

* MoralEventHorizon: InUniverse, Bruce's decision to take be the mantle of Batman back after recovering is motivated by [[spoiler:his considering Jean-Paul letting Abattior die, which in turn caused another man to die, to be this.]]

** Abbatoir - French for "slaughterhouse"
** Amygdala - part of the brain responsible for feelings of primal rage
** Bane - old-fashioned term for "scourge"

** Zsasz - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zsasz#Trivia The other wiki]] suggests that he might be named for the Russian wrestler Alexander Zass, although his creator named him after Thomas Szasz, the famous anti-psychiatry activist, who believes there's 'no such thing as mental illness'.
* NeverBeAHero: Jean-Paul tells Joe Public, a hero created in the ''ComicBook/{{Bloodlines}}'' storyline, to stop being a hero in Gotham or he'll end up dead after an encounter with the Corrosive Man.
* NeverMyFault: Gordon told Batman that he had killed Abbatoir (see "TakeAThirdOption") and asked, WhatTheHellHero. Jean-Paul replied that he did not break the ThouShallNotKill rule: he did not kill Abbatoir, he simply let him die.

--->Endings to be useful must be inconclusive - Creator/SamuelRDelany, ''The Einstein Intersection''

* NotDistractedByTheSexy: Bruce hunts for Lady Shiva and finally finds her - sitting naked in the snow, her back to him. Without turning around, she informs him that if he takes a step closer, he'll be killed quickly. Bruce shrugs and says he has no interest in dying, nor her. He just wants her training. Shortly after, Shiva has ''Bruce'' strip naked to examine him professionally. She then has ''him'' sit in the snow, because this is the part of his training where his ass freezes (although he is allowed to wear his mask so long as it doesn't cover that part).

* {{Novelization}}: Two - Dennis O'Neil did ''Batman: Knightfall'' for adults, while Alan Grant wrote ''Batman: Knightfall and Beyond'' for younger readers; both conclude with "[=KnightsEnd=]" and lack the followup storylines "The "Prodigal", "Troika" and "Alfred's Return" arcs. Differences between the two include:
** Grant's version portrays Batman's defeating Mad Hatter, Killer Croc, Cornelius Stirk, Poison Ivy and all three of Bane's henchmen before his back-breaking battle with Bane himself, and Jean Paul Valley's defeat of Scarecrow and later Clayface III and Lady Clay, and includes Dick Grayson returning to Gotham as Nightwing to help out. These are barely (in the case of Croc and Ivy), or not at all (for the rest) mentioned in O'Neil's version. In the case of Grant's version, the omission of ''Alfred's Return'' can be excused even beyond it being published before the one-shot in question as Alfred never quit in it.
** Neither version portrays the battles with Riddler or Bruce's fight with Scarecrow, Joker's fight with Jean Paul (his fight with Bruce ''is'' included in O'Neil's version though), or Catwoman's role during the events of "[=KnightsEnd=]".
* OddFriendship: Child-like Amygdala is entranced by Socko (and perforce The Ventroquist), and become a BrainsAndBrawn team.

* PieInTheFace: As part of his movie-themed crimes, the Joker ambushes Az-Bats by having his henchmen pelt the guy with [[spoiler:knockout-drug-laced]] cream pies. All the while, the entire scene is set up like a 1920s silent picture - Az-Bats specifically notes that the only sound present is "the tinkling of a ragtime piano".

* [[OurPresidentsAreDifferent President Action]]: The president of Santa Prisca, as seen in the Catwoman comic book. He stopped a hitman sent to kill him, Catwoman joined the fight (because the hitman once tried to kill her), the man killed the hitman, the police appears... and then, and only then, we are informed that this badass was none other than the president.
* PretenderDiss: Having easily deduced that Jean Paul wasn't Bruce, when he calls him out for the final fight, he types in the message ''"Batman" Come''. It takes Bullock a few minutes to realize that there were quotation marks around the name after Bane jumped through the sign.

* RelativeButton: Scarecrow & Joker (Joker especially) find out that making Bats hallucinate Jason Todd's murder is a [[UnstoppableRage VERY]] [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown BAD]] [[CurbstompBattle IDEA]].

* RoguesGalleryShowcase: Over the course of the story you run across virtually ''all'' of Batman's major villains and a good portion of the very minor ones - and they even introduce a bunch of new guys!
* RoomFullOfCrazy: Less extreme than usual examples, but Cornelius Stirk - true to character - conveniently writes in his diary that Commissioner Gordon is going to be his next victim.
* RuleOfSymbolism: How does Bruce deal with a fully armored, psychotic Jean-Paul Valley? He retreats into one of the narrowing caves, that forces Jean-Paul to remove the costume piece by piece til there's only the helmet left. Bruce then has the full force of sunlight shine into his face; since the helmet was adjusted for dark, it temporarily blinds Jean-Paul, and also removes the hypnotic state he had been in, and when he removes the helmet, he has a mild MyGodWhatHaveIDone Bruce defeats Azbats by having him remove his costume and see the light with clear eyes.
* RunTheGauntlet: Dear lord, this gauntlet puts the ones that Jeph Loeb came up with to shame!

* ScaryImpracticalArmor: Jean-Paul's final armor is this - a magazine-fed shuriken launcher with single shot, semi-automatic and [[MoreDakka puree]], a flamethrower, heavy armor, wing fins that double as extra armor, the works. But, as Bruce and Dick point out, you have to be super strong just to move like Bruce without the armor and it's slow and clumsy.

** In ''Batman'' #496, Scarecrow openly grumbles that his fear gas won't work on Joker. He apparently forgets this little fact a mere three issues later, in ''Detective Comics'' #664, where he sprays Joker with his fear gas. Surprise, surprise - Joker reacts by asking him if he has different flavors, and beats the crap out of Scarecrow with a chair. (And mind you, both these issues were part of the same story, so not even the taken-for-granted loose continuity of different comic book story arcs can justify this. And also, it could be Scarecrow was convinced his ''new'' mixture would work, since his work on perfecting the gas hasn't stopped).

* ShoutOut: One of the Ventriloquist's puppets is an Irish-accented cop named "O'Hara".

*** The arc also can be seen as one to a 1960s-era Batman issue where Joker pulls silent-film-themed crimes under the guise of shooting a silent comedy for an eccentric millionnaire. The issue was adapted [[note]]albeit swapping The Riddler for Joker, to take advantage of Frank Gorshin's skill with impersonations[[/note]] into an episode of ''Series/Batman1966''.

* SkewedPriorities: When Abattoir targets his second cousin Graham, Graham's incarcerated father Henry is less concerned with the fact that his son might fall victim to a sadistic SerialKiller than with the fact that Graham's murder will cause his trust fund to revert back to the state, while Henry will have a chance to reclaim it in the future if Graham stays alive. Henry's attorney lampshades how Henry has never been one for fatherly concern.[[note]]Those few who remember Abattoir's debut in the comics [[CallBack might note]] that Henry ''deliberately'' broke Abattoir out of Arkham to drum up support for a Tough-On-Crime mayoral platform, even arranging for his wife - Graham's ''mother'' - to be murdered.[[/note]]

* SwissArmyAppendage

* TakeAThirdOption: Jean Paul Valley fights Abattoir at a [[NoOSHACompliance dangerous factory]]. Abattoir is hanging to a chain, over a tank full of deadly acid, and Batman is in the employees corridor near it. What to fire? Deadly shots, to make him fall, or a rope to save him? The ghost of San Dumas commands him to save Abattoir: Batman leads of crusade of light, even if using darkness as a weapon. The ghost of Azrael says otherwise: if Abbatoir is saved, he will kill again, and that blood will be on Valley's hands. Torn between "save him" and "kill him" orders, he takes the third option: he leaves, letting Abattoir fall to his death. Unfortunately for Valley, this proves to be the wrong choice, as Abattoir's death dooms his final victim and convinces Bruce that Jean Paul is the wrong choice to be Batman, resulting in his decision to take back the cowl.

* TenMinuteRetirement

** In the finale, ''[=KnightsEnd=]'', [=AzBats=] and Batman have accidentally caused a helicopter to crash onto a bridge and the two start tangling on a maintenance bridge. Batman gets the upper hand and tosses [=AzBats=] off and into the water. As he's falling, [=AzBats=] attempts to use his flamethrower in an attempt to kill Bruce. One problem, the helicopter's been spraying diesel since crashing. [=AzBats=] erupts into flames.

* TookALevelInBadass: Once doused with Venom, Riddler can go toe-to-toe with Batman, and would've beaten him had Bane's henchmen not shot him (long story).
* TrainingFromHell: Lady Shiva's "training" for Bruce to regain his fighting prowess is to have him don a Tengu mask that she herself wore when she killed an OldMaster. This prompts said Old Master's seven disciples to come after Bruce, who beats them one-by-one, regaining his prowess bit by bit along the way.

** TraintopBattle: What inevitably ensues when Az-Bats catches up with the two.

* UnderestimatingBadassery

* VillainTeamUp: Remarkably few in number, given how many inmates escape from Arkham. Joker & Scarecrow's (brief) partnership is the most prominent. Also, there's the Ventriloquist and Amygdala. This doesn't last very long.

* WeakButSkilled[=/=]UnskilledButStrong: How Batman and Jean Paul fight in the finale. Batman is in peak condition but it's his skills that make him dangerous. Jean is no slouch either but he relied more and more on armor upgrades until he was pretty much wearing a smaller Hulk-Buster costume.

** Both Batmen do a good job of rounding up the Arkham escapees, but three (Killer Croc, Ventriloquist, and Joker) are still at large by the time the story ends properly, with no resolution to their status. However, The Ventriloquist and Croc loose ends ''are'' tied up in the follow-up "Prodigal" storyline. Likewise, the ''Batman/Spider-Man'' crossover sees Joker recaptured.
*** Also a lot of stuff is unanswered for the poor souls who have only the original three trades to read on the matter.
*** Another example would be that Bruce had seven students to fight but only six appear in the third volume.
*** Bird, Trogg, and Zombie are all played up to be co-[[TheDragon Dragons]] to Bane, and that Bane is actually loyal and fond of them. They never appear again after Knightfall. In fact, they don't reappear until nearly 25 years later, in ''Bane: Conquest'', a [[ComicBook/New52 reboot]] and [[ComicBook/DCRebirth soft reboot]] later!
** The Novelization concludes with Bruce not deciding whether he will continue being Batman.

* WouldntHitAGirl: The reaction of Jean Paul Valley to Catwoman.
* WouldHurtAChild: When Bane kidnaps a mob boss' children, he's fascinated with them, never having seen children before. He actually plays with them. When Bird wonders if Bane will have a problem killing them, Zombie answers he wouldn't even blink at killing them.