Batman
Deconstructed Trope in this series.- Batman's Papa Wolf tendencies and his Berserk Button of "killing a couple in front of their son" was deconstructed in "Broken City", in which he pursues a criminal who had shot and killed a couple, leaving the boy in a state of shock. Batman is naturally hellbent on finding the culprit. It turns out the guy he was chasing never really had it in him to shoot a gun, and the boy had shot and killed his parents while the criminal was just nearby. Batman's Berserk Button made him chase after the wrong person.Batman: Everything I've done in the past three nights, I've been doing for the wrong little boy.
- The Commissioner Gordon is deconstructed in Batman: No Man's Land: Sarah Essen explains that Gordon tried to get a job outside Gotham City when No Man's Land was declared, but had been laughed at because he couldn't keep his city safe without the help of a Vigilante Man. She warns the officers to not speak about Batman around him anymore.note
- A Golden Age story called The cop who hated the Batman deconstructed Determinator: Batman is attacked and challenged to a fight by a cop who mistakenly thinks that Batman killed his dad, an incident that occurred five years before Batman built his reputation with the cops. The fight goes as you'd expect from Batman. As expected of the trope, the cop keeps getting back up, but it's very clear that he's outmatched, having trouble standing up before passing out. And since Golden Age Batman was formally made an honorary cop by Commissioner Gordon, the cop is arrested for assaulting a fellow officer, and it's only because of Batman's good will that the charges are dropped.
- The Batman comics deconstruct Thou Shalt Not Kill and If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!. Batman repeatedly refuses to kill anyone, and even goes so far as to Save the Villain whenever possible. This even extends to the Joker, despite knowing that the Joker is evil and Ax-Crazy beyond any hope of redemption, and Batman's repeated refusal to kill him only allows the Joker to continue killing people, especially since the Joker loves committing such atrocities merely for the sake of rubbing them in Batman's face.
- This reaches a point in Detective Comics (Rebirth) #975 — two issues earlier, Batwoman is forced to kill Clayface to stop his out of control rampage and to save Cassandra Cain. Batman calls in Batgirl and the Robins to figure out how to punish Kate for her actions. While Dick and Tim side with Bruce (and Damian just thinks they don't deserve to call themselves a "Bat-Family"), Jason and Barbara side with Kate and call out Bruce for his actions. Jason thinks that Bruce is upset because someone didn't follow his rules and doesn't think Kate should be punished for his double standards while Barbara accuses Bruce of acting the way he was because he was scared of losing his last connection with his mother, Martha, and even more damning, being afraid that, had Martha been alive when this happened, she would have sided with Kate, effectively killing any argument against his rule.
- The Knightfall storyline deconstructs the Anti-Hero Substitute. After Batman is broken by Bane, Bruce appoints Jean-Paul Valley to be Batman. However, the System kicks in and Jean-Paul finds himself lost in the brainwashing, being driven slowly insane in a war of ideologies before ultimately slipping back into his Azrael persona and decided to just try to kill criminals, forcing Bruce to take back the mantle.
- Batman (Grant Morrison): "The Three Ghosts of Batman" and "RIP" seem to be a concerted Take That! and deconstruction of the dominant Frank Miller-inspired interpretation of Batman as just as mad as his enemies, and Bruce Wayne as a mask. Both stories show what a "Batman" without the compassion, determination and restraint of Bruce Wayne would be like, and it's reminiscent of All-Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder.
- The Batman Adventures
- Deconstructs the Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder trope. According to The New Batman Adventures episode "Cold Comfort", after Nora Fries was cured of her terminal illness, she waited for her missing and presumed dead husband Victor Fries for some time before she gave up waiting, marrying her doctor Francis D'Anjou and leaving Gotham for good. This was expanded in Batman: Gotham Adventures #5, Batman: Gotham Adventures #51, and Batman Adventures #15. In Batman: Gotham Adventures #5 Mr. Freeze teams up with Robin, Nightwing and Batgirl to rescue Francis because he cares about her happiness; after Francis is save and Freeze escapes, Francis reveals that Nora still loves him. Batman: Gotham Adventures #51 shows that Mr. Freeze has been sending letters to Nora asking to see her one more time, but that Francis has been hiding all the letters. The issue ends with Mr. Freeze leaving for the Arctic, accepting that Nora does not want anything to do with him, as Nora arrives at Arkham Asylum asking for him. In Batman Adventures #15, Francis, jealous of Nora's feelings for Victor, frames him for attacking him by having a robot freeze him, hoping to convince her to see Victor as a monster. Nora refuses to believe that Victor was behind the attack and leaves for the Arctic to find him. Victor confirms that he was not responsible, and that he would never hurt Francis because she loves him. Nora wants to believe him and admits she does not love Francis, and is not sure she ever did, as she embraces him. Batman and Batgirl arrive to apprehend Victor, who chooses to fight back, thinking Batman will arrest him for his other crimes even if he isn't responsible for Francis' attack. During their fight, Batman causes Victor's suit to overload, which leaves his head to fall into the Arctic Ocean, devastating Nora. After learning the truth, Nora leaves Francis in prison. After Nora talks with Victor's former assistant Koonak, Nora returns to the Arctic, hoping to find Victor's head. It's implied that she never found him and spends her whole life looking for him. So because she understandably tried to move on with her life, Nora separated from Victor again, and what makes it worse is Victor did not come to see her because his condition has completely destroyed his body and he believes he can never be with her, when in fact Nora does not care and still loves him.
- Deconstructs the Batman Grabs a Gun trope. Barbara Gordon respects the Bat Family's avoidance of firearms. However, she is a cop in her day job and is willing to tote a gun when she and Batman infiltrate the base of the Sensei in Gotham Adventures #9, which Batman isn't happy about and asks her to get rid of it, feeling that she does not need it and that using it will be a mistake. It turns out that Batman was right; when Batgirl tries to use it to threaten Sensei, he saw that she was unwilling to use it to seriously hurt him if there was a chance to kill him. After calling out Batgirl for bring a weapon she was unwilling to use, he disarms her and throws the gun away.
- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns deconstructs Fearless Fool with Harvey Dent, who at the climax of their confrontation leans so far out of his helicopter to try to shoot Batman that he falls from it, with Batman (not knowing for sure that it's actually Dent) noting that whoever it is has Dent's lack of sense of self-preservation. The deconstruction comes from Dent being a Death Seeker who may have done that on purpose.
- Batgirl (2011)
- Deconstructs Cowboy Cop. Katharsis of the Disgraced used to be a policewoman who was kicked off the force for castrating a sex offender. She apparently got fanmail for this while in prison, until it turned out the guy was innocent.
- Deconstructs Remember the New Guy?. Barbara lets her childhood friend Greg crash at her place. Babs' friends point out that they'd never even heard of him until this point, and eventually it's revealed why: Greg isn't her friend at all—he's a criminal that Barbara took down years ago who got his hands on memory altering technology and began a campaign of gaslighting and criminal enterprising to destroy her life, starting by inserting himself into her memories.
- Catwoman
- Deconstructs the Innocently Insensitive trope. When Selina and Sylvia were teenagers working the streets together as prostitutes, Sylvia took Selina's place during their first time so Selina wouldn't have to go through with it. Selina didn't know how to handle Sylvia after the incident or attempt to comfort her, causing Sylvia to develop a deep hatred of Selina because she felt Selina abandoned her. Sylvia's hatred of her was unknown to Selina, who still trusted her and considered Sylvia her closest childhood friend. This allowed Sylvia to betray Selina in the worst way possible.
- Deconstructs the Oblivious to Hatred trope. Selina's childhood friend Sylvia Sinclair had a deep hatred for her because when they were teenagers working the streets together as prostitutes, Sylvia took Selina's place during their first time so Selina wouldn't have to go through with it. Selina didn't know how to handle Sylvia after the incident or attempt to comfort her, causing Sylvia to develop a deep hatred of Selina because she felt Selina abandoned her. Despite their shaky history - and also that in the past during a heist gone bad, Selina was forced to leave Sylvia to be arrested - Selina was in the dark about Sylvia's hatred for her and trusted her, even considering Sylvia her closest childhood friend. Sylvia abuses that trust by revealing her identity to her enemy Black Mask, who kidnaps Selina's little sister Maggie and her husband Simon Burton. Simon is tortured to death, while Maggie is tortured to insanity.
