Batman: Nightwalker is a young adult novel by Marie Lu published in 2018, with a Comic-Book Adaptation published in 2019, about one of the most famous superheroes in comic history: Batman.
Bruce Wayne is 18. He's rich, he's an orphan, and due to an impulsive decision with his new car he has to do community service in the Arkham Asylum.
There he meets Madeleine Wallace, a girl his age, who doesn't seem to belong there. Very beautiful and highly intelligent, she soon draws Bruce into a game of minds, in which he is never quite sure if she is telling the truth.
At the same time, the Nightwalkers, a group of murderers and thieves, run free in Gotham City. Bruce must solve the mystery before more people get hurt.
After all, he will be Batman.
The novel is part of the DC Icons series.
This book has examples of the following tropes:
- Abusive Parents:
- Bruce's friend Harvey is beaten by his father, who doubles as an Alcoholic Parent. Harvey later actually reports him and he ends up in jail.
- The father of Richard Price, a former friend of Bruce's, is implied to be emotionally abusive.
- Accidental Murder: Averted. Madeleine claims her mother killed the doctor that was scamming her family by accident after hitting him once. But when Bruce looks it up, he finds out the mother actually stabbed the doctor with a knife multiple times.
- Adults Are Useless: Played With. The police are investigating the murders, and Detective Dracoon seems rather competent, but at the end it is Bruce who has to intervene with an assist from his best friend Harvey, Alfred and the tech Lucius Fox designed. Alfred and Lucius Fox seem to be perfectly competent as Bruce's guardian and the head of R&D respectively, though.
- And the Adventure Continues: The last chapter ends with Bruce looking over the city, deciding that it is a home worthy of protection.
- Asshole Victim: Sort of. Mayor Price was emotionally abusive at least towards his older son, but Bruce remembers that his other kids seemed close to him.
- Badass Normal: Bruce, of course, but really, as nobody has any powers.
- Bedlam House: Arkham Asylum, as always. None of the patients ever seem to receive any therapy, and Madeleine shows some bruises she says come from the nurses. It's not clear if she tells the truth about that, though.
- Big Bad: The boss of the Nightwalkers, Madeleine's brother, Cameron Wallace.
- Big Damn Kiss: Bruce and Madeleine share their first passionate kiss while she's holding him prisoner in the gala.
- Call-Forward:
- The story likes to make references to Bruce's future as Batman
Dianne: [about Bruce doing community service in Arkham] Well, at least you'll be able to say you've crossed paths with the most dangerous criminals in the city. I mean when will you get to do that again?- Likewise with the teenager version of Two-Face, who's not a villain yet. Harvey Dent is shown to be Bruce's Best Friend, who is a stickler for rules. He does however already have a coin he plays around with when he's nervous.
- Canon Foreigner: Dianna Garcia, one of Bruce's best friends, as well as Detective Draccon, who is in charge of Bruce's community service and of course Madeleine and the Nightwalkers.
- Cardboard Prison:
- Played With. A storm causes a blackout in Arkham Asylum, and that's all it takes to free all inmates from their cells. But the heavily armed guards manage to beat all the inmates before any can escape. Later, Madeleine manages to escape by herself without anyone noticing until it's too late.
- Harvey easily manages to steal a guard's key from the police precinct and helps Bruce escape from his cell, with the two sneaking out without any of the guards noticing.
- Catapult Nightmare: Bruce wakes up from his Erotic Dream with Madeleine in this fashion.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Madeleine's origami looks like a merely Character Tic at first, but later Bruce deduces she's sending secret messages using them.
- The security drones That Lucius shows off to Bruce at WayneTech end getting hacked by the Nightwalkers, who use them to attack the gala.
- Childhood Friends: Bruce, Harvey and Dianne have all been friends since they were kids.
- Comic-Book Adaptation: Chris Wildgoose illustrated a graphic novel under the DC Ink imprint.
- The Commissioner Gordon: The Trope Namer shows up briefly at the end, still a Detective.
- Commonality Connection: Bruce and Madeleine bond over them both being orphans.
- Consummate Liar: Detective Draccon is sure the Madeleine is one. Bruce isn't sure, but then again, he wants to relate to her.
- The Corrupter: Detective Dracoon is worried that Madeleine is this to Bruce. She might be right.
- Dating Catwoman: Even when the Trope Namer isn't around, Bruce Wayne has a Type and ends up having a romance with the alluring criminal Madeleine. He even admits to himself that the more he fears her, the more attracted he is.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Thomas and Martha Wayne, Bruce's parents, are only ever remembered as good people.
- Deliberately Monochrome: The comic adaptation is in black and white with yellow as the single color highlight.
- Demoted to Extra: Gordon, sort of. He only shows up shortly at the end, with Detective Draccon filling in as Bruce's main contact with the police.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Madeleine seemingly dies in Bruce's arms after being shot by her own brother. But it's later revealed she actually survived.
- Doomed by Canon: Every Batman fan knows what will eventually happen to Bruce's friend Harvey Dent...
- The Dreaded: Madeleine, herself, after being accused of three horrific murders, as well as the Nightwalkers as a whole.
- Easter Egg: Bruce's Best Friend Harvey Dent is familiar to every Batman fan, as is Detective Gordon, who takes over Detective Draccon's position at the end.
- Erotic Dream: Downplayed. It's nothing explict, but Bruce starts to have dreams about Madeliene coming into his bedroom and making out with him.
- Freudian Excuse: Madeleine's brother died because the doctor who promised to save him was a con artist, then her mother murdered said doctor and died in prison, all while Madeleine was 10. Later it turns out that Madeleine isn't the murderer after all, her brother, who only almost died, is, but he has essentially the same reasoning for his deeds.
- Hidden Wire: Detective Draccon has Bruce wearing a wire when he goes to speak to Madeleine a second time. Madeleine can immediately tell just by how uncomfortable he is, so Bruce makes a point of tearing the wire in front of her so they can speak in privacy. Detective Draccon is not happy about it.
- Institutional Apparel: All of Arkham inmates wear the same prison outfit.
- I Surrender, Suckers: During a sparring boxing match, Richard pretends to yield to Bruce, only to get a cheap shot when Bruce lets his guard down.
- Karmic Thief: The Nightwalkers only target rich people, but they steal their money for themselves and always kill their targets, so nobody treats them as sympathetic. Madeleine actually wants the Nightwalkers to be Just Like Robin Hood and it's her brother Cameron who's insistent on killing their targets.
- Master of Unlocking: Bruce develops a gadget that allows him to open any door in Arkham Asylum.
- Mythology Gag: Harvey Dent is seen playing with a coin.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Nightwalkers, the name of the terrorist group Madeleine is associated with.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Madeleine uses this with Bruce when talking about how they're both orphans. Then again, she's a Consummate Liar, so...
- Oh, Crap!: When Bruce comes back to the manor and the door is ajar, but everything is dark, and he remembers that Alfred was home. Also, a bit later, when he realizes that Madeleine used him to break out of Arkham and then left behind a letter that implicates him.
- Origin Story: For Batman, of course.
- Police Are Useless: Well, they capture Madeleine, but they can't get her to tell them anything, and it's Bruce who eventually stops the Nightwalkers.
- The Reveal:
- Richard Price, Bruce's Evil Former Friend turns out to be one of the Nightwalkers.
- Madeleine's brother Cameron didn't die as a child, he was brought out of the country to another doctor who was able to save him. Now he's leading the Nightwalkers
- Secret Underground Passage: Madeleine tells Bruce about a secret passage in an abandoned building that leads to a secret weapon cache for the Nightwalkers.
- Sibling Team: Madeleine and her brother Cameron lead the Nightwalkers together as a brother-sister team.
- Splash of Color: The comic adaptation is Deliberately Monochrome, except for the occasional yellow.
- Sympathetic Murderer: Madeleine's mother went to prison for murdering a physician that had been scamming her family, pretending he was giving an expensive treatment and medicine to Madeleine's brother, when it was actually just cheap placebo pills.
- Teen Genius: Both Bruce and Madeleine count, as they are 18 and mention that they used to tinker with electronics since they were kids.
- Trauma Button: When Detective Dracoon shows Bruce the photo of a murdered rich man, it triggers Bruce's memories of the death of his own parents.
- Two Guys and a Girl: Bruce's trio of friends consists of two boys (Bruce and Harvey) and a girl (Dianne).
- Was It All a Lie?: Bruce to Madeleine, after she breaks out of Arkham and leaves a note that implicates him.
- What Have I Done?: Richard Price, so much. He just wanted to get back at his father, he didn't want him dead.
- Wolf Whistle: While working in Arkham Asylum, Bruce is constantly hassled by the female inmates with wolf whistles and catcalls.
- Working Out Their Emotions: Bruce likes working out at the gym to distress after working at the Asylum.
