Western Animation / Batman: The Long Halloween

Batman: The Long Halloween is a two-part Animated Adaptation of the storyline of the same name from the late '90s. It is also the third and fourth film in the Tomorrowverse. The film covers an entire year as Batman, new to his crime fighting career, must find the mysterious Holiday Killer before more lives are lost while also dealing with the emergence of his Rogues Gallery.

Part I, released on June 22, 2021, features the voices of Jensen Ackles as Bruce Wayne/Batman, the late Naya Rivera as Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Which was sadly her final film role), Josh Duhamel as Harvey Dent, Billy Burke as James Gordon, Titus Welliver as Carmine "the Roman" Falcone, David Dastmalchian as Calendar Man, Troy Baker as The Joker, Amy Landecker as Barbara Gordon, Julie Nathanson as Gilda Dent, Jack Quaid as Alberto, Fred Tatasciore as Solomon Grundy, and Alastair Duncan as Alfred. Part II, released on July 27, 2021, sees the addition of Katee Sackhoff as Poison Ivy and Alyssa Diaz as Renee Montoya. A "Deluxe Edition" combining the two parts into a single 3-hour film was released on September 20, 2022.

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Tropes in these films include:

• Actually Pretty Funny:
  • Falcone makes a crack about "Keeping your enemies close, and a loaded gun closer," in reference to the Maroni crime family on his yacht. They'd been glowering when he first acknowledged them, but crack several smiles at his joke.
  • Bruce Wayne says he didn't provide a statement to the police as he was spending the night with a married woman. When Dent says that an alibi like that is quite convenient, Bruce quips, "Not for her husband," causing Gordon to laugh until Dent glares at him.
• Adaptation Explanation Extrication: The part involving Batman threatening the only banker in Gotham who'll launder Falcone's dirty money is cut out, explaining why he had to keep it in a warehouse.
• Adaptation Origin Connection: In the comics, there's no sign that Alberto and Gilda even knew of each other. Here, they dated in college until Alberto's father forced Gilda to get an abortion, hence why she became Holiday.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Harvey's wife Gilda is portrayed more emotionally distant and subdued here, but it turns out to be justified due to Adaptational Backstory Change. Specifically, Falcone forced her into a traumatic backdoor abortion that, in her own words, "left [her] broken".
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
  • In the comic, Don Falcone is quite protective of his son Alberto, and is adamant that he not get involved in "the business". This makes Alberto resent Don Falcone for rejecting any of Alberto's attempts to advise him. In the animated version Falcone considers him The Un Favourite and is dismissive of him, openly mocking his Oxford education and even physically threatening him.
  • As noted in Backported Development below, Batman and Catwoman have a comparatively more amiable relationship here than in the original comic, even already knowing one another's secret identities, something that usually happens much later in Batman's career (with The Long Halloween being set in his early years).
  • Downplayed example. In the beginning of the film, Falcone's nephew, Johnny, had agreed to testify against his family before he was gunned down by the Holiday Killer, leading Harvey and others to suspect Falcone himself of being the murderer. In the comics, Johnny agreed to testify but backed out after Falcone tried to have him killed, putting him back in Falcone's good graces again until his murder. In the comic, Harvey is also glad that Johnny got what he deserved in the comic, while here, he's enraged that Johnny was bumped off right before he was going to testify.
  • Falcone's daughter Sofia is his loyal enforcer in both versions, but is less secure about having his approval (even seeming afraid of him in one scene) and more willing to question him in the movie. Falcone is a bit shorter with Sofia and also refuses to rely on her too much to avoid looking weak. This is a lot tenser than their comfortable working and family relationship in the comics.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • Catwoman big time. Not only are she and Batman on much better terms than the usual Dating Catwoman dynamic, but she's for all intent and purpose a hero in this incarnation, lacking any selfish motivations and is actively helping Batman in his crusade to take down Falcone and Holiday, and effectively becomes his partner in crime-fighting by the end, as they team up to defeat Batman's rogues. In Part II, she even gets two Big Damn Heroes moments where she saves Batman.
  • Unlike in the source material, Alberto is not the Holiday Killer, and wants a life separate from his mobster family.
  • Also, Two-Face receives a downplayed version of this trope from other Batman stories, where he uses his coin purely as a means to enact justice, and he also cooperates with Batman and the police rather than try to escape after committing murder, though this is also to cover up for Gilda's crimes.
• Adaptational Context Change: In the original story, it's stated ambiguously at the end that Gilda was Holiday, motivated to kill mobsters so Harvey wouldn't be consumed by work so much, but here Gilda being Holiday is not only made more explicit, but changes her motive to be far more personal. Specifically, she dated Alberto in the past and was pregnant with his child, but was forced into an abortion by Falcone that left her sterile.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: In a sense. Gordon's daughter, Barbara (better known as Batgirl and Oracle), makes a cameo as a small child, but she was absent in the original story, which only had Gordon's older son, James Jr., present as a baby. Both are present here and older. Additionally, James Jr. seems younger than Barbara.
• Adapted Out:
  • Carmine Falcone calling Bruce Wayne the son he never had to snub his actual son Alberto implies that Alberto's brother Mario doesn't exist.
  • The Riddler and his entire subplot is cut out as well. In fact, April Fool's Day is the only holiday where we don't see in what way Holiday struck.
  • Harvey's corrupt assistant Vernon Fields, an already established character in Two-Face's origin before The Long Halloween mini-series, doesn't appear in the film.
• Affectionate Pickpocket: Selina steals Bruce's wristwatch, almost certainly when they were holding hands or when she kissed his cheek. Bruce notices as she walks away, but is more amused and curious than anything else.
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • Batman's final conversation with Gilda has her asking if he's going to tell Gordon about her actions as Holiday. Batman gives no answer and simply leaves. Since the two remaining scenes don't feature or mention either Gordon or Gilda, it's unclear whether or not Batman gave her up.
  • Gilda claims that she has no regret for what she did to Alberto, but the few physical features of Holiday when Alberto was killed suggests that Harvey was the one who did it. So either she doesn't blame herself for indirectly causing his death or she somehow used the Two-Face personality to kill him.
• And This Is for...: Maroni, before flinging acid at Dent's face, specifically states doing so as vengeance for his father, Luigi Maroni, who'd been killed by Holiday (who Maroni believes is Harvey).
• Angry Collar Grab: Carmine does this to Alberto while physically threatening him.
• Art Shift: The Stinger for Part II with Green Arrow and the Flash meeting Alfred was clearly made in post-production, as it has none of the proper 2D animation of the rest of the film.
• Asshole Victim: Given most of Holiday's victims are tied to a ruthless mob organization most of them fall under this, the standout exception being Alberto.
• The Bad Guy Wins:
  • Part One ends with Batman failing to identify Holiday for a second time, as the suspected Alberto Falcone becomes another one of the serial killer's victims.
  • Ultimately, Gilda Dent secures the fall of the Falcone Empire. When Batman confronts her, she assures him the Holiday Killer is finished and will never be seen again.
• Backported Development: Batman and Catwoman's relationship. Catwoman appears here virtually as an ally to Batman, and Selina and Bruce seem to be in a fairly serious relationship - to the extent that she's aware of his secret identity. These are developments from much later stories in the comics, both chronologically and in terms of publication.
• Badass in Distress: In Part II, Bruce Wayne/Batman is rescued by Selina Kyle/Catwoman on no less than three occasions.
• Bait-and-Switch: Dent's home is bombed early in the first film, the blast consuming him and his wife in the backyard. She seems to come out of it fine, but Harvey is shot from an angle that hides half of his face in shadow, hinting at the villain he will become. Eventually, he escapes from the hospital, meets up with Gordon where he is only seen in profile… and he's fine, just some bruises, barely worse off than his wife. Something's bound to happen, just not yet.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Holiday's murders are the catalyst for all the chaos that ensues in the duology, but because they're a Hidden Villain the Joker and Two-Face have to pick up the slack as The Heavy for the respective climaxes of the two-parter. The former attempts to gas half of the city on New Years Eve so that Holiday won't eclipse him as Gotham's most notorious criminal; the latter, after months of frustration from being unable to nail Falcone, snaps and recruits the villains of Arkham to lay siege to the Roman's empire, intending to finally rid the city of his presence no matter the cost.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Carmine "the Roman" Falcone, who's constantly ten steps behind Holiday and can't hold a candle to the growing supervillain presence in Gotham.
• Bilingual Bonus: Sofia and the Falcones singing Happy Birthday in Italian to Carmine at his party.
• Bittersweet Ending: Batman fails to stop both Holiday's killing spree and Harvey's descent into villainy. The upsides are the rogues are back in lock-up, and Gothamites have started to see Batman as a hero.
• Bookends: Part 1 begins on Halloween, and Bruce tells Alfred they are not going to get any trick-or-treaters again this year. Part 2 then ends on Halloween, except Bruce is proven wrong in his belief that no trick-or-treaters will come when a little boy dressed as Batman arrives, trick-or-treating with his parents.
• BFG: Carmine arms himself with an anti-material rifle against the supervillains who turn up at his door, but it does no good.
• Broad Strokes: Falcone has scars on his face, which in the comics he received from Catwoman in Batman: Year One.
• Broken Bird: Gilda Dent isn't a bloodthirsty psychopath, but a scarred woman who had her chance for happiness ripped away. She became Holiday because there was no other way to punish the man responsible.
• Calling Card: The Holiday Killer leaves behind an untraceable gun with the nipple from a baby bottle serving as a silencer, and an object appropriate for the holiday to fit with the theme (pumpkin, snowglobe, etc.).
• The Cameo:
  • A kid Barbara Gordon makes an appearance, dressed up as a police officer for Halloween and going around trick-or-treating with her friends.
  • The Flash and Green Arrow make one in The Stinger as they appear at Wayne Manor to see Bruce.
  • Renee Montoya's appearances are little more than these.
  • The Penguin appears during the climactic attack on the Falcones.
• Casting Gag: Jensen Ackles plays Batman after having previously played as Red Hood in Batman: Under the Red Hood.
• Captain Obvious: Batman and Gordon ask Calendar Man who killed Johnny Viti on Halloween. His answer?
  Calendar Man: The same person who killed Mickey Chen and his crew on Thanksgiving.
  • Gordon is not amused.
  Gordon: We need a better answer than that.
• Chekhov's Gift: When Bruce was a child, he met Carmine Falcone shortly after the latter had been operated upon by his father. Carmine gives him a silver dollar as a memento of their meeting. The same silver dollar is later used in two major acts against Falcone: one that destroys his money and the other that ends his life.
• Chekhov's Gun: Alberto Falcone's attendance at Oxford; initially part of Carmine's beratement towards his son during Part 1, it becomes a hint as to the former's relationship with Gilda when an Oxford flag is found in Dent's basement.
• Composite Character:
  • In the graphic novel, there were two Holiday Killers, Gilda and Alberto though the former is implied to be the real one while the latter simply took credit and only killed one person. In the film version, Alberto is innocent, while Gilda remains the true Holiday and Harvey, presumably under the control of his Two-Face identity, kills Alberto after assuming the Holiday identity.
  • With the Riddler Adapted Out, the theories he makes about the Holiday Killer's identity are instead voiced by Calendar Man.
• Consulting a Convicted Killer: Gordon and Batman drop by Arkham to consult Calendar Man on the holiday killings, since date-based crimes are his thing. He gladly walks them through the details of who might be responsible, then hints at Joker escaping.
• Create Your Own Villain: Carmine Falcone forcing his son to break up with Gilda and forcing her to get an abortion caused Gilda to go on a murderous vendetta against him, killing most of his family and leaving his criminal organization in shambles. His deal with Sal Maroni also led to Harvey snapping and end up putting two bullets in his neck, ending him.
• Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: Bruce Wayne, likely crossed with Exhausted Eye Bags given the late hours he keeps.
• Dating Catwoman: Literally. It's toyed with a bit, as Catwoman also acts as Batman’s ally for her own unstated purpose, while Selina and Bruce are dating off screen in their civilian IDs. Selina breaks up with him at the end of the first film, but they get back together at the end of the second film with the two of them affectionately watch Alfred give candy to a trick or treater.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • In the comics, Alberto Falcone is seemingly killed, only for it to turn out that he faked his death and is revealed to be Holiday... sort of. In contrast, Part 1 of the movie ends by very definitively killing him off for good, with Batman spotting and chasing Holiday at the scene of the crime to boot.
  • Sofia Falcone survived her fall at the end of the comic, and would later appear in the sequel as one of the main antagonists. Here, the fall is actually fatal, with Sofia violently landing on top of a cop car.
• Death by Secret Identity:
  • Selina accidentally blurts out "Bruce!" when Batman shows up to confront Alberto. The Holiday Killer puts an end to any problem that reveal might have posed.
  • Batman holds a dying Carmine, and they talk about the conversation he had with Bruce Wayne as a child.
• Death Seeker: Carmine Falcone becomes this after most of his family was killed combined with growing weary of his life as a mob boss, and when Two-Face plans to kill him, Falcone tells him to just do it.
• Decomposite Character: In the comics, the one gangster Alberto is known to have killed is Sal Maroni. Thanks to his Death by Adaptation, Gilda takes the role instead.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation:
  • While still shot and killed by Two-Face, here, Carmine is shot in the neck and dies a little bit afterwards. In the comic, he's shot in the head and dies instantly.
  • In the comic, Alberto faked his death on New Year's, only to be smothered to death by his sister, Sofia, with a pillow after being wounded by Calendar Man in the sequel, Batman: Dark Victory. Here, he is indeed killed on New Year's Eve.
  • Sofia herself survives her fall, only falling so far until crashing through a window, then employed Obfuscating Disability to hide that she was Dark Victory's Big Bad, the Hangman, only to die the same way her father did: shot in the head by Two-Face. Here, she's trips and falls out an already broken window only to be grabbed by Catwoman, letting go of Catwoman's hand because her sister can't support both of them, and falls all the way down.
• Divided for Adaptation: The movie was originally released in two parts, with Part I rated PG-13 and Part II rated R. The later Deluxe Edition combined these two parts and gave the overall film an R rating.
• Disney Villain Death: Combined with Driven to Suicide. Sofia tumbles out the window like in the comic, but as Selina grabs her hand in an effort to save her life, she purposely lets herself go out of the grief from watching her father die.
• Distracted by the Sexy:
  • At the start of Part II, Poison Ivy has trapped Bruce in her Lotus-Eater Machine fantasy so she can get him to sign over his assets to Carmine.
  • When Batman is kissing Catwoman, a bomb goes off in the distance and it's Catwoman who notices first, not Batman.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Played for Laughs when the holiday-themed killings come to a climax and the only supervillain who isn't broken out of Arkham is Calendar Man, who got the coin toss wrong.
  • Gordon notes they are "back to square one" after failing to catch Holiday again. The next holiday is Halloween, which was the holiday a year ago when the killer first struck.
• Elite Mook: One of Chen’s Triad buddies proves a much more persistent and genuine threat than the rest, as a Lightning Bruiser with deer-horn knives that can keep up with Batman. The fight largely resolves as a fight between this dude and Batman while the other story to interfere.
• End of an Age: Like the comic, this film shows the ordinary gangsters like Falcone being replaced by the villains of Batman's rogues gallery. Falcone actually discusses this with his daughter Sofia, with Falcone apparently believing that he can change with Gotham to keep up with it.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Although Carmine Falcone treats his son like dirt, he's greatly upset at his death, wanting vengeance on Harvey, who he believes is the Holiday Killer. He also admits that he was a pretty lousy father.
  • Sal Maroni loves both his father and Sofia Falcone, who he is in a secret relationship with.
  • Even in his evil Two Face persona, Harvey acts to protect Gilda after realising she's the Holiday Killer, attacking Batman when he goes to pursue her, and confessing to all the Holiday Killer crimes as well after killing Carmine. It's this that finally tips off Batman as to the Holiday Killer's real identity.
• Evil Is One Big, Happy Family: Two-Face gets the deadliest inmates of Arkham (plus Solomon Grundy) to rally behind him in his assault on the Falcones, despite Harvey being the DA who put them there.
• Evil Sounds Deep: The one provided by Duhamel as Two-Face is enough to rival Richard Moll!
• Evil Sounds Raspy: The Scarecrow.
• Exact Words: At the end of Part I, Bruce firmly tells Carmine that the Wayne Foundation will not help the Falcone mob with money-laundering, "so long as [he's] in control". Falcone knows he won't yield, so he has Poison Ivy use her powers to entrance Bruce into "willingly" signing over several millions of dollars in assets to him.
• Foreshadowing:
  • All the references Harvey keeps making to his future dual nature. "I'm of two minds here."
  • Throughout Part I, Catwoman shows a personal stake in taking down the Roman. Towards the end, when talking to Alberto about life with his father, he notices that he feels oddly comfortable talking to her, and tries to make a move on her. Selina emphatically turns him down, and tries to explain her reasoning just as Batman arrives. While the original book implied it, Part II of the movie confirms that Selina is Carmine's illegitimate daughter.
  • Batman gets dosed on fear toxin and mistakes Selina for his mother. Later Catwoman does a Dramatic Unmask causing a dying Carmine to blurt out another woman's name, letting Selina know who her mother was.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: Gordon and Batman have this routine. Played with in that this Batman, being relatively early into his career, hasn't yet developed into the master detective most iterations are famous for being, so his main tactic is to intimidate to get what he wants.
• Great Detective: Averted with Batman being mocked by various people for his lack of deductive skills. This case forces Batman to realise he's got to do more than jump out of the shadows and beat up criminals. He eventually does work out who the Holiday Killer is, but it takes him a year to do so.
• Groin Attack: What does Joker do when Harvey's tackled him to the floor and pummeling him? Knee Harvey in the groin to get the upper hand again.
• Happy Marriage Charade: How Gilda feels about her and Harvey by New Year's.
• Heroic Bastard: Part II reveals Selina is the daughter of Carmine and his mistress, and, despite portraying herself as morally grey, she is ultimately a good person.
• Hero of Another Story: While Batman tracks down a spree killer, Catwoman is Gene Hunting.
• Hidden Villain: The Holiday Killer remains obscured throughout Part One, adding to the mystery. Even when we get a clear shot of their body, their heavy trench coat combined with a fedora and face mask mostly covers their face.
• His Name Is...: Alberto is shot by the Holiday Killer before he can blurt out the name of his former lover, which turns out to be the key to the entire case.
• Hollywood Silencer: The Holiday Killer uses an untraceable pistol with the nipple from a baby bottle over the muzzle a silencer. This doesn't appear to affect the noise much when firing multiple shots, even though the first shot would break the nipple. The choice of silencer is a clue to the killer's motive, however.
• Hypocrite: For all their preaching, the Falcones only care about family when it conveniences them. There's Carmine's treatment of Alberto, his using the memory of Bruce's parents to manipulate him, and the revelation that Selina is his abandoned illegitimate daughter. At the end of the movie, he doesn't seem saddened by Alberto's death. When Bruce is mulling over Holiday suspects, Carmine and his sister are listed, the former tying up loose ends, and the latter as an attempt for the whole business. Alfred doubts that she'd kill her son, but she is a criminal, as Bruce points out.
  • This is worsened when Part II reveals Holiday's motivation: Gilda was Alberto's girlfriend and got pregnant out of wedlock with him, and Falcone had her child aborted against her and his son's will.
• Identity Impersonator: Lampshaded when the Holiday Killer strikes when Batman and Gordon are confronting Two Face. Gordon points out he could be a hitman that Harvey has hired to dress up as the Holiday Killer to clear him of suspicion.
• Improbable Weapon User: The Mad Hatter knocks Batman out with a teapot.
• It's Personal: The Holiday Killer turns out to be Gilda, who was rendered infertile by the abortion forced on her by Carmine Falcone's goons.
• Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Batman punches a suspect in the leg where he previously stabbed him with a Batarang, trying to make him talk. The suspect is merely stalling for his goons, so it doesn't work.
• Karma Houdini: Gilda Dent/The Holiday Killer ultimately gets away with all her murders and the blame is pinned on her husband. Batman might tell Gordon but this is left unknown by the end of the film. However, it's also implied that it's a Pyrrhic Victory as she is alone again.
• Law of Inverse Fertility: Downplayed. Gilda and Harvey want a baby, and while Gilda's dialogue hints that she can't conceive, Harvey says there are "ways." Part II reveals that Gilda was forced into an abortion in the past when she became pregnant by Alberto in university, as Falcone could not tolerate a illegitimate grandchild born out of wedlock. This is her primary motivation for being Holiday here.
• In Love with the Mark: Gilda claims she married Harvey because he was as determined as she was to bring down the Falcone Empire, but that she loved him anyway.
• Maybe Ever After: Part II closes with Selina staying over at Wayne Manor, all but confirming she and Bruce are giving their relationship another shot.
• My Greatest Failure: Alberto admits to Selina that his biggest regret was not standing up to his father to defend his girlfriend, Gilda, feeling that he proved his father right that he is spineless.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Troy Baker's Joker speaks in a voice very similar to the legendary one by Mark Hamill.
  • Carmine mentions several corporate sponsors at the children's hospital fundraiser, including Kord Omniversal, Soder Cola, and Gotham Broadcasting Company.
  • The Mad Hatter reciting the same "twinkle twinkle little bat" rhyme he used during his debut appearance in The Animated Series. Doesn't work out so well for him this time, though.
  • The kid trick-or-treating at the end of part 2 dressed as Batman is wearing a costume made to resemble Bruce's suit during the DC Rebirth era
  • Like in The Dark Knight, Harvey Dent wasn't well-liked by the cops (especially Dirty Cops) due to his impossibly high standards.
• Not His Sled: For those expecting a straight adaptation of the comic storyline, Alberto's swift and violent demise in Part I's post-climax by the Holiday Killer immediately diverts the plot down a different route, given he was the original killer in the comic.
• Not Me This Time: Part One's climax has Batman confronting the Joker about being the Holiday Killer, since Joker escaped before the first murder and harassed Carmine Falcone on Christmas, the same night and place his enforcer died. However, Joker reveals that he's actually hunting Holiday, and his fumigation plot is based on the logic that the New Year's party will have nearly half of Gotham in attendance, so it's a coin flip if he takes out the killer with everyone else, and reasons that either way at least he gets to kill a lot of innocent people too.
• Not So Stoic: Calendar Man acts like the typical dissonantly serene criminal for the majority of his appearance, except for after Arkham's prison break where every member of Batman's rogues gallery has been freed except him, since he picked tails on Two-Face's double-headed coin.
• Percussive Pickpocket: At the New Year's party, Selina intentionally trips a guest to swipe her necklace.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: The surreal character designs of Tim Sale have been significantly toned down for the film adaptation. In particular, both Catwoman and Poison Ivy are given a more streamlined redesign: Selina wears her traditional black catsuit as opposed to the big-eared purple suit with the long tail, and Ivy no longer has a giant bush of leaves for hair (though she does wear some leaves on her head as a nod to the comic design).
• Precision F-Strike: Falcone drops the duology's sole F-bomb in Part II, when Two-Face has him at gunpoint.
  Falcone: Just pull the fucking trigger.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Ultimately what Gilda/Holiday Killer's victory amounts to. She may have gotten her revenge on anyone part of Falcone's family and not face justice for it. But now she has nothing else to live for and is completely alone as her husband, Harvey Dent, is locked in Arkham for taking the fall for her crimes. Along with how her murders lead to him to turned into Two-Face. Judging from her tone and posture while Batman confronts her, she feels the same way.
• Race Lift: The Falcone-associated thugs who were hired to bomb Harvey Dent's house are changed from Irish mobsters to Chinese triads. They also put up a much better fight against Batman than in the comic.
• "Ray of Hope" Ending: At the end of Part 2, Bruce feels that Gotham is still too corrupt after everything that has happened in the last year, and while saying not everyone has the same hope Alfred does, that they need more good people trying to make a difference before they see any real change. He is Instantly Proven Wrong though when a little boy dressed as Batman arrives, trick-or-treating with his parents, symbolizing there is still hope.
• Reaction Shot: When Falcone's toasts begin to emphasize family and a relationship he values more than it seems, Alberto is shown reacting hope it references him… as is Selina.
• Read the Freaking Manual: Joker does this in mid-air after forgetting to take the safety off his Deadly Gas dispenser. He then throws the manual out of the plane.
• Red Herring: By Part II, Harvey is the prime suspect in the Holiday murders. Cops and mobsters gunning for him lead to the man's psychotic break, his iconic disfigurement, and his rebirth as Two-Face. However Holiday's appearance in Part 1 suggests that he did, or his Two-Face personality, did kill Alberto.
• Reduced to Ratburgers: Grundy, who appreciates the leg of turkey that Batman leaves for him.
• Reused Character Design: Instead of wearing her purple getup from the original comic, which included whiskers and a tail, Selina's Catwoman suit in the movie is pretty much lifted wholesale from Batman: The Animated Series minus her belt.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: During the climax of part one, Joker plans to gas the entire parade as he believes there is a chance the Holiday Killer is among those in the parade. While this was clearly Joker being his usual crazy self, Gilda was at the parade with Harvey when Joker attacked.
• Rogues Gallery Showcase: The Joker, Catwoman, Calendar Man and Solomon Grundy all have roles in the film. The second part adds Two-Face, Poison Ivy, the Scarecrow, the Mad Hatter and the Penguin to the proceedings as well.
• Rule of Symbolism: The baby-bottle nipples which Holiday uses as a crude but effective pistol silencer symbolize the child torn out of Gilda and the future children she'd never be able to have.
• Self-Made Orphan: In his introduction, Scarecrow reminisces how he killed his mother.
• Sequel Hook: Part II's post credits scene has the Flash and Green Arrow visiting Wayne Manor, presumably to invite Batman to join the growing superhero team.
• Sins of the Father: In Part II, when Alfred is showing Gordon and Dent out after they interrogate Bruce on his father's involvement with the Falcone family, he muses on this before wishing the pair good day.
• Sound-Effect Bleep: During a gunfight Sofia yells “Come on you Motherf-“ before the being drowned out by automatic weapons fire.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: A Batman staple. Ironically, Alfred pulls this on Bruce in his introductory scene.
• The Stinger:
  • In Part I, a post-credits scene shows Alberto's funeral, where Falcone tries to again pressure Bruce into letting him launder money in the Wayne Foundation. Bruce again refuses… so Falcone asks him to shake hands with the lady accompanying him at the funeral, and Poison Ivy's vines cover Bruce's hand as his eyes turn green…
  • In Part II, some visitors ring the doorbell at Wayne Manor. Alfred assumes it's trick-or-treaters, until he suddenly comes face-to-face with Green Arrow and the Flash.
    Alfred: (To Bruce) It's for you, sir.
• Surprise Incest: Defied when Alberto and Selina are on a cruise ship she talks with him, which he mistakes for flirting and leans in for a kiss. She backs off, knowing that she is his half-sister from an affair.
• Taking the Heat:
  • Sal Maroni ends his war with the Falcone family by pretending he'll testify about hits he did for Falcone, only to confess to doing them all by himself and then burning Dent with acid under the assumption that he's the Holiday Killer.
  • Two Face confesses to the Holiday killings, knowing Gilda is the culprit after Batman found the guns in his basement.
• Talk to the Fist: In Part II, the Mad Hatter doesn't get to finish his Ironic Nursery Tune before Batman decks him square in the face.
• Tell Me About My Father: Selina only plans to confront Falcone about him being her father so she can learn about the mother she can't remember.
• Turbine Blender: Poor Alberto Falcone winds up being shredded by the propeller of a cruise ship.
• The Un-Favourite: Carmine barely respects his son Alberto, scolding him that his Oxford education has made him "forget his place" among his family. Carmine even goes on to make a celebratory speech proclaiming Bruce Wayne is the son he never had, while Alberto is in the same room.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The Holiday Killer's handiwork messes up the Falcone and Maroni families so much that it paves the way for the supervillains of Batman's Rogues Gallery to end up seizing control of the underworld for themselves. Gilda's actions as the killer also incidentally caused Harvey take the fall for her on top of his psychotic break, something she took advantage of but feels massive regret over in the aftermath.
• Villainous Friendship: Scarecrow and Mad Hatter work together to rob a Bank, and Mad Hatter enjoys telling rhymes to Scarecrow.
• Was It Really Worth It?: Batman and Gordon ask this to Harvey Dent, who believes the killings were necessary to take down the Falcone family. Later this is asked to Gilda, the true Holiday Killer, whose actions indirectly caused Sal Maroni to scar her husband, breaking his mind.
• Wham Line: Harvey hearing his own voice except gravely and deep, telling himself to get up.

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