For examples from the 2002 TV series, go here.
For examples from the 2020 film, go here.
- Base-Breaking Character: Misfit. According to Gail she was intentionally created to be Oracle's Bat-Mite, so this makes sense. Fans are split between finding her a charming fit who adds a Kid-Appeal Character to the group, or she's an annoying Bratty Half-Pint who doesn't gel with the group and causes nothing but problems, while her role could be better given to Cassandra Cain or Stephanie Brown.
- Broken Base: The Huntress VS Shiva duel. One side will say that Huntress had absolutely no business lasting as long as she did, to say nothing of the fact that she decked such a massively superior martial artist. The other side will counter that Huntress's insults and dirty tactics, combined with a tiny bit of luck and the fact that neither fighter really wanted to be there, broke down Shiva just enough for her to get in a couple hits. The second group would also point out that Shiva still dominated the fight and that Huntress herself repeatedly said she stood no chance.
- The fanservice, particularly from issues drawn by Ed Benes. For some it was an awkward and sexist distraction that detracts from the genuinely strongly written women, and plays a large part in dissuading readers from taking it seriously. For others, it's an acceptable and easily ignorable issue, or even genuinely part of the appeal of the book either for attracting male readers or serving as part of the Wish Fulfilment. Simone has often defended it as she doesn't think sexuality should be seen as a negative, especially as the artwork was never afraid to glamorise men as well as women.
- Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Birds of Prey #3 2010-2011 has a random page of Penguin having a erotic dream of the team “pleasing” him. It’s out of nowhere and odd as a start of an issue. It seems like it’s placed there for Fanservice.
- Complete Monster: See here.
- Fandom Rivalry: With fans of Judd Winnick's Green Arrow run, due to the completely opposing depictions of Black Canary. Canary was a Creator's Pest for Winnick and thus he wrote her with significantly less skill and character, yet meanwhile Birds of Prey saw Dinah undergo a massive Took a Level in Badass while being billed as one of the top fighters in the DCU. Naturally, BOP fans don't have a high opinion of Winnick's treatment of Dinah, while many fans of Winnick's GA in turn have never read BOP, have zero interest in it and Black Canary, and don't care enough about her character to mind how she's treated.
- Friendly Fandoms:
- Fans of the Birds of Prey tend to also really like the Gotham City Sirens due to their status as basically an Evil Counterpart (which is ironic as they've rarely fought despite the obvious appeal in that). So much so that all three of the Sirens have spent time either teamed up with the Birds or actively as a member of their line-up, for a time.
- Also with the Batgirls, especially the Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown runs (Barbara Gordon's New 52 and Rebirth runs less so, due to how different Babs is as Oracle vs her as Batgirl, and a lot of discourse about which version of her is better). In their cases, the fact they regularly had Oracle as their mentor and lead supporting figure combined with Cass' occasional team-ups with the Birds and Steph's fangirl status both help with it. As noted above, many people would prefer either/both of them as the Birds' Kid-Appeal Character to Misfit.
- I Am Not Shazam: "Birds of Prey" is not the team's official name, and was not even mentioned until issue #86. In later issues the characters also specifically said that it was not their team name when Zinda Blake continues to use it. However, the writers themselves often seem to forget this point, as numerous characters (Both on and off the team) refer to them as 'the birds' on a semi-regular basis, and the full "Birds of Prey" title makes an occasional appearance. As of 2011, it's now just became commonplace to treat it as their name, and they've long since stopped objecting to it.
- Les Yay: Canary/Oracle leans perilously close to canon sometimes, and (According to Word of God) was originally supposed to lean even closer than the finished product appeared. Black Canary was once supposed to refer to herself as "75% heterosexual," leaving the other 25% up in the air. Sadly, due to placeholder dialog and script confusion it wound up "heterosexual to the bone", to Gail Simone's chagrin (it was not, as many speculated, due to Executive Meddling). Observe
◊. This image even predates Gail Simone's run, being from the earlier Chuck Dixon years.- In the hands of some artists, so very very much.
- Renee Montoya, the second Question, who was canonically a lesbian, pretty clearly had a thing for the Huntress (who canonically was not), although the New 52 reboot happened before that storyline could really go anywhere.
- One arc during the Simone era introduced the Katerina Armstrong version of Spy Smasher as an old university "friend" of Barbara's turned rival. The use of quotation marks around "friend" was in Barbara's narration, and there was a definite homoerotic tone to the flashbacks.
- Though it often gets less attention than Babs/Dinah, Helena and Dinah spend a lot of time together, playfully teasing one another in a way that looks like flirting, and in general Dinah has always been much more accepting of Helena than anyone else in the superhero community.
- Dinah and Shiva had some of this in their interactions prior to this series, but it got amped up severely as their frienemy dynamic is upped. Dinah is probably Shiva's Only Friend, repeatedly gushes in awe at her skill, and is very eager to see Shiva redeem. Shiva for her part really wants Dinah to become her apprentice, takes special interest in her health and diet, and is willing to forgo her usual tactics for her sake.
- Dinah also gets this with Ev Crawford, AKA Starling, in the New 52 rebooted series. At one point she comments about pulling a Sorry, I'm Gay with Starling to avoid being hit on, the two flirt constantly, and the #0 issue establishes that Starling was hitting on her from their very first meeting. Unlike most other examples, this one can't be blamed on Simone.
- In the hands of some artists, so very very much.
- My Real Mommy: Despite being created by Jordan B. Gorfinkel, BOP is most associated with Gail Simone.
- Nightmare Fuel
- Oracle has an eidetic memory. Normally this is pretty handy, but it also means she remembers being shot by The Joker as if it was five minutes ago. See also the entry on Driven to Suicide.
- Also, the reveal of the Big Bad's identity at the end of issue 12 of the relaunch: Junior. Anyone who's read Secret Six will understand why that name is so pants-wettingly terrifying, made worse by the fact that enough hints are dropped before The Reveal that those who have read it will probably at least have an idea, even if not consciously.
- Only the Creator Does It Right: Technically Gail Simone didn't create the book, but she did create much of what made the book great, from the characters it includes to the concept of "girl squad" after previously just been an Action Duo. Every run since hers has been less-than-well-received due to making changes from Gail's version and a general lack of quality, and many fans are not fond of attempts to adapt the franchise. So far the only positively received adaptations are a few episodes of Justice League Unlimited and Batman: The Brave and the Bold that were a Spiritual Successor of the book; unsurprisingly, those episodes were penned by Simone.
- So Okay, It's Average: The series after the departure of Gail Simone. Unlike most series affiliated with one author the quality never descended into true inadequacy and there was never an en masse abandonment by its readers, but it never did regain that extra something that it had under Simone's pen.
- The same has been said of Simone's return to the title with a relaunch during DC's 'Brightest Day' promotion. Despite the fact that Simone was saddled with some characters she's since stated she didn't particularly want (i.e. Hawk and Dove), the title was never quite the same.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
- Say hello to Starling. Considered one of the few positives about the New 52 relaunch of the book and having a great dynamic with Black Canary - who had lost a key relationship with Barbara - Evelyn 'Ev' Crawford was fun and well-received despite apprehension about the reboot. So of course, the perfect thing to do with this brand new character was throw her under the bus by making her a traitor to the Birds for Mr Freeze, of all people, despite this making very little sense in light of what we knew about Ev before the betrayal. And she hasn't been seen since.
- Tabby Brennan was the perfect foil for Huntress, since she was Huntress' Eviller Counterpart, and she had a great set-up to come back. Then Sean McKeever brought her back just to kill her off in a very stupid way.
- Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown have both operated in the same circles as the Birds, have a working relationship with them, and are generally liked by the same fans. So it's glaring that they've never been members, not even in an unofficial capacity. Gail Simone wanted to use Cass, but was denied.
- Sin brought so much potential to Dinah, giving her a chance at motherhood, never mind the fact the girl was a Tyke Bomb Dinah was working to diffuse and had a genuinely adorable relationship with the Birds. Naturally, Green Arrow had to fake the girl's death and send her away because she'd always be in danger if she was in Dinah's care, for some reason.
