The Dark Knight Saga



In 2005, eight years after Batman and Robin put the Batman film franchise on deep freeze, Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer rebooted the franchise with the first entry of a trilogy fans refer to as The Dark Knight Saga. All three films star Christian Bale as The Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as James Gordon, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.

Batman Begins (2005) "A vigilante is just a man lost in the scramble for his own gratification; he can be destroyed or locked up. But if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can't stop you, you become something else entirely...a legend, Mr. Wayne."

- Henri Ducard

The film opens In Medias Res with Bruce Wayne incarcerated in a prison in Bhutan, where a man named Henri Ducard arranges for Wayne's release and offers him a place in Ra's al Ghul's League of Shadows. Ducard trains Bruce in the way of the Ninja -- and in overcoming his fear -- while Bruce explains his Backstory. Upon discovering that Ra's intends to destroy Gotham City, Bruce fights his way out and blows up the dojo. Bruce returns to Gotham and vows to take back the city from the criminals; to this end, he combines his League of Shadows training, obscene wealth, old fear of bats, and access to his company's R&D projects to turn himself into a vigilante crimefighter. The Batman makes his grand entrance by bringing mafioso Carmine Falcone to justice, but in doing so, he discovers that Dr. Jonathan Crane has disturbing plans for Gotham City involving large quantities of a fear toxin -- and that Crane works on orders from someone else...

The Dark Knight (2008) "Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men...just want to watch the world burn."

- Alfred Pennyworth

A year after the events of Begins, Batman and his allies -- Police Lieutenant James Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent -- achieve real success in taking down Gotham's organized crime when they start hitting them where it hurts: their money. The various mob leaders become so afraid of Batman that when a scarred psychopath in clown makeup shows up and offers to make their problems go away by killing Batman, they hire him...but once backed by the mob, he decides that rubbing out Batman isn't good enough. The Joker aims to destroy Gotham City from the inside out, and part of his "plan" involves attempts to corrupt the city's heroes -- Batman and Harvey Dent -- by making their lives hell until they snap...

The Dark Knight received a overwhelmingly positive critical reception as a serious drama (unique for a comic book movie), thanks in large part to the tour de force performances of the cast (including the late Heath Ledger's well-regarded performance as The Joker).

The title of this film -- The Dark Knight -- marks the first time a Batman film has not featured the character's name in the title.

The Dark Knight was named to the National Film Registry in 2020.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) "You think this can last? There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you're all going to wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us."

- Selina Kyle

The final film in Nolan's trilogy, released on July 20th 2012. Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and Cillian Murphy will return in their specific roles (Batman/Bruce Wayne, Alfred, James Gordon, Lucius Fox, and Dr. Crane/Scarecrow), and new cast members include Anne Hathaway (Catwoman/Selina Kyle), Tom Hardy (Bane), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (GCPD officer John Blake), Marion Cotillard (Wayne Enterprises board member Miranda Tate), Josh Pence (a young Ra's al Ghul, in a flashback sequence), and Juno Temple (a "streetwise Gotham girl", presumably Holly Robinson). Liam Neeson will also reportedly reprise his role as Ra's al Ghul in flashback form.

Eight years after the end of The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne is "not in a great state" (according to Nolan). Further plot details are scarce at this point, but it's apparent that the story, along with Bane, will be the most physically and mentally challenging yet for Batman -- and for Bruce Wayne. Quoting Christian Bale's take on the film: "How long will you let the pain and loss define your life? Walking around chasing bad guys is very heroic and attracts attention, but at the end it all accounts for is a means to deal with the pain of a huge loss. It's time for Bruce Wayne to face the pain that has always stirred his life."

You can watch the most recent theatrical trailer for the film on YouTube.

A direct-to-DVD Animesque anthology, Batman: Gotham Knight, helped to bridge the gap between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight; Christopher Nolan was not involved in its production.

While the films feature original storylines, they borrow many scenes and themes from the comic book miniseries Batman: Year One and The Long Halloween; Alan Moore's The Killing Joke also influenced the plot of The Dark Knight, and the films also borrow heavily from Batman: The Animated Series in terms of styling and character. The trilogy also takes liberties with certain superficial aspects of the entire Batman mythos, but in spite of -- or because of -- these changes, Batman fans widely consider the films to be some of the best Batman adaptations ever.

Viewers outside comic book fandom have agreed, which have helped turn the films into critical and commercial successes. The Dark Knight holds the record for the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time in the United States (behind The Avengers, Titanic, and Avatar) and the twelfth-highest worldwide; it also has the distinct honor of being the first comic book film to win an acting Academy Award, as the late Heath Ledger won the Best Supporting Actor award for his performance as The Joker.

The whole series
"The Scarecrow: You look like a man who takes himself too seriously. Do you want my opinion? You need to lighten up."
 * Action Prologue: Both The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises start with establishing the villains' ability.
 * All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Bruce Wayne has bad luck when it comes to his homes. The League of Shadows burn Wayne Manor to the ground in the first film, the Joker and his henchmen invade his penthouse in the second, and Bane and his men ransack the new Wayne Manor in the third.
 * Animated Adaptation: Batman: Gotham Knight, a direct-to-DVD Animesque anthology that bridges the gap between the first two films.
 * Appropriated Title: Batman Begins has two sequels, both under the Dark Knight name, in what has become known as The Dark Knight Saga.
 * Artistic License Physics: Microwaves do not work that way! And neither do cell phones! Or police procedures! And neither for that matter does sonar! But, no one really cares.
 * Art Shift: As each sequence in Gotham Knight is animated by a different studio, they each have a notably different art style.
 * Awesome Yet Practical: Batman's technology. Instead of inventing all of it himself as per his comic origin, Bruce re-appropriates his R&D department to provide him with prototypes that never made it into production. The result is that his gadgets come across as way more believable, since they are all based on current technology or at least technology that is theoretically feasible within a few years.
 * This has actually been the comic approach for a couple of decades now, although the Batmobile being, essentially, a re-purposed tank rather than a custom-built sportscar was a new element.
 * Though even it harkens to the comics as the Batmobile from The Dark Knight Returns was an explicit inspiration for the Tumbler.
 * Badass Beard: Bruce in both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises, and Ducard in Begins.
 * Badass Cape: Not only is it stylish, it's made of shape-memory fibers that allow it to turn into a hang glider when an electric current is run through it.
 * Badass in a Nice Suit: In Begins, Ducard kicks ass in a suit and tie the first and last time he fights Bruce Wayne. For that matter, Bruce at his fundraiser for Dent in The Dark Knight does it, too.
 * Badass Longcoat: Bruce a few different times in Begins, The Joker, Jim Gordon and Bane (along with a High Collar of Doom).
 * Bald Black Leader Guy: Commissioner Loeb (see Composite Character below).
 * Big Bad: Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins, The Joker in The Dark Knight, and (if the trailers and promotional materials are to be trusted) Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.
 * Bishonen: The third segment of the anime anthology Batman Gotham Knight really takes the Bruce Wayne pretty boy concept to the max by introducing an all bishounen version of Bruce Wayne. In fairness it may have also been an attempt to give him a Christian Bale look.
 * Bittersweet Ending: Batman Begins. Also, The Dark Knight.
 * Blood on These Hands
 * Body Motifs: There is much emphasis on faces and masks in both films.
 * Broad Strokes: The Gotham Knights shorts, due to being made by different people, have varying amounts of consistency with themselves or the films, such as the guy with the jetpack, or Batman being downright Bishounen in some of the shorts and lantern-jawed in others.
 * Some of the wilder interpretations are due to one of the shorts consisting of kids giving their urban legend-style perceptions rather than actually being Batman. While the artwork varies widely, the characters themselves stay pretty consistent, including Batman himself.
 * The Batman costume tends to vary wildly, even in the non-kids shorts.
 * Canon Foreigner: A lot. Rachel Dawes for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, Ramirez, Mendez, Lau, & all of the mobsters from The Dark Knight, except for Sal Maroni, and a few others are planned for The Dark Knight Rises, including some random cop named John Blake, and a Wayne Enterprises executive named Miranda Tate.
 * Cape Wings: Batman. Handwaved with some Techno Babble about "memory cloth" and electric currents.
 * Specifically, the 'Memory Cloth' is a special type of fabric with certain bundled sections designed to take a specific shape when an electrical charge is applied. In the movie, it was originally meant to make quick-setting tents for soldiers, but Batman re-purposes it and modifies said bundles so it turns into a pair of bat-like wings to use as a glider when he leaps from rooftops. Frankly, it's both realistic, fascinating, and likely insanely expensive.
 * Chekhov's Gun: Too many to list.
 * Chekhov's Gag: Bruce gives his coat to a bum after a confrontation with Falcone gone wrong. Later, as Batman, he happens to pass the bum again and compliments his coat.
 * Close on Title: Neither Batman Begins nor The Dark Knight show their titles until the end.
 * Combat Pragmatist: Nobody is an upstanding duelist in these movies, but the Joker is by far the least reserved fighter. Trying to kick Batman in the groin with a knife strapped to his shoe takes the cake(and this is after he shoves one of his mooks into the fight as a distraction)...until he tops that by.
 * The Scarecrow in the first film is no slouch either. Upon meeting Batman for the first time, he promptly hits him with a dose of fear gas, splashes him with kerosene, and lights him on fire!

"Gordon: I never did say thank you. Batman: ... and you'll never have to."
 * Batman's style for the movies, the Keysi Fighting Method, is set entirely around this concept.
 * Composite Character: The movies' versions of Loeb, Flass, and Ducard. The movies' Flass resembled the dark-haired, unshaven, overweight Harvey Bullock more than the comics version of Flass, who was blonde, clean-shaven, and muscular, though movie Flass did retain his comic counterpart's corruption. Likewise, the movies' Loeb only shares the name of the comics' character, resembling Michael Akins in both looks and personality (African-American, young, and honest) more than the comics' Loeb (Caucasian, old, and extremely corrupt). Then there's Henri Ducard,
 * Continuity Nod: appearance in the first act of The Dark Knight.
 * Loeb, Jim Gordon's immediate superior, first appears in the flashback to the Waynes' murder in Batman Begins,
 * A more subtle one in the first movie is Zsasz the mob hitman who gets shipped off to Arkham on an insanity plea. During the mass-breakout at the end of the movie, you get to see him with his shirt off, displaying the same habit as the comics version of marking each kill by adding an extra scar to his body.
 * There is also a Continuity Nod between one scene early in Begins and another late in The Dark Knight,
 * There is also an Ironic Echo in The Dark Knight that serves as a nod to Ducard's crime-fighting tutelage in Begins. During the training sequence in Begins, Ducard tells Wayne that, although Wayne has been spending his time trying to understand criminals, "the criminal is not complicated." In The Dark Knight, Wayne is shown to have apparently internalized this lesson, repeating it to Alfred. "Criminals aren't complicated, Alfred. Just have to figure out what he's after."
 * The teaser trailer for The Dark Knight Rises repeats Ducard's "legend" line from Begins.
 * The music and cinematography for the scenes with Gordon and his son in The Dark Knight mirror the flashbacks of Bruce and his father in Batman Begins.
 * Corrupt Politician: The trilogy isn't as bad as the comics. In addition to Gordon and Dent, there's an honest judge and an honest mayor, and the Commissioner before Gordon was honest as well.
 * Crapsack World: Gotham is about crapsack as it can get while still having (just barely) some hope.
 * Darker and Edgier: The films in The Dark Knight Saga are arguably the darkest adaptations of Batman to date.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Batman, anyone?
 * Deconstruction: Especially in The Dark Knight. Batman is operating in the real world, where superhero armor has trade-offs between protection and flexibility. Gotham is as real a city as Hong Kong and doesn't have overly intimidating architecture. Ultimately the film can be seen as asking whether heroes (and human beings themselves) are motivated by abstract principles (Batman) or have no principles at all (The Joker). This is basically the same question that Watchmen asked ("What would motivate a real life Superhero?"), albeit The Dark Knight gives the opposite answer.
 * Arguably, the armor and architecture examples are more a Reconstruction than a Deconstruction.
 * The criminals apparently simply compared notes, have figured out Batman doesn't kill, and have gotten sneakier. By that point he's not an evil presence lurking in the night to them, just a really formidable opponent.
 * Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys? Well, he sneaks them through his multi-billion dollar corporation's R&D budget, that's how...oh, but wait, someone who isn't in on it has got to run the numbers and wouldn't you know? He figured out what was going on!
 * Batman does not kill, and goes to great lengths to do so. Bruce Wayne, however, is clearly shown fighting and killing several members of the League of Shadows in self-defense. Along with their several shackled prisoners. In fact, there's no real indication he was hesitant to kill before he became Batman, just to kill innocents.
 * Demoted to Extra: The decline in Crane's role between films is an example of this, from key ensemble component to One-Scene Wonder.
 * Doing In the Wizard: The movies discard many supernatural and/or unrealistic elements of the comic, offering plausible pseudo-scientific explanations instead. For example, most of the technology employed by Batman could become accessible in a decade or so.
 * Ra's al Ghul's
 * According to Word of God, Bane's mask supplies him with anesthetic to help him cope with an injury, likely meaning that is strength comes from natural sources, as opposed to Venom.
 * Or it could very well be Blatant Lies on his part. There's nothing discounting the possibility that Ra's is indeed using the Lazarus Pits aside from the general toning down of any supernatural elements in the saga.
 * The Don: Carmine Falcone and his successor Salvatore Maroni are old-school Italian mafiosi who are slowly put out of business both by The Caped Crusader and his psychotic enemies.
 * The Dreaded: Each of the major villains to some degree, but taken to a new level with The Joker and Bane.
 * Carmine Falcone is frightened by Ra's al Ghul, but (mistakenly) believes that he is safe in his own town.
 * The Joker is feared by EVERYONE: mob bosses, civilians, cops, and for very good reasons.
 * Even when Maroni thought The Joker was still technically working for him and the mob, he was still too scared of the Joker to give up any information about him to Batman.
 * Catwoman expresses fear of Bane in the trailer, his apparent actions make it well founded.
 * Elaborate Underground Base: The Batcave in the first movie. In the second, the Batcave is basically a big white room underneath some Wayne company property with some equipment, a computer, and an incinerator. Everything else pops out of the walls.
 * It's mentioned in the film that reconstruction of Wayne Manor was still taking place, so the "Whitecave" was a temporary solution.
 * Bruce operating out of a penthouse (complete with secret passage hiding a spare costume) was something of a Shout-Out to the Neil Adams-era comics, which also moved Bruce into a penthouse in Gotham.
 * Going by recent television spots, in The Dark Knight Rises the Batcave has been expanded into an even more elaborate underground base.
 * Equal Opportunity Evil: The League of Shadows is multiracial, and Sal Maroni employs gangsters of pretty much any nationality.
 * Truth in Television for Maroni. It's possible for anyone to work for the "mafia" (they don't actually call themselves that) and even become quite influential. The limitation is that only Italians (or half Italians) can become Made Men.
 * Evil Is Hammy: Played straight with Joker in The Dark Knight. Interestingly, Liam Neeson is remarkably non-hammy as the main villain in Batman Begins, and Cillian Murphy starts chewing scenery only when his character becomes criminally insane after.
 * Expansion Pack Past: Alfred seems to have led several very diverse lives.
 * The Faceless: In The Dark Knight, Gordon's daughter Barbara (who becomes Batgirl in the comics) appears, but her face is never seen (she was on-screen briefly in Begins, as well, but doesn't even get credited as her real name).
 * Five-Bad Band: The loose collaboration between the League of Shadows and the Gotham Mob in Batman Begins.
 * The Big Bad: Ra's al Ghul.
 * The Dragon: Scarecrow.
 * The Brute: Flass.
 * The Evil Genius: Carmine Falcone.
 * The Dark Chick: Mr. Zsasz.
 * Also the top brass of the Gotham Mob in The Dark Knight:
 * The Big Bad: Sal Maroni.
 * The Dragon: The Chechen.
 * The Brute: Gambol.
 * The Evil Genius: Lau.
 * The Starscream / Wild Card: The Joker.
 * Five-Man Band: It's a bit vague, but one could think this as so:
 * The Hero: Batman/Bruce Wayne.
 * The Lancer: Gordon.
 * The Smart Guy: Lucius Fox.
 * Big Brother Mentor: Alfred.
 * The Chick: Rachel.
 * Sixth Ranger: Harvey Dent.
 * Foil: Most of the villains are foils for Batman.
 * Batman (hero) vs. Ducard (Well-Intentioned Extremist, at least arguably).
 * Batman (Dark but good) vs. The Joker (Light -- clowns are supposed to be happy! -- but evil).
 * Batman (Hero) vs. (Fallen Hero).
 * Batman (uses symbols to inspire fear in criminals) vs Crane (uses fear to accomplish crimes).
 * Hannibal Lecture: Do not talk to the Joker. Talking to the Joker can lead to listening to the Joker, and that will be very bad for your mind. You'd be better off snorting lines with Crane.
 * At the start of the third act of Batman Begins, Ra's al Ghul delivers a harangue that firmly establishes his status as a genocidal Knight Templar.
 * Hello, Attorney!: Both Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent. Maggie Gyllenhall's portrayal of Rachel is usually seen more like this than Katie Holmes', though.
 * Honor Before Reason: To the absolute extreme.
 * Improbable Aiming Skills: Deadshot in Gotham Knight. When we meet him, he headshots a guy from what looks like a mile away. Through a window, into a crowded party, through a sky filled with fireworks, and from a moving Ferris wheel. He also times it so it snaps a cocktail glass in half, while it's being carried.
 * The distance wasn't implausible, as a sniper in Afghanistan recently (2010) was reported to have hit a target at 2.7km. The glass thing... was just Deadshot being Deadshot. His employer even complains about how flashy it was.
 * Ironic Echo: Aside from the ironic echoes WITHIN Begins and The Dark Knight, (see their respective trope lists for those) there's arguably some between the two movies. We hear the following conversation between Batman and Gordon towards the end of Begins:

"Gordon: Thank you. Batman: You don't have to thank me. Gordon: ... yes, I do."
 * And then there is this, towards the end of The Dark Knight:

"Ducard: You've traveled the world to understand the criminal mind and conquer your fears. But the criminal is not complicated."
 * There's also this quote Ducard says in Begins to his then-student Wayne:

"Wayne: Criminals aren't complicated, Alfred. Just have to figure out what he's after."
 * Wayne, having apparently internalized this lesson, paraphrases this in The Dark Knight:

"Joker: If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"
 * Jerkass Facade: Bruce Wayne combines this with Obfuscating Stupidity to protect his Batman identity.
 * Kill It with Fire: Attempted and done successfully  It's horrifying both times.
 * Knight in Sour Armor: Jim Gordon, especially in the first movie.
 * Messianic Archetype:
 * The unselfish Bruce Wayne of this universe. Somehow, this doesn't stop him from maintaining the Jerkass Facade of being a Rich Idiot With No Day Job at the same time. Probably he acts like he wants to when he's Bruce, and as he feels he should when he's Batman.
 * Flip that: he acts like he wants to when he's Batman, and as he feels he should when he's Bruce. Remember, he'd do nothing but cave in bad guy heads all day long if he could.
 * Obviously, someone's taking the 'Jesus clearing out the temple' approach to Messianic Archetype.
 * Harvey Dent at first seems to be this. Everyone in Gotham seems to view him as a living saint. Have you ever seen a politician so universally loved? Probably everyone of voting age in Gotham voted for him other than criminals, (though in Gotham, even this would not fully explain his victory. By the end of the film, however...let's just say the polish is off the halo.
 * Mythology Gag: Several.
 * Most prominent are nods to the comics themselves, which in addition to the overarching plot, also provided the inspiration for specific events and gadgets in the films:
 * In Batman Begins, Batman escapes pursuit by the Gotham City police department by using a sonic device to summon a swarm of bats. This is taken directly from Batman: Year One.
 * Another subtle one is after Lucius gives Bruce the material to make his cape. We are treated to a scene of him using some of that material to make controllable claws, something another Batman uses as his primary weapon.
 * In The Dark Knight, Bruce asks Mr. Fox if his new suit can stand a dog attack. Fox says that it would certainly be able to stand up to a cat...
 * The Joker's constantly changing backstory (see: Freudian Excuse) is reminiscent of a quote in The Killing Joke, in which we are presented with a possible origin, but later the Joker claims he does not remember what made him the way he is clearly or consistently:

"Bruce Wayne: You think I should go to the hospital? Jim Gordon: You don't watch a whole lot of news, do you, Mr. Wayne?"
 * Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth was another reported inspiration. It contains a scene in which the Joker, on the phone with Batman, tricks him into thinking he's stabbed a nurse in the eye with a sharpened pencil (it is actually an April Fool's Day prank, to help hasten Batman's arrival at the asylum).
 * Joker's story about his abusive, alcoholic father seems to recall the story he told his then-therapist Dr Harleen Quinzel in the story Mad Love from The Batman Adventures, that was later adapted into an episode of the animated series.
 * Joker's line 'Let's Put A Smile on That Face of Yours' is incidentally said, more or less verbatim, by a member of the Jokerz gang from Batman Beyond.
 * Many scenes in The Dark Knight are adapted from The Long Halloween (though their context or outcome is often very different): The mob's savings going up in flames, the ploy of transporting a target in police custody to draw out a would-be killer, Harvey Dent getting attacked in court by his own witness, the slogan "I Believe in Harvey Dent".
 * Batman's eyes when using the sonar become hidden behind a white glare. In most depictions in the comics, the character's eyes are never seen when he's in costume, replaced by white slits.
 * When Bruce is describing his problems with the old suit, Fox sums up his complaints with "You'd like to be able to turn your head." None of the previous modern Batsuits, starting with the 1989 film, allowed the actor wearing them to do this.
 * During the press interview where Harvey Dent, the most prominent of the news microphones says "News 26". Wasn't that the news channel in Batman: The Animated Series?
 * And of course, lest we forget: "What the hell are you?" "I'M BATMAN!"
 * "You complete me..." could possibly be a reference to The Batman vs. Dracula.
 * Gordon's Major Crimes Unit is cribbed directly from Gotham Central, a series which focused on the Gotham Police force. Unlike that series, however, the unit is still filled to the brim with corrupt cops. Gordon regrets this, but points out that if he refused to work with cops like that, he'd be working alone.
 * Two scenes in The Dark Knight seem to directly reference Burton's first Batman movie: When Batman plays chicken with Joker on the Bat-Pod and when Batman throws Joker off the building. The first scene mirrors the scene where Batman flies at Joker in the Batwing, the second mirrors Joker's death. Both scenes, however, show the important difference between the two movies: Batman in Nolan's movies doesn't kill.
 * Judging by his Curb Stomp Battle in the jail in Begins, it would seem that, even before he became Batman, Bruce was skilled at fighting in the mud.
 * And speaking of, the Tumbler was inspired by the hulked-out tank of a Batmobile featured in The Dark Knight Returns.
 * When Joker is having his Money to Burn moment, he says, "Everything burns," a line which parallels Mr. Freeze's line in Batman and Robin: "Everything freezes."
 * The people who are strung out out Crane's fear gas beating on Batman is very similar to a scene in the third episode of Batman: The Animated Series.
 * So is the scene where Crane gets shot with his own fear poison and sees Batman as an inhuman monster.
 * The interrogation scene with Batman and the Joker from The Dark Knight seems to be inspired by an interrogation scene from an episode of the 60s TV series called The Penguin Goes Straight, oddly enough. Of course, the 60s version is a hell of a lot campier, but in both cases the police turn the lights off in the interrogation room and Batman (along with Robin in the TV episode) appears in the dark to intimidate the crook. The (double) episode even has Batman hunted by the law, which also happens in The Dark Knight and will carry over into The Dark Knight Rises.
 * Batman will have a conversation with Gordon, then disappear in the middle of it, followed by a snarky comment from Gordon when he realizes Batman's gone (subverted the first time when Gordon almost catches him). This happens in other Batman works, especially the animated series.
 * There is a scene with Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle dancing at a masquerade in The Dark Knight Rises where her dialogue cryptically hints at her nature and intentions. Tim Burton's Batman Returns also had a scene with both at a masquerade, dancing, in which
 * Selina Kyle's Catwoman outfit in The Dark Knight Rises is very similar to those of the Catwomen from Batman '66, only it doesn't have golden necklaces or belts and the cat-ears are actually hi-tech goggles.
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: Just like in the comics, Bruce Wayne downplays his intellect and behaves like a stereotypical eccentric billionaire so that no one would suspect he is really Batman.
 * After Bruce puts his lamborghini in between the big truck and the police SUV, he acts like this to Gordon.

""You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.""
 * Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: Well, they sure as heck couldn't have called the second film Batman Begins 2, could they?
 * Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Lucius Fox appears to be an expert in toxicology, ballistics, computer technology, sonar, radio communications and personal protective equipment, to name a few.
 * Justified in that he used to be the head of a highly prolific R&D department, which, as shown, produced a lot of things. A working knowledge of the science behind most of those things would probably be a necessary part of the job - if not necessary, from what we know of Fox, he'd pride himself on knowing about it anyway.
 * Order Versus Chaos: Played exactly backwards between the two films. To the League of Shadows, Batman represents chaos because he lets thieves and murderers live. The Joker represents chaos no matter what, and anybody who tries to stop him stands for order by default.
 * Police Are Useless: Pretty much, though they Take a Level In Badass in the second movie, particularly when Jim Gordon takes command. The police in Hong Kong are quick on the scene, but they pretty much watch in stunned helplessness as Lau is taken away by Batman in awesome fashion.
 * Porn Stache: Sported by Jim Gordon.
 * Race Lift: Commisioner Loeb (Caucasian in the comics, African-American in the films) and Bane (Hispanic in the comics, Caucasian in the films).
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Sergeant Lieutenant Commissioner Gordon in both films. Also Commissioner Loeb, Mayor Garcia, and Harvey Dent earlier in The Dark Knight. Later subverted with ol' Harvey Two-Face, though.
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The villains deliver some of the best ones ever. Of special note is the one that Carmine Falcone gives to Bruce at the beginning of Batman Begins. Bruce realizes that Falcone is 100% right about him, and his efforts to remedy that eventually enable him to become Batman.
 * Rich Idiot With No Day Job: The most widely known example.
 * Rule of Cool: A whole lot of stuff.
 * Rule of Symbolism: The logo for Batman Begins is raw and unfinished metal. The logo for The Dark Knight obscures the light. The teaser poster for Rises has the logo as a hole, representing
 * Additionally, the logo in The Dark Knight is fire, representing the destruction the Joker brings; and the logo for The Dark Knight Rises is atop buildings, with the camera looking up, to symbolize that Batman will rise (from the ashes).
 * Save the Day Turn Away:
 * Inverted in the first film. It's as if Ms. Dawes is saying Bruce's lines.
 * The second film ends with a classic example of the second type of Turn Away.
 * Save the Villain: Played straight with Ducard, then later subverted. Played straight with . Played straight and subverted with.
 * Science Hero: Nolan's vision of Batman perfectly fits the trope, as Bruce Wayne relies on his company's cutting-edge technology to create his superhero persona and provide himself with useful gadgets. Also, Lucius Fox, an Omnidisciplinary Scientist responsible for creating Batman's gizmos.
 * Self-Proclaimed Knight: Batman in general, but especially how Commissioner Gordon tells it at the end of The Dark Knight. “He's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a dark knight.”
 * Sequel Hook: Joker's calling card in the final scene of Batman Begins, and the fact at the end of The Dark Knight.
 * The Dark Knight offers a surprising subversion. When makes his big appearance near the climax, most viewers naturally assumed that he was being set up as the villain of the third movie. Nope..
 * Shoot the Bullet: Batman pulls one of these off in Gotham Knight, except since he doesn't use guns, he simply punches the bullet out of the air with the armored part of his gauntlet (because, you know, a Batarang wouldn't be half as badass). This is a bullet fired from a high powered sniper rifle, from a train moving at full speed, towards a moving target.
 * Shown Their Work: When Bruce Wayne dumps his wine over the balcony. (To clarify: in the comics Batman doesn't drink alcohol ever, and when it looks like he is then it's actually apple juice. This is perhaps the least known thing about Batman.)
 * So Last Season: The Batsuit from Batman Begins proving inadequate to the task in The Dark Knight. At least now he can move his neck for the first time in twenty years.
 * Songs in the Key of Lock
 * Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Crane, one of the main villains from Batman Begins, was reassigned in the sequel to the head Mook of the Batman Cold Open. On the other hand, The Joker ends up being worse than the entire mob put together!
 * Status Quo Is God: Averted in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
 * In Batman Begins,
 * In The Dark Knight,.
 * Stealth Expert: Do we even have to say it?
 * Stealth Hi Bye: Used multiple times in both movies, and lampshaded in The Dark Knight by Gordon. "He does that."
 * Take My Hand
 * Theme Music Power-Up: Don't ya notice every time Batman is about to do something utterly awesome in Batman Begins Molossus plays?
 * Also subverted: whenever the Joker is about to do something...no music plays. Joker's theme is an outstandingly creepy rising whine. Even when you know it's happening it's still marvelously disturbing.
 * Listen to the music as the man on the civilian ferry is about to blow up the convict ferry - Joker theme in full-force.
 * To Create a Playground For Evil: The Joker's apparent goal.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Batman takes one throughout Begins, and then between Begins and The Dark Knight. In Batman Begins, Bruce can take on four ninja or Ducard in a straight fight, and relies slightly more on darkness and fear to manage larger groups of enemies. In The Dark Knight, Batman takes on multiple SWAT teams and Joker thugs while they nominally have the jump on him.
 * Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty: Aside from the Joker, it helps to remember that Batman almost always jumps enemies by surprise, and Crane uses chemical warfare in fist fights. And then there was that trick with the rappelling cable on the SWAT team in The Dark Knight...
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: Rachel Dawes.
 * And then Bruce Wayne himself in the second film.
 * Vice City: Gotham, especially in Begins. As Gordon puts it to Flass, "In a town this bent, who is there to rat to?"
 * The Villain Makes the Plot
 * Warrior Poet: Alfred, though his warrior days are (almost) past.
 * Weaponized Car: The Batmobile and the Batpod.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Warriors of The League Of Shadows, who genuinely want to make the world a better place... by burning it to the ground and building a new one over the ashes of corruption.
 * Harvey Dent is worried about this, with Gotham city very supportive of him challenging the mobs despite the backlash it might bring.


 * Western Terrorists: Ra's Al Ghul is... (oddly, the name is Arabic for "The Demon's Head", and the organization is multiethnic and headquartered somewhere in or near the Himalayas). And Joker is referred to as a terrorist multiple times, though terrorists usually have some sort of motivation beyond terrorism.
 * What You Are in the Dark: More or less the point of the series. Everyone stares into the abyss, Drama Ensues, and the abyss stares back.
 * Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: Bruce appropriates most of his equipment from Wayne R&D.
 * Deconstructed in the second movie, when an accountant realizes millions of dollars of equipment have disappeared, including an experimental car that looks exactly like the Batmobile. He tries Blackmail... which, well, see Blackmail, above, for how it's reconstructed.
 * The Windy City: The second film is very obviously set in Chicago, to the point where many Chicago-based viewers spend half the film trying to place where everything was shot. Based on the very obvious use of Chicago architecture, iconography, and Bruce Wayne's Illinois license plates license plates that say "Gotham" where it normally says "Illinois," one could assume that there is no Chicago in this branch of the DC Movieverse, but only Gotham City, Illinois State of Gotham.
 * The first film involved a lot more soundstage work and CGI. In Real Life, New York City is occasionally referred to as "Gotham", and Detroit is the seat of Wayne County, Mich., so Gotham City is often assumed to be a sort of hybrid of those two places.
 * In The Dark Knight, less CGI was used:
 * The car chase with the Joker clearly takes place on Lower Whacker Drive.
 * Maroni's car wrecks in the Amtrak yards at 18th Street.
 * Gotham General is actually a Brach's candy factory that was converted.
 * As the blaze at the hospital is being extinguished, a CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) bus can be seen, turned into GTA (Gotham Transit Authority, not that GTA) buses through use of cunningly-placed decals. Of course, there's the small matter of the production designers opting for the "Old Look" CTA logo and not the "New Look" CTA Logo...
 * 'L' trains frequently appear in the background of scenes in the movie.
 * Part of the Batpod scene shows Batman piloting it through the Millennium Station, which is obvious because of the floor pattern and the fact that Metra and South Shore signs are clearly noticeable. There's even a POV shot where signs for the Pedway and Randolph Street are visible.
 * Would Not Shoot a Good Guy: Happens whenever Batman encounters the police. In the first movie, he manages to avoid any direct struggle by summoning a flock of bats. In The Dark Knight, he has to be very careful not to kill any members of the SWAT team even as he's trying to stop them from making a grave mistake. Granted, he never shoots anybody anyway, but he's far more careful fighting cops than criminals.
 * Dubiously though, and lampshaded by Alfred in Batman Begins after the Batmobile's first proper outing: sure Batman doesn't shoot any cops, but expecting us to accept that no-one died in a chase where several cars were completely totaled at high speed (from, e.g., a head-on collision with a goddamn central reservation) is pushing the suspension of disbelief just a wee bit.

The Dark Knight
""All right, five-minute 'Tell Dent how awesome he is' recess.""
 * The Ace: Harvey Dent. Rifftrax said it best after he punches a witness who pulls a gun on him, unloads the gun, states the model and manufacturer before placing the weapon in front of the man who wanted him dead, essentially tells him to try harder next time, and then says he's not finished with the witness:

"Harvey: When the Republic was threatened, the Romans appointed one man to protect them until the danger had passed. It wasn't considered an honor, it was considered a public service. Rachel: Harvey, the last man they did that with was called Caesar, and he never gave up his power."
 * Adopt the Dog: And train them to behave in ways that'll likely eventually force them to be put down.
 * All There in the Manual: The novel clears up a few details about Dark Knight, such as Dent's Knight Templar tendencies. Bruce doesn't believe Dent could have a skeleton-free closet, and investigates. Turns out his dad was a cop who abused his mother, and whenever the police were called, they'd look the other way. Eventually, Dad killed Mom while Harvey was away at school. This gave Harvey an understandable dislike of dirty cops. Bruce eventually realizes he's been digging so hard because he's jealous, etc.
 * Aluminum Christmas Trees: You'd be forgiven for assuming that the Skyhook device Batman uses in Hong Kong a) was never made and b) wouldn't work if it was. In fact, it was and it did.
 * Additionally, Two-Face not having any problems with his now-lidless eye. But then take a look at Chase No-Face, a cat who lost his nose and eyelids in a car accident, and lives a normal life still while needing only a dash of eyedrops twice a day and a dark room to sleep in.
 * Always Save the Girl:
 * Played straight when Batman dove out a window of a fifty story building to save Rachel once.
 * American Accents: The Joker has a Chicago accent, as do several of the GCPD, especially Wuertz. The pub scenes practically oozes Chicago, as opposed to the New York feel that one got in Begins.
 * Analogy Backfire: When talking about Batman's necessity:

"Joker: Tell your men they work for me now. Chechen: Dey won't work for a fuh-reak. Joker: "Fuh-reek?" Why don't we cut you up into little pieces and feed you to your pooches? And then we'll see how loyal a hungry dog really is."
 * Caesar appointed himself dictator. The others before him usually saved Rome from whatever was happening, resigning soon afterwards.
 * Angry Guard Dog: Given Batman is attacked by an angry pack twice, and both times he has some difficulty fending them off, it might be his weakness.
 * Anti-Villain: is a Type III.
 * Anti-Hero: A Type IV.
 * Anyone Can Die: The Dark Knight plays this for all it's worth with the death of
 * Appropriated Appellation:.
 * Arc Words: A lot of people think that Harvey Dent's "The dawn is coming" bit is going to this for The Dark Knight Rises.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: A very brief, wordless example. When Gordon observes of the Joker that there was "nothing in his pockets but knives and lint", we see someone laying out an improbable number of knives on a table. The last is a potato peeler, which the handler briefly double-takes at.
 * Genius in hindsight. Take out "potato", and think about what a psychopath would be using it for...
 * Artistic License History: When Harvey comments about how the ancient Romans would appoint a dictator in times of crisis, Rachel claims that Caesar never gave up the title. This is not accurate, as Julius Caesar was given the title of "Dictator for Life" by the Senate after he had more or less conquered Rome in a civil war. Despite his assassination, Julius never had to "give up" his position. Also, depending on who you ask, Rome's transformation into an Empire may have been the best thing for it at the time.
 * Art Shift: Of a sort. Christopher Nolan stated in an interview that as opposed to the gritty grimy look of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight would be slightly... cleaner, so to speak.
 * The Dark Knight was largely missing Batman Begins classic Gotham deco-influenced skyscrapers. It's also a lot less crowded and a bit brighter in The Dark Knight. Nolan also got rid of the Batcave, presumably for the same reasons.
 * As Long as It Sounds Foreign: All of the Asian characters in Hong Kong speak flawless Chinese... in the wrong dialect. The standard dialect used in Hong Kong is Cantonese, whereas the characters all speak Mandarin. However, it's possible that they were simply from Mainland China, wherein the dominant language is Mandarin.
 * Ax Crazy: The Joker is the living embodiment of this trope.
 * Badass: Aside from the obvious, special mention goes to Harvey Dent, . A witness pulls a gun on him from the witness stand, and without missing a beat, Dent disarms him, decks him and recommends he buy his weapons American next time he wants to assassinate the DA.
 * Badass Bystander: The Bank manager in the opening gives us the page image. Despite being a Mob banker there are many people who enjoy his reactions far too much.
 * Bad Boss: C'mon, now. It's the Joker.
 * Bad Cop, Incompetent Cop: Discussed. Even with Jim Gordon in charge, the Major Crimes Unit (in a nice Shout-Out to Gotham Central) is still made up of mostly corrupt cops. But when Harvey Dent calls the lieutenant on this, Gordon points out that if he refused to work with such cops, he'd be working alone. This eventually comes back to haunt both of them, as.
 * Bad Guys Play Pool: One of Gotham's major gangsters is seen playing pool before
 * Bald of Awesome: in the ferry boat scene.
 * Ballroom Blitz: The Joker breaks into Bruce's cocktail party.
 * Bank Robbery: Opens with one.
 * Batman Gambit: Pulled off more frequently and effectively by The Joker than Batman himself.
 * Harvey Dent as well.
 * Beauty to Beast: Harvey Dent.
 * Berserk Button: Joker always gets a lot more serious when someone calls him a "freak" or "crazy." This is somewhat ironic given the character's usual sentiment in other media.

"Alfred: Much more subtle."
 * A less trivial example is that of mentioning Batman's relationship with Rachel. Joker saying "does Harvey know about you and his little bunny?" happens to be the straw that broke the camel's back and is immediately followed by Batman smacking Joker's head against a glass window, then repeatedly punching Joker and yelling "WHERE ARE THEY?"
 * Bilingual Bonus: Bruce Wayne drives a Lamborghini Murcielago... Murcielago being spanish for "Bat".

"Reese: I want... ten million dollars a year, for the rest of my life. Lucius Fox: Let me get this straight. You think that your client - one of the wealthiest, most influential men in the world - is secretly a vigilante, who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands... and your plan is to blackmail this person? [smiles] Good luck. Reese: [clears throat] ... keep that...."
 * Blackmail: Subverted when an accountant stumbles onto Bruce's secret:

"Gambol: You think you can steal from us and just walk away? Joker: Yeah."
 * Blatant Lies: Joker is fond of these, from lying about the locations of his victims, to fake origin stories, his Weapon of Choice... Fridge Logic dictates that even his spiel about not making plans can't be true.
 * Blond Guys Are Evil: Subverted with Harvey Dent.
 * Bloodless Carnage: Despite the brutality, there is very little blood. This may have been one of the factors that led to such a dark movie being rated PG-13.
 * Blunt Yes: When The Joker is confronted by mobsters on his past theft from them.

"Gordon: What about this Joker guy? Batman: One man or the entire mob? He can wait."
 * Bomb Throwing Anarchist: Well, Rocket Propelled Grenades, actually.
 * Broken Pedestal: When Harvey Dent imprisons 549 criminals at once in a RICO case, the mayor warns him that he has to be very careful not to slip up, or everything will be undone. The Joker spends the rest of the movie trying to bring this about, while Batman tries to stop it. Eventually
 * Bus Full of Innocents
 * The Cameo: US Senator Patrick Leahy shows up (the avowed lifelong fan's third such appearance to date) and says to the Joker "we're not intimidated by thugs." Now that is a campaign platform.
 * Canon Immigrant: The Batbunker. Introduced here as the replacement for the Batcave, it's a big white military-style installation built under a Wayne skyscraper. It eventually made its way to the comics when Bruce Wayne was temporarily killed off and replaced by Dick Grayson: Dick decided he wanted his HQ to be in the heart of the city instead of a mansion on a hill, so he moves into a bunker inspired by the film. He keeps using this base even after Bruce returns.
 * This is especially appropriate since the original Batcave is also a canon immigrant. It was introduced in the black and white Batman serials of the 1930's (mostly as a way to save money by re-using an already available cave set the studio had sitting around).
 * Card-Carrying Villain: Played with. Although The Joker never call himself "evil" or "a villain", he styles himself an "agent of chaos", describes his past and future heinous acts with a grin & smile, and intentionally positions himself as the Foil to the heroic Batman and Dent. Also, he carries joker cards and uses them as his "signature!" And unlike most examples of the trope, it is dead serious.
 * Cassandra Truth: Early in the movie, Jim Gordon's assessment of how much of a threat the Joker is seems better than that of almost any other character. When the Joker makes a threat against Commissioner Loeb's life, Gordon seals off city hall, orders a search of the building, and informs Loeb of this. Loeb does not take this threat very seriously, saying "the police commissioner hears a lot of threats" before sitting back and having a drink. The drink was laced with acid. Even the protagonist underestimates the Joker's threat early on in comparison to Gordon.

"Gordon: Clothing is custom, no labels...."
 * And boy, does this come back to bite them in the butt later...
 * Catch Phrase: "Do you want to know how I got these scars?" "Why so serious?"
 * Chaos Is Evil: The Joker, an unrepentant sociopath, gives a speech of how he wants the whole world to turn to chaos.
 * Character Outlives Actor: Word of God says that The Joker was executed between the events of the second and third films, due to the Actor Existence Failure of Heath Ledger.
 * Cheap Costume: Averted by the Joker.

"Joker: Oh, and by the way, the suit, it wasn't cheap. You oughta know, you bought it."
 * And defied.

"Copycat: What gives you the right? What's the difference between you and me? Batman: I'm not wearing hockey pads."
 * Played straight with the amateur Batman at the start of the film.

"Bruce Wayne: Sonar. Just like a... Lucius Fox: Like a submarine, Mr. Wayne. Like a submarine."
 * Chekhov's Gun: The spikes fitted on his gauntlets.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: Wuertz and Ramirez.
 * Chewing the Scenery: The Chechen. MY DOGS! ARE! HONG-RAY!
 * Choke Holds: Bruce Wayne does this to Harvey Dent.
 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: When Lau, the accountant who tried to hide millions of dollars in mob money, was captured by the police, he gave them the names of all his mob clients as a means of softening his own punishment. Later in the movie, Lau was freed from his jail cell by the Joker... only to probably wish he hadn't been.
 * It bears mention that Lau is extremely clear that he'll give up the criminals. Not the location of all that money he's safeguarding for them. His plan is clearly to run home with the combined wealth of SEVERAL mob bosses.
 * There's also how quickly and shamelessly Joker murders his own henchmen, but he's probably not as likely to suffer consequences for doing so. It also should be noted that the Bank manager, who himself is implied to be a member of the mafia, disapproved of and lamented the course its taken.
 * Combat Sadomasochist: The Joker loves to inflict pain and suffering, but also seems to like being at the receiving end, particularly in the scene where he is beaten up by Batman and in the (in)famous "come on, hit me" episode.
 * Comic Book Adaptation: Averted, but then again, Brian Azzarello's graphic novel Joker does look a little like Heath Ledger...
 * Comic Book Movies Don't Use Codenames:.
 * Comically Missing the Point: Done intentionally by Lucius Fox.

"Lucius: I must say, compared to your usual requests, jumping out of an airplane is pretty straightforward. Bruce: What about getting back in the plane? Lucius: ... I'd recommend a good travel agent. Bruce: Without it landing. Lucius: ... now that's more like it, Mr. Wayne!"
 * Cool Bike: The Batpod. Apparently the center part where the rider sits is gyro-stabilized, as it's always upright. Batman catches up with the Joker by taking some major shortcuts in the chase sequence, and re-emerges into Joker's view by tumbling out of an alley... while still staying upright. Batman can even drive it up a wall, flip over backwards, and it'll spin around and keep Bats' ears pointing upward.
 * The Corrupter: The Joker, of course. He drives Harvey Dent insane just by giving him an obviously false monologue about how he's an "Agent of Chaos" with no plans whatsoever.
 * Among other things.
 * Crazy Enough to Work: Bet you never thought cell phones could be used to pull off such awesomeness, did you? Granted, they can't with current technology, but the movie implies that Bruce has been distributing modified cell phones or at the very least forcing firmware upgrades so that he can use them as mini-sonars.
 * Crazy Prepared: The Joker actually gives Batman a run for his money. Certainly in the "crazy" part. All while solemnly stating that he "doesn't have a plan" and makes it up as he goes along.
 * The whole "making it up as I go along" angle the Joker has is arguably why he does so well against Batman. You can't be prepared to counter-act a plan if the psycho has no plan.
 * This paradox is almost the entire point of the Joker's character; he has no overarching goal behind his schemes, but those schemes are unbelievably well planned, to the finest detail. He's the kind of character you'd expect to be defined by a paradox.
 * "The pinnacle of military deployment approaches the formless: if it is formless, then even the deepest spy cannot discern it nor the wise make plans against it."
 * Damsel in Distress:
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy: The Joker. He suspected that Batman would try to rescue Dent and Rachel at the same time by using his alliance with Gordon, so he A simpler explanation is that it was his crazy way of taking the Sadistic Choice up another order of magnitude - no matter Batman's decision, failure was the only option.
 * Joker knew that he'd go to save Rachel, and that's why he switched the addresses. It's obvious, really; he's already jumped out a window to save her once. Joker's also counting on Batman being the only one fast enough to save either of them.
 * Dead Line News: Mike Engel and his crew tempt fate by
 * Deadpan Snarker: Alfred Pennyworth dials up the snarkiness in comparison to the first film ("you've gone from not-sleeping in a mansion to not-sleeping in a penthouse!") but Lucius Fox is still the most obvious example.

"Joker: (After Batman has slammed his head into a table) Never start with the head, the victim gets all fuzzy. He can't feel the next blow if... (Batman smashes his hand. Joker gives no reaction, showing that he couldn't feel the pain.) See?"
 * Also, Joker kind of fills in for Crane in the role of villainous snarker.

"Alfred: I suppose they'll haul me away too, as your accomplice. Bruce: Accomplice? I'm going to tell them the whole thing was your idea."
 * Bruce Wayne himself.

"Scarecrow: I said my compound would take you places. I never said they'd be places you wanted to go."
 * Even though he's only in the film for a few minutes, Crane gets in a few good ones too:

"Banker: Criminals in this town used to believe in things; honour, respect. Look at you, what do you believe in?"
 * Deal with the Devil:
 * The Mob's decision to hire the Joker, which comes back to bite them later on.
 * Delayed Explosion: When The Joker
 * The rumor is that Ledger didn't know that there would be a delay in the explosions. So, never breaking character, he pulls a Crowning Moment of Funny by smacking the remote and flicking the detonator about half a dozen times. And rushes away when the explosions resume.
 * Diabolus Ex Nihilo: The Joker comes out of nowhere; he tells stories about his past, but they're unreliable.
 * Unreliable meaning Multiple Choice Past.
 * Disguised Hostage Gambit:
 * Disney Villain Death: The Joker Bonus points for adding maniacal laughter to the fall. Done a few minutes later to
 * Doesn't Like Guns: Batman never uses guns as guns against people. However, on at least one occasion he has grabbed the gun of an enemy and used it as a blunt instrument and his bat mobile seems to have guns which he has used against a building. Also, while the Joker certainly isn't averse to using guns, he prefers knives because he thinks guns are too quick, and he would much prefer to savour all the little emotions.
 * Dragon-in-Chief: The Joker offers to work as The Dragon for the mob to take out Batman, but he really wants to use their money to bring chaos to the streets and become Batman's archenemy. He doesn't think highly of the mob and believes the city deserves a better class of criminal... so he takes over. In a decidedly hostile way.
 * Dramatic Irony: Dent . Also counts because you already know what's bound to happen to Harvey: When Bruce talks about him at the fundraiser, he says, "Look at that face. That's the face of Gotham's future."
 * The Dreaded: The Joker is feared by EVERYONE.
 * Drinking on Duty: This is how
 * Empty Promise: Harvey Dent makes one to Rachel.
 * Eucatastrophe: The only thing that kept The Joker from winning is that Batman makes the decision to take the heat for the murders Harvey committed thus preserving his image (and Gotham's stability).
 * And Batman's projectile scallops.
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Or grandmamas, in Gambol's case.
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones: threatens to kill Maroni's wife as revenge.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Maroni tells Gordon where to find the Joker because he feels was "too much".
 * A careful look at Maroni's behavior suggests he never really approved of the Joker or his methods. He seems surprised and slightly alarmed to hear his associates hired the clown because "we haff to fix reel problem- Bat-muhn". Maroni wants to turn things back to the way they were before, the mob had all the power and authority. He has no interest in the Joker's blatant anarchy, which explains why he turns on the Joker as soon as they retrieve the money (ironically, Maroni does exactly what The Joker predicts will happen to Batman: "They need you right now... but when they don't? They'll cast you out. Like a leper.").
 * When the Joker and his mooks rob a bank, the banker (who has been watching the gang of robbers shooting each other so they'd keep more of the money for themselves) points out the apparent decline in the standards local evil holds itself to.

"You and your kind, all you care about is money. This city deserves a better class of criminal. And I'm gonna give it to them!"
 * The Joker mockingly uses this on Batman, about how he let him kill people. "Even for a guy like me, that's cold."
 * Every Scar Has a Story: The Joker takes this quite literally, as he tells multiple differing accounts about how he got his.
 * Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: And that is why
 * Evil cannot even understand lesser evil, apparently.
 * Eviler Than Thou: The Joker constantly berates small-time crooks and mobsters for being petty and shallow enough to care only about profit while ignoring loftier ideals of Evil:

"Batman: You'd leave a man's life to chance? Harvey: Not exactly."
 * Evil Is Not a Toy: The mob was content with using the Joker to advance their own interest. That is until he decides he doesn't want to work with them anymore and starts doing worse to them than Batman ever did.
 * Evil Is Stylish: The Joker loves elaborate sadistic choices, playing cards (both as his business card and signature at some of his killings), and dropping clues about his next targets.
 * Evil Laugh: The Joker both plays this straight and deliberately mocks it. Which is why he's the Joker. He even gets someone to read one off cue cards in the Dead Line News scene.
 * Exactly What I Aimed At: "He missed!" No. No he did not.
 * Exact Words: A peril both of working with and of confronting the Joker.
 * And a real world example with Christopher Nolan's statement that
 * Excuse Me, Coming Through: People run to get out of Batman's way when he drives the Batcycle through a mall.
 * Expy: Detective Wuertz was originally going to be Detective Harvey Bullock, a long-time member of the Batman supporting cast from the comics, and Detective Ramirez was going to be Detective Renee Montoya, who was created for Batman: The Animated Series and was then introduced into the comics. The producers decided to recreate them as original characters because of what happens in the third act, which did not match the character of the characters as previously established. This is clearest in Batman: Gotham Knight, an animated anthology film that bridged Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, which introduced Ramirez and featured her partnered with Montoya's comic-book partner Crispus Allen.
 * Eye Scream: "How about a magic trick? I'm going to make this pencil disappear."
 * Face Heel Turn:
 * Faking the Dead:
 * Gordon's apparent demise.
 * Then at the end, Batman pulls this when
 * Fallen Hero: Harvey Dent.
 * False Reassurance:
 * False Roulette: Harvey Dent interrogates one of the Joker's henchmen this way. When Batman arrives on the scene, he's quick to call What the Hell, Hero?

"Bruce: I knew the mob wouldn't go down without a fight, but this is different. They crossed the line. Alfred: You crossed the line first, sir. You squeezed them, you hammered them to the point of desperation. And in their desperation they turned to a man they didn't fully understand."
 * Family-Unfriendly Death: Specifically, the brutal subversion of the Final Speech. The Dark Knight is rated PG-13, probably because Nolan puts the killing blows off-screen. There's also surprisingly little blood in the film. Nevertheless, the amount of sheer menace the movie manages to wring out of its rating makes it arguably more terrifying than many R-rated Gorn-fests.
 * Fast Roping: The Gotham SWAT team employs this trope to raid the Joker's HQ. Batman comes by later and when he realizes that, he uses the same rappel lines they used to to tie them up and knock them out.
 * Faux Affably Evil: The Joker has long thrived on being this, but the fact that he is still funny despite the sheer number of vile acts he commits here may set a new standard for the trope.
 * Fiction 500: Bruce Wayne (or his father) would definitely be somewhere near the top.
 * Final Speech: Brutally subverted with, who is Killed Mid-Sentence.
 * Fingerprinting Air: Batman pulls a fingerprint from a computer reconstruction of a bullet that had been shot into a wall. Also an example of Artistic License Physics, as there's no way a fingerprint could have gotten where it was on the bullet in the first place, and even if there was, it would have been destroyed from the heat of the explosion from being fired and the rifling inside the barrel, but even if it wasn't, it would have been scratched off after entering the wall, but even if it wasn't, the bullet wouldn't have fragmented in to a dozen pieces, it would have warped and pancaked, distorting the print beyond usability.
 * And it could have been a lot easier to pick up spent bullet cases.
 * Foil: In this version, is envisioned as one for Batman..
 * Foreshadowing:
 * For the Evulz: The Joker's motive. A rare straight example that works.
 * Possibly the Scarecrow, who deals intentionally-poisoned drugs.
 * Freudian Excuse: Mocked by the Joker, who gives differing accounts of how he got his scars depending on who he's talking to. In the end, the Joker has no reason for what he does, he simply is.
 * Ramirez was apparently forced to kidnap Rachel Dawes due to her needing funding for her mother's hospital bills.
 * From Nobody to Nightmare: The Joker. See Not So Harmless below.
 * Gatling Good: Bruce Wayne conducts a ballistics test using Gatling guns. Since they only fire a single round at a time there is absolutely no reason to have them other than Rule of Cool and Screw the Rules, I Have Money -- which entirely fit his persona.
 * Generic Ethnic Crime Gang: Besides The Mafia, Gotham has a black mafia (led by Gambol) and a Chechen mafiya (led by, well, The Chechen). They seem to have reconciled their differences in order to stop Batman from ruining their business.
 * At the very least, Maroni and the Chechen seem to be friends regardless of the situation. They shake hands at the gang meeting, and later they're shown having lunch together.
 * Genre Savvy: Detective Stephens, the cop in charge of watching the Joker. He refuses to play along with the Joker's Hannibal Lecture, telling him: "I know the difference between punks who need to be taught a little lesson in manners, and the freaks like you who would just enjoy it." For the Joker himself, see Dangerously Genre Savvy.
 * Genre Shift: The Dark Knight has much more in common with crime dramas and thrillers than with straight-up superhero films, and it abandons the elements of adventure and mysticism that Batman Begins used heavily.
 * Get Into Jail Free: The Joker does this in order to kidnap Lau to make him reveal where the mobsters' money is.
 * Glasgow Grin: The Joker.
 * Godzilla Threshold: this is essentially what The Joker is for this version of Gotham's criminal underworld, unfortunately for everyone involved, no one was quite prepared it. Alfred summarily lampshades:
 * Godzilla Threshold: this is essentially what The Joker is for this version of Gotham's criminal underworld, unfortunately for everyone involved, no one was quite prepared it. Alfred summarily lampshades:

"Joker: This is what happens when an unstoppable force... meets an immovable object. (sighs) You... truly are... incorruptible, aren't you?"
 * Good Cop, Bad Cop: The Joker accurately predicts that Gordon intends to use a form of this interrogation technique. However,
 * Good Is Boring: Subverted, in that the one who thinks so and stands up for the opposite is the Joker.
 * Good Is Not Dumb: Batman is portrayed as such; most of the plot revolves around the Joker trying to get Batman to break his moral code and prove that, deep down, everybody is just like him and that Batman's idealism is misplaced.
 * Goomba Stomp: In this case, Batman does it to a van.
 * Gory Discretion Shot:
 * A tweaked example: "Wanna see a magic trick? I'm gonna make this pencil disappear!" We see how it's done, but to keep the PG-13 rating, the horrible turnout is done without the horrific bloodsplatter such a "trick" would warrant in actuality.
 * A more traditional example occurs when the Joker kills Gambol. From a shot of the the Joker holding a knife in Gambol's cheek, we get a split-second cut to a henchman's horrified expression, then a shot from the other side of the room as the Joker drops Gambol.
 * Arguably the discretions are worse than being outright shown, allowing the audience to fill in the blanks themselves.
 * Groin Attack: How Rachel avoids having a smile put on her face by the Joker. Disturbingly, the Joker smiles in response. He's pretty obviously a major masochist. His response to pain is nothing like normal.
 * Guile Hero: Harvey Dent because of his political status and indirect, mostly non-violent means which,, made him more effective than even Batman in his role to clean up Gotham City from the mob.
 * Ham-to-Ham Combat: Between the Joker and Batman throughout the entire movie. The Joker even lampshades this in the final scene between the two of them:

"Joker: (after Rachel kicks him) A little fight in you. I like that. Batman: (just off-screen) Then you're gonna love me. *PUNCH*"
 * Happy Flashback
 * Heartbroken Badass: Bruce Wayne after.
 * Hellish Copter: A police chopper participating in an Escort Mission
 * Heroic Wannabe: A gang of doughy vigilantes with bat-costumes and guns..
 * "Hey You!" Haymaker

"Joker: Do I really look like a guy with a plan?"
 * Hero Insurance: Batman doesn't have it, but Gordon does:
 * Hero with Bad Publicity: at the end of the movie.
 * High Altitude Interrogation: Subverted and Lampshaded in The Dark Knight. Batman wasn't threatening to kill Maroni to get his information but looking to use the situation in a novel way that would actually make this Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard:
 * Hollywood Law: Local district attorneys cannot charge RICO offenses. Not even the local US Attorneys can, it has to come directly from the Department of Justice. Dent's mass-trial would also count, but the movie points out that he doesn't expect it to succeed and it's only proceeding because of his local stature.
 * Hope Spot: An In-Universe one for
 * Hot Chick in a Badass Suit: Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal) while interrogating a guy. Looks like she should be carrying a rapier.
 * The Hyena: The Joker, of course.
 * I Am Spartacus: When the Joker threatens to keep killing people until Batman unmasks and turns himself in,
 * I'm Not A Hero. I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be.
 * Indy Ploy: The Joker claims to be doing this, but it's really, really unlikely most of the time, considering the fact that he knew exactly how everyone in the city would react, with Batman himself being the only wild card, and a minor one at that. Considering how well everything worked out, it's more likely he's falling back on the character's long standing similarity to Batman, doing what he can to plan ahead and making up what he can't.

"Dent: I have a sworn statement from you that [points to Maroni] this man is the head of the Falcone crime family. Witness: Maroni? He's a fall guy. I'm the brains of the organization! Dent (to judge): Your honour, permission to treat the witness as hostile? Judge: Permission granted. Witness: Hostile? I'll show you hostile!"
 * YES.
 * Ironic Echo: Not as frequent as it was in Batman Begins, but there are some considerably impactful ones here.
 * "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
 * "I am sure a businessman of your stature would understand." Repeated within the same scene.
 * "I make my own luck" is echoed with "you make your own luck."
 * Harvey's fundraiser is absolutely loaded with them, subtle though they may seem. Both Bruce and the Joker enter the party announcing that they're only just in time; both immediately ask "Where is Harvey Dent?" upon arriving; both spill champagne out of a glass, and so on and so forth.
 * Irony: Commissioner Loeb telling Lieutenant Gordon "You're unlikely to discover this for yourself" about what being a police commissioner is like. Even people who didn't know Gordon would be Commissioner were reasonably assured he would eventually follow a similar career path to the comics.
 * It Got Worse: It starts with and just goes downhill from there.
 * I Will Show You X: During an argument between a witness on the stand and Harvey Dent:

"Batman: He must have friends! Salvatore Maroni: [incredulous] Friends? Have you *met* this guy? ... No one's gonna tell you nothin'. They're wise to your act. You got rules. The Joker, he's got no rules. No one's gonna cross him to you."
 * Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Used three times. Interestingly, it's never really effective.
 * When Batman beats up the Joker. Even discussed, as the Joker criticizes Batman's technique while Batman is beating him.
 * Batman also throws a man off a roof, breaking both his legs, in order to get information (although it doesn't work because the man in question pointed out that the fall wouldn't kill him, which Batman implies is exactly the reason why he chose that height). It still doesn't work, as the man doesn't really know anything about The Joker anyway; and even if he did he is far more scared of The Joker than Batman.

"Alfred: A long time ago, I was in Burma, my friends and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones. But their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a bandit. So we went looking for the stones. But in six months, we never found anyone who traded with him. One day I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been throwing them away. Bruce: Then why steal them? Alfred: Because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."
 * Dent ain't so bad at this himself. He uses his flip-a-coin Russian roulette technique several times to get some answers. Although, because he uses a 2 sided coin, he doesn't exactly leave a man's life to chance.
 * Joker Immunity: Played straight here, despite being Darker and Edgier than the previous film series, which killed him off.
 * Subverted between movies on account of The Character Died with Him.
 * Kansas City Shuffle: Or perhaps we should say Gotham City Shuffle? When The Joker threatened to kill the mayor, both Batman and the police assumed that the Joker or whoever he hired would be shooting from a window; the police set up a few officers to watch the windows, while Batman had a brick with a hole in it from a previous Joker murder analyzed to determine the "fingerprints" of the culprit, then went to the home address of said culprit when the mayor and parade were near it.
 * It wasn't just the Joker. If you watch closely, it's the ENTIRE honor guard. Doing the three-volley salute.
 * Kick the Dog:
 * Killed Mid-Sentence:.
 * Bus driver?! What bus dri SMASH.
 * Knife Nut: Joker. He even explains why. Though he isn't entirely averse to using guns.
 * Large Ham: Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne had to be a ham, but he does it as Batman as well. That voice must require some pastilles) and Heath Ledger's Joker.
 * The Chechen too. My dogs! Are! Hungry!
 * Laughably Evil: Again, the Joker.
 * Let Me Tell You a Story: Bruce Wayne is trying to figure out The Joker's motivations. Alfred tells him this:
 * Let Me Tell You a Story: Bruce Wayne is trying to figure out The Joker's motivations. Alfred tells him this:

""Do you want to know why I use a knife? Guns are too quick. You can't savor all the little... emotions.""
 * Love Cannot Overcome: Rachel doesn't want the problems of being Bruce's love interest until he's done being Batman.
 * Love Makes You Evil: Sort of...
 * Loves the Sound of Screaming: The Joker...

"Joker: "You didn't think I'd risk losing the battle for Gotham's soul...in a fistfight with you?""
 * Madden Into Misanthropy: The Joker pulls an extreme version of this on
 * Manipulative Bastard: Salvatore Maroni, a.k.a. the only person to profit from The Joker's presence.... The Joker too, especially in the way he manipulates
 * Mind Rape: Of all the Joker's acts of callous villainy and casual disregard for human dignity, none is worse than his
 * Misplaced Retribution: Rather than going after the Joker who actually orchestrated his tragedy, Two-Face goes after everyone who was involved in the events, no matter how weakly or by how many degrees of separation, even to the point of threatening Gordon's son.
 * But he did, he gave the Joker a coin toss just like everyone else.
 * Money to Burn: "I'm a man of simple tastes... dynamite... gunpowder... and gasoline. Do you know what all of these things have in common? They're cheap!" And what does he do with said items?
 * Monster Clown: Joker, obviously.
 * Morally-Bankrupt Banker: The mob banker in the second film.
 * Multiple Choice Past: In a nod to the comics (especially The Killing Joke), the Joker gives several tragic backstories about himself. "Wanna know how I got these scars?"
 * My Card: The Joker (it's... a joker card).
 * Mythology Gag: Joker's method of driving Two-Face to madness was very similar to a storyarc in Gotham Knights where Two-Face was getting close to being rehabilitated, but then Joker drives him insane again by implying that Bruce Wayne and Grace Lamont were having an affair.
 * Batman facing the Joker at the very top of a high building has a noticable similarlity to the final showdown in the 1989 Tim Burton movie. Joker actually falling to his Disney Villain Death probably would have sealed the deal.
 * In the first courtroom scene, one of Maroni's goons pulls a gun on Harvey while he's on the stand, but Harvey nonchalantly punches the goon out before he can pull the trigger. This is a nod to Two-Face's origin in the comics, where his facial scars were the result of a mob flunky trying to kill him in the middle of a trial.
 * In one scene, a teenage criminal laughs at his friend for being too afraid of Batman to go out at night, skeptically asking "What are you, superstitious?" This is, a nod to Batman's famous declaration that "Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot..."
 * N-Word Privileges: The Joker can call himself and Batman "freaks," but if anybody else tries it...
 * Never Be a Hero: Subverted. The "Batman dopplegangers" were fighting with the intent to kill, so Batman had every reason to be upset. Also, they lacked the training and equipment that Batman had, meaning it was only a matter of time before they got killed.
 * Never Trust a Trailer: The trailer and pre-release material present the Bat-Pod as if it's just Batman's new toy. The truth is, however, more sobering.
 * Nietzsche Wannabe:, with his talk of Chance being the only moral law in the world. The Joker would be a Nietzsche Wannabe, except that wouldn't nearly begin to encompass his craziness. At the beginning of the film, he paraphrases a quote from Nietzsche: "I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger."
 * No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: The last fight between Joker and Batman is a borderline example of this. Sure, Batman puts up a BIT of a fight, but that doesn't stop Joker from sending attack dogs after him, beating him with a crowbar while the dogs are on him, knocking him into a net after he escapes the dogs, repeatedly kicking him while he's caught in the net, and knocking him throw a window when he's escaped from said net. Not that the Joker should've been expected to show any restraint in the first place...
 * This is because, of course, the Joker's combat flailing would be no match for a trained fighter whose outfit is made of super-advanced body armor. Among all of this, though, is that the sonar headset Batman is wearing happens to be malfunctioning in part from the blow to the head Joker opens with. Toe to toe, in a fair fight, the Joker is OBVIOUSLY outclassed. That's why he never fights fair.

"Mayor: "When I first took this job, I asked him if he wanted to stay on He said..." Cuts to Bruce for a few minutes. Mayor: "Clearly, he was not a man who minced words. Nor should he have been. A number of policies that he enacted were unpopular." (Probably foreshadowing, given how rapidly Batman's popularity declines after the funeral...)"
 * This is almost highlighted given its comparison to the showdown in the 1989 Batman movie, where, atop an equally high building, Batman gives the less well armed Joker a damn sound beating, before the latter almost throws him to his death. Adding to that Batman turning down the same opportunity used to finish him off in the original film, the whole final showdown almost seems like a Mythology Gag.
 * Noodle Incident: A minor one at the state funeral for

"Joker: (to Rachel) A little fight in you, I like that. Batman: Then you're gonna love me."
 * If you watch the movie with the subtitles on, you can see that he said, "as long as you keep your politics out of my office".
 * Not So Harmless: The Joker. Though aware of his crimes, at first Batman and the authorities just see him as "one man," and focus on bringing down the mobsters. The mobsters, for their part, regard him as a "nobody" as well...
 * Ominous Walk: Subverted: The Joker starts one of these after Batman loses at chicken, then starts to jauntily skip after a few seconds.
 * Omnicidal Maniac: The Joker.
 * One-Scene Wonder: The Scary Black Man (Tommy Lister) on the convicts' barge, who "does what the guards shoulda done ten minutes ago":
 * Jonathan Crane early in the film too, though he was a much more significant character in Begins.
 * The Bank Manager (William Fichtner) who very calmly reacts to robbers in his bank... by whipping out a shotgun.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: The Joker, if "nickname" is a good word for it.
 * The CIA agent in the intro of The Dark Knight Rises introduces himself as "I'm CIA". Averted in the novel version where he's given the codename "Bill Wilson"
 * Orbital Shot: The Joker and Rachel. "Is it the scars? Want to know how I got them?"
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: In The Dark Knight, The Joker overshadows Batman. In the first movie Batman was given central focus, and the villains did not eclipse him. The sequel is more of a "Joker movie" than a "Batman movie", with Heath Ledger getting all the best lines and outperforming Bale in every scene. Overall the movie suceeds, since The Villain Makes the Plot.
 * Palantir Ploy: The.
 * The Paragon: Harvey Dent. This makes him the target of just about everybody.
 * The Pen Is Mightier: "How about a magic trick?"
 * Pet the Dog: Chechen LITERALLY pets his dogs, early in the movie, while calling them his "little princes".
 * Phony Newscast: There are newscasts during the film reporting on the Joker and the Batman; in the DVD extras you're treated to 4 fake in-depth newscasts about Gotham.
 * Physical Scars, Psychological Scars: The Joker subverts this since his different stories about how he got his physical "scars" (which are apparently supposed to be a metaphor for his mental scars) contradict each other, implying in turn that he's probably not being truthful about his mental scars either. Harvey Dent, however, plays it straight because his face was burned in the same incident that.
 * Pineapple Surprise: What The Joker threatens to do to escape a room full of mobsters.
 * Plot Immunity:
 * Poser Hating: Batman does not find imitation flattering. Especially if his imitators are dressing like him but ready to use lethal force.
 * The Power of Legacy: At the end of the film, after Harvey Dent's The Joker must not win.
 * Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: During the fundraising party for Harvey Dent:

"Joker: No no no, I kill the bus driver."
 * Precision F-Strike:
 * In the opening, if you listen carefully, you can hear Grumpy say "what the fuck?" after he is shot in the shoulder.
 * It's not a terribly obvious one, but after Batman fails to hit him with the Batpod, the Joker mouths the f-word. Blink and you'll miss it.
 * Later in the same scene,
 * Preemptive Declaration:


 * and

"Joker: You know how I got these scars? Batman: No, but I know how you got these! (launches his spring loaded scallops at Joker's face)"

"Joker: If you're good at something, never do it for free."
 * Product Placement: A lot. One notable case is Bruce Wayne's driving a Lamborghini Murcielago. Also a Bilingual Bonus Stealth Pun: murciélago is Spanish for bat.
 * Protagonist Journey to Villain: Harvey Dent's fall from grace.
 * Psycho for Hire: The Joker, with the emphasis on "psycho," since he doesn't really stay in the employ of the mob for long. He's definitely in it for the psycho part, though.

"Bruce: Alfred, the bandit, did you ever catch him? Alfred: Oh, yes. Bruce: How? Alfred: We burned the forest down."
 * Psychopathic Manchild: Just as an accountant was about to give in to one of Joker's earlier threats (reveal the identity of Batman or people die) he goes on TV to announce that he changed his mind, that he decides that a world without Batman would be too boring, and that if said accountant was not killed in less than an hour, that he would blow up a hospital.
 * Psycho Strings: On the soundtrack the Joker's one-note theme is made mostly of these. (One note? You have to listen to it to understand.)
 * The theme's feel could be compared to a swarm of wasps from hell trapped inside your brain and buzzing around for an exit. Or the screeching drone of an oncoming train. It still wouldn't do it justice.
 * Hint: Listen to it with headphones or surround-sound.
 * Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "Why. so. serious?"
 * From the same speech: "Not. One. Bit."
 * "LOOK! AT! ME!"
 * Put the Laughter In Slaughter: Trope Namer.
 * Rank Up: Jim Gordon is promoted to Commissioner in the movie.
 * Real Life Writes the Plot: It is possible that the ending of TDK was setting up Joker to return in the Rises (he doesn't die, he says they'll be doing this forever, etc)... but then Heath Ledger died. It's since been confirmed Joker won't be in Rises, and a lot of people suspect the lack of Joker in Rises was not part of the original plan.
 * Reckless Gun Usage: The Joker ignores all gun-handling rules, but being the Joker, he probably doesn't care at all if he accidentally shoots someone. Or himself, for that matter. Hell, he'd probably think it was hilarious. In fact, there is a scene where he stumbles and accidentally sprays a burst of S&W M76 fire in a random direction.
 * Harvey Dent is flipping a two-headed coin so he won't purposely shoot someone he was interrogating, but he was still pressing a loaded gun to that man's head. But, again,
 * Redemption Equals Death:
 * Retired Badass: Alfred apparently did some military spec-ops work some time before being Bruce's butler, providing him with anecdotal experience concerning the Joker's MO.
 * The story also goes to hint at a rather dark side to the generally pleasant and amiable sophisticate:

"Joker: You know how I got these scars? Batman: No, but I know how you got these. (Batman launches his gauntlet spikes point-blank into Joker's face)"
 * Right-Hand Attack Dog: The Chechen owns a pack of them..
 * Right Behind Me: "Don't tell me it's Wayne. The guy's a complete f--"
 * Rousseau Was Right: See The movie's a little too complicated to be summed as "People are really nice," but generally speaking, yep, you heard me right. Not all people are bastards. In a Darker and Edgier Batman movie.
 * Rule of Three: The Joker's third "scar story" is subverted by Batman.
 * Subverted... by Batman. Played straight... by the movie itself. And double subverted... due to both. We never hear Joker's third story but Batman giving him scars makes the movie itself a third story. As a result somehow manages to fit all three.

"Ebert: The Joker is more than a villain. He’s a Mephistopheles whose actions are fiendishly designed to pose moral dilemmas for his enemies."
 * The Sadistic Choice: Joker has several in The Dark Knight. So much so that Roger Ebert interprets this concept as one of Joker's main themes.

"Maroni: This madness... it's just too much. Gordon: You should have thought of that before you let that clown out of the box."
 * It seems notable that the messenger of chaos is the one with the most elaborate 'plans'.
 * Scare Chord: The Joker's leitmotif.
 * Scary Black Man: Gambol.
 * Even scarier is the prisoner on the ferry, who
 * Helps that the actor has basically made a career of playing the scary black man. Or, at the very least, the scary black comic relief.
 * Scheherazade Gambit: Variant when
 * Screams Like a Little Girl: Salvatore Maroni as he's dropped from the second floor by Batman.
 * Should Have Thought of That Before X:

"Batman: What were you trying to prove? That deep down, everyone's as ugly as you? You're alone!"
 * Shout-Out: "Will the real Batman please stand up?"
 * Possibly also a reference to that musical they never made.
 * William Fichtner as the banker with the shotgun in the opening heist was an intentional Casting Gag by Nolan, who built the sequence as an homage to Heat.
 * The Joker's goons don clown masks during the opening scene as a reference to Stanley Kubrick's heist film The Killing.
 * Joker's mask is also the same as the one the character uses in The Joker's Wild, his very first appearance in the 60's series.
 * Shown Their Work: The SWAT Team's tactics when entering the building the Joker's minions have occupied are based on real-life SWAT procedure: the officers approach the suspects with weapons at the ready and identify themselves, demanding that the suspects surrender and put their weapons down. Until the suspects present a threat to either the officers or innocents, they have to hold fire. More than one reviewer questioned why SWAT wasn't opening fire, not realizing that this was how they really operate.
 * Shut UP, Hannibal: Batman to the Joker.

"The Joker: I just did what I do best — I took your little plan, and I turned it on itself."
 * "Shut Up" Kiss: Harvey to Rachael, after his press conference.
 * Smash the Symbol
 * Smug Snake: Maroni. Just look at that smile.
 * Spanner in the Works: The Joker is a self-proclaimed " Agent of Chaos" - he really doesn't plan, he just sizes up his enemies' plans and attacks the weak point that causes the most chaos.

"Lucius Fox: It emits a high-frequency pulse for mapping an environment and records a response time. Bruce Wayne: Sonar. Just like a... Lucius Fox: Like a submarine, Mr. Wayne. Like a submarine."
 * The Spook: Both Batman and The Joker.
 * Stealth Pun: The Joker blocks a stretch of road with a vehicle on fire. Just another way the Joker Crosses the Line Twice.
 * By the end of the second act, the Batmobile had lost a wheel (the Batpod), and the Joker got away.
 * During the trip to China:

"Policeman: "Wha...! Is that a bazooka??""
 * The.
 * Bruce Wayne drives a Lamborghini Murcielago... Murcielago is Spanish for "Bat".
 * Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred: A major theme of the Joker's actions in this movie.
 * Stuffed Into the Fridge: One of the main criticisms of the film, besides Batman's voice,.
 * Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome:
 * Take a Third Option: Sadistically subverted with . Played straight during
 * Taking the Bullet: Jim Gordon does this for the mayor. Later it's combined with Car Fu when the Batmobile takes a rocket propelled grenade for Harvey Dent's paddy wagon.
 * And when Bruce Wayne uses the Lamborghini to block a pickup truck from smashing the police SUV.
 * Technical Pacifist: Batman won't outright kill anyone, but he has no qualms dropping a man from a fire escape because he probably won't die from the fall.
 * Tempting Fate: "He's going to need something a lot bigger than that to get through this truck!" Cue the freaking rocket launcher.

"Gordon: Thank you. Batman: You don't have to thank me. Gordon: Yes, I do."
 * "Some two-bit whack-job. Wears a cheap purple suit and make-up. He's not the problem. He's a nobody". Hohoho if they only knew back then...
 * "My dogs are hungry! Pity there is only one of you..."
 * Terrorist Without a Cause:The Joker in The Dark Knight is about as pure of an example as you can find.
 * Think Nothing of It: After.

"Stephens: I'm a twenty year man. And I know the difference between punks who need to be taught a little lesson in manners, and the freaks like you who would just enjoy it."
 * Throat Light
 * Title Drop:
 * Too Kinky to Torture: The Joker. Detective Stephens, who's in charge of watching him, even lampshades it:

"Joker: Very poor choice of words!"
 * Torture Always Works: Subverted hard by the Joker during Batman's interrogation: "You have nothing! Nothing to threaten me with! Nothing to do with all your strength!"
 * Trailers Always Spoil: Many people knew because of the Joker's trailer line of
 * To be fair you never see him actually saying it to Gordon but still.
 * Also, we see Gordon smash the Bat-Signal in the final trailer, something that hadn't happened at that time in the film.
 * Although it wasn't exactly guaranteed, it was pretty doubtful that Gordon was going to die before he became Commisioner.
 * Trauma Conga Line: Harvey Dent loses . It doesn't take much for The Joker to push him over the edge after that.
 * Troll: What The Joker will resort to when his target has no other obvious flaw he can utilize to get inside their heads.
 * Two-Headed Coin: Played straight by Harvey; brutally Subverted when.
 * Under the Truck: Not a chase scene, since the Joker is coming at Batman head on in a truck, while Batman races towards him on the Batpod. However Batman fires two tow cables that hit the truck and then proceeds to weave in and out between the wheels of the trailer to tie it up. Because the Batpod is built low to the ground and the truck is quite high off the ground, he doesn't need to slide, just drive normally.
 * The Unfettered: The Joker.
 * Unflinching Walk:.
 * Played for laughs with the Joker when he . He starts walking away without looking back, only to notice the explosions have stopped. Joker turns around and starts fiddling with the detanator, but nothing happens. He fiddles with the detonator some more, until he's startled by a huge explosion. Joker then resumes walking away without looking back...only now he's walking much faster than before.
 * Unhand Them, Villain!: The Joker does this to Rachel when Batman tells him to let her go. She happens to be hanging halfway out a window.
 * Unhand Them, Villain!: The Joker does this to Rachel when Batman tells him to let her go. She happens to be hanging halfway out a window.

"Joker: I wanted to see what you'd do, and you didn't disappoint. You let five people die. Then, you let Dent take your place. Even to a guy like me, that's cold."
 * Unreliable Narrator: The Joker, naturally.
 * Unwanted Rescue: . "NO! NOT ME! WHY ARE YOU COMING FOR ME?!" Doubly so,.
 * Viewers are Morons/Viewers Are Goldfish: One would assume that a room full of cops and lawyers knows what RICO is.
 * When two corpses are discovered whose last names are Harvey and Dent, respectively, Ramirez has to remind us that one characters' name is Harvey Dent and that the dead guys' names are supposed to allude to him.
 * Villainous Breakdown: The Joker has an understated version of this at the end of The Dark Knight, in contrast to his usual over-the-top theatrics:
 * When a guy named The Joker suddenly becomes very sullen and grumpy...
 * Villain Team-Up: Joker and Two-Face... ssssssssorta.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Two-Face, and maybe even the Joker. Two-Face has simply given up on the law, while the Joker is trying to wake people up Tyler Durden style.
 * He's not trying to wake them up, he's trying to break them down so they'll be at his level. Tyler thought he was at the top; The Joker knows he's at the bottom, and loves it.
 * The Joker also loves chaos, is definitely Ax Crazy and enjoys ruining lives For the Evulz; he isn't that well intentioned...he seems to want To Create a Playground For Evil and wants to break Gotham's hope; as he says so to Batman at the Prewitt Building. It's why he . Judging by his speech that broke ; he probably wanted to believe he's well intentioned, so  would embrace both chaos and murder (effectively  which if found out]]; would ruin Gotham's hope).
 * Wham! Episode: The end of the second act, which starts with and ends with  None of the protagonists emerge unscathed.
 * What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: There seems to be a subtle theme about dogs in The Dark Knight. Seriously. Go back and watch it again, looking out for references to, and appearances by, dogs. The meaning behind them is debatable, but it can't be coincidence.
 * Dogs are a symbol for the Joker. He's the "dog chasing cars" and the ultimate cynic. At first, the Chechen mobster has dogs on a leash -- to deal with Batman -- but by the end the dogs are turned against their former master in the same way the Joker basically overthrew the mobsters' control. Also, there's probably some Cerberus thing you could take from the three dogs.
 * Look at The Joker leaning his head out of the police car's window after his escape.
 * The Joker is symbolic in another way: he's almost more an anarchic, chaotic force of destruction than a man, and exemplifies the theme of corruption. You see it throughout the movie, how he seeps like a poison into every corrupt and dark underside of Gotham, undermining order, twisting Harvey Dent's righteous anger into something evil, and even undermining Batman's confidence in what he's doing.
 * Go to the next step: The Joker's very identity is symbolic. In a game of cards, the Joker is often a wild card: it becomes precisely what you need it to be to further your agenda, but of itself, it has no face value or significance; it just upsets the other players' agendas by coming seemingly out of nowhere. Thus...the Joker's multiple-choice history and his lack of real identity.
 * "It'll stand up to a cat." If I have to explain this...
 * For a more straightforward example, when Rachel and Harvey are kidnapped
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Pulled by the Joker, of all people.

"Batman: You'd leave a man's life to chance?!"
 * Technically, Batman did not plan on the latter part, as Bruce Wayne did indeed intend to turn himself in, but Dent ended up taking his place. Wayne's reaction shows that this was definitely not something that he had anticipated. On that note, Rachel Dawes' reaction to this was also similar to The Joker's.
 * Pulled earlier by Batman when


 * The 'hero' part might be debatable, but Harvey does this to

""You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it!""
 * When the Scary Black Man on the ferry is facing down the Warden, he tells him in blunt terms that "Give it to me, and I'll do what you should have done ten minutes ago." Then he
 * Gordon's wife's reaction to his faking his death. He offers up a small excuse about how it was for her protection, but she still smacks him.
 * Lucius makes it clear that he is not happy with Batman's plan to
 * What You Are in the Dark: The Joker tries to do this on Batman, Harvey Dent, and a lot of citizens/criminals of Gotham on the boats.
 * Where's the Kaboom?: Well, more "Where's the Rest of the Kaboom? ClickclickclickOh Crap".
 * Why Am I Ticking?: Joker orchestrates a prison break with a cell-phone bomb, which is sewn inside the body of one of his mooks.
 * Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Why doesn't the Joker just shoot Batman? Because
 * And why doesn't anyone shoot the Joker?
 * Because the characters recognize that If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him.
 * And because as he demonstrated earlier in the film when he met the mobsters, he might be covered in explosives.
 * The Windy City: The film was shot on location in Chicago with many of the city's distinctive streets making an appearance.
 * Would Hit a Girl: Two-Face knocked Anna Ramirez into unconsciousness, after his coin spares her life.
 * Xanatos Roulette: The entirety of Joker's plan. He even lampshades this, saying that he has no plan and that he's just doing things to see what happens.

"Joker (to the organized crime community): Look, I know why you choose to have your little group therapy sessions in broad daylight... Joker (to Batman): You just take off your little mask and show us all who you really are, hmm? Joker (to Batman): Does Harvey know about you and his little bunny? Joker (to Harvey Dent): They're schemers. Schemers trying to control their little worlds. (Referring to the police and the organized crime community alike.) Joker (to Harvey Dent): I just took your little plan and I turned it on itself."
 * Might be a case of Obfuscating Stupidity.
 * He's CLEARLY aware of what individuals will do in his little Sadistic Choice scenarios, and cleverly makes this predictable response the WRONG answer. So he sets up a situation, predicts what will happen, and plans out a way to punish the test-taker.
 * Xanatos Speed Chess: Batman has to play an insane game in the film's final minutes. All this thought up and implemented on the fly within a time span of two minutes.
 * X Must Not Win: Where X in this case refers to The Joker. It's such a major driving force for the good guys, especially for Batman, that at the end of the movie,
 * You Did the Right Thing: Ginty, the prisoner among many prisoners on the prisoner ferry, after demanding that the detonator to the civilian ferry be handed over to him, instead of detonating it primarily to save his own life,
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Pulled in the opening sequence of Knight, as the Joker manipulates his goons into killing each other one by one due to their greed. In the end, he walks away with the whole haul, without having to share the $68 million with his five henchmen... and only needing to kill one of the five himself.
 * You're Insane!: "No. No, I'm not."
 * Your Little Dismissive Diminutive: This version of The Joker uses a LOT of these.


 * Your Mom: The Joker used this insult about Gambol's grandmom to make him pissed.
 * Zero-Approval Gambit: The ending.