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{{work}}
{{quote|''"This isn't [[Superman
''[[Homicide: Life
The officers of the Gotham City Police Department have to deal with all sorts of threats, from accidentally stumbling across [[An Ice Person|Mr. Freeze]] while looking for a missing girl to finding out why [[Pyromaniac|Firebug]] killed someone. There are normal cases, too, kidnappings and murders, but they are interspersed with the flotsam and jetsam created by Batman and his rogues gallery.
This comic is divided into the day and night shifts of the Major Crimes Unit, the department of the GCPD tasked with dealing with "freaks" (supervillains) and the more important mundane crimes. Regular characters included [[
The series was first collected into five trade paperback volumes which collected almost (but not all) issues. Some volumes also contain stories not published within ''Gotham Central,'' but from other DCU series that feature common characters:
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* ''Book 3: On the Freak Beat''
{{tropelist}}
* [[Action Girl]]: They might not be costumed avengers themselves, but there are a good number of women in the Major Crimes Unit, and none are afraid of getting their hands dirty (and bloody) if they have to. In addition to regular police work, one storyline ends with {{spoiler|Renee Montoya}} in a bare-knuckle fight behind a bar in an attempt to exonerate her partner.
* [[All Men Are Perverts]]: It was minor, and primarily humorous, but when [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Starfire]] arrived in GCPD headquarters there is a [[Beat Panel]] composed of all the men, ''all'' of them, staring at her with jaws agape. Detective Romy Chandler notices this and responds simply with a disgusted "[[The Unfair Sex|men]]".
* [[All Women Are Lustful]]: After Detective Chandler remarks at the men [[All Men Are Perverts|staring at Starfire]], Detective Joely Bartlett points out their two lesbian coworkers with ''the exact same expressions'', with a smirking "You think?" Maggie Sawyer actually remarks that "You should see [[Wonder Woman]]." In the DCU universe it does not matter if you are male or female, ''everybody'' is [[Distracted
* [[Asshole Victim]]:
** Officers Munroe and Decarlo, [[Dirty Cop|two very corrupt beat cops]] who murdered a teenage girl, are killed by the girl's caretaker, Poison Ivy; seeing them dragged underground by vines to to suffocate is extremely satisfying.
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* [[Asskicking Pose]]: Somehow, Detective Chandler manages to make holding a fire extinguisher look '''''[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|awesome]].'''''
* [[Audio Erotica]]: Oficer Tim Munroe describes Poison Ivy's voice as being like honey, and his narration trails off when he starts to imagine what she might look like.
* [[Badass Normal]]: All the main characters. When you have to chase down villains that give [[
* [[Badass Mustache]]: Sarge has a nice, thick mustache, and is very proud of it and all relevant facial hair.
{{quote|
'''Sarge Davies:''' "What about [[Teddy Roosevelt]]? He had a ''handlebar'' mustache."
'''Crowe:''' "Different era, Sarge. You telling me you'd vote for some guy with a handlebar mustache in this day and age?"
'''Sarge:''' "Hell, yes. Anyone puts that kind of attention into a 'stache has just got ''class''. I don't care ''what'' year it is." }}
* [[Bad Cop, Incompetent Cop]]: While the cast of the series itself is honest and skilled, the Gotham City Police Department as a whole is listed by the FBI as the second most corrupt police force in the country ([[Shout
* [[Bad Guy Bar]]: Finnigan's. It is a ''cop bar'', but since the police in question are the [[Bad Cop, Incompetent Cop|Gotham City Police Department]] this is where people go to arrange drug deals, tamper with evidence and cover up crimes (up to and including murder).
* [[The Bad Guy Wins]]:
** Two-Face is arrested and Renee Montoya never loved him, but she cannot be un-outed, her family has disowned her and a lot of her co-workers have more ammunition to use against the honest Hispanic woman making trouble for their corrupt white male club. It might have ended badly for him, but Two-Face made her life hell exactly as he intended.
** Doctor Alchemy, who turns a good cop into a homicidal mutant who kills his own wife and has to be shot, permanently scars Montoya by transmuting her necklace into hydrochloric acid, and gets away with just a beating and being sent back to the jail he was already in.
* [[Bald of Awesome]]: Detective Crispus Allen
* [[Bat Family Crossover]]: During the "War Games" crossover, Gotham City is engulfed in a large-scale [[Mob War]] inadvertently started by Stephanie Brown (Spoiler/Robin, currently [[Batgirl]]). The crime affects the various different series set in Gotham City, including ''Gotham Central'', and the detectives are drawn into the conflicts between armed factions. With long lasting affects, Crispus Allen is forced to kill the masked assassin Black Spider when he and Renee Montoya are caught in a shootout between Black Spider and [[Gang
* [[Bat Signal]]: Deconstructed<ref>though they still never get around to explaining what they do if there aren't clouds</ref>. The series delves into the legality and operation of the signal, and what it implies for the relationship between Batman and the police. Legally, no employee of City Hall or the police can operate the signal, since that would qualify as an official endorsement of Batman and make the city government responsible for whatever actions Batman takes. As such, only Stacy, the secretary of the MCU who is technically a temp and not a city employee at all, is allowed to turn on the signal
* [[Bavarian Fire Drill]]: Jack Dunning explains that he got into the MCU by walking through the door like he knew what he was doing and the desk sergeant on duty did not say anything.
* [[Beat Panel]]
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* [[Bully Hunter]]: When the Gotham High bombing case is re-opened, the detectives look at a couple of wealthy software tycoons who were simple nerds in high school and actually ''cheered'' at the memorial service for the victims of the bombing. One of the theories of the case was that, as frequently-bullied nerds, they had bombed the baseball team in order to get vengeance on the popular jocks. {{spoiler|They were not responsible, although they did know the people who were.}}
* [[The Bus Came Back]]: Harvey Bullock had been forced to retire from the Gotham City Police Department before the start of the series, and was absent from the early issues despite frequent mentions from his old friends and partners. When the Gotham High School bombing case is re-opened, which Bullock had focused on before his forced retirement, he guest-stars in several issues as the current cast picks up the investigation.
* [[By
* [[The Cameo]]:
** Huntress appears in a single issue (plus the closing page of the previous issue) to discuss Sergeant Vincent Del Arrazio's family connection to [[The Mafia]].
** Slam Bradley, a classic [[Private Detective]] who premiered in ''[[Detective Comics]] #1'', appears in an issue to give Josie Mac select information related to Catwoman.
** The [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]] appear in an issue to convince the MCU that the dead boy in the Robin costume they have found was not the real Robin.
* [[Canon Immigrant]]: Renee Montoya, one of the lead characters, was originally created for ''[[
* [[Car Cushion]]: [[Shazam|Captain Marvel]] completely wrecks the squad car that Montoya and Allen had [[Flashed Badge Hijack|borrowed]].
* [[Cardboard Prison]]: There are no successful prison escapes within the series itself, but the detectives have had to deal with many breakouts in the past and even say that Arkham Asylum has a "revolving door."
* [[Catch Phrase]]: [[Heroic Sacrifice|Good cops die]], [[Joker Immunity|villains live]], and there is nothing anybody can do about it because everybody knows "it's Gotham." Doubles as a [[Shout
* [[Classy Cat Burglar]]: Catwoman guest-stars in an arc, [[Clear My Name|and does not like that her name is being sullied as a murderer in addition to a thief]].
* [[Clear My Name]]: Renee Montoya in the "Half a Life" arc.
* [[C
* [[Cluster F
{{quote|
* [[Cold
* [[Cold Sniper]]: The Joker. Yeah, you read that right. "In over their heads" does not even ''begin'' to describe how utterly screwed the cops are.
* [[Coming Out Story]]: Renee Montoya is outed to her friends and family against her will by Two-Face, [[Stalker
* [[The Commissioner Gordon]]: James Gordon himself has retired from the GCPD before the start of the series and appears only in flashbacks and a few scattered cameos in the present-day. His replacement, Commissioner Akins, does not have the personal bond with Batman that Gordon did and there is extensive friction between the two of them. After the "War Games" event (See [[Bat Family Crossover]] above) Akins officially terminates the cooperation between Batman and the GCPD.
* [[Completely Missing the Point]]: Two-Face discovers Renee's lesbianism and uses it to make her vulnerable so he can potentially woo her to him. When she explains she is a lesbian and not interested in men (much less crazed disfigured criminal men) and asks if he even looked at the photos before sending them out, Two-Face simply retorts, "Yeah, I know all that. I don't see what that has to do with us."
* [[Continuity Nod]]:
** Though Gotham City itself seems to have recovered, there are frequent references made by characters to a recent earthquake and "No Man's Land." These both refer to a long-running arc in various Bat-Family titles during the late 1990's where Gotham City was destroyed by a large earthquake, with the entire city subsequently abandoned and declared off-limits by the United States government. This sequence of events, also titled ''[[Batman: No
** Many references are made to the [[Bat Family Crossover]] ''War Games'', of which ''Gotham Central'' played a part. After the event, many cops discuss the current strained relationship between the GCPD and Batman, as well as the impact it had on the activities of local costumed heroes.
** When the [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]] guest-star in an issue to convince the MCU that Robin is alive and well, they mention that there have recently been some changes in his home life. When they are pressed for details, Cyborg explained that [[Identity Crisis|he had a lot to deal with in the past year.]]
* [[Conviction
* [[Cover
* [[Cowboy Cop]]: None of the characters, at least in the beginning. As the sole honest department in the GCPD, the MCU takes its responsibilities seriously and works to get actual convictions, not just rough up suspects because they do not like them. Explicit reference is made to the fact that at least one previous member of the MCU, Harvey Bullock, is no longer on the force because of how he worked around the rules when they did not work for him.
* [[Crime
* [[Crisis Crossover]]: One memorable issue takes place during ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'' and has Montoya and Allen seeing the effects of what is happening.
* [[Da Chief]]: Captain Maggie Sawyer, transferred officer from the Metropolis Police Force and commander of the Major Crime Unit of the Gotham City Police Department.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: Though similar in tone to other Gotham series, it is predominantly darker and grittier than most comics in the DCU at large, featuring subdued and muted colors in addition to its dark storylines. Maggie Sawyer, [[Da Chief]] and [[Reasonable Authority Figure]], is a transferred officer from Metropolis Police Department and, as the page quote exemplifies, is often directly confronted with the contrast between the two cities. Remember, [[Tropes Are Not Bad]], and the darker themes are not just [[Bloodier and Gorier]], but complex storylines and character development. The darker themes won significant critical acclaim and Eisner, Harvey and Gaylactic Spectrum awards.
* [[A Day in
* [[The Dead Have Names]]:
** When Officers [[Dirty Cop|Munroe and Defalco]] kill a young runaway who saw them extorting money from a drug dealer, neither is too concerned about it. Not only do they believe they will get away with the crime itself, but they figure that she was unimportant enough that nobody would care anyway. They are wrong.
{{quote|
** {{spoiler|Detective Nate Patton}} was killed during the Joker's Christmas rampage, which some members of the MCU blame directly on Batman. Months later, when Stacy is speaking to Robin about it, she is surprised that Robin not only remembered the event, but knew his name.
* [[Death Glare]]: When Romy Chandler shot Batman, he broke her nose and stole her gun, after which her partner drew his own gun. Batman stood perfectly still, just ''staring'' at him, until he lowered the weapon.
* [[Despair Event Horizon]]: {{spoiler|When Crispus Allen is murdered and his killer walks on the crime, Renee Montoya quits the force, descends into alcoholism and drives her girlfriend away. She had, until the events of ''[[
* [[Detective Drama]]
* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: At the end of the "Dead Robin" story arc they need to use the Bat Signal to contact Batman, but the signal had been physically dismantled during the earlier [[Bat Family Crossover|crossover]] with ''War Games''. It turns out that the GCPD has a portable, easily set-up Bat Signal that was given to them by Ted Kord years ago. This is lampshaded when Josie Mac mentions how convenient it is.
* [[Differently
* [[Dirty Cop]]:
** Officers Munroe and Decarlo, who kill a young runaway after she sees them extorting money from a corner drug dealer.
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* [[Downer Ending]]: Crispus Allen {{spoiler|gets shot and killed by Corrigan. He walks, however, when the evidence is tampered with by corrupt members of the forensics department. Montoya goes to kill him, but [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him|can not go through with it]]. Disgusted with herself and what she is becoming, she drops her badge and gun on Maggie Sawyer's desk and quits.}}
* [[Driven to Suicide]]: Multiple characters, though many (unfortunately not all) are intercepted before they can go through with it. Because of what they have seen, done and been forced to do, several people simply can not continue as they have.
{{quote|
'''Harvey Bullock''': "See, what you don't know, Josie...what you don't know about ''me''...I'm '''not''' better." }}
* [[Drowning My Sorrows]]: Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya, former partners, both end up swallowing beer after beer as they struggle to deal with what their lives have become.
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** In the ''Half a Life'' arc, Renee Montoya has been expertly framed for murder and is being interrogated by [[Internal Affairs]]. The various panels during the interrogation show her in various poses of exasperation (head in her hands, scowling expression, etc.) except for one panel, where her hands drop from her face and her eyes widen in the obvious understanding of something. The dialogue in the previous panel actually hints at the culprit ("Temporary insanity plea...double life...threat to someone you love...") and this is when she put the pieces together, though she does not explain it to anybody until much later.
** In the "Dead Robin" arc, Captain Sawyer and reporter Simon Lippman are having a lot of friction over the use of crime scene photos in Lippman's articles, since she assumes he bought them off somebody in the department. However, when Crispus Allen is making phone calls later, he notices that the photos in the paper, though almost identical to the police crime scene photos, lack tags and tape that the police use to identify evidence. ''They were taken before the police arrived.''
* [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"]]: Sergeant Jackson "Sarge" Davies. It has gotten to the point that, when Sarge was upset that he was passed over for promotion to Lieutenant, his partner tried to console him with the fact that his name would not have fit anymore.
{{quote|
'''Sarge:''' "They coulda called me Lieutenant Sarge..." }}
* [[Fantastic Racism]]: Except for a few celebrated heroes, the people of Gotham do not take a very positive view of "[[Differently
* [[First
* [[Flashed Badge Hijack]]: The ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'' crossover issue opens with Allen and Montoya's unmarked police car breaking down and them waiting for a tow-truck to arrive and bring them back to the squadroom. When the Crisis began to tear the city apart they stopped a regular squad-car that was driving past and kicked out the officers in it, explaining that they would send a car to come pick them up while they responded to the supervillains running wild.
* [[For Science!]]: Dr. Alchemy and his twisted experiments.
* [[For the Evulz]]: Dr. Alchemy is a racist, sexist, homophobic madman with delusions of grandeur who turns a police man into a rampaging psychotic monster just [[For Science!]]. However, there is the implication that he does not really believe any of the hateful rhetoric he says, instead saying it all ''just to mess with people.''
* [[Fully
** ''Batman: Officer Down'' was a story before the launch of ''Gotham Central'' detailing the attempted murder of James Gordon when he is shot in the back. The culprit is discovered, but [[Conviction
** After the end of ''Gotham Central'', many of its storylines are continued in other series. Renee Montoya is featured in ''[[
* [[The Fundamentalist]]:
{{quote|
'''Marcus Driver:''' "Wait, the televangelist guy?"
'''Josie:''' "Got it in one."
'''Marcus:''' "I ''hate'' that guy." }}
* [[The Gambling Addict]]: Detective Tommy Burke. His partner can judge how well he did at poker based on when he arrives in the morning.
{{quote|
'''Detective Tommy Burke:''' "Two thousand three hundred and eleven dollars."
'''Dagmar:''' (''[[Spit Take]]'') }}
* [[Gang
* [[Gay Bar Reveal]]: It is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it [[Meaningful Background Event]] on the first page of the ''Half a Life'' arc: Before Renee is outed, before there are any significant hints, before we are even aware that it is her that is in this scene, she goes to Maloney's Bar & '''Girl''' for the evening.
* [[Gayngst]]: When Renee Montoya is outed by Two-Face she faces discrimination at work and rejection from her family, [[I Have No Son|who disown her when she admits it]]. Maggie Sawyer, who is openly gay, helps her work through initial problems within the police force, but Renee makes it clear that their situations are drastically different (see the page quote); the differences between Gotham and Metropolis run deeper than just the business hours of their heroes, as do their personal differences. This, along with other factors, leads to eventual [[The Alcoholic|alcoholism]] and [[Suicide
* [["Get Out of Jail Free" Card]]: Everybody acknowledges that, when Renee beat up [[Corrupt Cop]] Jim Corrigan to get crucial evidence to exonerate her partner, it essentially gave Corrigan a free pass on all future crimes since any investigation would be marred by her actions. She considers it a fair trade, but Crispus Allen does not.
* [[Girls Love]]: Maggie Sawyer has been an out lesbian since 1988 and is in a long-term (and long-distance) relationship with Toby Raines, a Metropolis reporter. Renee Montoya is involuntarily outed by an obsessive supervillain during the course of the comics' run, and has to deal with the reaction of her family, friends, and coworkers.
* [[
* [[Gollum Made Me Do It]]: [[Split Personality|Two-Face]] appears as the antagonist in the "Half a Life" arc.
{{quote|
* [[Good Cop, Bad Cop]]: Most of the partners fall into this routine. Interestingly, often enough, Crispus Allen is the good cop and Montoya is the bad one, whereas she played good cop when she was previously paired with Harvey Bullock.
* [[Good Old Fisticuffs]]: Batman has his Batarangs, and all the cops have guns, but there are several points in the series where somebody just starts walloping somebody else with their own two hands.
* [[Grappling Hook Pistol]]: When the detectives are trying to determine if the first body found in the "Dead Robin" arc is really Robin or not, they note that it looks like he was killed by a fall from the top of a building, even though he obviously had his "grapple thing" with him.
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* [[I Did What I Had to Do]]: When Renee is confronted with how she beat crucial evidence out of [[Corrupt Cop]] Jim Corrigan, she explains that, even if her actions got Corrigan off from any future allegations, at least it kept Crisupus Allen on the force. She considers it a pretty good trade.
* [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him]]: Frequently, as expected in a Batman comic, where the ever-present corruption of the GCPD means that criminals and villains manage to escape justice, and the honest cops are pushed to the brink in an effort to accomplish something, ''anything'', that will end the violence and horror of the city. None ever cross the line in the comic, they either stop themselves or are stopped by others, but when Renee Montoya comes close, '''''so''''' close, to shooting {{spoiler|Jim Corrigan}}, she {{spoiler|quits the police force in disgust.}}
* [[Ignored Epiphany]]: Mr. Montoya seems to be coming to grips with his daughters sexuality, and is actually able to admit that he misses her while having a mature conversation with her girlfriend, but an early issue of follow-up series ''[[
* [[I Have No Son]]: Played straight, unfortunately, when Renee Montoya admits to her parents that she is gay. She is told she is going to hell, that she is dead to them and to never come back. Is it any wonder she [[Downer Ending|starts crying once she gets into her car?]] Her father improves slightly much later on, managing to have a mature conversation with Renee's girlfriend and admitting that he misses her, but the [[Downer Ending]] does not allow this to reach the positive conclusion, becoming an [[Ignored Epiphany]].
* [[I Just Want to Be Special]]: The "Dead Robin" arc revolved around a reporter who had murdered several teenage males and dumped their bodies in authentic-looking Robin costumes. He demands to be allowed to confess to Batman directly, and reveals that he wanted desperately to be part of that world. [[Be Careful What You Wish For|Batman grants his request.]]
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* [[Incompatible Orientation]]: Two-Face never does understand that, regardless of what he does to her, Renee is simply not sexually attracted to men. She explains in explicit detail that she is gay, and points out that he is the one who ''outed her'', and his only response to wonder what that has to do with ''them''.
* [[Insignia Rip Off Ritual]]: {{spoiler|Montoya at the end of "Corrigan II."}}
* [[Internal Affairs]]: [[Playing
* [[Intrepid Reporter]]: Simon Lippman, who covers a lot of the more fantastic Gotham stories and has a (relatively) pleasant working relationship with the MCU. However, he is a reporter to the core and refuses to compromise, including refusing to name any sources or give the police access to his privileged information. Other reporters explain that he is "old school," and this causes some friction between him and Captain Sawyer.
* [[Innocent Bystander Series]]: Normal guys just trying to do their jobs in a city full of freaks in capes.
* [[Invulnerable Knuckles]]: Averted. Fistfights are unfortunately common, and when all is said and done everybody involved, even the victor, is bruised and bloody, ''especially'' on their hands. When Renee Montoya begins to descend into violent, drunken fights in bars and back-alleys, her damaged hands are one of the first signs to her friends and family that something is wrong.
* [[It Got Worse]]: It seemed bad when Corrigan stole evidence from a crime scene and got Detective Allen investigated by [[Internal Affairs]], forcing Montoya to beat the evidence out of him and essentially granting him a free-pass from any corruption investigations, but when Allen later tries to pursue his own investigation into the matter...let's just say it gets worse and leave it at that.
* [[
* [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique]]: The Major Crimes Unit is the "honest" part of the Gotham City Police Department, but there are some times when they need information, and they need it ''now.'' Usually comes back to bite them, [[Laser
* [[Jurisdiction Friction]]: The MCU has jurisdiction over cases with supervillains, and this leads to clashes with other departments in the GCPD because other departments try to lazily dump routine investigations on them by claiming that the case bares the hallmarks of a supervillain.
* [[Karma Houdini]]: He might end up crying and begging on the floor of his kitchen, but apart from the personal shame {{spoiler|Corrigan}} gets off Scot-free from his multiple thefts and murders as a corrupt cop. {{spoiler|Of course, once the series is over he does receive his comuppance [[Fully
* [[Knight in Sour Armor]]: All of the MCU. They know Gotham is a [[Crapsack World]]. They know it's ridiculous that they've got to work with a costumed vigilante, that good men die, and that villains will continuously [[Joker Immunity|get to live]]. Does this stop them from trying to do the right thing? Hell no.
* [[Know
* [[Legacy Character]]:
** The first multi-issue story deals with [[Pyromaniac|Firebug]], an arsonist thief that has recently become active again after a long absence from Gotham. After several dramatic chases and many arsons they finally manage to arrest Joseph Rigger...and learn that he sold the costume and identity two years ago after he was nearly burned to death. Now they need to find the person he sold it to and they learn that it is Harlan Combs, a minor character [[Working the Same Case|who turns out to have committed]] ''[[Working the Same Case|another]]'' [[Working the Same Case|crime that was being investigated at the same time.]]
** The "Dead Robin" arc revolves around somebody murdering teenage males and dumping their bodies in authentic-looking Robin costumes, with a lot of people wondering if any of them is ''really'' Robin. The parents of the first victim go on TV and state that, though they never thought about it before, they now believe that their son really ''was'' Robin, or at least ''a'' Robin. He is too young to have been the first boy in the costume, but they think he was one of the replacements. However, the detectives quickly uncover evidence to prove that he was never any Robin at all, not to mention pointing out to the parents [[The Joker|why it was a dumb idea to comment on the situation at all.]]
* [[Legitimate
* [[Les Yay]]: In a storyline involving a dead teenager dressed as Robin, members of the [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]] are questioned by the police in order to confirm that Robin is alive, as they have no way of determining if the uniform is authentic or a costume. When Starfire arrives, ''every'' man smiles and stares, eliciting a disgusted "''[[All Men Are Perverts|men]]''" from Detective Romy Chandler. Detective Joely Bartlett smirks and points at Maggie Sawyer and Renee Montoya, "[[All Women Are Lustful|You think?]]" Maggie even mentions that "You should see [[Wonder Woman]]."
* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]: There are at least eight regular characters (the exact number depends somewhat on the definition of "regular character," since it is an [[Ensemble Cast]] and not everybody appears in every issue), significant recurring characters double that, and when you add in ''minor'' recurring characters and named extras the cast begins to grow beyond manageable limits.
* [[Mama Bear]]: {{spoiler|Her name was Dee Dee officers....}}
* [[The Mafia]]: Sergeant Vincent Del Arrazio was born into a very prominent mafia family, and spent time in the FBI combating it not only in America, but also working to break its stranglehold on Sicily.
{{quote|
* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: Two-Face of all people. He plays the cops, criminals, the friends and families of characters, and the justice system itself all to twist Renee Montoya's life into a hopeless hole. The man does it ''beautifully'', and even though he is ultimately defeated her life is ''still'' in shambles.
* [[Meaningful Background Event]]: In the beginning of the ''Half a Life'' arc, almost a full issue before the [[Reveal]], Brian Selker ([[Private Detective]]) is following Renee Montoya to a restaurant called "Maloney's," taking intrusive pictures for a lawsuit that is about to be leveled against her. Being a long-distance shot in a comic book, with hand-drawn lettering instead of typed, there is not a lot of detail to be made out about the restaurant, and the name almost seems to be drawn as an afterthought: Maloney's Bar & ''Girl''. It is not a typo, it is a ''[[Gay Bar Reveal|revelation]]'', and if you missed it you need to wait until the end of the issue to get the full story.
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* [[Monster Clown]]: The one, the ''only'', Joker. Give him a frikkin' ''sniper rifle'' and it just stops being fair.
* [[More Hero Than Thou]]: Lieutenant Ron "The Probe" Probson and Captain Maggie Saywer. Maggie is going to [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique|get some information from the Joker]], but Probson stops her and does it himself so that she can "stay clean."
* [[Must Have Caffeine]]: Being cops, practically all of the cast runs on caffeine. The coffee machine holds a very important in the MCU's interaction life. Seriously, how hard is it to fill the coffee maker again when you finish the damn coffee?!
* [[Mythology Gag]]: In retrospect, {{spoiler|Crispus Allen's}} killer being {{spoiler|Jim Corrigan}} becomes this when {{spoiler|Allen becomes the new host for The Spectre}}. See [[Not His Sled]] below.
* [[New Meat]]: Josephine "Josie Mac" MacDonald, who was added to the cast during the series and was the first detective added to the MCU after the retirement of Commissioner Gordon.
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** They never get around to questioning any of the alleged mafiosos, but two murders at a pharmaceutical company were originally thought to be mob-related when it was learned that [[The Mafia|the Inzerillo family]] had a controlling stake in the company. {{spoiler|They had nothing to do with the crime}}.
** In the "Dead Robin" arc the detectives and Batman go through the compete list of [[Rogues Gallery|usual suspects]], but ultimately come to the conclusion that none of the usual Bat-villains had anything to do with it.
* [[Not Now, Kiddo]]: Romy Chandler repeatedly brushes off Stacy, the MCU receptionist, when Stacy was trying to tell her {{spoiler|that Robin had returned the gun that Batman took from her}}. However, unlike most examples of the trope, Stacy manages to make herself known before the lack of information becomes truly damaging.
* [[Not Proven]]: How {{spoiler|Corrigan}} walks away.
* [[Not So Harmless]]: When Crispus Allen first notices the Fisherman, an [[
* [[Oh Crap]]:
** An epic one ensues when the killer in "Dead Robin" is finally granted his wish {{spoiler|to meet Batman}}.
** Officers [[Dirty Cop|Munroe and Defalco]] look both stunned ''and'' horrified when they open an evidence bag they are delivering and see that it contains the possessions of the young girl they murdered earlier.
** When Renee accidentally lets slip that Batman stole Romy Chandler's gun.
{{quote|
'''Renee''': Oh, hell. }}
* [[One of Us]]: In-universe, when the detectives are looking into the old bombing of the Gotham High School baseball team they interrogate a pair of software tycoons who had been bullied nerds back in high school, [[Bully Hunter|reasoning that they might have bombed the jocks in vengeance]]. The former nerds explain that, as mad as they were, they would never have ''killed'' anybody, especially not the baseball team, since there were people on the team who were actually their friends. Mark Rabin, the pitcher, was even an unofficial member of their computer club.
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* [[Police Brutality]]: Most of the GCPD sees no problem with giving civilians or criminals a "tune up" if necessary, but as the series progresses even the straight-shooters of the MCU begin to lose control more and more.
* [[Police Procedural]]: One of the few comic-book examples examples of the genre.
* [[Politically
** Officer [[Dirty Cop|Tim Munroe]] dislikes the Major Crimes Unit on principal because of their lack of "proper" policework, and also because it is "a whole unit of holier-than-thou minorities and homos. Seriously, all the women are lesbians and all the men are affirmative-action hires."
** Dr. Alchemy, a [[Flash]] villain who appears in one arc, hurls sexist, racist, and homophobic remarks at almost every character he meets.
* [[Power Creep, Power Seep]]: The detectives find it extremely difficult to deal with foes of Batman, who are traditionally low on the power scale of the DC Universe. In the crossover with ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'', Crispus Allen wonders just what hell kind of chance his family has of surviving if [[Shazam|Captain Marvel]] is scared for ''his'' family.
* [[Pretty Fly for
* [["Previously On..."]]: Issues of the series began to be printed with ''Previously On'' opening pages to summarize the series and arc so far.
* [[Private Detective]]:
** Brian Selker...[[Asshole Victim|jackass]].
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* [[Pyromaniac]]: Firebug, an arsonist villain, is the first villain to occupy a multi-issue arc, [[Working the Same Case|and also connects to another crime being investigated at the same time]].
* [[The Real Heroes]]: The series explored the implications of this trope in depth, as we see how frontline police officers deal with the costumed psychopaths that infest the city like a plague, as well as how they view the hero who fights them.
* [[Reality Ensues]]: Often, and in a realistic manner, too. Emotional turmoil drives characters to despair instead of being shrugged off with a laugh, fistfights end with horribly bruised and bloody knuckles instead of clean hands (it seems minor, but damaging your hands is one of the ''first'' occurrences of a fight, especially if you hit somebody in the head, which is almost solid bone and will likely break several of your fingers), and [[Conviction
* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: All the high-ranking officers in the Gotham City Police Department, from Commissioner Akins down to Captain Sawyer and Lieutenant Probson. They might not like whatever it is they have to do, or the people they have to do it with, but they will listen to all the options and make a logical and realistic decision, including giving their officers a little leeway if they need to, but also snapping down hard if it is required.
* [[Redemption Equals Death]]: {{spoiler|Lieutenant Ron "The Probe" Probson}}. It is not ''much'' of a redemption, and it was redemption from being a jerk instead of being evil, but when he {{spoiler|decides to cross a line so Captain Sawyer won't have to, he calls her by her first name (Maggie) for perhaps the first time ever and lets her "stay clean." Of course, the Joker breaks his spine in the next ten minutes}}.
* [[The Resenter]]:
** Lieutenant Ron Probson resented the fact that Captain Maggie Sawyer received the promotion to head of the MCU instad of him, although Maggie wonders if their friction instead springs from his dislike of her sexuality.
** Sergeant Jackson "Sarge" Davies resents the fact that Lieutenant David Cornwell was brought into the MCU as the new second shift commander, reasoning that he was in line for that position [[Put
* [[Rogues Gallery]]: Of Batman's traditional Rogue's Gallery, Mr. Freeze, Two-Face, [[The Joker]], the Mad Hatter, the Penguin, and Poison Ivy appear as villains or incidental characters. The "Dead Robin" arc contains the most comprehensive look at the usual Gotham foes, as the detectives travel through Arkham to interview all the inmates as to their involvement in the crime. They also also wind up facing [[Flash]] and [[
* [[Safe, Sane, and Consensual]]: When detective's Mac and Driver follow a suspect to Cuffs & Claws, a bondage and S&M club, the employees are friendly and casually mention a standard application for membership (they do, however, refuse entry until the police get a warrant).
* [[Saying Too Much]]: As a result of having been working long hours and being generally tired and depressed, Renee Montoya accidentally lets slip to Captain Sawyer that Romy Chandler had her weapon taken by Batman. The second after she says it she realizes her error and [[Oh Crap|the implications]].
* [[Screw the Rules, I Have Connections]]: A much more mild version than most, but Lieutenant David Cornwell got the position of shift-commander at MCU because of his relationship to the mayor, even though Captain Sawyer and Commissioner Akins both recommended Sarge for the job.
* [[Secret Identity]]: When bodies begin showing up in Robin costumes, the detectives are unsure if any of them are the ''real'' Robin, particlarly since they do not know who the real Robin ''is.'' However, while they are mulling that over, Renee realizes that, if the first body they found ''is'' the real Robin, then by finding out ''his'' identity they may be able to discover ''Batman's'' identity.
* [[Secret Keeper]]: There is heavy implication that {{spoiler|Josie Mac}} told {{spoiler|Marcus Driver}} the truth about herself, although it is never explicitly confirmed.
* [[Shout
** The Gotham City Police Department is ranked by the FBI as the second most corrupt department in the country. They are only surpassed by [[The Question|Hub City]].
** While looking up information on the rifle used in several [[For the Evulz|seemingly random]] killings throughout Gotham, Montoya suddenly gets access to a mysterious law-enforcement database she can only identify as "[[Birds of Prey|Oracle]]."
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* [[Spit Take]]: Detective Procjnow cannot believe that Tommy Burke lost over two ''thousand'' dollars at poker.
* [[Split Personality]]: Two-Face appears as the antagonist of the "Half a Life" arc, during which he frequently switches between the "Harvey" and "Two-Face" personalities.
{{quote|
* [[Stalker
* [[Stealth Hi Bye]]: Batman, when he needs to make an appearance, surpises everybody from detectives up to Commissioner Akins himself.
* [[Taking the Heat]]: Nobody wants to admit it in the by-the-book and honest Major Crimes Unit, but the MCU needs to [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique|get some information from the Joker]], and Captain Sawyer is willing to go in there and do it herself because [[I Did What I Had to Do|it needs to be done]]. However, Lieutenant Ron "The Probe" Probson, who has never been on good terms with Maggie Sawyer, does the deed instead, since he was planning on transfering out of the department anyway, and this way Maggie gets to "stay clean."
* [[Talking to
* [[That Came Out Wrong]]:
{{quote|
'''Renee Montoya:''' "I ''beg'' your pardon?"
'''Crispus:''' "Not like ''that''."
'''Renee:''' "Then like what?" }}
* [[That One Case]]: One arc has Harvey Bullock obsess over one of his unsolved cases. He almost {{spoiler|[[Driven to Suicide|commits suicide]]}} because of it, and refers to it as the case that he brought home with him.
* [[There Are No Therapists]]: Over the course of the series, Renee Montoya descends into alcoholism and violence after her personal and professional lives are damaged by the actions of Two-Face. Crispus Allen, her partner, is the first to notice how completely her life is spiraling out of control, and demands that she seek help before she sinks too low to be saved. If she does ''not'' seek help, she can find herself a new partner, assuming she has not already ruined her career and driven away her girlfriend.
* [[Throw
* [[Turn in Your Badge]]: {{spoiler|Renee Montoya turns in her ''own'' badge. After the death of her partner, the escape of the murderer, and her own descent into violence and alcohol, she has simply had enough. She has nothing left to give and nothing more to hold on to. She is simply ''done''.}}
* [[Twofer Token Minority]]:
** Renee Montoya is the child of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Hispanic, and a lesbian.
** Captain Maggie Sawyer and Detective Crispus Allen are both "traditional" minorities (Sawyer is gay and Crispus is black), but they are also transferred officers from the [[Superman
* [[The Unfair Sex]]: Detective Joely Bartlett recognizes the [[Double Standard]] here. When Romy Chandler notices that all the men are staring at [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Starfire]] she rolls her eyes and disgustedly groans "[[All Men Are Perverts|men]]." Joely notices her do this and points out that Maggie Sawyer and Renee Montoya, the two gay women in the series, are doing [[All Women Are Lustful|the exact same thing]].
* [[Urban Legend]]: The series continues the plot point introduced in the 1994 event ''[[Zero Hour]]'', which established that Batman had never gone public as a vigilante and was regarded as an urban legend by the populace at large. This influenced how the police department could legally interact with him (see [[Bat Signal]] above), as well what happened when his existence was confirmed in the ''War Games'' crossover (see [[Bat Family Crossover]] above).
* [[Villain Episode]]: Officer Tim Munroe, a [[Dirty Cop|corrupt cop]], narrates an issue which follows him and his partner after they kill a young runaway that witnessed them extorting money from a corner drug dealer.
* [[The Villain Must Be Punished]]: Harvey Dent in one arc frames Renee Montoya for murder and kidnaps her just as Bruce Wayne pays for her legal defense. He thinks this means she will have to date him as his prisoner. Renee has to point out that he outed her as a gay woman; she respects his virtues as a villain and the good man he used to be, but they're incompatible. Then he threatens her girlfriend, unable to face this logical flaw in his plan; Renee ends up in a gun struggle with him that Batman interrupts. She asks Batman how many times Two-Face will try and murder the ones that she loves as long as he's alive. Batman says the important thing is that Renee didn't become the criminal that Two-Face wanted her to be. Unable to deal with the trauma, Renee resigns from the force and becomes the second Question.
* [[Voice Changeling]]: Batman can do a very good impression of Detective Crowe, so good that Crispus Allen did not even realize he was talking to an imposter until he noticed that "Crowe" had gone out the window. The detectives later admit that Batman can probably do a good impersonation of ''everybody'' in the department, including Josie Mac, the new detective.
* [[The Watson]]: Crispus Allen plays the Watson in the early issues, and occasionally later on. As a transferred officer from Metropolis, Allen did not have extensive experience with the "freaks" (supervillains) of Gotham City, so other characters would explain their means and methods to him, [[Mr. Exposition|simultaneously
* [[We Will Not Use Photoshop in
* [[Where Do You Think You Are?]]: As Renee Montoya explains, Gotham City is ''not'' the City of Tomorrow. The department is the second most corrupt police department in the country, racism and sexism are rampant, crime is ''everywhere'' (up to and including the Mayor), and it [[Environmental Symbolism|never @#$%ing stops raining or snowing]]. In this town, [[It Got Worse|it gets]] ''[[It Got Worse|worse]]''.
* [[White Sheep]]: Sergeant Vincent Del Arrazio was born to [[The Mafia|a criminal family]], but he does not speak to that part of his family anymore and has worked with the FBI to break the back of the mafia in Gotham and even in Sicily itself.
* [[With Friends Like These...]]: Captain Maggie Sawyer and Lieutenant Ron Probson, heads of the first and second shifts of the MCU (Respectively), never got along, and sometimes their relationship was actively hostile. Probson [[The Resenter|resented]] the fact that Sawyer received the promotion to overall head of the MCU instead of him, and there are some implications that he also personally dislikes her because of her sexuality. Throughout the series they each attempt to prevent the other from becoming involved in their cases or taking the credit. [[Character Development|They eventually form at least a grudging respect]], and Probson decides to [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique|perform a morally questionable act]] [[Taking the Heat|so that Maggie will not]].
* [[Working the Same Case]]: [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Right off the bat]], one detective team is following the supervillain [[Pyromaniac|Firebug]] and another is investigating the murder of a teenage babysitter. It turns out Firebug had murdered the girl, who was his son's babysitter and who had found his costume and weapons while snooping through his closet one night.
* [[Wretched Hive]]: Gotham City at its finest.
* [[You Are What You Hate]]: The Reverend Buford Pressman was a [[Fundamentalist]] preacher who [[Heteronormative Crusader|hosted a regular cable show]], but was secretly a member of the bondage and S&M underground.
* [[Your Mom]]:
{{quote|
'''Detective Montoya:''' That's what your mother tells me. }}
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