Suicide Squad: Difference between revisions

* [[Batman Gambit]]: Unsurprisingly, Bats is not a fan of the squad, and infiltrates their headquarters seeking evidence needed to shut them down. He finds it, despite everyone looking in the wrong place. {{spoiler|And then Amanda Waller stares him down, revealing she's got his fingerprints, since he didn't wear gloves in his disguise.}}

** Referenced obliquely in the [[Justice League]] cartoon, when Batman threatens to expose her operations:

* [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy]]: Played with. Apparently, Control, who would become a one-time nemesis of the Squad, arranged the Nedelin Catastrophe in retaliation for JFK's death.

* [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]: Invoked by one of the Limelight Twins after Savant and Deadshot exchange harsh words: "Ugh, you two should kiss already."

* [[Circle of Shame]]: Captain Boomerang experiences a hallucinatory one when Mindboggler unleashes his greatest fear in an early issue. He hallucinates that he surrounded by the superheroes who have defeated him the past; all laughing at him.

* [[Clingy MacGuffin]] / [[Instant Allegiance Artifact]]: The Thinker helmet. It has no will of its own, but it's suggested it amplifies the negative aspects of the personality of the wearer. Combined with the massive intellect boost, most people are likely to get very easily hooked. Amanda herself, not the most shining example of morality, wore it briefly to locate the second Thinker and began developing the addiction, and proposed using it as a piece of her personal arsenal. However, she was broken out of it by an old friend, who asked whether he was speaking to Amanda... or to the helmet. She was so ''pissed'' at being ''manipulated'' by a non-sentient ''thing'', [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|she shatters the helmet]], [[This Is Sparta|screaming]] ''[[This Is Sparta|SHE'S]]'' [[This Is Sparta|in charge]]. She ''very'' briefly regrets doing so.

* [[C-List Fodder]]: Pretty much all the characters who weren't created specifically for the series, though some of them got promoted to B- or A-list during or subsequent to their use in ''Suicide Squad.''

** Even then, nobody was safe. One arc memorably ended with the bulk of the supporting cast dead in a mission that was suicidal, even for the squad. {{spoiler|Only the goddamn Batman should try pulling a gun on Darkseid.}}

* [[Darker and Edgier]]: Right around the time the 90s [[Dork Age]] was starting up, with overstylized costumes and ridiculous storylines, the book took this approach and made it work. The team became mercenaries for hire, saboteurs and spies, and lost the costumes entirely for upwards of 20 issues. The body count got higher, the crazy people got crazier, and none of it felt gratuitous.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Amanda. What's her reaction upon hearing Boomerang wants to quit?

* [[Death Seeker]]: Deadshot, Count Vertigo, and probably a few of the characters who died.

** Very clearly going on in Rick Flag's [[Heroic Sacrifice]].

** "I'm a-coming, Jesus!"

* [[Hey, You]]: Played with when Father Richard Craemer is appointed team chaplain:

'''Craemer:''' 'The Reverend Hey You' has a certain ring to it, don't you think? }}

** He later acknowledges he's begun responding to "hey you".

* [[Sacrificial Lamb]]: In the first issue of every run, ''somebody'' goes. {{spoiler|Mindboggler, almost the entire Injustice League, and Savant, though in the last case he wasn't actually killed and was a member of the team again later on}}.

* [[Sassy Black Woman]]: Amanda Waller. She also counts as [[Badass Normal]].

* [[Secret Test of Character]]: The first issue of the 2011 series. Savant doesn't pass.

* [[Shock Collar]]: The more villainous members of DC's [[Suicide Squad]] were fitted with these on missions. If they got ''too'' out of line, the collar could also be commanded to blow off their heads.

* [[Shoo Out the Clowns]]: The pie-throwing [[Running Gag]] ends just as an especially brutal conflict reaches the Squad. Vixen and Bronze Tiger's relationship is destroyed by Sarge Steel just before the LOA mess, destroying much of whatever light-heartedness ''[[Suicide Squad]]'' had at the time.

* [[Shout-Out]]: In an exceptional example of [[Mood Dissonance]], Dr. Light takes time out from an apocalyptic battle to quote [[Firesign Theatre]]'s Rocky Roccoco.

* [[Slipping a Mickey]]: More than once, the Squad gets around Boomerang's lack of interest in getting killed by drugging his drink and dragging him off; by the time he wakes up, fighting is his only option.

* [[Sole Survivor]]: Rick Flag, more than once; it takes an increasing emotional toll on him.

** The first issue of the 2001 series ended with Major Disaster the only known survivor of the mission -- though it was later revealed that Cluemaster survived as well.

* [[Somebody Set Up Us the Bomb]]:

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: Several series have, since the book's cancellation, been heavily inspired by ''Suicide Squad''. ''[[Thunderbolts]]'' (especially post-Civil War) and ''[[Secret Six]]'' exist mainly because of the popularity of ''Suicide Squad''.

** Especially the Secret Six, since Deadshot is one of its main characters.