The Dark Knight Saga: Difference between revisions

* [[Artistic License Physics]]: Microwaves do not work that way! And neither do cell phones! Or police procedures! ''And neither for that matter does sonar!'' [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief|But]], [[MST3K Mantra|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.

** 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 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]]).

* [[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.

* [[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.

* [[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.

** The Scarecrow in [[The Dark Knight Saga|the first film]] is no slouch either. Upon meeting Batman for the first time, he promptly hits him with a dose of [[Brown Note|fear gas]], splashes him with kerosene, and ''[[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|lights him on fire!]]''

{{quote|'''The Scarecrow''': You look like a man who takes himself too seriously. Do you want my opinion? [[Bond One-Liner|You need to lighten up.]]}}

** Batman's style for the movies, the Keysi Fighting Method, is set entirely around this concept.

* [[Continuity Nod]]: {{spoiler|Scarecrow's}} appearance in the first act of ''The Dark Knight''.

** 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 Dark Knight, {{spoiler|Alfred Pennyworth brings Bruce Wayne a meal, Bruce at first doesn't say anything but says "Alfred?" just as Alfred is about to walk away, and then Bruce begins to blame himself for acts of violence committed by others, while Alfred tries to reassure Bruce that they aren't his fault.}}

* [[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 [[Techno Babble|pseudo-scientific]] explanations instead. For example, most of the technology employed by Batman could become accessible in a decade or so.

** 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 [[Super Serum|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.

* [[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.

* [[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).

** Also the top brass of the Gotham Mob in ''The Dark Knight'':

* [[Five-Man Band]]: It's a bit vague, but one could think this as so:

* [[Foil]]: Most of the villains are foils for Batman.

* [[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]].

* [[Ironic Echo]]: Aside from the ironic echoes WITHIN Begins and 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:

{{quote|'''Gordon''': I never did say thank you.

** And then there is this, towards the end of Dark Knight:

{{quote|'''Gordon''': Thank you.

'''Batman''': [[Think Nothing of It|You don't have to thank me.]]

** There's also this quote Ducard says in Begins to his then-student Wayne:

{{quote|'''Ducard''': You've traveled the world to understand the criminal mind and conquer your fears. But the criminal is not complicated.}}

** 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:

{{quote|'''Joker:''' If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be [[Multiple Choice Past|multiple choice!]]}}

** 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]].

** 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 [[Batman (TV series)|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 [[Batman: The Animated Series|the animated series]].

** Selina Kyle's Catwoman outfit in ''The Dark Knight Rises'' is very similar to those of the Catwomen from [[Batman (TV series)|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 [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job|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.

{{quote|'''Bruce Wayne''': You think I should go to the hospital?

* [[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.

** 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.

* [[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 {{spoiler|Batman's a wanted criminal}} at the end of ''The Dark Knight''.

* [[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.)

* [[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]].

* [[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]]

* [[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.

** Harvey Dent is worried about this, with Gotham city very supportive of him challenging the mobs despite the backlash it might bring.

{{quote|''"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."''}}

* [[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.

** In ''The Dark Knight'', less CGI was used:

*** The car chase with the Joker clearly takes place on Lower Whacker Drive.

*** 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 [[Grand Theft Auto|''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, [[Doesn't Like Guns|he never shoots anybody]] anyway, but he's far more careful fighting cops than criminals.

 

 

* [[All There in the Manual]]: Ra's Al Ghul is mentioned to have a daughter, Talia, in the novelization. Comic fans know Talia Al Ghul is the "Daughter of the Demon" in the comics.

* [[Anachronic Order]]: Most of Bruce's backstory up until his final exam with The League of Shadows is told non-linearly through a series of flashbacks.

* [[Armor-Piercing Slap]]: Rachel delivers ''two'' of these to Bruce after he shows her the gun with which he planned on murdering Joe Chill before an assassin hired by Falcone beat him to it.

* [[Ax Crazy]]: Mr. Zsasz. Though he's pretty quiet during his small amount of screen time, the tie-in video game displays him as very much so.

** The comment that inspires this reply on the part of Bruce Wayne also qualifies; one of the prisoners on the serving line remarks, "You're in Hell, and I'm the devil."

*** Though that turns into [[Small Name, Big Ego]] when Bruce ''kicks his ass''.

'''Gordon''': What do you want?

'''Batman''': Falcone brings in shipments of drugs every week. Nobody takes him down. Why?

* [[Batman Gambit]]: The League of Shadows pulls off a major one towards the end of the movie; {{spoiler|they release several rapists and serial killers from Crane's asylum, so as to have a lot of police sent to the island it's on, and said island isolated from the rest of the city by having the bridges connected to it raised. Once the police are in, and the island is isolated, they disperse the fear toxin to incapacitate the police and drive them and everyone else into mass panic. Of course, said League didn't anticipate that there were people on the island that had antidote to the fear toxin, and sure enough, Gordon uses the antidote and manages to remain rational, until Batman shows up and gets Gordon to have a bridge lowered and drive off the island to get to the point where the train carrying the microwave emitted would be destroyed. Still though, it was a considerably clever use of the gambit, since you can't really blame the police for failing to guess that the releasing of a bunch of rapists and serial killers from an asylum would actually only be the MILD part of the problem.}}

* [[Beard of Evil]]: Ducard sports the Fu Manchu of villainy, as does {{spoiler|fake! Ra's al Ghul.}}

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: When Gordon calls for reinforcements in the fear gassed Narrows, Commissioner Loeb replies there is no else to help. At that ''exact'' moment, the Batmobile roars into the scene to the rescue.

* [[Blood From the Mouth]]: This was apparently the clue from which the audience was supposed to assume {{spoiler|that the old man referred to as Ra's al Ghul earlier in the movie was supposed to have been killed in the fire in the dojo.}} When someone at a party said they wanted to introduce Bruce Wayne to Ra's al Ghul, {{spoiler|you might have thought he really did survive, after all, until you realize that the person referred to as Ra's al Ghul did not look like him at all.}}

* [[Body Double]]: {{spoiler|Ra's al Ghul.}}

'''Falcone''': So when did the nut take over the nuthouse?

''Cue [[Evil Versus Evil|Crane spraying the fear toxin in Falcone's face]], [[Laser-Guided Karma|making Falcone scream in terror]].''

* [[Brick Joke]]: "Nice coat."

** Also, Gordon comments on wanting to get himself one of Batman's tumblers when he first sees it. {{spoiler|Batman later has him using the Tumbler to collapse the support struts of the train tracks to prevent Ra's al Ghul from using it.}}

* [[The Cast Showoff]]: Notice how Ducard tends to go into boxing stances when fighting bare handed? Most probably influenced from Liam Neeson's boxing training during his teens. It also works with Ducard's general philosophy of being a ''[[Combat Pragmatist]]''. He even chastized Bruce for having a more stylised fighting technique.

<!-- %% On a sidenote, Ra's al Ghul has been a few times mentioned as a CompleteMonster here. For one thing, mentions of that are usually supposed to go in a YMMV section and/or the CompleteMonster example list itself, and for another, Ra's al Ghul is arguably too much of a WellIntentionedExtremist to qualify. -->

* [[Conservation of Ninjitsu]]: Batman (one inexperienced ninja) versus the League of Shadows (many experienced ninja). Guess who's going to win. Of course, he does this by [[Take a Third Option|avoiding the fight altogether]]. After initially holding off a few, he burns the Evil Lair down to the ground, which provides a distraction that allows him to escape.

** More or less averted when he finally does face four ninja. He has to tackle one of them over a ledge so he doesn't take all of them on all at once. When they catch up to him, they gang up and give him a good fight (until he tackles one of them over a ledge ''again'').

'''Lucius Fox''': Bean counters didn't think a soldier's life was worth 300 grand. So what's your interest in it, Mr. Wayne?

'''Bruce Wayne''': I want to borrow it. For, uh, spelunking. You know, cave diving.

** Alfred Pennyworth might qualify too, though not to the same extent as in the sequel. "What's the point of all those pushups if you can't even lift a bloody log?"

** Jonathan Crane as well.

{{quote|'''Dawes''': Do you really believe that a man who butchers people for the mob doesn't belong in prison?

* [[Deceptive Disciple]]: Inverted, Bruce is guilty of this to the League of Shadows.

** Or [[A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil|A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Good]].

* [[Dull Surprise]]: The Wayne employee overseeing the water is remarkably blase about the idea of {{spoiler|the entire city's water supply exploding}}.

* [[Entitled Bastard]]: [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] with Ra's.

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Jonathan Crane might show signs of this in comparison to the other main villains of the movie, [[Alternate Character Interpretation|depending on how you interpret some of the dialogue]]. Examples include:

** When Ducard explains his plan for {{spoiler|poisoning Gotham}}, he adds that Crane helped under the impression that the plan was to hold the city to ransom. Does this imply that Ducard expected Crane to object to mass murder, or that Ducard wanted to make sure Crane thought there was something in it for himself?

'''Crane''': ...I don't want to know.

(Falcone smiles)

* [[Evil Is Stylish]]: Both Henri Ducard and Jonathan Crane wear sharp suits. And then there is the ninja attire of the League of Shadows.

* [[Evil Mentor]]: Henri Ducard{{spoiler|/Ra's al Ghul.}}

* [[Expospeak Gag]]: After Lucius Fox finishes explaining exactly how he derived the antidote for Crane's fear toxin:

{{quote|'''Bruce''': Am I supposed to understand any of that?

* [[Face Your Fears]]: A major theme. Ducard tells Bruce to breathe in his fears, to become fear so as to conquer it, makes him open a case of bats during training, etc... but after Bruce leaves the League of Shadows he decides to walk into a cave where he surrounds himself with bats, and he learns to not let fear get in his way... hence his later courage in confronting crime.

* [[Finish Him!]]: Ducard's final test in ''Begins.'' Bruce, of course, refuses, and then {{spoiler|defeats a whole ninja school by himself}} in order to get away.

* [[Fly At the Camera Ending]]: Batman gliding off a rooftop and into the camera.

* [[Four Eyes, Zero Soul]]: Dr. Jonathan Crane.

{{quote|''I wasn't always here in the mountains. [[Harsher in Hindsight|Once I had a wife... my great love... she was taken from me.]] Like you, I was forced to learn there are those without decency, who must be fought without hesitation, without pity.''}}

* [[Funny Background Event]]: When [[Da Chief|Loeb]] is talking to Gordon during the climax, it's on a cop's chest-mounted radio and the guy's being dragged along behind him as he paces around.

{{quote|'''B'''arbastella, '''A'''rtibeus, '''T'''adirida, '''M'''acrotus, '''A'''ntrozous, '''N'''ycteris.}}

* [[Genre Savvy]]: When told that Batman had infiltrated Arkham, Jonathan Crane told his men to do "what anyone does when a prowler's around. Call the police." His plan was to lure Batman outside, where the cops would take care of him, reasoning that his own operation had gotten far enough that there was no way it could be stopped. It didn't work, but it was a much more intelligent decision than most villains tend to make.

* [[He Knows Too Much]]:

** Joe Chill learned more about Falcone than the latter would have liked.

** Falcone himself got a Karmic Permanent Madness when he revealed how much he knew about Crane and his operation, and tried to blackmail him.

* [[Hero's Journey]]: {{spoiler|After being told of a chance to join the League of Shadows, Bruce climbs the mountains and manages to fight off Ra's Al Ghul. After defeating the League to return to Gotham, he gains weaponry, becomes Batman, enlists the help of Lucius Fox and saves Gotham from the League, freeing the people from chaos.}}

* [[Hoist by His Own Petard]]: {{spoiler|Ducard}} is apparently killed when the train, which he was trying to use to destroy Gotham City, explodes. And Jonathan Crane is poisoned with his own fear toxin.

* [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him]]:

** Played straight earlier in the movie though, when Bruce Wayne was ordered to kill a murderer.

{{quote|'''Bruce''': I'm no executioner.

'''[[Knight Templar|Ducard]]''': Your compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share.

* [[In Medias Res]]: The opening. Bruce Wayne is being held in a Chinese prison, and we don't find out [[How We Got Here|the circumstances leading up to it]] until later.

* [[I Own This Town]]: Carmine Falcone.

* [[It Is Beyond Saving]]: The League of Shadow's rationale for destroying Gotham City.

* [[Ivy League for Everyone]]: Given that Bruce Wayne is literally the richest man on the planet, it's no surprise that he attended Princeton, which he enjoyed, but noted that "they don't feel the same way."

* [[Knight Templar]]: The League Of Shadows as a whole, really. Beyond [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|well-intentioned extremism]], their attitude leads them to dismiss all of Gotham as beyond saving, and to use this to justify {{spoiler|using Crane's fear-toxin to drive them to kill each other.}} Ducard claims they exploited Gotham's corruption in order to pull this off in the first place; at no point does it seem to occur to them that it probably would be a better idea to focus their efforts on simply confronting Gotham's criminal elements instead.

* [[Madness Mantra]]: Scarecrow... scarecrow...

** Its heavily implied that Rachel's feelings for Bruce Wayne stem from their growing up together and a mutual childhood crush. Rachel is likely in love with the fantasy of a life with Bruce Wayne that clearly ''could'' have been, but one which came crashing down the day his parents were murdered. Despite her claiming Bruce changed after he disappeared for several years and was thought dead, numerous scenes before this show his relationship with Rachel strained as he simply was never the same after his parents death.

* [[McNinja|McNinjas]]: Batman himself. Plus the League of Shadows in ''Begins'' are [[Equal Opportunity Evil|quite a diverse group]].

{{quote|{{spoiler|'''Batman''': It's not who I am underneath, but what I ''do'' that defines me.}}

** "[[Tear Jerker|Why do we fall, sir?]]"

* [[Millionaire Playboy]]: [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]]; it goes hand in hand with [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job]].

* [[Mind Rape]]: Jonathan Crane routinely does this to his patients.

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Ra's Al Ghul translates in Arabic to "Head of the Demon". Ra's is obviously not one of the heroes with that name.

* [[Needle in a Stack of Needles]]: Ducard's training, where he hides amongst his followers.

* [[Oh Crap]]: Averted by Ra's when Batman swoops down to confront him. In contrast with the terrified reactions of Batman's previous opponents, Ra's nonchalantly remarks:

{{quote|'''Ra's''': Well, well. You took my advice about theatricality a bit... ''literally''.}}

{{quote|'''Batman''': I won't kill you. But I ''don't'' have to save you.}}

* [[Psycho Psychologist]]: Dr. Jonathan Crane; AKA Scarecrow.

* [[Put Them All Out of My Misery]]: Depending on how you interpret Ducard's expressed attitude towards Gotham and his [[Freudian Excuse]], he may be type 3 or type 4 of this.

'''Falcone''': Only those who know me, kid. Look around you: you'll see two councilmen, a union official, a couple off-duty cops, and a judge. Now, wouldn't have a second's hesitation of blowing your head off right here and right now in front of 'em. Now, that's power you can't buy! That's the power of fear.

'''Wanye''': I'm not afraid of you...

{{quote|'''Thomas Wayne''': Do you want to know why they attacked you? It's because they were afraid of you. All creatures feel fear.

'''Bruce Wayne''': Even the scary ones?

* [[Rule of Three]]: Instead of having one main [[Big Bad]], Batman Begins has 3; there's the [[Smug Snake|arrogant]] [[The Don|crime boss]] Carmine Falcone, there's the [[Knight Templar|self-righteous]] [[Ancient Conspiracy|ancient vigilante group leader]] Ra's al Ghul, (who would probably hate the kind of lawlessness men like Falcone stand for) and then there's some corrupt psychiatrist called Jonathan Crane who stated that he works for the latter but is implied to also work for the former. [[Captain Obvious|That can't end well.]]

* [[Saved for the Sequel]]: At the end of the movie, the plot is resolved, but there's unresolved romance between Bruce Wayne and Rachel Dawes to provide fodder for the next movie.

* [[Say Your Prayers]]: One could see {{spoiler|R'as/Ducard's}} [[Obi-Wan Moment]] as this as well.

* [[Scary Scarecrows]]:

{{quote|'''Crane''': Would you like to see my mask?}}

* [[Self-Deprecation]]: Bruce Wayne mentioned that Batman "clearly has psychological issues". Justified since he kinda has to do that in order to maintain his secret identity as Batman.

* [[Sequel Hook]]: The film ends with Gordon summoning Batman to inform him of a particularly violent and unusual bank robbery committed by a man who left an unusual calling card... a [[The Joker|Joker]].

* [[Shangri La]]: The headquarters of the League of Shadows.

* [[The Shrink]]: Dr. Jonathan Crane is a villainous example of the trope.

* [[Smug Snake]]: [[The Don|Carmine Falcone]] is easily the most arrogant and contemptuous villain in the movie. At least [[Mad Scientist|Crane]] is fairly [[Affably Evil|polite]], and at least [[Evil Mentor|Ducard]] acts somewhat respectful to Bruce Wayne, saying Bruce [[Worthy Opponent|was his best student]], {{spoiler|albeit while having said student's house burned to the ground}}. Falcone, on the other hand, just acts so smug that he ends up being arguably more hateable than Crane and Ducard despite doing much less damage.

** During the "secrets of scary people" scene, Flass warns Falcone that there's something going on and they should bail. Falcone just sits there in his car for a little while, then decides to get up to see for himself what's going on... namely, that Batman's beating up several of Falcone's goons at the same time. Apparently even with this going on right in front of him it takes him a little while to figure out that Batman's someone to be feared. So, he decides to get back to his car to get a gun. {{spoiler|Too late.}}

* [[The Voiceless]]: Zsasz, though he doesn't have much time on-screen...

* [[Water Source Tampering]]: A variant: Scarecrow laced Gotham's water supply with his fear toxin for months, without anyone realizing it. The toxin had no effect in this form. {{spoiler|It needed to be absorbed through the lungs to have an effect—the bad guys' ultimate plan was to use a microwave emitter to vaporize Gotham's entire water supply, thereby exposing the whole city.}}

{{quote|'''Ra's al Ghul''': You're just an ordinary man in a cape. That's why you couldn't fight injustice, and that's why you can't stop this train.

* [[You Do NOT Want to Know]]: A frequent theme of this movie.

{{quote|'''Flass:''' The bears, they go straight to the dealers.

'''Falcone:''' And the rabbits go to the man in the narrows.

'''Flass:''': What's the difference?

 

== The Dark Knight ==

{{quote|"All right, five-minute 'Tell Dent how awesome he is' recess."}}

* [[Adopt the Dog]]: And train them to behave in ways that'll likely eventually force them to be put down.

* [[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 [http://chasenoface.blogspot.com/ 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.

** 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:

{{quote|'''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.

** [[Inverted Trope|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]]: {{spoiler|Two-Face}} is a Type III.

** [[Anti-Hero]]: A Type IV.

* [[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 [[Fridge Horror|what a psychopath would be using it for...]]

* [[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 Guys Play Pool]]: One of Gotham's major gangsters is seen playing pool before {{spoiler|[[Evil Versus Evil|Joker comes in and murders him]].}}

* [[Bald of Awesome]]: {{spoiler|Ginty, the Good Prisoner}} in the ferry boat scene.

{{quote|'''Joker''': Tell your men they work for me now.

'''Chechen''': [[Funetik Aksent|Dey won't work for a fuh-reak]].

** A less trivial example is that of mentioning Batman's relationship with Rachel. Joker saying "does Harvey know about you and [[Your Little Dismissive Diminutive|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 "[[Memetic Mutation|WHERE ARE THEY?]]"

* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: Bruce Wayne drives a Lamborghini Murcielago... [[Stealth Pun|Murcielago being spanish for "Bat"]].

{{quote|'''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.

* [[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.

* [[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.

{{quote|'''Gambol:''' You think you can steal from us and just walk away?

* [[Bomb Throwing Anarchist]]: Well, Rocket Propelled Grenades, actually.

* [[Bus Full of Innocents]]

* [[The Cameo]]: US Senator Patrick Leahy shows up (the avowed lifelong fan's ''third'' [[Batman: The Animated Series|such]] [[Batman and Robin (film)|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.

* [[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.

{{quote|'''Gordon''': What about this Joker guy?

** [[Not So Harmless|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?"

** Played straight with the amateur Batmen at the start of the film.

{{quote|'''Copycat''': What gives you the right? What's the difference between you and me?

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: The spikes fitted on his gauntlets.

* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: Wuertz and Ramirez.

* [[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]]...

{{quote|'''Bruce Wayne''': Sonar. [[Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?|Just like a...]]

* [[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 [[Excuse Me, Coming Through|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 [[Blatant Lies|obviously false]] monologue about how he's an "Agent of Chaos" with no plans whatsoever.

*** [[The Art of War|"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]]: {{spoiler|Rachel.}}

** 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 {{spoiler|going to Gotham General Hospital to cover the evacuations. They wind up hostages of the Joker. They all get rescued unharmed at the end but they still become the story they were reporting on.}}

'''Lucius''': ... I'd recommend a good travel agent.

'''Bruce''': Without it landing.

** Also, Joker kind of fills in for Crane in the role of villainous snarker.

{{quote|'''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?}}

** Bruce Wayne himself.

{{quote|'''Alfred''': I suppose they'll haul me away too, as your accomplice.

** Even though he's only in the film for a few minutes, Crane gets in a few good ones too:

* [[Deal with the Devil]]: {{spoiler|Harvey Dent accuses Gordon of this for not getting rid of all the possibly corrupt officers in the Gotham Police Department.}}

** The Mob's decision to hire the Joker, [[Evil Is Not a Toy|which comes back to bite them later on.]]

** 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 [[Oh Crap|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]].

* [[Doesn't Like Guns]]: Batman, of course. Also, while the Joker certainly isn't averse to using guns, he [[Knife Nut|prefers knives]] because he thinks guns are too quick, and he would [[Loves the Sound of Screaming|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. [[Complete Monster|In a decidedly hostile way]].

* [[Drinking on Duty]]: This is how {{spoiler|Commissioner Loeb dies, via his alcohol being spiked with poison.}}

* [[Empty Promise]]: Harvey Dent makes one to Rachel.

** And Batman's [[Chekhov's Gun|projectile scallops.]]

* [[Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas]]: Or grandmamas, in Gambol's case.

* [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones]]: {{spoiler|Dent}} threatens to kill Maroni's wife as revenge.

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Maroni tells Gordon where to find the Joker because he feels {{spoiler|killing Rachel}} was "too much".

** When the Joker and his mooks rob a bank, the banker (who has been watching the gang of robbers [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|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.

{{quote|'''Banker''': Criminals in this town used to believe in things; honour, respect. Look at [[The Joker|you]], what do you believe in?}}

* [[Faking the Dead]]:

** Gordon's apparent demise.

* [[Fallen Hero]]: Harvey Dent.

{{quote|'''Batman''': You'd leave a man's life to ''chance''?

* [[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 [[Bloodless Carnage|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.

* [[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.

* [[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, [[Rule of Three|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.

** {{spoiler|Harvey mentions early in the movie that "Either you die as a hero or live to see yourself become a villain. He becomes a villain because he survived the bomb, and Batman literally sees himself become a villain because he needed to save Harvey's reputation.}}

* [[For the Evulz]]: The Joker's motive. A rare straight example that works.

* [[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]].

{{quote|'''Bruce''': I knew the mob wouldn't go down without a fight, but this is different. They crossed the line.

* [[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 [[Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids|Batman's idealism is misplaced]].

*** 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 [[Too Kinky to Torture|a major masochist]]. His response to pain is nothing like normal.

* [[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:

{{quote|'''Joker:''' This is what happens when an unstoppable force... meets an immovable object. (sighs) You... truly are... incorruptible, aren't you?}}

* [[Happy Flashback]]

* [["Hey You!" Haymaker]]

{{quote|'''Joker''': (after Rachel [[Groin Attack|kicks]] him) [[You Got Spunk|A little fight in you. I like that]].

* [[Hero with Bad Publicity]]: {{spoiler|Batman himself}} at the end of the movie.

* [[High Altitude Interrogation]]: [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] and [[Lampshade Hanging|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]].

* [[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 {{spoiler|Harvey; he's lying in a hospital bed recovering from a bomb blast, convinced that Rachel is dead. Then he finds the lucky coin he gave her the last time he saw her alive, left by the side of his bed. He turns it over... the other side's been charred by an explosion.}}

* [[Hot Chick in a Badass Suit]]: Rachel ([[Maggie Gyllenhaal]]) while interrogating a guy. Looks like she should be carrying a rapier.

* [[I'm Not a Hero, I'm X|I'm Not A Hero. I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be.]]

{{quote|'''Joker:''' Do I really look like a guy with a plan?}}

*** YES.

** "I make my own luck" is echoed with "you make your own luck."

** Harvey's fundraiser is [[Up to Eleven|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.

* [[It Got Worse]]: It ''starts'' with {{spoiler|the DA and his assistant/fiancee kidnapped and strapped to time bombs}} and just goes downhill from there.

* [[I Will Show You X]]: During an argument between a witness on the stand and Harvey Dent:

'''Judge''': Permission granted.

'''Witness''': Hostile? I'll show you hostile!

* [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique]]: Used three times. Interestingly, it's never really effective.

** 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.

{{quote|'''Batman:''' He must have friends!

** 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. {{spoiler|Not for the first half of the film, anyway.}}

* [[Joker Immunity]]: Played ''straight'' here, despite being [[Darker and Edgier]] than the [[Batman (film)|previous film series]], which killed him off.

* [[Killed Mid-Sentence]]: {{spoiler|Rachel Dawes}}.

** {{spoiler|"Harvey. Harvey, listen to me. It's going to be okay. Listen. Some -" ''BOOM''}}

* [[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.

{{quote|'''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?

* [[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... {{spoiler|Harvey Dent losing his girlfriend is the key ingredient in driving him to madness.}}

* [[Loves the Sound of Screaming]]: [[The Joker]]...

{{quote|"Do you want to know why I use a knife? Guns are too quick. You can't savor all the little... emotions."}}

* [[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.

* [[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?"

* [[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 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 [[Berserk Button|if anybody else tries it]]...

* [[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. {{spoiler|It's the Batmobile's ejection system, and the only reason Batman is using it is because the Batmobile was destroyed.}}

* [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]: {{spoiler|Two-Face}}, 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 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9psvYv1O4I 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.

*** 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 {{spoiler|the commisioner.}}

''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 {{spoiler|as commissioner}} were unpopular."

** 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.

** 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.

* [[The Paragon]]: Harvey Dent. This makes him the target of just about everybody.

* [[The Pen Is Mightier]]: "How about a magic trick?"

* [[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.

* [[Pineapple Surprise]]: What The Joker threatens to do to escape a room full of mobsters.

* [[Poser Hating]]: Batman does ''not'' find imitation flattering. Especially if his imitators are dressing like him but ready to use lethal force.

* [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner]]: During the fundraising party for Harvey Dent:

{{quote|'''Joker:''' ''(to Rachel)'' [[You Got Spunk|A little fight in you, I ''like'' that.]]

* [[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.

:and

{{quote|'''Joker:''' You know how I got these scars?

* [[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.

** From the same speech: "Not. One. Bit."

** "LOOK! AT! ME!"

* [[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 [[Lampshade Hanging|says they'll be doing this forever]], etc)... but then [[Actor Existence Failure|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.

* [[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 [[Beware the Nice Ones|dark side]] to the generally pleasant and amiable sophisticate:

'''Alfred''': Oh, yes.

'''Bruce''': How?

* [[Right-Hand Attack Dog]]: The Chechen owns a pack of them. {{spoiler|After [[The Joker]] apparently [[Hoist by His Own Petard|feeds The Chechen to his own dogs]], he adopts the pooches and uses them against Batman in the final showdown}}.

* [[Right Behind Me]]: "Don't tell me it's Wayne. The guy's a complete [[Curse Cut Short|f--]]"

{{quote|'''Joker:''' You know how I got these scars?

'''Batman:''' No, but I know how you got ''these''.

* [[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.

{{quote|'''Ebert''': The Joker is more than a villain. He’s a Mephistopheles whose actions are fiendishly designed to pose moral dilemmas for his enemies.}}

** Even scarier is the prisoner on the ferry, who {{spoiler|offers to blow up the other boat, only to throw the detonator out the window.}}

*** 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.

* [[Screams Like a Little Girl]]: Salvatore Maroni as he's dropped from the second floor by Batman.

* [[Should Have Thought of That Before X]]:

{{quote|'''Maroni''': This madness... it's just too much.

* [[Shout-Out]]: "[[Eminem|Will the real Batman please stand up?]]"

** Possibly also a reference to [[The Musical|that musical]] [[Vaporware|they never made.]]

{{quote|'''Lucius Fox''': It emits a high-frequency pulse for mapping an environment and records a response time.

'''Bruce Wayne''': Sonar. Just like a...

** The {{spoiler|final dilemma Joker presents is similar to the Prisoner's Dilemma. One of the parties in the dilemma is a ferry full of convicts}}.

** Bruce Wayne drives a Lamborghini Murcielago... [[Bilingual Bonus|Murcielago is Spanish for "Bat".]]

* [[Stuffed Into the Fridge]]: One of the main criticisms of the film, besides Batman's voice, {{spoiler|is Rachel's unceremonious death at the end of the second act}}.

* [[Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome]]: {{spoiler|Rachel, though not in the first few minutes.}}

* [[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.

** "''My dogs are hungry! [[Costume Copycat|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.

{{quote|'''Gordon:''' Thank you.

'''Batman:''' You don't have to thank me.

* [[Throat Light]]

* [[Title Drop]]: {{spoiler|The final words spoken are the movie's title, at the end of Commissioner Gordon's monologue.}}

{{quote|'''Joker''': Very poor choice of words!}}

* [[Unreliable Narrator]]: The Joker, naturally.

* [[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.

** When a guy named The Joker suddenly becomes very sullen and grumpy...

* [[Villain Team-Up]]: Joker and Two-Face... [[Playing with a Trope|ssssssssorta.]] {{spoiler|Harvey hates Joker with a passion, but Joker ''is'' the one who pushes Two-Face into villainy, and Joker uses Two-Face to sow extra chaos and divert the Gotham PD's attention long enough to set up his next major "social experiment".}}

* [[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''.

* [[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.

** 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...

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: Pulled by ''the Joker'', of all people.

{{quote|'''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''.}}

** 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.

{{quote|'''Batman''': You'd leave a man's life to ''chance''?!}}

** The 'hero' part might be debatable, but Harvey does this to {{spoiler|Ramirez, when he confronts her for delivering Rachel to the Joker.}}

{{quote|{{spoiler|'''Dent''': (after cutting off Ramirez mid-excuse) You didn't know what they were going to do to me. You're the second cop to say that to me. What ''exactly'' did you think they were going to do?}}}}

** Gordon's wife's reaction to his [[Faking the Dead|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 {{spoiler|use sonarised mobile phones to eavesdrop on the entire city and track down the Joker.}}

* [[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.

** [[Joker Immunity|And why doesn't anyone shoot the Joker?]]

*** Because the characters recognize that [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him]].

* [[Xanatos Speed Chess]]: Batman has to play an ''insane'' game in the film's final minutes. {{spoiler|[[Disguised Hostage Gambit]] with multiple SWAT teams bursting in all over the place. Batman has to quickly incapacitate SWAT teams so they don't kill the Hostages-disguised-as-Joker-thugs, and take out the real Joker thugs at the same time. There are also police Snipers targetting the disguised hostages. He ends up having to use his grapple hook in creative ways to knock over hostages to get them out of line of site while at the same time getting to floors he needs to be on, blow the floor up beneath swat teams and thugs with his bomb launcher, and use the SWAT teams' own grapple ropes to tie them together and then suspend them over the side of the building.}} 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, {{spoiler|Batman takes the fall for Dent's murders partly out of refusal to give Joker the satisfaction of wrecking Gotham.}}

* [[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."

'''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.)''

* [[Your Mom]]: The Joker used this insult about Gambol's grandmom to make him pissed.

* [[Zero-Approval Gambit]]: The ending.

* [[Fate Worse Than Death]]: [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]].

{{quote|'''Batman:''' Why didn't you just...kill me?

* [[Flying Car]]: The Bat, à la the Batmobile from [[Batman Beyond]] or the more standard [[Cool Plane|Batwing]].

** [[Defied Trope|Defied]] in the third trailer:

{{quote|'''Catwoman:''' My mother warned me about getting into cars with strange men.

* [[Forced to Watch]]: Judging from Bane's dialogue in the trailers, it seems he wants Batman to see Gotham burn before he kills him.

* [[From Nobody to Nightmare]]: Bane asserts, "Nobody cared who I was until I put on the mask."

* [[Meaningful Echo]]: A stock broker at one point asks Bane the same question Carmine Falcone asked Batman almost a decade earlier.

{{quote|'''Broker:''' What are you?

* [[Mythology Gag]]: The "R" in the cheer sign (0:12 in the trailer) is the logo of Red Robin.

* [[No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup]]: Averted. After the first Tumbler was destroyed in the previous film, a number of replacements have been built. Unfortunately, Bane has at least some of them.

* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]: Catwoman.

{{quote|'''Bruce:''' (during the ball) It's a brazen costume for a cat burglar.

* [[Race Lift]]: Bane was half-Hispanic, half-Anglo-Brit in the comics, being the son of the English B-list Robin villain King Snake and an unnamed woman he had a brief affair with. In the film, he is played by the full Anglo-Brit [[Tom Hardy]], though his accent is harder to place.

* [[Reluctant Mad Scientist]]: Going by how Dr. Pavel reacted when Bane got him out of the plane, it's likely that he willingly defected to the Bane's enemies' side and did not want to return to him.

* [[Undying Loyalty]]: Bane's underlings appear fanatically loyal to him. For instance, when he tells one of his mooks to remain on a crashing plane in order to fool the authorities<ref>who are expecting to also find the body of a prisoner in the wreckage</ref>, the mook simply nods happily... and asks an ominous question.

{{quote|'''Mook''': ''Have we started the fire?''

 

{{reflist}}