Originally Posted by
son of booyah
There are definitely basic storylines that always occur, over and over. Here are some off the top of my head (with a few unnecessary examples):
An old villain that has been lying low comes back to town and is 'crazier than before'
-DotF, Faces, many TAS episodes, Joker in DKR
A new threat comes to town that is 'like nothing Batman has seen before'
-Mutants in DKR, Hush, The Cult, Black Glove
The bad guy is obsessed with (and sometimes succeeds in) breaking Batman mentally
-The Cult, RIP, Hush, Prey, Arkham Asylum, DotF
Batman is distracted with a pet case while things go to hell
-Blades, many that are slipping my mind right now
Batman falls in love and has to think about revealing his true identity
-Strange Apparitions, Black Glove, the Natalya thing in Hurwitz's run
A rogue changes their ways - or have they?
-Going Sane, Black Mirror, etc
Some character from Batman's past resurfaces and turns out to be evil
-Hush, Black Mirror, Gothic
A horrible event happens to the Gordon family
-Killing Joke, NML, Eternal, Black Mirror
The Joker does something nonsensical to prove he's a worthy arch-enemy
-DotF, many TAS episodes, RotJ
Robin rescues Batman
-Strange Apparitions, DKR, etc.
And then there are the actual literal cliches:
Someone breaks into the Batcave (but usually somehow can't remember)
-DotF, RotJ, Court of Owls, RIP
Arkham Asylum is taken over by the inmates or a villain
-Arkham Asylum, RIP, DotF
Death Traps
-...
Robin gets in trouble solo
-RotJ, Slayride, Batman and Robin where he's in the room with the Joker and a crowbar, A Death in the Family
The new character is really the villain
-CoO, Hush, RIP
Gotham has some sort of disaster that cuts it off from the world
-NML, Zero Year, I haven't read Contagion but that's in there, right?
Batman is stronger than someone with superpowers because he has a plan
-DKR, Tower of Babel, Endgame
Arkham inmates get released en masse
-NML, CSBG did a whole post about this
Okay, I think that's enough.