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'''''Birds of Prey''''' is a [[DC Comics]] series running from 1999 to 2009, relaunched in 2010, and relaunched again as part of the [[New 52]] in 2011, created and originally written by [[Chuck Dixon]]. It features ex-[[Batgirl]] Barbara Gordon after she was paralysed at the hands of [[The Joker]] in [[Alan Moore]]'s ''[[The Killing Joke]]'' and reintroduced in the ''[[Suicide Squad]]'' series of the early-90's. Now the tech-savvy [[Voice with an Internet Connection|Oracle]], she is a wheelchair bound computer genius who leads a [[Amazon Brigade|team of superheroines]] from a [[Hacker Cave|high-tech HQ]]. Originally located in the Clocktower in Gotham City, her headquarters was later moved to [[Superman|Metropolis]] and then to Platinum Flats.
Under Dixon the team centered around Oracle [[Brains and Brawn|and the]] [[Black Canary]] as they began working together and building a personal relationship in addition to their professional relationship. When [[Gail Simone]] took over writing duties she introduced the [[Huntress]], and several storyarcs later [[Blackhawk|Lady Blackhawk]] to round out the core group, with heavy emphasis within the story that their [[True Companions|family]] was just as important as their crime fighting adventures. This teaming persisted until Canary's departure, around the time of her marriage to [[Green Arrow]], after which the Birds took on a more [[Heroes Unlimited|fluid line up]] with Huntress and Lady Blackhawk as senior field team leaders, and Misfit as regular Bird-in-training. However, the rest of the team was filled in such a way that it seemed like any female [[DCU]] character might show up next. [[Manhunter (
Gail Simone eventually left the series and was replaced as writer by Sean McKeever and later Tony Bedard. Under Bedard's pen, the team moved to the new locale of Platinum Flats, where they were joined by the mysterious Infinity and focused on fighting the "Silicon Syndicate". However, soon after the location move the series was cancelled, along with the ''[[Nightwing]]'' and ''Robin'' titles, in the wake of [[Final Crisis]] and the death of [[Batman]]. The separate characters were either transferred to other titles or quietly dropped from active publication and the final arc was left unresolved.
The title was revived in May 2010 under Gail Simone and Ed Benes, initially featuring a ''[[Brightest Day]]'' banner, with Oracle, Black Canary, Huntress and Lady Blackhawk back in Gotham and Hawk and Dove as new regulars. [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|This was a popular move.]] Gail's final issue was #13, released June 8, 2011, after which there was a two issue guest arc by [[Manhunter (
In September
The series served as the basis for a live-action TV series which took a different approach to things. The core of the team is Huntress (daughter of Batman and Catwoman, as per her [[Pre Crisis|pre-Crisis]] backstory), Dinah, a touch-telepath and the daughter of Black Canary, and Oracle (Barbara Gordon, forced to give up being Batgirl after becoming paraplegic). Harley Quinn serves as the [[Big Bad]]. Tropes for this iteration of the concept can be found in the article ''[[Birds of Prey (TV series)]]''.
In September 2010, Simone wrote an episode of the ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'' which featured the team in a leading role. Though the character interactions were similar to those featured in the comics, Oracle was omitted from the team due to her absence from the show's established canon (and, according to [[Word of God]], rights issues). However, her role as the third member of the team was filled by [[Catwoman (
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{{tropelist}}
* [[Aborted Arc]]: [[Gail Simone]]'s final arc, with [[Secret Six|Junior]] as the main villain was derailed by ''Flashpoint''. It ended after just two issues (it looks like it was supposed to be a 4 or 6 parter) on a cliffhanger with the Birds having discovered Junior's in Gotham, barely escaping with their lives and Oracle trying to work out a plan to get her. Although another two issues were published prior to the reboot they had a different writer and featured [[Those Wacky Nazis]] as the villains.
* [[Action Girl]]: All of them.
* [[Adult Fear]]: Though supervillains and large scale [[Evil Plan
* [[Animal-Themed Superbeing]]: The name of the team itself invokes this but Catwoman, Black Canary, Hawk, Dove, Lady Blackhawk, and Oracle (when she was Batgirl) fit this trope.
* [[Amazon Brigade]]: Obviously, though male characters frequently appear as allies to the team. Hawk, appearing in the 2010 relaunch, appears to be [[The One Guy|the first male to actually be on the team]].
* [[Arrogant Kung Fu Guy|Arrogant Kung Fu Girl]]: [[Dark Action Girl|Lady Shiva]], who is constantly training and retraining herself to eternally improve her martial arts abilities. She also challenges any combatants whom she deems worthy, testing herself against them, testing ''them'' against ''her'', and learning from them/removing them as threats for the future.
* [[Badass Abnormal]]: Black Canary is considered one of the top hand-to-hand fighters in the [[DCU]], even without taking her Canary Cry into account.
* [[Badass Biker]]: Both Canary and Huntress, at times.
* [[Badass Normal]]: [[Handicapped Badass|Oracle]], [[She Fu|Huntress]] and [[Boisterous Bruiser|Lady Blackhawk]].
* [[Bar Brawl]]: Lady Blackhawk occasionally likes to spice-up her nights out.
* [[Bare Your Midriff]]: One of Huntress's costumes is a leotard with a weird little cutout for her
* [[Bat Family Crossover]]
* [[Batman Gambit]]: Cheshire had a complex and well-developed plot to destroy the life of a US Senator, whom she claims is her biological father that raped her mother, take revenge on Black Canary, whom she hates for the relationship Canary shares with her daughter, and kill Lady Shiva along the way, whom she will use as a decoy to fake her own death. The plan moves along (relatively) smoothly, but falls completely off the rails when a few small details drop out of place at the climax when all her enemies come together.
* [[Battle Butler]]
** Lady Blackhawk serves as the teams chauffeur and pilot, but also joins them on their combat assignments.
{{quote|
** Also, Creote serves as one for Savant.
* [[Battle Cry]]
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** Misfit is very quick to pronounce "Dark Vengeance!" on everybody who gets in her way.
* [[Battle in the Center of the Mind]]: When Mortis uses her touch on Black Canary, [[Mind Rape|which turns her psyche inward and forces her to relive every bad decision and moment of self-doubt in her life]], Mortis follows her powers in and torments Canary herself. However, Canary decides that she is not going to just lie back and take it.
{{quote|
* [[Better Than Sex]]
** In one issue, Black Canary and Oracle apparently have the best shrimp ever. Black Canary claims if she had two bites of them a day she would never need another man.
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* [[Bury Your Gays]]: Creote's suicide after Savant's murder {{spoiler|[[Subverted Trope|is actually a complete sham]], as the entire event was staged for Oracle's benefit. Once this is revealed it is Savant, who at the time thought he was straight, who attempts to really kill himself.}}
* [[Calling Shotgun]]:
{{quote|
'''Gypsy:''' But Shiva's already in that seat...<br />
'''Lady Blackhawk:''' No. I mean -- I call '''[[Literal Metaphor|shotgun]]'''. }}
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** Dinah Lance is [[Black Canary]]; [[Non-Indicative Name|her name has no direct connection to what she does or her powers]].
** Hank Hall and Dawn Granger are Hawk and Dove, matched avatars for War and Peace, respectively.
** Zinda Blake has no secret or code name at all; Lady Blackhawk is a publicly recognized, and [[Copyright|trademarked]], title stemming from membership on the [[Blackhawk
** Tatsu Yamashiro is Katana; [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|the same name as her weapon of choice]].
** Ev Crawford is Starling; so far, no real connecion to her skillset.
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* [[Combat Clairvoyance]]: Archer Braun, the very first foe that Black Canary and Huntress united against, had the ability to know what you would do before you did it. He was able to outfight Lady Shiva, and dialogue indicates that this is an almost common interaction between the two of them.
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]:
** Huntress, though a trained and experienced martial artist, has nowhere near the natural skill or pure talent for killing that Lady Shiva or Black Canary do, and so has to supplement her abilities with whatever is handy. When fighting Shiva, fully aware that she will almost certainly not survive the encounter, she throws ''her own blood'' [[A Handful for
** Hawk, as the Avatar of War, is more brutal than the other members of the birds.
{{quote|
'''Huntress:''' I hate to say Hawk's right, but warnings ''are'' kind of a lousy combat strategy. }}
* [[Continuity Nod]]: The series is very arc-based and frequently refers back to previous events in this and other series that lead to the current moment.
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** After Oracle [[Faking the Dead|dies]], Black Canary and Huntress reflect above Gotham's skyline and are approached by Catwoman, who claims she is there to offer her condolences. She points out that she was there at the very beginning of the outfit and that Oracle always played fair with her, [[Due to the Dead|so she is going to donate a significant sum to a homeless shelter in Oracle's name]].
** The first issue of Duane Swierczynski's run mentions Black Canary being framed for murder, which occured at the start of Gail Simone's [[Cut Short|short-lived]] second run on the title.
* [[Cool Plane]]: The Aerie One. Oracle sprung for all the
* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]: The first Oracle/Black Canary team-up featured Nick Devine, a man who specialized in devloping industry in third world nations, but was really providing shoddy work and pocketing large amounts of the cash, then covering up his substandard business practics by having "terrorists" destroy his efforts.
* [[Crossover]]
** Issue #10 of the second volume closes with a gathering of the "Bat Family," the primary superheroes of Gotham City, each of whom have their own currently on-going series. Present are [[Batman]] (Dick Grayson), [[Batman]] (Bruce Wayne), [[Batgirl]] (Stephanie Brown) and [[Red Robin]] (Tim Drake). Misfit (Charlotte Gage-Radcliff) is also present, her first appearance in the relaunch, but she does not have an independent series of her own.
** Issue #1 of the third volume opens with Black Canary meeting with Barbara, who has now become the new Batgirl and left for [[Batgirl 2011
* [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check]]: In the [[So Okay It's Average|lukewarm-received]] run after [[Gail Simone]] left as head writer, the Birds begin to battle the "Silicon Syndicate," a super-human mafia operating out of (and controlling) Platinum Flats, the high-tech capital of the world. However, instead of robbing banks or holding the world for ransom these criminals have simply taken control of the enormous internet companies operating out of the city and are using their legitimate revenue sources to rake in such massive amounts of money that even the Joker thinks they are too valuable to kill. By controlling the [[Fictional Counterpart|DC equivalents]] of Google, MySpace, eBay, eHarmony and other such conglomerates, their yearly profits can be measured not in the millions or billions, but in '''trillions''', and nobody in the world is even aware that they exist.
* [[Cut Short]]
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** The relaunched series will be again relaunched, starting at issue #1, after the publication of issue #15. This occurs right at the conclusion of a mini-arc featuring Junior, a character previously introduced in ''[[Secret Six]]'', and who was established as a new recurring foe for the Birds.
* [[Dare to Be Badass]]:
{{quote|
'''Black Canary:''' What's that got to do with me?<br />
'''Oracle:''' It's got everything to do with ''me''! Do you think I like sending out agents to do my dirty work? Do you think I get my thrills living vicariously? Do you think I don't know hurt? ''You'' don't know hurt, sister! I can't get off the mat to take down thugs like Lynx on my own, but you can, and by God you ''will'', because if you don't you'll regret it the rest of your life. }}
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* [[Dating Catwoman|Dating Catman]]: Huntress and Catman have an extremely flirtatious relationship that has sometimes verged extremely close to outright romance. Many other characters, minor and recurring, currently or previously dated people on the opposite side of the morality line, with various degrees of success.
* [[Deathbringer the Adorable]]: Plucky teenager Misfit's catchphrase is ''"Daaaaaark '''Vengeance!'''''"
* [[Death Seeker]]: It's implied Lady Shiva's constant desire to find worthy opponents is because she wants one to kill her.
* [[Determinator]]
** Helena Bertinelli. When she is fighting Lady Shiva, one of the best martial artists in the ''world'', she keeps taking more punishment specifically so that she can ''throw her own blood in Shiva's face''. She ultimately survives the encounter for the sole reason that she kept fighting even though everybody (Including herself) knew it was a hopeless fight, and this drew it out long enough for Black Canary to find and remove the reasons for the fight in the first place.
** The anonymous [[Mook]] in the introduction of issue #11. Huntress herself admits that the man definitely has courage and determination as he keeps trying to run after she has forced him to crash his bike and then shot him in the foot as he scaled a building. When she finally reaches him he actually tries to ''fight'' her, with a gaping wound in his foot, and Helena wonders what is keeping him going after she already hobbled him. He does go down, eventually, but not before drawing a gun and being tackled by Catman.
* [[Did Not Do the Research]]
** There was some outcry from Singaporean fans over the issue set partially in Singapore. Apart from a mostly skewed view of the country (including the obligatory "don't you have a vandal to cane?" quip), Changi Airport as it is drawn in the issue looks nothing like the actual thing, looking more like Paya Lebar airbase. Also, the Creole language of Singlish is ''not'' simply adding a "lah" to the end of every sentence, lah.
** On the part of the merchandisers, their [https://web.archive.org/web/20120131095339/http://www.dccomics.com/dcdirect/?dcd=20196&lst=new&cat=STATUES White Canary] figurine has some... issues, if they were trying to reflect the comics version of the character
* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: Babs taking down Brainiac.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: Cheshire murders one of Black Canary's and Lady Shiva's former teachers, poisoning him and six of his students, even though he was frail old man with terminal cancer who would have passed soon, anyway. Why do this? Why start a long chain of violence and death that will spin out of this?
{{quote|
* [[Does Not Like Guns]]:
{{quote|
'''Oracle:''' I don't like 'em, but I know 'em. }}
* [[Driven to Suicide]]: Creote {{spoiler|did ''not'' kill himself, but actually staged a suicide as part of ''Savant's'' plan to kill himself. Savant's warped ability to percieve time means that he is constantly reliving the brutal torture he underwent at the hands of Hellhound and the Black Spider when Calculator was trying to find Oracle's identitity, and after two years he has decided to end it.}}
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* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Though she has general contempt for concepts like "criminal honor," which usually just lead to only more death for no good reason, Huntress admits that at least the Mafia left families and, especially, children alone. Whatever they did to each other, for whatever stupid reasons, at least children were kept out of the way.
* [["Everybody Laughs" Ending]]: The final issue before the 2011 DC relaunch, written by guest author Mark Andreyko, closed with Birds laughing together after defeating the schemes of [[Stupid Jetpack Hitler|Nazi-clones and their resurrected creator]].
* [[Evil Counterpart]]: The Calculator serves as Oracle's, especially under Bedard's pen.
* [[Evil Plan]]: A staple of the series when facing supervillains.
* [[External Retcon]]: ''[[Justice League: Cry for Justice|Justice League Cry for Justice]]'', a six-issue limited series, revealed that the villain Prometheus had been [[Mind Wipe|mind wiped]] by the [[Martian Manhunter]] and placed in an asylum after his first appearance; all his subsequent appearances had been a separate person ''impersonating'' Prometheus. This was done with the intention of explaining his later appearances where [[Villain Decay|the supposed JLA-Level villain was defeated by B-list opponents]]. However, this also [[
* [[Faking the Dead]]: The second arc of the relaunch centers on Barbara's plans to kill Oracle [[The Not-Secret|as the identity is too well known]].
* [[Famed in Story]]
** The Black Canary is well-known amongst the world martial arts community and is held up as a measuring stick of combat skill within the hero community. Her reputation is not as wide-spread as some other heroes, but those "in the know" have heard of her and her legendary prowess
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* [[Good Parents]]: When Barbara Gordon is being [[Grand Theft Me|hijacked by Brainiac]], [[Black Canary]] uses a picture of Babs's father Jim Gordon, to help pull her back from oblivion. As she explains it, and as we see throughout the series, if there ever was a father, ''this'' man was it.
* [[Green Eyes]]: Catman has them, and they identify him as a member of a gang of criminals [[What Beautiful Eyes!|when both hostage and hero recognize their beautiful uniqueness]].
* [[Gunship Rescue]]: When Calculator has kidnapped Huntress, Lady Blackhawk and Dove, Oracle comes to their rescue in an attack helicopter that lays waste to the whole area (With rubber bullets, [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|of course]]).
* [[Hacker Cave]]
* [[Handicapped Badass]]: Oracle
* [[A Handful for
* [[Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?]]: "I am heterosexual to the bone" (see also [[Bi the Way]] and [[Les Yay]]).
* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Poison Ivy, a former eco-terrorist with a massive body count, willingly joins the heroic Birds at Black Canary's behest. The other members don't take kindly to this.
* [[Heroes Unlimited]]: Once Black Canary left the team the line-up became very fluid, with Huntress and Lady Blackhawk as central characters supported by a rotating roster of other female heroes. Gypsy begins to appear just before Canary's departure and slowly fades away after she is gone and [[New Gods|Big Barda]], [[Justice Society of America|Judomaster]] and [[Hawkman|Hawkgirl]] appear for individual missions. [[Manhunter (
* [[Heroic Build]]: All protagonists, male and female, are sculpted as if from stone.
* [[Hollywood Hacking]]: Oracle. She once took down the Internet with a few keystrokes. Yes, the ''entire'' Internet.
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* [[Honor Before Reason]]: Huntress, because she grew up as Helena Bertinelli in the very middle of the Gotham Mafia, is well acquainted with the concepts of criminal honor and respect and the like, and she finds them idiotic and ridiculous. All they do is provide a justification for criminality and offer excuses for the way people act, and when Black Canary is going to fight Lady Shiva to the death over issues that all stemmed from an affair of honor she wants to find a way out of it. Ultimately, she decides to play their own game and challenges Shiva ''first'', so that the matter of "honor" will be settled and Canary will no longer be involved, even though she is aware that she will inevitably die herself; at least Dinah will be able to emerge from the situation alive.
* [[Hot Amazon]]: Big Barda.
* [[How Did You Know? I Didn't.]]: When Cheetah has tackled Black Canary and threatens to rip her throat out Huntress shoots Cheetah in the shoulder, face and throat.
{{quote|
'''Huntress:''' Healing what now? }}
* [[I Am Not Left-Handed]]: When Manhunter and Black Canary are [[Let's You and Him Fight|fighting]], Manhunter refers to all the recent sparring she has done with the likes of Wonder Woman, and how happy she is to now test her skills [[Famed in Story|against such a legendary martial artist like the Canary]]. However, during the fight she remarks that Canary is not living up to her expectations and she wonders why she has not yet used [[Make Me Wanna Shout|her Canary Cry.]] Canary explains that she "is trying really hard not to put [the Manhunter] in the hospital."
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** The Huntress had cult-leader Sovereign Brushaw at her mercy at the end of her crossbow as Vixen begged her not to cross the line. Huntress lowers her crossbow and allows Brushaw to be taken into custody...[[Subverted Trope|and reveals that Vixen should not thank her for anything, her crossbow jammed]].
* [[I Have Your Wife]]
** The White Canary gets Black Canary and Lady Shiva to agree to [[Involuntary Battle to the Death|a fight to the death]] by threatening to kill Sin, Black Canary's adopted daughter/sister that she rescued from a life of [[Training
** When Current [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here|tries to back out]] once he [[Oh Crap|realizes he is fighting Black Canary and Batman]] the Calculator informs him that he is gong to do ''exactly'' what he agreed to do, "or I take out my displeasure on that ''girlfriend'' you don't think anyone knows about."
* [[Incompatible Orientation]]: Lady Blackhawk took quite a liking to Creote, the hulking wall of tough-as-nails man, but found herself summarily kicked out of the race when she learned that Creote was already in love... with Savant. She apparently decides to make sure this never happens again, as upon meeting Hawk in his civilian identity she asked Dove if he was "fancy".
* [[The Infiltration]]: Huntress, in her real identity as Helena Bertinelli, uses [[Mafia Princess|her family's history]] with the [[The Mafia|Gotham Mafia]] to join their organization and rise to the rank ''capo''. As a ''capo'' she has access to their networks, personnel and background information and uses this information (And, sometimes, even the criminal power that comes with the position) to advance her war on crime.
* [[The Internet Is for Porn]]: Barbara might regularly save the world with her on-line connections, and with her world-wide influence she might actually be more dangerous than [[Superman]], but by far the greatest single moment of this series is when we learn that she and [[Blue Beetle|Ted Kord]] "cyber did it" one time. God bless you Ted, because the memory of Babs saying that line is going to stick in the thoughts of every person who read that story until they finally lie down and die. You might have gone from this world too soon, but in your short time on this Earth you lived the dream that we are ''all'' dreaming.
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* [[Jumped At the Call]]: When Black Canary received a call from Oracle offering her a job and adventure (See [[Call to Adventure]] above) she ran out of the house before the answering machine had finished playing the message, offering the first taxi she saw her last $20 to get her to the airport right away. She did not even know what thejob was, or who Oracle was, and she did not wait to find out.
* [[Kinda Busy Here]]: Subverted by Huntress, who takes a call from Oracle while beating up some thugs without missing a beat and talks without acknowledging what she's doing. In ''[[Secret Six]]'' Huntress once herself called Catman while in the middle of a beatdown on some thugs, so it just seems to be something she does.
* [[
{{quote|
* [[The Ladette]]: Lady Blackhawk can order beer in many languages and hold her own in a [[Bar Brawl]] with ease.
* [[The Lancer]]: Huntress, no matter who the hero is.
* [[
* [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]]: Issue #8 of the relaunch discusses when Oracle and Calculator [[Battle in the Center of the Mind|dueled within their minds]] in issue #12 of the ''[[Batgirl]]'' series. Oracle mentions here that, as the Calculator inevitably imagined his own mind as a computer, she was able to delete the files that contained her true identity, removing that information from his memory. However, [[Deconstructed Trope|it seems that this action has resulted in currently-unspecified damage to his mind that he believes is going to prove terminal]].
* [[Left Hanging]]: The final arc of the series before its cancellation in 2009, dealing with the Silicon Syndicate in Plantinum Flats, was dropped when the series ended and was not followed up in either the characters appearances in other comics or when the series returned in 2010.
* [[Legacy Character]]
** Dinah Lance inherited the Black Canary title from her mother, Dinah Drake, the original [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] superhero.
** Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe attempted to become the new [[
** A new Judomaster appears for the first time in this series, later becoming a member of the [[Justice Society of America]]
** Dawn Granger, the current Dove, inherited the title from Don Hall.
** Katarina Armstrong, a villain, styles herself "Spy Smasher" after the [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|original hero]], but Lady Blackhawk [[Fish Out of Temporal Water|explains that she knew the original Spy Smasher]] and Katarina does not even compare.
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* [[Mafia Princess]]: Helena Bertinelli, who would grow up to become the Huntress.
* [[The Mafiya]]: When infilrating the Gotham City mob (See [[The Mafia]] above) Helena brings along Creote as visible muscle, and uses her obvious connection to "the Russians" to leverage herself a position as ''capo'' within the mob.
* [[Make Me Wanna Shout]]: Though her martial arts mastery usually makes it pretty superfluous, Black Canary has this as a superpower.
* [[Meaningful Rename]]: Most of the code names that the characters use relate to either their skills, methods or histories, and they pick these names specifically to represent such facets of themselves. [[Non-Indicative Name|No, we have no clue what Black Canary was going for]].
* [[Meganekko]]: Oracle
* [[Mind Rape]]: Mortis has the ability to turn anyone's inner psyche against them, forcing them to relive every bad decision and moment of self-doubt in their entire lives. Most of her victims commit suicide almost immediately, others just never wake up.
* [[Minor Injury Overreaction]]: Huntress recognizes all the implications for Calculator's future when his henchman see him so unnerved by a minor scratch.
{{quote|
'''Huntress:''' ''(thinking)'' More than you ''know'', Calculator. I've been around hired thugs my whole life. And I know that the line of respect that allows a man like ''you'' to order ''them'' to risk their lives is a delicate and moving one. And you [[Screams Like a Little Girl|sceaming like a little girl]] over some scratches from a handcufed hostage? Well, you just ''erased'' it. }}
* [[Mission Control]]: Oracle again, and Savant and Creote on occasion.
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* [[Most Common Superpower]]: Look at the picture at the top of this page.
* [[Mugged for Disguise]]: Thorn beats up a nurse in order to steal the woman's outfit as part of an escape plan.
* [[Mundane Luxury]]: When Black Canary took Sin away from her [[Training
* [[Muscles Are Meaningless]]: When Black Canary and Savant eventually square off she does not fight [[Waif Fu|using leverage, speed or an exploitation of her natural advantages]], but instead matches him blow-for-blow in what is almost a direct conflict of strength in addition to skill. Given their different sizes and build, for Canary to even approach Savant in terms of raw strength she would need superpowers above and beyond her [[Make Me Wanna Shout|Canary Cry]], but she still overpowers him and brings him to his knees.
* [[The Musical]]: The cover for issue #3 of the second BOP series has the Birds dressed in Cabaret outfits and performing on a nightclub stage. Additionally, Gail Simone wrote a Birds of Prey-themed episode of [[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]] which features the girls peforming an actual musical number after infiltrating a nightclub.
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* [[Noble Demon]]: Black Canary and Lady Shiva spend so much time working together against common foes that they actually develop something of a friendship. Neither of them enjoy this, but they take it quite seriously.
* [[Non-Indicative Name]]: "Black Canary" really has nothing to do with Dinah Lance's skills, behavior, powers or history, ditto her mother, [[Legacy Character|who originated the title]]. She does refer to her [[Make Me Wanna Shout|sonic wail]] as her "Canary Cry," but it is never implied to actually sound like a real canary and she had the name before her powers arose.
* [[Not Me This Time]]: When Black Canary's old mentor was murdered while she visited him in Hong Kong, even though he was terminally ill and would have died soon anyway, Canary and Lady Shiva quickly assumed that the supervillainess Cheshire committed the crime. They have a history of animosity and the means of the crime, poison, happened to be Cheshire's specialty. However, after Black Canary tracked Cheshire down, attacked and captured her, she found out that Cheshire did not do it; rather, it was the deed of a corrupt US senator who arranged the murder specifically so it would point to Cheshire. The two of ''them'' were enemies and he hoped Canary would deal with Cheshire for him. {{spoiler|[[Subverted Trope|However, they eventually discover that it really was Cheshire after all]]. She made it look like she was being framed so that Canary would help her get back to the US as part of her own [[Evil Plan]]}}.
* [[The Not-Secret]]
** At the height of Huntress's [[The Infiltration|infiltration]] of the Gotham Mafia, Barbara Gordon brought her father into the Clocktower and revealed to him her secret life as Oracle. He was suitably surprised and impressed, but when she also told him about her time as [[Batgirl]] before her paralysis he explains that he figured ''that'' part out years ago. After all, you do not get to be police commissioner by being a slouch. Barbara is glad he accepts her, but regrets how much time and energy she put into hiding her activities when he already knew.
** At the time of the relaunch Barbara has [[Faking the Dead|decided to kill Oracle]] because the persona has become so well known. [[Secret Identity|Her actual idenity is still a mystery]], but the mere fact of her existence is known not just by superheroes, but also supervillains and even a lot of average internet users. Almost all the villains know who she uses for her operatives, and many have made it a personal matter to combat and attempt to kill her or her friends. For a mysterious behind-the-scenes information broker she is simply too much in the spotlight.
* [[Not So Different]]: While Barbara is more emotionally stable than Batman and is actually willing to let people get close to her without being compelled to push them away, she can be every bit the manipulative control freak that he is. When Huntress was first merging with the team she called out Barbara on her secret attempts to "fix" Huntress (Huntress took issue with being considered "broken") and left the team. As she left, she accused Barbara of turning out to be a manipulative jackass just like Batman.
* [[Odd Friendship]]: Black Canary and Lady Shiva. "Friends" may be pushing it a little far, but they are amicable acquaintances with a shared history and civil interactions. They have, on occasion, gone for drinks together, trained together and worked together. However, they also remain potentially mortal enemies from diametrically opposite sides of the good/evil divide.
* [[Oh Crap]]
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** #3 gives a series of these to the entire team as everything goes to hell in a short amount of time.
** In issue #8, Current, [[Mook|a hired gun working for the Calculator]], [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here|tries to break away]] when he realizes he is fighting Black Canary ''and'' Batman.
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** In Issue #10, Mortis recognizes the implications of Black Canary escaping her [[Mind Rape]].
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'''Calculator:''' ''(Canary appears standing behind Calculator)'' Oh. }}
** In issue #12, when Huntress learns that the team is up against {{spoiler|Junior}} she begins screaming for Oracle to pull Canary and Zinda out of the building.
* [[Olympus Mons]]: Black Alice has the ability to steal the magical powers of anybody in the DC Universe. This includes the claws and fur of Cheetah, the sorcerous powers of Felix Faust, and even the wondrous strength of [[Wonder Woman]]. However, when she says she can take the powers of anybody, she does mean ''anybody'', and she once took the powers of [[The Spectre]]. An emotionally traumatized, angry teenage girl now has ''the literal power of God's wrath.''
* [[The One Guy]]: Hawk in the relaunch. Apparently, Zinda has already taken something of a liking to him, but she has decided to do some advance recon based on her experiences with Creote.
* [[One-Man Army]]: Black Canary. When she swapped lives with Lady Shiva her [[Training
* [[Painted-On Pants]]: Not the predominant art style of the series, but as with most [[Long Runner
* [[Painting the Medium]]: Mortis speaks in black speech-bubbles with yellow lettering and borders.
* [[Pajama-Clad Hero]]: Barbara spends almost all of her time in civvies, and occasionally shows up in pajamas. One example in issue #11 of the relaunch shows her pajamas, which naturally [[Sigil Spam|has the Bat symbol on them]], and complementary bunny slippers.
* [[Passing the Torch]]: When Batman (Dick Grayson) questions if Barbara can really [[Faking the Dead|get rid of Oracle]], she states that Proxy (Wendy Harris) can handle the data gathering and retrieval.
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* [[Photographic Memory]]: It is not mentioned that often, but Oracle has one. Her eidetic memory actually backfires on her: she constantly relives getting shot and paralyzed by [[The Joker]].
* [[
* [[Plenty of Blondes]]
** The team at one point had three blonde women.<ref>though technically Black Canary is a brunette who bleaches her hair</ref>
** Averted post-reboot, with only a single blonde (Black Canary) on the team.
* [[Pop Cultural Osmosis Failure]]: In issue #1 of the relaunch, Lady Blackhawk did not understand the reference to "[[Putting the Band Back Together]]".
* [[The Power of Love]]:
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'''Black Canary:''' Heh *sniff* No. No, lady, they haven't. [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain|You pulled the wrong trigger]]. Don't you know that?<br />
'''Mortis:''' How do you ''know?'' How can you be ''certain''?<br />
'''Black Canary:''' Because they're my friends. Because they love me. }}
* [[The Power of Trust]]: In the relaunch, when Batgirl tries to warn Canary that Starling has been compromised by their brainwashing villain, Canary responds that Starling is in fact the ''only'' member of the team that she trusts.
* [[Progressively Prettier]]: Misfit, though never ugly, was originally a bit plain for a comic-book character and wore loose-fitting clothing over a body that did not measure up to [[Heroic Build|other heroines]]. As the series progressed, however, her clothing became tighter, she filled out and she might have even become a bit taller. Thankfully, she remained a teenager and never became overly sexualized.
* [[Psycho Rangers]]: The [[Secret Six]] guest-starred in an arc towards the end of Gail Simone's run, serving as a collective [[Evil Counterpart]] for the whole team and bringing lots of [[Foe Yay]] with them.
* [[Punk in the Trunk]]: At one point, Catwoman accidently finds Lady Shiva stuffed inside a car trunk with her mouth taped shut. After realizing that the bound woman is a sociopathic killer, she is understandably hesitant to release her.
* [[Putting the Band Back Together]]: Issue #1 of the relaunch involves Black Canary, Huntress, Lady Blackhawk and Oracle reuniting and operating as a team again after separating following the earlier cancellation of the series.
* [[Raised Catholic]]: Huntress, whose faith is a large part of her character despite her vigilante lifestyle, from the [[Creepy Cool Crosses|crosses on her costume]] to the fact that she prays before fighting Lady Shiva, and thanks God [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|for allowing her to live]].
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* [[Screams Like a Little Girl]]: Huntress recognizes that when the Calculator screams like a little girl [[Minor Injury Overreaction|after a few scratches]] he erases the respect and fear that he used to keep his henchmen in line.
* [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here]]:
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'''Calculator:''' Are you kidding? Aren't you supposed to be badass?<br />
'''Current:''' Look, I just got this electric gear. I ain't fighting ''those'' two. I'm ''out''. }}
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** Huntress lives as Helena Bertinelli, a school teacher in Gotham. She is also, starting during Gail Simone's run on the series, a ''capo'' in the [[The Mafia|Gotham Mafia]], which she uses to deconstruct organized crime from within.
** Black Canary is a [[Zig Zagged Trope|complicated]] example; early issues had her explain that she no longer bothered with a secret identity because she no longer had a personal life to protect, and she used her real name and code name interchangeably. However, later issues had her maintain a life as florest Dinah Lance and made references to keeping her civilian and superhero lives separate, but while "on duty" she continued to introduce herself with her real name and was publicly recognized as Black Canary while "off duty." She even has a [[Justice Society of America]] credit card that she can use to purchase airline tickets without raising any attention. How this all reconciles with other events (Such as her very public marriage to [[Green Arrow]]/Oliver Queen without anybody then knowing that Arrow and Queen are the same person) has yet to be explained.
* [[Secret Keeper]]: Barbara eventually reveals to her father her activities as Oracle, which stunned him greatly but also made him very proud. However, when she then goes on to reveal that she used to be [[
* [[Shock and Awe]]: The villain Current appears in the relaunch working for the Calculator, and he has some sort of technology that grants him electrical powers.
* [[Shout-Out]]
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* [[Spit Take]]: Helena can not hold on to her beer when Zinda [[Crowning Moment of Funny|complains about how nobody will honor her senior citizens discount]].
* [[Statuesque Stunner]]: [[New Gods|Big Barda]], the page image, is a minor recurring character before the move to Platinum Flats.
* [[
* [[Stripperiffic]]: Huntress' belly window and hotpants.
* [[Superhero Paradox]]
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** Canary's comments early in the relaunch that she had not been herself lately referred to the same series as well as ''Rise Of Arsenal'', where she dumped Ollie in his jail cell and abandoned Roy Harper as a lost cause after he slipped back into addiction.
** Following a controversial scene in ''[[Justice League: Cry for Justice|Justice League Cry for Justice]]'' in which [[Green Arrow]] mentions [[Green Lantern|Hal Jordan]] having a drunken threesome with Lady Blackhawk and Huntress, Gail Simone wrote a scene in ''Birds of Prey'' #7 which had Huntress say that Hal was passed out drunk. Helena declines to elaborate and, while not an explicit [[Retcon]], this does raise some doubt about Hal's story.
** A more good-natured jab than some [[Take That
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* [["Take That!" Kiss]]: After Oracle and Huntress have proven their independence from, and even superiority to, Batman, Black Canary kisses him before sending him on his way.
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* [[Tank Goodness]]: When [[Training
* [[Tears of Joy]]: Sin is just so damn happy to be having pancakes.
* [[Teeth Flying]]: When Black Canary corners the Calculator after fending off Mortis' [[Mind Rape]], she administers a stern punishment right across the jaw.
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* [[Teleporter Accident]]: Misfit's teleportation powers are extremely advanced (see [[Required Secondary Powers]] above), but she can not bring any living being with her when she "bounces". If she tries, the other being [[Ludicrous Gibs|explodes]] after transport.
* [[Thou Shalt Not Kill]]
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** After the relaunch, Dinah takes a much freer stance on the issue and is fine with Katana killing mooks in a fight. Her internal monologue explains that Katana was everything she thought she would be, including "lethal," and only reminds her to leave at least one alive for questioning. However, as the series progressed, [[Zig Zagged Trope|she began to object to Ivy and Katana's lethal actions]].
* [[Tontine]]: Apparently the [[Blackhawk|Blackhawk Squadron]] had a tontine, a bottle of champagne, "won" by Zinda Blake when she was flung into the future.
* [[Training
* [[True Companions]]: It is explicitly stated that half the reason Oracle is doing what she does is because she is trying to save not just the victims of crime, but also the heroes whose lives are in shambles and who can be rescued with genuine emotional stability and warmth.
* [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]]: Oracle and Black Canary's relationship has often seemed to verge extremely close to the romantic, but their past (and current) relationships with other characters (Nightwing for Oracle, Green Arrow for Black Canary) is one of the impediments for any sort of [[Relationship Upgrade]]. Likewise, even though a sexual attraction has never been explicitly confirmed, the Oracle/Canary relationship is often stated within canon to be one of the factors that prevents any sort of permanent bond with the other halves of the pairings.
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* [[Was It Really Worth It?]]: Black Canary was kidnapped, taken around the world and ends up facing Lady Shiva for the first time all because [[Woman Scorned|she has a grudge against Archer Braun]]. Was it worth it? Yes, [[Worth It|it was]] (See [[Woman Scorned]] below).
* [[Weird Trade Union]]: Black Canary and Huntress were once sent by Oracle to infiltrate a meeting of dozens of henchpeople who worked for various Gotham criminals. It turns out that they were meeting in order to unionize and demand proper paymet and benefits for their work.
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* [[What Beautiful Eyes!]]: Catman is recognized by a hostage, which leads Huntress to deduce his role in the robbery she is following, because of his [[Green Eyes]], which stand out amongst everybody else.
* [[White-Haired Pretty Girl]]: Dove. Dawn is naturally blonde, but [[Word of God]] says she changed her hair in her secret identity, [[Enforced Trope|with Gail clarifying that yet another blonde on the team would make them hard to tell apart.]]
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* [[Woman in White]]: An Asian woman calling herself the "White Canary" shows up at the end of issue 1 of the relaunch. Her costume makes sense once her identity is revealed : {{spoiler|In Asian fashion she is wearing white in mourning for her brothers, the Twelve Brothers in Silk, who she killed after their defeat at Black Canary's hands to uphold her father's honor.}}
* [[Woman Scorned]]:
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'''Black Canary:''' [[Worth It|Yeah, it was]]. }}
* [[Working the Same Case]]
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