DC Animated Universe/Characters/Justice League

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


A list of characters in the DCAU who first became prominent in Justice League and Unlimited.

The Founding members

Superman

ALTER EGO: Kal-El/Clark Kent
Voiced By: George Newbern

See here for more info.

Batman

I'm not really a "people person". But when you need help - and you will - call me.
ALTER EGO: Bruce Wayne
Voiced By: Kevin Conroy

See here for more info.

Wonder Woman

Hera, give me strength!
ALTER EGO: Diana, Princess of Themyscera
Voiced By: Susan Eisenberg

The proverbial "stranger in a strange land." In the DCAU, she defied her mother's admonition to leave matters of Man's World alone, at the time the Imperium were attacking, and stole her outfit from Athena's temple before venturing out in response to the Martian Manhunter's telepathic summons.

Green Lantern

We all need to be held accountable. We have too much power not to be.
ALTER EGO: John Stewart
Voiced By: Phil LaMarr

Hard-nosed and no-nonsense when first introduced, John Stewart had been patrolling deep space as a Green Lantern for 10 years prior to the start of the series. According to the series' promotional info, because of his by-the-book approach to super-heroics, he tended to treat his fellow Leaguers like well-intentioned rookies. Between "Starcrossed" and the beginning of Unlimited, he shaved his head bald and began sporting a goatee.

  • Arbitrary Skepticism: A particularly jarring example early in the series, in "The Brave and the Bold," where he expresses disbelief at Flash's story about a talking gorilla (Solovar). Flash, quite justifiably, calls him out on it.

Flash: Hey, we've both got a Martian's phone number on our speed dial. I think I deserve the benefit of the doubt here.

Green Lantern: (surprised to see Shayera again) Shayera?
Shayera: (Beat) Hate the beard.

Green Lantern: I will not be destiny's puppet.

  • Space Police
  • Stranger in a Familiar Land: His greatest fear is no longer belonging in the neighborhood he grew up.
  • Token Minority: One of the complaints made about him in the early episodes. Supposedly, this is why John Stewart was chosen for the team despite the DCAU already having an established Green Lantern introduced in Superman: The Animated Series (a Hal Jordan-like Kyle Rayner). However, it helps that Stewart did occasionally appear in the JLA comic book years before when he was Hal Jordan's backup.
    • Word of God is that they actually enjoyed using John Stewart quite a bit, because as a lesser-known Lantern they got more creative freedom with him then they would've gotten with Kyle Rayner or Hal Jordan.
    • Ironically, the show's popularity made people complain, when the Green Lantern movie started production, about the protagonist being NO LONGER BLACK, as people unfamiliar with the comics believed Stewart was the original guy and casting a white man was just Hollywood racism.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: It's never directly referred to, but yellow objects just happen to break through his constructs. It doesn't seriously hamper his fights with Sinestro, however.
  • Working with the Ex: With Katma Tui in "Hearts and Minds," and later with Shayera after "Waking the Dead."

The Flash

Dude. The bad guys went down, and nobody got hurt. Know what I call that? A really good day.
ALTER EGO: Wally West
Voiced By: Charlie Schlatter in Superman: The Animated Series, Michael Rosenbaum in ‘’Justice League (Unlimited)’’

Quite possibly the youngest of the Original Seven, the Flash was first seen in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Speed Demons." Initially portrayed as a show-boater and skirt-chaser, he often ran ahead of the others and got into trouble about as fast as he could run. Eventually his importance was expanded on within the series' continuity, starting with the episode "A Better World."

Flash: (dejectedly) I used to be able to goof around because I always knew (Superman) would have my back. Now all I've got is his example. And that's gonna have to be enough.

Wonder Woman: (ruffling Wally's hair) Red hair...it suits you.

Orion: (about Flash) Central City builds statues to this...fool. Who makes bad jokes! Who concerns himself with pitiful men like the Trickster! I don't understand.

Batman: No...you don't.

  • The Other Darrin: He was voiced by Charlie Schlatter when he appeared in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Speed Demons". When he was fully integrated in the DCAU, they brought in Michael Rosenbaum.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: As Orion declares, "You play the fool to hide a warrior's pain."
    • Though Flash himself dismissed that particular viewpoint (he really is that happy when things go well and doesn't have 'a warrior's pain'), he IS a scientist in his day job and has shown that he has deep fears about what his powers could do to him.
  • OOC Is Serious Business: While this applies to the other members of the Original Seven on various levels, he's the one that gets it most significantly—whenever he's not cracking a joke or chasing a skirt, you know the situation is bad. "Divided We Fall" provides perhaps the best example of this trope in action.

"Shayera, it's so beautiful here! There's a force...a Speed Force...it's calling me home. I have to go now."

Flash: She loves me. Seriously, she's like the big sister I never had. Only, you know, short.

  • Plucky Comic Relief: Often, until he decides to get serious.
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs
  • Redheaded Hero
  • Smug Super: Subverts this trope.
  • Speed Blitz: When he isn't playing around.
  • Super Reflexes: He's the only member of the League who successfully dodges the pieces of the Eclipso gem when Hawkgirl smashes it with her mace...even Superman isn't able to dodge any of them.
  • Super Speed: Duh.
  • Time Stands Still: "Only a Dream" reveals this to be Flash's greatest nightmare; specifically, that he'll one day go so fast he'll never be able to slow down again while everything about him appears frozen in place, and thus living out his entire life-span in the time it'll take a little girl to tie her shoelace.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With Batman, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: The sheer number of times he's tripped on things he should've seen coming...though part of this may be him limiting his own power, as when he actually tries, he's arguably one of the most dangerous of the original seven.
    • Or rather, the writers limiting his power. Word of God states that they tended to do this because, otherwise, Flash is so powerful he could beat everybody easily.
      • Goes a little far in the other direction though. Very often in early seasons Flash is beat up by random Mooks, and needs another member of the League to bail him out.

Hawkgirl

Less talking, more hitting!
ALTER EGO: Shayera Hol
Voiced By: Maria Canals-Barrera

An advance scout for the Thanagarian army, Shayera Hol came to Earth to ascertain it as a good tactical point for her people in their war against another alien race known as the Gordanians. While on Earth, she adopted the superhero identity of Hawkgirl and, as her cover story, claimed that she was a cop who got transported there via a teleportation device called a Zeta Beam while chasing after a band of criminals.

Flash: She loves me. She's kind of like the big sister I never had. Only, you know, short.

(she and Flash are talking about his crush on Fire)
Shayera: (suggestively) I hear she's...you know...
(Flash sees Fire talking to Ice. His eyes widen in sudden panic)

Shayera: (smirking) BRAZILIAN.

Flash: Ha, ha.

  • Good Cop, Bad Cop: She's the Bad Cop to Green Lantern's Good Cop during an interrogation of an alien in "War World."

Green Lantern: You can talk to me... (points to Shayera, who's got her mace in hand) Or you can talk to her.

Martian Manhunter

Ask yourselves - is being in here with me what you truly desire?
ALTER EGO: J'onn J'onzz
Voiced By: Carl Lumbly

After the conquering race known as the Imperium wiped out all other life on his home planet of Mars, J'onn J'onzz managed to seal them away and set himself as a guard over them to prevent their escape. However, many years later they were unwittingly released by Earth astronauts and set their sights on conquering Earth. With the help of six of Earth's mightiest heroes, J'onn was able to defeat the Imperium, and eventually adopted Earth as his new home.

  • Alien Among Us: Though it only comes into play when he has to blend in with humans under a disguise. Most of the time he's in his default human-Martian-hybrid form, and those who know of him or are familiar with him in this form know he's from Mars.
  • Alliterative Name
  • Apocalypse How: The fate of his home-world prior to the start of the series.
  • Bald of Awesome
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Flight
  • A Form You Are Comfortable With: When first met in "Secret Origins," he's in his natural Martian form. Upon being freed, he shifts into his more familiar hybrid form in an effort to gain Batman's trust.

J'onn: (shifts into hybrid form) I am J'onn J'onzz.
(He holds out his hand to Batman. The Bat doesn't take it, but continues to have eyes narrowed)
Superman: Don't take it personally, J'onn. He doesn't trust anyone.
J'onn: A wise policy.

Wonder Woman: You don't like humans very much, do you, J'onn?
J'onn: I don't dislike them...

  • Immortality: Type II. He was guarding the shapeshifting invaders for 500 years prior to the start of the series.
    • And according to him, he's not going to be dying from age anytime soon.
  • Intangible Man: A frequent method of avoiding attacks.
  • Journey to Find Oneself: The reason he gets Put on a Bus.
  • Kryptonite Factor: It's hinted through various blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments that he's vulnerable to fire, like his comic book counterpart, although the very sight of it doesn't psychologically cripple him as it did in the comics.
  • Last of His Kind: It's a source of angst for him. Morgaine Le Fay exploits it for all it's worth in "A Knight of Shadows".
  • A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read: Happens to him in "Tabula Rasa," leading him to briefly conclude that Humans Are the Real Monsters.
  • Mind Over Manners: In "A Better World," he tells Batman (in response to the Dark Knight's suggestion to read his Justice Lord counterpart's mind to ascertain the truth of his cover story) that Martians can't and won't violate one another's private thoughts in such a manner. As far as most villains go, though, he'll delve into mind-reading to glean information, but that's about it.
    • Mind Rape: In "Starcrossed", he needs to telepathically learn how to fly a Thanagarian fighter...except Thanagarians are naturally resistant to his telepathy. He grimly decides "I'll just have to try...harder," and effectively lobotomizes his prisoner. The entire planet depended on him getting that information, but the consequences are shown seasons later.
  • Mission Control: In Unlimited, he delegates missions to the expanded League. Then he gets Put on a Bus, and Mr. Terrific takes his place in this role.
  • Nonhumans Lack Attributes: J'onn's true form, and also every other Martian seen in flashbacks. His wife was drawn with narrower shoulders and a slightly emphasized "chestplate" on her exoskeleton, and that's about it.
  • Not So Above It All: As the end of "The Ties That Bind" can attest.

J'onn: I was only going to ask if you wanted to play Brawlin' Bots.
Flash: Dibs on the green one! (runs off)
J'onn: I wanted the green one... (smirks)


The Expanded League

Aquaman (Miguel Ferrer on Superman: The Animated Series, Scott Rummell on Justice League/Justice League Unlimited)

Aquaman: King of the seas, remember?

Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Kin Shriner)

Dinah Lance/Black Canary (Morena Baccarin)

Vic Sage/The Question (Jeffrey Combs)

Nathaniel Adams/Captain Atom (George Eads, Chris Cox)

Mari McCabe/Vixen (Gina Torres)

What makes you think I know anything about the jungle? I live in a loft in Chelsea.

Hank Hill/Hawk (Fred Savage) & Don Hill/Dove (Jason Hervey)

Vigilante (Nathan Fillion)

Shining Knight

S.T.R.I.P.E

Stargirl/Courtney Whitmore(Giselle Loren)

  • Action Girl
  • Alpha Bitch: Sort of. She is vain and fame seeking, has a large sense of entitlement, and mocks and belittles those around her to ease her own feelings, but means well beneath it all.
  • Badass Normal: All of Stargirl's powers are actually derived from her weapon, she has no superpowers of her own. And let's face it, how many teenage girls, if granted a weapon that fired energy blasts and enabled them to fly, would use the weapon to fight supervillains?
  • Bare Your Midriff
  • Bratty Teenage Daughter: In addition to the Alpha Bitch traits mentioned above, S.T.R.I.P.E is in fact her stepdad and partner.
  • Character Development: Over the course of Chaos at the Earth's Core, she comes to respect Supergirl, and ultimately saves her life. By the end of the episode, the two seem to be starting a friendship, with each of them complaining to the other about their respective overprotective relatives.
  • Genre Savvy: She is well aware of how her Alpha Bitch actions look and recognizes that her words make her "petty."
  • Glory Hound: While she usually means well, she is fame seeking, and believes her heroics deserve more recognition.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: She gets very jealous upon seeing Supergirl's popularity.
  • Headbutting Heroes: With Supergirl in Chaos at the Earth's Core though by the end of the episode, they appear to be becoming friends.
  • Impossible Hourglass Figure
  • Kid Hero: In the comics Stargirl is a 16 year old kid, and while her age isn't explicitly stated in JLU, she lives with her stepdad and is drawn as a teenage girl.
  • Leeroy Jenkins
  • Little Miss Badass:

Supergirl/Kara In-Ze/Kara Kent(Nicholle Tom)

  • Action Girl
  • Bare Your Midriff: Applies to BOTH her costumes!
  • Big in Japan: In-Universe, as revealed in Chaos at the Earth's Core.
  • Brought to You by The Letter "S"
  • Character Development: She plays a large point of one of JLU's story arcs and has plenty of this along the way, both in terms of personality and skill in combat. In her first appearance in JLU she was criticized for being impulsive and reckless. By the time Divided We Fall rolls around, she was chosen to be in charge of the League while the founding seven were in custody. In her final appearance, Green Lantern himself notes that there is nothing more he can teach her.
  • Cute Bruiser
  • Determinator: In Chaos at the Earth's Core, she fights Metallo despite her powers being significantly reduced and him having a Kryptonite power battery that can kill her. Even weakened and near death she managed to remove the battery from his chest.
  • Evil Counterpart / Evil Twin: Galatea is Supergirl's evil clone.
  • Eye Beams
  • Farmer's Daughter: In Fearful Symmetry Green Arrow questions a reporter on the source of one of his stories. He mentions that he got it from a girl he was seeing, which turned out to be Galatea, who is a clone of Supergirl. He specifically describes her as "blonde hair, blue eyes, real farmer's daughter type". Not to mention that Kara was actually RAISED on a farm by Ma and Pa Kent, who treated her like one of their own children.
  • Fight Off the Kryptonite: Against Metallo, memorably.
  • Flying Brick: Her powers are on par with Superman.
  • Headbutting Heroes: With Stargirl in Chaos at the Earth's Core though by the end of the episode, they appear to be becoming friends.
  • Human Aliens
  • Impossible Hourglass Figure
  • Leeroy Jenkins: Initially, though over time it lessened.
  • Nigh Invulnerable
  • Prophecy Twist: Benefits from one.
  • Put on a Bus: At the end of Far From Home
  • Superpower Lottery: She has all the powers of Superman.
  • Super Speed: Though not quite as fast as Flash.
  • Super Strength
  • Twin Telepathy: In Supergirl's dreams, she relives the memories of Galatea.
  • X-Ray Vision

Cadmus

Amanda Waller


General Wade Eiling

Galatea

  • Boobs of Steel
  • Cloning Blues: She's a clone of Supergirl, but views herself as superior to the original.
  • Expy: Of Power Girl. Even includes the Cleavage Window.
  • Evil Counterpart / Evil Twin: To Supergirl.
  • Eye Beams
  • Farmer's Daughter: In Fearful Symmetry Green Arrow questions a reporter on the source of one of his stories. He mentions that he got it from a girl he was seeing, which turned out to be Galatea. He specifically describes her as "blonde hair, blue eyes, real farmer's daughter type".
  • Flying Brick: She's a physical match for Supergirl, and gets the upper hand in most of their battles.
  • Impossible Hourglass Figure
  • Meaningful Name: Galatea is Greek for "she who is milk white", and in modern English, the term has become a metaphor for a statue that has come to life. She has pale skin, a white costume, and is a created and designed(like a statue would be) copy of Supergirl.
  • Super Strength
  • Twin Telepathy: In Supergirl's dreams, she relives the memories of Galatea. In turn, Galatea feels she has to kill Supergirl because she fears Supergirl's conscience is beginning to affect her, rendering her less effective as an assassin.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: She's defeated by electrocution, but doesn't seem dead....but we'll never know for sure, since she's not seen or mentioned ever again.
    • Given she was on the Watchtower at the time of her last appearance, it seems she either died or was imprisoned or depowered by the Justice League.


Recurring and Significant Villains

Lex Luthor

That's right, conspiracy buff. I spent 75 million dollars on a fake presidential campaign, all just to tick Superman off.
’’’Voiced By:’’’ Clancy Brown

See here for complete info.


Brainiac

’’’Voiced By:’’’ Corey Burton

See here for complete info.


Darkseid

’’’Voiced By:’’’ Michael Ironside

See here for complete info.

The Justice Lords

  • Brought Down to Normal: The Lords are permanently removed of their powers and abilities, and sent back to their universe to never be seen or heard from again.
  • Despair Event Horizon: The murder of "their" Flash by the American President - Lex Luthor, who has also brought their world to the brink of nuclear armageddon
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Despite having 'Justice' in their organization name, the Lords seem to have forgotten the meaning of it.
    • YMMV on that; Lord Hawkgirl is wracked with doubt over the direction they've taken, and Lord Wonder Woman does go out of her way to save a train put in danger during their battle with Doomsday.
    • The one pushing for most of their actions is Lord Superman and honestly, would you want to cross the guy?
  • Evil Overlords
  • Evil Twins
  • Fallen Heroes
  • Jumped Off the Slippery Slope: Lampshaded by "our" Batman when he notes that what the Lords do isn't that far removed from what the League does.
  • Kick the Dog
  • Knights Templar
  • Heel Face Brainwashing: Lord Superman's favorite way to deal with villains, by frying their brains via his heat vision which basically turns them into the walking dead.
  • Heel Face Turn: Lord Batman, after some words from his other self.
  • Killed Off for Real: The Flash, which cemented Superman's fall and soon the rest of the League.
  • Story Arc: The effects of A Better World, in particular that another universe's League had gone rogue and murdered the President of the United States and took control of the entire world, had far-reaching effects for the rest of the series and the DCAU as a whole.
  • They Who Fight Monsters


Vandal Savage

’’’Voiced By:’’’ Phil Morris

A man who has existed for eons due to his interactions with a mysterious meteor that landed on Earth. He is an intellectual genius and a master strategist who can account for numerous outcomes due to his long life. Like many of his ilk, he thirsts for power and being nigh-immortal, is aware that once he has it he will be undisputed for eternity.

Gorilla Grodd

’’’Voiced By:’’’ Powers Booth

A mastermind gorilla from Gorilla City, a place where many hyper-intelligent gorillas live. After being ousted for his experiments in mind control, he turns to full-time villainy in order to gain wealth and resources to continue his research. He is most notable for organizing a number of villainous alliances to counter the Justice League.

  • Big Bad: Of the Secret Society and the Legion of Doom. Competes with Luthor and Darkseid for this title when it comes to the show as a whole.
  • Diabolical Mastermind: Especially in Justice League Unlimited. The other members of the Legion of Doom pay him twenty-five percent of their profits; in exchange, he provides the muscle to keep the League off their backs.
  • The Empath: Evil version. He can influence people to say things they'd otherwise keep to themselves by playing on their emotions.
  • Everything's Better with Monkeys: Subverted to hell and gone.
  • Evil Genius
  • Eviler Than Thou: With Luthor.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: Following his first defeat. Grodd spent months observing the League to learn all that he could, which allowed him to make better use of his new empathic power. And when forming the Secret Society, he selected members that couldn't be bribed into betraying him (as was done to Luthor) and performed team-building exercises so that they would trust each other. Much later, when forming the Legion of Doom, he actively kept its existence a secret from the League - going as far as to wire members' brains to short-out if questioned or mentally probed.
  • Genius Bruiser: He's a 600 pound gorilla with an intellect that rivals that of Lex Luthor. I'd say he counts.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: Every single one of the women he's been involved with has been human. One of them WAS originally an ape, and he used his scientific abilities to turn her INTO a human!
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Luthor uses his own Mind Rape powers on him.
  • Killed Off for Real: By being Thrown Out the Airlock.
  • Manipulative Bastard
  • Mind Rape: His specialty.
  • Nakama: What he tries to turn the Secret Society and then the Legion of Doom into.
  • Social Darwinist: Believes the strong should rule and the weak obey. He repeatedly scoffs at "society's petty restrictions" for daring to keep the criminal element down.
  • Telepathy

Giganta

’’’Voiced By:’’’ Jennifer Hale

Killer Frost

’’’Voiced By:’’’ Jennifer Hale

Professor Ivo's Android A.K.A "A.M.A.Z.O."

"There's nothing I want from you anymore, none of you have anything for me now."
’’’Voiced By:’’’ Robert Picardo

  • Adaptive Ability: He was able to take superman's powers and then overcome his Kryptonite Factor after exposure to kryptonite, and his own nanotech weaknesses which causes Luthor's only weapon against him to fail.
  • A God Am I: If anyone had the right to say this, it was him but averted, he never refers to himself as a god but others suggest it.
    • Amazo leaves Earth by flying into the night sky.

The Flash: Where is he going?
Martin Manhunter: Where gods belong.

Luthor: You know, when I heard you were coming I was actually afraid of you, petrified, but now when I see your fear your, uncertainty I just pity you!

    • Aquaman playing chess with Hawkgirl while Amazo watches:

Aquaman:Such scintillating repartee, I get better conversation from the android.

Amazo: You are aware I'm in the room?

Amazo: Did you really think I couldn't follow you here? No universe however large however small is denied to me.

[[spoiler:After Amazo gives up on killing Luthor:
John Stewart: He murders an entire planet and its over just like that I don't think so.
Amazo: I did not destroy Oa, I simple moved it to another dimension.
Green lanterns Look at each other bewildered
Amazo: It was in my way.

John Stewart: Then could you move it back!?

Amazo's eyes glow (half a Beat)

Amazo: Done.

everybody smiles.]][1]

Mongul

"Happy Birthday, Kryptonian. I give you oblivion."
’’’Voiced By:’’’ Eric Roberts

The cruel dictator of War World. He gains amusement from watching others fight in his arena, which he captures from around the galaxy to become gladiator slaves. He is deposed by Superman following his experience on War World but comes to Earth later in order to have his revenge against the Man of Steel.

Atomic Skull

Bizzaro

Shade

Tala

’’’Voiced By:’’’ Juliet Landau

Stephen Mandragora

’’’Voiced By:’’’ Glenn Shaddix

Ares

’’’Voiced By:’’’ Michael York

I didn't give you the Annihilator so you could run your enemies out of town...I gave you the Annihilator so YOU COULD ANNIHILATE THEM!

  1. ↑ Except Amazo, he has no mouth.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/DC_Animated_Universe/Characters/Justice_League?oldid=2051230"