DC Animated Universe/Characters/Superman: The Animated Series: Difference between revisions

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== Superman (Clark Kent/Kal-El) ==

 

 

An alien orphan named 'Kal-El' who was sent into space as an infant to avoid suffering a cataclysmic death on his home planet of Krypton. His craft landed in a Kansas field and he was discovered by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who raise the boy as their son under the name 'Clark'. As he matures under the Earth's yellow sun, he gains superhuman powers such as nigh-unlimited physical strength and the power of flight. As an adult, he moves to Metropolis to work as a newspaper reporter. It is here he becomes aware of the corruption and evil in the world, deciding [[Comes Great Responsibility|he must use his gifts]] to right these wrongs, taking the moniker '[[Superman]]' after a story of his deeds is published in the Daily Planet by Lois Lane, who uses the term.

After having worked long and hard since the end of "Legacy" (from ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'') to regain the world's trust in him, it is he who first suggests that he and the other superheroes form the ''[[Justice League (animation)|Justice League]]'', in order to deal with future threats as great as the Imperium. According to the series' promotional information, he was shown to be the face of the League, as well as the peacemaker for the other members.

 

* [[Betty and Veronica]]: Lana and Lois a couple of times

* [[Berserk Button]]: Harming his friends is never a wise thing to do since he's, well, Superman. Aptly demonstrated in the second part of "Hereafter," where he flew into enough of a rage to ''almost'' smash Vandal Savage's head with a rock when the other man started describing in detail [[Kill'Em All|how he slaughtered the other League members]] (but of course, the [[Reset Button]] was very handy at the end of the episode), and in "For the Man Who Has Everything," where Mongul was [[Curb Stomp Battle|running Wonder Woman ragged]].

** Luminus filters all sunlight except red to depower Supes, then baits him into a [[Hard Light]] death trap. Supes manages to survive until he destroys the sun blocker.

* [[Brought to You by The Letter "S"]]

* [[Clark Kenting]]

* {{spoiler|[[Cool Old Guy]]: In ''[[Batman Beyond]]''.}}

* [[World of Cardboard Speech]]: His speech at the end of ''Justice League Unlimited'' is the [[Trope Namer]].

* [[X-Ray Vision]]

 

== Allies ==

=== Supergirl (Kara In-Ze/Kara Kent) ===

 

* [[Bare Your Midriff]]

 

=== Lois Lane ===

 

* [[Badass Damsel]]: ''Oh'', yeah.

 

=== Jimmy Olsen ===

 

* [[A Day in the Limelight]]: "Superman's Pal"

== Antagonists ==

=== [[Lex Luthor]] ===

 

A genius, multi-billionaire living in Metropolis who is the chief executive of his own company, LexCorp. In reality, he's a sociopath with a thirst for power and control, which he will gladly go to any length to have. He's an A-lister among Superman's rogues and constantly flexes his [[Villain with Good Publicity]] as much as he possibly can. He later takes on various exploits to hamper the [[Justice League (animation)|Justice League]] and out them as threats to global security so he may do as he pleases unopposed.

* [[Guns Akimbo]]: In the JLU.

* [[Mad Scientist]]: Big time. Played up in the Justice League.

* [[President Evil]]: Subverted. He only ran to annoy Superman.

* [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money]]

 

=== [[Brainiac]] ===

 

A supercomputer AI from the planet Krypton who survived the planet's destruction. Now it seeks to gain as much knowledge from the galaxy as it can, by any means.

 

* [[A God Am I]]: When {{spoiler|fused with Luthor}}.

* [[Bald of Evil]]

* [[Big Bad]]: Of Season 2 of Superman, and Season 2 of the JLU.

 

=== [[Darkseid]] ===

 

The absolute ruler of the wasteland planet Apokolips. Stuck in a truce with the neighboring planet New Genesis, Darkseid is always scheming about how to put the entire universe under his fist. Seeking the 'Anti-Life Equation', a powerful tool that could easily submit the entirety of existence under his thumb, he is a constant threat to planet Earth. He is Superman's most hated enemy for his many transgressions committed on Earth and Superman is willing to stop at nothing to see his end.

* [[Agony Beam]]: His Omega Beams normally kill, but he can dial them down to this to amuse himself.

* [[Authority Equals Asskicking]]

* [[Badass]]: Possibly the most powerful villain in the [[DCAU]] and one of the few villains who regularly goes toe-to-toe with Superman on a physical basis, and comes out none the worse for the wear. He's an evil monster, but there's no denying that he's [[Badass]].

** [[Badass Baritone]]: In both [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwLZu_X8YBE English] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v6UXDxkXQE&feature=related Spanish].

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: His motive in the ''JLU'' finale is to get revenge on Superman for killing him, first by [[Forced to Watch|forcing him to see Earth burn]] then cutting his heart out with a kryptonite knife.

* [[Story-Boarding the Apocalypse]]: Darkseid loves doing this and is damn good at it.

* [[Super Strength]]

* [[Ungrateful Bastard]]: "It seems I have you to thank for my resurrection. Though your world will suffer slowly, I grant you a quick death."

 

=== Kalibak ===

 

* [[The Brute]]

 

=== Granny Goodness ===

 

* [[Evil Old Folks]]

 

=== Metallo (John Corben) ===

 

* [[Attack Its Weak Point]]: Disabling his Kryptonite core is usually the only way to stop him.

* [[Nigh Invulnerable]]

* [[The Other Darrin]]: When he turned up in "Hereafter" on ''Justice League'', Corey Burton voiced. McDowell was back, though, in "Chaos at the Earth's Core" in ''JLU''.

* [[Super Strength]]

 

=== Livewire (Leslie Willis) ===

 

* [[Absolute Cleavage]]

* [[Goth]]

* [[Jerkass]]

* [[Psycho Electro]]

* [[Shock and Awe]]

 

=== Toyman (Winslow Schott, Jr.) ===

 

* [[Cool Mask]]: Wears an eversmiling mask that he never removes.

 

=== Luminus (Edward Lytener) ===

Edward was an engineer at LexCorp who specialized in light and laser manipulation. He was a mole for Lois and was fired. So he decided to kill her in revenge. [[Failure Is the Only Option|Then Superman got involved.]] Lytener took up the persona of Luminus and decided to get his revenge on Superman by bringing him down to normal. That failed too. Luminus is last seen fighting the [[Justice League (animation)|Justice League]] after a jail break.

 

* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: Is so calm and calculating when he has a powerless Superman on the ropes. When the satellites key to powering the big guy down get blown up, however, he (understandably) becomes quite panicky and desperate.