Superman: The Animated Series: Difference between revisions

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Baby Kal-El, [[Last of His Kind]], is sent away from the dying planet Krypton and lands on Earth, where thanks to the bright yellow sun he develops [[Flying Brick|famous abilities]] far greater than a normal human. He grows up in Smallville, Kansas, where he was found and raised as a human ("Clark") by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who instill within him a powerful sense of right and wrong. As an adult he defends the city of Metropolis as an honest, virtuous hero christened "Superman" by its inhabitants. [[Batman: The Animated Series|Not like that nut in Gotham City.]]

 

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* [[Abusive Parents]]: Darkseid is, quite simply, not a nice person, and his children get no special treatment.

* [[Action Girl]]:

** Mercy Graves does not get many opportunities to show them off, but she has an impressive array of martial skills.

* [[Acquitted Too Late]]: When Superman and Lois Lane have found the proof to exonerate a man on death-row, they find that the governor is not at home because he decided to attend the execution personally, and Lois laments that they barely had time for him to make the phone call stopping the execution. Kenny is already in the gas chamber and the switch had already been thrown. {{spoiler|[[Subverted Trope|It is a good thing Superman]] [[Big Damn Hero|was able to save him anyway]].}}

* [[Affably Evil]]:

** Lex Luthor, who hides his villainy beneath a thin veneer of courtesy and suave sophistication.

** Edward Lytener, who even when making declarations of absolute hatred and murderous intent is always so briskly, cheerfully polite. This continues after he becomes Luminus.

** Metallo is often friendly and grinning, but unlike most examples of the trope he is usually assuming the pleasant persona to mock and insult his foes.

* [[The Alcatraz]]: Stryker's Island. There there were only three known escapes from the island, the first involved a missile strike, the second involved an attack by [[Psycho Electro|Livewire]] and the third was part of a plan to ''blot out the sun''.

* [[All Amazons Want Hercules]]: Maxima will only mate with a man who can equal her in combat.

* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]: Lana Lang explains to Lex that she ''likes'' dangerous men, [[Subverted Trope|except it turns out she only likes dangerous men because she could never snag nice guy Clark Kent]].

* [[All the Myriad Ways]]: Brave New Metropolis

* [[Amnesiac Dissonance]]: When Metallo surfaces after being lost at sea in his premier episode he has forgotten who and what he is. He is christened "Steelman" by the pair of children who find him and is (briefly) a hero, rescuing a truck driver from a flaming wreck. However, he recovers his memory at the end of the day and resumes his vendetta against Superman.

* [[Amusing Alien]]: Mr. Mxyzptlk.

* [[Best Her to Bed Her]]: Maxima.

* [[Betty and Veronica]]: Lois and Lana can slip into this when they are in the same episode.

* [[Big Damn Hero]]: When an innocent man is about to be executed, Superman breaks into the gas chamber ''after the gas has been released'' and blows it outside to let it dissipate in the atmosphere.

* [[Bigger on the Inside]]: The Tower of Fate.

* [[Brought to You by The Letter "S"]]: [[Trope Codifier|Obviously]]

* [[Bury Your Gays]]: [[Inverted]] (That is, if [[Hide Your Lesbians|you managed to notice it at all]]). Maggie Sawyer is blown out of her car during an attack by Intergang and the next shot has her badly burned and motionless beneath a crushing pile of rubble, ''without'' [[Eye Awaken|moving her eyes]] or [[Finger-Twitching Revival|her fingers]]. Dan Turpin even calls the attackers "murderers" as he screams at them, so everything seems to be indicating that she [[Killed Off for Real|is really dead]]...[[Not Quite Dead|except she is alive]], and she returns later on in this and future episodes. The intent of the trope, to hide or eliminate homosexuality in a work, is then reversed, as her subsequent recovery in the hospital features the very first appearance of a woman the credits and DVD commentary identify as Toby Raines, her partner in the comics.

* [[Canon Foreigner]]: Volcana, Luminus, the Preserver, Sgt. Corey Mills, General Hardcastle, Detective Kurt Bowman, Darci Mason, Angela Chen and Unity. Mala is a somewhat complex example; see her entry under [[Composite Character]].

* [[Canon Immigrant]]: Mercy Graves, Livewire.

* [[Cover-Blowing Superpower]]: In "The Late Mr. Kent," Clark Kent is "killed" by a car bomb and Superman wonders how he is going to continue living his life, since if people see him fly away from the wreck they will know his secret.

* [[Cowboy Cop]]: Dan Turpin.

* [[Creator Backlash]]:

** Although they all praise the performance of the voice-actors (Especially Jimmy Olsen's VA), the production team has a very low opinion of ''Superman's Pal'', an episode of the third season [[A Day in the Limelight|focusing heavily on Jimmy Olsen]].

* [[A Day in the Limelight]]: "Superman's Pal," which focused heavily on Jimmy Olsen.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Lois Lane. Clark (And Superman) often matches her snark-for-snark.

* [[Death by Secret Identity]]: {{spoiler|Detective Bowman}} is executed mere ''seconds'' after figuring out Clark's secret.

* [[Death Trap]]: Not quite once-an-episode, but explored. The episode "Target" featured several unique traps all focused on killing Lois Lane that were set up at an awards reception, her car, her office and finally in the lab of the man plotting her death.

* [[Downer Ending]]: As the series ends in ''Legacy'', Superman has finally defeated Darkseid, free of the brainwashing that forced him to lead an invasion of Earth, and he tosses Darkseid to the masses of Apokolips for judgment, freeing the planet after eons of slavery. However, instead of dethroning their oppressor the people of Apokolips raise Darkseid to their shoulders and carry him off to heal, begging for his recovery. As they leave, Darkseid speaks one final line to Superman: "[[Despair Event Horizon|I am many things Kal-El, but here, I am god]]." Unable to defeat Darkseid, even after physically crushing him, Superman returns to Earth where he has lost the trust of humanity and will be feared and hated for years to come.

* [[Drop the Hammer]]: [[Steel]] guest-stars towards the end of the series.

* [[Easily-Conquered World]]: Almarec. When Maxima leaves her maid and enemy take over by...you know, it is never revealed. They are just in charge when Maxima gets back, with no explanation for how they executed their coup.

* [[El Cid Ploy]]:

** Metallo, who is played by [[Malcolm McDowell]], the king of this trope.

** Kanto, even though [[Human Aliens|he is not actually human]].

{{quote|'''Kyle Rayner''': "Wait! Don't you want to talk first? You know, banter back and forth to show me your innate superiority?"

'''Sinestro''': "No." }}

* [[For Want of a Nail]]: In "Brave New World," Jimmy explains that Superman was a split-second late when Intergang put a bomb in Lois Lane's car. Because of that Lois died and Superman decided to [[Knight Templar|take a more proactive role in running the city]].

* [[Free-Range Children]]: "Action Figures" features two children on a volcanic island, which is suffering from frequent earthquakes, running around with no more supervision than the admonition to return to the camp ''if the volcano erupts''.

* [[Frickin' Laser Beams]]: Most humans use traditional firearms, but as the series progresses energy weapons are gradually introduced being used by LexCorp and the Special Crimes Unit.

* [[From a Single Cell]]: Brainiac

** In "The Way of All Flesh," Metallo tells Lois about how he has been thinking about her a lot, [[A Date with Rosie Palms|especially in prison]].

* [[The Glasses Come Off]]

* [[Gone Horribly Wrong]]: The origin of maybe a quarter of Superman's enemies.

* [[Gosh Dang It to Heck]]: "Frag!"

** The [[Lobo|Main Man's]] word is his bond.

** When Mr. Mxyzptlk is put on trial by his superiors, they list numerous charges against him, but cap it off with the most heinous of all his actions: Going back on his word.

* [[Ignore the Fanservice]]: Mr. Mxyzptlk's wife blatantly attempts to seduce him, magically changing into a dozen revealing outfits, but he does not even look up from the killer robot he is building. Eventually, she smashes a plate on his head and walks away.

* [[Inadvertent Entrance Cue]]: This exchange in "My Girl:"

'''Lois Lane:''' (yelling impatiently from across the room): Hey Smallville, get your tail in here! Perry's got an assignment for us! }}

* [[I Need to Go Iron My Dog]]: When Clark and Lois notice a breakout from Stryker's Island, Clark runs off to turn into Superman by telling Lois that he will find a phone to call this in. [[Reality Ensues|Lois pulls her cell-phone from her purse]], but Clark is already gone.

* [[Kryptonite-Proof Suit]]: Superman wears a lead-lined suit to protect himself from actual Kryptonite, and also has an insulated plastic suit that protects him from both Livewire and Parasite ([[Fridge Logic|Although they never get around to explaining how he can breath through the plastic]]).

* [[The Lancer]]: Inspector Dan "Terrible" Turpin of the Special Crimes Unit serves as the lancer to Capain Maggie Sawyer, Superman's [[The Commissioner Gordon|contact on the police force]], and occasionally to Superman himself.

{{quote|Lobo: "Gave myself an 'A'."}}

* [[Left Hanging]]: The episode "The Prometheon." It ends with Superman and Dr. Hamilton subduing the eponymous creature, a heat-absorbing android the size of a skyscraper, by freezing the entire Metropolis Reservoir. And that is it. Fade to black. What do they do with it? They do not say. How do they keep it from waking back up when the water melts? They do not say. And how do they deal with the fact that, until they do figure out a solution, they have frozen ''the entire Metropolis water supply''? Again, they do not say.

* [[Les Collaborateurs]]: Bruno Mannheim.

{{quote|"It might take me a week, it might take me ''ten years'', but I'm gonna bust out, and [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|kick that big red 'S' of yours all over the galaxy,]] right after I'm done nukin' the Earth into guacamole! And that's *coughs* a promise!" }}

* [[Lighthearted Rematch]]: At the end of "Speed Demons," Superman and the [[Flash]] recognize that they never did determine who was the Fastest Man Alive and close the episode starting a private race. The winner is not revealed, but signs in the Flash Museum in the sequel series ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' signal that the Flash was the victor.

* [[Lightning Can Do Anything]]: Including turn people ''into'' lightning.

** At Mr. Mxyzptlk's trial, his wife appears to offer up evidence that his obsession with Superman means he is not responsible for his actions. One of the pieces of evidence she puts forth is a copy of ''[[Action Comics]]''.

** During Maxima's tenure with the [[Justice League of America]], it was revealed that her heavy-handed and reckless methods of ruling Almarec caused a lot of resentment among her subjects, to the point that when the elders banished her there was a great deal of support for said banishment. In this series, as soon as she leaves the planet to court Superman her handmaiden organizes a coup to save her people from her rule.

* [[Naughty Tentacles]]: That one scene with Supergirl in "Unity" comes awfully damned close...

* [[A Nazi by Any Other Name]]: The planet occupied by Mala and Jax-ur has a few general similarities, including references to an economic depression and internecine warfare that was stopped by the new regime which taught discipline and efficiency, but the parallels become hard to miss when they use the ''Hitlergruß'' (Nazi Salute).

** When Metallo [[Amnesiac Dissonance|lost his memory]], he saved a couple of children from a landslide and later rescued a truck driver from a crash.

* [[Phantom Zone]]: The original zone appears numerous time throughout the series. Jor-El originally planned to use the zone to save all life on Krypton, as they would place the population of the planet into the zone and, using the ship he had built, fly to a new home and retrieve the people. Though the Kryptonian government refused this plan, Jor-El's ship still had a Phantom Zone projector which Superman would use on Earth to parole Kryptonian criminals who had served their sentence, and also to help human research progress in the area of inter-dimensional travel and observation.

* [[Planet Looters]]: Brainiac travels from planet to planet, collects its knowledge, and then destroys it to move on to the next.

* [[Playing with Fire]]: Volcana

* [[Sarcastic Confession]]: "The Main Man" (watch it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0QVvbhMm24&playnext=1&videos=4-hvtNwEmKA here]):

{{quote|'''Lois Lane:''' I'm confused, Kent. See, I've lived in Metropolis most of my life, and I can't figure out how some yokel from Smallville is suddenly getting every hot story in town.

'''Clark Kent:''' You asked. }}

* [[Second-Person Attack]]: Done frequently.

* [[Swiss Cheese Security]]: Lampshaded by Lois after someone broke into her apartment for the second time in the same episode. "I need to get better locks."

* [[The Syndicate]]: Intergang.

* [[Take That]]: "[[Spider-Man|Spider powers?]] Ew."

* [[Taking the Bullet]]: Superman dives in front of Bizarro to take a sonic cannon shot that probably would have killed the already-weakened Bizarro. When Bizarro asks why, especially when they had been fighting only moments ago, Superman explains that it is because he is Bizarro's friend, and he knows Mr. Mxyzptlk tricked him.

* [[Tank Goodness]]: Intergang commits its first on-screen crime by robbing a bank ''with a tank''.

* [[Tear Jerker]]: The ending to "Apokolips...Now!" has Superman crying within the episode.

* [[Teleporters and Transporters]]:

** Boom Tubes, the preferred method of transportation for the [[New Gods]], appear throughout the series used by Apokolips, New Genesis and Superman himself.

* [[There Is Another]]: Supergirl, surviving as a [[Human Popsicle]]

* [[There Was a Door]]: When Bizarro takes Lois Lane out to dinner, he enters the restaurant by smashing through the wall next to the door. When they leave, Lois asks him to use the door this time and, happy to oblige, he smashes ''through'' the door.

* [[Thrown From the Zeppelin]]: Lex is not afraid to do this, or to make sure that there is nothing left of someone for the police to find.

* [[Time Travel]]: In the third season, Brainiac [[Legion of Super-Heroes|from the thirty-first century]] goes back in time to Smallville to kill Clark Kent before he can become Superman. Three Legionaires travel back as well [[Terminator Twosome|to make sure he does not succeed]].

{{quote|'''Lobo:''' "If they drag us back into those cages, they'll probably strap our butts to the floor with razor wire. Not that it ain't a pleasurable way to perk up an otherwise ho-hum evening, but I do have me that prisoner to deliver."}}

* [[Turn in Your Badge]]: Inverted. Maggie Sawyer remarks that if she had a nickel for every time Dan Turpin turned in his badge of his own volition, she would be richer than Luthor.

* [[Unusual Euphemism]]: Shoot my monkey.

* [[Up, Up, and Away]]: Superman's classic pose, and a line Chameleon boy [[I Always Wanted to Say That|always wanted to say]].

* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: When Superman manages to stop his machine and return the sunlight to its normal hue, the usually [[Affably Evil]] Luminus goes into a full-on rage and tries to beat Supes to death with his bare hands before Superman's powers return. He is not fast enough.

* [[Villain Team-Up]]: Several examples.

* [[Western Terrorists]]: John Corben and crew, Luthor's buyers in "My Girl", and the hijackers in "World's Finest, Part 1".

* [[What Have I Become?]]: John Corben finally realizes what a monster he has become [[Sense Loss Sadness|after he discovers he can not even feel a kiss]].

* [[What Measure Is a Non Unique]]

* [[When All You Have Is a Hammer]]: Averted, despite public perception of Superman as a character who simply uses his [[New Powers as the Plot Demands|ever-evolving powers to solve his current problems]]. Nowhere is this more apparent than in ''Mxyzpixilated'' where Superman not only continually tricks Mr. Mxyzptlk back to his own dimension, but successfully gambits him into staying there permanently. What is more, he convinces him that he was simply toying with the annoying imp the entire time (and very well might have been).

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