Superman: The Animated Series: Difference between revisions

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Since Superman does not quite have the enormous A-list [[Rogues Gallery]] that Batman has, the creators chose to largely dispense with the stand-alone format of the previous series, instead focusing on three [[Myth Arc|Myth Arcs]]:

 

* The second arc concerned the character of [[Brainiac]]. [[Ret Canon|His origin was rewritten for the series]], tying his origin far more closely with that of Superman. Here he is the [[Deus Est Machina|computer system]] responsible for the upkeep of the entire planet of Krypton and he darn well knows in the pilot episode that the planet is doomed. However, he does not want the people to know because he is too busy making provisions to save himself. After the planet explodes he becomes an [[Omnicidal Maniac|Omnicidal]] [[Planet Looters|Planet Looter]], determined to repeat Krypton's fate ad infinitum: collect all the data in the universe, then destroy the originals to keep his collected info from becoming obsolete. His quest brings him into conflict with Superman a number of times <ref> Though, in practice, most of his schemes just involve trying to rebuild himself from the last time Superman destroyed him. Again, and again, and again...</ref>

* The third arc brought in the characters from [[Jack Kirby]]'s ''[[New Gods|Fourth World]]''. The [[Galactic Conqueror|intergalactic tyrant]] [[Darkseid]] (taking the role of the [[Big Bad]] for the overall series) sets his sights on Earth, and he wants Superman's help in conquering it. Darkseid is not the type to take "no" for an answer. This arc is usually regarded as the best of the series, as the drama and action were at its peak and the individual episodes collectively formed more of an ongoing story. This arc also brought in [[Supergirl]].

The series would be followed by ''[[Justice League]]'' and ''Justice League Unlimited'', which took a large amount of characters and designs from this series.

 

 

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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.

* [[Arms Dealer]]: Luthor apparently has numerous sources of income, since he claims to employ two-thirds of Metropolis whether they know it or not, but the only one that gets any screentime is his weapons manufacturing.

* [[A-Team Firing]]: Averted throughout most of the series, except for the crossover "World's Finest," which brought Batman and the Joker to Metropolis and seemed to be trying to make up for not using the trope before. When the Joker kidnaps Lois his [[Mooks|henchmen]] shoot at Bruce Wayne and, though they initially appear to be firing at his feet in a deliberate attempt to force him to fall off the roof, by the the time he actually falls they are firing dozens of shots at him from five feet away, [[Knife Outline|outlining his entire body]], without hitting him even once. When he finally does fall off the roof he lands on a scaffold and the criminals continue to shoot at him, firing so many bulets ''they knock the scaffold off the building and actually demolish the wooden floor he is standing on'', still without hitting Bruce.

* [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other]]: It might not have reached the point of actual "love" just yet, but Lois's teary-eyed confession to Superman about her feelings towards his alter-ego Clark Kent (whom at the time was believed to be dead) in the episode "The Late Mr. Kent" reveals that she is starting to think about him as more than just competition from a small town in Kansas.

** [[Word of God]] said they wrote Lois as being attracted to Clark [[He Is Not My Boyfriend|but in denial.]]

* [[Batman Gambit]]: Done to Mr. Mxyzptlk, getting him to proof read his name backwards.

* [[Battle Butler]]: Mercy Graves, Lex Luthor's chauffeur and [[Action Girl|right-hand woman.]]

* [[Battle Tops]]: Toyman unleashes a gigantic top that generates electric fields against Superman.

* [[Beam-O-War]]: Twice in "Ghost in the Machine." Mercy Graves attempts to shoot Brainiac with her pistol, but he easily overpowers her. Superman, however, activates [[BFG|the Sky Sentry]] and subsequently overloads Brainiac.

* [[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.

* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: {{spoiler|Dan Turpin's}} funeral is accompanied by the Kaddish, the Hebrew mourning prayer. They got an actual rabbi to recite the prayer.

* [[Boring but Practical]]: When Lois Lane needs to go out in a heavy storm she dresses in an unflattering plain yellow rain poncho, [[Lampshade Hanging|pointing out]] that even if it is not particularly attractive or special it will keep her dry.

'''Bouncer:''' "Thank you." }}

* [[Brainwashed]]: In the [[Grand Finale]] "Legacy"

* [[Briar Patching]]: When Superman [[Brought Down to Normal|has lost his powers after being brought to an alien habitat that simulates Krypton's environment]], he explains to his assailants that they really do not want to throw him into the other habitat that he was trying to break into. It happens to be an ''Earth'' habitat, complete with yellow-sun projector. [[Oh Crap|The villains realize their mistake pretty quickly]].

* [[Bring It]]:

* [[Broken Pedestal]]: The writers explained that they wanted Jimmy Olsen to be a member of the resistance in "Brave New World," and explicitly wanted it to be ''him'' who began throwing rocks at Superman, because they felt that nothing would better demonstrate Superman's fall from grace than losing the adoration of his biggest fan.

* [[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.

** Superman spends most of his time working with Captain Maggie Sawyer of the Special Crimes Unit. Inspector Dan "Terrible" Turpin, Captain Sawyer's [[The Lancer|right hand man]], was originally vehemently opposed to officially including Superman in police activities, but eventually accepted his assistance when it became clear that the superpowered and alien enemies were simply outside the weight class of the SCU.

** Commissioner Gordon himself appears in "World's Finest" during the initial Gotham scenes, and in a later episode he assists Superman [[El Cid Ploy|when Superman is impersonating Batman]].

* [[Composite Character]]:

** Mala is named for an obscure ''male'' character from the 1950s, the leader of a trio of the first evil Kryptonians Superman battled in two stories. The more famous Phantom Zone idea and villains like Zod came later in the [[Silver Age]] and utterly eclipsed the original trio of Mala, U-Ban, and Kizo. However, in terms of her gender and relationship with fellow [[Composite Character]] Jax-Ur, Mala is based primarily on the evil Kryptonian Ursa from the film ''[[Superman II]]''. Interestingly enough, Ursa was probably very loosely inspired by the comics' evil Kryptonian villainess Faora Hu-Ul; unlike Ursa and Mala, who like and respect their male allies, Faora was a man-hating [[Serial Killer]] back on Krypton.

* [[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]]:

** They have a low opinion of "Little Big Head Man", which they felt tried and failed to recapture the success of the earlier Mxyzptlk episode.

* [[Creepy Monotone]]: Brainiac

** The season two three-part episode "World's Finest," which featured characters from ''Batman'' traveling to Metropolis.

** The season three episode "Knight Time," in which Superman teams up with Robin (Tim Drake) to hunt down a missing Batman.

** The season four episode "The Demon Reborn" in which Batman and Superman team-up to fight Ra's Al Ghul.

* [[Da Chief]]: Maggie Sawyer.

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

* [[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.

* [[Demonic Possession]]: "The Hand of Fate"

* [[Despair Event Horizon]]: As the series ends in ''Legacy'', with Darkseid finally defeated and tossed to the masses of Apokolips for judgement, the people he has long enslaved do not rebel against Darkseid, but instead carry him on their shoulders to his recovery. As he is carried off, he speaks one final line: "I am many things Kal-El, but here, I am God." Even after he has been crushed and beaten, ''Darkseid still wins''!

* [[Dirty Cop]]: {{spoiler|Detective Bowman}}. He made detective by framing a man for murder and "solving" the crime, then attempted to kill Clark Kent when he could prove the other man's innocence.

* [[Disney Villain Death]]: The Preserver, assuming he ''is'' dead.

'''Bouncer:''' "''Everything.''" }}

* [[Does Not Know His Own Strength]]: When his powers first began to manifest, Clark Kent had a lot of trouble adjusting to his newfound strength. When engaging in a "friendly" game of basketball, he accidentally threw his opponent across the court and through a refreshment table.

* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: In "Double Dose", Livewire makes it pretty clear she likes to associate her powers with her... femininity. Which adds a whole rape subtext to Parasite attempting to forcibly take them from her.

* [[Do Not Taunt Cthulhu|Do Not Taunt Darkseid]]. {{spoiler|Nobody warned Dan Turpin, but [[Badass|he would do it even if he had been warned]].}}

* [[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]]:

** Karkull. He and his minions were pretty much straight out of a [[Cthulhu Mythos|Lovecraft story]] and compare quite blatantly to Nyarlathotep.

** Unity. Not the first or the last time the DCAU would go to the Lovecraft well, but probably one of the freakiest.

* [[Eureka Moment]]:

** In "Target," Lois Lane realizes the identity of her stalker when she is told to relax and watch some TV, [[Spotting the Thread|which makes her recognize the lie that she had been given earlier]].

** In "The Late Mr. Kent," Clark Kent is reaching for a slice of pizza when he realizes that the man on death-row could be exonerated if somebody could verify his alibi, that he was eating pizza when the murder was being committed.

* [[Evil Brit]]:

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

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

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

* [[Eviler Than Thou]]: When [[The Joker]] goes to Metropolis, [[Lex Luthor]] at first considers him beneath his notice due to his inability to destroy his "[[Batman|mere mortal in Gotham]]". Eventually, they strike up a partnership and the entire time, Lex believes that he's got the Joker's strings. After the Joker fails to kill Superman (though he came DAMN close), Lex decides to betray the Joker. [[Not So Harmless|The Joker anticipates this and turns it right back on him, taking a bomber Lex was building and nearly kills Lex and nearly levels all of the buildings he built in Metropolis (half of the city).]] He's only stopped by the timely intervention of Batman and Superman.

* [[Fantastic Racism]]: Most of Superman's enemies hate him for personal and direct reasons, but General Hardcastle dislikes and distrusts him solely because he is an alien, with a history and motivation that can not be trusted.

* [[Faster-Than-Light Travel]]: The ship which brought Superman to Earth as a child was refurbished with the help of S.T.A.R. labs, and is used occasionally during the series to transport Superman through space. In its first re-appearance, "Stolen Memories," Superman travels five and a half light-years, just past Alpha Centauri, and returns to Earth in under four hours.

* [[Fighting for Survival]]: Various times, notably with Turpin and [[The Professor|Professor Hamilton]]

* [[Fighting From the Inside]]: In "Two's a Crowd" Rudy begns to fight back against Earl Garver after Garver has taken control of the Parasite, giving Superman the time and opportunity he needs to get rid of the bomb and save the day.

* [[Forceful Kiss]]: During his fight with Superman after turning into Metallo, John Corben grabs Lois Lane and forces himself upon her, [[Sense Loss Sadness|only to recoil in horror when he realizes he can not even feel a kiss]].

* [[Form-Fitting Wardrobe]]: Livewire's outfit is created by ionizing the air around her, and she herself describes it as "form fitting."

* [[For the Evulz]]: In his second appearance, Edward Lytener becomes the villain Luminus, just to get back at Superman.

* [[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

* [[Genre Savvy]]: The Joker, bizarrely enough. When he guest stars and tosses Bruce Wayne off a Metropolis roof he instructs his men to go make sure that Bruce is really dead, since in this town it is far too likely that somebody could actually catch him in mid-air. When it turns out Bruce is alive (He landed on a scaffold) his men decide to stop trying to knock him off the building [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?|and instead just try to shoot him]] ([[A-Team Firing|not that that helps]]).

* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]

'''Lois''': Right here. (Points at the "S" symbol on Superman's chest) }}

** In the episode "Double Dose" with Parasite and Livewire there are a lot of sex references, especially rape innuendos as Parasite continually tries to, uh, feed off of her.

** This exchange in "My Girl":

'''Reporters''': <collective ooohs> }}

** In "The Main Man," the bar Lobo is introduced in is called 'The Steaming Load.'

* [[The Glasses Come Off]]

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

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

* [[Hometown Nickname]]: Lois calls Clark "Smallville".

* [[How Do I Shot Web?]]: Parasite figures out his ability to drain energy rather quickly, but was confused when he began to lose what he had gained after a few hours. It took him a while to recognize the time limit and need to re-drain people.

* [[Human Aliens]]: Kryptonians, of course, as well as the [[New Gods]] (Apart from the Parademons and a few of the ruling class).

* [[Humongous Mecha]]: Superman's first battle is against the Lexo-Suit 5000, a combat machine which, at this point, is regarded as the most powerful weapon on the planet.

* [[I Always Wanted to Say That]]: Chameleon Boy always wanted to say "[[Up, Up, and Away]]!"

* [[I Am Not Left-Handed]]: When Volcana and Superman square off she knocks him off his feet, then comments that that was with her ''left'' hand.

* [[I Gave My Word]]:

** 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.

* [[I Never Said It Was Poison]]: In "Target", Lois finds out it was her acquaintance Edward Lytener who is trying to kill her when he says he watched Lois's award on the TV while in his workshop. But he does not ''have'' a TV on his workshop.

* [[In-Series Nickname]]: In "Identity Crisis":

'''Mercy Graves:''' Bizarro is what you am? }}

* [[In Spite of a Nail]]: In the [[Alternate Universe]] of "Brave New Metropolis" the city and people in it have all been transformed since Lois Lane died, except for Lex Luthor. When Lois is transported there from the primary universe, she explains that he is the one person who is ''exactly'' the same.

* [[Intrepid Reporter]]: Lois Lane, whose introduction revolves around her discovery of a wide-spread gun smuggling ring, and Clark Kent himself. In fact, it kind of bothers Lois that he is [[Always Someone Better|the only person who can out scoop her]].

* [[Invincible Hero]]: Averted. The writers were generally quite good about coming up with new ways to challenge him, ranging from kryptonite, to red sun rays, to messing with his head and/or senses, attacking him with things his powers don't cover, to villains who were simply [[Physical God|more powerful than him]].

* [[I Own This Town]]: Luthor states it outright in the pilot.

* [[Just a Flesh Wound]]: Subverted. Dan "Terrible" Turpin is shot in the knee while trying to storm Garver's base in "Two's a Crowd," but he explains to Captain Swayer that it is "just a singe." However, he then limps away, assisted by another officer, and is absent from the rest of the episode.

* [[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.

* [[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.

* [[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.

* [[Music Soothes the Savage Beast]]: Titano in "Monkey Fun".

* [[Mythology Gag]]: There are numerous references throughout the series to past incarnations of the Superman mythos, including the comics themselves and other media adaptations.

** In "Target," when Lois Lane is trapped in the [[Death Trap|elevator]] Superman rescues her and says that "I believe this is your floor," the same line he spoke to Lois when rescuing her from an elevator in ''[[Superman II]]''.

** The comet that Darkseid will use to destroy the Earth in "Little Girl Lost" is [[Fleischer Studios|Fleischer's Comet]].

** Bizarro gets a hideous alien "dog" which he calls "Krypto."

** 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...

* [[New Gods]]: [[Jack Kirby]]'s Fourth World becomes an integral part of the show with the introduction of the mythos in the season one episode ''Tools of the Trade''. Eventually both Apokolips and New Genesis would compete over the Earth and Darkseid would become a personal rival of Superman. This conflict would extend past the end of ''S:TAS'', the New Genesis/Apokolips rivalry would become a frequent issue in ''[[Justice League]]'' and Orion, introduced here in ''Apokolips...Now!'' would eventually joined the expanded League in ''Unlimited''.

* [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain]]: The trio of alien bounty hunters have the [[Brought Down to Normal|powerless]] Superman at their mercy, primed for the kill, but they decide to throw him into the animal habitat [[Briar Patching|that he explained they really did not want to throw him into]]. When the Dodo bird appears and Superman explains that it is an ''Earth'' habitat, complete with yellow sun generator, [[Oh Crap|they realize their mistake]].

* [[Noir Episode]]: "The Late Mr. Kent".

* [[Nosy Neighbor]]: A 50-year-old wife is watching Superman and Maxima fight at a construction site. Her husband, newspaper blocking his view, tells her to stop spying on the neighbors.

'''Husband''': Don't get any ideas! }}

* [[Not Me This Time]]:

* [[Not So Harmless]]: In "World's Finest", when [[The Joker]] arrives in Metropolis, the mob, Luthor, and Superman all assume that he must be, at best, a minor irritant, just a powerless whackjob in a weird suit. By the end of the three-part series, he has taken over the Metropolis mob, blown up half the city, and nearly killed both Luthor and Superman. When [[Batman]] shows up, it's pretty clear that Superman and Luthor don't take him seriously either. At first.

* [[Not-So-Innocent Whistle]]: Bizarro whistles, ''to himself'', before knocking a boulder down a hill so he can "rescue" the 'city-zens' of his planet.

* [[Obfuscating Disability]]: Clark Kent wore a sling around his "injured" arm after Superman saved him from falling to his death in "Target."

* [[Oh Crap]]:

** 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.

* [[Polluted Wasteland]]: Apokolips.

* [[Pre-Mortem One-Liner]]: All of Mad Harriet's dialogue.

* [[Private Eye Monologue]]: Superman does one in "The Late Mr. Kent".

* [[Redemption Equals Death]]: After Bizarro [[Heel Realization|realizes that he is not Superman]], he stays behind to hold up a collapsing ceiling so Superman and Lois Lane can escape a massive explosion. {{spoiler|[[Subverted Trope|Do not worry, he reappears later.]]}}

* [[Red Herring]]: Detective Bowman is introduced in "Target" as already having a grudge against Lois Lane, and is later seen watching her in her apartment as she begins to break down from the repeated attempts on her life. However, he has no connection to the attempted murders, [[Chekhov's Gunman|and would return in a more prominent role in "The Late Mr. Kent."]]

* [[The Renaissance Age of Animation]]

* [[Ret Canon]]:

** Parasite gained the outfit of his ''S:TAS'' counterpart starting in the early 2000's.

** Despite the show's version of [[Supergirl]] being a loose adaptation of Kara Zor-El, the then-current Supergirl, Linda Danvers, wore the costume of ''STAS'' Supergirl for the rest of her tenure.

* [[Ridiculously Human Robot]]: {{spoiler|Darcy}}

* [[Road Runner vs. Coyote]]: The plot of "Mxyzpixilated".

* [[Ruritania]]: Kaznia (which plays a larger role in ''[[Justice League]]'').

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

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

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

* [[Shooting Superman]]: Obviously, and he regularly points it out.

* [[Shout-Out]]:

** In "My Girl," Lex Luthor is overheard explaining to his henchman that he wants him in [[The Flash|Central City]] by that night.

* [[Smith Will Suffice]]: Variation; when Bruno Mannheim finds himself on Apokolips, he asks "Where in God's name are we?" to which Kanto replies "That depends. To which God are you referring?" right before introducing him to [[Big Bad|Darkseid]].

* [[Smug Super]]: "New Kids in Town" reveals that, as his powers began to manifest, Clark Kent became a jerk in high school. Even Lana Lang, his girlfriend and best friend, found him arrogant and hard to be around sometimes.

* [[Space Jews]]: If Mxy and the High Council are anything to go by, the members of the 5th Dimension are apparently all stereotypically Jewish imps. Except for Gsptlsnz, Mxy's [[Shiksa Goddess]].

* [[Spotting the Thread]]: Lois Lane recognizes that Edward Lytner was lying about ''something'' when he congratulated her on winning the Excalibur Award, since he claimed to have been in his lab for twenty-four hours without any television or radio to connect him to the outside world.

** Lytner (Luminus) leaked confidential corporate secrets to Lois Lane hoping to win her affection, and when she never even noticed he was interested he began to methodically plot her death [[Death Trap|with numerous high-tech gadgets and schemes]]

** Toyman in "Obsession".

* [[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.

* [[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.

** Brainiac develops his own personal teleporter after he [[Time Travel|travels back in time]] [[Make Wrong What Once Went Right|to kill Clark Kent in Smallville]].

* [[Terminator Twosome]]: Targeting teenaged Clark in "New Kids in Town." The villain is even a stoic, implacable robot.

* [[Terrorists Without a Cause]]: John Corben and crew, Luthor's buyers in "My Girl", and the hijackers in "World's Finest, Part 1".

* [[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.

* [[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.

* [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife]]: Mr. Mxyzptlk, a man approximately three feet tall with half his height occupied by his head, is married to the [[Statuesque Stunner|tall]], [[She's Got Legs|leggy]] Gsptlsnz.

* [[Undying Loyalty]]: The end of the series has probably the darkest version of this trope imaginable. Darkseid is about as evil as you can get and treats his slaves horribly. Yet even after Superman beats him and throws him down to the slaves' mercy, they pick him up to treat him. Why?

* [[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.

* [[We Can Rule Together]]: Luthor, Brainiac and Darkseid all give this speech to Superman in separate episodes.

* [[Weirdness Magnet]]: Superman brings out all the aliens, demons, and mad scientists. Lois Lane seems to attract more than her share of freaks and killers, too, as lampshaded by Dan Turpin:

'''Dan Turpin:''' You know this guy? Figures. All the whackos come to you. }}

* [["Well Done, Son" Guy]]: Kalibak's original reason for attacking Supes was that he wanted to please Darkseid.

* [[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]]

* [[Why Won't You Die?]]: Livewire wonders why Superman refuses to die after she keeps shooting him with lightning.

* [[Will Not Be a Victim]]: Lois Lane is the traditional [[Damsel in Distress|damsel]], frequently being rescued by Superman, but she is also a competent and driven woman all on her own. In the episode "Target," despite a madman consistently attempting to murder her, she remains unconcerned and defiant. She points out that she will never ''let'' herself become a victim, and she actually beats up her assasin with her own hands before he catches her in one last [[Death Trap]].

** When Rudy Jones was first introduced his characterization was desperation instead of malevolence, and he stopped his partner when he tried to actually hurt people. However, after he became Parasite he became obssessed with draining anybody he could get his hands on and taking revenge on a world which hurt him.

** Sergeant Corey Milles from "Prototype," who became violent, paranoid and obsessive after prolonged exposure to the suit.

* [[Worth It]]: Mr. Mxyzptlk was stripped of his powers and sentenced to three months in our universe as punishment for breaking his word, but he proclaimed that it would all be worth it to see Superman get clobbered. {{spoiler|[[Subverted Trope|He changes his mind pretty quickly]].}}

* [[Worthy Opponent]]: Lex Luthor once explained to Lois that, as much as he disliked her for the shots she takes at him and his company, he respects her for her skills and abilities.

* [[Would Hit a Girl]]: When Superman tackled Livewire through a wall, she incredulously goes, "At least we know you hit girls!"

* [[Xanatos Gambit]]: {{spoiler|Darkseid brainwashes Superman and turns him against humanity in the series finale "Legacy." If Superman wins, then Darkseid can claim Earth without having ''technically'' broken his treaty with New Genesis, since it was Earth's own hero that conquered it. if Superman is defeated, then one of Darkseid's enemies is destroyed and Earth is laid to ruin in the conflict}}.

* [[Artistic License Physics|You Fail Physics Forever]]: It is Superman, so one has to expect an elastic relationship with the laws of physics, but ''anything'' being strong enough to '''push a spaceship out of a black hole's gravity well''' is pretty hard to swallow.

** "Your usefulness to me has ended." -- Brainiac to his brainwashed victim, {{spoiler|[[Batman]]}}, in "Knight Time."

** Darkseid does not say the actual line, but when Bruno Mannheim has served his purpose in "Apokolips...Now!" he is left to die on an island about to be destroyed by a nuclear explosion.

'''Darkseid''': And so you are. King of FOOLS! * teleports* }}

*** The DVD commentary suggests "king of Hell" as an alternative.

[[Category:Toon Disney]]

[[Category:Saturday Morning Cartoon]]

[[Category:Toshihiko Masuda]]

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[[Category:Group TAC]]

[[Category:Western Animation]]

[[Category:Nobuo Tomizawa]]