History Recap / BatmanTheAnimatedSeriese51TheManWhoKilledBatman

* ApologisesALot: "Sorry" is practically Sid's catch phrase: He apologizes when he ruins Thorne's couch, when he trips over Batman, when he explains what happened at the roof, but the most extreme example may be when Joker placed him in a Death Trap for ruining Joker's right to kill Batman.

** Batman himself looks more as if he was taken from [[Creator/TMSEntertainment TMS's]] episodes instead of Sunrise's in certain shots during the finale. Some of the criminals also have a not-so-subtle hint of TMS-style in them as well; while Sid himself looks incredibly {{Animesque}} in his design, especially in his eyes.

** The episode as a whole is animated differently from the rest of Sunrise's episodes, particularly with how the characters' shadows look and the way they move when compared to their other episodes.
** Batman himself looks more as if he was taken from one of [[Creator/TMSEntertainment TMS's]] episodes instead of one of Sunrise's in certain shots during the finale. Some of the criminals also have a not-so-subtle hint of TMS-style in them as well while Sid himself looks incredibly {{Animesque}} in his design, especially in his eyes.

* OffModel: You can tell [[Creator/{{Sunrise}} the animators]] had a hard time trying to keep Joker ''on'' model, as half of his scenes look like his face is melting or distorted. In addition, the episode as a whole is animated differently from the rest of Sunrise's episodes, particularly with how the characters' shadows look and the way they move when compared to their other episodes.
** Batman himself looks more as if he was taken from one of [[Creator/TMSEntertainment TMS's]] episodes instead of one of Sunrise's in certain shots during the finale.

* NoSocialSkills: Justified, Sid is a ManChild StrawLoser with a FriendlessBackground that makes him a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter. His only way to interact with others is putting up with the abuse.

* OffModel: You can tell [[Creator/{{Sunrise}} the animators]] had a hard time trying to keep Joker ''on'' model. In addition, the episode as a whole is animated differently from the rest of Sunrise's episodes.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** Harley to Bullock: "I served you a subpoena once. It was a ''small'' subpoena."
** There is also the couple of Yiddish insults that the Joker slings Sid's way during his eulogy, most importantly "gunsel." (''Maybe'' he's using it in the kind-of-current-pulp-fiction-way that means "goon," but its original meaning is a rude name for homosexuals...)[[note]]It's very likely this was the case. The use of "gunsel" as "goon" stems from Creator/DashiellHammett and ''Literature/TheMalteseFalcon'', where he used the obscure word deliberately as WriterRevolt against an editor who wanted more gangland lingo used in Hammett's books -- it sounded so close to "gunman" that nobody noticed its real meaning. With the runaway popularity of the novel, the new meaning of "gunsel" took on a life of its own to where the word's original definition was completely forgotten.[[/note]]

* NamesTheSame: The earlier episode ''Robin's Reckoning'' listed "Sid the Squid" as one of several alias used by Tony Zucco. It seems in criminal society since then, "Sid the Squid" has become an underworld nickname for "loser" or "worthless", and Debris happens to be both of those and is actually named Sidney.

Batman makes his dramatic entrance and quickly knocks Thorne out. Sid asks how Batman survived and he explains that he swung away before the explosion, and decided to tail Sid and lay low to find out who was heading the drug ring. Batman also saved Sidney from the acid. Sidney thanks Batman and tries to leave -- but Batman stops him, [[RealityEnsues pointing out Sid]] ''[[RealityEnsues is]]'' [[RealityEnsues still technically a criminal since he was an accomplice to a gang and was involved in a drug racket]]. Sid understands this, but Batman also adds that "in the right environment," a man of Sid's "dangerous reputation" can get "a lot of respect"...

As Harleen and Sidney are being driven around, Sid wonders who could've bailed him out (and who would want to) in the first place--Sid and his mother don't talk to each other anymore and Sid's parole officer is still in jail, so neither of them could've been the one to have put up bail. After Said complains about Harleen's makeup choking up the air, she turns around, revealing a familiar hat and black and white face paint...

Batman makes his dramatic entrance and quickly knocks Thorne out. Sid asks how Batman survived and he explains that he swung away before the explosion, and decided to tail Sid and lay low to find out who was heading the drug ring. Batman also saved Sidney from the acid. Sidney thanks Batman and tries to leave--but Batman stops him, [[RealityEnsues pointing out Sid]] ''[[RealityEnsues is]]'' [[RealityEnsues still technically a criminal since he was an accomplice to a gang and was involved in a drug racket]]. Sid understands this, but Batman also adds that "in the right environment," a man of Sid's "dangerous reputation" can get "a lot of respect"...

* FalseFriend: Sid considers Eddie G. his best friend--and Eddie sets Sid up to be Batman's bait. And it's very difficult to blame Eddie once you get to know Sid.

* MistakenForBadass: Poor, poor Sid. PlayedForDrama, even--it nearly gets him killed several times.

** ... then Sid decides to asks Rupert Thorne for help--who suspects Sid is trying to pull a ScheherezadeGambit and decides [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Sid has outlived his usefulness]]. Sid is saved by...

* PyrrhicVictory: Sid's (apparent) triumph brings him nothing but trouble--other petty crooks want a piece of him to establish their own VillainCred, police attention is focused on finding him, the Joker tries to kill him for [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou stealing his ultimate triumph]], and Boss Thorne concludes that he's [[ObfuscatingStupidity trying to put one over on him]]. Inverted in the end when he goes to prison with an impressive reputation among the other prisoners.

** Sid ends up going to prison, but he's happy--the other prisoners respect him for ''almost'' killing Batman and making fools of the Joker and Boss Thorne.

* SurveillanceStationSlacker: When the Mooks gave Sid a chance to be the look out of a drug shipment, he's much more interested in making ImpossibleShadowPuppets.

** Or rather, a coincidental Shout-Out a couple of years in the future, as ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' (also produced by Warner Bros. Animation) had another crook called "Sid the Squid," which was an anthropomorphic squid.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Thorne is right that Sid couldn't have been lucky or stupid enough to do what he did but Thorne assumes Sid is trying to take over his business. The truth is that Batman faked his death so Sid could lead him to the drug ring's leader.

* RedBaron: Sid is nicknamed "Sid the Squid," however this was initially done to "encourage" him into separating from the other members. The Squid eventually became his moniker after [[HeroKiller killing the Batman]].

* PerspectiveFlip: The whole episode is another classic SuperHero tale, now from the point of the lowly {{Mooks}} that must endure the MookHorrorShow the TerrorHero Batman gives them.

** The first few seconds of the Joker's raid on the jewelry store are framed in a way very reminiscent of the robbery in the opening titles.

* GossipEvolution / SnowballLie: Even when [[TheCassandra Sid claims]] it was an AccidentalMurder, being a ExtremeDoormat, he just lets the {{Mooks}} treat him as their hero. Mere hours after the explosion, the Gotham Underground believes Sid is a ''[[DiabolicalMastermind mastermind]]'' at jail. Only one day after that, Rupert Thorne, with true information about Sid being a BumblingSidekick, believes Sid is a MagnificentBastard playing the ObfuscatingStupidity card.

* BadassOnPaper: Sidney is believed by the cops to be a criminal mastermind and all the other goons of the underworld think he's an incredibly tough guy (even a big-shot mafioso like Thorne, who sees all of the events and decides to believe that Sid's just playing dumb). The Joker is right about Sidney being just some lowly dope, but even then he doesn't seem to (hell, he doesn't ''wish'' to) compute that even the Dark Knight can be just as (seemingly fatally) susceptible to Murphy's Law as anybody else.

* AccidentalHero: Sid, while working as a lookout, somehow managed to accidentally "kill" Batman, which makes him a hero and a big-shot to Gotham City's underground. It also earns him the wrath of both [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou Joker]] and [[TheDon Rupert Thorne]], who thinks Sid has been "playing dumb" and wants to depose him. Batman is actually still alive, however, and saves Sid and collars Thorne. Sid gets sent to a big prison outside of Gotham City limits, where he is still treated as a hero for ''almost'' killing Batman -- and making both Thorne and the Joker look like fools.

We open with a terrified man running through the rainy streets of Gotham, as if being chased by someone. An issue of the ''Gotham Times'' floats by reading ''"BATMAN SLAIN? Mysterious Crime Fighter Missing."'' The man, Sidney Debris (Creator/MattFrewer), [[HarmlessVillain a small, bespectacled scaredy-cat]], eventually arrives at Rupert Thorne's mansion and requests to see him. Thorne agrees and despite Sidney's nervousness, Thorne greets him warmly. We then see the reason for such warmth:

After escaping the police via a laughing gas bomb, Joker and the gang hold a little "memorial" for Batman at the Ace Chemical Plant. Batman's cape and cowl is placed inside a coffin on a conveyor belt to a vat of acid, to which Joker adds a "Kick Me" sign ("You put {{the fun in funeral}}," says Harley). The Clown Prince of Crime proceeds to give his eulogy[[note]]and Mark Hamill shows what we all knew: he is ''utterly nuts''![[/note]]:

We open with a terrified man running through the rainy streets of Gotham, as if being chased by someone. An issue of the ''Gotham Times'' floats by reading ''"BATMAN SLAIN? Mysterious Crime Fighter Missing."'' The man, Sidney Debris, [[HarmlessVillain a small, bespectacled scaredy-cat]], eventually arrives at Rupert Thorne's mansion and requests to see him. Thorne agrees and despite Sidney's nervousness, Thorne greets him warmly. We then see the reason for such warmth:

'''Sidney:''' Hey, I've seen you! You work for... ''[[[OhCrap gasp]]]'' ''ComicBook/TheJoker!''

* LineOfSightName: "Sid the... uh... ''[spots a billboard advertising calamari]'' Squid!"

->'''Joker:''' Dear friends... Today is the day that the Clown cried. And he cries not for the passing of one man, but for the death of a dream. [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou The dream that he would someday taste the ultimate victory over his hated enemy.]] [[CreateYourOwnVillain For it was the Batman who made me the happy soul I am today.]] How I agonized over the perfect way to thank him for that. Perhaps with a cyanide pie in the face. Or an exploding whoopie-cushion playfully planted in the Batmobile. ''[with growing anger]'' But those dreams were dashed by the weaselly little gunsel sitting there in our midst. ''[everyone starts moving away from Sid]'' The cowardly insignificant gonif who probably got lucky when Batman slipped on the slime trail ''this loser'' left behind him. '''This mound of diseased hyena filth who's not fit to lick the dirt from my spats!''' ... ''[regains composure]'' But I digress. The time for sorrow has passed. It's time to look ahead, to a future filled with smiles. ''[threateningly]'' And I'll be smiling again, just as soon as we take that man THERE... ''[points to Sid]'' ...and slap him in that box THERE... ''[points to Batman's coffin]'' ...and roll it into that vat of acid THERE! ''[points to said vat of acid]''

Joker's goons then proceed to lock Sid, who repeatedly and desperately screams that he is sorry for what he did, in the coffin and it's rolled into the [[AcidPool vat of acid]]... as Harley plays "[[AmazingFreakingGrace Amazing Grace]]" on ''the kazoo''. A tearful Joker watches as the coffin slowly sinks into the acid...

After escaping the police via a laughing gas bomb, Joker and the gang hold a little "memorial" for Batman at the Ace Chemical Plant. Batman's cape and cowl is placed inside a coffin on a conveyor belt to a vat of acid, to which Joker adds a "Kick Me" sign ("You put {{the fun in funeral}}," says Harley). The Clown Prince of Crime proceeds to give his eulogy: