History WesternAnimation / JusticeLeagueDoom

A film in the WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies line, ''Justice League: Doom'' is a loose adaptation of the classic ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmericaTowerOfBabel'' storyline. In another one of his {{Evil Plan}}s, Vandal Savage has gathered together Metallo, Bane, Cheetah, Mirror Master, Star Sapphire, and Ma'alefa'ak to form a LegionOfDoom. Armed with plans designed to take out the Justice League, they set out to defeat their enemies and TakeOverTheWorld...

* AdaptedOut: Several characters from the [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmericaTowerOfBabel comic arc]] are swapped out or omitted entirely:

* PowerOfTrust: A major theme. Though it's not quite as shattered as in "Tower of Babel", mostly as it isn't revealed until well after he's gone out of his way to save them all, the team's trust in Batman is wavered by the fact that he made the plans against them in the first place. In the end, however, it leads to a heartwarming moment of sorts where it's shown that even though they don't like his methods they, particularly Superman, still trust him to do what's right even if it's against them, and likewise Batman trusts the League to counter him should he go too far.

* WholePlotReference: The plot is loosely adapted from the "Tower of Babel" story from the comics.

** In the comic, it was Ras Al Ghul and the League of Assassins who stole Batman's plans and disabled the JLA, with Talia Al Ghul being the one who infiltrated the Batcave. In the film, they're replaced by Vandal Savage and the Legion of Doom, with Mirror Master being the one who infiltrates the Batcave.

* {{Gaslighting}}: The contingency against Green Lantern, where he was made to believe that he failed in neutralyzing a hostage situation.

--->'''Batman''': [[SelfDeprecation If I had a week, I couldn't explain all the reasons why that wouldn't work.]]

* WhipItGood: How Wonder Woman uses her Golden Lasso. It's actually used as a whip ''more'' than it's used as a lasso, and the lasso's loop often disappears entirely, apparently creating the loop whenever it's needed.

* BareYourMidriff: Oddly enough, the only members of the Legion who have shirts covering theirs are Savage and Mirror Master. Granted, Metallo is a robot, and technically, Mirror Master's costume ''is'' transparent around the belly...it's just that his ''torso'' is transparent, too.

** Batman's relationship with the Justice League is even worse by the end of the film than it was in the comic. In the comic, the contingencies were much worse, but Batman could better defend himself due to previous events that showed they were necessary, such as supervillains taking over/swapping bodies with League members. Ultimately, while even his defenders among the League were angry with him, they understood where he was coming from [[spoiler:and the vote to kick him out ended in a tie]]. Here, there's no history to back up his paranoia, so he has no defenders among the League.

* BittersweetEnding: Savage is defeated, the world is saved, the League inducts Cyborg into their ranks...but the League's faith in Batman is shattered and he himself quits when called out on his actions. [[spoiler: He remains unapologetic that his contingences were necessary in case any of them turn, and resigns from the team in protest. When Superman asks Batman why he never had a countermeasure on himself, he responds that he ''does''... The Justice League.]] [[note]]That said, it ends a ''lot'' better than the comic it's based on. Here, it's played like a semi-amiable conflict of interest (especially when Superman is involved), in the comic it's a total schism which near shatters the trust of the entire League and has ripple effects to other teams around the DC Universe.[[/note]]

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Batman's reason for the contingency plans.

* BittersweetEnding: Savage is defeated, the world is saved, the League inducts Cyborg into their ranks...but the League's faith in Batman is shattered and he himself quits when called out on his actions. That said, it ends a ''lot'' better than the comic it's based on. Here, it's played like a semi-amiable conflict of interest (especially when Superman is involved), in the comic it's a total schism which near shatters the trust of the entire League and has ripple effects to other teams around the DC Universe.

* PlayingGertrude: Creator/RobinAtkinDownes, who was born in 1976, voices Alfred. His character is older than Batman despite the latter being voiced by Creator/KevinConroy, who was born in 1955.

** Batman. This proves to be the impetus for the plot, as Batman had made plans to take down the League just in case. The others see it as paranoia, but he sincerely believes that all of them need to have something that can take them down just in case the worst happens - even himself. And considering the readiness with which he countered the plans, it's likely that Batman also [[UpToEleven had contingency plans for the contingency plans]].

->''"My actions don't require any defense. In the same situation, I'd do it again. [...] As individuals, and even more so as a group, the Justice League is far too dangerous to lack a failsafe against any misuse of our power. [...] What if we ever use it for some other purpose? If you people can't see the potential danger of an out-of-control Justice League, I don't need to wait for a vote. I don't belong here."''
-->-- '''Batman'''

* DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: Vandal Savage plans to devastate the world with a massive solar flare that will kill billions of people and cause human civilisation to revert to the Stone Age, whereupon the Legion of Doom will emerge from hiding and rule over the post-apocalyptic remains.

->''"My actions don't require any defense. In the same situation, I'd do it again. [...] As individuals, and even more so as a group, the Justice League is far too dangerous to lack a failsafe against any misuse of our power. [...] What if we ever use it for some other purpose? If you people can't see the potential danger of an out-of-control Justice League, I don't need to hear a vote. I don't belong here."''

** Superman and Batman ultimately end the film on better terms than they do in the comic thanks to the context change behind [[spoiler:Batman's resignation. In the comic, Superman voted to kick him out; Batman, knowing that he would do that, left while the vote was going down. In the film, there's no vote, so Superman gets to confront him before he goes; in this conversation, Batman admits that his contingency plan against himself was the Justice League, proving that his actions weren't motivated by mistrust. Superman gives him a piece of kryptonite as a peace offering and the two ultimately depart on okay terms]].

* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: In the original comic storyline, Batman was able to better defend his position by citing an incident where [[FreakyFridayFlip supervillains swapped bodies with the Justice League]]. While he was still being paranoid, that incident proved he was speaking from experience. In this film, we never get any indication that a similar situation happened or could happen in this universe, and we are just supposed to take Batman at his word that he has a point. There is a sequence where a drug-addled Wonder Woman attacks innocent civilians, but she wouldn't have been in that situation if Batman hadn't made the contingencies.

** ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} and ComicBook/PlasticMan where part of the league in the original story, in here they do not appear at all.

* IdenticalStrange: The hostage Hal tried to save greatly resembles Carol Ferris, and Star Sapphire pointed it out when Hal failed to save her. [[spoiler:The "hostage" was actually a robot.]]

* MoodWhiplash: The montage of scenes showing the League defeated or slowly failing are quite tragic. That is, until the camera pans to Martian Manhunter running around on fire, screaming at the top of his lungs. The action was so over the top that it's actually kind of funny.

** Like ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', J'onn's human identity as John Jones is an [[RaceLift African-American]].

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: The way in which Hal is taken down seems very out of character for him, since the ability to overcome great fear and doubt are job requirements for Lanterns, but it's actually a plot point--[[spoiler: Hal had fear toxin used on him in addition to having his greatest failure recreated.]]

* DarkestHour: [[spoiler: When Superman is shot with a kryptonite bullet and falls from the top of the Daily Planet tower, shots of him falling are interspersed with shots of the rest of the Justice League facing their own apparent demises. ]]

* LegionOfDoom: That goes without saying, although Cheetah is the only member of the [[WesternAnimation/SuperFriends original incarnation]].

* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: A story where limits to each superhero are revealed and ''exploited'' allows a solid aversion of this trope. Even once the heroes make their comeback and then try to save the ''[[spoiler: entire]]'' world, it takes more intellect (and some AppliedPhlebotinum) rather than superpowered brawn to come up with a plan that succeeds.

* PlanetaryRelocation: {{Defied}}. [[SolarFlareDisaster A massive solar flare is heading toward Earth]], and the JLA need a way to protect Earth from devastation. Superman offers to simply move Earth out of the way, and Batman dismisses it.

* WhatTheHellHero: Pretty much the entire League's reaction to Batman's holier than thou refusal to admit he was wrong or at least responsible for innocent people being hurt. Wonder Woman begins to give Batman one of these speeches, but is cut off. Superman finishes it, calling the Dark Knight "arrogant" to his face. Hal Jordan, on the other hand, calls out Batman for allowing his contingency plans to be stolen so easily.