History WesternAnimation / YoungJusticeOriginalSeries

* AnAesop: The show's episodes often have Aesops about Leadership, Teamwork or Strategy including such gems as:
** "Dropzone": The best strategist isn't always the best leader. Also, always have a clear chain of command.
** "Schooled": No matter how strong you think you are, there's always someone stronger, which is why you need to [[BoxingLessonsForSuperman learn how to kick their ass too.]]
** "Bereft": Bad things happen when you don't secure your communications.
** "Failsafe": Know who's expendable and who isn't.
** "Secrets": Secrets, especially bad ones, have a way of coming to light eventually.
** "Usual Suspects": You need to trust your friends to accept you for who you really are.
** "Salvage" deals with addiction and the way it destroys your life and relationships, although instead of literal drug addiction they use the metaphor of being obsessed with [[spoiler:finding the original Speedy]].
*** Although a mention should go to Superboy with those superpatches.
** "Depths": Failure is a greater judge of character than success. Given by a villain to his son for excellent work in terrorism and murder.
** "Satisfaction": Intelligence and resourcefulness are more important than weapons or physical resources.
*** Both "Satisfaction" and "Depths" also had a secondary aesop that you shouldn't rely on luck and should [[XanatosGambit be prepared for any contingency.]] Not that surprising coming from the creator of [[WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}} David Xanatos]].

* HumanAlien: Superboy and Superman, despite being Kryptonian [[spoiler:(or in Superboy's case, half-Kryptonian)]], are identical in appearance to human beings.

** The show actually averts this due to TimeSkips between each season and each episode giving a date means that the universe is continuously progressing forward. By Season 4 the show has covered a complete decade of history, with characters having grown and developed in unique ways.

* AreWeGettingThis: When Cheshire attempts to assassinate Lex Luthor with an RPG, but is foiled by Red Arrow, reporter Cat Grant desperately asks her cameraman if he got the shot.

* HeroesWantRedheads: Played with. The redheaded Kid Flash has a crush on the equally redheaded Miss Martian, but she likes Superboy and doesn't show an interest in Kid Flash. Aqualad has feelings for Tula, his friend from Atlantis. Ultimately, blonde heroine Artemis falls for red headed Kid Flash.

** Played with in "Disordered". When introducing themselves one of the Forever People says his name doesn't translate to anything on Earth so he goes with "Wolf"... except Superboy has a wolf named Wolf with him, so he goes with "Bear" instead.

** Clark '''Kent''' and '''Kent''' Nelson, which is [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]: J'onn suggests "Kent" as Superboy's last name, but since Superboy and Megan do not know Superman's secret identity they assume it is in honor of Kent Nelson.

* GenderFlip: In the ''Red Tornado'' miniseries, Red Torpedo is female and Red Inferno is male. The animated versions have this reversed, to fit the GoldenAge characters they've been [[CompositeCharacter combined]] with.

* DudeWheresMyRespect: Speedy feels that the Justice League's decision to only give the teenage heroes access to the gym and library is evidence of their lack of respect, and the rest of the Team eventually comes to share his feelings. However, whereas the others are willing to accept that they are young and still have more to learn, Speedy feels that the four of them already earned ''complete'' equality. [[spoiler:It is later revealed that [[CloningBlues there is a reason]] for his extreme reaction. But even without that he's kind of a jerk.]]

* CloningBlues:
** Superboy, being only 16 weeks old at the time of the series, but physically around his mid-teens. When discussing adding new members to the League, the adult characters discuss the issues that arise from the conflict between his biological and chronological age, and the problems stemming therefrom.
** The first season finale reveals [[spoiler:that the Red Arrow we have seen throughout the entire show's run is actually a clone of the real one, replaced three years before the show even began. He does not take this revelation well.]] In a refreshing take, the original [[spoiler:Roy Harper]] harbors absolutely no hostility towards his clone, and is in fact appreciative of the clone rescuing him.

* ThreeAmigos:
** The series opens with Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash already cooperating and working as a team.
** In his backstory, Aqualad with friends Garth and Tula

** Franchise/{{Batman}}’s the League Chairman in Season One. He may seem (and sometimes is) hard and strict on the team, but he ultimately praises them and encourages them to work together.

** "Depths" included [[Franchise/GreenLantern Hal Jordan's]] friend, Tom Kalmaku, in a small speaking role, though he's not named onscreen. Their boss, Carol Ferris, is more prominently featured.

** "Before the Dawn" has an appearance of [[spoiler:[[Franchise/{{Batman}} Stephanie Brown]] and an unnamed bystander that seems to be [[{{ComicBook/Static}} Virgil Hawkins]]]].

** Episode 23 features Black Spider, a villain with [[Franchise/SpiderMan a very familiar powerset]] and who is voiced by Creator/JoshKeaton.

** When discussing the possibility of adding new members to the Justice League, Batman supports keeping Captain Marvel in the League, despite the reveal that he is actually only ten years old. Franchise/WonderWoman finds his support less than reassuring since he indoctrinated Robin into crimefighting at ''nine''. Batman explains that he did that to Robin [[TurnOutLikeHisFather in order to keep Robin from turning out like himself]].

** [[Franchise/GreenLantern John Stewart's]] [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower ring]] creates a very spiffy interstellar transport vessel at the end of "Alienated".

* CrazyEnoughToWork: In "Humanity," the Team reasons that Franchise/{{Batman}} would have used every rational method possible to find [[MadScientist T.O. Morrow]], so they have to come up with a really ''stupid'' idea. Fortunately, [[DitzyGenius Wally]] had one ([[spoiler:interrogating Morrow's rival, Professor Ivo... [[SubvertedTrope which actually is not a crazy plan at all]].]])

* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Mount Justice, the original headquarters of the [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]].

* {{Expy}}: Black Spider in episode 6 bears a remarkable similarity to Franchise/SpiderMan, mostly in the powerset. When he reappears in episode 23 he's even voiced by [[WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan Josh Keaton]].

* GoodParents: Wally's. Also, surprisingly, Franchise/{{Batman}}, whose relationship with Dick is better than in most modern continuities. Even more surprisingly, [[spoiler:Black Manta, once you get past the fact that he's working for The Light, is a very good father to Kaldur in season two.]]

* AnIcePerson: The opening scene of the first episode involved several independent ice-themed villains ([[Franchise/{{Batman}} Mr. Freeze]], [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Icicle Jr.]], [[Comicbook/{{Aquaman}} Killer Frost]] and [[Franchise/TheFlash Captain Cold]]) attacking separate cities at once. The League considers this an unlikely coincidence and worth looking into. [[spoiler:They were planning to be incarcerated together in Belle Reve Penitentiary to engineer an escape with the entire inmate population.]]

* ItGetsEasier: Miss Martian finds it easier and easier to lobotomize people psychically, first doing it by accident but then using it as a harsher form of punishment. It bites her in the ass [[spoiler:when she finds out that Aqualad faked killing Artemis and was infiltrating ComicBook/BlackManta's organization as TheMole.]]

* ProperlyParanoid: In "Terrors", Franchise/{{Batman}} doesn't let the Belle Reve prison staff know that Superboy and Miss Martian are going in undercover since it's possible the prison staff has been compromised. The ending reveals that [[spoiler:the breakout was part of the prison psychiatrist Hugo Strange's scheme to become the new warden of Belle Reve.]]

** "Back in a flash!" By, [[Franchise/TheFlash you guessed it]]. This has not escaped his extended family.

*** The villain Black Spider was retooled to resemble Franchise/SpiderMan, and is voiced by Josh Keaton who played Spider-Man in ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'' cartoon, which was also created by Greg Weisman.

** This trope, and the anxiety associated with it, has been averted with the inclusion of Zatanna as a long term member without any other character being removed from the team. As for the series’ other big team, the Justice League, although there are three female members on the team, which technically means it doesn't count, the full roster is ''sixteen'' members so the essential truth of this trope is still in play. Interestingly, Franchise/WonderWoman seems to be actively working against this, as one of her stated criteria for an ideal new member to the League is that they be a woman to help shift the gender ratio.

** The G-Gnomes are called [=DNAliens=] in the comics. The term "G-Gnome" appears in ''Comicbook/Superboy1994'', but it's the personal name a specific [=DNAlien=]. To be fair, ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' already used the term [=DNAliens=] on Cartoon Network, so the creators probably wanted to avoid any confusion.

** The G-Gnomes are called [=DNAliens=] in the comics (What can you say, they were from the ''[[OldShame Jimmy Olsen Superman's Pal]]'' series).
*** To be fair, ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' already used the term [=DNAliens=] on Cartoon Network, so the creators probably wanted to avoid any confusion.

** In "Agendas", Lex Luthor's high-frequency message to Superboy is the same tactic used by Gene Hackman's Luthor in 1978's ''[[{{Film/Superman}} Superman: the Movie]]'', right down to the comment that with Superman off-planet (aboard the Watchtower satellite), "only one thing alive with less than four legs can hear this frequency"

* MakeMeWannaShout: ComicBook/BlackCanary plays a supporting role.

** Likewise, [[Film/{{Superman}} Otis]] turns from Lex Luthor's bumbling sidekick to head of his heavily armed security detail.

* ButNotTooBlack:
** Aqualad has blond hair and gray eyes. Averted for his counterpart in DC Comics, [[RecursiveAdaptation who is based on his appearance in this series]], where he has dark hair and eyes.
** Artemis is bi-racial, with naturally blonde hair despite having a Vietnamese mother. Greg Weisman says this is based on a girl he knows who is half-Caucasian half-Korean and has naturally blonde hair (although in her case, both her parents are half-Caucasian half-Korean, so she inherited the recessive blond gene from both sides).

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Both Aquaman and Aqualad go barefoot in costume, but when Aqualad is in civvies he wears sandals.

* ExtravertedNerd: The Riddler/Edward Nigma, Mr. "Riddle Me This" himself, discovers in the PrisonEpisode that he is at the bottom of the PopularityFoodChain. Then again, [[GreatEscape he doesn't really have to put up with that]].

* FourElementEnsemble: ComicBook/RedTornado, Red Torpedo, Red Inferno, Red Volcano.

* WhipItGood: Whisper wields a pair of laser whips against Superboy and the Forever People in "Disordered".

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: In "Misplaced", Zatanna told Artemis that she wished her OverprotectiveDad would give her some space, and he (and the rest of the adults) disappears ''right then''. [[spoiler:At the end of the episode, Zatara sacrifices himself so Nabu wouldn't possess his daughter. She may never get her father back.]]

* OverprotectiveDad: Zatara is quite protective over his daughter Zatanna, seeing how she is a teenager and how [[SquishyWizard weak]] she is in actual combat.