History YMMV / SupermantheAnimatedSeries

** Volcana may have become a more generic villain after her debut episode but she's never shown attacking Superman directly again. Is this just coincidence or did she avoid attacking him out of gratitude? If it's just coincidence, we could ask ourselves if she's even all that grateful to Superman anymore after her debut since by the time of ''Justice League'', she basically joined a bunch of his rogues to ''go on a crime spree not long after Superman's supposed death''... which is funny way of showing gratitude towards someone who helped you out in the past.

** Volcana may have become a more generic villain after her debut episode but she's never shown attacking Superman directly again. Is this just coincidence or did she avoid attacking him out of gratitude?

** Relating to [[spoiler:Professor Emil Hamilton and his FaceHeelTurn in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'']], after feeling "betrayed" by Superman in the finale, one has to wonder if Hamilton was always a narcissistic BitchInSheepsClothing who took too much pride in being Superman's personal Mr. Wizard ally, or if he was a genuinely good man who sadly never overcame the trauma of seeing just how destructive and dangerous Superman could be if he were evil or brainwashed into being evil. If the latter, did he really join CADMUS in JLU of his own free will or was he manipulated by Lex Luthor and Amanda Waller for their own ends? If the latter, does that make him a victim as well as a villain?

** ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}, who later appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and was the top threat of the entire DCAU, is the EvilOverlord of the wasteland planet Apokolips, and ultimately desired total dominion over all life in the universe. To achieve this end, he forever seeks the cosmic power of the Anti-Life Equation to use as the ultimate weapon. Incapable of love or empathy, [[AbusiveParents he abused his loyal son Kalibak]], handed over his adopted son Scott Free to be tortured and brainwashed by Granny Goodness, and attempted to [[OffingTheOffspring murder his other son]], Orion, for opposing him. His [[BadBoss servants are likewise subjected to torture or death]] should they fail or even question him. Setting his sights on conquering Earth, Darkseid launched a full-scale invasion, only relenting when the planet was declared off-limits by Apokolips's sister planet, New Genesis. To compensate, Darkseid murdered [[spoiler:Dan Turpin]] solely [[EvilIsPetty to spite Superman]]. He would make numerous more attempts to conquer or annihilate the planet, including attempting to destroy it with an asteroid and brainwashing Superman into leading an attack on his adopted world, turning the Man of Steel into a pariah for years. He later attempted to use Brainiac's programming to collect the Anti-Life Equation and bend the universe to his will, leading to his death in a battle with Superman. [[BackFromTheDead Upon his resurrection]], Darkseid immediately launched another invasion on Earth, not out of a desire for power, but solely to make Superman suffer. Ruthless and tyrannical, Darkseid is Superman's greatest enemy, and [[ThouShaltNotKill one of the few villains]] he has [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness outright tried to kill]].

* MagnificentBastard: ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}, who later appears in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', is a chilling yet darkly charismatic overlord of Apokolips who seeks to bring order to the universe through iron-fisted tyranny. Throughout season two, Darkseid plots his conquest of Earth from the shadows, eventually triggering a nuclear meltdown to turn Earth into a second Apokolips. After the gangster, Bruno Mannheim, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlives his usefulness]], Darkseid leaves him to die in the blast, and when Mannheim reminds Darkseid that he promised to make him a king, Darkseid replies that he has: "A King of Fools." Darkseid's victory is only thwarted by the intervention of [[BigGood Highfather]] and New Genesis, but Darkseid "never settles" so he brainwashes Superman, manipulates him into attacking Earth on a suicide mission, and plans to conquer the planet under the guise of rebuilding a ravaged world. Though the plan fails, Darkseid succeeds in turning Superman into a pariah for years. Perhaps his most impressive moment comes from "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS2E1And2Twilight Twilight]]" where Darkseid manipulates Brainiac into sparing a weakened Apokolips, manipulates the Justice League into helping him, backstabs the League to Brainiac, then backstabs Brainiac by overriding his program and turning him into a weapon that he immediately uses to try to destroy New Genesis. Even seconds before his death, Darkseid maintains his dignity, laughing at Superman's inability to finish him off. Darkseid is a figure so feared and loved on his home planet that his presence can end a civil war mid-battle, and, even when near-death, his abused subjects take him to a healer rather than kill him. His only response to a horrified Superman being, "I am many things, Kal-El, but here, [[AGodAmI I am God]]."

* AngstWhatAngst: For someone who came out of cryosleep (which for her would be like going to sleep and suddenly waking up) and finding out the rest of her family is dead, her world is now a complete lifeless husk, and she's been trapped on ice for years, Supergirl seems to take things remarkably well. Possibly justified in that what she had to endure before was like hell and living with Martha & Jonathan Kent on the Kent Farm in Smallville (plus superpowers) must seem like heaven.

* ValuesResonance: Oof. [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E21Prototype "Prototype"]] is an episode about a police officer, Sgt. Mills, being given a high-tech suit of armor from Lexcorp, and quickly becoming drunk with power, acting cocky and hostile to Superman, being brutally aggressive to suspects, and becoming incredibly violent at the very prospect of having his suit taken away. On the back of the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, where police brutality and abuse of power was center to the discourse, "Prototype" hits a hell of a lot harder. To make matters worse, Mills is so defensive that he becomes borderline abusive to his wife, and some of that aforementioned discourse concerned spousal abuse in the police ranks.

** Dan Turpin being killed by Darkseid can be this if you read ''Comicbook/FinalCrisis'', in which a dying Darkseid pulls a GrandTheftMe on Turpin himself.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Volcana; introduced as an AntiVillain with a sympathetic motivation, who had interesting interactions with Superman. All of this is only explored in her debut episode, and all her appearances after that in the DCAU depict her as a straight villain who only cameos. At the end of her debut episode she was shown to not only be on friendly terms with Superman, but to engage in playful flirting with him that he actually returned. If done right she could have been a romantic rival for Lois or an ally to be added to the expanded League in ''JLU''.The same assessment holds for Maxima, Queen of Almerac, who appeared in a only episode, "Warrior Queen" as an anti-villain she wanted to marry anyway with Superman, but in the end he acquired respect for him, And with that lost all its great potential as a romantic rival for Lois or as a future member of the JLU

** One episode has a [[FourEyesZeroSoul Mook]] armed with a laser pistol that ''could'' at least stun Superman if it's as Badass as he thinks it is.\\

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Volcana; introduced as an AntiVillain with a sympathetic motivation, who had interesting interactions with Superman. All of this is only explored in her debut episode, and all her appearances after that in the DCAU depict her as a straight villain who only cameos. At the end of her debut episode she was shown to not only be on friendly terms with Superman, but to engage in playful flirting with him that he actually returned. If done right she could have been a romantic rival for Lois or an ally to be added to the expanded League in ''JLU''.

* ValuesDissonance: An episode has a character legally executed to the gas chamber, without any arguments made about the morality of the death penalty... something that would rustle a lot of feathers in countries that are strongly against it.

** In "[[Recap/SupermanS1E6FeedingTime Feeding Time]]", when Parasite starts absorbing Superman's energy right in front of a crowd a female bystander watching screams "Good Heavens" in a DullSurprise manner, coming off as a little silly in an otherwise serious scene.

** In Parasite's debut episode, when he starts absorbing Superman's energy right in front of a crowd a female bystander watching screams "Good Heavens" in a DullSurprise manner, coming off as a little silly in an otherwise serious scene.

** Lois Lane in [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E7Target "Target"]]. She's put herself in danger multiple times, but at least usually she didn't know how dangerous it was or at least ''tried'' to take some kind of precaution. Here, she knows exactly how dangerous her unknown enemy is and she's actually has police protection. During a phone conversation with Clark she suddenly realizes who's trying to kill her. What does she do? She sneaks off to confront them face to face. While Clark and everyone else still thinks she's under police protection. If it hadn't been for Luthor just happening to call Clark to give him a vital piece of information, she would have been dead by the end of the episode.
** In [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS1E9E10TheMainMan "The Main Man"]], Lois goes after Lobo with a metal pipe... ''after'' she's already seen him shrug off multiple punches from Superman.
** Pre-Livewire Leslie Willis for thinking it was a good idea to hold a gathering of her fans in the middle of a storm. Look where that got her...
** The Janitor who hands his Walkman headphones to Livewire in [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E10DoubleDose "Double Dose"]]. There's a "No Electronics" rule for a reason, pal. For that matter, the security guard who takes said janitor's watch, but fails to also collect the Walkman. How do you miss that?

** However, in regards to Superman himself, it can be a bit contentious. While Creator/TimDaly still has fans who prefer him, in recent years, thanks to the later season of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', ''WesternAnimation/SupermanVsTheElite'' and ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', his successor in ''JL''/''JLU'', Creator/GeorgeNewbern, has seen an upsurge in popularity, with many viewing Newbern as Superman's definitive voice actor. And then you have fans who like Daly and Newbern equally...
** You could also add Brad Garrett as Lobo, as his deep voice seems to fit quite well for the main man.

** However, in regards to Superman himself, it can be a bit contentious. While Creator/TimDaly still has fans who prefer him, in recent years, thanks to ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'',''WesternAnimation/SupermanVsTheElite'' and ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', his successor in ''JL''/''JLU'', Creator/GeorgeNewbern, has seen an upsurge in popularity, with many viewing Newbern as Superman's definitive voice actor. And then you have fans who like Daly and Newbern equally...

** Relating to [[spoiler:Professor Emil Hamilton and his FaceHeelTurn in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'',]] after feeling "betrayed" by Superman in the finale, one has to wonder if Hamilton was always a narcissistic BitchInSheepsClothing who took too much pride in being Superman's personal Mr. Wizard ally, or if he was a genuinely good man who sadly never overcame the trauma of seeing just how destructive and dangerous Superman could be if he were evil or brainwashed into being evil. If the latter, did he really join CADMUS in JLU of his own free will or was he manipulated by Lex Luthor and Amanda Waller for their own ends? If the latter, does that make him a victim as well as a villain?

** However, in regards to Superman himself, it can be a bit contentious. While Creator/TimDaly still has fans who prefer him, in recent years, thanks to ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' (''Unlimited''),''WesternAnimation/SupermanVsTheElite'' and ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', his successor in ''JL''/''JLU'', Creator/GeorgeNewbern, has seen an upsurge in popularity, with many viewing Newbern as Superman's definitive voice actor. And then you have fans who like Daly and Newbern equally...

** Supergirl. This is the most beloved incarnation of the character. She was so well-liked that she became one of the main characters in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited''.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:{{ComicBook/Darkseid}} nonchalantly vaporizing Dan Turpin as he leaves Metropolis. That PsychoticSmirk on his face really clinches it.]]
** Really, everything Darkseid does is this: [[spoiler: he gives weapons to Intergang that cause considerable damage to Metropolis, attempts an Class-4 ApocalypseHow on Earth, and later a Class 5 by crashing a comet into it to wipe it out without breaking his treaty with New Genesis, and in the finale brainwashes Superman and turns him against Earth.]]

* CreepyAwesome: ''Toyman''. A PsychoticManchild who averts ExpressiveMask, causing a rather disturbing case of permanent SlasherSmile, and later [[spoiler:creates a RidiculouslyHumanRobot who he has a disturbing crush on]]. And fans love him for this.

* FanonDiscontinuity: A large number of fans ignore that Supergirl is Kara In-Ze, not Kara Zor-El. She is treated as being from Krypton and being Superman's biological cousin.

** [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E2KnightTime "Knight Time"]] (where Superman teams up with Robin to find out what happened to a missing Batman, even impersonating him briefly) is similarly confused as a BTAS episode. This one's a bit more understandable, since it ''does'' take place in Gotham from beginning to end.

** Relating to [[spoiler:Professor Emil Hamilton and his FaceHeelTurn in WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited,]] after feeling "betrayed" by Superman in the finale, one has to wonder if Hamilton was always a narcissistic BitchInSheepsClothing who took too much pride in being Superman's personal Mr. Wizard ally, or if he was a genuinely good man who sadly never overcame the trauma of seeing just how destructive and dangerous Superman could be if he were evil or brainwashed into being evil. If the latter, did he really join CADMUS in JLU of his own free will or was he manipulated by Lex Luthor and Amanda Waller for their own ends? If the latter, does that make him a victim as well as a villain?

** "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE20GirlsNightOut Girls' Night Out]]", the episode of ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse'' featuring Batgirl and Supergirl against Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Livewire is commonly thought to be a ''Superman: TAS'' episode, but in reality it is officially a ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'' episode. It appears as such on Creator/DCUniverse and iTunes, as well as the Batman: TAS Volume 4 DVD rather than Volume 3 of Superman: TAS (which included the last third of the series, including Supergirl's debut).