History YMMV / SupermantheAnimatedSeries

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

* SameContentDifferentRating: Originally rated TV-Y7. Its rerelease on Creator/HBOMax has been bumped up to TV-PG, possibly because it's not being shown on a kids' network anymore (and also because the censors for the DCAU were famously [[SurprisinglyLenientCensor sleepy]]).

** '''You'd Expect:''' Knowing this limitation, he would start taking written notes of his discoveries, especially when he absorb Superman's powers and learn of his secret identity, Clark Kent.\\

** The GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' features a male-and-female alien duo invading Earth, which many would compare them to Jax-Ur and Mala. For bonus points, both Jax-Ur and Warhow were voiced by Creator/RonPerlman.

* CommonKnowledge: The crossovers between this series and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' are officially hosted by one series or the other, not both. Some people can get confused about which show hosted which crossover episode. For the record, [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E16To18WorldsFinest "World's Finest"]][[note]]Batman and Superman first meet, then team up against Lex Luthor and the Joker[[/note]], [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E2KnightTime "Knight Time"]][[note]]Superman impersonates Batman while investigating the latter's disappearance[[/note]], and [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E11TheDemonReborn "The Demon Reborn"]][[note]]Ra's al Ghul going after Superman[[/note]] are ''Superman'' episodes. "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE20GirlsNightOut Girls' Night Out]]"[[note]]Batgirl and Supergirl vs Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Livewire[[/note]] is ''Batman''.

* 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. Part of this owes to the fact that at the time, ExecutiveMeddling had something of a tight grip on appearances by Kara, necessitating a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute.

* CommonKnowledge: The crossovers between this series and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' are officially hosted by one series or the other, not both. Some people can get confused about which show hosted which crossover episode. For the record, [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E16To18WorldsFinest "World's Finest"]][[note]]Batman and Superman first meet, then team up against Lex Luthor and the Joker[[/note]], [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E2KnightTime "Knight Time"]][[note]]Superman impersonates Batman while investigating the latter's disappearance[[/note]], and [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E11TheDemonReborn "The Demon Reborn"]][[note]]Ra's al Ghul going after Superman[[/note]] are ''Superman'' episodes. "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE20GirlsNightOut Girls' Night Out]]"[[note]]Batgirl and Supergirl vs Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Livewire[[/note]] is ''Batman''.

* CommonKnowledge: The crossovers between this series and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' are officially hosted by one series or the other, not both. Some people can get confused about which show hosted which crossover episode. For the record, [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E16To18WorldsFinest "World's Finest"]][[note]]Batman and Superman first meet, then team up against Lex Luthor and the Joker[[/note]] and [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E2KnightTime "Knight Time"]][[note]]Superman impersonates Batman while investigating the latter's disappearance[[/note]] are ''Superman'' episodes. "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE20GirlsNightOut Girls' Night Out]]"[[note]]Batgirl and Supergirl vs Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Livewire[[/note]] is ''Batman''.

* SameContentDifferentRating: Originally rated TV-Y7. Its rerelease on Creator/HBOMax has been bumped up to TV-PG, possibly because it's not being shown on a kids' network anymore (and also because the censors for the DCAU were famously [[SurprisinglyLenientCensor asleep at the switch]]).

* CompleteMonster:
** [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]], who later appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and was the top threat of the entire DCAU, is the tyrannical ruler of the wasteland planet [[Characters/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesApokolips Apokolips]], and ultimately desired [[GalacticConqueror 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 Dan Turpin solely to spite Superman. He would make numerous more attempts to conquer or annihilate the planet, including attempting to destroy it with an comet and brainwashing Superman into leading an attack on his adopted world, turning the Man of Steel into a pariah for years--but not before Darkseid had the brainwashed Superman basically raped. 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]].
** ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}, who also appeared in ''Justice League'' as a threat surpassed only by Darkseid, is a RoboticPsychopath and [[TheCollector collector of data]] who views himself as superior to all organic life. Once the [[AIIsACrapshoot supercomputer]] responsible for running Krypton's day-to-day affairs, Brainiac lied to the Council of Elders about the planet's impending doom, prioritizing saving himself over preserving the lives of his creators. Escaping into space, Brainiac roams from world to world, assembling all of a planet's information, and then destroying the original in order to increase the value of his stolen memories; his objective is to repeat the process across the universe until he has "destroyed all of creation". Along the way he murders the crew of a spaceship that was investigating his presence, tries to steal Superman's body for himself, and eventually, after fusing with Lex Luthor, tries to wipe out the entire universe in one fell swoop, aiming to rebuild it [[InTheirOwnImage in his own image]].

** [[Characters/DCAUDarkseid Darkseid]], who later appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and was the top threat of the entire DCAU, is the tyrannical ruler of the wasteland planet [[Characters/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesApokolips Apokolips]], and ultimately desired [[GalacticConqueror 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 Dan Turpin solely to spite Superman. He would make numerous more attempts to conquer or annihilate the planet, including attempting to destroy it with an comet and brainwashing Superman into leading an attack on his adopted world, turning the Man of Steel into a pariah for years--but not before Darkseid had the brainwashed Superman basically raped. 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]].

** Also, in "[[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E14GhostInTheMachine Ghost in the Machine]]", Lex receives a strange message from a voice claiming to be behind his malfunctioned device which caused him great public embarrassment. This voice requests for him to meet in one of his basement sectors.
'''You'd Expect:'' For Lex to carry back-up. To let people know where he's going. To bring Mercy or a few armed men alongside him. ANYTHING.
'''Instead:''' He decides to approach this strange visitor alone without any preparation. Who's to say that this visitor wasn't armed and ready to kill him on the spot? Luthor is smart enough to know that there are people who'd want to see him dead. Sure enough, the strange visitor turns out to be Brainiac who wants to use Lex for his own personal bidding. As a result of not letting people know about his whereabouts, Brainiac successfully isolates Lex from the world for what's implied to be at least a week.
'''You'd Expect:''' Knowing this limitation, he would start taking written notes of his discoveries, especially when he absorb Superman's powers and learn of his secret identity, Clark Kent.\\
'''Instead:''' He does nothing and end up forgetting all that he learned every single time. [[IdiotBall This trend]] continue in Justice League.

* NoEndorHolocaust: Metropolis regularly gets portions of it destroyed by explosions, supervillains, monsters, and other mishaps. No matter how many buildings get flattened, very few people ever die or get injured, and the city is always right back to its shining former glory at the start of the very next episode.

* CantUnHearIt:
** Just like Creator/KevinConroy and Creator/MarkHamill as Batman and Joker, respectively, Creator/ClancyBrown is often seen as having one of the definitive interpretations of Lex Luthor, perfectly mixing a fierce thuggishness with haughty megalomania.
** The same counts for Creator/DanaDelany as Lois Lane, particularly because Delany has regularly voiced Lois over the years, and her voice-acting handles Lois' snark incredibly well.[[note]]She also did the voice of Andrea Beaumont/The Phantasm as well, marking her as ''two'' love interests for Bruce![[/note]]
** Creator/NicholleTom as ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} was also very popular and iconic for the fans due to the fact that this version is the most beloved incarnation of the character.
** And then you have Creator/MichaelIronside as ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}, whose even, diabolical take is often considered to be ''the'' definitive iteration of the character. It helps that he has some of the series' greatest lines.
** 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.
** ''Creator/GilbertGottfried'' as the voice of Mxyzptlk. He's gone to reprise the character in other depictions.
* CommonKnowledge:
** "[[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).
** [[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 most of the episode ''does'' take place in Gotham.

* InferredHolocaust:
** In [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E20BizarrosWorld "Bizarro's World"]] a nuclear missile detonates a few miles above Metropolis. A few months later, in [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E25E26ApokolipsNow "Apokolips... Now!: Part 1"]], a nuclear power plant melts down just off the coast. To put it mildly, the cancer rate in Metropolis is about to become... impressive.
** Don't forget the Joker's rampage in [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E16To18WorldsFinest "World's Finest"]]. He blew up quite a few buildings before he was taken down.
* MemeticMutation: "Nice 'S'".

** While the voice acting for the main characters is generally top-notch, the bystanders often heard commenting during crowd shots is often underacted. This can lead to scenes like Parasite absorbing Superman's energy in "[[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS1E6FeedingTime Feeding Time]]" being ruined a bit by a nearby bystander shouting a cheesy "Oh, good heavens!" in complete DullSurprise.
** The music can also ruin a scene. An intense and dramatic scene of Superman being temporarily blinded and smacked around in [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E21Prototype "Prototype"]] should not be scored by sporadic piano music that sounds like it came from a WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes short.
** Superman's RoaringRampageOfRevenge on Apokolips in [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E12E13Legacy "Legacy"]] comes to an unintentionally hilarious halt when the Furies appear and Superman actually tries to ignore them '''after''' he got done killing a bunch of Parademons with his heat vision, so they just attack him anyway and he actually lets them cling to him as they try to kill him and he continues to allow them to go on attacking him until he just crashes into a nearby statue. His encounter with Granny Goodness is also pretty bad and ends up not being as chilling as it was meant to be. TV censorship at its worst.
* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The tie in game ''VideoGame/Superman64'' is the poster child for bad adaptations and bad games in general.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: In [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E5LittleBigHeadMan "Little Big Head Man"]], Mister Mxyzptlk's powers are taken away by his superiors and has to spent three months on Earth powerless. During that time, he must at least do one good deed. This alone would have been a good plot that might have explored Mxyzptlk's character and his fifth dimensional home. Unfortunately this is just used as a [[DeusExMachina Deus ex Machina]] so that Superman can win his fight against Bizarro. It doesn't help that this is Mxyzptlk's last appearance in the ''DCAU''.

* 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. Police brutality has been a hot button topic since the 1980s, of course, but 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.

** Young Clark informs Lana Lang in the same episode about how he is seeing through things; she asks if he's looked towards the girls' locker room. This ended up becoming HilariousInHindsight just five years later, when in the ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode "X-Ray", Clark discovers his x-ray vision by accident and ends up inadvertently seeing into the girls' locker room... directly at Lana.

** In "[[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS1E6FeedingTime 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.
** [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E21Prototype "Prototype"]] has the infamous moment where Superman is temporarily blinded by the insane Sergeant Mills, leading to a bunch of sporadic piano music to start playing, but instead of coming off as creepy, it's unintentionally hilarious - as is the way Superman gets smacked around by Mills while blinded.

** When Jor-El is surveying the planet at the start of the first episode, the creature that attacks him looks very much like a [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime Hunter Metroid]].

** A female Guardian (seemingly head of the council) appears in [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E7InBrightestDay "In Brightest Day..."]].

** In [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E3NewKidsInTown "New Kids in Town"]], Martha wants to give Clark and Lana some alone time so they can talk. So she tells Jonathan that ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' is on. Bo Duke's actor, John Schneider, would play the part of Jonathan Kent in ''Series/Smallville''.

** The second episode has a passenger plane hit with a missile and nearly crash into Metropolis. To make it worse the missile was fired by a ''terrorist''[[note]]okay so they're more like mercenaries, but everyone called them terrorists in the episode[[/note]]. Similarly, the first part of [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E16To18WorldsFinest "World's Finest"]] has a scene where terrorists take over ''Air Force One''.
** The finale of [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E16To18WorldsFinest "World's Finest"]] has the Joker firing missiles on multiple buildings, sending them crashing to the ground.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Dan Turpin's funeral in [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E25E26ApokolipsNow "Apokolips... Now"]] has become this, following the death of his voice actor Joseph Bologna.

** In [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E3NewKidsInTown "New Kids in Town"]], one of Clark's classmates screams at ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}, calling him [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]] as a joke. Creator/CoreyBurton will later on voice his predecessor, [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars Count Dooku]].
** In the same episode, Martha wants to give Clark and Lana some alone time so they can talk. So she tells Jonathan that ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' is on. And who plays Jonathan Kent a couple years later in ''Series/{{Smallville}}''? John Schneider, of course.
*** Another ''Smallville''-related one in the same episode: young Clark informs Lana Lang about how he is seeing through things; she asks if he's looked towards the girls' locker room. This ended up becoming HilariousInHindsight just five years later, when in the ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode "X-Ray", Clark discovers his x-ray vision by accident and ends up inadvertently seeing into the girls' locker room... directly at Lana.
** In [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E2KnightTime "Knight Time"]], Brainiac's line to [[spoiler:Superman disguised as]] Batman, "You are every bit the detective your followers on the Internet believe.", has gotten funnier in light of the rise of social media sites like Website/{{Twitter}} and Website/{{Facebook}} and their copious use of the MemeticBadass trope.
*** In the same episode, Superman's impression of Batman is so spot on, [[UncannyValley Robin tells him never to do that again]]. Recently, Creator/BenAffleck has been chosen as the next Batman. Affleck is well-known for his impressions, and while filming ''Film/TheSumOfAllFears'', he did his impression of Creator/MorganFreeman for Freeman himself, prompting him to respond with "If you ever do that again, I'll kill you."

** In "[[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E10DoubleDose Double Dose]]", Livewire sees Superman wearing a rubber suit and jokes that "[[{{double entendre}} the Boy Scout brought protection]]". Starting in 2002, the scouts would mandate that condoms be available at the World Scout Jamboree and all other large enough events.

** ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}, who later appeared in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and was the top threat of the entire DCAU, is the tyrannical ruler of the wasteland planet [[Characters/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesApokolips Apokolips]], and ultimately desired [[GalacticConqueror 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 Dan Turpin solely to spite Superman. He would make numerous more attempts to conquer or annihilate the planet, including attempting to destroy it with an comet and brainwashing Superman into leading an attack on his adopted world, turning the Man of Steel into a pariah for years--but not before Darkseid had the brainwashed Superman basically raped. 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]].

** The GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' features a male-and-female alien duo invading Earth, which many would compare them to Jax-Ur and Mala.

* 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 who 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.

** 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 [[GalacticConqueror 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 Dan Turpin solely to spite Superman. He would make numerous more attempts to conquer or annihilate the planet, including attempting to destroy it with an comet and brainwashing Superman into leading an attack on his adopted world, turning the Man of Steel into a pariah for years--but not before Darkseid had the brainwashed Superman basically raped. 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]].

** In "[[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E10DoubleDose Double Dose]]", Livewire sees Superman wearing a rubber suit and jokes that "[[GettingCrapPastTheRadar the Boy Scout brought protection]]". Starting in 2002, the scouts would mandate that condoms be available at the World Scout Jamboree and all other large enough events.

* CantUnhearIt: