Line #31 Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE14HeartOfIce


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Heart_of_Ice_5632.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"This is how [[TheLostLenore I'll always remember you]]. Surrounded by [[SnowMeansDeath winter]]. Forever young. Forever beautiful. Rest well, my love. The monster who took you from me will soon learn that {{revenge}} is a dish… {{best served cold}}."'']]
3
4	->'''Batman:''' My God.\
5	'''Mr. Freeze:''' Yes. It would move me to tears, if I still had tears to shed.
6
7	The episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' that ''everyone'' remembers.
8
9	The episode opens with a closeup of a snow globe with a spinning ice skater in the middle. A red-goggled figure in a strange suit laments that this is how he remembers "her", and that he plots to get revenge on the monster that took her away from him.
10
11	Cut to a newscast by Summer Gleeson, reporting the latest in a series of cold-related crimes on Goth Corp facilities during the hottest August in Gotham history. Witnesses said that the attacker used a freezing gun. Goth Corp CEO Ferris Boyle says that his company is willing to listen to what the attacker wants. Batman watches the newscast while analyzing these crimes. He had gotten information from the police earlier about what was stolen from each facility, and his computer has determined that each device stolen can be put together to create a weapon that generates intense cold. There is just one component missing, and only one Goth Corp facility makes it.
12
13	At this facility, a truck with the same figure and henchmen drives through security, with the Batmobile in close pursuit. The villain then uses his freezing gun to freeze the road so that the Batmobile skids, so Batman, with quick maneuvering, grapples on to a pole and stops the car. At the factory's warehouse, the figure and his henchmen steal certain canisters. Batman then drops in and takes out the henchmen and commands the villain to freeze, at which point he reveals his name: Mr. Freeze. Batman engages Mr. Freeze in combat. One of the henchmen accidentally gets hit in the legs by the freeze ray, and Freeze is able to use the cold gun to shatter a catwalk underneath Batman, causing him to fall and become incapacitated. Mr. Freeze makes a quick getaway, telling his henchmen to leave the one whose legs got frozen. Batman recovers and takes the unlucky henchman to the Batcave.
14
15	In the Batcave, Batman places the henchman in a hot chemical bath where his legs can recover. He is able to heal, but Batman isn't feeling so good himself; he caught a cold during the fight. He says that he can't worry about that right now, since Bruce Wayne has an appointment with Ferris Boyle. Bruce asks Boyle who would make attacks on Goth Corp. Boyle describes one man who could possibly hate the company--if he was still alive, of course. One employee, a scientist, was using Goth Corp equipment for personal reasons, so Boyle called company guards to arrest him, but there was an explosion and they lost the employee. Boyle doesn't seem too heartbroken over this; he says that he can't have "wage slaves" acting like they own the place. Boyle gets a call that his next appointment has arrived, explaining that Goth Corp is hosting a ceremony for the Gotham Humanitarian Industrialist of the Year Award, which Boyle has won. Bruce quietly expresses his disbelief, then congratulates Boyle, assuring him it's [[SarcasmMode “well-deserved.”]]
16
17	From his sub-zero lair, Mr. Freeze watches the ceremony, then shoots the TV, saying that "she" needed compassion and charity, but didn't get any. He then directs his henchmen to build his freezing cannon.
18
19	Back in the Batcave, Batman remembers a newspaper headline that described an explosion at a Goth Corp facility, but the headline describes the explosion as caused by a leak, and Batman deduces that it was just a cover up. Batman heads to Goth Corp, in disguise, to investigate their secret files for further information. He finds a file on a woman named Nora Fries, which has a videotape of her husband, Dr. Victor Fries, describing a cryogenic chamber of his own design that he created to save people from terminal illness--including Nora herself. However, the tape shows Ferris Boyle barging in with some Goth Corp guards. Boyle demanded that the project be shut down because it was putting him in debt, heedless of the frozen woman in the chamber, who would die if the power was cut off. A protesting Fries tried to pull a guard's gun on Boyle, but Boyle convinced him to back down with an offer to discuss things before kicking him back into several chemicals that froze him. The tape ends there, and Mr. Freeze suddenly appears behind an appalled Batman, shooting him with his freeze gun.
20
21	Batman is later seen frozen to the ceiling in a cave with snow falling, as Mr. Freeze talks about how beautiful the snow is, and how vengeance is cold. Batman deduces that Mr. Freeze's suit is the result of having been bathed in the coolants, and Freeze confirms it, saying that he can no longer survive outside of sub-zero temperatures, never again to feel the warmth of the sun, or the touch of another human hand. Mr. Freeze describes how he is going to take revenge on the man who ruined his life, and Nora's also, ignoring Batman's objections that the giant freezing cannon will also kill everyone else in the building.
22
23	Leaving Batman hanging in his lair, Mr. Freeze proceeds to enact his plan to take revenge on Boyle. He blasts the Goth Corp building using his giant freezing cannon. Batman is able to escape, however, and after he stops the freeze cannon, Mr. Freeze simply goes into the party in order to personally settle his vendetta with Boyle. Freeze reminds Boyle of who he is, and after Boyle begs him to stop, he reminds Boyle that in his dreams, he sees Nora begging to be saved. Batman then goes to fight Mr. Freeze in hand-to-hand combat, but initially has a hard time because Freeze's suit enhances his strength. Batman defeats Mr. Freeze by pouring a thermos of hot chicken soup (which Alfred had given him earlier to help with his cold) over Freeze's helmet, cracking it and exposing him to the warm August air. Freeze falls to his knees, gasping for breath, his strength gone. Batman gives the tape of Boyle ruining Victor Fries's life to Summer Gleeson, so that the world may know that Ferris Boyle is not the man everyone thinks he is. Batman's parting line to a shivering Boyle is "Goodnight, humanitarian."
24
25	Freeze is incarcerated in Arkham Asylum in a special cell that keeps him at sub-zero temperatures, holding his snow globe with a skater in it. He cries to himself, saying that he failed Nora, and begs her forgiveness. Batman sympathetically watches him from atop an adjacent building, and walks away.
26	----
27	!!Tropes in this episode include:
28	* ActorAllusion:
29	** In his introduction, Mr. Freeze says "Revenge is a dish best served cold", often referred to as a Klingon proverb in pop culture. Creator/MichaelAnsara had played the Klingon Captain Kang in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''.
30	** The episode contains two references to ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. Batman returns a criminal partially frozen by Mr. Freeze to health using a similar device to the "Bacta Tank" that revives Luke. Later in the episode, Batman is frozen upside down on to the ceiling by Dr. Fries much like Luke Skywalker was in the wampa's cave. The episode features Luke Skywalker himself, Creator/MarkHamill, in the role of Ferris Boyle.
31	* AdaptationalSympathy: The most famous example of this trope came from this episode. In the past, Freeze was nothing more than a gimmicky, ice-themed villain with no origin or name, resulting in him being killed off without much fanfare. This episode rewrote his origin story as a cryogenicist named Dr. Victor Fries, who was turned into a being unable to survive outside sub-zero temperatures when his attempts to save his dying wife were cruelly disrupted by his corrupt boss; putting him back on the map as one of fiction's most famous [[TragicVillain tragic villains]].
32	* AntiClimax: While Mr. Freeze is more than a match for Batman throughout the episode, after a brief fight during the climax, Batman quickly defeats him by throwing a thermos of hot chicken soup (which Alfred had given him to aid his cold) over Freeze's freezing cold containment suit helmet, which shatters it open via [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_shock thermal shock]] and leaves him powerless, struggling and gasping for breath on the floor.
33	* AntiVillain: This episode was considered a turning point for the character of Mr. Freeze, who was previously a silly and unremarkable one-shot villain from UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age\|OfComicBooks}}. He was revamped in this series as a heart-breakingly TragicVillain who only wanted revenge on the person who ruined both his life and Nora’s.
34	* ApocalypticLog: The videotape inside Victor Fries's case file. It starts out as a normal video log, with Fries describing his invention, before Boyle interrupts him, eventually causing the accident that renders him unable to survive outside of a sub-zero environment, and turns him into Mr. Freeze.
35	* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Although the tape was an incontestable proof of Boyle's crimes, it may not have been evidence to prepare criminal charges against him, given that Batman outright stole the video rather than police acquiring it with a search warrant. Though considering that he gave the video to a reporter instead of the police, it will still be enough to ruin Boyle’s reputation.
36	* AssholeVictim: Ferris Boyle, the target of Freeze's plan. Batman still feels compelled to save Boyle, but he also sympathizes with Freeze and outs Boyle for who he really is -- complete with the evidence of him trying to kill Victor and Nora -- right after subduing Freeze. Then he leaves Boyle half-frozen, when he wouldn't even do that to one of Mr. Freeze’s henchmen.
37	-->'''Batman:''' (''disgustedly leaves Boyle without bothering to unfreeze him'') Good night… ''humanitarian''.
38	* BadBoss:
39	** Mr. Freeze, who lacks regard for an unlucky henchman who got hit with his freeze gun and threatens the other henchmen of whom ''do'' show concern.
40	** Ferris Boyle, who cheerfully accepts humanitarian awards in public while calling his employees "wage slaves" to fellow one-percenter Bruce Wayne, and who thinks MurderIsTheBestSolution because ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney.
41	* BaddieFlattery: Before his MotiveRant, Mr. Freeze sincerely complements Batman for deducing from the security footage that being shoved into the coolant by Boyle radically altered his genetic makeup, to the point that he can no longer survive outside of sub-zero temperatures.
42	-->'''Mr. Freeze''': Very good, a detective to the last.
43	* BestServedCold: Mr. Freeze says it word-for-word. Also, a literal case.
44	* BigOMG: Batman himself when he discovers Freeze's motives. The production team is still shocked that they got away with it.
45	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Ferris claims [=GothCorp=] is "the people company", and that if Freeze has a problem with them, he'd be willing to talk about it. During his meeting with Bruce, he reveals his true greedy colors and calls "the people company" good PR, but he reveals this to Bruce while still acting friendly and cordial towards him, possibly thinking Bruce is a fellow CorruptCorporateExecutive, oblivious to the fact Bruce is a HonestCorporateExecutive who is actually [[StealthInsult subtly disgusted with Boyle's true colors, to the point he declares "I feel ill"]] (both figuratively and literally, as Bruce was suffering from a cold following his initial encounter with Mr. Freeze) before politely excusing himself due to his cold.
46	* BittersweetEnding: Batman prevents Freeze from killing Boyle but ensures that Boyle is nevertheless exposed and likely sent to prison, but Nora's (presumed to be) dead, and Victor is still frozen, believing himself to have failed his wife. The final shot is of him in his special cell in Arkham, grieving for Nora and asking for her forgiveness, while a sympathetic Batman watches from afar.
47	* BlessedWithSuck: Due to being pushed into chemicals that froze him, Victor Fries needs his suit to stay cold, otherwise he will die. While said suit is incredibly strong, the helmet is fragile, which is how Batman incapacitates him, using a thermos of chicken soup.
48	* {{Bookends}}: The episode begins and ends with Mr. Freeze gazing at his snowglobe with a skater inside while talking about how the loss of his wife hurts him and how he misses her.
49	* BreakoutVillain: Mr. Freeze. He was meant to be a OneShotCharacter, but he was so popular they kept bringing him back.
50	* BrokenTears: Mr. Freeze at the end of the episode.
51	* CallBack: One of the newspaper headlines Bruce flips past while looking for information on [=GothCorp=] is about the ceremony to open Harvey Dent's new prison from "Pretty Poison".
52	* CatchYourDeathOfCold: Fighting Mr. Freeze is enough to give Bruce a cold. Justified: it's stated there's an exceptional heat wave occurring; the temperature shift would weaken his immune system.
53	* ChekhovsGun: Alfred gives Batman some hot chicken soup in a thermos to help his cold. It proves useful against Mr. Freeze at the end, when he uses it to break open his special helmet and incapacitate him.
54	* ChronicEvidenceRetentionSyndrome: For no discernable reason, Boyle's kept the security tape explaining not only Fries' "accident" but also his entire backstory. Needless to say, this immediately makes sure Batman's gunning for ''him'' as well as Freeze.
55	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Ferris Boyle, under the guise of saying that his company is "the people's company".
56	* CreateYourOwnVillain: Ferris Boyle thought Victor Fries was pathetic and harmless. [[FromNobodyToNightmare Oops.]]
57	* CruelMercy: On one hand, you wouldn't blame Freeze for wanting to make Ferris Boyle pay dearly for ruining his and Nora's lives. On the other hand, if Batman didn't save his life, he wouldn't live long enough to witness the Dark Knight do something worse: turn in evidence of his crime that would certainly tarnish his [[SlaveToPR precious]] reputation and then leave without even trying to unfreeze him!
58	* DarkerAndEdgier: Not only taking a joke villain like Freeze and turning him into a legitimate threat, but for a cartoon show to delve into themes [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge such as vengeance]] and that characters could ''die''…
59	* DirtyCoward: Notice Ferris Boyle assaults Victor Fries, after he got Fries to willingly lower his gun on him.
60	* DontYouDarePityMe: Mr. Freeze to Batman, who expresses condolences about what happened to his wife.
61	* EscapeArtist: Freeze trapped Batman by freezing him to the ceiling, locking his hands together with ice cuffs, and taking his utility belt with him when he and his mooks went to get revenge. Batman escapes in ten seconds.
62	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Boyle is built up to be this genial philanthropist...before complaining about the "wage slaves", revealing that his glossy public image is just an act.
63	* EvenEvilHasStandards:
64	** The other henchmen object to Freeze leaving a man behind, saying that he's "one of us"--at least, until Freeze threatens them with the same fate. They still don't seem comfortable about it when the guy pleads with them and clutches at their legs in desperation.
65	** Overlapping with PragmaticVillainy, Freeze doesn't try to kill people until he makes his move on Boyle, at that point accepting them as collateral damage. Indeed, he settles for freezing a door rather than hurting the guards chasing him, gives Batman a chance to back out of their first encounter, and spares Batman until it's clear he won't let Freeze get his revenge. But even then, he settles for locking Batman up (presumably until he can finally give Boyle his due).
66	* EverybodyHasStandards: Batman may be [[TheStoic stoic]] at times, but even ''he'' can't hide his horror and disgust when he discovers how heartless Mr. Boyle was to Victor.
67	* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Ferris Boyle showing his true colors around Bruce Wayne while acting cordial to him seems to come from Boyle being unable to believe that his fellow executives are capable of being genuinely philanthropic. Perhaps because Boyle himself is incapable of genuine philanthropy, he assumed that his fellow executives were also secretly selfish.
68	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Bruce's meeting with Boyle quickly shows that he's not as nice a person as he lets the public think. First, even though Bruce coughs throughout the meeting (due to the cold Mr. Freeze's weapon gave him), Boyle never once asks if he's okay. Second, he admits that the humanitarian image he projects is more for publicity. This hints at how he's more of a selfish BadBoss and a VillainWithGoodPublicity than a humanitarian.
69	* FreezeRay: Mr. Freeze's weapon of choice. His objective is to build an enormous one with which he can freeze Boyle's entire building with him inside.
70	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: As Summer Gleeson is finishing up with her report on Mr. Freeze's latest crime, you can see several kids run up to the snow and start playing with it. A policeman chases them off, as this is a crime scene. However, just as he shoos them away, the kids pelt him with snowballs.
71	* HarmlessFreezing: Averted by Mr. Freeze's guns. The henchman who is hit needs a hot chemical bath to return him to normal. Even Batman has to cope with the aftereffects. After he escapes from being frozen to the ceiling, he's seen coughing (his cold likely made worse by getting hit with the ray a second time) and rubbing his leg.
72	* HateSink: Ferris Boyle is a corrupt scumbag who is responsible for why Mr. Freeze is who he is now, and actually tried to kill both him and his wife for money. To make it worse, he's a VillainWithGoodPublicity, and has lied about everything he did.
73	* {{Irony}}: Earlier, Mr. Freeze says that he can't shed tears anymore because his emotions were frozen in the accident, but he does so in his special cell in Arkham. He's so scarred by what has happened to him that he believed he's dead emotionally.
74	* JerkassHasAPoint: Sure, Ferris Boyle is a bastard through and through, but Victor Fries was using his equipment without permission, and things only got out of control when Victor pulled a gun on Boyle. In Victor’s defense though, he was trying to save his wife, and Victor ''lowered'' the gun first at Boyle's pleading and looked like he might have surrendered willingly before Boyle kicked him into the chemicals that caused the accident.
75	* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Ferris Boyle claims to be a part of "the people company". However, as it's discovered, it's all an act so that he could get money and he doesn't care about anyone other than himself.
76	* LackOfEmpathy:
77	** Ferris Boyle cares not one whit for any of his employees, and is all set to pull the plug on a machine keeping a woman alive because of how expensive it is to run.
78	** Also Fries after his accident, most noted by the scene early on where he accidentally freezes a henchman's legs, abandons him, and has the gall to say it was the man's fault for not being careful.
79	* TheLostLenore: Nora Fries. [[spoiler:Later revealed to be safe.]]
80	* MagicalSecurityCam: Batman watches security videos of Mr. Freeze's origin, which for some reason includes close ups and camera cuts, as though someone not only used a film camera but edited it as well.
81	* MeaningfulName: Subverted with both Freeze and Boyle. Freeze, despite his motif and declaring himself as having lost all emotions, still possesses empathy and is entirely driven by emotional motives. Boyle ("boil") in contrast, is the cold-hearted one and shows zero empathy.
82	* MoralityChain: Nora for Mr. Freeze. Freeze put down a gun while she was still contained in a cryogenic chamber, but now he is willing to get his revenge and kill anyone who gets in his way.
83	* MotiveRant: See below.
84	* MythologyGag: Alfred's line "With all the compartments on your belt, you'd think there'd be one for tissues" is a reference to the 1960s ''Series/{{Batman\|1966}}'' series with his Bat-Belt containing every possible tool to help him in various situations.
85	* NeverSayDie: Averted twice in the same MotiveRant.
86	-->'''Batman''': That suit you wear… a result of the coolant?
87	-->'''Mr. Freeze:''' [[BaddieFlattery Very good. A detective to the last]]. Tonight, I mean to pay back the man who ruined my life. '''Our''' lives.
88	-->'''Batman:''' Even if you have to kill everyone in the building to do it?
89	-->'''Mr. Freeze:''' (''[[{{Revenge}} nods in the affirmative]]'') Think of it, Batman. To never again walk on a summer's day with a hot wind in your face, and a warm hand to hold. Oh, yes… '''I'd kill for ''that'''''.
90	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Creator/MarkHamill based Ferris Boyle's voice on Creator/PhilHartman.
91	* NotSoStoic: Despite claiming his emotions have been frozen dead, Freeze weeps quietly in his Arkham cell at the end of the episode, after failing to avenge his (assumed deceased) wife.
92	* OffhandBackhand: Batman to a henchman just after donning his utility belt.
93	* OffscreenVillainDarkMatter: A recurring question with most if not all Batman villains, but especially egregious in Fries' case. It's not even explained how he got out of the Goth Corp labs ''alive'' after the chemical accident (when Boyle [[HeKnowsTooMuch would have had every reason to make sure he was dead]]), let alone how he put together an entire strength-amplifying refrigeration suit ''and'' portable FreezeRay.
94	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
95	** Played with. After learning of his backstory, Batman somberly tells Mr. Freeze "I saw what happened to your wife. I'm sorry". Now Batman showing empathy isn't anything uncommon (he ''is'' a [[DarkIsNotEvil hero]] after all). What is serious is that he actually says the two words "I'm sorry", something he seldom ever says in the series. This indicates how exceptionally tragic Mr. Freeze's past is.
96	** Also, right after giving the evidence of Boyle’s heartless treatment of Mr. Freeze and Nora to Summer Gleeson, Batman coldly bids a half-frozen Boyle good night and doesn’t try to unfreeze him! By contrast, Batman was quite willing to save one of Freeze’s mooks after his legs were frozen! That indicates how much Batman despised Boyle.
97	* PetTheDog: During Mr. Freeze's initial break-in, instead of trying to kill the guards, he simply freezes the door so they can't get in his way. A little later, he tells Batman he doesn't want to fight and warns him to stay out of his way instead of immediately attacking him like other villains would. Once Batman prevents Freeze from freezing the entire building, he goes in after Boyle, but noticeably doesn't target anyone else at the party (unless they try to get in his way).
98	* PrecisionFStrike: Batman's reaction to seeing the fate of Victor and Nora is to quietly say "My God" rather than "gosh" or some other term. Apparently, the writers were surprised the censors let them keep it in.
99	* PunchPunchPunchUhOh: Batman finds out the hard way that Mr. Freeze's suit gives him enhanced strength, and ends up being [[BlownAcrossTheRoom thrown across the entire room]].
100	-->'''Mr. Freeze''': The advanced circuitry that powers my suit also ''triples'' my strength.
101	* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: Before the climax, Ferris Boyle believes Victor Fries to be dead.
102	* {{Revenge}}: Freeze's goal in this episode is to kill Ferris Boyle for both the accident that created him and taking Nora away from him. Batman doesn't applaud his methods of putting innocents at risk, but he sympathizes with his plight nonetheless.
103	* RevengeBeforeReason:
104	** Batman points out to Mr. Freeze that his plan for revenge would also affect dozens of people who had nothing to do with what happened to Nora. Freeze doesn't care at this point.
105	** Even with a broken helmet, gasping for breath and struggling to even crawl on the floor, Victor is still crying out for vengeance and trying to reach Boyle.
106	* RevengeIsNotJustice: Towards the end, when a defeated Freeze desperately cries out to enact vengeance on his enemy, it's Batman who voices that what Ferris Boyle actually deserves is [[CruelMercy to live long enough to face justice]].
107	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Freeze's vendetta against Boyle and his company.
108	* SaveTheVillain:
109	** Batman rescues one of Freeze's {{Mooks}} who was unfortunate enough to get hit by the FreezeRay, and thaws him with a chemical bath.
110	** [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-zagged]] with Ferris Boyle. Batman ''does'' save him from getting murdered, but gives the taped evidence of what Boyle did to Victor and Nora to Summer Gleeson and does not even offer to unfreeze Boyle.
111	* ShootTheTelevision: Mr. Freeze shoots a TV after it shows a news report about Boyle getting a humanitarian award.
112	* ShownTheirWork: Besides the physical impact of smashing the soup thermos against Freeze's helmet, the thermal shock of the hot soup coming into contact with the freezing cold glass is enough to shatter it.
113	* SickEpisode: Batman catches a cold due to being hit by a blast from Freeze in their first fight, and spends a lot of the episode clearly WorkingThroughTheCold.
114	* SmallRoleBigImpact: Ferris Boyle is only in one episode and presumably gets put away for life when his crimes are uncovered. It doesn't change the fact that his actions created Mr. Freeze, who went on to become one of Batman's most prominent enemies, all the way to the [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond distant future]]. Also, on a meta-example, this role was the very first voice-over role in the ''DCAU'' for Creator/MarkHamill, whose performance would lead him to the voice-over role that made him famous, aside from [[Franchise/StarWars Luke Skywalker]], ComicBook/TheJoker, which in turn lead him to take up more voice-over jobs up to today.
115	* SoupIsMedicine: Unable to convince him to stay at home and get some rest, Alfred gives Batman a thermos filled with chicken soup calling it "the best way to fight a cold". It winds up becoming a ChekhovsGun, but not in the way it was originally intended.
116	* StealthInsult: As Boyle reveals that he’s going to get the Humanitarian of the Year award — right after revealing his true [[{{Jerkass}} contempt for his employees]], Bruce remarks, "I feel ill". Boyle shows no sign of understanding that it's anything but Bruce commenting on his cold.
117	* StylisticSuck: WordOfGod is that the two instances wherein Batman’s emblem is drawn with the colours inverted wer deliberate, since people expected those kind of OffModel errors.
118	* SympatheticCriminal: Freeze pilfered company assets and later tried to get murderous revenge against Boyle. But considering that he was trying to save his dying wife and Boyle responded by flat out trying to murder him, it is almost impossible ''not'' to pity him.
119	* SympatheticVillainDespicableVillain: Of the two main villains, Mr. Freeze is a ruthless but poignant TragicVillain, who was trying to save his terminally-ill wife by putting her in cryogenic stasis while he worked on curing her, and a lab accident caused when he was defending his frozen wife from being effectively sentenced to death anyway rendered him unable to survive outside of sub-zero temperatures. The perpetrator who caused Freeze's accident and who Freeze is now motivated to take revenge on is Ferris Boyle, a sociopathic CorruptCorporateExecutive who callously ordered that Freeze's wife be taken off life support in front of Freeze while the latter was pleading, who attacked Freeze ''as the latter was standing down'' at the onset of the accident, and who left both Freeze and his wife to die. Tellingly, Batman sympathizes with Freeze even if he firmly opposes the latter's willingness to endanger innocent people, but Batman leaves Boyle to writhe in agony in a half-frozen state (a fate that Batman wouldn't even leave Freeze's own unfortunate mook to earlier) while spitting at Boyle in disgust, "Goodnight, [='=]''humanitarian''[='=]."
120	* SympathyForTheDevil: Bruce sympathizes with Freeze when he finds out the latter lost his wife (and even tells him he's sorry), but still won't let him commit murder or harm innocent bystanders.
121	* TragicVillain: Mr. Freeze, and ''how''.
122	* VillainHasAPoint:
123	** Ferris' actions clearly become criminal when he assaults Victor despite Fries having already backed down, and his command to pull the plug on Nora is nothing short of heartless, but his complaint is valid. Victor was using equipment that didn't belong to him, and essentially stealing money not just from Boyle, but from the whole company. The project was completely unauthorized, and that's not even going into the legal ethics of using a human subject in a secret experiment. Again though, Victor’s reasons for doing all this make you hardly want to blame him. Boyle, on the other hand, not so much. Besides this, the ethics of killing someone to save a large company and an already-wealthy man money are utterly deplorable.
124	** On the flip side, Victor is completely correct when telling Batman that Boyle ruined his life. Losing Nora was bad enough, but Victor has to remain within sub-freezing temperatures due to Boyle splattering him with chemicals. He begged for her life, and Boyle only cared about the bottom line. Victor can't walk in the sun or feel the barest of warmth. Batman even agrees, telling Summer Gleeson about what happened and handing her the videotape with crucial evidence, and furiously leaving Boyle to suffer half frozen. He just disagrees that killing Boyle and any bystanders in the way is the only course of action.
125	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Ferris Boyle, again; a BadBoss who's nevertheless receiving a humanitarian award. That goes away by the end when Batman gives the evidence of what he did to Summer.
126	* WeCare: Goth Corp's Slogan is "The People Company".
127	* WhatMeasureIsAMook: For Mr. Freeze, none, but for Batman, plenty. He rescues a mook that got caught in ice, whom Freeze forcibly demanded they abandon after his group's raid on Goth Corp to steal parts for his giant freezing gun, and thaws him out to the best of his ability.
128	* WorkingThroughTheCold: Batman comes down with a cold after being exposed to Mr. Freeze's ice ray, but still has to go out and stop the villain. Alfred makes him take a thermos of chicken soup with him -- which ultimately saves the day, as Batman defeats Freeze by using the thermos to smash his containment suit's helmet.
129	-----
130	-->''"I failed you. I wish there were another way for me to say it. [[DespairEventHorizon I cannot.]] I can only beg your forgiveness, and pray you hear me somehow, some place… some place [[TogetherInDeath where a warm hand waits for mine]]."''

Context Recap / BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE14HeartOfIce