%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

Due to the number of tropes present, ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' has been split into two pages. Tropes M-Z can be found [[JusticeLeague/{{TropesM-Z}} here]].
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!!This series provides examples of:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: A-C]]
* AbsenceOfEvidence: In "[[http://dcanimated.wikia.com/wiki/Hereafter Hereafter]]", Superman is apparently killed by Toyman's latest machine, but Bruce refuses to believe it, and presents his theory to Alfred by saying the lack of evidence is what tipped him off--Toyman's weapon left no trace evidence. It left no debris, so it didn't blow him up. It left no scorch marks, so it didn't incinerate him. It didn't even leave ''radiation'', hence it didn't disintegrate him. Bats decides that since Toyman is merely an obnoxious MadScientist, not a god, the [[NoConservationOfEnergy Law of Conservation]] is still in effect, and therefore Superman couldn't have just been destroyed. His conclusion; it teleported him somewhere. [[spoiler:He's right - Supes was shunted forward in time]], but the show doesn't make it clear whether or not Batman is [[NotSoStoic simply in denial]].
* AbsenteeActor: In ''Justice League'', it would be common for one or two members of the Original Seven to sit out a mission.
* AbsoluteCleavage: Vixen.
* {{Acrofatic}}[=/=]StoutStrength: Steven Mandragora.
* ActionDressRip: Franchise/WonderWoman in "Maid of Honor".
* ActionGirl: Too many examples to list individually.
* ActorAllusion:
** When TheFlash and SelfDemonstrating/LexLuthor swapped minds in "The Great Brain Robbery" the bodies kept their voice actors, so now Lex Luthor is being voiced by [[Series/{{Smallville}} Michael Rosenbaum]].
** The Trickster was voiced by Creator/MarkHamill, who played the Trickster in the [[Series/TheFlash live-action Flash TV series]], [[InkSuitActor with the animated design based on his live-action appearance]].
** In Part II of "The Once and Future Thing", time-displaced soldiers point at Batman (Terry [=McGinnis=]) and are commanded to "fire at will!" Terry is voiced by Creator/WillFriedle.
** The entire Royal Flush Gang from "Wild Cards" was played by the cast of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''. What's interesting is how HyndenWalch[[note]]who played Starfire[[/note]] and Creator/TaraStrong[[note]]who played Raven[[/note]] switched roles, with Strong being the attractive, popular one (Queen) and with Walch being the quiet, darker one with the emotional issues (Ace). For the boys all the roles are exactly the same, the leader has the voice of Robin, the shapeshifter has the voice of Beast Boy, and the big strong black guy has the voice of Cyborg. Also, the producers seemed to deliberately avoid a King/Batman fight[[note]]King was voiced by Scott Menville, who voiced Robin in ''TT''[[/note]].
** J.K. Simmons voices General Wade Eiling, who is made to look a whole helluva lot like [[Franchise/{{Spider-Man}} J. Jonah Jameson]], only bald (like Simmons himself - he wore a toupee to play Jameson in the films).
** In "Epilogue," the second Royal Flush Gang has [[WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack a Jack that's a samurai]]. When he's returned to normal, his human form looks suspiciously like Creator/PhilLaMarr.
** In "The Ties That Bind", Virman Vundabar is voiced by [[Series/RowanAndMartinsLaughIn Arte Johnson]], and gets to say his CatchPhrase ("Very interesting") from his old show.
* ActualPacifist: Dove
* ActuallyIAmHim: In "A Better World", after the League rescues Hawkgirl from the Justice Lord universe's Arkham Asylum, they are confronted by the military. Before anything can happen, the Justice Lord Batman arrives and orders the soldiers to stand down, whilst he takes them away. The League assumed that he was ''their'' Batman, who had disguised himself with the Lord Batman's costume in order to let them escape.
-->'''Superman''': You fooled them. Even ''I'' thought you were him.\\
'''Justice Lord Batman''': I ''am'' him.
%% * AdaptationDistillation
* AdaptationExplanationExtrication[=/=]AdaptationInducedPlothole: Obsidian is seen [[LivingProp in the background]] in many episodes of ''Unlimited'', but as the son of Alan Scott, the original [[TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Franchise/GreenLantern, his birth is something of a mystery since his father apparently never existed in this continuity.
* AdaptationalBadass - Notable examples include Aquaman (based more on his 90's counterpart from the comics) and the Ultimen (updated versions of ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' characters).
** The DCAU version of Aquaman manages the delicate task of turning him into an AdaptationalBadass AntiHero without going too far into stereotypical DarkerAndEdgier territory. Even in ''Unlimited'' he's more of an ally than a member of the team, and there are moments when he's scarier than Batman.
--> '''Dr. Fate:''' "Solomon Grundy's grave is empty."
--> '''Aquaman:''' "Give me the names of those responsible. [[ThisMeansWar Then dig more graves."]]
* AdaptiveAbility: Amazo with his AllYourPowersCombined.
* AdolfHitler: Appears in cryonic storage several times in "The Savage Time," where he has been replaced as the leader of Nazi Germany by Vandal Savage. Lovingly referred to by Savage as "That Lunatic".
* AdventurerArchaeologist: Hawkman's secret identity, Carter Hall, seems to spend all his time either breaking into ancient tombs riddled with {{Death Trap}}s, or [[StalkingIsLove stalking Hawkgirl]].
* AffablyEvil: VandalSavage, the Ultra-Humanite, and even Lex Luthor on occasion.
* AffirmativeActionLegacy: John Stewart was chosen over Hal Jordan precisely to avoid making every super-powered character on the show white, and Hawkgirl was chosen over Hawkman to avoid TheSmurfettePrinciple by having another girl on the team besides Diana.
* AgonyBeam: Darkseid's Agony Matrix. According to himself:
--> Direct neural stimulation of pain receptors. All of them. Imagine the worst pain you've ever felt in your life, times a thousand. [[FateWorseThanDeath Now imagine that pain continuing forever]]. Oh, that's right: you don't have to imagine.
* AIIsACrapShoot: {{Brainiac}}, the Manhunter robots.
* AlienInvasion: Numerous times.
* AlienSky: The view from an alien moon is a plot point in "In Blackest Night".
* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Green Lantern rings ''can'' [[TranslatorMicrobes translate languages]], but even when no rings or telepathic Martians are around, [[TranslationConvention English still seems to be the default language of the universe]].
* AllGermansAreNazis: Averted. When Wonder Woman rescues a code-breaker from Nazi captivity in WorldWarII she is surprised to discover that he is German himself, and he explains that not all Germans are like ''them''.
* AllJustADream: The episodes "Only A Dream" and "For The Man Who Has Everything".
%% * AllMythsAreTrue
* AllThereInTheManual: Boston Brandt (Comicbook/{{Deadman}}) had never appeared in the DCAU prior to his appearance in season three of ''Unlimited'', but both he and Batman make reference to previously working together. This occurred in the comic tie-in to ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', which was considered canon with the aired DCAU.
* AllohistoricalAllusion: Towards the end of "The Savage Time," the members of the German High Command are beginning to resent Vandal Savage's actions and position. When speaking about [[AdolfHitler the previous Fuhrer]], they admit that he was crazy, but at least he listened to his generals. In real life, one of the key reasons often given for the collapse of the German military was Hitler's refusal to accept advice or corrections from his military staff.
* AlphaBitch: Stargirl... [[PlayingWithATrope sort of]]. She is [[GloryHound vain and fame seeking]], has a large sense of entitlement, and mocks and belittles those around her to ease her own feelings, but means well beneath it all. [[GenreSavvy She is well aware of how her actions look]] and recognizes that her words make her "petty."
* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: The roster of Dr. Fate's super-team seen in "Wake the Dead" is based on the original Defenders. Dr. Fate = Dr. Strange, Amazo = Silver Surfer, Hawkgirl = Nighthawk, Grundy = Hulk, and Aquaman = Namor.
** General Eiling takes an experimental serum in "Patriot Act" and becomes a large muscled brute very reminiscent of The Hulk, complete with clothes bursting transformation sequence.
*** [[ReverseFunnyAneurysm Which would make him analogous to the Red Hulk, whom he predated.]]
** The series itself recently got one in the form of ''TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes''.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Invoked by Hawkgirl when she tries to talk The Flash into asking out Fire.
-->'''Hawkgirl:''' "I hear she's...y'know..."
-->''Cut to Fire laughing and talking intimately with Ice.''
-->'''Hawkgirl:''' "...Brazilian."[[hottip:*:Ethnically speaking, she ''is''.]]
** *cough* [[http://dcanimated.wikia.com/wiki/Kragger Kragger]] *cough*
* AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome: The Amulet of First Magic, which gives Mordred the power to get rid of his mother and completely rid the world of all adults.
* AncientAstronauts: The modern-day Thanagarians might be locked in a bloody, endless war with the [[InformedAttribute horrific]] Gordanians, but eight thousand years ago they were a pretty benevolent people. When two law officers accidentally crashed in north-east Africa and began to be worshipped by the locals (In ''spite'' of their wishes), they used their advanced technology to bring water and food to the arid locale and created a peaceful society that covered much of the continent. It was such a nice place to live that neighboring countries would actually ''thank'' them for conquering their homes. Unfortunately, they had only educated their people to the level of tool ''users'', not tool ''makers'', so when they died their society collapsed in a generation.
* AndIMustScream: Chronos, trapped in a time loop of his wife screaming at him for all eternity.
* AndTheAdventureContinues: {{Trope Namer|s}}
* AndThenWhat: When Bizarro appears in "Ultimatum" he is assisting Giganta in her efforts to break Gorilla Grodd out of jail. When Wonder Woman asks him why, he explains that he will do anything for Giganta, who he has fallen in love with, including breaking her boyfriend out of jail. When Wonder Woman asks him what he thinks will happen after Grodd is free, [[LogicBomb he freezes in confusion]].
* AndThisIsFor: In "War World", Draaga gives such a speech while [[UnstoppableRage pounding]] on Mongul, citing his people, his honor, and justice.
* AnimatedArmor: The Annihilator, built by Hephaestus for Ares, the God of War.
* AntagonistInMourning: Lex Luthor in "Hereafter".
* AntiClimacticUnmasking: When Lex Luthor unmasks the Flash, all he can do is stare at the red-headed kid and admit that he has no idea who the heck it is.
* AntiClimax: Captain Cold is very disappointed with how the fight against the Flash ended, since he was looking forward to bloody revenge and all he got was the sight of the Flash falling into a mirror. Of course, [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle the episode was not over yet...]]
* AntiMagic: Hawkgirl's mace, and Thanagarian technology in general, is designed to nullify magic.
* AntiVillain: The Ultra-Humanite fixed a toy for ''orphans on Christmas'', then willingly went back to jail. The only outright villainous thing he does in the whole series is help Lex break out of jail and fight the League, but he gives ''that'' up when he gets a better offer: money to public broadcasting.
* {{Anvilicious}}: In universe, even Superman finds Wind Dragon's impassioned speech about environmentalism to be too much.
* ArbitrarySkepticism: Frequently used by characters, but {{deconstructed|Trope}} each and every time.
** TheFlash was the first to explicitly point out the ridiculous nature of skepticism in their line of work since, as he points out to John Stewart, "we've both got a [[MartianManhunter martian's]] phone number on our speed dial; I think I deserve the benefit of the doubt here."
** In "Shadow of the Hawk", where Batman describes the academic humiliation of Carter Hall after he began to believe that aliens visited Ancient Egypt, Shayera Hol "agrees" with him and points out that this proves Hall ''must'' be crazy, [[SarcasmMode since we all]] ''[[SarcasmMode know]]'' [[SarcasmMode that there is no such things as aliens]]. [[DontExplainTheJoke Which she is.]]
** When Comicbook/{{Deadman}} mocks the idea of Gorilla City in "Dead Reckoning" Wonder Woman asks why he, as a ghost from the Himalayas possessing Superman's body, has a problem with this. Deadman concedes that she has a point.
* ArcWelding: The long-running storylines of ''Justice League Unlimited'' were all connected back to second season episodes of ''Justice League'' itself, but were then pushed back even further into ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', with plot points springing directly from episodes of ''Superman'' that had aired eight years (And two series) before the current show. References are also made to episodes as far back as the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', including "On Leather Wings", which was the ''very first'' entry in the Franchise/{{DCAU}}.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Justice-Lord Batman drives home one of these to his regular universe counterpart, to the reason why he helped create a totalitarian state;
--> '''Batman''': You grabbed power!
--> '''Lord Batman''' And ''with'' that power, we made a world where no eight-year-old boy will EVER lose his parents ''because of some punk with a gun.''
--> '''Batman''': *drops Batarang dejectedly* You win.
** Batman turns it back on him later though, after stopping by a cafe and seeing a guy getting taken away by [[FacelessMooks masked police]] for complaining about the bill:
--> '''Batman''': They'd love it here, don't you think?
--> '''Lord Batman''': Who?
--> '''Batman''': Mom and Dad. They'd be ''so'' proud of you.
--> '''Lord Batman''': ... Just drive.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: After taking over Tartarus and perusing Hades' Library, Faust lists off texts that "make the {{Necronomicon}} look like a children's book": the Lost Scrolls of Herculaneum, Merlin's juvenilia, Pierre Menard's ''Literature/DonQuixote''![[note]]This is actually a reference to "Pierre Menard, Author of the ''Quixote''", a short story that plays on literary criticism and such. Point is that it's not magical.[[/note]]
* ArtEvolution - Superman was originally designed to be slightly bulkier than his ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' incarnation, along with some additional lines on his face and a change in coloration. Negative fan response to the design (the lines made him look older/recovering from Kryptonite-tainted clams) led to them tweaking the design slightly by altering the face, making it resemble to the ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' design, though the design still retained the bulk of the Season 1 design. [[http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/jl/episodes/secretorigins/p1/09.jpg Here is one image]] of the first design used in ''Justice League'', and [[http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/jl/episodes/starcrossed/p3/34.jpg here is an image]] of the redesign for Season 2 and ''Justice League Unlimited''. Wonder Woman also had [[http://worldsfinestonline.com/WF/jlu/bios/ww/13.jpg a tweak]] for Season 2 and ''Unlimited'', [[http://worldsfinestonline.com/WF/jl/bios/heroes/wwoman/46.jpg losing the cheekbones she had in Season 1]].
* ArtMajorBiology:
** Allergies are not contagious, cannot be engineered and are not selective to gender. Allergens themselves are not harmful in any way, shape or form, the effects (The actual allergic reaction) are caused by a reaction of the body's own immune system.
** Grodd's plan in "Dead Reckoning" is to create a "Devolution Ray" to turn every human being in the planet into an ape. Humans did not evolve from apes, so even if we grant the premise that Grodd can undo evolution, it would have turned a human being into whatever common ancestor on the evolutionary path the two species share. And the beam also would've apparently devolved Superman (the humanoid ''alien'' who likely had an at least slightly different evolutionary path) and Diana (the magical animated sculpture) into apes. At least Luthor [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall thinks]] it's a stupid idea.
* ArtShift: Grodd's story about Prince Jon in "To Another Shore", drawn in a more typical, realistic comic book style.
* AssimilationBackfire: During Amazo's first appearance, he copies the powers of all the League's members while fighting them. Superman turns out to be a subversion; Amazo does inherit his weakness to kryptonite, much like Parasite, but surpasses it shortly afterward. Played straight when the Martian Manhunter submits at the end, as Amazo gains his telepathy, uses it to discover that Lex Luthor has been deceiving him, and basically calls off the conflict.
* AnAssKickingChristmas: The Christmas special where Green Lantern and Hawkgirl spend their holiday in an alien bar, asskicking.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever:
** Giganta is a recurring villain, created by Gorilla Grodd.
** Longshadow, [[CaptainErsatz a recreation of]] [[WesternAnimation/SuperFriends Apache Chief]], appears in "Ultimatum" and the climax of the Cadmus arc.
** Atom-Smasher appears in numerous group shots of the expanded League, and has a personal fight scene in "Task Force X," [[LivingProp but never gets any dialogue or backstory]].
* TheAtoner: Hawkgirl. Before her, Etrigan.
* AxCrazy - Killer Frost.
* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:J'onn J'onzz]].
* BackFromTheDead: Solomon Grundy (who CameBackWrong-- twice!) and [[spoiler: Darkseid]].
* BackToBackBadasses: In the final episode, [[spoiler: Batman and Lex Luthor]].
%% * BadGuyBar
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: Lord!Superman. In the comics, Doomsday [[Comicbook/TheDeathOfSuperman killed Superman]] after already defeating the entirety of the JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, but Lord!Superman lobotomized him five minutes into the fight once it became apparent that his strength approached Superman's own.
* BadGuysPlayPool: The BadGuyBar in "Flash and Substance" has a pool table constantly in use in the background. When the Flash [[FriendlyEnemy convinces the Trickster to help him out]], the pool table is destroyed.
* {{Badass}}: Pretty much everyone, but Comicbook/{{Aquaman}} is the most surprising iteration. In his first appearance in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', Aquaman was portrayed as a mix of the angry-king version then current and the classic, optimistic character previously used in ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'', but by the time Justice League rolled around the depiction "[[NinetiesAntiHero matured]]" to the PeterDavid version of the character.
* BadassBoast: "No man escapes the Manhunters!" Well, up until now.
%% * BadassCrew
* BadassGrandpa: Several, such as the modern day {{Blackhawk}}s and the leader of Skartaris. Wildcat, much like [[JusticeSocietyOfAmerica his comic counterpart]], is still a trainer and compatriot of the new generation of heroes despite his advancing years.
* BadassInANiceSuit: Lex Luthor, when he is not wearing his military style fatigues, InstitutionalApparel or PoweredArmor. Lampshaded with "I had to get my power suit."
* BadassLongcoat: TheQuestion.
* BadassNormal: Batman, of course, but also a fair number of ''Unlimited'' League members. The latter are spotlighted in "Patriot Act", and TheQuestion sometimes seems to be the ''real'' star of the series.
* BarBrawl: Hawkgirl seems to enjoy a good brawl, as she starts a fight (In anger) in "In Blackest Night" and starts another one (Just for fun) in "Comfort and Joy".
* BareHandedBladeBlock: General Wade Eiling, after his transformation, catches Shining Knight's sword ''with one hand'' and throws him to the ground. It had previously been established that Shining Knight's sword was the one weapon present which ''could'' injure the General, after bullets, explosions and even Quantum Arrows did not even mark him.
* BareYourMidriff: Supergirl, Shayera (in JLU), Fire, Huntress, Stargirl, Volcana, Kat's new outfit, the females at Skartaris.
* BarrierWarrior: The Green Lanterns, Sinestro, and Star Sapphire.
* BashBrothers:
** Flash and Green Lantern were the most-often paired of the main team
** Vigilante and Shining Knight show up a surprising amount in Unlimited.
* BatmanColdOpen: Numerous times, often as a way of sneaking in references and cameos of [[Franchise/TheDCU DCU]] heroes and villains that could not be fit into the regular episode.
* BatmanGambit: In addition to [[Franchise/{{Batman}} the obvious]], the Question pulls one on [[{{Expy}} Galatea]], and a sort of a weird helpful one on [[YouKilledMyFather Huntress]]. Flash has the rare honor of successfully pulling off a BatmanGambit against (Justice Lord) ''Batman''.
* BatmanGrabsAGun: Superman attempts to lobotomize Doomsday in the "Doomsday Sanction," just as his Justice Lord counterpart did in "A Better World." Batman also literally grabs a gun while he was possessed and is clearly appalled when the ghost leaves his body.
* BattleCouple: Pretty much every OfficialCouple in the show.
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: "Only A Dream."
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor[=/=]LiteralGenie: Hath-Set follows through on his loyalty to his Thanagarian pharaoh Katar-Hol with brutal efficiency, and when Katar discovers his wife and best friend are in love with each other, and in a blind rage offhand wishes they were dead, Hath-Set, who was eavesdropping, makes it so... to Katar's intense dismay.
* BeamOWar: In "Only a Dream," John Stewart and [[PlayingWithFire Volcana]] square off against one another. Volcana seemed to be on the verge of overpowering John, but she was knocked down by Batman and John was able to gain the upper hand.
* BeautifulAllAlong:
** There was never any implication that she was actually ugly, but Hawkgirl wore her mask for every single scene in the first two seasons, never revealing what she really looked like and leading some fans to think that her mask ''was'' her face. When she and John Stewart finally admit that they have feelings for each other she points out that they are too different, not even the same ''species'', and John says that all he sees are a man and a woman as he [[DramaticUnmask slowly takes off her mask]]. Beneath the mask she is a beautiful woman with [[FieryRedhead long red hair]] and [[GreenEyes piercing green eyes]].
** When the Question and {{Huntress}} team-up in "Double Date," she theorizes that he must be the ugliest person in the world in order to hide his face [[TheBlank like he does]]. There was a brief glance at his unmasked face earlier in the series in "Fearful Symmetry," but "Flashpoint" has his {{dramatic unmask}}ing. At that point he has been beaten so badly his face is almost unrecognizable as the same man and he sourly comments that Huntress was right, he is "the ugliest guy in the world." [[Heartwarming/JusticeLeague Huntress disagrees.]]
%% * BecomingTheMask
* BeneathTheMask: The Flash. See ObfuscatingStupidity.
* BelligerentSexualTension: Hawkgirl and Green Lantern bicker and argue so much throughout the first two seasons that Flash [[EveryoneCanSeeIt actually compares them to an old married couple]]. The two eventually [[TheyDo realize their feelings]] in "Wild Cards", near the end of the second season, and are a couple in "Starcrossed", the season finale. Even SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker [[LampshadeHanging noticed their relationship]] before they finally admitted it:
-->'''The Joker''': Is it just me, or is there something going on between those two?
* BenevolentAlienInvasion: The Thanagarians ''pretended'' to be a BenevolentAlienInvasion to cover their true purpose, but Batman exposed them in short order.
* BerserkButton: Aquaman is [[PapaWolf rather protective of his child]].
* BetrayalInsurance: When A.M.A.Z.O. copies Superman's powers (and weaknesses), Batman uses a piece of kryptonite on it.
-->'''Hawkgirl:''' Do you always keep that in your belt?\\
'''Batman:''' Call it... insurance. ([[GrapplingHookPistol grapples away]])\\
'''Hawkgirl:''' And they call me scary.
** Lampshaded in one episode where Batman asks Superman what's to keep him from becoming a Justice Lord. Superman half-jokes that there's always the Kryptonite that Bruce carries around. Bruce yells that it's no laughing matter. Too bad they missed out on the opportunity for Clark to seriously give Bruce permission to take him down, which was a Defining Character Moment in the comics.
* BetweenMyLegs: The series ''loves'' this shot.
* BewareTheNiceOnes:
** Flash, [[FunPersonified the goofy, light-hearted member of the League]] is the one to finally defeat [[spoiler: Brainiac/Luthor]] after the entire rest of the League had failed.
** The series seems built on the principle that the nicer you are, the more epic your eventual rages are. Darkseid finds out [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywo6F4xYTvA the hard and painful way]] when Superman decides to finally stop holding back..
%% * BewareTheSuperman
* BigBad: [[spoiler: Brainiac]] in the Cadmus Arc, though he ultimately fuses with [[spoiler: Lex]] to acquire an imagination. The LegionOfDoom Arc started out with Grodd, and then switched to Lex, but ultimately defaulted to [[spoiler: Darkseid]].
* BigBadassBattleSequence: Five episodes involve the League, or their allies, taking part in what can only be described as a war given the number of enemies and scale of the fight.
** In "The Savage Time," the League is sent back to WorldWarII and takes part in the struggle between the Allies and the Axis. They fight off fighter squadrons, armored battalions and even War Wheels.
** In "Maid of Honor," Wonder Woman and Batman stage what is, in essence, a full invasion of Kasnia. They wind up fighting the air force, infantry and tanks. [[SoundtrackDissonance All set to the marriage of Princess Audrey and Vandal Savage]].
** "Hearts and Minds," opens with four Green Lanterns engaged against the entire military might of Despero, including dozens of his superpowered acolytes and an armada of battleships.
** "Starcrossed" climaxes with a fight between the League and thousands of fighters of the Thanagarian Expeditionary Force.
** "Destroyer," the [[GrandFinale final episode]], has the expanded League ''and'' the Legion of Doom [[EnemyMine teaming up]] against a full-scale invasion of Earth by Darkseid and the forces of Apokolips.
* BigDamnHeroes: The entire point of the genre, let alone the series.
* TheBigDamnKiss: John and Shayera at the end of "Wild Cards".
* BigEater: Flash is one due to RequiredSecondaryPowers (Which [[NoConservationOfEnergy really does not nearly account for how much energy he uses]], but hey, it is comic book physics, we are used to it).
* [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Big in Japan]]: [[invoked]] Supergirl; Green Lantern even calls her such word by word. If Japanese image sites are any indication, [[TruthInTelevision she is at minimum more popular than Superman IRL]].
* BilingualBonus: The song that Batman is [[PsychicStatic muttering]] at the end of "Just a Dream"? It is an ad-jingle parody of the old french song ''Frere Jacques'' (who, incidentally, tells about an asleep man...).
* BittersweetEnding: "Ultimatum". The fact that [[spoiler:Longshadow]] [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse is not mentioned in any later episode]] makes it even sadder, but even that does not quite compare to the ''Justice League'' finale, "Starcrossed". You don't get much more bittersweet than [[TearJerker those last few scenes]]. [[spoiler: "... I love you too."]]
* TheBlank - TheQuestion.
%% * BlankBook
* BloodKnight: Draaga, Doomsday.
* BloodlessCarnage: Played straight for most episodes, with occasional aversions (John Stewart did look pretty beaten after his fight with Hro Talak) or justifications (Captain Atom cannot bleed since he does not have blood).
* BodyHorror: The ending of "Panic in the Sky."
* BodySurf: Eclipso.
* BoisterousBruiser: Hawkgirl, who loves fighting so much she uses a BarBrawl as a holiday celebration. Maria Canals, her actress, explained that she personally felt stress-relieved when she was allowed to give Hawkgirl's war cry.
* BondOneLiner:
** After Vandal Savage [[spoiler:knocks out Wonder Woman with an electric-pistol [[SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace when she attempted to stop his wedding to Princess Audrey]]]] he turned to the crowd and asked "Does anyone else have any objections?"
** When Devil Ray is told by the guardian of Nanda Parbat that one must earn entry to the sacred city, Devil Ray [[CombatPragmatist just shoots him]].
-->"Keep the change."
* BookEnds:
** ''Justice League'' begins and ends with alien invasions... both, unfortunately, involving direct assistance from resident superheroes. The first causes the formation of the League, while the second sees it [[spoiler:lose a member]].
** The ending of "Epilogue" has {{WesternAnimation/Batman|Beyond}} flying past a flying police car, confusing the pilots. This mirrors the opening scene of the very first episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', "On Leather Wings" (right down to the line spoken by the policeman - played both times by Creator/KevinConroy, no less - who notices Batman). [[{{Uncanceled}} The original plan was for this episode to be the finale for the series]], [[PostScriptSeason only for another season to appear]].
*** Batman then got another book end in the true final episode for the DCAU, as when all the heroes rush out, the image fades to black by going into his logo.
* BoundAndGagged: Happens to [[spoiler:Hippolyta]] in "Fury".
* BoxedCrook: Task Force X, which is a MythologyGag of the SuicideSquad.
* {{Brainwashed}}: Despero was converting entire populations to his will using "The Flame of Pytar" in the season two episode "Hearts and Minds."
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The Flash in "The Brave and the Bold"
* BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood: How the Justice Lords dealt with their RoguesGallery.
* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Stargirl. For extra points, her stepfather is her sidekick.
* BreadAndCircuses: How Mongul controls his people in "War World".
* BreatherEpisode: Several lighthearted/more humorous episodes such as "Comfort and Joy", the ChristmasEpisode which almost plays out like a [[{{WAFF}} Warm And Fuzzy Fan Fic]]. With a BarBrawl.
* BrickJoke:
** In "Wild Cards," the Joker finds an old woman who is still feeding a slot machine in Las Vegas, despite the rest of the city being abandoned after he seeded it with bombs. When he asks why she stayed behind, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint she explains that the machine has to pay out sooner or later]]. [[spoiler:The final shot of the episode, [[SexyDiscretionShot after cutting away from Shayera and John kissing passionately]], is that old woman hitting "Well, it's about time!"]]
** In "Dead Reckoning", Superman is talking about a fast food restaurant's milkshakes, who are very thick, when he gets possessed by Deadman. As soon as Deadman abandons him, [[{{Unpaused}} Superman completes the punchline.]]
%% * BringNewsBack
* BroughtDownToNormal
** Green Lantern in "The Savage Time," where his ring runs out of energy, and "Hearts and Minds," where Despero [[MindRape affected his ability to use it]].
** Superman in "Hereafter," where he loses all his abilities after being transported to a planet with a red sun. Not that it does anything to hinder his determination, or his awesomeness.
** Supergirl in "Chaos at the Earth's Core." She herself describes it as "half strength," but she lacks the ability to fly more than a few feet or lift a stone larger than herself, so her power is much closer to human-normal than "half" would imply.
* TheBrute: Solomon Grundy, who is the dumb muscle for whichever supervillain has hired him this week.
* BulletproofHumanShield: Superman purposefully stepped in front of a group of soldiers to shield them from a hail of bullets. Since he is Superman, it made more sense than many other human shields.
* BurialInSpace: Given to the Viking Prince.
* BusFullOfInnocents: A bus full of nuns is about to collide with a truck full of dynamite in "Legends".
* CallBack: When Batman sings "Am I Blue" in "This Little Piggy". The song made an earlier DCAU appearance in the DTV film ''Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero''.
* CallForward:
** Crime Boss Steven Mandragora's son Edgar appears at the end of "Double Date." Edgar would "later" appear in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "Mind Games."
** Batman does not enjoy travelling via boom tube, referencing a line of Old!Bruce's in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond''.
* CameBackWrong: Solomon Grundy. Twice. First as a zombie of a gangster, then as a mindless killing machine capable of going toe to toe with the likes of Superman and Amazo.
* TheCameo: [[GreenLantern Hal Jordan]] makes a brief appearance in Once and Future Thing when Chronos' messing with time causes him to get retconned into the JL in place of John Stewart.
** There's also an appearance by [[spoiler:a much older [[BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm Andrea Beaumont, AKA The Phantasm]]]] in "Epilogue".
* CanonForeigner: The Ultimen (who were incarnations of the Canon Foreigners from ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends''), Tsukuri, and Galatea. Yet all of them look [[{{Expy}} strangely familiar]]...
%% * TheCape
* TheCaper: Four normal humans, managed by ''the'' ClockKing and under orders from Amanda Waller, make a raid on the Justice League headquarters to steal a suit of AnimatedArmor.
** [[ShaggyDogStory Not that it does them much good in the long run]], [[spoiler: when the suit is hijacked by Faust.]]
* CaptainErsatz:
** The Justice Guild of America is a recreation of the JusticeSocietyOfAmerica. The Society was originally supposed to appear in the episode "Legends," [[ExecutiveMeddling but DC Comics said they could not use the actual characters.]]
** The Ultimen are not quite [[WesternAnimation/SuperFriends Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, Samurai, and the Wonder Twins]].
** Aresia and Tsukuri are [[InfinityInc Fury]] and {{Katana}}, right down to having extremely similar outfits. For added points, their debut episode is even [[MythologyGag named "Fury"]]!
** Devil Ray was a direct recreation of Black Manta. They could not use the name because of a potential live-action Aquaman series, so they simply changed what he was called.
* CaptainSuperhero: Comicbook/CaptainAtom (Who actually held the rank of captain in the United States Air Force) and [[Comicbook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]].
* CarFu: Question in "Destroyer", {{Lobo}} in "Hereafter" (by ''throwing'' the car), etc.
* CassandraTruth:
-->'''Shayera:''' How'd you do that?
-->'''Wonder Woman:''' Magic lasso. Who knew?
-->'''Shayera:''' If you don't want to tell me, fine.
* CastingGag: Casting MarkHamill as The Trickster, a Flash foe who is essentially TheJoker as HarmlessVillain.
* CasualDangerDialog: Between Batman and Superman in "Clash".
** Batman again in "Dark Heart," after ejecting from the Batplane and having his parachute destroyed.
-->'''Batman:''' Batman to all points. I could use some air support. Since I can't fly. At all.
--> [Beat, Batman continues to fall]
-->'''Batman:''' Now would be good.
* CatFight: Several [[ActionGirl Action Girls]] and [[DarkActionGirl Dark Action Girls]] are always willing to mix it up, with each other or their male counterparts. However the episode "Grudge Match" deserves special mention, as Roulette and Lex Luthor restart Metabrawl by playing this trope straight deliberately.
* CatGirl:
** Cheetah, [[ProfessorGuineaPig a scientist who transformed herself into a human/cheetah hybrid as part of her experiments]], appears early in the series for what was supposed to be a single episode. However, [[ThrowItIn she survived the episode due to an animation error]], and kept reappearing in background and group shots throughout the show.
** Shakira in Skartaris is a woman who can change from cat to human.
* CatapultNightmare: Supergirl throughout "Fearful Symmetry".
* CelibateHero: Batman pretty much gives Wonder Woman an entire laundry list of reasons why they will not be dating. The best is probably, "You're a princess from a society of immortal warriors; I'm a rich kid with issues. ''Lots'' of issues."
* CensorSteam: Fire's fire. They had to do several redesigns to make sure [[SceneryCensor her naughty bits were covered]]. ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' later took [[BarbieDollAnatomy a different approach]].
* ChainOfPeople - The Big Seven (less one) band together to help Flash [[spoiler:escape the Speed Force]].
* CharacterDevelopment: Each of the Main 7 go through a little of this.
** Superman retains the same goals and desires from [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries his own show]], but his experiences with Cadmus teach him to go about his heroics in a manner that will not cause fear and distrust from those he wishes to help.
** Wonder Woman gains an appreciation for Man's World and men in general, and gradually learns to integrate into other societies while retaining her cultural identity as an Amazon.
** Batman begins to cooperate with other people and learns to appreciate friendship and camaraderie in addition to working partnerships. Unfortunately, [[DoomedByCanon he will inevitably become isolated and alone again]] [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond in the future]].
** Green Lantern learned to accept himself as a Lantern without fearing the loss of his own personal identity, but then became despondent again following the end of his relationship with Hawkgirl. He eventually becomes [[ScrewDestiny determined to live his own life no matter what]], but retains conflicted thoughts and feelings for Hawkgirl.
** The Flash is initially the inexperienced comic relief. A number of times early on, he appears more interested in showing off and impressing women. However, over the course of the series, he learns to use his brain in a fight and not just his speed. He also develops into TheHeart and "the conscience" of the team, becoming a far more selfless hero.
** Hawkgirl has the most profound and fundamental character shift. Starting as an aggressive, self-confident warrior she grows depressed and self-critical while suffering an identity and personality crisis during the shift to ''Unlimited''. Ultimately, she accepts her place in Earth society, but as a much calmer and internally settled character that no longer identifies as "Hawkgirl" at all.
** Martian Manhunter slowly realizes the implications of what it means to be the Last Martian, doomed to be eternally alone on Earth, and simultaneously grows detached and unfeeling towards humanity at large. He finally leaves the League in order to find some connection to humanity and returns having made a personal life and honest emotional companionship on Earth.
%% * CharacterFocus
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Zatanna goes from being an extraordinarily skilled but decidedly mortal, realistic magician in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' to being [[MagiciansAreWizards an actually magical and very powerful wizard]] with in her appearances here, without much explanation.
* ChargeIntoCombatCut: This takes place in the episode "Flash and Substance", when Batman DualWielding batarangs is about to face Captain Boomerang [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment dual wielding boomerangs]].
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Several heroes who are ostensibly {{Badass Normal}}s can punch dents into steel or craters into concrete.
* ChekhovsGun: In "Hereafter", the assertion that Vandal Savage's Zero Generator is a "miniature sun". As soon as Superman gets near it, he regains his yellow sun-induced powers.
* TheChessmaster: Lex Luthor and Brainiac. Brainiac is mechanically better, balanced out by Lex's imagination and force of personality. [[spoiler: They ultimately merge to combine the best (worst?) of both worlds]].
* TheChosenMany: The Justice League itself, and [[Franchise/GreenLantern the Green Lantern Corps.]]
* ChristmasEpisode: "Comfort and Joy," which has all the classic earmarks of a quality holiday episode: Visiting family, exchanging gifts, an actual {{aluminum Christmas tree|s}} and... a ''BarBrawl?!?'' Sure, why not. Also a case of MerryChristmasInGotham.
* CivilianVillain: Lex Luthor, after being pardoned and while running for president.
* CivvieSpandex: Upon returning to the Justice League midway in the 3rd season, Hawkgirl ditched the helmet and traded her earlier outfit for something you might go jogging in.
* ClarkKenting: Noting that the ''Justice League'', not their civilian identities, are refugees in "Starcrossed", the entire team dons civvies in order to get around in plain sight, applying this trope to the maskless Green Lantern and Wonder Woman.
* {{Claustrophobia}}: Hawkgirl, who almost has a heart attack when Dr. Destiny invades her dreams and traps her in a coffin.
* ClockKing: [[TropeNamers The man himself.]]
* CoatHatMask: The Question and the Crimson Avenger.
* CollectiveGroan:
** In the "Doomsday Sanction", after Batman informs the League that he has the Question on the case. After the groan he admits that the Question is wound a little too tight.
** In "Panic In the Sky", when the power went back on in the Watchtower, a group of heroes cheered right before the power went out again, causing them to groan.
* ColonyDrop: Batman uses this to ''save'' the world in "Starcrossed", [[spoiler: piloting the Watchtower out of orbit and into the Thanagarian hyperspace array before it could activate and cause an EarthShatteringKaboom]].
* CombatPragmatist:
** Devil Ray, when confronted by a sword-bearing monk who explains that entrance to Nanda Parbat must be earned, shoots the monk and keeps walking.
--> "[[BondOneLiner Keep the change]]."
** After Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Mirror Master, and the Trickster [[MookChivalry take turns trying to defeat the Flash one at a time]], Captain Cold points out that taking turns is dumb and they agree to jump the Flash together.
* ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive: From ''Aquaman'' to ''Solomon Grundy'' in "The Terror Beyond."
* ComesGreatResponsibility: John Stewart is a proponent of this:
-->"Think of the others like us. We all need to be held accountable, we have too much power not to be."
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When the Joker seeds bombs throughout Las Vegas, he finds one old woman who is still feeding a slot machine when everybody else in the city has fled. When he asks her why she remains, she points out that the slot machine has to pay out sooner or later.
* TheComicallySerious: Batman, usually. Martian Manhunter too.
* ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames: A non-film example with the Martian Manhunter, who is only called "J'onn" or "the Martian" here.
* CommutingOnABus: Flash in the first season of ''Unlimited''. Voice-actor Michael Rosenbaum was unavailable for the role, so the Flash only appears in background and group shots without any lines throughout the entire season.
* [[ComplainingAboutPeopleNotLikingTheShow Complaining About People Not Liking Hawkgirl]]: [[invoked]] [[StalkerWithACrush Hawkman]] keeps getting banned from the "I Hate Hawkgirl" websites [[InUniverse because he is constantly flaming their members for their dislike of Hawkgirl.]]
* CompositeCharacter: An example that works as such even in-universe, Loana, Superman's wife in his dream state during "For The Man Who Has Everything", is explicitly a combination of Lois Lane and Lana Lang. Appearance wise, she looks a lot like Lois (even having Dana Delany as her voice actress), but has red hair like Lana.
* ConflictKiller: In the climax of the Cadmus arc, when it looks like the Justice League and government might actually turn on each other and destroy the world, or that they might unite against Lex Luthor, [[spoiler:Brainiac]] shows up and puts all previous rivalries on the back burner.
* ConquerorFromTheFuture: Vandal Savage's gambit in "The Savage Time".
* ConservationOfNinjutsu: "Twilight Of The Gods" demonstrates this trope in stages with the Brainiacs. When there was just one, it put up quite a fight against Superman, J'onn and Hawkgirl, requiring a vicious beatdown to destroy. Then there was several, and each put up considerably less of a fight. Then there were dozens, and the heroes were destroying at least one with each attack.
* ConspiracyTheorist: The Question.
* ContemporaryCaveman: Vandal Savage of course.
* ContinuityNod:
** In "Hereafter", the trunk of the car Superman is driving has a box of the energy bars Flash was hawking in "Eclipsed", and Deadshot smuggled a gun into the watchtower by hiding the parts in wrappers of the same bars in "Task Force X." "Flash and Substance" featured a cardboard cutout of him in his apartment, still advertising the same energy bars, which is destroyed when it startles Orion.
---> '''Flash''': ''[Bummed out]'' Dude, that was my last standee.
** In "Clash", Superman brings up deodorant advertisement deals in his lecture to Captain Marvel--the way Flash covers his face indicates that he takes this as a dig against his energy bar commercials.
** In "The Return", Kyle Rayner is revealed to have taken a position on Oa to be trained as a member of the Green Lantern Corps, accounting for his absence since his introduction in "In Brightest Day..." in ''Superman: The Animated Series''.
** In "Question Authority", Huntress uses JimmyOlsen's signal watch to call Superman; the watch first appeared in ''Superman's Pal'', where Superman gave to Jimmy to use in case of emergencies.
** In part two of "The Once and Future Thing," Green Lantern alludes to a past team-up with ComicBook/{{Static}}. This references "Fallen Hero", an episode of ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' that Green Lantern guest-starred in.
** Lex Luthor has cancer from manipulating [[GreenRocks kryptonite]] for years. The first mention of the disease was in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', when the [[{{Crossover}} Joker]] stole a jade dragon statue. Every past owner fell ill and died, because it actually was made of kryptonite.
* ConvenientlyUnverifiableCoverStory: Hawkgirl's cover story of being teleported to earth by [[MythologyGag Zeta beams]].
* CoolCar: TheQuestion's Pontiac GTO. And he's VERY good at [[CarFu using it to kick butt]].
* CoolVersusAwesome: The first half of "The Once and Future Thing" is absolutely ''made'' of this. Cowboys and superheroes versus outlaws, ''dinosaurs'', and '''ROBOTS!'''
* CorporateSponsoredSuperhero: The Flash does this for one episode, which gets him chewed out by Batman.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Lex Luthor, Simon Stagg, Morgan Edge, etc.
* CourtroomEpisode: Flash defends Franchise/GreenLantern when he is accused of murder. "If the ring wasn't lit, you must acquit!"
%% * CowboyEpisode
* CrazyPrepared: Franchise/{{Batman}}, after having Medusa brought up from Tartarus in order to provide information on the recently released Circe, gives Charon the required two pennies; in the DVD audio commentary, the producers feel it is only natural that Batman would happen to be carrying exactly two pennies in his utility belt, ''just in case'' he had to cross the River Styx.
** Batman also just ''happened'' have bombs of thermionic gas inside the Batwing, which helped to freeze a nano-replicator colony. He mentions that he needed to freeze the Gotham river once. [[NoodleIncident Long story.]]
** Green Arrow reflects on this nature during a [[RuleOfFunny quite amusing]] moment in "To Another Shore";
-->'''Green Arrow''': And Black Canary said a buzz-saw arrow was self indulgent.
* CrazySurvivalist: The Question. (Then again, he ''has'' [[ProperlyParanoid been right before...]])
* CreativeSterility: SelfDemonstrating/LexLuthor accuses Brainiac of this. Brainiac agrees and they decide to combine their respective strengths for their mutual benefit.
* CreateYourOwnVillain: the darkest inversion of this trope is presented at ''Epilogue'', where WellIntentionedExtremist Amanda Waller reveals to [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond Terry McGinnis]] that [[spoiler: when she noticed Bruce Wayne was getting too old to be the Batman, she decided to create her own hero by taking Bruce's DNA and overwriting Warren [=McGinnis=]'s gametes with said DNA, meaning his child by Mary was genetically Bruce Wayne's; when Terry was 7 years old, Waller then commissioned an aging Phantasm to assassinate Terry's parents in his presence. Thankfully, the Phantasm decided to abort the operation.]]
* CreepyMonotone: Brainiac
* CrimefightingWithCash: Batman and Green Arrow (who started out as a virtual carbon-copy {{Expy}} of Batman by, interestingly, the same company).
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Flash has several of these throughout the series, mainly because he is frequently underestimated.
* CuffsOffRubWrists: The entire league in "Starcrossed".
* CurbStompBattle: In "Panic in the Sky" three clones of Wind Dragon are blowing away members of the League using their wind-based powers when RedTornado steps in and blocks their three wind blasts with one of his own. After a quick struggle, all three of the clones are blown away. Double points considering Red Tornado only used ''one hand'' to do it.
* CurseCutShort: Frequently.
* CurtainCall: "Destroyer" ends with the entire League running down the stairs of the Hall of Justice/Metro Tower in a sort of Curtain Call.
* CustomUniform: The first two appearances of the Green Lantern Corps feature a conspicuous absence of this trope, unlike the Corps' depiction in the comics. A few notable members are later given custom uniforms in later appearances.
* CuteBruiser: Supergirl. Hawkgirl too.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: D-G]]
* DamselInDistress: BoosterGold points out that the ones in distress are his favorite type of damsel.
** [[spoiler:Hippolyta]] becomes this in "Fury".
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Joker, of all people, is the one who insists that Luthor not leave Batman alive in "Injustice For All" and is eventually proven right.
* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: Justice Lord Superman is ready to kill TheFlash, whose counterpart's death was the reason for their FaceHeelTurn in the first place:
-->'''The Flash:''' You can't do it, can you? I'm the last piece of your conscience. [[TemptingFate And this is the one thing you'll never do.]]
-->'''Justice Lord Superman:''' ''(grimly)'' I've done a ''lot'' of things I thought I'd never do in these last two years. One more won't hurt.
* ADayInTheLimelight: As an ensemble show, each episode focuses on only two or three members of the cast, giving each character several episodes where they rise to prominence over the other characters.
* DayOfTheJackboot: The Vandal Savage altered future in "The Savage Time".
* DaydreamSurprise: Several, including John Dee dreaming of being congratulated by supervillains like Luthor and Joker after defeating the League.
* DeadAlternateCounterpart: It had "A Better World", where the League turned into an authoritarian group that controlled the world. When looking for leads about this world, they find out [[spoiler: that their Flash was killed in a shooting in their time, forcing the others to this style.]] Once he found this out, he capitalized on this to break free from their control and get the others out as well.
* DeadlyDoctor:
** Doctor Destiny
---> '''Doctor Destiny''': [[FromNobodyToNightmare And now that I'm a doctor... I think I'll perform]] [[GoryDiscretionShot some surgery...]]
** Professor Moon makes an appearance; his modus operandi is torturing people ForTheEvulz. Guess what he does to The Question.
* DeadlyDodging: In the action finale of "Starcrossed".
* DeadpanSnarker: Hawkgirl, Deadshot, and occasionally Batman on the rare occasion that he is not TheComicallySerious. When together, Huntress and Question seem to take turns trying to out-snark each other. Of course, knowing them it is probably some kind of foreplay...
** Even Martian Manhunter joins in sometimes.
---> '''Batman''': (''while helping J'onn fight a bunch of Brainiac drones'') Having fun?
---> '''Martian Manhunter''': (''completely deadpan'') Yes.
** ''Superman'' even got one in as a follow up to one of Batman's Crowning Moments of Deadpan, as shown in the battle with the Animated Universe's rendition of the Superman Revenge Squad in the first part of "Hereafter":
--->'''Kalibak:''' *after Batman adroitly evades and judo-flips him* Impressive, little man; if you stand down right now, I'll let you live to tell the story! *more attacking, more fail* I just flatten3ed Wonder Woman! Do you really think you can beat ''me?''
--->'''Batman:''' I'm not ''trying'' to beat you. I'm trying to ''stall'' you.
--->'''Kalibak:''' Stall me? For what? *turning as Superman lands directly behind him* Ahhh...
--->'''Superman:''' *knocking Kalibak across the street and through a couple of vehicles in one shot* For what it's worth, I don't think you could have taken Batman, either.
* [[DeathByWomanScorned Death By Man Scorned:]] That was the StartOfDarkness for Doctor Destiny.
* DeathSeeker: The Viking Prince.
* DeathTrap: It would not be a superhero show without them.
* {{Deconstruction}}: The Trickster in "Flash and Substance" deconstructs the idea of a supervillain being "insane." Rather than the usual cruel, amoral, giggling villain usually thrown into Arkham Asylum, the Trickster is a quiet, awkward villain who tends to PokeThePoodle and make jokes that nobody gets. It turns out that he's a diagnosed mental patient who reverts back to his "villainous" personality when he is off his medicine, and is unaware that he's even wearing his supervillain costume. The Flash talks him down gently and treats him respectfully, which is shown to be far more effective than the standard JackBauerInterrogationTechnique favored by Batman when dealing with somebody who has genuine mental problems. The character is even portrayed by Creator/MarkHamill, who usually plays "comic book insane" villains like SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Hawkgirl to Ichthultu in "The Terror Beyond".
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Mr. Miracle's flashbacks to his time in the X-Pit on Apokolips are all blue-tinted.
* DemocracyIsFlawed: In the episode "A Better World", when League!Batman fights and argues with [[EvilCounterpart Lord!Batman]], they briefly touch on the topic of democracy, which Lord!Batman quickly dismisses, because "it has other virtues, but it doesn't keep you very safe". He eventually defeats League!Batman by pointing out that in his totalitarian world, no eight year-old boy would lose his parents because of some punk with a gun. League!Batman has to admit that he has a point.
* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: Hardcastle's kryptonite bullet, Cadmus's kryptonite tipped nuclear missile etc.
* TheDeterminator:
** Batman, logically, provided the former page quote.
** Comicbook/CaptainAtom, after being soundly beaten by Superman in a fight throughout the Cadmus headquarters, refused to give up even after Superman was clearly the victor. He had been beaten nearly senseless and lost the ability to even throw a punch, but he ''refused'' to stop.
-->'''Superman:''' You fought a good fight, ''[[DontMakeMeDestroyYou stay down]]''.\\
'''Captain Atom:''' I can't do that Superman.
** Shining Knight. In "Patriot Act" he is the last Leaguer standing before the General, having already lost his sword and been severely beaten, and explicitly states that the General might as well give up because no matter what happens, Shining Knight ''will not''.
--> '''The General:''' Why don't you give up?\\
'''Shining Knight:''' ''Why don't you?''
* DeusExMachina: Darkseid's final defeat in "Destroyer" will probably seem like an especially {{egregious}} example of this to anyone who is not sufficiently familiar with Darkseid.
* DeusExitMachina: In early episodes, you can make a DrinkingGame out of it.
%% * DidntThinkThisThrough
* [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu Did You Just Flip Off Icthultu]]: Yes, Hawkgirl did.
--> '''Icthultu:''' "Speak to me, child of Thanagar."\\
'''Hawkgirl:''' "Nothing to say. I've got a ''gesture'' for you, but my hands are tied."
* [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Did You Just Punch Out Ichthultu]]: "The Terror Beyond" (Not quite the {{Trope Namer|s}} but close enough).
* DisappearsIntoLight: [[spoiler: Darkseid and Luthor]].
* DiscriminateAndSwitch: The superheroes [[PlayingWithFire Fire]] and [[AnIcePerson Ice]] have been close friends and partners for the entirety of their tenure in comics. This has, over time, given rise to a lot of romantic/sexual subtext between them and corresponding theories in the fandom. When they were added to the [[HeroesUnlimited expanded roster]] of ''Justice League Unlimited'' TheFlash began to nurse a not-so-subtle crush on Fire and Hawkgirl tried to prod him into action as best she knew how.
--> '''Shayera Hol (Hawkgirl):''' "You'd be wasting your time, anyway, I hear she's... yknow... ''Brazilian''."
* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: Part of Superman's [[YourWorstNightmare worst nightmare]]. Lex Luthor experiences the trope played straight when he suddenly gains SuperStrength, briefly surprising himself during his fight with TheQuestion before he embraces it and proceeds with the NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.
* DoesntLikeGuns: Batman, obviously, who refuses to take an offered gun on two separate occasions. Averted by other heroes, however, such as Vigilante whose main power seems to be "owns [[GunsAkimbo a pair of]] {{revolvers|AreJustBetter}}," though he's [[CouldHaveBeenMessy only ever shown]] hitting villains who are ImmuneToBullets or vehicles. Franchise/GreenLantern, who is a former marine, also has zero compunctions about using firearms and is possibly the only hero in the whole DCAU that succeeds in shooting someone in "The Savage Time".[[note]]"Possibly" because the HitFlash is placed ambiguously, so that it could be interpreted as either [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands hitting the enemy's rifle]], or as a [[BoomHeadshot headshot]]. Either way, the guy does not seem to get back up after[[/note]]
* DoesNotLikeMen: Aresia just wants to kill every man on Earth, which presumably would have led to an adaptation of [[Comicbook/YTheLastMan another DC comic book...]]
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Gypsy always goes around barefoot as to authenticate her gypsy attire. Aquagirl too from the Future Justice League Unlimited as seen in a flashback in "Epilogue".
** Villainous examples include Cheetah and Tala (extra points for going to the snowy regions of Nanda Parbat completely barefoot and barelegged).
* DomesticAbuse: The character of Hro Talak in "Starcrossed" gradually progressed to violence when the truth about Shayera's relationship with Green Lantern came out, something which was particularly difficult for Victor Rivers to voice since [[MeanCharacterNiceActor he is a leading crusader against domestic abuse]].
* DontExplainTheJoke: TheJoker, [[{{Irony}} of all people]], violates this trope in "Wild Cards".
* DontMakeMeDestroyYou:
** When Comicbook/CaptainAtom has his military commission reactivated by General Wade Eiling he ends up coming to blows with Superman who, after one of the most brutal fights in the series, emerges as the clear victor.
-->'''Superman:''' (''To Captain Atom'') You fought a good fight, ''stay down''.\\
'''Captain Atom:''' [[{{Determinator}} I can't do that Superman]].
** When General Eiling has been transformed into a hulking monster and is rampaging through Metropolis he is left facing Shining Knight after he has already defeated several other heroes.
--> "Save yourself a hospital stay and stand down."
* DoNotTauntCthulhu: "Flash, stop heckling the supervillain!"
* DontTouchItYouIdiot: Batman to Flash in "Paradise Lost" and the third part of "Starcrossed," too.
* DopeSlap: Green Lantern to Flash in "The Brave and the Bold".
* DoubleEntendre: "Yeah, you'd probably be wasting your time anyway. I hear she's... you know... [[UnusualEuphemism Brazilian]]." See also GettingCrapPastTheRadar.
* DramaticUnmask:
** Hawkgirl had worn her mask for every scene in the first two seasons, never letting viewers know what she looked like, and some viewers were convinced that she did not ''wear'' a mask, that that was her natural appearance as a Thanagarian. In "Wild Cards", when she and Green Lantern [[TheyDo finally admit their feelings]], he slowly reaches forward and takes off her mask, revealing that the two of them are exactly what he said they were: A man and a woman in love.
** During the climax of the Cadmus story-arc, after he had taken a severe beating and was recuperating in the Watchtower medical bay, the Question has Huntress remove his mask for the first time.
* DualWielding: Several times in the series, including in "Secret Origins", Batman wields a pair of electrified knuckle duster weapons when fighting super powered foes. In "Dark Heart" he also duel wields a pair of what are either bat themed blade weapons or oversized batarangs in close combat with the alien spiders.
* DudleyDoRightStopsToHelp: By Wonder Woman in "Starcrossed".
* DyingDeclarationOfLove: It takes being in the center of a massive explosion and having his heart stopped to finally convince John Stewart that there is no reason to wait or hide, and he confesses his feelings for Shayera, getting her to [[DramaticUnmask take off her mask for the first time]] and [[BigDamnKiss kiss]].
* DynamicEntry: Solomon Grundy enters a battle by attacking Superman from behind. ''[[ThereWasADoor Through]]'' [[ThereWasADoor a door]].
* DysfunctionJunction: The original team: two [[LastOfHisKind Last Of Their Kind]], TheExile, an [[ParentalAbandonment orphan]], an [[TheMole alien stranded on the other side of the galaxy from her homeworld]], a CasanovaWannabe, and a man with a JerkassFacade.
* EarthAllAlong: Superman in "Hereafter" is transported to a post-apocalyptic planet orbiting a red sun that he learns is Earth is the very distant future.
* EarthShatteringKaboom: In one episode, Green Lantern inadvertently destroys a planet with a stray blast from his power ring, through the planet's destruction is later revealed to have been an illusion. In a different episode, Mongul threatens to destroy a world full of innocent civilians with some kind of superlaser, but is stopped by the Justice League.
* EasilyForgiven: Heavily subverted, as Hawkgirl is not forgiven by certain League members or the general public for being TheMole; when she returns to save the day after her [[PutOnABus recuperation with Dr. Fate]] she is ''heckled by an angry mob'', and later episodes reveal that there are several hundred "I Hate Hawkgirl" websites. Even Superman is distrusted and feared by former friends and allies for the events of "Legacy", which occurred several years (and two TV series) prior to this series.
* EldritchAbomination:
** Icthultu (who was a rather transparent CaptainErsatz of Franchise/{{Cthulhu|Mythos}}).
** The Dark Heart. It apparently warps the very nature of reality, as every close-up has the screen distorted and visibly pulsing, while the surface of the creature itself does not appear to move at all.
* EmperorScientist: Chronos becomes one via TimeTravel.
* EnemyCivilWar: On Apokolips after Darkseid's death, and also between the Grodd and Luthor factions of the LegionOfDoom.
* EnemyMine:
** In order to defeat the Justice Lords, the League cuts a deal with [[spoiler:Lex Luthor]].
** Kalibak quotes the actual "Enemy of my enemy is my friend" maxim when Mr. Miracle, Big Barda, and the Flash rescue him on Apokolips.
** The Legion of Doom [[spoiler: go to the Justice League after accidentally reviving Darkseid]].
* EngineeredPublicConfession: What sends Luthor to prison for the first time.
* [[EtTuBrute Et Tu, Hawkgirl?]]: Happens in the episode, "Starcrossed", when it's revealed that she had been spying on the League for the Thanagarians.
* EvasiveFightThreadEpisode
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Steven Mandragora, for being a world class sleaze and murdering sociopath, appears to be a truly loving and dedicated father.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** In "In Blackest Night", Kanjar Ro claims that this in why he, a pirate, comes forward as a witness at John Stewart's trial when he is accused of destroying a planet. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope He was lying, though; he was helping to frame John for the crime.]]]]
** In "Fury," Star Sapphire turns against Aresia once she learns the full extent of her plans. She is evil, not ''gendercidal''. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Except she is, and actively looks forward to a world without men]]. She was just luring Diana and Hawkgirl to Aresia so that they could be invited to join them.]]
** In "The Savage Time", Vandal Savage manipulates history and creates a fascist dystopia with himself as supreme leader, by taking over the Third Reich and [[SealedEvilInACan putting Hitler on ice]]. Part of the reason he gives for doing so is because even ''he'' thinks that the world should be spared from having to suffer under that "raving lunatic".
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Before John and Shayera ever admit their feelings Flash is teasing them that they are acting like an old married couple and, when Hro Talak enters the scene in "Starcrossed", Batman and J'onn each spontaneously approach John to give him advice and consolation. SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker himself actually comments on the [[UnresolvedSexualTension tension]] between them, wondering if they have a history behind the scenes. Ironically, when [[TheyDo they finally become a couple]] it was the Flash who had no idea they were involved, despite being the first one to comment on it.
* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Gorilla Grodd, Ultra-Humanite, and Gorilla City. And the brief but very fun shout-out to ''[[DorkAge J. L. Apes]]'' in an otherwise [[TearJerker rather sad]] episode centered on Deadman. (Ape!Luthor is, of course, entirely devoid of fur.)
* EvilAlbino: Mandragora, the not-Wonder Twins after their FaceHeelTurn
* EvilCostumeSwitch: Happens when the original seven [[spoiler: well, six, really]] turn into the Justice Lords in an AlternateUniverse.
* EvilMeScaresMe: The Justice Lords
* EvilPlan: Constantly. Parodied with Grodd's "master plan".
* EvilSorcerer: Circe, Felix Faust, and Tala.
* EvilSoundsDeep: Darkseid, Despero, etc. Phil Lamarr even lampshades it in some DVD commentary.
* EvilTwin:
** The Justice Lords are a classic example, being from a MirrorUniverse where [[KnightTemplar they took a hard-line approach to crime fighting]].
** Galatea is actually an evil ''clone'' of {{Supergirl}}, but she fits the trope otherwise.
* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: In "Starcrossed": Hro Talak, after hearing about John Stewart from Hawkgirl, is surprised he is not taller.
* {{Expy}}:
** Hro Talak is not quite [[Comicbook/{{Hawkman}} Katar Hol]], but his name is an anagram and he was also given a past relationship with Hawkgirl.
** Galatea is not exactly PowerGirl, but she wears a similar costume, which one scene made identical with the addition of a red "towel" hanging over her shoulder, and shares the background of "not exactly {{Supergirl}}, but close."
** See also Dr. Fate's AlternateCompanyEquivalent version of the Defenders.
*** In the same episode, the screaming minions that the heroes fight in Ithuclu's world are clearly based on Marvel's Mindless Ones.
** The Justice Lords from "A Better World" were heavily inspired by ''Comicbook/TheAuthority'', which the producers had begun to read between seasons one and two, and one idea they had was to see what the world would be like if the League ever tried to emulate their tactics.
** The giant turtle that attacks Japan in "Chaos at the Earth's Core" is an expy of Franchise/{{Gamera}}, as well as being a MythologyGag to Jimmy Olsen's comic book.
** Ace is one to [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond Tamara]]. Both are young girls with black hair and powerful psychic abilities and were use by shady organization and are also associated with a Batman.
** The Justice Guild of America is one of the Justice Society; [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the plan to was to actually use the JSA]], but DC didn't care for the idea of the characters being portrayed as [[DeliberateValuesDissonance vaguely racist and sexist]].
** Wade Eiling becomes an Expy of TheHulk by using the Captain Nazi serum. He's more articulate but possibly even more dangerous due to being a PrinciplesZealot.
%% * EyeLightsOut
* FaceDeathWithDignity:
--> '''Shining Knight:''' "I'll die as befits a knight, defending the weak."
* FaceHeelTurn - Professor Emil Hamilton
* {{Facepalm}}:
** Luthor in "Injustice for All".
** Flash in "Flash and Substance".
%% * FacialProfiling
* FakeMemories: The Ultimen are implanted with this.
* FakeOutMakeOut: Between Batman and Wonder Woman in "Starcrossed".
* FakeStatic: When Amanda Waller tries to order Galatea to abort her attack on the Watchtower she claims that she cannot understand the transmission, [[ImplausibleDeniability then says that it was a wrong number]].
* FanDisservice: BlackCanary's sonic scream ripping the clothes off [[EvilAlbino Steven]] [[FatBastard Mandragora]]. A ''world'' of no.
* FantasticFragility: The flaw in Hephaestus's armor.
* FarmersDaughter: Galatea (and, [[EvilTwin by extension]], Supergirl) is described as "blonde hair, blue eyes, real farmers daughter type."
* FasterThanLightTravel: In "War World" it appears that Green Lantern's ring lets him do this.
* FearfulSymmetry: Supergirl vs. Galatea in the episode "Fearful Symmetry".
* FictionalCounterpart: In "A Knight of Shadows" Flash and Wonder Woman visit the house of Harv Hickman, a Hugh Heffner {{expy}} who publishes [[Magazine/{{Playboy}} a magazine]].
* FieryRedhead: Hawkgirl, and ([[PlayingWithFire quite literally]]) Volcana.
* FinalBattle: In the GrandFinale.
* FingerPokeOfDoom: Superman, because of ''[[SuperStrength just how strong he is]]'', once defeated the villain with a literal flick of his finger. Provides the page image.
* FingerTwitchingRevival: Subverted with [[spoiler:Galatea]].
* FinishDialogueInUnison: Happens in "Patriot Act" (Shining Knight: "Even thought that ogre was--" All: "Morgan Le Fey.") and "Far From Home" (Brainy and Supergirl: "A quantum tunneling RF transponder!")
* FinishHim - In War World. Superman, [[TheMessiah of course]], refuses.
* FirstNameBasis:
** Starting in ''Unlimited'', most of the characters hardly addressed each other using their superhero identities, often opting to use their real names instead ("Diana", "Shayera", "John", "J'onn", "Wally"). Superman and Batman were the characters most often referred to by their superhero names, but they would occasionally address each other personally.
** The Question was the only person in the series to ever call Huntress "Helena" until Black Canary does so during their reconciliation in "Grudge Match".
* FiveBadBand: The Royal Flush Gang from "Wild Cards".
** BigBad: King
** TheDragon: Jack
** EvilGenius: Ace
** TheBrute: Ten
** DarkChick: Queen
** BiggerBad: The Joker
* FiveManBand: Dr. Fate's "[[CaptainErsatz Totally Not]] Comicbook/TheDefenders" in "The Terror Beyond," adding Amazo in "Raise The Dead"
** TheHero: Dr. Fate
** TheLancer: Aquaman
** TheSmartGuy: Amazo
** TheBigGuy: Grundy
** ActionGirl: Hawkgirl
* FlameWar: Carter Hall apparently gets involved in this over Hawkgirl proving his StalkerWithACrush status.
* FlashStep: Superman to Darkseid in "Destroyer".
* FlippingTheBird:
--> '''[[EldritchAbomination Ichthultu]]:''' "Speak to me, child of Thanagar."\\
'''Hawkgirl:''' "Nothing to say. I've got a [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu gesture]] for you, but my hands are tied."
* FlyAtTheCameraEnding: The last episode ends with Batman running into the screen.
* ForTheEvulz: Famously played with when Flash ends up in Luthor's body.
--> '''Doctor Polaris''': You gonna ''wash your hands''?
--> '''Luthor!Flash''': No... 'cause I'm ''evil.'''
* ForcedPrizeFight: In "Grudge Match".
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Commentary on the DVD release of ''Justice League'' reveals that the producers intended to have [[spoiler:Hawkgirl be a spy]] from the beginning of Season Two. As such, throughout the season there are plenty of hints that supported that plot point, including contradictory backstories, behavior and evidence that they had something to hide. [[AscendedFanon As a lucky break]], "The Brave and the Bold" (a season one episode) also had a scene that only helps with the foreshadow.
* ForgingScene: Superman, finding himself thousands of years in the future against giant mutant animals and without his powers, forges a blade using road flares, a sledge hammer, and a metal rod. It was pretty epic.
* ForgottenPhlebotinum:
** The disempowerment gun used in "A Better World" is never seen again for the rest of the show. While it is unclear whether it would work on other super powered individuals, what ''is'' clear is that it works on the original seven Leaguers (well, [[BadassNormal except Batman]]), so it is strange that Cadmus or Luthor do not even reference it.
** In "Wake the Dead", Amazo is forced to flee after Solomon Grundy uses chaos magic to absorb his cosmic attack. Dr. Fate later tells Hawkgirl that only she can defeat Grundy because her mace is made of Nth metal. It is too bad the writers and Dr. Fate forgot that Amazo can easily replicate her mace... and use it to better effect...
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: The second half of "Wild Cards" revolves around Ace, whose MindRape powers work even through the television and is attacking the viewing audience.
* FreakyFridayFlip: "The Great Brain Robbery".
* FreeRangeChildren: "Patriot Act" gives the trope a minor {{deconstruction}} when Vigilante asks a group of children where their parents are and the kids explain that they all ran off after the monster appeared, apparently leaving all their children behind to be killed. However, even at the end of the episode, after the monster is defeated and the police and rescue workers are cleaning up, the same kids are ''still'' running around without supervision.
* FreezeFrameBonus:
** In "Starcrossed, Part 3", during the climactic final fight there is a single "white frame" inserted into a shot of Shayera being shocked by an Nth-metal weapon.
** Nightwing, who could not appear as a character due to the "Bat Embargo," had a brief cameo skulking atop a building in Bludhaven, [[MythologyGag which in the comics is "his" city after he stopped being Robin.]]
** If you look at all of the lobotomized inmates at the Other Dimension Arkham, you will notice that Arnold Wesker isn't lobotomized but Scarface is.
* FriendlyEnemy:
** Flash and the Ultra-Humanite. They agree to a Christmas truce and, afterwards, the Ultra-Humanite helps Flash deliver a toy to orphans before peacefully allowing himself to be taken to jail. In jail, Flash gives him an {{aluminum Christmas tree|s}}, just like the one he had when he was a child.
** Flash and Trickster. Flash manages to convince the Trickster to go back on his medication, turn himself into the police, and tell the Flash where the other villains are. In return, Flash promises to visit him and play darts (The soft kind).
* FriendshipMoment: Numerous.
* FromASingleCell: Brainiac.
* FromMyOwnPersonalGarden: In the episode "Hereafter", after Franchise/{{Superman}} realizes the futility of fighting Vandal Savage, the latter invites the former to lunch. Food's great because [[EarthAllAlong he has had 30,000 years to rediscover the principles of agriculture.]]
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Dr Destiny. ''Literally''.
* FullyAbsorbedFinale: The controversial episode "Epilogue", a finale for ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond''. It was originally intended as the JLU series finale, after the originally planned finale "Starcrossed," but the series was renewed again.
* FunWithAcronyms: The Binary Fusion Generator.
* FunbagAirbag: NEARLY happens to Flash with Fire in "I Am Legion" when Fire tries to get his attention. Flash turns and his face was a mere few inches away from her breasts before slowly looking up. Followed by DistractedByTheSexy when Fire tries to chat with him.
* FurBikini: Worn by some of the inhabitants of Skartaris.
* FusionDance: [[FanNickname Brainthor/Luthoriac]]
* GalacticConqueror: Mongul and Darkseid, both with a bit of PresidentEvil mixed in.
* {{Gendercide}}: In "Fury", an Amazon, Aresia, with a serious bent against the male gender decides to release a disease into the atmosphere that nearly kills off all of the men on the planet. This includes the male members of the Justice League (even Superman and the Martian Manhunter are affected, despite not being human, and Solomon Grundy, who is The Undead. It's implied magic is involved). It's up to Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl to save the day (of course, this includes fighting against an all-female alliance of villains).
* GeneralRipper: General Eiling, and earlier General Hardcastle.
* GeniusDitz: The Flash. Despite his goofy behavior throughout the series, it's revealed in one episode that he works in forensics, analyzing crime scene evidence.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Has its own [[Radar/JusticeLeague page]].
* TheGhost: PlasticMan couldn't actually appear in the show due to rights issues, but he is referred to in a few episodes. Most notably, in "The Greatest Story Never Told", Elongated Man is relegated to crowd-control duty with Booster Gold, and is told this is because Plastic Man is already engaged in the main battle, and "We don't need ''two'' stretchy guys."
* GildedCage: Lois in the Justice Lords universe. Cronos's wife in the second part of "The Once and Future Thing."
* GirlsNightOutEpisode: "Fury," and later on "Grudge Match."
* GivingRadioToTheRomans: "The Savage Time"
* GladiatorGames: In "War World".
* GladiatorRevolt: Also in "War World".
* GlamourFailure: In "Legends," after [[spoiler: Roy is exposed as a psychic mutant who reconstructed a giant illusion of his dimension from before a nuclear war destroyed everything, all just so he could go on adventures with his favorite heroes,]] he reverts to his true form.
* GloryHound:
** BoosterGold, one of the most iconic iterations of the trope, appears.
** Stargirl is a minor example. Altruism guides most of her actions, but she does want the recognition and adoration that she feels her heroics deserve.
* GoGoEnslavement: Katma Tui is subjected to this by Despero.
* GoThroughMe:
--> '''Shining Knight:''' "Do your worst, I'll not let you harm another."
* AGodAmI:
** Vandal Savage, when faced with the looming specter of his own defeat, proclaims that gods do not grovel.
** {{Darkseid}} returns in season two of ''Justice League''.
-->Super or not, you are merely a man. Whereas I am a god.
* GonnaNeedMoreX: Batman in "Twilight".
* TheGoodCaptain: [[Comicbook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]], Comicbook/CaptainAtom, [[strike: Captain Boomerang]], etc.
* GoodCopBadCop:
** Captain Atom and Supergirl in "Initiation"
-->'''Captain Atom:''' What are we up against?
-->'''Supergirl:''' He asked you a question!
-->'''Officer:''' Don't answer them! That's classified informa- *Supergirl does {{Neck Lift}}*
-->'''Supergirl:''' I just about had it with you guys! You've got to the count of five. One... ''four''... *[[RedEyesTakeWarning Eyes]] {{glow|ingEyesOfDoom}}*
-->'''Captain Atom:''' I'd speak up if I were you.
** In the case of Bruce Wayne of today and Bruce Wayne of the future; Bad Cop/Worse Cop.
-->'''Static:''' Batman playing "Good Cop". Never thought I'd see the day.
-->'''Green Lantern:''' Eh. Everything's relative.
* GoodIsNotDumb: In "Flash and Substance," Orion asks why Central City would honor a buffoon like the Flash, "who makes bad jokes, who concerns himself with pitiful men like the Trickster." But the Flash is anything but dumb--he is able to handle the Trickster without throwing a single punch. In fact, he convinces the Trickster to happily turn himself in to the police.
* GoodIsOldFashioned: General Wade Eiling accuses Shining Knight of being a relic after the Knight continues to rush at the General, [[{{Determinator}} even after already losing his weapon and being viciously beaten]], to protect the locals and innocent bystanders.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: ''Heavily'' implied in "The Great Brain Robbery". Hawkgirl's apparently particularly good at causing men to not be... restful... also.
* GoryDiscretionShot: When Aquaman [[spoiler:cuts his hand off]] it only shows his face before cutting to the next scene.
** See ShoutOut [[JusticeLeague/{{TropesM-Z}} here]]. Captain Steel was throwing the Parademon shield at another Parademon's head, then cuts to Shayera to show that ''[[OffWithHisHead it went in a straight line]]'' before [[AbsurdlySharpBlade punching into the side of an Apokolips structure.]]
* GoshdangItToHeck: Hell can only be uttered backwards apparently.
** Superman doesn't trust Lex flippin' Luthor.
* GrandFinale: Three separate mini-arcs were intended as the final finale of the series, but the show [[PostScriptSeason kept getting renewed]] so they had to do it all again the next season. The first was "Starcrossed (Parts 1, 2 and 3)", then "Panic in the Sky" and "Divided We Fall," and finally the real GrandFinale: "Alive" and "Destroyer".
* GrandRomanticGesture: Superman takes Lois for a picnic... atop a suspension bridge.
* GratuitousDiscoSequence: Mirror Master's [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom discotheque of doom]] in "Flash And Substance".
* GravityMaster: Vandal Savage, offscreen [[ResetButton (and even then, only 'sort of')]] in "Hereafter". He kills the entire League with it, but also terminally destabilises the Solar System and wipes out humanity [[EpicFail by accident.]]
* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: {{Trope Namer|s}}.
* GreenEyedMonster: Stargirl, when she sees how popular Supergirl is.
* [[SignificantGreenEyedRedhead Green-Eyed Redhead]]:
** Shayera Hol is {{fiery|Redhead}} and {{green|Eyes}} all over.
** Poison Ivy, as seen in the only episode she appears: "A Better World".
* GreenEyes:
** A requisite part of the [[SignificantGreenEyedRedhead above-mentioned trope]] for Shayera Hol.
** John Stewart has inhuman bright green eyes, which the producers explained was because he had been a Green Lantern for so long that the energy had become a part of him. When the ring is depowered, his eyes return to normal.
* GreenLanternRing: Obviously...
* GunboatDiplomacy: Batman to Amanda Waller
--> Mine are bigger than yours...
* GunsAkimbo: Vigilante wields a pair of revolvers as his standard weapons. Lex Luthor also wields a pair of handguns in "Destroyer", even going so far as to offer his spare to Batman when Batman has exhausted his supply of batarangs.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: H-L]]
* HalfHumanHybrid: [[spoiler: Rex Stewart aka Warhawk, son of Green Lantern and Hawkgirl.]]
* HandsomeLech: Flash. (And when he ''stops'' hitting on everything that moves he ends up a bit of a ChickMagnet.)
* HannibalLecture: The fake Justice Lords constructed by Braniac. Also President LexLuthor makes one very effective with Justice Lord Superman [[ColdOpen at the beginning]] of "A Better World".
* HappilyMarried: Big Barda and Scott Free are a BattleCouple with absolutely no inter-personal strife. They might be invading the X Pit in the heart of Apokolips, but their relationship is solid as a rock.
* HappyFunBall: Toyman's specialty.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: General Eiling; lampshaded by himself. The Justice Lords became totalitarian overlords on their world in their attempts to preserve peace and security.
* TheHeart: The Flash and Green Arrow. The creators admitted that his character being killed in the AlternateUniverse for "A Better World" was partially because they could not imagine him becoming evil "for the greater good," and it was made clear that because he was not around the original seven became KnightTemplar. Green Arrow was recruited to the league as part of a BatmanGambit because he ''would'' look at the expanded league with a critical eye, keeping them in check.
* HeelFaceTurn: Solomon Grundy and Amazo.
* HeelRealization:
** The Cadmus arc plays with the trope, as both sides believe that they are the righteous and that the other is in the wrong. Cadmus has the more traditional "Heel" aspects, with secret genetic experiments, torture, and generally morally questionable behavior, but when Batman confronts Amanda Waller with this she retorts with everything that the ''League'' does wrong. Her argument is so convincing that it leaves Batman shaken, and he ''visibly leaves through the door.''
** [[spoiler:Eiling]] has one in "Patriot Act," after his drive to protect humanity from the super powered heroes leads him to gaining super powers and thrashing several human heroes without powers. He even lampshades it:
--> Alright, I've become what I hate. I'll give you that.
* HeroInsurance: Superman is in frequent need of this.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries All]] [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries over]] [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters the place]].
* HeroWithAnFInGood: The Huntress
* HeroWithBadPublicity: A theme throughout the entire show. As the series opens, Superman is still dealing with his poor image following "Legacy" in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''. The Flash gets flak in "Eclipsed" for taking corporate endorsements and making stupid comments on live television. The entire League and Shayera in particular take a further hit after the events of ''Starcrossed''. And things just escalate as ''Unlimited'' progresses.
* HeroesUnlimited: The entire later incarnation and {{Trope Namer|s}}.
* HeroicAlbino: Downpour and Shifter prior to their FaceHeelTurn.
* HeroicBystander:
** In "Wake the Dead" a car is thrown off a bridge and plummets to the water below. Shayera, making her return, [[BigDamnHeroes swoops down and cleaves off the roof with her mace to rescue its occupants]]. The mother in the car, instead of waiting for Shayera to grab her daughter, picks her up and ''throws'' her to Hawkgirl before pushing herself out of the falling vehicle.
** In "Patriot Act," when the various B-list heroes are fighting General Eiling, a group of kids twice attempt to attack the general, first by pelting him with rocks and then by hitting him with a wrecking ball (How the heck do they know how to work a wrecking ball?). Later, when Shining Knight [[TheDeterminator is the last man standing]], a crowd of civilians gather around him and state their protection.
* HeroicRROD: Averted when Flash managed to survive after going into the Speed Force.
* HeroicSacrifice: Batman fully intended to perform one of these at the end of "Starcrossed" (by literally crash-landing the Watchtower onto the Thanagarian army's hyperspace bypass), but Superman came and saved him before it impacted.
** The unnamed ship captain in "Fury", who gave his all and perished to save a girl he barely knew. There's a reason he's the only man buried on Themyscira.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Flash and Green Lantern, Vigilante and Shining Knight, Batman and Superman.
* HeyYouHaymaker: Played straight when Superman taps Darkseid on the shoulder to get him to turn around and clobbers him when he does during the finale.
* HijackedByJesus: Hades and the Greek Pantheon in general. Hades in particular rules only over Tartarus (i.e. Hell), not the virtuous dead, and is portrayed as able to breathe fire and with devilish goat horns in his "[[OneWingedAngel true form]]". Hawkgirl manages to convince a few mooks in Tartarus that she is a Judeo-Christian angel and harming her would unwisely piss God off.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele Josef]] is given the assignment of retrieving information from a captured J'onn J'onzz.
%% * HitFlash
* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: In "The Savage Time".
* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** Dr. Destiny murdered his own wife via MindRape and attempted to do the same to the League. [[spoiler:This fails miserably when he attempts the same treatment on Batman and ends up a slobbering vegetable.]]
** The Joker attempted to use Ace of the Royal Flush Gang to drive millions of TV viewers insane, [[spoiler:but wound up a drooling, catatonic wreck himself when Ace learned that he was just using her.]]
* HoistHeroOverHead: Darkseid does this to Superman in the last episode.
* {{Homage}}:
** The giant robot fought in the opening to "Legends" is inspired by the HumongousMecha of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''.
** Ichthultu. Seeing the name, you know it's going to be a horror. Said name is anagrammatic for "It Cthulhu".
** "This Little Piggy" is one large homage to a variety of TV shows and movies stretching across approximately seven decades. Producer Creator/BruceTimm had the original idea for the episode after watching ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}'', two action/adventure Creator/JossWhedon shows that were never afraid to shift the paradigm and abandon 'normal' action/adventure plots in favor of more creative, not to say ''bizarre'', storylines. The story itself was an homage to the 1960's sitcom ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'', and during the scripting stage the writers even imagined the characters as reimaginings of characters from the original show: Wonder Woman was Samantha, Batman was Darrin, and Circe was Serena. Jack Carter, who voiced the magical supplier Sid, was a veteran actor of such classic sitcoms, and the episode ends on a musical cue that the producers actually referred to as a ''Bewitched'' musical cue. The character design of Medusa, whom Batman and Zatanna go to for information, was designed to look similar to a character from ''Series/ILoveLucy'', another classic sitcom, and the producers remarked that the voice actress even spoke in a manner reminiscent of the original model, even though they did not decide on that image until after the recordings had already been done. Medusa's dialogue, [[AnimationAgeGhetto though tame by necessity]], was inspired by prison slang and the HBO series ''Series/{{Oz}}'', since the writers felt that mythological characters would not necessarily speak exactly the same way they would have a thousand years ago, and since Medusa is in mythological prison she should speak like a convict. The rest of the episode is full of one-off gags that refer to other movies, including the admonition of "[[Film/{{Babe}} that'll do, pig]]" and Circe's feet rolling up beneath a piano as the Witch's had done in ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''.
* HomemadeSweaterFromHell: J'onn receives one from the Kents in the ChristmasEpisode, but [[VoluntaryShapeshifting is able to literally grow into it]].
* HomoeroticSubtext: Kragger toward Hro Talak. He has a bad habit of [[MomentKiller interrupting moments between Talak and Hawkgirl]], and his MentalWorld has huge statues of Talak and Kragger side-by-side, with a crushed statue of Hawkgirl at their feet.
-->'''Hawkgirl:''' You're in my way.\\
'''Kragger:''' Likewise, I'm sure.
* HonorBeforeReason - The Amazons exile Wonder Woman from Themyscira for breaking the law and bringing men to Paradise Island, even though all the Amazons would have been slain and a mad god would have conquered the world if she had not done so.
* HopelessSuitor: Wonder Woman of all people is portrayed as this towards Batman. It doesn't help that he kept giving her mixed signals.
* HordeOfAlienLocusts: In "Dark Heart".
* HostageForMcGuffin: Felix Faust turns the residents of [[LadyLand Themiscyra]] into stone, but promises to turn them back into normal in exchange for Wonder Woman retrieving some items that will release [[SealedEvilInACan Hades]].
* HotGypsyWoman: Gypsy... [[LivingProp sort of]].
* HotScientist: Lampshaded in "TheGreatestStoryNeverTold".
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E. Inverted with Mister Miracle and Big Barda, who are a Huge Girl and a Smaller Guy, though most guys ''would'' look small next to [[StatuesqueStunner her]].
%% * HumanAliens
* HumanPopsicle: AdolfHitler makes a cameo in storage after Vandal Savage assumes command of Nazi Germany.
%% * HumanitysWake
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: This is a stance held by many of the non-human people of Earth, including the Gorillas of Gorilla City and the people of Atlantis. Both change their tune somewhat after the Justice League helps them fight internal enemies, but Aresia (An Amazon) goes to her death believing all ''men'' are bastards, despite the fact that she learns a man gave up his life so that she could live. J'onn had an emotional breakdown when he tried a massive psychic scan of a city, frustrated over human pettiness. This became a bit of a CharacterDevelopment as he learns that the only friends he has are part of the league and if he was going to live among humanity, he has to learn to like at least some of them.
* HumongousMecha:
** The first large mech fought was controlled by Lex Luthor, and [[ShoutOut explicitly modeled on]] ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', in the first season episode "Legends."
** Toyman had a heavily armed Transformer-bot in "Hereafter".
** There was a truly massive mech in "Initiation".
* HumorlessAliens: Martian Manhunter seems to respond to Flash's attempts at humor with either confusion or disdain.
* HurlItIntoTheSun: Flash's suggestion for getting rid of a giant alien machine. (Inspired by a [[https://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.comics.dc.universe/browse_thread/thread/fbdc7b8bfc72c409/6e1dfe6bdba1286b?q=dwayne+mcduffie+%22into+the+sun%22#6e1dfe6bdba1286b Usenet discussion]] of an earlier episode, in which the poster wondered why Green Lantern hadn't done just that. Writer Dwayne [=McDuffie=] responded that the animated GL's ring wasn't that powerful: "Although it does suggest a really interesting spin-off, where every week GL throws whoever is attacking into the sun.")
** Also when Grundy came back Hawkgirl comments on Amazo doing the same, "before Golden Boy teleports him into the sun..."
* HurricaneOfPuns: The [[TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] villains in "Legends" love doing this. Even the Flash gets in on it when fighting one of them.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Cadmus. They do have a point that the Justice League is a potentially dangerous organization. But they often go out of their way to straight up attack them, instead of preparing for their possible betrayal. They're afraid of the Justice League crossing the line and creating huge problems, when they themselves have already done so.
** The reason they say they're better? They obey the government and aren't a bunch of loose cannons. And when the BFG fires on Earth, what do they do? Wait a while, and then put a loose cannon in charge of an army to kill the entire Justice League, ''without'' waiting for government approval.
* IAmNotLeftHanded: This is the subject of the famous WorldOfCardboardSpeech, where Franchise/{{Superman}} sees that he doesn't need to hold his power back against {{Darkseid}}.
* IChooseToStay: [[spoiler: Supergirl]] in "Far From Home"
* IdiotBall:
** It's amazing how often MartianManhunter just ''{{forg|otAboutHisPowers}}ets'' that he can become completely intangible and read minds.
** ''Batman'' of all people apparently got a hold of it for a bit in "Darkheart" after he's forced to eject from the Batwing and his parachute is destroyed. As awesome as his dive may have looked, in a situation like that the absolute ''last'' thing you'd want to do, if you're trying to survive, is make yourself more aerodynamic and go hurtling at the ground ''even faster.''
** Superman had this as well in "Clash". He's smart enough to realize that Luthor's up to something. The thought that getting Superman to look like a paranoid {{Jerkass}} ''was'' the "something" apparently never occurs to him, and Superman clutches the IdiotBall so tightly that he starts a pointless fight with Captain Marvel and makes himself look even worse than Luthor had hoped he would.
* IGotYouCovered: Frequently.
* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Yes, Luthor is still in there, [[SubvertedTrope but he]] ''[[SubvertedTrope likes]]'' [[SubvertedTrope it in there]].
* ILikeThoseOdds: In "Starcrossed, Part 3", Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern are heading straight for the Thanagarian mothership (and the dozens of smaller ships around it).
-->'''Wonder Woman:''' Pretty bad odds.
-->'''Superman:''' Yeah, they don't stand a chance.
* INeedToGoIronMyDog:
--> '''Captain Atom:''' "I'm pretty sure there's something I have to do someplace."
* IReadItForTheArticles: Flash explains that he purchases a magazine [[FictionalCounterpart clearly inspired by]] ''Magazine/{{Playboy}}'' by commenting that he reads it for the articles.
* ISeeDeadPeople: After a fashion. After Brainiac is destroyed in the ''Unlimited'' season 2 finale, Luthor can still see his "ghost", and they have conversations, but to everyone else it looks like Luthor is talking to an imaginary friend. We never learn whether or not he truly can see Brainiac, especially since he lost him after Darkseid was free.
* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: "The Brave And The Bold".
--> '''Gorilla Grodd''': Humans are slow, ugly, immoral, and have an unpleasant body odor!
--> '''Flash''': Hey, who are you calling slow?
* ImColdSoCold: Flash after being ThrownOutTheAirlock.
* ImStandingRightHere:
-->'''Aquaman (to Hawkgirl):''' Such scintillating repartee. I get better conversation from the android.
-->'''Amazo:''' You ''are'' aware I'm in the room.
** Wonder Woman confirming that Batman had, indeed, tap-danced in the conversational minefield in the opening moments of "The Once And Future Thing":
-->'''Batman (to Green Lantern):''' I don't have time to pursue a relationship; my work is too important to allow any distractions. Diana's a remarkable woman, she's a valued friend, she's--*shot pans around to show his face, brow raised followed by a wince as it pulls back to show*--standing right behind me, isn't she?
-->'''WonderWoman:''' Don't let ''that'' stop you; keep digging!
* AnIcePerson - Ice is a heroic example and Killer Frost a villainous one.
* AnIceSuit: Killer Frost.
* IfIWantedYouDead: [[InvertedTrope Said by the hero]] during the climax of the Justice League/Cadmus conflict in "Panic in the Sky." After the former Cadmus headquarters is destroyed by [[KillSat the Justice League Watchtower]] Batman points out that the League has been monitoring Cadmus for months and knew they had already moved their headquarters. When Waller then suggests that it was a warning shot Batman tells her "Don't be dense." If the League had wanted to attack Cadmus they ''would'' have attacked Cadmus, not what is now an abandoned and empty warehouse.
%% * IfYouTauntHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim
* ImplausibleDeniability: After Galatea [[FakeStatic claims she cannot hear Amanda Waller's orders]] she turns to Supergirl and says that the call (in space, directed to her earpiece that she just crushed between her fingertips) was a ''wrong number''.
* ImportantHaircut: John Stewart during ''Unlimited''. Previously, Justice Lord GL.
* ImpossibleHourglassFigure: Pretty much the entire female cast, except the younger ones like Supergirl. It is a standard part of Bruce Timm's drawing style.
* InSeriesNickname: The Leaguers abbreviate each others' codenames a lot. Huntress calls Question "Q," Green Arrow calls Vigilante "Vig," Batman is "Bats," Superman is "Supes," Mr. Terrific is "T," Green Lantern and Green Arrow are "GL" and "GA..."
* InSpiteOfANail: In the alternate reality of "The Savage Time," the Allies lost WorldWarII and the world is dominated by Vandal Savage, but Bruce Wayne's parents were still killed when he was eight years old.
* InTheirOwnImage: Lord Chronos' desperate endgame in "The Once and Future Thing"
* IncorruptiblePurePureness:
** The Flash. DVD commentary reveals that they had him die in the alternate reality of "A Better World" because they simply could not conceive of ''anything'' that would cause him to become a KnightTemplar.
** Superman is ''[[SubvertedTrope not]]'' an example; it is directly discussed in "A Better World," where Lord!Superman is unable to be talked down from his KnightTemplar ways. League!Superman explains that he has felt the same urges and compulsions himself, and he knows just how hard they are to resist. If he was ever put into that same position, he knows himself well enough to admit that he would break, too.
** [[Comicbook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]]. Some of it is childhood naiveté, but part of his pureness is his ability to ''retain'' such naiveté, even when everybody around him has become jaded and cynical.
* IncredibleShrinkingMan: The Atom
* IncrediblyLamePun: In "Wild Cards," when the Flash briefly defeats King by wrapping him up in fake mummy bandages, he comments that it "wraps [him] up." Though the wrappings mean that King's subsequent comment is muffled and unintelligible, the Flash still apologises, saying it was the only quip he could think of.
* IndulgentFantasySegue: Milo in "The Doomsday Sanction".
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Trickster, mentioned above. Also Copperhead gradually becomes one after his first appearance.
* InferredHolocaust: "Kids' Stuff" is a relatively lighthearted episode at first glance. A bratty little kid gets rid of all adults, and four members of the League are turned into kids so they can go and return the world to normal. Good guys win, everyone's fine. Except for the fact that every adult ''on the planet'' was gone for ''at least'' a few hours, if not days. How many toddlers, especially those in undeveloped regions, ended up dying without supervision? How many newborns and babies starved to death? And what the heck happened to all the pregnant women and their children, especially those in labor at the time of the incident? Driverless cars (some with kids as passengers), planes falling out of the sky?
* InformedAttractiveness: When Batman and Wonder Woman travel to New Genesis Wonder Woman is awe-struck by its splendor and magnificence, never having seen anything like it before. The floating city itself is... okay. It is not bad, it is a technological marvel unequaled in real life, but it is also a rather generic "future city" that has been seen in fiction countless times before and is overshadowed by many of the fantastic locations seen elsewhere in ''Justice League''.
* InkSuitActor:
** Amanda Waller is basically CCH Pounder with a slightly different skin tone and weight gain.
** Prior to his transformation, General Eiling resembles J.K. Simmons with the mustache he sports as [[Film/{{Spider-Man}} J. Jonah Jameson]].
** Creator/MarkHamill as the Trickster, who is drawn to look like the Trickster on the Flash TV series, [[ActorAllusion who was also played by Hamill.]]
* {{Innocent Bigot}}s: The Justice Guild in "Legends" -- telling Green Lantern he's "[[YouAreACreditToYourRace a credit to his people]]", asking Hawkgirl to bake cookies...
* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode:
** "A Better World" turns out to be the motivation for the formation of Project Cadmus, the main villains for the first two seasons of ''Unlimited''. It also motivates Batman's slow withdrawal from the rest of the league and causes the increasing conflict within both league members and Superman internally with himself. In many ways, it is the single most important pair of episodes in the entire series, eclipsing even the Thangarian and Apokaleptian invasions.
** "Twilight (of the Gods)", in which the League fights Brainiac and Darkseid, seems like a one-off like most of the rest of the early seasons. Then, in the two-part series finale, [[spoiler:Luthor has a vision of the Brainiac station seen in "Twilight" and when he finds it and tries to resurrect Brainiac he brings back Darkseid instead]].
* InstantFanClub: Supergirl has one of these in Japan, with one CosplayOtakuGirl even attacking a jealous Stargirl who was badmouthing her.
* InstitutionalApparel: Lex Luthor wears prison grays in "Injustice For All" but changes to orange fatigues in "I am Legion".
%% * InsultFriendlyFire
* IntellectualAnimal: Gorilla Grodd and the other denizens of Gorilla City.
* InterspeciesRomance:
** Between John Stewart and Hawkgirl and, it is implied, also between John Stewart and Katma Tui.
** The relationship between Superman and Lois Lane appears in a few small, but important, scenes.
** Grodd and Tala had a sexual relationship, which even people within the show find unsettling.
** J'onn and his unnamed human companion, who he refers to as his wife, in the finale.
* InverseLawOfSharpnessAndAccuracy: Vigilante and Shining Knight, armed with pistols and a sword respectively, are up against [[BadassNormal people they could actually hurt with them]] in "Task Force X," and thus never manage to make contact with their weapons. They do, however, do quite well when it comes to their fists and lassos,
* InvisiblePresident: He gets a small cameo towards the end of season two of ''Unlimited'' as the crisis approaches its climax, but the president's face is never seen and he is never named, only referred to as "Mr. President."
** The Justice Lords president does get some face time, and is pretty obviously an expy of George W. Bush, kowtowing to Superman by saying "elections are traditional, kind of like Thanksgiving".
* InvulnerableKnuckles: Averted in "For the Man Who Has Everything" and "Double Date". Franchise/WonderWoman and BlackCanary injure their hands punching Mongul and Steve Mandragora, respectively.
* IronicEcho: in "Twilight," Superman opens his fight against Darkseid with a BadassBoast ending in "let's go." Three seasons later, in "Destroyer," Darkseid echoes the line (and one-ups the BadassBoast) before attacking Supes.
* {{Irony}}: Given that we [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse never find out]] the fate of the King of Kaznia in "Maid of Honour", he most likely perished when the rail-gun was redirected to destroy the castle instead of Paris. Why is this ironic? Because it means that ''Batman'' of all people, [[FridgeHorror may]] have just accidentally killed Princess Audrey's father with a big honking space-gun!
* IsThisThingStillOn: Happens to Linda Park in "Flash and Substance". Hilariously.
* ItGetsEasier: In "A Better World", TheFlash states that killing him, a close friend whose parallel universe death was the motivation for his FaceHeelTurn in the first place, would be a line Lord!Superman would never cross. [[spoiler:Lord!Superman shrugs and says that he has done many things he once thought were over a line; one more will not hurt]].
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: Batman in "Starcrossed".
* ItOnlyWorksOnce: In his first appearance, the Shadow Thief can be disabled with bright lights. In his second appearance, he advises against trying this tactic, since it hasn't worked "in months".
* ItsALongStory - Superman after returning from the BadFuture in "Hereafter".
* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies:
** Given by Batman to Wonder Woman as a reason they should not get together. Wonder Woman demurs... by crushing a stone gargoyle's head in her bare fist.
** Given to [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond Dana by Terry]] in the "finale" [[AllJustADream ... sort of... but sort of not...]]
* ItsWhatIDo: [[ManipulativeBastard Darkseid]] in "Twilight".
* ItWasHereISwear: The Cadmus facility which grew and managed the Ultimen was disassembled and moved after they discovered the truth, and when they returned to destroy it they only found empty offices.
* JabbaTableManners: Displayed by VillainousGlutton Steven Mandagora.
* JawDrop: You would, too, if you watched an entire planet get obliterated before your eyes in a matter of nanoseconds. And you would do it again when you have been shown it was still there all along and you have been royally had.
* JerkAss: Surprisingly, Superman in "Clash".
** [[SuicideSquad Deadshot]], [[SecretSix unsurprisingly]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Batman
-->'''Amanda Waller:''' For all that fierce exterior I've never met anyone who cared as deeply about his fellow man as Bruce Wayne.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope:
** The Justice Lords of "A Better World" all did it following their Flash's death, an event that eventually led to every member shrugging off ThouShaltNotKill and taking over the planet by force, but ''Superman'' was the one who really went full-tilt.
** After a history of friendship and cooperation with Superman and Supergirl, Emil Hamilton begins to question the trustworthiness and good intentions of superheroes after Superman is brainwashed and forced to attack Earth. Does he withhold his help or begin to surreptitiously gather evidence against the heroes in order to take time to examine his fears and determine if they are justified? No, [[FaceHeelTurn he begins to clone, kidnap, torture and kill them as part of a government conspiracy]]. Way to go Emil.
* JustFriends: Batman's description of his and Diana's relationship. {{Zatanna}} does not buy it for a second.
* JustIgnoreIt: "Hawk and Dove".
* JustInTime:
** The Flash manages to find the last TimeBomb that the Joker set up in "Wild Cards" with only a few seconds left before it explodes.... [[SubvertedTrope and cannot disarm it in time with the Joker distracting him]]. [[spoiler:[[DoubleSubversion So it is a good thing he can just use his super speed to move the bomb into a desolate area to let it explode harmlessly]]]].
** In "Starcrossed," [[spoiler: the League destroys the Hyperspace Bypass mere moments before it would have destroyed the planet]].
* KarmaHoudini - Villainess Killer Frost, easily one of the few supervillains in the DCAU in it ForTheEvulz (she likes killing people. That sums her up), kills left and right, freezes the very people who sided with her in the Luthor/Grodd scuffle alive, and still manages to survive all the way to the end, never even being arrested. The worst she ever got was when J'onn forced her to use her ice powers to stop an avalanche that endangered people.
* KickTheDog: Mongul does this to Superman in "For The Man Who Has Everything".
* KidFromTheFuture[=/=]LukeYouAreMyFather: [[spoiler: Rex Stewart aka Warhawk]], previously established in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond''.
* KillEmAll: A ''ton'' of supervillains get killed off in "Alive!"
* KillerYoyo: Used by Toyman to defeat Killer Frost in "Alive".
* KingArthur: Arthurian legend is mentioned and featured in three episodes, two of which involve his foe Morgaine le Fae and her role in the fall of Camelot, and the third features a retelling of his relationship with Sir Justin (Shining Knight), one of his vassals.
* KingIncognito: Villainous example. When Grodd's secret society broke in the headquarters of Crime Lord Morgan Edge, Edge tried to escape by disguising himself as a servant but it failed because he forgot to put on shoes that weren't too fancy for a servant.
* KirkSummation: Supergirl to Galatea
* KissKissSlap: Big Barda is constantly at odds with her husband, Mister Miracle, over his increasingly dangerous Houdini-esque escape tricks
-->'''Barda (''elated''):''' Scott! I thought you were dead!
-->'''hugs'''
-->'''Barda (''angry''):''' You insufferable showboat! (''lifts off feet'') I thought you were dead!
* KlingonPromotion: Luthor takes over the LegionOfDoom by shooting Grodd and placing himself at the head of the table.
* KneelBeforeZod: Luthor to Grodd in "Alive".
* KnightInShiningArmor: [[CaptainObvious Shining Knight.]]
* KnightTemplar: The Justice Lords in "A Better World" and several Cadmus residents, particularly [[GeneralRipper Wade Eiling]].
* KryptoniteFactor: Kryptonite itself has a lasting impact throughout the series.
* KryptoniteRing: Batman carries around a piece of Kryptonite in the event that Superman ever [[FaceHeelTurn goes rogue]], and Superman is aware and glad that he does so.
* LadyInRed: Roulette.
* LadyLand: Themiscyra.
* LameComeback: Flash has a number of these.
--> '''Flash''' (to a hologram of Mirror Master): "Oh yeah well... you're not really all there!"
* LampshadeHanging: All the time, but one of the most direct ones was in the episode "Hereafter", when Wonder Woman stopped a lightning attack with her ''metal'' wrist bracers.
--> '''Flash''': "There are ''so'' many reasons why that shouldn't have worked."
* LargeHam: Despero, Despero, Despero.
--> '''Despero''': "GOOOOO! THE CONQUEST BEGINS NNNOOOOWWW! EMBLAZON MY WORD AND WILL ACROSS THE COSMOS!"
* LaserGuidedTykebomb: This version of Doomsday, a mutated clone of Superman whose creators conditioned him to hate the original.
* LastSecondWordSwap: In the episose "Far From Home", when Supergirl was about to leave to attempt to stop the Legion of Superheroes, Brainiac 5 nearly said that he loves her, but swapped "love" for "lied to" at the last moment.
* LawfulStupidChaoticStupid: Parodied in "The Great Brain Robbery." '[[FreakyFridayFlip Lex Luthor]]' is so evil that he does not wash his hands!
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In "Wild Cards", Joker's 22:51 time limit is an obvious reference to the runtime of a half-hour television program, although the episode itself is double-length.
* LeftHanging: There are a number of plot threads left dangling. Including Green Lantern, Vixen, and Hawkgirl's LoveTriangle and the result of General Eiling' vendetta against Superman.
* LegionOfDoom: The Injustice Gang and both Secret Societies. [[ExecutiveMeddling The name "Legion of Doom" was not allowed to be spoken within the show]], but the producers have revealed that they consider the organization in season three of ''Unlimited'' to be the ''actual'' Legion.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow all have their own musical motifs (Batman and Superman retain their melody motifs from their respective solo shows). Green Arrow even hums his own theme while swinging forth into battle at one point. Even the {{Blackhawk}}s have their own theme in "The Savage Time," and it is ''their real song''. One of the classic comic teams from Golden Age, the Blackhawks had plenty of supplemental material released including, at one point, a song book. Though the music itself was composed by Lolita Ritmanis for this episode, she composed it to match the lyrics from the original Blackhawk Theme. An EasterEgg on the DVD plays the song as a music video, featuring it in its entirety over the aerial dogfight of the episode (It is '''''quite''''' epic).
** Even A.M.A.Z.O. got one in his introduction episode that played whenever he assimilates any of the heroes' powers.
* LeotardOfPower: All over the place, though most often seen, of course, on Franchise/WonderWoman.
* LetMeAtHim: Green Arrow lunges against the government agents interviewing Steven Mandragora when Mandragora continuously insults Black Canary, who is there with Arrow as special security. Arrow ends up pleading with them to leave him alone with Mandragora for just five minutes. [[spoiler: Ultimately, ''Canary'' ends up smacking him one.]]
* LetsGetDangerous: It is probably good to remember that Flash, as carefree and goofy as he is, can make you explode just by touching you.
* LetsYouAndHimFight: Occasionally, including the Metamorpho episode and also in "The Terror Beyond". Deconstructed in "Clash".
* LifeOrLimbDecision: For Aquaman.
* LightheartedRematch: In "Grudge Match".
* LightningBruiser: Steven Mandragora. The guy is HUGE, but he moves just as fast as Black Canary when she attacks him.
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: TheFlash [[EveryoneCanSeeIt points out]] that Franchise/GreenLantern and Hawkgirl are bickering like an old married couple
* LikeBrotherAndSister: Flash and Hawkgirl.
* LivingProp: Many superheroes introduced during ''Unlimited'' (who, in the comics, belonged to teams ranging from the [[JusticeSocietyofAmerica JSA]] to JL Detroit) never progressed beyond this.
* LivingShadow: Shadow Thief.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: from the third season on, the Justice League has over three dozen members.
* LogicBomb: Bizarro is assisting Giganta because he has fallen in love with her, and in "Ultimatum" he is helping her break Gorilla Grodd out of jail. When Wonder Woman asks him [[AndThenWhat what will happen to his relationship with Giganta after they have rescued her boyfriend]], Bizarro freezes in confusion.
* LostWorld: Skartaris and Themiscyra.
* LotusEaterMachine: The Black Mercy in "For The Man Who has Everything".
* LoudOfWar: The Question once successfully tortured a man with the use of crappy, overproduced pop music.
* LoveCannotOvercome: No matter how hard she tries positive, upbeat WonderWoman can't get grumpy, antisocial Batman to settle down with her.
* LoveTriangle: Green Lantern and Hawkgirl get romantically involved right before it comes out that Hawkgirl is [[spoiler:a Thanagarian spy ''and'' engaged to another man]]. Although he does not quite lose his feelings for her, he does take up with Vixen before going into the future and learning that [[spoiler:he has a son by Hawkgirl]]. Meanwhile, Hawkgirl picks up a stalker in Hawkman who believes (with more than a little justification) that he and Hawkgirl are reincarnations of Thanagarian lovers from ancient Egypt. Late in the series, [[AssPull it comes out]] that [[spoiler:Green Lantern is (supposedly) ''also'' a reincarnation of one of the Egyptian Thanagarians' human friends who was having an affair with Hawkgirl's preincarnation which ended in the tragic death of all three of them.]] The series ends with Green Lantern and Vixen together, but with unresolved feelings between John and Shayera and the knowledge that they will somehow rekindle their relationship [[ForegoneConclusion sometime before Batman Beyond]].
* LovingAShadow:
--> '''Hawkman:''' "We are the reincarnations of Katar and Chayera Hol, and I love you."\\
'''Hawkgirl:''' "You can't love me, Carter. You don't even ''know'' me."
** Wonder Woman's infatuation with Batman could be seen as this - is she really in love with Batman, warts and all, or is she merely in love with the idea of him and in love with the idea of being the light to his darkness?
* LowerDeckEpisode: The ''Unlimited'' portion of the series focuses heavily on lesser-known members DC Comics, with many minor and supporting heroes receiving their own episodes throughout its three seasons.
* LowestCosmicDenominator: {{God}} makes no appearances in the show and gets no explicit references, but when Hawkgirl is in Tartarus [[HijackedByJesus the demons mistake her for]] [[WingedHumanoid an angel]] and flee when she makes reference to "the boss." Greek deities, however, are fair game.
* LukeIAmYourFather: For ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' via [[FullyAbsorbedFinale "Epilogue."]] Hades also pulls this on Franchise/WonderWoman, only to have her shut him down by basically saying "Who cares?".
* LuxuryPrisonSuite: Enjoyed by the Ultra-Humanite and Lex Luthor (Although it might be a bit much to say Luthor ''enjoyed'' it). In the parallel world of "A Better World", LoisLane is living in a lavishly furnished apartment, dating Superman and eating ''gazpacho''... and she can not leave the premises, have visitors, make phone calls or even write a letter. A gilded cage, indeed.
[[/folder]]
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