Voiced By: Tim Daly (Superman: The Animated Series), Jason Marsden (Superman: The Animated Series, teenager), Christopher Mc Donald (Batman Beyond, old man), George Newbern (Justice League and Justice League Unlimited)

The quintessential Cape and Flying Brick of the DC Animated Universe.

An alien orphan named 'Kal-El' who was sent into space as an infant to avoid suffering a cataclysmic death on his home planet of Krypton. His craft landed in a Kansas field and he was discovered by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who raise the boy as their son under the name 'Clark'. As he matures under the Earth's yellow sun, he gains superhuman powers such as nigh-unlimited physical strength and the power of flight. As an adult, he moves to Metropolis to work as a newspaper reporter. It is here he becomes aware of the corruption and evil in the world, deciding he must use his gifts to right these wrongs, taking the moniker 'Superman' after a story of his deeds is published in the Daily Planet by Lois Lane, who uses the term.

After having worked long and hard since the end of "Legacy" (from Superman: The Animated Series) to regain the world's trust in him, it is he who first suggests that he and the other superheroes form the Justice League, in order to deal with future threats as great as the Imperium. According to the series' promotional information, he was shown to be the face of the League, as well as the peacemaker for the other members.

• Badass: Regularly goes up against enemies at least as powerful as him and far more ruthless, and has demonstrated that even without his powers, he's still not to be taken lightly.
• Badass Grandpa/Cool Old Guy: He's still active in Batman Beyond, and looks like he's only in his late 40's/early 50's, thanks to his Kryptonian physiology.
• Betty and Veronica: Lana and Lois a couple of times
• Berserk Button: Harming his friends is never a wise thing to do since he's, well, Superman. Aptly demonstrated in the second part of "Hereafter," where he flew into enough of a rage to almost smash Vandal Savage's head with a rock when the other man started describing in detail how he slaughtered the other League members (but of course, the Reset Button was very handy at the end of the episode), and in "For the Man Who Has Everything," where Mongul was running Wonder Woman ragged.
  • Additionally, in "For the Man Who Has Everything," Supes did not take it well that Mongul's Black Mercy plant forced him to have to make a painful choice to leave his idyllic fantasy life behind to return to reality.
  • Darkseid's mere presence also qualifies. He's the only character in the entire DCAU that Superman has NO reservations about killing.
    • Well there was also Mongul but that was more of passion. Darkseid is the only character that Superman can think about for more than five minutes and still want to kill.
• Beware the Nice Ones: As Darkseid and Mongul find out the hard way.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Twice first he was brainwashed by Darkseid in Legacy and then he was possesed by a parasite creature for several years by the time of the Batman Beyond episode The Call.
• Broken Pedestal: For Captain Marvel. Note that it was Lex Luthor's plot to make people distrust Superman and it worked well for Captain Marvel, that even Superman thought what he was doing was wrong, but the other founding members immediately showed that it was all a ploy.
  • At the start of Justice League, many people on the whole world saw him as this, after the STAS finale when Darkseid brainwashed him into leading the charge against his adopted homeworld. He only got proof that his efforts to fix his image paid off after Green Arrow stood up to him in "Divided We Fall".
• Brought Down to Badass: Superman gets depowered and handles himself on an After the End Earth pretty well, including forging a sword out of rebar and turning a pack of wolves that had been hunting him into sled dogs.
  • Luminus filters all sunlight except red to depower Supes, then baits him into a Hard Light death trap. Supes manages to survive until he destroys the sun blocker.
  • In the second part of "The Main Man", he gets some alien goons to throw him into a cage with a dodo and a simulated yellow sun.
  • In "Double Dose", he defeats the Parasite with a mop.
• Brought to You by the Letter "S"
• The Cape
• Chick Magnet: Clark Kent was irresistible in high school and Lana Lang even complained about his ability to attract every woman in the area.
• Clark Kenting
• Deadpan Snarker: He can go toe-to-toe with Lois and come out on top.
• Determinator
• Everything's Better with Spinning: He spins rapidly quite a bit in Superman The Animated Series, often to drill through the ground.
• Evil Me Scares Me: After the Justice Lords saga.
• Eye Beams
• Fight Off the Kryptonite: A couple of times.
• Flash Step: Uses his Super Speed like this frequently.
• Flying Brick
• Freakiness Shame: Teenage Clark wasn't very happy to learn that he's an alien at first.
  Teen Clark: It's not true. I'm not a freak. I'm not. (punches a wall) I'M NOT!!
• Genre Savvy: Sort of. This incarnation of Big Blue is definitely not infallible, and is often caught off-guard by something new or unexpected. But "fool me once" applies; try the same trick on him again, and he'll have figured out a counter, or even run a Batman Gambit on you.
  • Seen most awesomely in "Mxyzpixilated", where he goes from being utterly befuddled and questioning his sanity to literally running rings around Mxy. Also several of the examples under Brought Down to Badass, above.
• Hometown Nickname: Lois calls Clark "Smallville".
• Human Aliens
• I Am Not Left-Handed: In the grand finale of Justice League Unlimited, he unleashes all his strength on Darkseid after giving him the "World of Cardboard" Speech.
• Ideal Hero: But he's far from perfect, as seen multiple times, since he will become a Knight Templar if anyone close to him is killed.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: His greatest fantasy is an ordinary life of a farmer on Krypton.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: Lampshaded in "Knight Time", where he poses as Batman and a few characters notice that his chin seems to be much larger.
• The Leader: Charismatic of the Justice League.
• Living Lie Detector: Clark Kent, using his super-human senses, can gauge heart-rate and eye-level to make a fairly accurate deduction of a person's honesty.
• Morality Chain: Both Lois Lane and The Flash serve as these to him. It's shown in, respectively, "Brave New Metropolis" and "A Better World" that if either of them die, he'll become much less forgiving towards criminals.
  Grim Dark Superman: I always thought if I set an example... did enough good... I could make a real change. I didn't realize I was in a war. Then - suddenly - you became a casualty in that war.
• Mugging the Monster: In the Batman Beyond episode The Call, supervillain Inque took a hostage who turned out to be Superman. The instance ended how you would expect.
• Nice Guy: Probably one of the nicest superheroes on Earth.
• Nigh Invulnerable: The guy can withstand lava.
• The Other Darrin: Tim Daly was replaced with George Newbern in Justice League. The older Superman in Batman Beyond was voiced by Christopher McDonald, but this was due to the idea of Superman sounding more like his father Jor-El as he got older; McDonald was the actor who voiced Jor-El in Superman: The Animated Series.
• Physical God: Becomes part of the conflict with Cadmus, post-Justice Lords.
• Power Loss Makes You Strong: Memorably in "Hereafter".
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: When he uses his Eye Beams.
• Robot Me: It's emphasized in "A Better World" that Superman has robot duplicates of himself to keep things in check when he's not around. His Justice Lord counterpart uses his robot duplicates to maintain order at Arkham Asylum (and presumably elsewhere as well).
• Shooting Superman: "Question Authority" provides one of the more blatant examples of this.
• Strong Family Resemblance: He looks (and at the proper age, sounds) exactly like his father.
• Superpower Lottery
• Super Speed: Though he's not quite as fast as Flash.
• Super Strength: Another power.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Becomes a problem during the Cadmus arc due to the fact that his Justice Lord counterpart broke this code.
  • Darkseid, as stated above, is an exception. After their last encounter in his previous series, Superman has no problem killing him.
  • At one point, he was really tempted to break this code on Luthor. He states he wishes he was like his Justice Lord counterpart, but he just won't do it.
  • He's got no problem doing this against wolves, though it might have been owing to the fact that he had no choice (and their sentience is a bit easier to debate).
• Time Shifted Actor: Superman on Batman Beyond.
  • In the Five-Episode Pilot teenaged Clark was played by Jason Marsden.
• Voice Changeling: Superman could mimic voices thanks to precise muscle control and a really good ear, which severely creeps out Robin when he demonstrates it.
• Weirdness Magnet: Where he goes, weird stuff that probably wouldn't bother Earth comes in search of him.
• The Worf Effect: Got hit with this pretty bad when starting out in Justice League. The writers apologized for it and did their best to make up for it later on.
• "World of Cardboard" Speech: His speech at the end of Justice League Unlimited is the Trope Namer.
• Would Hit a Girl: Although he's willing to put up with a lot more from them before he resorts to it.
• X-Ray Vision: One of his regular powers.

Supergirl (Kara In-Ze/Kara Kent)

Voiced By: Nicholle Tom

Kara In-Ze is the sole survivor of Krypton's sister planet, Argo. While exploring the space around the destroyed Krypton, Superman found Kara in a cryogenic facility and took her in as his adoptive cousin. Inspired by her adoptive cousin, Kara made a costume with Superman's logo and occasionally acted as Superman's effective sidekick in his adventures. She later becomes a member of the expanded Justice League.

• Action Girl: Is a fight around? She'll go into it without a problem.
• Badass Adorable
• Bare Your Midriff
• Big in Japan: In-Universe, as revealed in Chaos at the Earth's Core.
• Brought to You by the Letter "S"
• Captain Ersatz: Of the pre-Crisis Supergirl, Kara Zor-El (who was later rebooted into post-Crisis continuity). The reason that she wasn't Kara Zor-El outright was that DC had the editorial mandate of "Superman is the last Kryptonian, period." So the writers had to slightly modify her origin and name to fit the series.
• Character Development: Develops greatly from her first appearance in "Little Girl Lost" to JLU. In her first appearances from STAS to JLU she was criticized for being impulsive and reckless. By the time Divided We Fall rolls around, she was chosen to be in charge of the League while the founding seven were in custody. In her final appearance, Green Lantern himself notes that there is nothing more he can teach her.
• Cute Bruiser
• Determinator: In Chaos at the Earth's Core, she fights Metallo despite her powers being significantly reduced and him having a Kryptonite power battery that can kill her. Even weakened and near death she managed to remove the battery from his chest.
• Distaff Counterpart: To Supes.
• Evil Counterpart/Evil Twin: Galatea is Supergirl's evil clone.
• Eye Beams
• Farmer's Daughter: Galatea, a clone of Supergirl, is described by a reporter as "blonde hair, blue eyes, real farmer's daughter type" (and with Galatea being a clone, this obviously applies to Supergirl as well). Not to mention that Kara was actually raised on a farm by Ma and Pa Kent, who treated her like one of their own children.
• Fight Off the Kryptonite: Against Metallo, memorably.
• Flying Brick: Her powers are on par with Superman.
• Headbutting Heroes: With Stargirl in Chaos at the Earth's Core though by the end of the episode, they appear to be becoming friends.
• Human Aliens
• Impossible Hourglass Figure
• Leeroy Jenkins: Initially, though over time it lessened.
• Nigh Invulnerable
• Prophecy Twist: Benefits from one.
• Put on a Bus: At the end of "Far From Home".
• Sealed Good in a Can: How Superman finds her in "Little Girl Lost".
• Sidekick
• Superpower Lottery: She has all the powers of Superman.
• Super Speed: Though not quite as fast as Flash.
• Super Strength
• Twin Telepathy: In Supergirl's dreams, she relives the memories of Galatea.
• X-Ray Vision

Lois Lane

Voiced By: Dana Delany

The Daily Planet's star reporter, she never stops at anything to get a good front-page story, though her headstrong nature nearly gets her killed several times. She is initially skeptical of Superman, but eventually falls in love with him. She is also good friends with her fellow reporter Clark Kent, who, like in the comics, never figures him out to be Superman's identity, although it's hinted, but never made clear, that she eventually found out in Justice League Unlimited.

• Action Girl: She is outclassed by the supervillains of the show, but when faced with normal human opponents, or when she is pushed into a corner without Superman to save her, she does well all by herself.
• Badass Damsel: Oh, yeah.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Hot Scoop
• Intrepid Reporter
• Loves Superman, Doesn't Care For Clark Kent
  • Played with actually, she starts out rather skeptical of Superman and while she constantly teases Clark. The Late Mister Kent (and a few other episodes) shows that this may be to cover up a crush on him.
• Magic Skirt
• Secret Keeper: Knows that Bruce is Batman, and it kills her that she can't say anything about it.
• She's Got Legs: Seems like whenever Lois is on screen, it's a full-length point of view.
• Weirdness Magnet
• Will Not Be A Victim
• Worthy Opponent: Lex Luthor once explained to Lois that, as much as he disliked her for the shots she takes at him and his company, he respects her for her skills and abilities.

Jimmy Olsen

Voiced By: David Kaufman

A cub reporter and photographer in the Daily Planet, he is the best pal of both Superman and Clark Kent, although he never finds out they are one in the same. He has a special signal watch with a distinctive "zee zee zee" that he can use to call Superman anywhere on Earth.

• A Day in the Limelight: "Superman's Pal"
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Danny Phantom, is that you?
  • In France, he's Danny's friend Tucker.
• Intrepid Reporter
  • Camera Fiend: Jimmy is a photographer, not a regular journalist.
• Red-Headed Hero: As was to be expected.
• Undying Loyalty: Or pretty awful close. Even after Superman has gone on a crusade for a monstrous alien overlord, Jimmy still isn't ready to give up on his pal.
  • Possibly debatable. An alternate version of the character seem in "Brave New Metropolis" is a staunch member of the rebellion.

Perry White

Voiced By: George Dzundza

• A Father to His Men
• Canon Immigrant: The name "Perry White" was first used in the radio show.
• Catch Phrase: "Don't call me 'Chief'!" (mostly to Jimmy)
• Consummate Professional
• Da Editor
• Intrepid Reporter: In his youth.
• Reasonable Authority Figure
• Satellite Character: His biggest role centers around his time at the Daily Planet and its staff.
• When I Was Your Age: Quotes this to Lois, telling her that he didn't have computers of fax machines. Lois interrupts him and says "Yeah, yeah, and you walked ten miles on your bare feet to work every day."

The Kents

Voiced By: Mike Farrell (Jonathan "Pa" Kent) and Shelley Fabares (Martha "Ma" Kent)

• Badass Normal: While neither of them do much fighting, when Braniac went back in time their response was simply to pull shotguns on him to defend their son.
• Good Parents
• Granny Classic: Martha is not a grandmother, but she certainly fits the image and personality; loving and supportive, loves to cook.
• Happily Married
• Mama Bear: When Braniac went back in time to kill Superman, Martha pulled a shotgun on him to defend her son.
• Muggle Foster Parents: To both Clark and Kara (Supergirl, who while is Clark's foster cousin, she calls them Ma and Pa).
• Secret Keeper
• Seen It All: In the Justice League episode "Hearts and Minds", Clark brings J'onn J'ozz home for Christmas. Despite his green skin, red eyes and Underwear of Power, they don't give it a second thought and warmly welcome him into their home.
• Upbringing Makes the Hero: It is a major theme in the Superman mythos how their upbringing of Clark, and the values they have instilled into him are instrumental in shaping him into who he is.

Professor Emil Hamilton

Voiced By: Victor Brandt, Robert Foxworth

• Absent-Minded Professor
• Broken Pedestal: A mutual one with Superman.
• Et Tu, Superman?
• Evil Former Friend: For Superman in Justice League Unlimited.
• Face Heel Turn: Becomes a member of Project Cadmus in Justice League Unlimited.
• Fantastic Racism: Not just towards the Super Family, but the entire Justice League as well.
• The Professor
• Selective Obliviousness: Conveniently forgets that the reason Superman threatened him was because he refused to help save Supergirl's life until Superman was forced to do so.
  • Self-Serving Memory
• Well-Intentioned Extremist

Dan Turpin

Voiced By: Joseph Bologna

A Metropolis cop who is part of the special crimes unit. He's know for his bravery, but is quite hot-tempered and foolhardy, and has had to be pulled from the force quite a few times. Nevertheless, he is one of Superman's most valuable allies, even saving his life at least once.

• Badass Bystander
• Badass Normal
• Brooklyn Rage
• Cowboy Cop
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: He rallied the people of Metropolis to oppose the forces of Apokolips.
• Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: He paid for the above by getting disintegrated by Darkseid's Omega Beams.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: The media (especially Lois and Angela) give him a hard time due to being part of the "cleaning crew" while Superman does all the work. Everyone sees him standing up against Darkseid, and getting killed for it. Even Lois, Angela, AND Lex were at his funeral.
• The Lancer: To Maggie Sawyer.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Modeled after his creator Jack Kirby. He's even Jewish like Kirby, proven with the Jewish funeral he gets after being vaporized by Darkseid].
• Sacrificial Lion
• Stuffed into the Fridge: Was vaporized by Darkseid just to spite Superman.
• Took a Level in Kindness

Maggie Sawyer

Voiced By: Joanna Cassidy

• Ambiguously Gay: Ambiguous only because it's not downright stated (she's a lesbian in the comics).
• The Commissioner Gordon
• Da Chief
• Fair Cop
• Hide Your Lesbians
• Reasonable Authority Figure

Lana Lang

Voiced By: Joely Fisher

• Alliterative Name
• Betty and Veronica: Lana l to Lois for Superman's affections.
• Captain Ersatz: Of Lois.
• Damselin Distress
• Fiery Redhead: At times.
• Girl Next Door: To Clark in Smallville
• Secret Keeper
• Unlucky Childhood Friend

Angela Chen

Voiced By: Lauren Tom

• Canon Foreigner
• Hot Scoop
• Is This Thing Still On?: Wasn't aware that she was on camera when she was commenting about her coffee being decaf.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Manipulative Editing: In "Superman's Pal" Angela has a quote by Jimmy Olsen altered from "I don't think I'd be real comfortable with that. [...] But it's not like I'd call us pals or anything". to "Real comfortable. I'd call us pals".
• The Rival: With Lois at the Daily Planet.
• She's Got Legs
• Token Minority: Seen as Cat Grant with a Race Lift.

Bibbo Bibbowski

Voiced By: Brad Garrett

• Alliterative Name
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Lois gave him money to call Clark should she had been in danger on a story she was covering. He quickly forgot and spent it on a soda machine. Superman ended up saving her anyway.
• Gentle Giant
• Good Is Dumb
• The Informant: For Lois
• Recurring Extra

Steel (John Henry Irons)

Voiced By: Michael Dorn (Superman The Animated Series), Phil La Marr (Justice League Unlimited)

• Arm Cannon: His forearm-mounted lasers.
• Badass Normal
• The Blacksmith
• Drop the Hammer
• Genius Bruiser
• Meaningful Name
• Powered Armor
• Scary Black Man: Irons is usually depicted as being just as tall, if not taller than, Superman himself.
• Shout Out: Like his name suggests, he's based on folk hero John Henry.

Orion

Voiced By: Steve Sandor (Superman The Animated Series), Ron Perlman (Justice Leagueand Justice League Unlimited)

• Fiery Redhead
• Flying Brick: The Astro-Harness covers the flight part.
• Happily Adopted: He loves his adopted father with as much intensity as he hates his biological one.
• Magical Computer: The Mother Box, which also soothes Orion's familial rage and opens up Boom Tubes.
• Perpetual Frowner
• Sky Surfing: With his Astro-Harness
• Unstoppable Rage: One that can only be held back by the Mother Box.
• You're Not My Father: Hates Darkseid with every fiber of his being.

Lex Luthor

Voiced By: Clancy Brown

A genius, multi-billionaire living in Metropolis who is the chief executive of his own company, LexCorp. In reality, he's a sociopath with a thirst for power and control, which he will gladly go to any length to have. He's an A-lister among Superman's rogues and constantly flexes his Villain with Good Publicity as much as he possibly can. He later takes on various exploits to hamper the Justice League and out them as threats to global security so he may do as he pleases unopposed.

• A God Am I: When fused with Brainiac.
• Affably Evil
• Ambiguously Brown: Word Of God says he is Greek and his appearance was based on Telly Savalas, a Greek-American actor.
• And I Must Scream: Averted. Instead of going mad or resisting when he discovers that his cells have become a host for a nanotech version of Brainiac that now controls their body, Luthor strikes a bargain with the robot.
• Arch-Enemy: Of Superman.
• Badass Boast: "I'm already more powerful than all of you put together."
• Badass Normal: Nowhere near Batman's level of training, but when you can forcibly assume leadership of a large group of superpowered beings and keep them in line just through your intelligence and personal charisma, you qualify.
  • Empowered Badass Normal: As Brainiac's takeover of Luthor's body proceeds in season two of Unlimited, Luthor has a brief stint of superstrength.
• Bald of Evil
• Big Bad: For much of Superman: The Animated Series and the Justice League cartoon, where he ran first the Injustice Gang, and then the Legion of Doom.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: When it suits his purposes, he can be quite charming. But only when it suits him.
• Body Horror: In "Panic in the Sky", Brainiac bursts out from under Luthor's skin, leaving a human body with black robot tentacles randomly placed over his body and Brainiac's face protruding from his stomach. Though momentarily astounded, Luthor does not Go Mad From The Revelation, which is itself evidence of a staggering amount of willpower.
• The Chessmaster
• Civilian Villain: After being pardoned and while running for president.
• Composite Character: Of himself. This version of Luthor ran the gamut from his modern Corrupt Corporate Executive incarnation, to the nineteen-forties Diabolical Mastermind, to the Mad Scientist of the sixties and seventies.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive
• Crazy-Prepared: Made damn sure he can turn the powers of any member of the Secret Society against them if they step out of line, as Doctor Polaris, Goldface, and Grodd found out to their sorrow. Also has an elaborate panic room hidden deep under a random Metropolis barber shop.
  Steel: "Got to hand it to you, Luthor - nobody would think to look for you here."
• Diabolical Mastermind: After losing his company and resorting to more obvious villainy. Reaches its height in Season 2 JLU.
• Dual Wielding: Twin laser pistols in Season 2 of JLU.
• Drunk on the Dark Side: He enjoys his merger with Brainiac since it gives him so much power.
• Eviler than Thou: With Grodd.
• Genre Savvy: Immediately realizes the Justice Lords are fakes in A Better World.
• Guns Akimbo: In the JLU.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Contracted an incurable illness due to always keeping Kryptonite on him. He has to have a machine implanted in him to stay alive for most of Justice League and Justice League Unlimited - until Brainac cures him... for his own reasons.
• How Do I Shot Web?: Averted big time—in "The Great Brain Robbery", upon finding himself in the Flash's body, he immediately puts his powers to incredible use, from the standard Speed Blitz to the weirder applications of high-speed vibration.
• Mad Scientist: Big time. Played up in the Justice League.
• Power Armour: Wears it a lot in the Justice League cartoon, where he's forced to go head to head with the League. That said, his real "power suit" - as shown in the finale - is Armani.
• President Evil: Subverted. He only ran to annoy Superman. And it worked.
• Screw The Rules I Have Money
• Shadow Archetype: A cynical man who uses all kinds of money and political power to manipulate, throwing himself into conflict with an idealist who uses his abundance of physical power to protect.
• Smug Snake: His arrogance sometimes leads him into this territory.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Whenever working with the Joker or Grodd.
• Troll: In season two of Justice League Unlimited. His entire presidential campaign was a farce to get under Superman's skin.
• Villain with Good Publicity: In Superman: The Animated Series and the second season of Justice League Unlimited.
• Villaious Breakdown: When the League exposes his crimes in "Injustice for All", he becomes a lot more irritable and less composed than he was previously.

Brainiac

Voiced By: Corey Burton

A supercomputer AI from the planet Krypton who survived the planet's destruction. Now it seeks to gain as much knowledge from the galaxy as it can, by any means, as well as increase the value of that information by destroying any "redundant" data (ie, the original civilizations).

• A God Am I: When fused with Luthor.
• AI Is A Crap Shoot: It knew Krypton was going to explode back when it was just a supercomputer, but it chose not to support Jor-El's findings; the revelation would only cause panic and might interfere with Braniac's own escape plan - and since it represents the sum total of all of the planet's knowledge, it was the only thing worth saving anyway.
• Bald of Evil
• Big Bad: Of Season 1 of Superman and Season 2 of the JLU.
• Body Horror: When he merges with Lex.
• The Chessmaster: But as Lex notes, he lacks one thing needed to be a true Magnificent Bastard - an imagination.
• The Collector: Of information.
• Creepy Monotone
• Fighting a Shadow/Actually a Doombot: The real Brainiac is an AI inhabiting a vessel in the depths of space; all those robot bodies that Superman destroys are just remote-controlled drones.
• From a Single Cell
• Fusion Dance: With Luthor.
• Generic Doomsday Villain: In JLU, Luthor pretty much accuses him of being one when he points out that Brainiac's purpose is to gain all the information about creation... and then destroy it for some arbitrary reason. Brainiac himself seems to come to agree on some level, as he agrees to merge with Luthor so that they can actually use that information to remake the universe in their image.
• Kneel Before Zod: From "New Kids in Town," Brainiac makes a teenage Clark do this, even saying, "At last, the son of Jor-El kneels before me." Much like with Superman II, Clark gave him a big surprise.
• Not So Stoic: In "Knight Time" he suddenly starts making emotive facial expressions when Superman attacks his spaceship.
• Omnicidal Maniac: He wants to collect all the information of every civilization the universe, then destroy each planet, ultimately making him the only source of knowledge. At the time that he first appears in the series, he has already destroyed dozens of planets and killed billions.
• Planet Looter
• Self-Serving Memory: When he demands that Luthor rebuild him in Ghost in The Machine he chooses to refer to the events of their last meeting as "[Luthor's] betrayal", conveniently forgetting that Brainiac was the one who had attempted to follow his modus operandi of taking all information on the planet and then blowing it up while Luthor had apparently been willing to keep his end of the bargain.
• Where I Was Born And Razed: He wasn't directly responsible for Krypton's destruction, but sabotaged Jor-El's efforts to warn people so he could concentrate on his own escape.

Darkseid

Voiced By: Michael Ironside

The absolute ruler of the wasteland planet Apokolips. Stuck in a truce with the neighboring planet New Genesis, Darkseid is always scheming about how to put the entire universe under his fist. Seeking the 'Anti-Life Equation', a powerful tool that could easily submit the entirety of existence under his thumb, he is a constant threat to planet Earth. He is Superman's most hated enemy for his many transgressions committed on Earth and Superman is willing to stop at nothing to see his end.

• Abusive Parents
• A God Am I: And won't shut up about it. (Justified since HE IS ONE.)
• Agony Beam: His Omega Beams normally kill, but he can dial them down to this to amuse himself.
• Authority Equals Asskicking
• Back from the Dead
• Badass: Possibly the most powerful villain in the DCAU and one of the few villains who regularly goes toe-to-toe with Superman on a physical basis, and comes out none the worse for the wear. He's an evil monster, but there's no denying that he's Badass.
  • Badass Baritone: In both English and Spanish.
  • Badass Boast: Lots of 'em.
    • "I am many things Kal-El. You couldn't begin to imagine half of them, but for now I shall take the role of your executioner."
    • "I am many things Kal-El... but here, I am God."
    • "Super or otherwise, you're merely a man. And I am a GOD!"
• Bad Boss
• Bald of Evil
• Big Bad: Of Superman: The Animated Series seasons 2 and 3. He, Luthor, and Grodd are in the running for this in Justice League.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Reacts this way to Superman's And This Is for... Dan Turpin punch.
  "Had I known one human's death would pain you so, I would have killed more."
• The Chessmaster: "I told you once Superman, if you would not be my knight, you would be my pawn."
• The Dreaded: Terrifies the members of the Legion of Doom enough that they are willing to enter into an alliance with the Justice League against him.
• Electric Torture: "It's called the Agony Matrix. Direct neuro-stimulation of pain receptors. All of them. Imagine the worst pain you have ever felt in your life times a thousand. Now imagine that pain continuing forever. Oh, that's right. You don't have to imagine."
• Establishing Character Moment: What's the first thing he does when he meets Superman face-to-face? Blast him with his Omega Beams until he's on his knees. Who is he? That is who he is, Kal-El.
• Eviler than Thou: Even Brainiac can't compete.
• Evil Is Petty: He murdered Dan Turpin for no other reason than to stick it to Superman.
• Evil Overlord: Hooo boy.
• Evil Sounds Deep
• Eye Beams: The Omega Beam.
• Genius Bruiser
• God of Evil
• Godzilla Threshold: He's the one villain that Superman does not hold back on. And, as has been noted, he's the one villain that Superman is perfectly willing to kill.
• Knight of Cerebus: Any time Darkseid shows up, whether it's in Superman: The Animated Series or Justice League, things get a LOT more serious.
• Large and in Charge
• Manipulative Bastard
• Nigh Invulnerable
• Physical God
• Playing Both Sides: Does this in the conflict between Superman and Brainiac in Justice League. Even though neither of them trust him, he puts them both in situations where they feel they need to work with him. He almost wins.
• Polluted Wasteland: His entire planet.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: His motive in the JLU finale is to get revenge on Superman for killing him, first by forcing him to see Earth burn then cutting his heart out with a kryptonite knife.
• Storyboarding the Apocalypse: Darkseid loves doing this and is damn good at it.
  "I hope you appreciate, Kal-El, everything that happens from this point is on your head. The skies will rain fire, the oceans will boil, the streets run red with the blood of billions. Only then, when your last pitiful hope has been vanquished, will I end your life. Let's go."
• Super Strength
• Ungrateful Bastard: "It seems I have you to thank for my resurrection. Though your world will suffer slowly, I grant you a quick death."
  • Almost all of those villains would rather have died than bowed before Darkseid. Ergo, he was granting them a boon... From a Certain Point of View.

Kalibak

Voiced By: Michael Dorn

• The Brute
• Diminishing Villain Threat
• Dumb Muscle: He is treated as such by his father. While not your usual manchild type, he knows nothing about subtlety and gets easily manipulated.
• The Dutiful Son: Sort of.
• Evil Sounds Deep
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain
• Overlord Jr.: Well, he tries.
• Super Strength
• The Unfavourite
• Well Done Son Guy: To Darkseid.
  Darkseid: I can't believe he's blood.
• The Worf Effect: Gets subjected to this a lot after his first appearance. It's Hilarious in Hindsight, considering who voices him.

Granny Goodness

Voiced By: Ed Asner

Oberon: Do yer worst, ya old cow!

Granny Goodness: You wound Granny! ...but not as badly as Granny's going to wound you...

• Evil Old Folks
• Fat Bitch
• Never Mess with Granny: Oh, boy...
• Orphanage of Fear
• Third-Person Person
• Vocal Dissonance: And he doesn't even try to hide it.

Metallo (John Corben)

Voiced By: Malcolm McDowell

John Corben was a mercenary hired by LexCorp to steal an experimental Mini Mecha and deliver it to Lex's (illegal) buyers. Superman's debut in Metropolis was crushing the robot and hauling Corben off to prison. While in jail, Corben contracted a fatal disease. Lex Luthor, thankful for Corben refusing to testify against him, offered a solution: upload Corbin's mind into an immortal robot body, powered by a Kryptonite core. Corben enjoyed the limitless strength and durability, but the lack of touch, smell and taste drove him insane. He blamed Superman for all of this, letting Lex off the hook pretty quickly. He later joins the Legion of Doom later in Justice League Unlimited.

• Affably Evil
• And I Must Scream: His fate at the end of "Action Figures." He discusses it when he returns in "Heavy Metal."
  "Remember how you left me, Superman? Buried in rock?! I couldn't move. I couldn't see. I couldn't hear. But I could think, and all I thought about was how I was going to make you pay!"
• Attack Its Weak Point: Disabling his Kryptonite core is usually the only way to stop him.
• Blessed with Suck: He gets an immortal, super-strong body powered by Superman's biggest weakness...at the cost of all tactile sensation.
• Brain Uploading
• Cyborg
• Easy Amnesia: In "Action Figures" Metallo's time on the bottom of the ocean wiped his memories clean. He briefly becomes a hero to the inhabitants of a nearby volcano, until he remembers Superman.
• Evil Brit
• Faux Affably Evil
• Jerkass Victim: His transformation into Metallo is entirely the result of Luthor ruining his life so as to manipulate him for his own ends, and his pain as he realizes how much becoming Metallo has cost him is geniune... but he's also a remorseless sociopath with who as hurt a lot of people, so the audience's sympathy for him is limited.
• Moral Myopia: So it's Superman's fault Lex Luthor poisoned you and transferred you to a lifeless body?
• Nigh Invulnerable
• Robotic Psychopath
• The Other Darrin: When he turned up in "Hereafter" on Justice League, Corey Burton voiced. McDowell was back, though, in "Chaos at the Earth's Core" in JLU.
• Sense Loss Sadness: The inability to taste, smell or feel anything drives him to the edge in less than a day.
• Smug Snake
• Super Strength
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness

Livewire (Leslie Willis)

Voiced By: Lori Petty, Maria Canals Barrera

A Metropolis radio personality who built her career by bashing Superman on the airwaves. She finds herself suddenly possessing electrical-based superpowers after both she and Supes are struck by the same lightning bolt during a thunderstorm. Blaming him for her condition, she soon adopts the persona of "Livewire" and takes her Superman-bashing to a new, dangerous and shocking level. She later joins the Legion of Doom in Justice League Unlimited.

• Absolute Cleavage: She has a large lightning bolt-shaped slit that goes down to her belly button, although no cleavage is actually drawn.
• Achilles Heel/Kryptonite Factor: Livewire and water do not mix.
• Attention Whore: A decent part of her characterization, especially in her first appearance. It's particularly obvious before her transformation.
• Badass Boast: "You can't stop me anymore than you can stop rain... wind... or LIGHTNING!"
• Canon Immigrant
• Dumbass DJ: Before gaining her powers, she was a popular DJ who spent all her time insulting Superman in order to boost her ratings.
• Elemental Baggage: She works like a battery—she must absorb charge from other electricity sources to use her powers, and when that charge runs out she's pretty much normal.
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Livewire's outfit is created by ionizing the air around her, and she herself describes it as "form fitting."
• Goth
• Jerkass
• The Lad-ette
• Leitmotif: An electric guitar tune.
• Lightning Can Do Anything: Passing through Superman first apparently means it can create metahumans. Applying the trope to Livewire specifically, she's able to do nonsensical things like dive into TV screens and then appear on them.
• Logical Weakness: Water.
• Never My Fault: Her transformation was due to her stupidity of hosting a concert in the middle of a storm, Superman tried to get her to cancel it as she was both putting herself and the audience in danger. Typically she wouldn't listen and got hit by lighting. She blamed Superman for the mess, mostly from seeing on TV a reporter interviewing Superman accusing that he deliberately didn't push Leslie out of the way when the lightning struck.
• One-Liner: Loves these. Makes sense given her past as a Shock Jock.
• Psycho Electro
• Pure Energy: Livewire describes herself as such and, though it makes for a very interesting character, it does not make any more scientific sense than every other "energy being" out there. And, oddly enough, she apparently still has a skeleton.
• Sexy Spectacles: Invoked this before her transformation. Getting struck by lightning seems to have improved her vision, however.
• Shock and Awe
• Shock Jock: Before getting her powers.
• Straw Feminist: At times.
• That Man Is Dead: "Meet [Leslie Willis's] replacement!"
• Vapor Wear

Toyman (Winslow Schott, Jr.)

Voiced By: Bud Cort, Corey Burton

Winslow Schott wanted nothing more in life than to make toys. Unfortunately, he had little money, and could only achieve his dream by taking a loan from gangster Bruno Mannheim. The toy company soon became a front for Intergang activities, and when the police busted the operation, Mannheim let Winslow take the fall. Now Schott's son seeks revenge, adopting the identity of Toyman and using a variety of deadly toy-themed weapons and death traps against the gangster and his mooks. Naturally, this attracts Superman's attention. He later joins the Legion of Doom in Justice League Unlimited.

• Cool Mask: Wears an eversmiling mask that he never removes.
• Creepy Monotone
• Freudian Excuse: See Parental Abandonment, below.
• Gadgeteer Genius
• Happy Fun Ball: His specialty.
• Killer Yo Yo
• Parental Abandonment: His dad (framed by the mob) died in prison, leaving him to be switched from one foster home to another.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Goes straight Up to Eleven
• Slasher Smile: Painted onto his mask.
• Stalker with a Crush
• Sympathy for the Devil: Expressed for him by Lois.
• Underestimating Badassery: Killer Frost does this to him in "Alive".

Luminus (Edward Lytener)

Voiced By: Robert Hays

Edward was an engineer at LexCorp who specialized in light and laser manipulation. He was a mole for Lois in one of her stories, and while Lois' work won her a journalism award, he was fired. In revenge, he tried to murder Lois, and then Superman got involved. Lytener took up the persona of Luminus and decided to get his revenge on Superman. That failed too. Luminus is last seen fighting the Justice League after a jail break.

• Affably Evil
• Bond Villain Stupidity: You managed to weaken Superman to human strength, Luminus. Just shoot him already! Don't toy with him until he breaks the machine weakening him.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: He enjoys fighting Superman because he can't wait to kill a god.
• Death Trap: His specialty. Spent his debut episode trying to kill Lois Lane.
• Expy: Of Doctor Light. His pervyness is an interesting case of hindsight hilarity. It's also probably just as well that he wasn't named Doctor Light, as Justice League Unlimited introduced Kimiyo Hoshi, the heroic Doctor Light.
• Hellevator: One of his death traps.
• For the Evulz: In his second appearance, Edward Lytener becomes the villain Luminus, just to get back at Superman.
• Frickin' Laser Beams: He's good with light, so lasers aren't too far of a stretch.
• Gadgeteer Genius
• Hard Light: His other specialty. Turns out, lasers still hurt anyway.
• Light Is Not Good
• Love Makes You Crazy
• Me's a Crowd: Similar to the Flash villain Mirror Master.
• Nothing Personal: Said this in his second appearance to Lois. He put her in a death trap again, but he insisted only as bait for Superman.
• Smug Snake
• Stalker with a Crush: He became The Mole against LexCorp because he liked Lois, not because it was the right thing to do.
• Steven Ulysses Perhero: Lytener?
• Villainous Breakdown: Is so calm and calculating when he has a powerless Superman on the ropes. When the satellites key to powering the big guy down get blown up, however, he (understandably) becomes quite panicky and desperate.

Bruno Mannheim

Voiced By: Bruce Weitz

Bruno leads Metropolis's branch of Intergang, a major criminal syndicate. He soon gets weaponry from Apokolips, allowing him to deal with Superman and the local Police force. Eventually Superman and the Police team up and Mannheim is forced to flee to Apokolips, where he meets his new boss, Darkseid. Instead of killing him outright, Darkseid sends him back to Metropolis so he can overtake the nuclear power plant. He then sets the reactor to overload, and Darkseid leaves him to die as the reactor goes critical.

• The Chew Toy: And completely deserving it.
• Disc One Final Boss
• Genre Savvy: Kanto offers him the Apokolips weaponry for free. Bruno responds, "Free can be very expensive..."
• Jerkass
• Karmic Death
• Lensman Arms Race: Cops? No problem. Superman? Apokolips weaponry. Superman + Cops? Flee and call in the Parademons!
• Les Collaborateurs
• Save the Villain: In his first appearance, he had to be saved from the Toyman. That was the only episode featuring the both of them.
• Smug Snake
• The Syndicate: Leads one.
• Too Dumb to Live: Working for Darkseid, yeah, that can't go wrong!
  • Darkseid put it best.

BRUNO: {After Darkseid betrays him) But you said you'd make me king?!
DARKSEID: And so you are, the king of fools.

• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness

Mercy Graves

Voiced By: Lisa Edelstein

• Battle Butler
• Canon Immigrant
• The Comically Serious: Though she can be pretty snarky on occasions.
• Dark Action Girl
• The Dragon: To Lex Luthor.
• Kick Chick
• Magic Skirt / Tights With A Skirt
• Ninja Maid
• She-Fu
• She's Got Legs

The Parasite (Rudy Jones)

Voiced By: Brion James, Brian George

Once an employee of S.T.A.R. Labs, Rudy was exposed to an experimental chemical compound that spilled on him when he tried to steal it. Now, as The Parasite, he possesses the power to absorb the energy and physical abilities from anyone he touches. He seeks to drain Superman of his powers, in the process going From Nobody to Nightmare. He later joins the Legion of Doom.

• Achilles Heel / Kryptonite Factor: Gains the weaknesses of those whose powers he copies, usually with greater effect than the originals.
• Affably Evil: Very amiable, though in this case it only serves to make him more creepy.
• Battle in the Center of the Mind: "Two's a Crowd"
• Composite Character: Of himself - between the Rudy Jones and Maxwell Jensen Parasites.
• Drunk with Power: As a defining character trait. His main motivation is that his whole life people have been pushing him around and looking down on him, and now he wants as much power as he can for as long as he can... and enjoys using it to lord over others.
• Eviler than Thou: Less so than Earl Garver, eviler than Livewire.
• From Nobody to Nightmare
• Killed Off for Real: He is blown up along with Grodd's other followers in "Alive!"
• Power Parasite
• Split Personality Takeover
• Who's Laughing Now?
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity

Bizarro

Voiced By: Tim Daly, George Newbern

An imperfect clone of Superman created by Luthor. He has almost all of Superman's strengths, but a damaged mind that leaves him unable to think clearly and understand that his actions are harmful. He truly wants to be a hero, but doesn't understand that he's actually hurting people. A while afterwards, Luthor lobotomizes and brainwashes him in order to be more evil and he becomes part of the Legion of Doom.

• Anti-Villain: His damaged mind means he really wants to be the good guy, but can't overcome the warped version of reality it's feeding him, or the fact that he Does Not Know His Own Strength. Justice League has this removed by having him lobotomized and brainwashed.
• Appropriated Appellation
  Mercy: Bizarro is what you "am".
• Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad: In Justice League, apparently due to being brainwashed.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: He becomes lobotomized to be his Silver Age comics incarnation in Justice League.
• Clone Degeneration
• Dumb Muscle
• Obliviously Evil

Mister Mxyzptlk

Voiced By: Gilbert Gottfried

A pint-sized humanoid from another dimension who has decided to torment Superman with his powerful reality warping abilities merely for his own amusement. The only way Supes can effectively get rid of him is to trick him into saying his own name backwards. And even then, it only works temporarily.

• Amusing Alien
• Great Gazoo
• Jerkass: This isn't your Silver Age well-meaning Mxy.
• Laughably Evil
• The Napoleon
• Nice Hat
• Non-Standard Character Design: Myzyzptlk is tiny, bulbous and four-fingered. This may be a half-hearted attempt at A Form You Are Comfortable With, or it could be Leaning on the Fourth Wall - he's entered a cartoon universe, so he takes on a cartoony appearance.
• Reality Warper
• Sore Loser
• Space Jews
• The Trickster
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife

Lobo

Voiced By: Brad Garrett

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: And Maxima wanted him, at one point. Lois, Diana and Hawkgirl, not so much.
• Badbutt: Can't be as "colorful" as he usually is in a kids' cartoon.
• Badass Biker
  • Cool Bike: Doubles as a Cool Spaceship.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Naturally.
• Bounty Hunter
• Guns Akimbo
• Heroic omedicSociopath: Lobo. Since the show is intended for kids he's not allowed to do anything truly horrific, and comes across as mostly Played for Laughs instead.
• Jerkass
• Last of His Kind: Like Superman, unlike Superman however, he destroyed his own planet, making him the last of his kind.
• Super Strength
• Token Evil Teammate: When it seemed like Superman was killed, Lobo filled in to quash the rioting in Metropolis. Not surprising this was a temporary arrangement.

Maxima

Voiced By: Sharon Lawrence

• All Amazons Want Hercules: Maxima will only mate with a man who can equal her in combat.
• Cool Sword
• Fiery Redhead
• Flying Brick
• Human Aliens
• Mind Over Matter
• Psychic Powers
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: As queen of Almerac, she's only interested in doing what she wants to instead of doing what's best for her people.
• Tsundere
• Villainesses Want Heroes: She wanted Superman
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: Later she wanted Lobo
• Yandere
• 0% Approval Rating: No one on planet Almerac is fond of her and there was a coup as soon as she went to Earth to bag Superman.

Sergeant Corey Mills

Voiced By: Xander Berkeley

• By-the-Book Cop: Mills before he became the test subject for the power armor.
• Canon Foreigner
• Clothes Make the Maniac: Mills became violent, paranoid and obsessive after prolonged exposure to the armor.
• Fair Cop
• Happily Married: Again, until the suit started to change him.
• Power Armor
  • One Way Visor: With Stat-O-Vision
  • Grenade Launcher
  • Hand Blast: With Black Light lasers
  • Rocket Boots
  • The Strength of Ten Men: More like twenty men.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity

Volcana (Caire Selton)

Voiced By: Peri Gilpin

• Bare Your Midriff: In Justice League.
• Canon Foreigner
• Dark Action Girl
• Deadpan Snarker
• Distracted by the Sexy: She gains entry to a private party, and draws the eye of on-duty photographer Jimmy Olsen, through raw sex appeal.
• Fiery Redhead: Literally
• Flying Firepower
• Playing with Fire
• Rapunzel Hair