Heartwarming / Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

• During the opening robbery when one of the Dee Dee twins falls off the hover forklifts, her sister immediately abandons the robbery and goes zooming in to help her.
• Ace wagging his tail at Bruce's side while watching him practice throwing batarangs.
• The Friend-or-Idol Decision where Batman saves the lives of two people hanging from a precipice at the cost of letting the Joker escape, with Bruce telling him it was the right thing to do.
• After learning the Joker has returned, Bruce tries to make Terry stop being Batman, and says that he's done the reputation of Batman proud and has avenged his father. While he might just have been saying it - at least in part - to get him out of the suit and out of harm's way, it's not something he'd say lightly.
• After Bruce sends Terry away, the first thing Terry does is spend more time with Dana.
• After being attacked by the resurrected Joker and his gang, Ace recovers by watching classic WB cartoons.
  • And Terry makes it a point to check up on him.
• When Terry wanted to ask Barbara about the Joker since Bruce refused to talk about it, she too won't say anything about it and just tells him to drop it. While it seems like she still doesn't accept Terry, it was really to protect Tim. But after Joker attacked Bruce, Terry calls Barbara for help. Then Terry begged Barbara to tell him the whole truth since he's part of this now whether she likes it or not. After a moment, Barbara relents.
• A blink-and-you-miss-it one from the flashback, but Harley actually seems to try to protect JJ (brainwashed Tim) at one point. Perhaps the desire for children was more genuine on her part?
• In the censored version of the events leading to Joker's death. Tim immediately tosses the gun given to him by Joker to kill Batman aside, causing Bruce to smile with pride.
  • Moments later he jumps the Joker freeing Batman from Joker's grasp.
  • In the uncensored version, he shoots the Joker instead when the former orders him to murder Batman. He then slowly returns back to his senses, and Bruce says his name softly. Tim, while still laughing, redirects the gun and BANG.
• How Batgirl tries to snap Tim out of his senses by not referring to him as Robin.
  • She also refers to herself not as Batgirl in this interaction.
  Batgirl: Tim, it's Barbara! Can you hear me?
• How Batgirl hugs Tim when he's in tears after he kills the Joker, and how Tim leans on her shoulder.
  Batgirl: It's okay, Tim. It's okay.
• In a giant case of O.O.C. Is Serious Business, Bruce was never upset about Tim shooting the Joker despite his Thou Shalt Not Kill policy. He was on the warpath at the time, after all, and he knows that Tim wasn't in his right mind thanks to being tortured for three weeks. Instead, Bruce was more worried about how Tim was traumatized by the experience and in fact seems grimly satisfied that the Joker died after all.
• Barbara mentions how the only other person they brought into their confidence about what happened was her father Commissioner Jim Gordon and he promised to keep it secret.
• Dr. Leslie Thompkins never appears, but Barbara says that she managed to help Tim. It took a year, but Tim became sane and able to talk about what happened. She's a family friend, through and through.
• Barbara emphasizes that Bruce did not fire Tim; he forbade the boy from wearing the Robin suit ever again after he recovered because he didn't want another kid hurt on his watch. Tim and Barbara know it wasn't a punishment, but an acknowledgment that Robin couldn't go on after such trauma and that Bruce never forgave himself for what the Joker did. After the Dark Age, comic Batman would "fire" his sidekicks when they got injured on the job or disobeyed him. We saw that with Dick Grayson after Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Stephanie Brown before War Games. It's reassuring that Bruce and Barbara told Tim that it wasn't his fault, especially since Tim as an adult felt guilty for murdering the Joker.
• Tim is quite pleased to see the new Batman, though he hides it under a gruff exterior. Part of him admits that he wishes he could be wearing the cape and cowl but doesn't dislike the new guy personally.
• While Tim says it bitterly, he says Bruce did him a favor by retiring him after what happened with the Joker. It's easy to forget that he was probably sixteen at best when he went through horrific Mind Rape, and being able to choose a new path proved that he could move forward and not backward. For all that happened, he never hated his adoptive father or blamed him for the trauma (and in fact Barbara mentions he made a few attempts to reconnect with Bruce). It was Bruce's own guilt that kept him away.
• A police officer salutes Batman after handing Jordan Pryce over for questioning, it wasn't even in any of the original storyboards but kept in anyway.
• Terry having Ace by his side while checking computer files, and the way Ace races to greet Bruce when he returns to the Batcave.
• When the Joker reveals that he had brainwashed Tim using a microchip, Terry does what he can to distract the Joker so that he can short out the little device. He used the time mocking the clown to find his joy buzzer and a prime position to put it on the microchip. Then as soon as the Joker dies (again), Terry grabs an unconscious Tim as Ace barks in alarm and busts them all out before the satellite laser can disintegrate them.
• When Terry visits Tim in the hospital after the crisis is over.
  Tim: For what it's worth, Bruce couldn't have chosen anyone better to put on the mask.
  Terry: Coming from you, that means everything.
• The ending scene, where the Bat-Family is together again after nearly 40 years apart. Barbara reassures Tim that it wasn't his fault that the Joker hijacked his body, and the monster is gone for good. Terry reveals his identity to Tim, who thanks him for stopping the Joker and saving his life.
  • Bruce gives Terry this advice before entering the hospital room:
  Bruce: Terry...I've been thinking about something you once told me. And you were wrong. It's not Batman that makes you worthwhile. It's the other way around. Never tell yourself anything different.
  • Right after that, Bruce and Tim talk to each other for the first time in almost half a century:
    Bruce: Hello, Tim.
    Tim: Hi, old man.
    • It should be noted that the "old man" part was not sarcastic at all...which makes it even more heartwarming.
• Subtly, bear in mind that the Joker really did die, and Harley was childless at the time; any kid in her wouldn't have survived the fall. She moved on and broke the cycle of abuse.
  • Not only that, but she really is pissed that her granddaughters were engaged in criminal activities. Not only did she move on, but she broke out of her own criminal mindset and wanted her family to be on the straight and narrow.
• Even though she's fully aware that Harley knowingly participated in the psychological torture of Tim Drake, Barbara still prioritizes Harley's safety over her own when they tumble over a chasm together, trying to lift her to safety. It doesn't work, but she still gave it her all to Save the Villain. Bruce would be proud.