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Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Our hero villain protagonist, flanked by everybody else who's anybody

An aspiring supervillain, trying to get into the Evil League of Evil, finds himself entangled in a Love Triangle with his Arch Enemy and a girl he knows from the laundromat.

A three-part Web Original video series, created by Joss Whedon out of his own pocket as a more-or-less direct result of the Writer's Guild of America strike of 2007-2008. The series was released for free until July 20, 2008. After that time it was placed on iTunes for purchase and for free with ads on Hulu.com (United States Only) with the revenue from both going to pay the cast and crew. A DVD release is scheduled for the near future. There is also a prequel comic by Zack Whedon from the point of view of Captain Hammer. The official fansite is here.

Characters:

Dr. Horrible a.k.a. Billy (played by Neil Patrick Harris), the aspiring supervillain. Currently designing a gun that will freeze time.

Captain Hammer (played by Nathan Fillion), Dr. Horrible's arch-enemy.

Penny (played by Felicia Day), who uses the same laundromat as Dr. Horrible and volunteers at a homeless shelter.

Moist (played by Simon Helberg), Dr. Horrible's friend. He seems to have superpowers related to getting things slightly damp.

NOTE: Song titles listed on the page as of July 2008 are best guess until the official soundtrack is released, as they are not listed by title in the credits for the web show.

Be warned: Despite what it looks like, it's not a comedy. Well, it is, but it's not a happy comedy.
Also see: The zany theories page for the show.

From this point forward there be unmarked spoilers. Read after seeing the 'sodes. The trope references won't make much sense until you do, anyway.

Tropes include:

  • Almost Kiss: In Act II, after Penny's song, you can see them inching in towards each other before Penny mentions Captain Hammer.
  • Amusing Injuries: Well, Captain Hammer considers them amusing while he inflicts them on a helpless Dr. Horrible.
    • Captain Hammer's injuries from the exploding Death Ray, and his reaction to them, also count as this. "I think this is what pain feels like!"
  • Anti Villain: That trope fits Dr. Horrible like a glove. At least, up until the point where he changes his gloves.
  • Arch Enemy: Doctor Horrible says that Johnny Snow is not his archnemesis, but rather that's Captain Hammer, who dislocated his shoulder...twice. And threw a car at his head.
  • Attack Of The 50 Foot Whatever: In Dr. Horrible's revenge daydream sequence during "Brand New Day" at the end of Act II, he turns into a giant and stomps Captain Hammer flat.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: What poor Billy gets in the most painful way possible.
  • Better Than It Sounds: A made-for-Internet short film deconstructing comic book archetypes, done on the cheap during the WGA strike. And it's a musical.
  • Bond One Liner: Two, right after each other, one of which is a Metaphorgotten, by Captain Hammer in Act III.
    Captain Hammer: A death ray! Looks like Dr. Horrible's moving up. Let's see if this one works any better than the others.
    Dr. Horrible: Don't!
    Captain Hammer: I don't have time for your warnings. You give my regards to Saint Peter...or whoever has his job, but in hell.
  • Blond Guys Are Evil: Note the titular character. He's also blond in the companion comic.
  • Blown Across The Room: Captain Hammer, upon firing Horrible's death ray.
  • Break The Cutie: Dr. Horrible's humiliations in Act II are only the latest in a long line of humiliations and injuries inflicted on him by Jerk Jock Captain Hammer.
    Dr. Horrible: "Listen close to everybody's heart / and hear that breaking sound / hopes and dreams are shattering apart / and crashing to the ground."
    • Penny's death in Act III does this even more effectively and completely. What follows has the lyrics of a triumphant song to the tune of a dirge.
      "Here lies everything / the world I wanted at my feet / my victory's complete / so hail to the king..."
  • Buffy Speak: A given when you consider the writer.
    Dr. Horrible: "Moist! My evil...moisture...buddy..."
    In Act III, we have Captain Hammer: "Mama! Help! Someone maternal!"
  • Catch Phrase: "I'm Dr. Horrible! (I hold / I've got) a Ph.D. in horribleness!"
    • Lampshaded by Moist: "Is that the new catch phrase?"
  • Can Not Spit It Out: Billy is so painfully shy that his first on-screen attempt at talking to Penny at the laundromat ends with him mumbling unintelligible, and his second attempt ("Love your hair.") becomes a Did I Just Say That Out Loud moment for him when she turns around in surprise. He backpedals hastily, "No, I- I, I...love the air." At one point he tells Moist that he is so close (surely only a few weeks at most!) to achieving "real audible connection" with Penny. He never gets around to actually telling her that he loves her.
  • Card Carrying Villain: Dr. Horrible, who wants to prove his worth as a supervillain to be allowed to join the Evil League of Evil. Not to mention the actual members of the actual Evil League of Evil, like Bad Horse, of course, of course...
  • Catch Phrase Interruptus (well, High Note Interruptus): "WAAAAAAAAAY!" (Captain Hammer)
  • Chekhovs Gun: The Freeze Ray. Literally shown first in Act I and then used later in Act III.
    • It's also shown on-screen then used off-screen in Act II.
  • Character Blog: As the title states, Dr. Horrible operates a blog in which he talks of his life as a supervillain. Unfortunately Captain Hammer watches the blog and likely finds out about his secret identity and Penny from it.
  • Chest Insignia: Captain Hammer has one of these. It's a... well you can probably guess it.
    • Subtly subverted by the fact that it's not a cool iconic design of a warhammer, or a jackhammer, or a sledgehammer, but a photograph of a garden-variety claw hammer, likely from Sears.
  • Civvie Spandex: Captain Hammer's costume consists almost entirely of normal items of clothing
  • Clark Kenting: Played straight and subverted. Penny doesn't recognize her laundry buddy Billy as Dr. Horrible (though admittedly she didn't get a very good look at Dr. Horrible). Captain Hammer seems not to recognize him, but it turns out he's just waiting for Penny to leave the room.
    • He greets the Doctor with the words, "You seem horribly familiar." while smirking. That should have been a warning sign.
  • Coconut Superpowers:
    • We see the (dubious) success of Dr. Horrible's Transmatter Ray when he shows off a ziplock bag full of liquefied gold bullion/bouillon.
    • We only hear from Dr. Horrible that Captain Hammer threw a car at his head. We never see it.
    • Subverted twice, in that we see the Freeze Ray and the Death Ray in operation. And both malfunction soon afterwards.
      • On the other hand, Dr. Horrible fires the Death Ray into the ceiling several times, but all we see are flashes of red light, not the possible damage. And the effect of the Freeze Ray consists of a bit of CGI blurring and Nathan Fillion standing very still.
    • Bad Horse's "terrible death whinny" is mentioned, but never heard on-screen.
    • Dr. Horrible makes fun of Johnny Snow's Ice Beam weapon, but their duel never happened.
  • Color Coded For Your Convenience: Reversed (or is it?): Dr. Horrible wears white, Captain Hammer wears black.
    • Dr. Horrible's red suit at the end of Act III is definitely an example of this. So are Dr. Horrible's new black gloves, which now match Captain Hammer's black gloves from earlier, hinting that Dr. Horrible is now as evil deep down as Captain Hammer.
  • Crowning Moment Of Awesome: Several examples within the film (pretty much any time Neil Patrick Harris opens his mouth to sing, for example), but really, the very existence of this is a CMOA for all involved. Joss Whedon and company cooked up the whole thing to circumvent the issues brought up during the WGA strike; it was funded with Whedon's own money and most of the cast and crew worked for nothing (other than the possibility of the film earning enough to actually pay them). Then the strike ended, and they went through with it anyway, and it actually worked--so much so that when the first act went live online, the influx of viewers crashed the server.
  • Cut Lex Luthor A Check: "It's not about making money, it's about taking money."
  • Dark Reprise:
    • The first time we hear "Slipping," it's an instrumental as Dr. Horrible sets up the remote for the Wonderflonium van heist, but the song itself in Act III is a disturbing echo of the tune.
    • "On the Rise"
    • Also the Ironic Echo variation/type when: Dr. Horrible's theme from the opening credits is played again in the middle of "Slipping". Exact same notes, much more disturbing context. It's even worse during the finale, used for the Doctor's Suit Up sequence.
    • During "Slipping", Dr. Horrible repeats Penny's line, "Head up, Billy buddy" on a dark and tragic note as it's the final attempt of the Billy part of him to stop before fully embracing evil. It succeeds; Billy hesitates and can't bring himself to pull the trigger. But no good deed goes unpunished; Hammer immediately punches him in the face and across the room when the Freeze Ray wears off.
    • We also hear a low-key reprise of "Brand New Day" during the finale at Dr. Horrible's victory party.
  • Death Ray: self-explanatory
  • Deconstructing: The Super Hero and villain dichotomy as follows:
    • The villain is a likeable, shrinking violet Technical Pacifist.
    • The hero saves the day but only to feed his ego...he's an obnoxious Jerk Jock, Jerk Ass with womanizing tendencies and not much liking for anyone who isn't him.
  • Department Of Redundancy Department: The Evil League of Evil
  • Designated Hero: Subverted, bigtime. Captain Hammer is the official hero, but:
    • He doesn't follow through on any of his crimebusting. From Horrible we know there's a history of Hammer catching him in the act and beating him up, sometimes brutally. But Horrible has never been arrested.
    • Captain Hammer is more interested in adulation than in doing right for doing right's sake. He smashes the driverless van's control device, then jumps off the still-moving van to mack on a bystander. Moments later, when Hammer has caught Horrible and stopped his attempt to steal the Wonderflonium, he lets Horrible go in order to devote his full attention to flirting with Penny (who he "rescued" by tossing into garbage with his super strength).
    • Captain Hammer is only involved in helping the homeless because it gets Penny to sleep with him.
    • Captain Hammer is perfectly okay with rubbing Billy's nose in the fact that as the hero, he gets the girl. Particularly the girl Billy/Horrible wants.
    • Captain Hammer is disgusted by the homeless. And apparently, by pigeons.
    • He doesn't care about the innocent. Witness his "rescue" of Penny above, and the fact that he doesn't do anything to assure the safety of the people gathered at the shelter dedication; Horrible, on the other hand, encourages people to run away.
    • Captain Hammer doesn't have the typical heroic compunction against killing.
    • Captain Hammer is xenophobic and anti-intellectual, believing that Goths (and likely other non-conformists) and anybody with particular scientific or mathematical aptitude should be throw in jail as potential supervillains.
  • Die For Our Ship: The groupies have an irrational hate for Penny...
  • Dogged Nice Guy: Somewhat subverted.
    • Billy is, at his core, a genuinely nice guy who's too shy to act on his wishes, so instead, out of frustration, he indulges his fantasy life and acts out through Dr. Horrible. Unfortunately, this makes him a stalker who fibs about his likes and dislikes to keep the girl smiling and talking to him. Perhaps he needn't have worried, after all, it was Penny who talked to him first. Arguably, it is intentional and the point that the so-called Nice Guy is more of a stalker, and that the tragic ending is as much his fault as it's Captain Hammer's. If he had just talked to Penny instead of admiring her from afar none of it would have happened.
    • Captain Hammer is technically the hero and supposed to be a nice guy. He's a major Jerk Ass, and everybody pretends not to notice because he fights evil. But he fights evil for the adulation, and he only does the homeless stuff because he thinks it'll get him into bed with Penny for a second time if he does enough "nice guy" stuff.
  • Dont Explain The Joke: [Captain Hammer holds up fists] "These are not the Hammer." [leaves then returns] "The Hammer is my penis."
  • Downer Ending / Bittersweet Ending: Captain Hammer is revealed for the punk he is. Penny dies, fulfilling Bad Horse's requirement. Doc Horrible becomes a famous supervillain and gets admitted to the Evil League of Evil. But without Penny, the world is an empty place, full of haunting memories. Billy's last shreds of idealism and innocence died with Penny.
    Dr Horrible/Penny: There's no happy ending.. so they say.
    Dr Horrible: Not for me, anyway...
  • Ear Worm: The songs are -- dare we say -- horribly catchy.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: A literal case here with the Thoroughbred of Sin himself, Bad Horse; despite only having two short songs and a physical cameo at the end, just about everyone loves Bad Horse.
  • Epileptic Trees: This page, and the related Wild Mass Guessing page.
  • Everything But The Girl: To the tee at the end.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Dr. Horrible isn't so sure about this whole killing people thing and is especially appalled at the suggestion of killing a little kid (and future president) to boost his own reputation of evilness.
  • Evil Costume Switch: In Act I, during the heist to steal the Wonderflonium, Billy changes from his normal clothes into his evil persona and dons the Dr. Horrible outfit (complete with goggles).
    • In Act III, the final switch from villain to supervillain occurs: from Dr. Horrible's previous iconic outfit consisting of white labcoat, white boots and gloves to a blood-red labcoat and black gloves. He keeps his goggles, but now they've become Scary Shiny Glasses, covering his eyes.
  • Evil Feels Good: What Dr. Horrible learns in Act II. Before, his determination to get entrance into the prestigious Evil League of Evil was merely a wish to gain respect. Now, it's personal. Now, he wants revenge.
    "I cannot believe my eyes / how the world's filled with filth and lies / but it's plain to see / evil inside of me / is on the rise."
    "It's a brand-new day / and the sun is high / all the birds are singing / that you're gonna die!"
    "It's a brand-new me / I got no remorse / now the water's rising / but I know the course."
    "It's a brand-new day / yeah the sun is high / all the angels sing / because you're gonna die!"
  • Evil Gloating:
    • Captain Hammer's gloating at the laundromat, when he tells Billy/Dr. Horrible that he will date Penny solely because Dr. Horrible has a crush on her. He grinds it into Horrible's face (metaphorically) with, "...and I get what you want."
    • Dr. Horrible's song "Slipping" in Act III.
  • Evil Laugh: What Doctor Horrible is practicing in the beginning. He has a vocal coach.
    "If you're gonna get into the Evil League of Evil, you have to have a memorable laugh!"
    • He gets it right at the end.
  • Evil Minions: Moist barely qualifies as a henchman, because in his own words, "Even at my most Bad Ass, I can only make people feel like they want to take a shower."
  • Exactly What It Says On The Tin: Subverted somewhat with the Freeze Ray - it stops time, not the more obvious possibility.
    "With my freeze ray I will stop the pain / It's not a death ray or an ice beam / That's so Johnny Snow..."
    • Played straight with Bad Horse. And Moist, who, well...is.
    • Lampshaded with the sticker label on the Stun Ray turned Death Ray.
    • The title itself is a subversion. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog implies that it's a sing-along, but nowhere during the show do the lyrics appear in "follow the bouncing ball" or karaoke style so viewers actually can sing along. But this may be the Genre Savvy Joss Whedon counting on his Fandom to provide the lyrics until the official release happens. Since Whedon's previous musical effort (the Buffy episode "Once More, With Feeling") has since inspired its share of sing-alongs and Rocky Horror-style reenactments, maybe the title is anticipatory...
  • Fan Girl: Captain Hammer has a trio. Well, two fangirls and one Camp Gay fanboy. They are reminiscent of the gag Fan Girls from Yu Gi Oh The Abridged Series. In the end, they immediately jump over to worshiping Horrible instead, possibly because that bitch Penny's dead, seemingly because of him -- or just because All Girls Want Bad Boys.
  • Feet Of Clay: Penny starts seeing Captain Hammer as he truly is: an egotistical Jerk Ass bully with superpowered brawn. Hammer's final attack on Horrible really shows his true colors and shows him for the punk he is.
  • Final Speech: Penny's Last Words were intentionally kind, and that makes them the unkindest cut of all to Dr. Horrible. She recognizes Horrible as Billy, speaks words of concern for his safety, and then tells him everything will be all right because "Captain Hammer will save us." To be fair, Penny was clearly delirious there. Hence her saying Captain Hammer would save them despite Hammer having already run away, and the fact that Hammer was the one who tried to kill Dr. Horrible to begin with.
    • She was either delirious or, realising that Billy was Dr. Horrible and his goal that had been vaguely alluded to her earlier was to become a respected super-villain, decided to use her last words to validate him as a villain, thereby making his dream come true. She doesn't realise that this actually does more harm than good.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • The person whose email provokes Billy to launch into "Freeze Ray", the song about Billy's love for Penny, goes by the handle Dead Not Sleeping. Interpreted by some as a warning that Penny is not just sleeping.
    • "Because the dark is everywhere / and Penny doesn't seem to care / that soon the dark in me / is all that will remain..."
    • Dr. Horrible: "There's no happy ending / so they say / not for me anyway..."
    • During "It's a Brand New Day", on the line "...all the birds are singing that you're gonna die!", Penny, rather than Captain Hammer, looks at Dr. Horrible.
  • Fridge Brilliance: There's a whole level of psychological stuff happening with regard to Billy that becomes apparent through his song lyrics. "Slipping" is a tug-of-war between the Billy and Horrible aspects of his personality.
    • Likewise, this troper thought the ending was an abrupt shift into tragedy...until she went back and realized there's a dark undercurrent running throughout the entire story.
    • There's a school of thought that Horrible's devices have all historically malfunctioned because Billy knows, deep down, they could hurt or kill someone, and that being a supervillain isn't really going to impress Penny.
      Dr. Horrible: No sign of Penny /Good I would give any /thing not to have her see...
  • Goggles Do Nothing: Doctor Horrible literally has goggles, but never seems to use them (of course, he might use them later on).
    • In the end, Doctor Horrible wears the goggles over the eyes on his new, 'true evil' costume, signifying the completion of his change.
  • The Good Captain: Captain Hammer
  • Hammerspace: Dr. Horrible produces the Death Ray from beneath his coat in Act III, despite there being no evidence of it being there in earlier shots.
  • Happy Ending: Well, that depends on how you look at it.
    • Played straight: Billy finally achieves his ambition. He defeats Captain Hammer and Dr. Horrible becomes a member of the inner circle of the Evil League of Evil.
    • Subverted, bigtime: Billy's Death Ray explodes in the hands of Captain Hammer. The shrapnel hits Penny and she dies.
  • Hellish Horse: Bad Horse is a brown horse who doesn't look like anything special but his Coconut Superpowers include a "terrible death whinny."
  • Heroes (And Villains) Want Redheads: Penny.
  • Heroic (Villainous?) BSOD Dr. Horrible twice: first at the beginning of Act II after Penny and Captain Hammer have hooked up, and then the very last shot of Act III.
    • Not to mention Captain Hammer at the end of Act III. I'd say running away whilst crying for "someone maternal" and then later being seen in therapy counts.
  • (S)He's Just Hiding: Certain viewers feel quite strongly that Penny did not die. She turned out to be an undercover operative for the Evil League of Evil...or Billy gives up on Dr. Horrible to be with Penny, because he realizes love is more important than ruling the world, or... something!
    • Honestly, though, it's Joss Whedon. The man has a known dislike of happy relationships. She's dead, people.
  • He Who Must Not Be Seen: Bad Horse (until the finale). Also, Exactly What It Says On The Tin: The "Thoroughbred of Sin" is revealed to be... yeah, a real horse. He doesn't even look particularly evil.
    • Johnny Snow
  • Hope Spot: Doctor Horrible has a moment of triumph as he survives his gun exploding without harm, and Captain Hammer has fled, broken and humiliated. But then he turns around, to see the fallen Penny.
  • Hypocritical Humor: "Wow, sarcasm! That's original!" Subtly lampshaded as Horrible pauses a moment, as if reflecting on this statement, before continuing.
  • I Am Song: Initially played straight, 'A Man's Gotta Do...' is hijacked by Captain Hammer before Dr. Horrible even gets to the first chorus.
    • Though he doesn't sing it himself, he has cowboy henchmen to do it, Bad Horse's letter to Dr. Horrible also qualifies.
  • If You Know What I Mean: "The Hammer is my penis."
  • Incredibly Lazy Pun: Dr. Horrible points out he successfully transported gold from the bank to his lab. He holds up a ziploc bag full of the gold boullion, which has turned out liquefied.
    • Moist went on a double date with Bait and Switch. He thought he was going to end up with Bait, but...
    • The fact that one of the members of the Evil League of Evil is named Fury Leika. Needless to say, she's a woman.
    • And the meta-joke about the gold bar, which was an in-character remark winking at how low budget the production was.
  • Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Played straight in Act I and Act II. Turned on its head in Act III where said ineffectiveness is what ends up creating a shoddy weapon that kills someone the Doc never intended to harm, and thus fulfills Bad Horse's requirement of murder for him to join the ranks of the Evil League of Evil.
  • The Ingenue: Penny comprises this trope distilled. There are hints she is not as naive as she seems to be on first glance, though. She certainly has experienced sorrow and rejection in her life, but unlike Billy, she did not let this get her down, she kept her optimism intact.
  • Innocent Bystander: Penny gets dragged into the rivalries between Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer. In the first Act she is nearly run over by the out-of-control van, and in the last Act she pays for it with her life.
  • Intercourse With You: Captain Hammer's other reason for dating Penny was for the sex and the bragging rights thereof.
    "This is so nice / I just might sleep with the same girl twice / They say it's better the second time / they say you get to do the weird stuff."
    "I thank my girlfriend, Penny / Yeah, we totally had sex / She showed me that there's so many muscles I can flex ..."
  • It Runs On Nonsensoleum: the final component for the time-freezing ray is "Wonderflonium." (Which must never be bounced.)
  • Jerk Ass: Capt. Hammer.
  • Jerk Jock: Meet Captain Hammer, corporate tool and narcissistic womanizer.
  • Jossed: Everybody is going to be talking about that ending for days.
  • Just Between You And Me:
    • In Act II, at the laundromat, when Captain Hammer catches Billy before he can slip out the door and then, while Penny is otherwise occupied, has a little chit-chat with him, revealing that he knows that Billy is Dr. Horrible and also that he noticed Billy's/Horrible's feelings for Penny. All the while having his arm around Billy's shoulders in what looks like a jovial, friendly buddy gesture between guys... until you look at Billy's face frozen in fear and impotent rage.
    • In Act III, Dr. Horrible's song "Slipping" is the musical equivalent of the supervillain's triumphant monologue. Of course, his two-minute song gives his Freeze Ray time to run out of power and release Captain Hammer...
  • Karmic Death: Subverted in that the exploding death ray kills neither Captain Hammer nor Dr. Horrible, but the innocent Penny.
  • Kent Brockman News: "It's a good day to be homeless!"
  • Kick The Dog: Captain Hammer is made of this. In Act II, Hammer reveals that he's dating Penny just to mess with Horrible.
  • Knight Templar: Captain Hammer, the self-designated Hero. Not only does he not hesitate to shoot a helpless opponent in the face, but according to the Captain Hammer: Be Like Me! comic he considers everyone who is a "freak" or a loner or just good at science and math a potential villain and danger to society.
  • Large Ham: Captain Hammer, especially in-universe. Especially in-universe.
  • Lock And Load Montage: Boiled down to a suit up sequence at the end of Act III, the Doctor changes the color scheme of his Mad Scientist getup.
  • Lost Love Montage: On The Rise, the first song of Act II, seems to be this for Dr. Horrible.
  • Love Makes You Evil: Pretty much the entire second half of the story.
  • Love Triangle: Triang Relations type 7.
  • Lyrical Dissonance:
    • "Brand New Day" is an upbeat, rock anthem about plotting murder.
    • "Everyone's a Hero" is an inspirational anthem that actually insults its audience.
    • "Everything You Ever" is a triumphant victory song with the cadence of a dirge.
    • Lampshaded: Penny: "Cut off the head of the human race?" - Billy: "It's not a perfect metaphor..."
    • Billy: "Like with pie."
    • "The only signature that he needed was my fist. Holding a pen. That I was signing with."
    • The Mayor: "Justice has a name, and the name that it has, besides justice, is Captain Hammer."
    • Captain Hammer: "But home is where the heart is / so your real home's in your chest."
  • Mad Scientist: Dr. Horrible and his various inventions.
    • Also, arguably, Professor Normal, given that headgear.
  • A Man Is Not A Virgin:
    • Subverted by the clueless (or possibly in denial) Billy.
      Billy: ...they're probably going to French kiss or something.
    • Played straight with Captain Hammer.
      Captain Hammer: This is so nice / I just might sleep with the same girl twice / they say it's better the second time / you get to do the weird stuff...
  • Metaphorgotten: Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer, with headless fish and lacy, gently-wafting curtains, respectively.
    • Billy: "Tell you how / how you make / make me feel / what's the phrase? / Like a fool / kinda sick / special needs / anyways..."
  • Mind Screw: That ending.
  • Misaimed Fandom: some people, as highlighted in this essay, are arguing that a large part of the audience seems to have missed the point especially in the way it tackled the idea of Women In Refrigerators and of Billy as a Nice Guy.
    • Billy's complete transformation into the Dr. Horrible persona is clearly and unambiguously portrayed as a tragedy; not only because of the loss of Penny, but because it costs him the very humanity that his friend associates with. Some people are still going to prefer the Well Intentioned Extremist Dr. Horrible over the nebbish Stalker With A Crush Billy.
  • Mobile Shrubbery: Dr. Horrible uses it to follow Penny and Captain Hammer around at the beginning of Act II.
  • Mood Motif:
    • The crunchy guitars of determination in "Brand New Day"
    • The Creepy Drums of Sinister is that middle part of "Slipping"
    • The Violin of Tense Suspense is audible at the end of "Slipping" We see Horrible hesitate ...will he pull the trigger on the death ray and take out his nemesis once and for all...?
      "Here goes no mercyyyyyyyyyy...."
    • The Theremin of Mad Scientist is audible at the very end of "Everything You Ever"
  • Mood Whiplash: The series begins with a light comic tone that begins hinting at darkness in Act II, to abandon the comedy (almost) entirely by the end of Act III.
    • Objection! Captain Hammer's speech ("I hate the homeless... ness problem that plagues our city") and song were hilarious. This trooper almost lost it when he saw "Dead Bowie", "Fake Thomas Jefferson" and "Bad Horse" at the table, despite the sad ending.
    • Although Dr. Horrible singing: "Say it was (H/h)orrible! Spread the word! Tell your friends! Tell them the tale. Get a pic! Do a blog!" amidst the carnage is still pretty funny (especially in light of the title of the musical). He even pauses mid-rampage to make sure a reporter is spelling his name correctly.
    • Not to mention the headline which read "Community Mourns Death of What's-Her-Name" or something to that effect during the Downer Ending. Mood Whiplash, indeed.
  • Morally Ambiguous Doctorate
  • Moral Dissonance: Captain Hammer.
  • Most Definitely Not A Villain: When Dr. Horrible meets Captain Hammer in the laundromat, the first thing he says is "We're meeting now for the first time."
  • Murder The Hypotenuse: Dr. Horrible's motivation for going after Captain Hammer. He hopes to make it up to Penny by giving her "the keys to a Shiny New Australia".
  • Musicalis Interruptus: Multiple events and situations lead to people repeatedly being unable to completely finish their songs.
    • Act I has Moist interrupting "Freeze Ray," Dr. Horrible interrupting "Lend a Hand" with a scream of surprise, and Captain Hammer stealing "A Man's Gotta Do"
    • Act II has perhaps the most interesting one, where Penny interrupts her own song due to her Almost Kiss.
    • Act III finishes on a high note (pun intended) with the freeze ray interrupting Captain Hammer's "Everyone's a Hero" (who is determined to finish anyway) and Billy interrupting his own "Slipping"
  • Musical Spoiler: In Act III, after the death ray explodes and Captain Hammer runs off screaming like a wimp, Dr. Horrible picks himself up from the floor and starts to grin with the sudden realization that he has won after all. And then he turns around, and sees... And everything goes very quiet. No music, not a sound. Just his expression, changing to horror.
  • My Greatest Failure:
    • Inadvertently introducing his archnemesis to the girl of his dreams.
    • "Freeze ray needs work."
    • And then, in Act III, comes the greatest failure of all: The death ray exploding and accidentally killing Penny.
  • Nerd: Billy (and Dr. Horrible, too, although that changes halfway through, when he gets his mad on.) He's also a tech geek, to judge by his apartment.
  • Nice Job Breaking It Hero: In Act III, when Captain Hammer slams his fist into Dr. Horrible's face and sends him flying backwards, the death ray goes flying, too. The sudden impact on the floor causes it to begin sparking ominously (Wonderflonium must not be bounced). Hammer doesn't notice, and, despite Horrible's warning, seeks to kill the Mad Scientist with his own weapon. But when he pulls the trigger, the death ray explodes.
  • Nietzsche Wannabe: Dr. Horrible's part in "On The Rise".
    "Any dolt with half a brain/ Can see that humankind has gone insane/ To the point where I don't know if I'll upset the Status Quo/ If I throw poison in the water main..."
  • Nigh Invulnerability: Captain Hammer. However, it is only nigh invulnerability, as seen in Act III when the Death Ray explodes in his hand - "I'm in pain! I think this is what pain feels like!"
  • No Name Given: One of Moist's friends with pink boxing gloves, and a symmetrical "PP" on his shirt, presumably for Pink Puncher.
    • Close. The credits list him as Pink Pummeler. The same is true for the villain in the hat Horrible greets at the Brand New Day victory party; he is the Purple Pimp.
    • All the supervillains in the Evil League of Evil beside Dr. Horrible and Bad Horse are only named in the credits. They are:
      • Professor Normal
      • Dead Bowie
      • Fury Leika
      • Fake Thomas Jefferson
      • Snake Bite
      • Tie-Die
  • No Plans No Prototype No Backup: The Freeze Ray and some of Dr. Horrible's other inventions.
    • Partially subverted as, during "So They Say", we can see Horrible working out plans on the whiteboard to convert the Stun Ray into a Death Ray.
  • No Respect Guy: Though justified, in that until Act III, Dr. Horrible was more of a villain wannabe than an actual force to be reckoned with.
  • Not Listening To Me Are You: Penny's spiel in Act I trails off with "...so they can buy rocket packs and go to the moon" as she realizes that Billy's attention is elsewhere.
  • The Omniscient Council Of Vagueness: The Evil League of Evil
  • Only Sane Man: (at stage 3: Violent Sarcasm) Billy/Dr. Horrible is exasperated that he seems to be the only person who can see through Captain "Cheesy On The Outside" Hammer's disguise and spot him for the jerk he is. Everyone else (the "sheeple") are practically worshipping Hammer.
    Dr. Horrible: "Why can't they see what I see, why can't they hear the lies?"
  • Part Time Hero Villain: Apparently even villains need to do laundry.
  • Pieta Plagiarism: When Dr. Horrible carries Penny's body to the stretcher.
  • Power Incontinence: Moist is always icky wet due to his profuse sweating, and it's bad enough that when he brings Horrible the mail, the top few pieces are soggy.
    • He fights a losing battle with the lid of a preserving jar, too.
    • And to complete the trifecta, the finale has him dropping the money bags he's supposed to be carrying during the bank heist.
  • Pow Zap Wham Cam: As Dr. Horrible encroaches more and more on Billy's psyche, the shots of him become more angular and starkly lit, culminating at his sudden appearance at the shelter dedication.
  • Product Placement: Dr. Horrible uses a remote program on his iPhone for nefarious purposes. Guess who's sponsoring the episode downloads.
    • It was actually Nathan Fillion's personal iPhone, so this is more a coincidence than anything else.
  • Psychotic Smirk: Dr. Horrible, at the end of Act II as he starts singing "Brand New Day."
  • Punched Across The Room: What happens to Dr. Horrible as a result of his hesitation with the Death Ray. Hammer unfreezes and lets fly with a haymaker that sends the somewhat hapless Mad Scientist sliding across the floor.
  • Puppy Dog Eyes: Dr. Horrible at the opening of Act II, and his disheveled look after Captain Hammer threw the car at his head.
    • "Eyes full of unshed tears"? Check. The second half of Act III is overflowing with this trope. The poor guy carries his emotions on his sleeve, or rather, on his face.
  • Pyrrhic Villainy
  • Rule Of Cool: It's a super-villain musical. It practically subsists on this.
  • Sanity Slippage: From "On The Rise" all the way to the end, you can see Billy and Horrible vying for dominance of the brainpan.
  • Secret Identity Identity: Billy and Dr. Horrible.
  • Shaped Like Itself: Bad Horse. He's bad.
  • Shiny New Australia: Dr. Horrible plans to give Penny Australia once he takes over the world.
  • Shout Out / The Alkazar: Possibly. During their duet, Penny asks Captain Hammer (played by Nathan Fillion) what exactly he's supposed to be the captain of.
    • Also, the head of the Evil League of Evil is "Bad Horse." And the company who puts out most of Joss Whedon's comics (including the Captain Hammer comic) just happens to be called "Dark Horse." Okay, could be coincidence, but still.
    • The newsreaders in Episode III were played by David Fury and Marti Noxon, also from the Evil League of Evil, "Professor Normal" is played by Doug Petrie and "Fake Thomas Jefferson" by Drew Goddard. All of them were writers for Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
    • The "do not bounce" warning on the Wonderflonium is ...horribly similar to the warnings that go along with "Happy Fun Ball" from Saturday Night Live.
  • Shrinking Violet (the male version): Billy. Although he is smart and quite handsome, he is bitter, cynical and painfully shy around women. He wants to be an achiever, but things never work out the way he wants them to. He dresses like someone who does not wish to draw attention to himself, and his circle of friends seems to consist of his buddy Moist. He invented his alter ego Dr. Horrible, who is basically a cooler Mad Scientist version of himself, but who unfortunately gets bullied mercilessly by Captain Hammer.
    • Not only that, but the perpetually squicky Moist appears to have a more active social life than he does. How depressing is that?
  • Sick Sad World: Absence of karmic justice, check. Parodic and funny for the viewers, check. Despite being dark, there are characters who deserve our sympathy, check.
    • Billy/Dr. Horrible has horrible luck in general, but he is punished by fate whenever he does something decent and good, such as when he can't bring himself to pull the trigger to kill Captain Hammer, whereas when he decides to be evil, he is rewarded (and even that is a questionable reward). Captain Hammer on the other hand seems to be able get away with anything (except at the end). The person who suffers most is the Wide Eyed Idealist Penny.
    • In fact the world seems to view super heroes and villains not only as celebrities, but as interchangeable. In the end, Captain Hammer's fans have defected to Dr. Horrible, and even the bank teller looks more excited than scared about being robbed by a killer mad scientist.
  • Signature Style: It's a Joss Whedon story. Honestly, what other ending did you expect?
  • Sliding Musical Scale Of Idealism Versus Cynicism: A duet highlights this contrast between Dr. Horrible and Penny.
  • Some Anvils Need To Be Dropped: Captain Hammer heedlessly pushes Penny out of the way of the driverless van with his super strength. She goes flying some distance to land right in a pile of trash bags and cardboard boxes.
    Dr. Horrible (to Penny): "Did you notice that he threw you in the garbage?"
    • The Captain Hammer: Be Like Me comic. Just in case someone was doubting that Captain Hammer is the corporate propaganda tool that Horrible accuses him of being. Not only that, since the comic is written from Hammer's point of view, it showcases his fascist leanings and black-and-white world view.
  • Solo Duet: Some songs make it clear that both Dr. Horrible and Billy are singing to them. 'Slipping' is the most obvious, but it's present in 'Freeze Ray', 'Brand New Day', and the finale. Played interestingly, since Neil Patrick Harris puts pretty subtle but present difference in the two personality's voices.
  • Split Personality Takeover: In Act I, we see that Dr. Horrible may have evil aspirations, but Billy has a modicum of human decency. Not only does he dislike killing (and the weapons he invented up to that point are all nonlethal), he won't do battle anywhere children could be hurt. And he's capable of love, even if he's too shy to act on it until provoked. Even his heist was bloodless, the only person getting hurt was Horrible himself. He warns in Act II that the good in him is dying from his rage at the world and at the Captain. Act III sees Billy making one last attempt to get somebody to stop him. But the warning is fulfilled, and he declares the good in him dead upon realizing the explosion of his death ray has killed Penny...
    Dr. Horrible [Act II]: Because the dark is everywhere / and Penny doesn't seem to care / that soon the dark in me / is all that will remain...
    Billy/Dr. Horrible [Act III]: Look at him! Not a word! Hammer, meet nail!
    Dr. Horrible [Act III]: Here lies everything / The world I wanted at my feet / My victory's complete / So hail to the king
  • Split Screen: Twice with Billy/Horrible and Penny singing in duet.
  • Spotlight Stealing Squad: Captain Hammer does this to Dr. Horrible in Act I. Which Dr. Horrible does right back in Act III. Hammer then returns the favor after the Doc's freeze ray runs out of power.
  • Stalker With A Crush: The Doc dons various flimsy disguises to blend in and observe Captain Hammer's wooing of Penny.
    • One of the Captain Hammer fans is an extreme example of this. "This is his dry-cleaning bill...four sweater-vests!"
  • Start Of Darkness: Dr. Horrible
  • Stood Up: In Act III, Penny waits at the laundromat with a second cup of frozen yogurt to share with Billy. Presumably it's a Saturday, given Billy's stated observation of and familiarity with Penny's pattern, and Penny's having said the shelter can open on Monday. He's plotting against Captain Hammer as Dr. Horrible, so he has no idea she was waiting for him, and might even have picked him.
  • Sugar Bowl: Played straight with the charming "Freeze Ray" song, and the sweet Penny moments. The sets are also brightly and cheerily lit, and the songs full of delightful, catchy tunes and phrasings. But the Signature Style of Joss Whedon soon changes that.
  • Super Dickery: In the comic, Captain Hammer advises children to be like him and to report science geeks and outcast Goth classmates to the police as potential future supervillains.
  • Swiss Moment:
    • People have reported only getting the Bait and Switch gag later, and/or after repeated viewings.
    • The same is true for the Fury Leika joke.
  • Take Over The World: one of Dr. Horrible's declared goals
    Dr. Horrible: (re: Johnny Snow, his self-proclaimed "nemesis") "Look, I'm just trying to change the world, ok? I don't have time for a grudge match with every poser in a parka!"
    Dr. Horrible: The world is a mess! And I just ... need to rule it.
  • Tear Jerker: (Dr. Horrible) [singing in Act III] "And I am fine." (The look on his face and the camera's pull-away show he's anything but. He's hurting and alone.) and [singing at the end of Act III] "And I won't feel..." [the door slams shut] - (Billy) "...a thing."
  • Technical Pacifist: Literally. Dr. Horrible does not want to kill anybody. He also shows disdain for people who don't seem to respect life. He likes to build various ray guns (although with one exception they're all nonlethal) and fantasizes about taking violent revenge on Captain Hammer, but outside his daydreams he hesitates to actually follow through. He shoots into the ceiling instead, while encouraging the onlookers to run away.
    Dr. Horrible: I don't have time for a grudge match with every poser in a parka. Besides...there are kids in that park, so...*scoffs*.
    Dr. Horrible: It's not a death ray or an ice beam, that's so Johnny Snow...
    "Killing is not elegant or creative. It's not my style."
    • Not only does he not want to kill anyone, but when Penny gets tossed into the garbage, Billy is the one who exhibits any concern at all for her safety.
    • When Dr. Horrible freezes Captain Hammer and launches into his showstopper Villain Song, he urges the crowd to run; ostensibly so that they can tell the world the evil scientist is winning the day, but...
      Dr. Horrible: Go ahead! Run away! Say it was horrible! Spread the word! Tell a friend! Tell them the tale!
    • When the Stun Death Ray begins sparking ominously, Horrible attempts to warn Captain Hammer. Hammer refuses to listen, despite the room still having bystanders in it, among them his supposed long-term girlfriend Penny.
  • Theme Song:
    • Dr. Horrible has his own tune
    • Bad Horse does as well, right down to it being the ringtone on Horrible's phone for when Bad Horse calls.
  • This Is Something Hes Got To Do Himself: "The League is watching. This is something I have to do alone." Also, the whole "A Man's Gotta Do" song.
  • Time Passes Montage: A delightful medley of seasonal reflections on Dr. Horrible's relationship with Captain Hammer are as follows:
    • Spring (A trellis of roses grow as Dr. H. is smacked into a wall, punched in the stomach, and kneed in the groin.)
    • Summer (Captain Hammer punches Dr. H. in the face repeatedly, pausing to smile for a camera-toting tourist in a Hawaiian shirt.)
    • Autumn (Dr. H. is hung suspended over a pile of fallen leaves in a brutal Atomic Wedgie.)
    • Winter (Captain Hammer spins through a snowfall with Dr. H over his shoulders in mid-TKO as a charity Santa Claus rings his bell.)
  • Time Stands Still: What Dr. H. wants to make happen with his freeze ray.
  • Trope Overdosed: Just look at this page! This is for a 44-minute web program.
  • Truth In Television: Captain Hammer's obsessed fans. Admit it.
  • Twitchy Eye: A nervous squint (so pronounced as to resemble a Tourette Syndrome tic) which our protagonist suffers from both as Billy and as Dr. Horrible, so it's not merely an affected character quirk of the Dr. Horrible persona; happens repeatedly throughout the first two Acts (less so during the third). Some examples:
    • When Dr. Horrible discusses Penny with Moist, expressing his hope that he will soon make "audible connection" with her.
    • After Horrible receives Bad Horse's letter and declares that he will go ahead with his heist to steal the Wonderflonium to prove his worth as a villain.
    • During the scene where he video-blogs the tale of his latest failure, about how Captain Hammer threw a car at his head, he looks mostly resigned. Then, after a pause he rallies himself and strikes a firmly (fake?) upbeat tone, "Not to worry though! Because I'm..." But that's the exact moment when his tic starts up again, belying his optimistic tone.
    • At the laundromat, when Penny touches Billy's face to cheer him up but then aborts their Almost Kiss by suddenly blurting out, "Anyway that's what Captain Hammer says...". Upon hearing his rival's name Billy flinches, hunches his shoulders and squints his eyes hard. Moments later, Billy runs smack into Captain Hammer's chest and tries to avoid meeting Hammer's eyes. After Penny introduces them, Hammer greets him with mock affability, "Oh! Billy, the laundry buddy! Well it is very nice to meet ya!" and then adds, "You look horribly familiar." at which point poor Billy's nervous eye twitch becomes really pronounced.
    • When Captain Hammer tells Billy (Dr. Horrible) that he is going to sleep with Penny. Although this is more of a traditional eye twitch of rage.
  • Unobtainium: Wonderflonium.
  • Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Turns out to be literally true; Dr. Horrible reports that his evil scheme fell apart because Captain Hammer had been watching his blog videos.
    "I also need to be a little bit more careful about what I say on this blog. Apparently, the LAPD and Captain Hammer are among our viewers. They were waiting for me at the Mayor's dedication of the Superhero Memorial Bridge... the freeze ray takes a few seconds to warm up and I wasn't..." (pause) "Captain Hammer threw a car at my head."
  • Unstoppable Rage: What Dr. Horrible flies into at the end of Act II. (Which, given his track record so far, might not turn out to be so unstoppable in real life, but at least in his fantasies Captain Hammer meets a gory end.)
    • He does beat Hammer in Act III, though, you know, he's indirectly responsible for Penny's death afterwards.
      • He tried to warn Captain Hammer that the death ray was malfunctioning - after it hit the floor hard, it started to overheat, crackling with ominous red discharges - but Hammer cuts him short and even states flat-out he won't listen.
  • Villainous Breakdown: After Captain Hammer torments Dr. Horrible with exactly what he's going to do with/to Penny, Dr. Horrible breaks, doing significant damage to his Technical Pacifist nature, although he still hesitated when he pointed his Death ray at the presently frozen Captain Hammer.
  • Villain Protagonist
  • Villain Song: It's called Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, of course he sings the best songs, especially "Freeze Ray" and "Brand New Day."
    • "Slipping" is this trope played straight to the moustache-twirling hilt.
  • Villain With Good Publicity: Well, a villainous kind of hero; Captain Hammer is a colossal dick, but nobody apart from Dr. Horrible seems to pick up on it.
    • Lampshaded by Dr. Horrible in "Slipping" when he sings "the fee is too high / for them to realize / your disguise is slipping." The implication is that everyone knows Captain Hammer is a jerk, but won't admit it because they don't want to lose their hero.
    • Penny does, about halfway through in Act III.
      • Although she showed signs of doubt in her relationship with Captain Hammer and in his personality as far back as Act II. If a woman describes the guy she dates with the words, "He's... nice." and "He's ok, I guess." she's trying very hard to persuade herself she's happy.
      "And you believe there's good inside of everybody's heart / keep it safe and sound..."
    • There's an Ironic Echo in Horrible pointing out that everything's slipping. Horrible himself is slipping back and forth between Horrible and Billy.
    • Also subverted with Dr. Horrible, the actual villain. When his death ray accidentally kills Penny, he starts getting on the cover of newspapers as the most evil villain around - which is good for him, considering it basically cements his place as a high-ranking member in the Evil League of Evil and sends fear into the hearts of everyone who meets him, making him the perfect supervillain.
  • Weird Trade Union: Moist mentions the Henchmen's Union, but Dr. Horrible blows him off, claiming that he, Dr. Horrible, is not a henchman, he deserves to be in the Evil League of Evil.
  • Well Intentioned Extremist: Dr. Horrible wants to take over the world so he can improve it and give the Status back some Quo.
    Dr. Horrible: "The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it."
    "Anarchy! That I run!"
  • What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: Dr. Horrible's overlarge armchair in which he plots world domination. Clearly a case of someone being too big for their boots chair.
  • What Kind Of Lame Power Is Heart Anyway: Moist's power is, apparently, to make things moist.
  • What The Hell Hero: Dr. Horrible calls Captain Hammer on his "acts of heroism"
    Dr. Horrible: Maybe the fee's too high for them to realize / Your disguise is slipping / I think you're slipping.
  • Why Dont Ya Just Shoot Him: What Dr. Horrible actually tries to do to Captain Hammer, several times alone during the musical, but there's always a fatal flaw, such as the weapon malfunctioning, or him losing his nerve. When counting the companion comic, he must've tried in vain to get rid of Hammer umpteen times before (always with nonlethal weapons, like i.e. a muscle-weakening ray), so much that Hammer is now merely amused by demonstrations of Horrible's incompetence. It appears the Doc has read the Evil Overlord List, but he's just plain unlucky.
  • Wide Eyed Idealist: Penny.
  • Women In Refrigerators: Penny. She had very little character depth as compared to Horrible or Hammer, and that's almost in spite of the fact that she is the only mostly good person in the main cast. She was Horrible's Love Interest so she had to die so he'd have more to angst about despite it giving him what he needed to meet Bad Horse's standards for joining the Evil League of Evil.
    • Possibly lampshaded in the media reaction to her death, which identifies her as "Captain Hammer's Girlfriend" and "What's-Her-Name."
    • The song "Keep Your Head Up, Billy Buddy" could be Penny's one moment of character exploration: a woman dedicated to helping the less fortunate to distract from her own despair.
    • She had greater depth than Billy understood, which sets up the tragedy of the story. She obviously finds him likable and attractive once they start talking (despite him being a rather strange nebbish), most likely because he seems to have a kind heart. Billy's insecurities convince him that he must win her respect by defeating Captain Hammer, somehow not realizing that revealing the "evil in me" or giving her the fruits of his world conquest won't impress her at all.
    • I wouldn't say she's any less developed than Captain Hammer. He's pretty much just your typical egocentric Jerk Jock. Though she does get far fewer jokes than everyone else, I'll admit.
    • Penny's the wisest and most mature of the three leads: while the boys are fighting over their black-and-white sets of rules, she suggests a third way, based on a taoist acceptance of the world as it is rather than as we expect it to be. (This is most apparent in her song (which I am calling "Every Drop of Rain" although everyone else on the planet seems to be calling it "Penny's Song"), though it's consistent with what we see of her philosophy and actions throughout.) While everyone is caught up in the city's Heroes vs. Villains struggle, a struggle in which most people are bystanders, Penny is quietly getting the people to change themselves and do their own small heroics rather than waiting on the supers. Her death means the loss of that third way--freedom, the hard kind that means building the world you want to live in. Now the regular people have no choice but to watch passively as heroes and villains battle on their behalf, and they're so much poorer by her death than they ever realize.
  • The Woobie: Not only does Dr. Horrible get roughed up on a regular basis but takes it in stride ("...honestly, I'll live."), he suffers the emotional equivalent of a punch to the gut several times.
  • You Should Know This Already: Joss Whedon has a Signature Style that never includes a Happy Ending.
    • And even if there is one, at least one character you have grown to like will die. Possibly by being stabbed in the chest.
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