Superman and Martian Manhunter are abducted by extraterrestrial slave traders (after destroying an asteroid with hydrogen pockets) and are sold to a planet of the despotic ruler Mongul where the population spends its time watching aliens in mortal combat in an enormous colosseum. Green Lantern and Hawkgirl set out to rescue them.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Achilles Heel: In the original story of Superman: Exile, Draaga served Mongul but he didn't have Mongul threatening his homeworld with destruction and later fought Mongul of his own accord after being inspired enough by Superman. In this story, Mongul is pointing a weapon at his planet, threatening it with destruction, and only after this weapon is removed for good does Draaga fight Mongul.
- Adaptational Deviation: The War World itself. In the comic, it is Mongul's superweapon and essentially The Death Star in all but name; it's named the "War World" because it is a world capable of warring. Here, it is just an appellation for an otherwise normal and inhabited planet, which runs on "war" in the form of gladiator matches.
- Adapted Out: In the original story, there was an alien Cleric on War World who helped Superman get over his Heroic BSoD over killing Zod. In this story, Superman isn't undergoing any such trauma and the Cleric isn't included.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Having defeated Mongul, Draaga offers Superman the crown. Superman, in turn, gives it to Draaga (who actually dealt the finishing blow).
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Pretty much the entirety of the episode's subplot, which involves Green Lantern and Hawkgirl traveling across space in search of their teammates.
- Bread and Circuses: Mongul's empire drew obvious parallels to the Roman Empire. The Martian Manhunter finds out there's mass unemployment and poverty, but people are kept entertained by the gladiatorial games.
- Canon Foreigner: A bizarre example in that J'onn, Hawkgirl and Green Lantern are all characters from the comics but they did not feature in the Superman storyline this two-parter adapts, though J'onn's inclusion may be a nod to having also appeared in Mongul's original debut.
- Compressed Adaptation: The original story that inspired this episode, Superman: Exile was relatively long, with Superman going through Heroic BSoD over killing Zod, going on many adventures through space and meeting many other aliens and villains before going to War World, and the story ended with Superman fighting a monster from Apokolips in Metropolis to end his space adventures. In this episode, many of those other storylines, characters, and elements are cut out and the sole focus is on Superman, Mongul, and Draaga on War World due to being the most memorable part of the storyline and the part that everyone who has heard of it wants to read.
- Crowd Chant: When Superman refuses Mongul's order to kill Draaga, the Martian Manhunter starts a chant of "Superman!" in the stadium, which convinces Mongul that executing Superman for his defiance might be a bad idea.
- Cruel Mercy: At first, Draaga considers Superman's refusal to "Finish Him!" as this. Later, Draaga himself refuses to finish off Mongul, saying the despot doesn't deserve an honorable death.
- Despotism Justifies the Means: Mongol apparently believes this.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: Something in War World's atmosphere (we never learn exactly what) weakens the Martian Manhunter, preventing him from rescuing Superman by brute force and disrupting his attempt to impersonate Mongul.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: While trying to get the low-down of the culture in the titular War World, J'ohn learns from an audience member at the arena that nobody has had a real job in years. J'ohn remarks "That's dreadful". To this, the aforementioned audience member sassily responds "You wanna talk 'dreadful'? You should've seen the last games." Although it doubles as Comically Missing the Point, it's also a testament that the oblivious woman (like so many on the planet) is giving Mongul exactly what he wants: an empire of compliant subjects.
- Fascist, but Inefficient: Despite his iron-fisted cruelty, Mongul is shown to be an extremely poor and incompetent ruler of War World, as the planet has suffered from mass poverty and unemployment under his leadership. He manages to keep the populace docile by providing entertainment in the form of the gladiatorial games.
- Finish Him!: After Superman defeats Gladiator Draaga, Mongul orders Superman to do this. Being who he is, he refuses, even when Draaga himself begs him to do so.
- Gladiator Games: This two-parter episode focuses on these.
- Gladiator Revolt: Towards the end of the second part of “War World”, Superman rose to become champion, beat Mongul on interdimensional TV, and overthrew his rule.
- A Handful for an Eye: Draaga does this when he fights Superman.
- I Have Your Planet:
- Mongul reveals that he has blackmailed Draaga for years, pointing a large Death Ray at his home planet and threatening to destroy it if he refuses to fight in his games.
- Later, Mongul makes the same threat against Superman; Supes just informs him that Krypton is already gone. Only for Mongul to double-subvert it by pointing the Death Ray right back at Draaga's planet. As he points out, "Any planet will do."
- Innocuously Important Episode: "War World" in many ways is the beginning of the Jon Stewart/Shayera romance. This is the first episode where they spend an extended amount of time together and their working relationship will develop into a close friendship and eventual romance.
- Mythology Gag: J'onn appears in Mongul's DCAU debut, just as was the case in the comics.
- Rigged Spectacle Fight: Superman is captured and forced to participate in gladiatorial deathmatches for the entertainment of Mongul's subjects. The hero's overwhelming popularity soon weakens the tyrant's public support, forcing the latter to personally engage the Kryptonian in combat. However, Mongul arranges for a death ray to be fired at an inhabited planet should he be defeated, leaving Superman with no choice but to be brutally beaten up by him.
- A Scar to Remember: Draaga does this to himself, burning an "S" into his chest to remind him of his shame in losing to Superman.
- Strike Me Down: When Superman refuses to kill Draaga after defeating him, Draaga asks him to go ahead and give him an honorable death.
- Taking You with Me: Downplayed. Mongul coerces Superman into throwing his next bout (against Mongul, no less); and while Superman has every intention of complying, he refuses to go down as easily as Mongul would like.Mongul: (after taking several punches) What do you think you're doing?
Superman: (smirking) Making it convincing. [Megaton Punch] - Throwing the Fight: Mongul, unwilling to simply execute a popular gladiator, blackmails Superman into taking a dive by threatening to destroy Draaga's homeworld.
- What You Are in the Dark: When trying to coerce Superman to partake in the battles, Mongul tries to strong-arm him with the threat of wiping out his home planet. Since Krypton is already long gone, Mongul switches tactics: threaten to destroy Draaga's home planet, despite that Draaga's been rather compliant in participating in the games. Rather than walk away from the situation, Superman agrees to stay for the sake of the innocent lives on Draaga's planet. This speaks volumes of both character's morals: Mongul lacks the honor to keep his promises, while Superman has the integrity to fight to protect other people.
- Why Won't You Die?: Mongul orders Superman executed via ray guns in one scene. Though they cause him pain, they don't really harm his body. Mongul goes, "What!? Still alive!?"
