The new Batman and his rogues.note Clockwise from bottom left: Inque, a rejuvenated Mister Freeze, Spellbinder, and Shriek.
Mr. Fixx: You're pretty strong, for some clown who thinks he's Batman. Terry:I am Batman!
—"Rebirth"
Batman Beyond (Batman of the Futurein Europe, Japan, South America, New Zealand and Australia), an animated series which aired from 1999 to 2001, was produced by the same powerhouse team that started Batman The Animated Series and Superman The Animated Series. This Action Series follows the adventures of teenager Terry McGinnis, in a story set about forty-some years in the future, where he accidentally discovers that the eccentric aged billionaire Bruce Wayne is, in fact, the legendary retired hero Batman.Having some personal reasons to dole out justice himself, Terry pressures Bruce to allow him to take up the mantle of the legendary crime-fighter. Initially reluctant, Bruce eventually accepts Terry because his father was killed while uncovering corrupt dealings in what was once Wayne Enterprises, now merged into Wayne-Powers Enterprises after a hostile takeover by Derek Powers several years ago. Sharing a similar thirst for justice with the original Batman and armed with an advanced combat suit, Terry works to make criminals afraid of the Batman once more while Bruce acts as Mission Control and his mentor, directly coaching Terry from the Batcave on most of his adventures.The Gotham city of the mid-twenty-first century is an archetypical Cyber Punk setting, though some Noir remnants from the original series show up occasionally. It is still dirty, crowded and corrupt, only now the cars can fly. Wayne-Powers Enterprises does not have the philanthropic ideals that existed with Wayne heading the company, and Derek Powers is unhappy with the interference caused by this new Batman. His transformation into the radioactive supervillain Blight because of Batman only makes the hatred more personal.The creators were deliberate in not trying to re-hash all of the old villains, trying instead to give the show its own Rogues Gallery. However, elements of the old Bat-Mythos are used in new ways; a street gang called "The Jokerz" borrows the sick imagery of the most famous Bat-villain and the series even has a Commissioner Gordon: Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Batgirl. She is into her 60s and, unlike her father, is extremely opposed to this new Batman, seemingly embittered by a past falling-out with Bruce.This series follows the structure of a Revival. However, Batman The Animated Series and Superman The Animated Series were still in production when Batman Beyond was first pitched and developed, so there was no "end" before this show began. The actual impetus was a meddling executive requesting a Batman-in-high-school series that could be marketed to the Buffy audience. Because of this, it is not without its flaws; many new villains had generic motives and lacked the psychological edge of the classic Batman. But the show's best episodes sit right alongside the best of the other DCAU series. The strength in this series is in Bruce being a father figure to Terry, while Terry comes full circle as his own man and his own Batman, who even ends up surprising the old and jaded Mr Wayne.A well-loved two-part episode brought in Superman and the futuristic Justice League, which proved so popular that it helped sell the series of the same name, which effectively replaced this series in 2001. Batman Beyond did not have a proper Grand Finale, simply ending production at the conclusion of its third season, but it did produce a feature-length special and eventually received a proper conclusion in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue."Kevin Conroy of Batman The Animated Series reprises his role as Bruce Wayne, while Terry is voiced by Will Friedle. There was a direct to DVD feature called Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, with Mark Hamill returning as the Ace of Knaves himself, that helped bridge the gap between end of the "present" DCAU in Justice League and the future of Batman Beyond, including Batman's final fight with the Joker, and providing a deeper reason for just why he eventually gave up being Batman.Interest in the series has evidently picked up dramatically of late; a special edition DVD collection has been released and the show is currently airing onThe Hub network. In addition, the entire series is now available for streaming on Netflix.While it had its own spin-off comic book for a while in the late 90s DC recently has published a mini-series based on the show; and now is publishing three new digital comics series: Batman Beyond, Superman Beyond, and Justice League Unlimited Beyond. For the tropes featured in the current comic book adaptation, see Batman Beyond.Creators Stan Berkowitz and Alan Burnett went on to write Batman Live. The Zeta Project is also a spinoff of this series.Has a character sheet that Needs More Love! It also has a Best Episode Crowner.
This series provides examples of:
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A Boy and His X: The show had an episode of A Boy and His Giant Robot. Also A Girl and Her Boy (Who Is A Robot). A broody old man and his badass dog, and a whole episode dedicated to a boy and his badass dog.
Abnormal Ammo: One of Ma Mayhem's sons has a gun that appears to shoot quartzite sand. By the way it shaves the surface of a mannequin, it's pretty damn effective.
Ace the Bathound, given a new treatment and role as Bruce Wayne's guard dog. He even got a flashback origin story in one episode.
Spellbinder was based on an obscure Silver Age Batman villain from the comics.
Affectionate Parody: "Sentries of the Last Cosmos" is a rather extensive parody of the Star Wars franchise that pokes fun at both the movies and the fans all while paying them a certain amount of respect.
Affirmative Action Legacy: The Justice League Unlimited has Micron, who is the African American successor of The Atom, Warhawk, the biracial son of John Stewart and Shayera Hol and Kai-Ro, the new Chinese Green Lantern of Earth.
Air Vent Passageway: Parodied and subverted: Batman enters a vent large enough to walk in, but the subsequent sections keep getting smaller and smaller.
All Animals Are Dogs: In "Babel", the sound manipulating villain Shriek releases a high-frequency sound similar to a dog whistle all over Gotham City. All non-humans are affected, including a gorilla. Think about that one for a minute. If there's a noise audible to primates that is high-pitched enough to make primates go nuts, it'd naturally be affecting the humans too.
All There in the Manual: Their canon status is up in the air, but the commercials that aired during the original run gave a very good explanation for why Batman does not use the invisibility feature of the Bat-suit around the clock, especially when fighting. According to the commercials, "it's hard on the batteries."
All There in the Script: Some characters' names are only given in the credits (primarily the Splicers and Bullwhip's gang).
The Earthmover. Being self-aware while trapped underground and horrifically mutated. An unsettling combination to say the least.
Ian Peak's ultimate fate: the one force that still affects him is gravity itself, so he will fall through the earth until he hits its core. Hopefully heat still affects him... Hopefully.
Arbitrary Skepticism: Subverted. Terry thinks Bruce is being unnecessarily close-minded because he does not believe the rumors of a ghost haunting Terry's high school. It turns out that Bruce does not believe these rumors because he has seen similar paranormal activity, and the reports sound too amateurish and "high-school" to fit into that paradigm. In the end it turns out to be something completely different.
Art Evolution: Including a jump to digital coloring in the middle of the second season.
Art Shift: The opening of the first episode, showing how Bruce retired, uses the darker color sensibilities of The New Batman Adventures, in subtle contrast to the paler and brighter colors of Beyond.
Ascended Extra: One episode had Terry's friend Jared Tate get a new stepdad, Big Jim, who wins Jared over by buying him a car. The character and wedding event were only the backdrop to a robbery committed by Spellbinder, but Big Jim later became an Anti-Villain in another episode when he lost his job and could not afford to maintain his life-style. Being a talented weapons designer, he was hired under-the-table to build a prototype weapon with materials that could only be gotten by stealing from other high-end companies, eventually coming into conflict with Batman.
Ascended Fanboy: The episode "Sentries of the Last Cosmos" revolves around Terry's friend becoming one of these.
Asleep In Class: Terry is shown to fall asleep in class due to the pressures of balancing his normal life with the responsibilities of being the Batman.
The Atoner: Revealed in stages; no mention is made of Terry's juvenile record until several episodes have passed, and it was not until the third season that the details of what happened were explained. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker openly established that while his father's death drove him to become Batman, it was his past failures that kept him going.
Autobots, Rock Out!: Epic action setpieces are set to pounding industrial drumbeats and chugging heavy metal guitar riffs. However, the producers inverted this trope in "Shriek", where the villain of the title kills all the sound except Batman's footsteps. It is very effective.
Bruce Wayne is still able to take on a gang of thugs in his old age, even if his weak heart leaves him collapsed afterwards.
Barbara Gordon is now the commissioner, and reveals in multiple episodes that she still "has it".
When Superman appears in "The Call" he has not aged as poorly as Bruce due to his alien physiology, and retains all the formidable powers of Superman.
Badass Normal: Quite a few of Terry's Rogues Gallery have no major powers and are still able to go toe-to-toe with the new powered Batsuit. Mad Stan in particular has been beaten and tossed through walls only to get up without visible debilitation.
Batman Grabs a Gun: Batman's failing body forces him to pull out a gun in one encounter, causing a Heroic BSOD and kicking off the show's premise.
Bat Signal: Used once by Paxton Powers to get Batman's attention. Batman puts it out with a batarang. "Next time, use e-mail."
Bedlam House: The Ranch, an institution that therapeutically "helps" troubled kids in "The Last Resort," turns out to be Bedlam For Children. Averted with the group psychology sessions in "Payback", which appear to be normal and healthy talk sessions, though they were not featured long enough to tell if they were or were not effective.
Betrayal Insurance: Bruce Wayne seems to have been keeping a piece of Kryptonite locked away for years just in case.
BFG: Many Beyond villains have at least one BFG in their armory, including Armory, who even builds one while tackling Batman.
The B Grade: Carter's near perfect GAT score (compared to Max's perfect one) motivates him to wipe the scores from the school's record and attempt to kill Max as Terminal.
Big Damn Heroes: Both Terry and Bruce get in on the act with this, often with the former saving the latter or vice versa.
Big "NO!": Shriek's reaction to losing his hearing.
The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In: In one episode, Paxton Powers casually throws away a Batarang (Terry had used it to pin a message to his wall). The "tail" end sticks in the floor.
Bloodless Carnage: Happens all the time, but it really calls attention to itself when Terry rips out a malcontent's septum ring. This seems to do absolutely nothing.
Doctor Able Cuvier mutates into something several times his size, has his skin ripped off (by protruding bones), violently morphs his fingers into lobster claws, grows several extra eyes, sprouts tentacles...
Toxic waste covers Earthmover, turning him into a living corpse embedded in the earth, with flourescent green toxic waste "blood vessels" extending from his body into the earth around him, controlling it.
The Human Shifting criminal False Face can rearrange his face to impersonate anyone he wants. As a consequence of this ability, his facial muscles are so malleable that Batman actually caved his face in by punching him hard enough.
Inque attempted to drown Terry by forcing herself down his throat. Even the subtitles refer to Terry's reaction as "retching."
Bond Villain Stupidity: The Big Bad of "Splicers", rather than just killing Batman when he has the chance, instead decides to "splice" him and then try to kill him.
Bothering by the Book: Wayne doesn't agree to give the Royal Flush Gang the ransom for Paxton citing its against company policy to pay terrorists or kidnappers.
Bubble Boy: Scientists develop a special iso-field to envelope people like this. Unfortunately, someone weaponizes it into an impenetrable force field.
Terry: Computer. Analyze the metal this thing's made of.
(No response)
Terry: Computer?
Computer:Incorrect command.
Terry: Uh... Do the thing where you figure out what it's made of.
Computer:Request for spectrographic analysis.
Terry: Yeah, that's it. What you said.
Bullying a Dragon: In the first episode, Nelson taunts Terry for not being athletic enough (the classic "loser"). When a gang of Jokerz shows up and Terry turns out to have sufficient fighting skills to chase off the entire gang, Nelson's response is "I always knew you were a freak." Fortunately for Nelson, Terry (perpetually) has bigger fish to fry. Nelson learned his lesson eventually; in a later episode, when Terry intervened to keep Nelson from harassing Willie Watt, Nelson wisely backed down. When Watt came back ripped with muscle and sporting psychic powers, Nelson still didn't back down, though he at least had the common sense to get Watt to fight fair (Watt did cheat when things didn't go his way, though).
Blight: "Who are you?" Batman: "You really want to know?" Blight: "Yes!" Batman: "You Killed My Father." [Beat] Blight: "...do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down?"
And again in "Speak No Evil."
Fingers: "Where is my mother?" Van Dyle: "I-I p-probably sold her." Fingers: "Probably?!" Van Dyle: "I-I don't know. I d-don't keep track." Fingers: "She was my mother!" Van Dyle: "To me, it was just another gorilla."
Bystander Syndrome: Dana and Howard don't care much when Terry hears somebody scream in "Speak No Evil". It's to be expected when you live in a city as crime-ridden as Gotham.
Terry learns to take note of his surroundings thanks to Spellbinder. It comes in handy in future episode 'Mind Games', where he goes up against an opponent with the ability to induce illusions and use telekinesis.
When Inque manages to get into the Batcave and is in the midst of suffocating Terry via Orifice Invasion, Bruce shows up with a fire hose and wearing the costume of the Grey Ghost, Bruce's boyhood hero from Batman The Animated Series.
Canon Immigrant: Batman Beyond as a whole is now one of the 52 universes in DC Universe Canon. Terry McGinnis has been indicated to be a future Batman in the main DC Universe, though he's mentored by Damien Wayne instead of Bruce Wayne.
Cast as a Mask: Used in the squickiest way imaginable when they brought back Ra's al Ghul, although it was nice to hear David Warner's voice again.
Casting Gag: The future Superman was voiced by Christopher McDonald, who portrayed Jor-El in the opening episodes of Superman The Animated Series. He was chosen, instead of having Tim Daly reprise the role, in order to show that Superman had grown up and beyond his character in the earlier series. In the same episode, Aqua Girl was voiced by Jodie Benson—"Ariel" from The Little Mermaid.
Caught in the Rain: A version of this, at least, in "Dead Man's Hand" where Terry and Melanie share a kiss in the rain after almost missing each other.
Chair Reveal: Subverted. In the pilot, Terry raids a hovercraft with nerve gas and does not even wait for the pilot chair to turn around; he kicks it himself. Turns out the pilot is right behind him.
Character Development: Terry begins the series as a cocky, but slippery superhero who has a tendency to overuse cheesy lines. As the show progresses he finds his physical and mental abilities growing, to the point where he is able to fight crime at several points without Bruce's help, in addition to developing a darker, more deadpan sense of humor.
Chocolate Baby: Mary and Warren McGinnis, redhead and brown-haired respectively, have two black-haired sons. It is revealed in "Epilogue" that this is because Warren McGinnis' reproductive DNA was overwritten with Bruce Wayne's without anybody's knowledge in an attempt to produce another Batman.
City of Adventure: The show redefined the sense of scale, with "Old Gotham" easily dwarfed by the multitude of Babel towers that stretch endlessly into the sky.
Clear My Name: Terry needs to convince the world that, despite what Barbara saw, he did not brutally beat Mad Stan to death by clubbing him with his own bomb.
Clothes Make the Superman: Lacking Bruce's twenty years of intensive training, Terry depends initially on his powered exoskeleton batsuit; inverted in one episode where he proves he is just as good out of it, and actually has to fight the suit. In a bit of continuity backfilling, the DVD movie Batman Mystery Of The Batwoman essentially explained where Bruce Wayne got both the idea and technology underlying the Beyond suit.
The Batcave is a virtual museum of past adventures, including the beloved episode "Beware The Grey Ghost". Additionally, technology introduced in one-off episodes of the original series is treated as a fact of life in future Gotham.
In "The Call", the starfish alien who seems to be a version of Starro was originally seen in the episode of Superman The Animated Series where Superman and Lobo are captured by a cosmic rarities collector.
Genetic splicing is commonplace. Emile Dorian, Dr. March and Kirk Langstrom of BTAS were its forerunners
Converse with the Unconscious: Aaron Herbst in "Disappearing Inque" has spent months talking to the frozen Inque as if she were his confidant; he's fired when it gets to the point of kissing her ice block. Inque, who was conscious the whole time, is not happy about it after she gets out.
Cool Old Guy: Bruce, naturally, and Superman, now wearing a stark black and white outfit with no cape that is supposed to show heavier influences from his Kryptonian heritage. Superman himself shows few signs of age apart from a few extra lines and grey temples.
Barbara Gordon is now commissioner and still kicks ass. While she is not a fan of the idea of a new Batman running around and hindering her operations, she warms up to him after he saves her husband.
Terry's Martial Arts teacher Kairi Tanaga in the Kobra story arc, who first appeared in the original series.
Colour Coded Characters: Inverted, what with Batman being the Dark Knight. All the gangs in the town, including The Jokerz and The Ts, are bright and highly visible. Most of the background characters wear bright colors to stand out from the scenery, particularly blue.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Derek Powers, the first season's Big Bad. Paxton Powers nominally takes over for him in the first season finale, but it just is not the same. Paxton is selfish and unscrupulous (and not seen very often after the end of season one); Derek was just plain bad.
Crazy-Prepared: This is still Batman we are talking about. Terry is a good student (sometimes). It is shown just how prepared Bruce is in the episode "Black Out":
Terry: "She's trying to escape!" (Bruce pushes a button, doors close.)
Bruce: "Helps to be prepared."
Terry: "She's getting through! "(Bruce pushes another button, door becomes electrified) "Man. You really are prepared."
Bruce: (Cue Inque slithering up to the ceiling) She won't get through that way either. There's a foot of solid steel up there."
Barbara, meanwhile, has also taken the lessons of her old mentor to heart, turning the Gotham police into a genuine force to be reckoned with.
Create Your Own Villain: Derek Powers became Blight because of Terry throwing a nerve gas container at him as a distraction. He survived the exposure, but the cure turned him into a nightlight. Powers was already a Corrupt Corporate Executive; Terry gave him powers.
Creepy Child: Tamara in "Mind Games", though she turns out to just be a scared little girl. With phenomenal Psychic Powers.
Creepy Monotone: Terminal. This is especially jarring considering how he is the leader of a gang of Jokerz, traditionally the hammiest of villains.
Cursed with Awesome: Terry takes his job of Batman differently at several points in the series. For the most part, he appears more appreciative and aware of how awesome being Batman actually is than Bruce did when he was still in the cowl, as seen in the second part of "Rebirth". On the other hand, when Max expresses desire to be Batman or a similar superhero, Terry tries to convince her that being Batman "isn't fun," and is not something to be lightly treated or entered into. In the famous "Epilogue" episode, an older Terry angsts over how Batman is a curse since he can not be close to Dana and, since discovering Bruce is his father, he believes he has been manipulated since birth to become Batman. By the end of the episode, it is shown that he has probably changed his mind.
Inverted with Shriek, who actually tried to make legitimate money off his inventions and became a criminal in order to secure funding for his research.
Played straight with Spellbinder; the man has mind control technology, yet his plans seem to be to brainwash teenagers to steal stuff. He must have really, really hated his job as a child psychologist.
Bane's caretaker took the chemical formula for Venom, which Bane now needs just to stay alive, and mass-produced it as a slap-on skin patch which he sold as a performance-enhancing drug.
Dr. Peter Corso has cashed his checks: he runs a successful and respected medical clinic where he uses advanced cybernetics to create prosthetic limbs for those injured in accidents. However, he becomes the supplier and mechanic for a gang of criminals when they kidnap his wife. She isn't really kidnapped she's actually just using both him and the gang to get richs.
Batman: You really think you're Robert Vance, don't you? But he was flesh, and you're just binary. They don't go together!
For his next trick, he plans to kill his grandson by overwriting himself onto the guy's brain. A move also used by Ra's al-Ghul in the episode "Out of the Past".
Cyber Punk Is Techno: The opening scene definitely qualifies. Aside from that, the soundtrack (especially during the action sequences) is dirty industrial rock.
Dating Catwoman: Ten of the Royal Flush Gang and Terry, each unaware of another's identity until the end. Bruce was amused when Terry asked him "this kinda thing ever happen to you?".
Bruce: Let me tell you about a woman named Selina Kyle...
Deadpan Snarker: Old Bruce, but the second half of the show's run presents Terry as an emerging, darkly comical cynic in the same mold as his mentor. In the first episode, Terry is cornered by Jokerz next to a creepy old gate complete with haunted forest. Cue Bruce walking out of the forest and telling those damned kids to get off his property.
Jokerz Leader: "We're the Jokerz!"
Old Bruce: "Sure you are."
Death by Secret Identity: Ian Peek manages to learn the identity of both Terry and Bruce, but is stuck sinking to the Earth's core by the end of the episode.
Some episodes showed Terry to be a lot more competent than others, generally with regards to whether or not he has his own martial arts skills or needs to rely solely on the advanced batsuit and its complementary gadgets.
Some of the advanced batsuit's functions were prone to a lot of variation. Especially noticeable with the strength-enhancement, which varied between giving him genuine super strength and being effectively non-existent depending on what suited the plot.
Dissonant Serenity: The automated reporter's voice has the same cheerful tone in all stories, which is distressing when the story of a man with two children and an ex-wife is reported dead.
Doesn't Like Guns: One of the reasons Bruce gave up the Batman mantle was because his age forced him to threaten a thug with a gun.
Do Not Call Me Paul: Terry has to remind Max not to use his real name when he is in the suit.
In "The Winning Edge", in which Bane's Super Serum Venom could easily be substituted for real-life steroidal compounds and other performance enhancing drugs. It approached the issue as a medical and criminal issue to be handled rationally. Bane himself appears in the episode as a shriveled vegetable as opposed to the giant we know him as, after years of Venom intake.
A bit more heavy handed in the episode which associated virtual reality with drug use, which features Terry's friend and confidant Max going from wanting to take the operation down into a shivering addict willing to fight Batman to protect it after one brief session.
The episode "Splicers" primarily revolved around a body-modification aesop, the genetic splicing served as a metaphor for tattoos and piercings, but the process was addictive, mind-altering and administered through injections.
Dumb Muscle: Everyone thinks Big Time is this in his second appearance. He hates it, and it eventually leads him to try and backstab everyone to come out on top himself.
Dumpster Dive: In "The Eggbaby," Terry leaves behind a computerized eggbaby he must take care of for a Family Studies project in a dumpster as he goes off to deal with the villains of the week. As his attempts to arrest them leaves Batman empty-handed, he returns to the dumpster just in time to see a garbage truck proceeding to empty its contents, prompting him to worriedly rush down, scoop up the eggbaby, and jet away.
Waste Collector 1: "Batman... dumpster diving?"
Waste Collector 2: (shrugs) "A fella's gotta eat."
Education Mama: Terminal's mom pushes him to be the perfect student - and when he gets the second highest GAT score, she makes it clear that she is very disappointed in him.
Egg Sitting: "The Eggbaby". And you can bet that Terry hates it.
Egomaniac Hunter: The Stalker, he is wanted on several continents for poaching and decides to hunt Batman because he is the last potential challenge for his skills.
Emmy Bait: "The Eggbaby", by the producers' own admission. They did it by playing to the Animation Age Ghetto and doing a comedy episode, and it worked.
Equal-Opportunity Evil: The gang in "April Moon" consists of three Asians, a black man, and a woman.
Establishing Character Moment: Terry beats up a Jokerz member harassing monorail passengers in his very first appearance. It was only after that he was shown to have a temper.
Evil Laugh: A classic one when Blight discovers his powers.
Evil Makes You Ugly: The radioactive treatment given to him for the exposure to his own mutagen nerve gas leaves Derek Powers looking like a pitchblack skeleton surrounded by fluorescent green tissue.
Evil Redhead: Inque's daughter Deanna Clay kills Inque after she gains control of her monetary assets. Too bad Inque survived....
The producers were ordered to produce this series for purely Merchandise Driven reasons, the executives wanted a show that featured Batman in high school. They made the best of it and created a superb production regardless by taking the concept and put it Twenty Minutes into the Future.
Studio demands in the second season were the primary reason Max Gibson was created.
Expressive Mask: The Batsuit mimics the facial expressions of the wearer to an extent. A conscious style choice by the artists, so Terry was able to emote (eyes wide in shock was a particularly popular one).
Eye Take: Terry has plenty of these moments, especially while Batsuiting it up on a mission.
Facepalm: Terry actually does this a couple of times in the series, but most notably in "Mind Games" after he kicks a Mook out of a skyscraper and after hitting the ground, the Mook simply gets up, dusts himself off, and gives Terry a Death Glare.
Facial Recognition Software: There is one that can search a database using a pieced-together image of a person's face, and then there is one that can search a database by seeing if your mind recognizes any of a series of fast-flashing photographs.
Fake-Out Make-Out: Inque and Aaron Herbst in "Disappearing Inque". Aaron likes it, as he is infatuated with Inque, but she just used it to get out of a sticky situation and she hits and threatens him right afterward. She's not a nice lady.
A couple moments include when a woman was frozen solid, when a man was rotten away by strange sores caused by Mr. Powers, the death of Mr. Freeze, the deaths of the Trio from the Heroes episode, and so on.
Famous Last Words: "That's not funny... That's not..." The Joker in The Movie after being killed by Robin.
Fanservice: Dana in the white dress from the episode "Rats." She seems aware of it too because when she invites Terry out for a date, she calls and says, "Meet me at Rhino's. I'll be wearing that dress you like." Cue Terry's shocked expression and "Woah."
Dana borders on Ms. Fanservice with her sky blue dress. Also, Blade and her mini skirts.
Fantastic Drug: "The Winning Edge" did a story about steroid use in athletics without using the word "steroids". They were "slappers" and turned out to contain the Venom used by Bane. The effects of Venom are much more disturbing than those of steroids.
Batman Beyond loved this trope. Splicers used animal mutagens to make a drug-like culture (no adverse or overt addictive side-effects were shown, but the Splicers were portrayed as being deviant and intrinsically more confrontational) and total-immersion Virtual Reality (computer-generated euphoric hallucinations) was portrayed as being very addictive, with catastrophic side effects inevitably resulting from prolonged use. Both episodes were very dark and laced with terrifying imagery, particularly the Splicer episode, which culminated with Batman defeating the bad guy by splicing him over and over again with different animals until the villain had a Superpower Meltdown.
Fate Worse Than Death: Some of the villains. An older Bane is kept on life-support as a vegetable, and a guy with a crush on Inque receives a similar mutation but none of the cool abilities. Ian Peek is eventually left incorporeal and sinks forever until he gets to the earth's core. Then there is this exchange:
Stalker: There are worse things than an honorable death.
Batman: Betcha it's a short list.
Fauxreigner: Kairi fakes a heavy Japanese accent because it sells more fish that way. She speaks normally when she isn't working or teaching her students.
Flanderization: Dana starts out as a sweet, friendly, teasing, mostly understanding girlfriend who tries to deal with Terry's new priorities and sometimes loses her patience and temper with his absences. By the second season, nagging him is almost all she does, with very little of the teasing tone she used to have. Justified; Dana would logically get more annoyed with Terry ditching her over time.
During the course of Hooked Up, Terry faces off with Spellbinder who attempts to use mind control on him. During this time Terry flashes back to several previous moments in the series, including one frame from when he fought a hideously mutated Dr. Cuvier in Splicers.
In the episode "Out of the Past," when Ra's Ah Ghul in the body of Talia is about to run through Batman with a sword, he catches the blade in his hands and delivered the sword into the computer's control panel. This sends a highly visible electrical current through Talia's body where in a couple of frames, Ra's Ah Ghul, whose essence had completely usurped Talia's existence, is seen matching Talia's agony during the electrocution.
"Schway" is a general slang term meaning good or cool.
"Twip" is an insult used to describe people as either small or annoying.
"Slag" is used occasionally.
"Draeg" as in dregs of society.
"Vid Games" is a common abbreviation for "Video Games".
G-M
Game Breaking Injury: Bruce Wayne quit his superhero days because his crippling heart condition would paralyze him mid-fight, thus forcing him to pick up a gun to defend himself and a hostage.
The Jokerz are a traditional gang, full of punks and troublemakers who dress and behave in a manner evocative of The Joker. Their primary rivals are the T's, whose members adorn themselves with face-paint in the shape of the letter "T," reminiscent of the second Mister Terrific
The Royal Flush Gang is a super-villain crime family that dresses in costumes and steal treasures related (sometimes rather tenuously) to playing cards; examples include diamonds, antique swords (The "spades" suit was originally the "swords" suit), and a yacht taken from a millionaire's club.
Garnishing The Story: Pick one of these tropes and you can almost guarantee it appeared in the show, or was combined with one or more to produce a disturbing hybrid/mutated trope. A good example containing a couple would be "Splicers".
Genre Savvy: Terry, sometimes. Also Bruce, as is to be expected. In Betrayal, Terry is kidnapped and drops his backpack containing the Batsuit. After Max hangs up from telling Bruce:
*Max opens Terry's backpack and pulls out the mask. The phone rings and she answers.*
Bruce: Don't even think about putting it on.
In Betrayal, one of the guards transporting experimental chemicals knows right away that an abandoned car blocking their road is a suspicious sign.
Guard 1: I've seen month old fish that have smelled better than this.
Guard 2: Are you for real? Somebody might be hurt.
Guard 1: All right. Go check. *tosses large gun to other guard* Here. In case it's a fish.
Guard 2: *humoring him* Right. *deciding to be a little savvy himself* Lock up after me.
Guard 1: You don't have to remind me. *locks cab*
Girl of the Week: Irene, for Terry in "Untouchable". Melanie comes off as this in her initial appearance, but came back a few times.
Give Her A Normal Life: The episode "Inqueling" reveals that, before her mutation, Inque gave birth to a daughter she subsequently gave up for adoption. When the two reunite in the show Inque explains that she had grown up poor and let herself become Inque all for the money, and she wanted to give her daughter an easier life with normal parents and a large trust fund. When Inque reveals just how much money she has, however, her daughter tries to kill her in order to get control of her bank accounts. She points out that Inque never gave her anythingexceptmoney, so why is Inque surprised that she is just taking more of it?]]
Max: (hugs Terry out of relief of him rescuing her)
Terry: (flinches) Max, the ribs!
Max: (lets go) Sorry.
Terry: (pauses and looks her up and down) Nice outfit.
Max: Yeah. Next to your pal Xander, you seem almost normal.
Go Karting with Bowser: Terry is investigating an attempted assassination of Bruce Wayne and decides to visit what might be the source of the technology used in the attack. However, instead of sneaking in as Batman he dresses up as a delivery boy and brings over a pizza. He and Walter Shreeve end up splitting the pie and pleasantly talking about sound waves... at least, until Terry's questions get a bit too pointed and Shreeve tries to split open his head.
Good With Numbers: Not exactly. Apparently people don't bother to do simple math in their head anymore. Terry memorized the multiplication table, a skill which Dana finds strange and useless since everyone just uses a calculator.
The effects of Derek Power's nerve gas on animal test subjects.
As well has the final moments of the poor guy who gave Terry's dad the info on the stuff who got exposed to it in a accident on some photos Derek's showing to some dictator interested in obtaining the nerve gas the but we don't get to see the last 2 photos but the expression on the man's face pretty much tell us it's not pretty.
When Inque tries to suffocate Batman by cramming herself down his throat, Bruce manages to fend her off by spraying her with a fire hose, and we are then treated to the sounds of Terry heaving and the sight of Inque's leftovers spilling all over the ground.
Grand Theft Me: A key plot point in "Out of the Past", after Ra's al Ghul had already grabbed his daughter's body.
Grappling-Hook Pistol: In the comics, Terry had to use Bruce's old-fashioned grappler, among other gadgets from the first suit's belt, because Shriek knew the sound waves able to break the newest gear. At one point, Shriek destroys Terry's suit, and while Terry free-falls, he latches onto a building with the grappler.
Terry: Hey, this isn't so hard. *The grappler tightens and Terry feels the force of it on his shoulder.* Ungh.
Bruce: You were saying?
Terry: It really packs a punch.
Happily Married: Barbara and Sam. Terry's parents were divorced, but were still on good terms and his mother is severly affected by Warren's murder.
Headphones Equal Isolation: In "Untouchable", a maintenance woman was oblivious to a battle between Batman and the Repeller because of her headphones.
Hearing Voices: One villain's plot was to convince everyone Bruce had gone crazy so he could be locked up. Bruce himself never believed it, and Terry eventually uncovered the secret. At the end, Terry asks how Bruce knew he wasn't crazy, which leads to this exchange:
Bruce: ...the voice kept calling me Bruce. In my mind, that's not what I call myself.
Hyperspace Arsenal: Terry's batarangs are ridiculously collapsible (folding down into what looks like a 1.5x2" rectangle) and concealed in dispensers on his wrists and utility belt.
I Am a Monster: Batman pleads with the Magma Man of the TerrificTrio to not destroy the city by continuing the experiment that gave them their powers, because he's a hero. Magma disagrees:
Magma:No... I'm an accident. Real heroes, they make a choice. I never did.
I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: Wil Friedle, who plays the main hero Terry, is best friends with Jason Marsden in real life, who played guest character Donny Grasso in "Hooked Up". The two actors have worked with each other in a number of other shows as well.
I'm Not a Hero, I'm...: A Fantastic Four-ish group called the Terrific Trio goes insane and tries to set off a nuclear reactor. Terry tries to stop their leader by reminding him that he's supposed to be a hero.
Magma: No... I'm an accident. Real heroes, they make a choice. I never did.
Impoverished Patrician: It was never explored in the show, but DVD commentaries and behind-the-scene features reveal that Bruce Wayne has lost almost all of the vast Wayne Fortune in the intervening years between the original series and the current story. He survives on the returns from his stock holdings in Wayne-Powers, which he could sell for a massive profit, but he would never do so because he would lose any last remaining influence over the company.
Inverse Law of Utility and Lethality: In "April Moon", Terry is up against three villains who fight with deadly prosthetic limbs: one whips metal tentacles from his wrists, one can encase himself in powered armor and one has chainsaws on his elbows and knees. Guess which of the three goes down without landing a single hit on the bat. Granted, the placement of the chainsaws makes their use in combat awkward at best — Kneejerk's primary function seemed to be slicing open safes and vault doors.
Invisibility Cloak: Terry's costume has a device to render it (and whoever is wearing the costume) invisible.
In Splicers, the word of chimera is pronounced as 'shi-mera' though the technical pronunciation is actually 'kai-mera'. While the name for the splicing company may have been called 'shi-mera' for fashionable preferences, Cuvier calls himself an actual chimera using the 'shi' substitute.
Terry is corrected on how to pronounce Ra's Al-Ghul's name, and is told it's a common mistake.
At the beginning of the episode "Babel" Bruce changes the subject, telling Terry that they have a Batsuit to repair. At the end of the episode, when Bruce asks him a question, Terry changes the subject using the same excuse.
"Meltdown" has a sinister one, both times: "Remember: there may be some momentary discomfort."
In "Heroes", the General reminds Hodges that if the Trio found out about their deteriorating condition, then they would've become dangerously psychotic. Later:
Dr. Hodges: But the whole city will become a hot zone! You're crazy! 2-D Man: I believe your words were "dangerously psychotic".
Just Friends: Howard has the nerve to say this to a super-strong gynoid girlfriend he bought when said gynoid has been actively trying to kill people for most of the episode. It does not end well. Terry even lampshades it:
Howie: (as Cynthia starts to malfunction in rage) Wrong thing to say?
Doctor Hodges gets off scot-free for what amounts to the murder of the Trio in "Heroes." Though he does have to live with the guilt.
While Melanie loses her family, wealth, and her shot at Terry at the end of "Once Burned", she never faces jail time or other repercussions for the robberies she committed in that episode.
Amanda Waller [[planed murdering Terry's parent but doesn't face repercussions.]]
Karmic Death: The villain in "Sneak Peek" is selectively intangible (i.e., he can walk through walls), but what happens to him once he can no longer control it?
Kick the Son of a Bitch: Ian Peek needs Bruce's help. He even offers to give up the footage he has of him and Terry if Bruce will just fix his intangibility problem. Bruce just turns around and walks away, prompting Peek to try to kill him. This is right after Bruce realizes that Peek stole the intangibility device and murdered its inventor.
Kissing In A Tree: The episode "Rats" has Terry's little brother saying this about Terry and Dana, but Terry interrupts it at the last minute, throwing one of his shoes at the door.
Batman: You're sure about this? Bruce Wayne: All of their crimes are playing-card-related, and the earliest playing-card decks had swords, not spades. Batman: How does the yacht fit in? Bruce Wayne: It was part of a yacht club. Batman: Ouch. Bruce Wayne: I thought so.
Legacy Character: What is interesting is that there is a touch of infighting between the original and the new Batman over the name and position. Once when Bruce was returned to fighting shape via the Lazarus Pits Terry bitterly commented that there was no way he was going to be Robin. And then there was this exchange:
Terry: How did you know? Bruce: For one, I know I'm not crazy. Terry: Hope your other reason is more convincing. Bruce: The voice was also calling me Bruce. In my mind, that's not what I call myself. Terry: [confused look until it dawns on him] Oh... you would. But that's my name now. Bruce: Tell that to my subconscious.
On the rare occasions when Bruce Wayne finds himself back in action, he is accompanied by the symphonic themes from Batman The Animated Series. When he and Terry fight side-by-side in "Out of the Past," the theme from Batman The Animated Series is remixed into a metal version similar to the Batman Beyond theme.
A subtle version of it also plays in Babel, where Wayne steadfastly tells Gordon he will not order Batman to sacrifice himself due to public demand.
Let's Get Dangerous: Tamara from "Mind Games" was already established as a competent, if young, Badass Damsel, skillfully managing to contact Terry despite being in danger and cooperating with him to save her. However, when he's in trouble, she casts a huge illusion to distract his opponent, and later strikes a guy blind with her powers to save Terry.
Life Imitates Art: The GAT scoring system is a numbered score up to 2400, which became the official SAT maximum score in 2005.
Lighter and Softer: Inverted, despite what the executives wanted. It was originally intended to be a show targeted towards the younger generation, and DVD commentary reveals that studio executives were constantly pushing for goofier gadgets (including a mini-Batcave in Terry's home) and kid sidekicks (Terry's younger brother, Matt, was apparently supposed to be Kid-Batman. No, not Robin, but an actual kid version of Batman). The finished episodes and storylines were substantially darker, including dealing with death, drugs (not in a Very Special Episode way) and bold-faced violence in a way other cartoons refused to approach. Critical and popular reception seems to have validated this decision.... well, except for the fact that in order to win an Emmy, the DCAU team had to submit the goofiest, most child-friendly episode in the show's history.
Limb Sensation Fascination: In "Meltdown", Mister Freeze has his consciousness transferred from a Head In A Jar to a cloned body. After the completion of this process, he walks to the window, puts his hand to it, and says "cold" (it's winter) with a look of absolute joy on his face. He has been numb to the sensation for decades.
Love Makes You Crazy: In "Heroes", Dr. Hodges confessed of setting up the whole thing to kill Mike so that he could take Mary for himself. He didn't mean for Mary to be affected as well, nor for them to end up in their current conditions.
Loving a Shadow: The old Barbara Gordon, formerly Batgirl, now Commissioner, admits that her infatuation with Bruce Wayne, the original Batman, had some of this during a conversation to try and persuade Terry from going on with being the new Batman.
Luke, I Am Your Father: Terry and Bruce, via a Government Conspiracy and genetic modification of Warren, Terry's father, who did the physical coupling with his mother. He does not find out until he is thirty, however, and he is pissed when he does.Word Of God has also confirmed that Terry's younger brother is also Bruce Wayne's genetic son.
Mad Bomber: Mad Stan's first line is "BLOW IT ALL UP!" He is a complete Conspiracy Nut who is obsessed with blowing up large businesses and government institutions, thinking he is saving the public from mass brainwashing.
Mad Love: Inque and a random sap named Aaron Herbst who supervised her while in prison. Aaron ends up requesting to be given shapeshifting powers like Inque, to which Inque responds by giving him only half the treatment, causing him to mutate into a liquedated, powerless blob, and in the end being on the receiving end of this trope.
Made of Explodium: Synthia, from "Terry's Friend Dates a Robot." You do not want to get her mad.
Made of Iron: Several of the characters, as standard in superhero comics. Mad Stan probably takes the cake, though, as he is able to go toe to toe with a power armoured Terry and survive bomb blasts at point blank.
Mad Scientist: They are EVERYWHERE! All of Gotham's original disturbed genome tinkerers must have had an all-night love-in to spawn so many.
May-December Romance: Bruce and Barbara had this kind of relationship before breaking up permanently.
Meaningful Name: The deadly and proficient silent masked assassin, Curaré. Curaré is also the name for a poisonous plant used by South American native peoples to tip their arrows.
Meaningful Rename: When Walter Shreeve, sound researcher and technician, is exposed as the attempted murderer or Bruce Wayne he complains to Powers that he can no longer show his face or use his name. Powers explains that the face is no great loss, and he will give Shreeve a new name more fitting to his powers: Shriek.
Mega Corp: Interestingly, Wayne-Powers is one of these to a greater extent than demonstrated in the original series. Some interesting storylines (especially in the first season) come from the tension of shifting the balance of power between ethics (Wayne) and profit (Powers).
Merchandise Driven: The network wanted a show starring a younger, more kid-friendly Batman. What they got instead was a show that was arguably even more depressing than the original animated series and a movie featuring, among other things, child abuse, blatant death, angst and a Kill Sat.
Mission Control: Bruce Wayne. Occasionally Max when Bruce is out of town.
Mistaken for Junkie: Terry's mom jumps to conclusions upon finding suspicious looking patches in her son's bag. To her credit these were drugs, a steroidal compound known as "slappers," but Terry was bringing them to Bruce for analysis. Terry's (truthful) excuses do not help: "They're not mine! I found them!" Bruce helps clear up the confusion at the end.
Mistaken for Murderer: Terry has to clear his name in the episode "Eyewitness," where Commissioner Gordon witnessed him beating Mad Stan to death in front of her. He was framed by Spellbinder's illusions, and Stan never died in the first place.
Monster Fanboy: Inque has an obsessed maintenance worker who maintains her prison and who helps her escape when management fires him after they discover his fixation. He wants to become like her, but only makes it half-way into an amorphous, barely intelligible gelatinous blob.
More Dakka: Zeta and then Terry in Zeta, while using a PCB making laser as a high-powered, enormous minigun.
Most Common Superpower: Max Gibson is noticeably stacked, especially for a 17 year old high school student.
Happened at least twice; once when a gang of Jokerz decided it would be a good idea to attack Bruce Wayne, and again when Inque took a hostage who turned out to be Superman. Both instances ended how you would expect.
In "Countdown" a couple of Jokerz try to beat down Zeta. They still try to hurt him after he takes a lead pipe to the shoulder with no effect except the pipe bending from the impact.
Mugged for Disguise: False Face does this in the episode "Plague", where he steals the uniform of an airline employee. The real worker is later found bound and gagged in his undies.
Batman accidentally causes a character to be disfigured by chemicals, and as the doctors show him his terrible new visage in the mirror, he cackles maniacally... Tim Burton's Joker, or Beyond villain Blight?
The episode "Heroes" had a team called the Terrific Trio. While they look suspiciously like ANOTHER family of heroes, the team's name originated in the Adam West series, referring to Batman, Robin, and Batgirl after the latter had been established.
Subverted in "The Call"—the DCAU's first appearance of the Justice League has them face their first opponent from the comics, Starro. According to Word Of God, this was a coincidence.
Also in "The Call", Terry has to deal with a brainwashed Superman and asks how fast the Batmobile could go. When Bruce answers "Mach 3", Terry asks if that's "faster than a speeding bullet".
Never Found the Body: Several instances, and Terry tends to be pretty Genre Savvy about it. He first points it out with Blight; after he "died", the exact words were used and it was implied that he would return. He never did.
Especially by Derek Powers, who often instructs his hired goons to kill Batman if he interferes with whatever plans he's hatching. Like the exchange between Powers and Shriek, where Powers gives the orders so casually and nonchalantly that it borders on Refuge in Audacity
The New Rock & Roll: Splicing is portrayed like this, with all the attendant cries of "It's not natural" and branding the splicers "Freaks". Oddly enough we are supposed to be on the side of the Moral Guardians, and the splicers rapidly start Jumping Off the Slippery Slope.
New Neo City: Neo-Gotham. One last part of "Old" Gotham was preserved by Bruce Wayne. Terry also mentions a New Neo Country, New Cuba.
New Powers as the Plot Demands: Skillfully averted, though Terry lacks superpowers, the writers are pretty good about keeping him from pulling new skills out of thin air, they usually develop from the progression of his fighting skills and of the character in general.
90% of Your Brain : The Brain Trust reiterates the classic "10% of your brain" mistake as what separates them from normal people.
The assassination at the Berlin Airport, which gave the world the only known picture of Curaré.
The "near-apocalypse of '09," where Talia al Ghul and Batman united in order to battle Ra's al Ghul one final time.
The circumstances behind how Bruce got his limp. While never outright stated, one possibility is the result of The Joker stabbing him during their final battle. However, the fact that fifty-year old Bruce doesn't walk with a cane when he's seen out of costume somewhat disproves this. It could just be age.
Talia:Raysh-al-Ghul was a man of many contrasts [...]
Word Of God from Ra's al Ghul's creator has it that "Raysh" is the correct pronunciation. Arabic linguists around the world tossed their arms up in anger, but the Word has been given.
Not Distracted by the Sexy: All of Dana's fears would have been eased by seeing Batman turn down Aqua Girl's offer to go for a swim...
No Transhumanism Allowed: "Out of the Past": Bruce gets A Taste of Power by being rejuvenated in a Lazarus Pit. He is ashamed of taking it, calling it "unnatural... a cheat."
Not So Stoic: This trope is taken Up to Eleven in "Eggbaby". It even gets to the point that normally-jaded Bruce Wayne reacts with shock when he hears the cooing of the animitronic egg shortly after Terry exits the Batmobile.
Bruce:(stern) Terry, is there something you need to tell me?
Not What I Signed On For: Joyride sees a Jokerz-initiation interrupted when the gang steals a military prototype combat vehicle. Throughout the episode the initiate is dragged along as the Jokerz commit bigger and bigger crimes, but at the end of the episode he knocks out the leader and takes off his red rubber nose when it becomes obvious that the situation is going to keep escalating into pure insanity.
Oh Crap: A brief moment in "A Touch of Curaré" when Curaré realizes she is facing two Bat-heroes, not one.
Old Master: Bruce Wayne. He regularly chides Terry for not listening to him, often when Terry falls into the same sorts of traps as he did in his cape-wearing days.
Older and Wiser: Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon. In Bruce's case, crankier too.
One of the Boys: In a DVD extra, the creators admitted that they considered Max, although already a pretty blatant Tomboy, this.
One-Winged Angel: The season 3 DVDs have a fun discussion with the writers all but apologizing for being so used to using this trope that it ruined the second half of the two-part episode "Curse of the Kobra":
"We had a great story in the first half, fun villains, and an excellent new character - a well-developed rival for Terry. He would have been a fantastic reoccurring character. If only he hadn't injected himself with Tyrannosaurus DNA, which for some reason turned him into a sort of snake-man who wanted to throw a nuclear weapon into a volcano, killing all the humans or turning them into more snake-people or... yeah..."
Only in It for the Money: Inque, unlike most of Terry's other rogues, does not have any hidden agenda or personal goal behind her actions; she is a corporate saboteur working for money. As such, all her criminal activities on the show are as the hired agent of other characters. She is still a bad person, and sometimes takes a positive glee in what she is hired to do, but if nobody is bankrolling her she just stays home.
Stalker: "When you die, it will be by my hand, and my hand alone."
Terry: "... Thanks... I guess..."
Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: It is not clear what Mutro Botha's ethnicity is, but his accent slips repeatedly between French, English, and Australian. One assumes that this is Tim Curry's natural Cheshire accent coming through.
Barbara Gordon was voiced by Stockard Channing in Seasons 1 and 2, but was replaced by Angie Harmon for Return of the Joker and Season 3. This would not be a first for the DCAU Barbara Gordon, as she did undergo this trope twice in her Batgirl days, too.
Queen was voiced by Amanda Donohoe in her first appearance, then by Sarah Douglas in her other appearances. Jack was first voiced by Scott Cleverdon, then Nicolas Guest.
Paxton Powers was voiced by Cary Elwes, then Parker Stevenson.
Both Zeta and Agent Bennett had different voice actors (Gary Cole and Joe Spano, respectively) in their debut episode than they did on The Zeta Project and their other appearances on Batman Beyond (Diedrich Bader and Kurtwood Smith, again respectively).
Big Time, voiced by Stephen Baldwin in his first appearance and Clancy Brown in his second.
Overprotective Dad: Dana's father is very disapproving of her relationship with Terry, primarily because of Terry's criminal record.
Painted On Pants: Every female character in the show wears pants so tight, often times with a top to match, that their clothes might as well be painted on. Even minor characters that appear for one episode cannot escape this treatment.
Palette Swap: Due to some error on the part of the crew, the cheerleaders at Terry's school wear blue and white in season 1 despite the school colors being green and yellow. This trope was used in season 2 to correct this.
The character "Magma" of the Terrific Trio is a simple recoloring of Batman The Animated Series' Clayface
Parting Words Regret: Terry's last conversation with his father was an argument.
Pass the Popcorn: Max and Chelsea do this when Terry and Dana have a lover's spat over his broken promises.
Pet the Dog: Inverted with Ace. The Great Dane does not like Terry all that much in the beginning, but they grow to like each other.
The doctor who was selling Venom as a street drug overdoses, going mad in the process.
Playing Against Type: Uber-nerd Seth Green as Jerk Jock Nelson Nash. This is even specifically pointed out in DVD commentary.
Police Are Useless: Inverted twice when Terry butts in and screws up police stings, and scarily averted in "Eyewitness", when Terry finds himself up against the full, Crazy-Prepared might of Barbara Gordon's police force. It's made quite obvious that Terry's Would Not Shoot a Good Guy mindset is not the only reason that it's one of the toughest battles of the series for him.
The two-part episode "The Call" lead to the creation of Justice League, which tragically lead to the cancellation of this series, but did not serve as an actual pilot episode.
The batsuit enhances the users strength (Terry suggests 5:1 or 10:1 in the pilot), gives a significant level of durability and gives the user limited flight along with other integrated gadgets. But what is most interesting about it all is in that it is otherwise made of a fabric-like material, able to fit inside Terry's backpack or a hidden motorcycle compartment without problems.
A kid who gains telekinetic abilities uses said powers to leave messages in the women's locker room for the girl he likes. Since the school population thinks it is a ghost, Terry briefly muses on the fact that his suit can do the same thing.
In "Terry's Friend Dates a Robot," Terry's friend Howard flat-out buys a Sex Bot (and somehow managed to screw that up).
Power Upgrading Deformation: What the Splicer's are up to, though they don't see it as a deformation at all.
Pretty in Mink: A few episodes showed a lady wearing a fur wrap in the background.
Properly Paranoid: Bruce is ready for anything, but the writers always manage to avoid an annoying Ass Pull by taking advantage of the mythos and minor Chekhovs Guns.
Psychic Powers: Willy Watt and the members of the Brain Trust.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Surprisingly, Bruce despite his cynical and abrasive personality. Though he and Terry butt heads often, he trusts Terry's judgement and allows him a lot of leeway. He generally doesn't refuse Terry requests should Terry insist - though he attempts to convince him otherwise if he disagrees - and he never dismisses Terry when he comes to him with insane claims, in fact he often assumes they're true before he assumes their false. And when he does disbelieve Terry, it's usually not because he thinks the claims are unbelievable, but because he feels they're likely more than they appear (about which he's usually right) - and he encourages Terry to investigate on his own despite his lack of belief anyway.
Recursive Adaptation: The comic book based on the animated series based on the comic book.
Reed Richards Is Useless: Averted. Many of the things that gave various supervillains their powers in the original have become massproduced. For example, the LEGO Genetics that created Man-Bat are now available to the public as a bizarre form of body-modification known as "Splicing" and Bane's super-roid "Venom" has become the hot new street drug in the form of trans-dermal patches called "Slappers".
Bruce introduces the Royal Flush Gang as old enemies from his own time as Batman, and both he and King refer to previous battles, but they had never previously appeared in any DCAU-production. Justice League would later include two iterations of the Royal Flush Gang, with Bruce fighting both versions. It also turns out that one of Bruce's past battles with the Royal Flush Gang ultimately led to Terry's birth.
Max's introduction in the second season. She's written as part of Terry's social circle, yet she was nowhere in the first season.
Rubber Man: * The 2-D Man of the Terrific Trio in the episode "Heroes". His powers are nearly identical to that of Fantastic Four's Mr. Fantastic. Unfortunately, the Trio is Blessed with Suck, as their powers came at the cost of their decaying genetic structure. Eventually, they go psycho and do a Face Heel Turn, forcing Batman to kill them. The 2-D Man is sucked into a high-powered fan and chopped into pieces.
Kobra Advisor: She's rude, she's sarcastic, and she has absolutely no respect. Terry: Gotta be Max.
Also: (after trouncing her opponent in a videogame): "Who's bad? Who's rad? Who's never been had?"
Saying Too Much: This is how Terry almost immediately proves that Willie Watt is responsible for the strange occurences at their high school.
Scary Shiny Glasses: Willie Watt develops these in his debut episode. The closing, silhouetted scene of him in juvenile hall just makes them scarier. The next time he shows up, he's ditched them because they don't really work with his new tough guy persona.
Secret Test of Character: In "Once Burned," Melanie (Ten of the Royal Flush Gang) is told that her parents had been kidnapped by the Jokerz and were being held for ransom. However, it turns out they had staged the whole thing in order to test if Melanie truly was loyal to them after the earlier events of "Dead Man's Hand." Melanie is understandably upset when she learns the truth, and abandons them and their life of crime because of it.
Self-Made Orphan: Inque's daughter killed her to gain control of her bank accounts... or so she thought.
Sex Bot: "Terry's Friend Dates a Robot" involves Howie, a friend of Terry's, flat-out buying a Sex Bot. Rather than exploit the traditional way, however, he used it as a means to make himself more popular at school and thus get a living hot chick as a girlfriend. The Sex Bot did not take this well.
There is a scene where Terry and Ten are kissing, then fall on the bed and the camera slowly moves away...
In the episode "Sneak Peek" Terry watches a news program "The Inside Peek" that exposes secrets, this time focusing on Paxton Powers. We see him grabbing a girl with his towel and it cuts to Terry's wide-eyed look which leads to this scene:
Matt: What are they doing?
Terry: This isn't for you. [puts hand on Matt's face blocking his view]
Matt: I wanna see, I wanna see!
[Mary turns off the TV]
Terry and Matt: Hey!
Mary: I don't want you watching this.
Shapeshifter Default Form: Inque has a vaguely humanoid "combat" form that only has a white blob for a face. When in a peaceful mood, she takes on a more defined human shape and has a face while retaining a liquid look.
Shout Out: To AKIRA, Blade Runner, The Matrix, Rock and Rule (!?), and many, many others. In an early episode Batman saves someone in a pose exactly like the cover of Amazing Fantasy 15 (Spider-Man). In "Heroes", Batman becomes trapped beneath machinery (and frees himself by lifting the massive object) in a scene that is a direct reference to an iconic Spider-Man sequence, even down to the shape of the machinery trapping the character.
Bruce: I should have known you'd cheat death again, Ra's!
Ra's Al Ghul: I don't cheat death, I master it.
Bruce: Sure Ra's, why not? Anything to hold off the Grim Reaper a few more seconds. I take it back, you don't cheat death. You whimper in fear of it!
Ra's Al Ghul: *slaps him* Silence!
Bruce: And you hit like a girl.
Skyscraper City: Gotham has grown even more massive, to the point where it seems to be nothing but superstructures. Rooftop parks, vertical commuter trains, and elevated neighborhoods are common. The opening shows Gotham's old skyline, which is positively dwarfed by the new skyline behind it.
Sky Surfing: The Royal Flush gang and Spellbinder.
Socialite: In the pilot episode, the socialite who Bruce rescues during his last mission as Batman is none other than Veronica Vreeland's full-grown daughter Bunny. The showrunners stated that they purposely wrote her as being Veronica's daughter both as a Continuity Nod to Batman The Animated Series and also to show that everyone else in Bruce's life—including former love interests like Veronica—have long since moved on with their lives while Bruce was still fighting a battle that had once again become quite lonely (the point of that was so that when Terry would come under Bruce's tutelage 20 years later, it's a symbolic way of Bruce finding his purpose again).
Solomon Divorce: Terry lived with his father & Matt with his mother.
Space Whale Aesop: Don't be a bully, because your victim may gain control of a two-story tall robot and come after you.
Speaking Simlish: "Babel," or at least, everyone is speaking Simlish to everyone else's ears.
Spell My Name Like It Sounds, Not Like The Beer: One would think that in 10 years time, the fanfiction writers would learn how to spell Terry's last name right, but sadly, many of them still cannot. The most common misspelling being "McGuinness" because that is the usual spelling but... seriously, fandom, Google is your friend.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Terry and Melanie. Despite their personal feelings, their friends and family keep coming between them, even after Melanie has given up her life of crime. Their relationship is epitomized in "Once Burned" when Ten gives Batman a note to give to a boy named Terry McGinnis; she makes him promise to give it to Terry, but also makes him promise not to read it himself. Because of that promise he can never read the note, not even as Terry, and eventually throws it away unread.
Super Hero Origin: Deconstructed in "Heroes" when the recently superpowered heroes discover that their Freak Lab Accident was not exactly an accident and was not supposed to give them superpowers. It is a shocking reminder that there is a fine line between Hero and Villain.
Surrounded by Idiots: When Powers' doctors pick him up from a frozen lake, they explain that they brought him some blankets in case he was cold. Powers, who at that moment is glowing with radioactive energy, just stares and says, "You are idiots."
Technology Marches On: Wayne-Powers and other places are still using Cathode Ray Tube monitors. CDR's are the favored storage medium. Bulky 90's era flip-style cell phones are the predominant means of communication, without any of the additional features currently expected in a phone (no text, no email, no web, etc.—although it should be noted that sleeker flip-phones are still ubiquitous in certain areas, such as Japan) and apparently nobody has Bluetooth.
That's No Moon: In Babel, Bruce and Terry cannot figure where Shriek's sound generator is based, until Terry looks at a double spired building and realizes it is used as a giant tuning fork.
There Are No Therapists: Well, there are. They just want to brainwash you into stealing for them or have psychotic children that want to kill your loved ones.
Throw It In: "Epilogue" revealing Bruce Wayne as Terry and Matt's biological father. Bruce Timm states that this decision was partly motivated by the fact that Warren's hair is light-brown and Mary is a redhead, making it genetically improbable for Terry and Matt to have black hair.
Terry. He starts out as a very sloppy detective and overly-confident, but inattentive fighter. He has to hone his skills or die trying. Compare him in early seasons to Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker or the Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue".
Willy Watt also took several of these (physically and mentally) after being admitted to a detention center for rampaging through the town with a large construction robot.
Trigger Phrase: In "April Moon," the phrase that shuts down Bullwhip and Co.'s cybernetics is... "April Moon".
Triple Shifter: Terry has a lot of trouble pulling this off; Bruce did not have half as many things to juggle when he became Batman—school, family, and a steady girlfriend not being things he had to worry about—and he does not seem to understand why Terry can not be on call every minute of every day and night.
Tron Lines: They seem to pop up in subtle ways all over the place. Specifically the Batsuit has Tron Lines underneath its black exterior layer, and can be seen when it is damaged. The interior of the new Batmobile seems to be specifically based on the Batmobile from Batman The Dark Knight Returns.
Twenty Minutes into the Future: The series starts off in the year 2019 for the prologue, and then switches 20 years later to 2039 for the main series.
Twist Ending: Many, many episodes. Perhaps not quite enough of them to be "mandatory", but lots of them — and usually extremely creepy ones, implying something nasty was going to happen just after the fade to black.
Underestimating Badassery: People do this all the time to Old Man Wayne. They usually end up knocked down on the floor, after having his cane in their face.
The Unreveal: Curaré's face is always obscured by a piece of cloth; when it is knocked aside in her fight Batman he gasps in shock, but the audience never sees what he sees.
Unusual User Interface: The Batmobile seems to hook directly into the Batsuit and is hinted to be mostly controlled by it.
Bruce: Just let the suit do most of the work.
Uptown Girl: Dana's father is less than happy about her relationship with Terry, although it has less to do with their socioeconomic (and racial) differences than Terry's criminal record.
Blight over the over the course of the first season gradually becomes more and more short tempered due to Batman meddling with his plans and his fake skin burning off so quickly he has to replace it routinely. Paxton takes advantage of this and drives him further over the edge to the point where in rage he burns off his fake skin public.
Scab in "Joyride" breaks down screaming in helpless rage when his Cool Car will not start anymore because Batman deactivated its power source.
Virtual Ghost: In "Lost Soul", Robert Vance does this to himself so that he can advise his company from beyond the grave.
Visible Invisibility: The Batsuit is able to turn itself invisible for periods of time; it goes from total invisibility to half-invisibility represented as only the shadows (and eyes) on it being cast.
Voices Are Mental: "Out of the Past": After The Reveal of Talia's true identity, Ra's al Ghul speaks in his own voice, though by rights it should have been her voice with his speech patterns. In the behind-the-scenes feature, Paul Dini and Bruce Timm say that they did have a psuedo-scientific explanation for how that happens. The explanation involved the transplantation of Ra's al Ghul's vocal chords, but they omitted it because it took too long and did not really fit with the episode.
Terry: (reading a note his Mom left him on the fridge) "Terry: Today was Beach Day. Where were you?" Oh, just out saving the world, Ma.
It is also lampshaded in one of the commercials, in which Terry describes his typical day. "Wake Up", "Go To School" and "Save World" were listed in the agenda.
Was It Really Worth It?: Terry says this to in "Heroes", after being forced to kill the Terrific Trio.
Terry: Satisfied? Dr. Hodges:(distraught) No. You don't understand, I was their friend. Terry: Right.
Weaksauce Weakness: Inque is a Terminator-like juggernaut, nearly unstoppable in normal combat. But expose her even to a gentle drizzle, and she falls apart and dissolves.
Terry wanted to please both Warren McGinnis and Bruce Wayne.
Carter/Terminal, who became a Joker out of frustration at having to be the very best at everything.
Willy Watt might seem like this, but he does not want to make his dad proud — he wants him to leave him alone or, failing that, die.
We Will Spend Credits in the Future: Plastic, mainly featureless cards. Whether or not a character is able to judge how much the card is worth just by looking at it is inconsistent
Wham Episode: "The Call", Parts 1 and 2. At the end of part 1, it seems that Superman has done a Face Heel Turn. Bruce decides he needs to be stopped, and gives Terry the kryptonite to do it.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Given that future-Gotham's population consists of transgenic humans, transgenic animals, cyborgs, realistic "synthoids", sentient computers and other stranger beings, it is very surprising that they directly addressed this issue... twice. Only twice. In the episodes "Zeta" and "Speak No Evil".
What The Hell, Townspeople?: In "Babel," after terrorizing the city, Shriek demands that Batman turn himself in or else. Gotham residents — even some that Terry saved earlier in the episode — publicly denounce Batman as a result and effectively turn their backs on him. Max is disgusted, asking Terry why he'd bother defending them. Even Bruce condemns the townspeople as ingrates and says he wouldn't blame Terry for staying in.
Cynthia the android has a literal meltdown when Howard dumps her.
Queen from the Royal Flush Gang.
This is inverted in the episode "April Moon". It turns out that the doctor's wife was not kidnapped, and that she was in league with her "kidnappers" and romantically involved with their leader the whole time. The doctor did NOT take this well.
Yandere: Cynthia, the android that Howard buys in the episode "Terry's Friend Dates A Robot".
You Fight Like a Cow: Terry's more fond of it than the original, and it comes in handy against the Joker.
You Have Failed Me: The Society of Assassins strictly enforces this policy, any of their assassins who fail in their assignment are killed in turn. However, they have never had to follow through on this threat, since none of their assassins has ever failed to kill their target. Ever. That policy later became their undoing, as Curaré, the first one to ever fail, turned the tables on them. She was so dangerous the last assassin hid a bomb somewhere in Gotham for the sole purpose of forcing Batman to protect him. Even that failed.
The Hub network. In addition, the entire series is now available for streaming on Netflix.While it had its own spin-off comic book for a while in the late 90s DC recently has published a mini-series based on the show; and now is publishing three new digital comics series: Batman Beyond, Superman Beyond, and Justice League Unlimited Beyond. For the tropes featured in the current comic book adaptation, see Batman Beyond.Creators Stan Berkowitz and Alan Burnett went on to write Batman Live. The Zeta Project is also a spinoff of this series.Has a character sheet that Needs More Love! It also has a Best Episode Crowner
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