History YMMV / Smallville

** Oliver falls into this a lot. Justified, in that Comicbook/GreenArrow has always had stories that were a little... darker... than other superheroes ever since the [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks 1970's]], so it's not as if his wangst is unique to this show.

** For some fans, and depending on the Season post-Season 4, Lana Lang entered into this territory, due to her tunnel-vision when it came to her revenge on Lex and Lionel (despite her somewhat valid reasons for said revenge).

** The romance between Lana and Clark. When Lois is introduced, it becomes clear that the ship would ultimately be DoomedByCanon. Except then Clana shows no sides of slowing down, [[AbandonShipping even as it becomes more toxic and unpopular,]] providing the majority of Angst and Wangst on the show for the next three seasons. Even after Lana is written out, she re-appears in season 8 to have a wrap-up arc (which was seen as mostly unnecessary). This arc both interrupted a romantic moment between Clark and Lois and ended with the implication that [[SecondLove Lois]] would always be Clark's [[ReplacementGoldfish second choice]] to [[OneTrueLove Lana]]. Even some Lana fans aren't fond of her return.

* CharacterPerceptionEvolution: Lana Lang was regarded as TheScrappy due to her RomanticPlotTumor with Clark which had been going on for 8 seasons even though Clark's canon love interest, Comicbook/LoisLane, shows up in Season 4. This is coupled with how fans perceived her as the CreatorsPet leading to her increased presence in the show. However after many years had passed since the show ended, Lana is regarded as a BaseBreakingCharacter after some fans and new viewers saw that she wasn't exactly the worst character in the entire show. While she still has detractors, many find the hatred against her to be overblown.

** After Season 4, Lana Lang entered into this territory due to constantly betraying Clark and his friends and yet being treated as being in the right. In Season 7 Lana's acts were purely motivated to having Clark or punishing Lex. She frames Lex for killing her and kidnaps Lionel without being seen in the wrong for this.

** Lana Lang. Due to her constant complaints about secrets and lies despite her keeping her own secrets and a general feeling that the writers had no direction with her and were extending her romantic plot with Clark too much, many fans hated her and also considered her a CreatorsPet and she received an almost ridiculous amount of hatred over the series run. That being said, [[VindicatedByHistory in recent years]], many fans have looked back at the series and [[CriticalBacklash wondered why they hated Lana so much]], as her character really isn't as [[RonTheDeathEater terrible as she's made out to be]].

** A milder version would be Kal (Clark on Red Kryptonite), who is usually not particularly evil but still a real {{Jerkass}} who could easily get violent. One could even argue that Kal is an invocation of this trope, along with AllGirlsWantBadBoys and EvilIsSexy.

* EvilIsSexy:
** The opinion of many, many fangirls regarding Lex and Davis.
** The opinion of many fanboys regarding Tess Mercer. During the second half of "Obsession", many fanboys also viewed Alicia this way, though she redeemed herself when she returned the following season.
** Some fans have thought of Lionel Luthor as attractive due to his luscious hair and beard, sophistication, Broadway voice, and his rather toned body.
** Whenever Lana, Chloe or Lois is under some sort of influence, they almost always wear revealing black outfits. The "evil" part is debatable.
** Evil twins of Clark have the same attractiveness that Clark has. Even when he's under the influence of Red Kryptonite, Kal's danger-loving aggressiveness has earned him his own set of fans.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Season 4's "Bound" stresses that any "MAN" who has multiple sex partners is a horrible person who should be met with open condemnation and that such a life arbitrarily makes one a potential murderer or at least a credible murder suspect; it's almost propaganda in its blatant manipulation. Not only is Clark willing to trust Lionel (a man who tried to kill the Kents not two weeks ago) over Lex because of this, but the willing partners one of whom cheated on her fiancé, and the other who had been stalking Lex, both of whom where complete and utter willing partners, were presented as more sympathetic than Lex.

* OvershadowedByControversy: Allison Mack's involvement in the NXIVM cult, resulting in federal sex trafficking charges in 2018 (she ultimately pleaded down to the lesser charge of racketeering) and subsequent three-year prison sentance in 2021, brought a lot of controversy to the series. It doesn't help that Creator/KristinKreuk is a former member of NXIVM, and although she has made it clear that she had no involvement in the sex trafficking operation, has publicly denounced the organization and that Sarah Edmonson [[note]]a former member of NXIVM who has denounced said group and Allison Mack[[/note]] reassured in her Twitter account that Kristin was not involved in the inner circles of NXIVM, it is very likely that her career will be permanently tarnished as well as Mack's. As a result, many people have either been turned off of the series or can no longer see Chloe Sullivan as an adorable or well-intentioned girl.

* {{Anvilicious}}:
** Season 4's "Bound" stresses that any "MAN" who has multiple sex partners is a horrible villain who should be met with open condemnation and that such a life arbitrarily creates a construct where such a lifestyle leads to murder or being accused of murder; it's almost propaganda in its blatant manipulation. Not only is Clark willing to trust Lionel (a man who tried to kill the Kents not two weeks ago) over Lex because of this, but the willing partners one of whom cheated on her fiancé, and the other who killed herself, both of whom where complete and utter willing partners, were presented as more sympathetic than the man.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** Jonathan Kent's ghostly appearances in Series 10. Did he [[BackFromTheDead really return from the grave]] to impart advice? Or was he merely an avatar of Jor-El, who recognized that his own tense relationship with his son might prevent him from adhering to his advice, thus choosing AFormYouAreComfortableWith as "Jonathan" is the only person he knows Clark ''will'' listen to?
** The Luthors: Are they [[CulturedBadass cultured badasses]] and misunderstood [[TheWoobie woobies]], or are they [[{{Jerkass}} utter bastards]] whose [[FauxAffablyEvil cultured exteriors are just a thin veneer]] hiding the complete seediness underneath?
** Lex: Misunderstood woobie or selfish prick who's [[NeverMyFault way too eager to blame others for his problems]]? Was [[FaceHeelTurn his descent into evil]] the result of a WellIntentionedExtremist JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope or a result of SanitySlippage?
** Is [[Comicbook/GreenArrow Oliver]] the true star of the show, or is he just a misguided AntiHero? You decide!
** Is Chloe's transformation into a [[BigBrotherIsWatching Big Brother-like figure]] to "protect" Metropolis in Season 9 the result of post-traumatic stress in reaction to Jimmy's death?
** Happens InUniverse with the Native American Kryptonian prophecy. Anyone with the immense powers prophesied would surely be corrupted by it, and his so-called archenemy would require immense courage to face him, so who's the real hero here?
** Which party was truly responsible for Clark and Lex's friendship falling apart?
** Was Lex's paranoia, jealousy of Clark and obsession with the strange what doomed his and Clark's friendship? Or where his extreme actions understandable, maybe even justified reactions to the weirdness that Smallville attracts?
** How justified was Clark in keeping his secret from Lex? There are a few times where Clark's insitence on keeping his friend in the dark could be questionable at best like when he left Lex in a mental hospital he shouldn't have been in just because Lex had discovered his secret. Later seasons clearly show the value of Clark having allies that are aware of his powers.
** In "Unsafe", does Alicia understand the GRatedDrug nature of Red Kryptonite, or is she being honest when she claims to think that it's something that makes you act on your heart's desires? Given how she only found out about Red Kryptonite through [[HandWave unspecified]] second-hand means, it's possible that she didn't understand what she was doing to Clark.
* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Believe it or not, the deck was stacked against this show before it debuted. When ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' left for UPN, the WB pushed this show to the moon, essentially marketing it as its new flagship program, hoping it would draw young males in just like ''Buffy'' drew in young females. There was also some doubt that a teen drama about Superman would be popular (especially on what was essentially called "the teen idol network"), not to mention it had been four years since ''Lois & Clark'' went off the air. Not only was this show a mega hit right out of the gate, it had the highest rated debut episode in the network's history, and was one of the few shows on the WB (aside from ''Series/{{Angel}}'') to draw a substantial young male audience. Finally, lest there be any concern that there was a fandom rivalry going on between the two, many ''Smallville'' fans have admitted to being ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' fans, and vice versa.

* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Green Arrow quickly became a fan favorite and rose to become one of the main characters from Season Eight onwards, though he became a slight BaseBreakingCharacter afterward.
** Tess Mercer (Creator/CassidyFreeman) was one new character from the show's later years that enjoyed widespread popularity.
** Alicia Baker, a meteor freak with teleportation powers, was only supposed to appear in one episode, but despite being a {{Yandere}} proved popular enough that they brought her back for a run in Season 4, complete with a HeelFaceTurn.
** There were quite a few fans who frankly preferred [[WickedWitch Isobel]] over Lana as Isobel was seen as a character who, while evil, was rather fun to watch, in a way similar to Lionel. Her LargeHam tendencies also made her entertaining.
** Sheriff Nancy Adams was this trope for a lot of people. Although her first couple of appearances portrayed her as an ObstructiveBureaucrat who didn't trust Clark, her toughness and her ability to be completely unintimidated by criminals or the Luthors won her some respect pretty quickly. Then, as she spends more time in Smallville she starts to wise up to the fact there are indeed some weird and paranormal events happening in town, and gradually starts to trust Clark more, even if she still urges him to let the police handle things (this makes perfect sense since Clark is a minor and Sheriff Adams didn't know about his powers; she honestly thought she was protecting him and his friends). By Season 5, Sheriff Adams had developed a friendly relationship with Clark, and even urged him to consider the possibility of joining law enforcement full-time, a complete turnaround from her initial antagonism towards his vigilantism. Through it all, her toughness and her firm commitment to protecting the peace won her a lot of respect from fans... and her DeadpanSnarker tendencies certainly helped as well.
** Non-malicious meteor freaks Jordan Cross (who has visions of people's deaths and tries to prevent them), Cyrus Krupp (who has HealingHands and harmless delusions that he's an alien), and Sarah Conroy (who can bring people into a dreamworld and ultimately comes across as TheCutie) all have minor followings and appear on internet lists of notable {{One Shot Character}}s.
** The Wonder Twins' sole appearance in the show caused them to be RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap for many fans due to being portrayed as realistically flawed {{Heroic Wannabe}}s who get some CharacterDevelopment and use their powers more interestingly than they ever did in the cartoons.
** TalkativeLoon RealityWarper Dr. Fate is one of the show's most beloved superheroes despite only getting one appearance. The other members of the JSA like Hawkman and Stargirl are pretty well liked as well.
** The FreudianTrio Legion of Superheroes founders (especially AscendedFanboy Garth) are all one-shot characters, save for Rokk, but their backstory, characterization, and status as the first live-action versions of their characters win them a lot of fans.

* FanNickname: Lots.
** Early in the show's run, a few TV critics affectionately called it ''[[Series/DawsonsCreek Dawson's]] [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Krypton]]''.
** Clark: [[MrFanservice The Pretty]].
** Lionel Luthor: The MagnificentBastard, Lion-El (after his possession by Jor-El), St. Lionel (sarcastic reference to his HeelFaceTurn).
** Lex: [[BaldOfEvil Cueball]], [[EvilIsSexy The Sexy]].
** Lois: [=EDLois=] (short for Creator/EricaDurance).
** Chloe: Website/{{Google}} Girl, [[TheSmartGirl Chloogle]], Tiny Blonde (common for {{fangirl}}s), Chloiac (when possessed by Brainiac).
** Jonathan: [[Series/TheDukesOfHazzard Bo]] Kent, or just "Bo".
** Davis: Bloomesday
** Lana: In the earliest seasons, she was initially known as the Pink Princess because of her early wardrobe (and the fact that, by Season 3, the pinkness was arguably becoming a RunningGag until her wardrobe changed in Season 4). Super Kryptonite Woman or The Amazing Kryptonite Woman, after becoming walking Kryptonite. Also known as the "Squirrel."
** Pete: ProductPlacement Pete, as his little bit of screentime was usually used to place products such as music from Music/{{Lifehouse}}, the "Talon Mix" CD, and Stride Gum.
** The episode "Doomsday" is often nicknamed "Failsday" for its rather anti-climactic ending.
** Angel of Vengeance / Andrea: [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bat]][[DistaffCounterpart chicka]].
** Gina: "Maybe-Mercy" until Tess appeared.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** In "Kinetic", Clark tries to console Whitney by telling him that he'll "probably go farther than anyone else in this town." Next season, Whitney gets blown up by a landmine. The episode has another moment when Whitney tells Clark that "no matter what you do, your father is always going to be there". Flash forward to Season 5...
** In Season 1's "Crush", Lex meets his childhood nanny, who says that he was like her own child. The heartwarming moment is diminished much later in Season 10, when it's revealed that she did have a child of her own - [[BrokenBird Tess]], who ended up in an OrphanageOfFear on [[MagnificentBastard Lionel's]] say-so.
** In Season 2's "Visage", mighty-morphing shapeshifter Tina Greer exposits her reasons for wanting to take over Clark's identity: "You have the perfect life, Clark. Great parents, good friends, and the girl of your dreams just waiting for you to make a move." Fast forward just a couple years later and it becomes clear that this exact same line could describe in a nutshell why Lex becomes insanely jealous of Clark and, in part, why he turned against him.
** In "Velocity", Pete Ross gets involved in illegal street racing. His actor Sam Jones III would find himself in legal trouble of his own when he was arrested for illegal drug possession with intent to distribute in 2009.
** In "Bound", Lex tells Clark that he has to choose between trusting him and trusting Lionel, because they're enemies. Clark later ends up trusting Lionel, because Lionel actually starts to become a better person...while Lex goes in the opposite direction until he becomes worse than his father ever was.
** In "Justice", Comicbook/{{Cyborg}} mentions that Oliver kept him from committing suicide after the breakup with his girlfriend, and that he gave him a new purpose in life with the League. Tragically, Lee Thompson Young, Cyborg's actor, took his own life in 2013.
** In Season 3's "Talisman" Lex tells Lionel that despite all their differences, he will always care about his well-being. Fast forward to "Descent"...
** All of the references to the Warrior Angel throughout the show are harder to hear when we learn the character's creator (Zatana's father) originally intended for him to be a [[ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}} Plutonian]] [[BewareTheSuperman type character]].
*** Speaking of the Plutonian, it feels eerie that ''Irredeemable'' was pretty much almost a real comic in universe.
*** While it was probably for the best in universe, the references to Warrior Angel can also be harder to hear considering the character was stolen from his original creator and and said creator never got proper credit. Especially when one remembers how DC acquired ComicBook/{{Shazam}} and how long it took Creator/BillFinger to get proper credit for Franchise/{{Batman}}.
** A lot of stuff regarding Chloe Sullivan became much harder to watch after [[https://www.cbr.com/smallville-star-allison-mack-arrested-in-sex-cult-case/ Allison Mack was discovered to have been involved in a sex-traffiking cult and was later arrested]] and sentenced to prison.
*** In Season 3, Chloe and Clark's friendship takes a hit when he learns she was secretly working for Lionel Luthor behind his back. The shock and anger of this perceived betrayal seems darkly predictive of the same feelings fans had after hearing of Mack's involvement in sex trafficking.
*** At the end of Season 7, Chloe is arrested by a group posing as the FBI; Mack was arrested by the FBI for real.
*** The moral of "Unsafe" with Chloe spouting about teenage sexual activity loses credibility with this scandal, since Mack alongside her mentor Keith Raniere created a sex cult.
*** A Season 4 episode revealed Chloe's greatest fear is that she will end up going insane. Her actress absolutely did in real life.
%% Note that not every scene with Chloe that becomes creepy to you after Allison Mack's scandal qualifies.
** The pilot episode has Lex accidentally hitting Clark with his car. [[https://screenrant.com/smallville-actors-warned-cw-long-hours-were-dangerous-before-riverdale-crash/ In light of KJ Apa's car accident, Welling and Rosenbaum revealed that the long hours of shooting they had to endure during the series' run made driving home difficult as they risked falling asleep behind the wheel due to being overworked and had to assign the cast personal drivers.]]
** The show often zips through the process of locating lost people by handwaving it with a mention of government databases. In RealLife this may actually be ''worse'' by now.
---> '''Chloe''': Thanks to homeland security, being on a college campus is akin to wearing an electronic bracelet.
** Inevitably, Allison Mack's NXIVM sex trafficking scandal would render some elements creepy.
*** In "Hothead", Clark makes a remark that he is joining a legitimate club rather than a cult. NXIVM turned out to be a sex cult. For extra creepiness, "Hothead" deals with a coach who runs his football team very similarly to a cult.

* HilariousInHindsight:
** Greg Arkin and Eric Summers are both {{exp|y}}ies of [[Franchise/SpiderMan Peter Parker]], being nerdy teenagers who gain powers but differ in that they become villains instead of heroes. Considering how much ''Smallville'' borrows from Spider-Man, Greg and Eric could be seen as predictive of Peter's personality after gaining the Symbiote in ''Film/SpiderMan3'', right down to [[EvilWearsBlack wearing black after becoming evil]].
** Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley appeared on this show back when it was on the WB. The two would later co-star together on ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'', one of the CW's most popular TV series of the 2010s. Somerhalder's character was also a love interest for Lana, which makes the episode where the latter temporarily becomes a vampire particularly hilarious.
** In a Season 1 episode, Creator/AmyAdams had a one-off role as a Meteor Freak with a weight problem about twelve years before she was cast as Lois Lane in ''Film/ManOfSteel''.
** In season 3, Morgan Edge hires a team of bank robbers wearing clown masks to lure out Clark. His actor Rutger Hauer would appear in ''Film/BatmanBegins'', [[Film/TheDarkKnight the sequel]] to which also had a team of bank robbers wearing clown masks.
** In "Lazarus", LX-6, the defective Lex clone, is seen to be bald and wear a metallic breathing mask… coincidentally, making them appear identical to how Bane was later depicted in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises''.
** In Season 8's "Toxic", Chloe makes a crack about Tess being a Luthor wannabe. [[TheReveal Come Season 10's "Abandoned"…]]
** ComicBook/{{Cyborg}} is depicted as a member of the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} in this series, as opposed to being a member of the ComicBook/TeenTitans. [[ContinuityReboot Come the]] ''ComicBook/New52'', and he's been made into one of the League's founding members.
** Creator/JensenAckles playing the psychotic snarker with huge psychological and parental issues named Jason Teague, since he would go on to play the similarly named Jason Todd in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'' (another DC Comics property), the second Robin who has the same problems, except his parental issues are focused on his dad, [[ParentalSubstitute Batman]].
** During the early and middle seasons of the show, it was a fairly common phenomenon for fanfics to feature an original female character who would show up in Smallville, flirt with Clark or other male characters, and subsequently turn out to be Lionel's secret daughter. In Season 10, we learn that Tess Mercer--an original character who arrived in Smallville in S8 and was frequently flirtatious towards Clark and Oliver--was in fact Lionel's secret daughter.
** One of Lois' first scenes with Oliver Queen involved her walking in on him shirtless, sweaty, and exercising - which is practically OncePerEpisode on ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. Even more amusingly, his actor Creator/JustinHartley's character famously takes the producers of the ShowWithinAShow he acts in to task for this sort of thing in ''Series/ThisIsUs''.
** In "Phantom", Chloe [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 thinks Lois is dead but manages to bring her back with a teardrop of saturated sisterly love - it even looks like a shard of ice]]!
** In Season 7, Brainiac traps Kara in the Phantom Zone and [[VoluntaryShapeshifting takes on her appearance]]. This would not be the last time Creator/LauraVandervoort would play [[Series/Supergirl2015 a version of Brainiac]].
** Lois cosplaying as Franchise/WonderWoman in "Warrior". The ComicBook/New52 era once made Superman and Wonder Woman an OfficialCouple.
** Creator/CallumBlue, who plays General Zod in this series, had previously starred in ''Series/TheTudors'' alongside Creator/HenryCavill, who himself would go on to play Superman in ''Film/ManOfSteel''.
** In the episode “Dominion” Zod compares himself and Clark to Cain and Abel, asking which one Clark is. Guess who Creator/TomWelling ends up playing in ''Series/{{Lucifer}}''.
** Just as Lana Lang was initially beloved and grew unpopular here, another version of her has suffered a similar popularity shift in Seasons 1-2 of CW's following Superman series, ''Series/SupermanAndLois''.
** Creator/JensenAckles playing Creator/TomWelling's coach, when Welling will play Ackles's grandfather in ''Series/TheWinchesters''.

* RetroactiveRecognition:
** Creator/KimCoates is Special Agent Carter.
** Creator/MirandaCosgrove is young Lana Lang.
** Creator/AmyAdams, who played [[Characters/SmallvilleMeteorFreaks Jodi]], is ComicBook/LoisLane in ''Film/ManOfSteel''.
** Creator/JensenAckles, who played Jason Teague, later became better known to DC fans as [[WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood another Jason]]. He also made a name for himself as Dean Winchester on ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' just a year after his appearance here. In fact, that's the role he actually left ''Smallville'' for.
** [[https://smallville.fandom.com/wiki/Rob_LaBelle Dr. Walden]] would also be ''slightly'' better off heralding [[Film/{{Watchmen}} a different 'superman']].
** [[Creator/AdriannePalicki Lindsay Harrison]] may not be Kara (Supergirl), but she would be Series/{{Wonder Woman|2011Pilot}}!
** "Kids, [[Series/HowIMetYourMother before your aunt Robin]] [[Film/TheAvengers2012 joined S.H.I.E.L.D.]], [[Creator/CobieSmulders she]] was boning a completely different bald man..."
** {{Body Surf}}ing AlphaBitch Dawn Stiles would later [[Film/TheDarkKnight possess a Russian ballerina and date Bruce Wayne!]]
** Creator/MeghanOry, now well-known for her role as Red Riding Hood on ''Series/OnceUponATime'', played a cheerleader who was almost killed in a season three episode.
** Creator/SerindaSwan famously played Zatanna on ''Smallville'', and is now Paige on Creator/{{USA Network}}'s ''Series/{{Graceland}}'', along with her co-star Brandon [=McLaren=], who played two small roles on ''Smallville'' (first as a deliveryman in "Covenant" and then the unfortunate victim of Phantom Zone criminal Baern in "Fallout") before being cast on ''Series/{{Graceland}}'' as Jakes. In fact, his role in “Covenant” may very well have been one of his last North American roles before getting the part of Jack Landors, the Red Ranger of ''Series/PowerRangersSPD''.
** [[https://smallville.fandom.com/wiki/Joe_Morton Joe Morton]], later known for his roles in ''Series/{{Eureka}}'' and ''Series/{{Scandal}}'' appeared in the first two seasons as Professor Hamilton.
** Creator/EvangelineLilly made [[http://smallville.wikia.com/wiki/Evangeline_Lilly several background appearances]] in episodes "Kinetic", "Visage", "Accelerate", and "Delete". So if you ever had a feeling of "Did [[Series/{{Lost}} Kate Austen]] just walk past the screen?", now you know.
** The ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' leads Creator/PaulWeasley (then credited as Paul Wasilewsky) as Lucas Luthor and Creator/IanSomerhalder as Adam Knight.
** [[Wrestling/{{Batista}} Dave Bautista]] plays yet another super-strong alien in the episode 'Static'

** The fast, catchy use of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NYWLSny9wY Funny Little Feeling]]" during the foreplay between Alicia and Red-K Clark in ''Unsafe."
** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsafc8fqN9g Feels Like Today,]]'' which plays when Clark and Bart Allen race.

** Creator/JensenAckles playing the psychotic snarker with huge psychological and parental issues named Jason Teague, since he would go on to play the similarly named Jason Todd in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'', the second Robin who has the same problems, except his parental issues are focused on his dad, [[ParentalSubstitute Batman]].

** Creator/JensenAckles playing the psychotic snarker with huge psychological and parental issues named Jason, since he would go on to play Jason Todd in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'', the second Robin who has the same problems, except his parental issues are focused on his dad, [[ParentalSubstitute Batman]].

* AcceptableProfessionalTargets:
** When Lex smashes in a meter maid's car with a golf club in Season 2's "Dichotic," everyone who hears about it [[PlayedForLaughs laughs]]. Even the HolierThanThou Clark laughs about it.
** "[[LoanShark Rick]]'s type, [[Comicbook/GreenArrow your]] type, political type, twisted type..."
* AcceptableTargets: The Amish in the episode "Harvest" are depicted as [[HumanSacrifice human-sacrificing]] [[CorruptChurch psychopaths]].

** Clark also gets this treatment very often in Lex-centric fics. Typically Lex will either be deeply in love with Clark or at the very least will care deeply about him in a platonic way (it varies from fic to fic), but despite this, Clark will treat Lex like crap. If it's a fic where Lex is in love with Clark, Clark will not only reject Lex's advances, but will say something viciously cruel to him and treat him worse than ever, in a series of increasingly-terrifying KickTheDog moments for Clark. [[BewareTheSuperman Thus, when Lex becomes the main opposition figure against Clark/Superman, the writer will be able to portray it as being completely justified.]] (Also in these fics, Jonathan and Martha will usually be cackling evilly in the background while Clark treats Lex terribly)

L

* ValuesDissonance: In the episode "Truth", Chloe gets powers that allow her to force people to tell her the unfiltered truth. One of the people she does this to is a [[ArmoredClosetGay football player who is in the closet]], which she unknowingly makes him reveal in front of his team. [[KickTheDog She then makes fun of him for it and puts the story in the school newspaper.]] While still kinda iffy in the early 2000's, Chloe's actions here would have been considered crossing the MoralEventHorizon nowadays, especially since this is a rural town where gay people are likely victims of hate crimes.
** Lex and Clark's friendship in the early seasons comes off as quite inappropriate for present day viewers, with Michael Rosenbaum himself calling their dynamic a bit creepy. Nowadays, a grown man in his 20's showering a 14-year old boy with gifts, including buying him a car and declaring the two of them best friends after just a few days would most likely be interpreted as grooming.
** Lana's relationship with Whitney would not be considered okay nowadays. For the record, Whitney is a senior, and already a legsl adult, while Lana is at most fifteen, and just starting her freshman year in high school at the start of the show.

** "[[LoanShark Rick]]'s type, [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob yo]][[Comicbook/GreenArrow ur]] type, political type, twisted type…"

** "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E08Abandoned Abandoned]]"; "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E14Masquerade Masquerade]]"; "[[Recap/SmallvilleS10E21E22Finale Finale]]": [[CardCarryingVillain Desaad]] is one of [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]]'s CoDragons from [[Characters/SmallvilleApokiliptians Apokolips]], and unnerves even his fellow dragons, Granny Goodness and Gordon Godfrey. Operating a chain of BDSM-themed nightclubs, Desaad uses them as a front to corrupt the minds of his clientele, making them susceptible to a mass MindRape by Darkseid. Anyone who cannot be corrupted is gruesomely murdered, as Desaad uses his telekinetic powers to induce hemorrhaging and implode their internal organs, leading to an agonizing death from internal bleeding. Having disposed of several FBI agents who were investigating him, Desaad kidnaps Chloe and subjects her to an extended mind rape, attempting to turn her into one of Darkseid's minions. When she proves resistant, Desaad tries to kill her, tries to kill Clark when the latter intervenes to save her, and then turns Oliver Queen/Green Arrow into a minion of Darkseid after provoking the archer into brutally beating him. Incarcerated under Belle Reve, Desaad breaks out, gives the now mind-controlled Oliver a Gold K ring, and tries to force him to depower Clark, so that the future Superman can be slain and the end of the world ushered in.

** Evil twins of Clark have the same attractiveness that Clark has. Even when he's under the influence of red kryptonite, Kal's danger-loving aggressiveness has earned him his own set of fans.

** Chloe was affected by red kryptonite [[labelnote:Explanation]]Some did this joke after Allison Mack was revealed to be involved in a sex cult[[/labelnote]]

** Normally, the Kents are sympathetic and beloved by the fandom. However, in Season 4's "Unsafe," they become unsympathetic for acting too harshly on Clark because he "married" Alicia while he was affected by Red Kryptonite and outright disregard that Clark couldn't use his free will or good judgement and that he was being molested by Alicia until she decided to stop putting him red Kryptonite. The plot uses them to [[{{Anvilicious}} teach a moral about marrying responsibly]], but when one of the "offenders" couldn't even use free will due to being in an equivalent of a date rape drug, that moral goes downhill.

** Season 10: [[CardCarryingVillain Desaad]] is one of [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]]'s CoDragons from [[Characters/SmallvilleApokiliptians Apokolips]], and unnerves even his fellow dragons, Granny Goodness and Gordon Godfrey. Operating a chain of BDSM-themed nightclubs, Desaad uses them as a front to corrupt the minds of his clientele, making them susceptible to a mass MindRape by Darkseid. Anyone who cannot be corrupted is gruesomely murdered, as Desaad uses his telekinetic powers to induce hemorrhaging and implode their internal organs, leading to an agonizing death from internal bleeding. Having disposed of several FBI agents who were investigating him, Desaad kidnaps Chloe and subjects her to an extended mind rape, attempting to turn her into one of Darkseid's minions. When she proves resistant, Desaad tries to kill her, tries to kill Clark when the latter intervenes to save her, and then turns Oliver Queen/Green Arrow into a minion of Darkseid after provoking the archer into brutally beating him. Incarcerated under Belle Reve, Desaad breaks out, gives the now mind-controlled Oliver a Gold K ring, and tries to force him to depower Clark, so that the future Superman can be slain and the end of the world ushered in.