History AdaptationalVillainy / TheDCU

* ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' and ''VideoGame/Injustice2'':

** While the aforementioned ''New 52'' Mr. Freeze is retconned back into a TragicVillain again, DC unfortunately decided to give this treatment ''to his poor wife Nora instead!'' As when Nora is cured of her terminally illness by becoming a blue-skinned cold mutant like Victor, Nora becomes DrunkWithPower and during her crime spree with her husband displays brutality to innocents that disturbs even Victor. When he tries to halt her cruelty, Nora abandons him stating she loves being in control for once and later even attempts to kill her husband. While it was an effort to subvert the usual StuffedInAFridge ([[HumanPopsicle literally]]) treatment of Nora, it ultimately does the same thing the ''New 52'' did to Mr. Freeze i.e remove all the uniquely sympathetic traits from her character, resulting in Nora being a GenderFlip version of the generically evil Silver Age Mr. Freeze.

** The Creator/TomKing run does this to [[spoiler: Thomas Wayne, of all people, as his ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' version whom became Batman himself comes back as a EvilCounterpart desperately [[WellIntentionedExtremist trying to stop]] his son's "suicide mission" even if that means working alongside supervillains and beating the shit out of Bruce, his grandson Damian and the rest of the Bat-Family to do so. This villainy would later be retconned in ''ComicBook/InfiniteFrontier'' when he joins [[ComicBook/TheMultiversity Justice Incarnate]], and it's revealed that Negative Speed Force manipulation by ComicBook/EobardThawne was used to make him evil.]]

** In ''ComicBook/TheFlashRebirth'', Professor Zoom is delighted to learn that one of the differences between the history of this Flash and the one he's familiar with is [[spoiler: that Barry's future children, Don and Dawn, become villains because he was never there for them. In the previous continuity, they were the heroic Tornado Twins. Barry later manages to make this right.]]
** In ''Jay Garrick: The Flash'', the mysterious Dr Elemental is eventually revealed as [[spoiler: Professor Hughes, the scientist from Jay's origin. The fourth issue gives a OnceMoreWithClarity version of the original ''Flash Comics'' story, in which Hughes triggers the alleged FreakLabAccident deliberately from the next room, and later shoots the doctor who discovers Jay's abilities to prevent the results of his experiment coming out before he's ready. Since then, he's killed many people in trying to recreate the effect, and eventually taken funding from the Nazis, but still convinced himself it's all for the greater good in the long run.]]

** Deathstroke in ''WesternAnimation/SonOfBatman'' sees his vengeful side cranked up to the extent that his NobleDemon qualities from the comics are absent, willing to usurp Ra's al Ghul because he was passed over as a successor in favor of Batman, holding a massive grudge against Damian Wayne for stabbing him in the eye (in the original comics, his wife Adeline shot him in the eye out of anger for allowing their son Joey's throat to be slit), and capturing and threatening Kirk Langstrom's family to force him to comply. His return in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract'' continues this change, as in the original [[ComicBook/TheJudasContract comic storyline]], he was noble enough to bring the Titans in alive when HIVE was also okay with them being brought in dead, and he took the contract to avenge his older son Grant, who died while trying to pursue the Titans. In the animated film, his continued revenge towards Damian for defeating him previously is the reason he accepts the offer by Brother Blood (who is HIVE's leader in the film, but not the comics) to capture the Titans and is perfectly content with Blood killing all of them as part of his desire to [[AGodAmI make himself a god]] if it means Damian is dead. He is also more explicitly shown as a manipulator of [[TheMole Terra]], and turns her over to Blood when Nightwing escapes him, leading to her [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]], when in the original comic, he claimed to ''fear'' Terra (although it was later retconned in that he drugged her), and he only attacked her while possessed by Joey (now Jericho).

** Deathstroke in ''WesternAnimation/SonOfBatman'' sees his vengeful side cranked up to the extent that his NobleDemon qualities from the comics are absent, willing to usurp Ra's al Ghul because he was passed over as a successor in favor of Batman, holding a massive grudge against Damian Wayne for stabbing him in the eye (in the original comics, his wife Adeline shot him in the eye out of anger for allowing their son Joey's throat to be slit), and capturing and threatening Kirk Langstrom's family to force him to comply. His return in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract'' continues this change, as in the original [[ComicBook/TheJudasContract comic storyline]], he was noble enough to bring the Titans in alive when HIVE was also okay with them being brought in dead, and he took the contract to avenge his son Grant, who died while trying to pursue the Titans. In the animated film, his continued revenge towards Damian for defeating him previously is the reason he accepts the offer by Brother Blood (who is HIVE's leader in the film, but not the comics) to capture the Titans and is perfectly content with Blood killing all of them as part of his desire to [[AGodAmI make himself a god]] if it means Damian is dead. He is also more explicitly shown as a manipulator of [[TheMole Terra]], and turns her over to Blood when Nightwing escapes him, leading to her [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]], when in the original comic, he claimed to ''fear'' Terra (although it was later retconned in that he drugged her), and he only attacked her while possessed by Joey (now Jericho).

** Deathstroke in ''WesternAnimation/SonOfBatman'' sees his vengeful side cranked up to the extent that his NobleDemon qualities from the comics are absent, willing to usurp Ra's al Ghul because he was passed over as a successor in favor of Batman, holding a massive grudge against Damian Wayne for stabbing him in the eye (in the original comics, his wife Adeline shot him out of anger for allowing their son Joey's throat to be slit), and capturing and threatening Kirk Langstrom's family to force him to comply. His return in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract'' continues this change, as in the original [[ComicBook/TheJudasContract comic storyline]], he was noble enough to bring the Titans in alive when HIVE was also okay with them being brought in dead, and he took the contract to avenge his son Grant, who died while trying to pursue the Titans. In the animated film, his continued revenge towards Damian for defeating him previously is the reason he accepts the offer by Brother Blood (who is HIVE's leader in the film, but not the comics) to capture the Titans and is perfectly content with Blood killing all of them as part of his desire to [[AGodAmI make himself a god]] if it means Damian is dead. He is also more explicitly shown as a manipulator of [[TheMole Terra]], and turns her over to Blood when Nightwing escapes him, leading to her [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]], when in the original comic, he claimed to ''fear'' Terra (although it was later retconned in that he drugged her), and he only attacked her while possessed by Joey (now Jericho).

** In ''Jay Garrick: The Flash'', the mysterious Dr Elemental is eventually revealed as [[spoiler: Professor Hughes, the scientist from Jay's origin. The fourth issue gives a OnceMoreWithClarity version of the original ''Flash Comics'' story, in which Hughes triggers the alleged FreaLabAccident deliberately from the next room, and later shoots the doctor who discovers Jay's abilities to prevent the results of his experiment coming out before he's ready. Since then, he's killed many people in trying to recreate the effect, and eventually taken funding from the Nazis, but still convinced himself it's all for the greater good in the long run.]]

* Aquaman and Wonder Woman in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox'', even more so than their comic book counterparts. While in the original storyline the war began due to the trickery of their deceptive subordinates, in this film the bloodshed started when Mera confronted the Amazon for having an affair with Arthur. This leads to Diana murdering the Atlantean queen, claiming her crown as a trophy and mailing her decapitated head to her husband. By the time the film takes place, Aquaman has devolved into a surface-hating supremacist who floods half of Europe, while Wonder Woman became a misandrist dictator responsible for decimating the entire male population of the UK. When two of the most beloved heroes of all time are converted into two genocidal maniacs, you know this trope has been [[ExaggeratedTrope dialed up]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueThroneOfAtlantis'', the Ocean Master is far eviler than he is in the comics, where he was an AntiVillain. He is shown working with Black Manta and staging a false flag attack on Atlantis, which in the comic book storyline the movie is based on were done by [[spoiler: Vulko]]. He also knowingly wages an offensive war on the surface, when in the comic he believed he was acting in self-defense due to the aforementioned false flag attack. He also [[spoiler: murders his mother]], while in the comics [[spoiler: she faked her death]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' sees this with ComicBook/KlarionTheWitchBoy, whose portrayal in the comics generally ranges from an annoying troublemaker (Creator/JackKirby's version) to a well-meaning anti-hero (Creator/GrantMorrison's version), is clearly evil when he appears in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', stealing control of Etrigan from Jason Blood, tearing Gotham apart simply for fun, and using potential lethal spells on Batman when the hero tries to stop him. He finally removes any doubt what a despicable brat he is by telling Etrigan to kill Blood (who is aging at an accelerated rate and nearly helpless due to the Demon being separated from him).

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and ''Justice League Unlimited'':
** While she didn't know all the details and did a HeelFaceTurn to help her teammates when she realized [[EarthShatteringKaboom what would happen to Earth]], Hawkgirl was still TheMole, spying on the League for Thanagar and helping them occupy Earth in the season two finale.
** This trope is the reason why Aresia, Tsukuri, Hro Talak, Galatea, and the Ultimen are {{Exp|y}}ies as DC wouldn't allow either woman who's been codenamed [[ComicBook/InfinityInc Fury]] to attempt to commit {{Gendercide}} (Aresia), ComicBook/{{Katana}} to be party to said Gendercide (Tsukuri)[[note]]Years later, Katana appears as a member of [[ComicBook/SuicideSquad Task Force X]] in ''[[ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures Batman: The Adventures Continue]]''[[/note]], ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} to be willing to blow up the Earth to help Thanagar win a war (Hro Talak)[[note]]The real Hawkman eventually shows up later on as a separate character who is heroic[[/note]], ComicBook/PowerGirl to be a hitwoman for ComicBook/AmandaWaller (Galatea)[[note]]While not an actual appearance, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndHarleyQuinn'' sees a waitress at the restaurant Harley works at dressed as Karen, implying that like Hawkman, an actual version of Pee Gee exists in the DCAU[[/note]], or the {{Canon Foreigner}}s and {{Canon Immigrant}}s of the WesternAnimation/SuperFriends (namely Samurai, Black Vulcan, and the Wonder Twins) to attempt to kill members of the League (the Ultimen, barring Apache Chief expy Long Shadow, who still retained his sanity and tried to stop it, though later clone copies were just as bad as the other members).
** Rampage, a [[CompositeCharacter combined]] {{Expy}} of both [[HulkMashUp Hulk and She-Hulk]], is a heroine from Superman's supporting cast in the comics. Here, she's a villain who's part of the Legion of Doom.

* ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'':
** Aquamaria is a villain while she was of the more heroic members of ComicBook/BloodSyndicate in the original Creator/MilestoneComics continuity.
** Edwin Alva's son ends up becoming the supervillain Omnifarious due to lashing out over his father never giving him much respect, when ''ComicBook/Hardware1993'' had Alva, Jr. depicted as well-adjusted and not taking it personally when his deceased father named Curtis Metcalf as his successor instead of him or his sister Sabrina (Sabrina ''did'' take being snubbed of her inheritance personally, but was AdaptedOut in the ''Static Shock'' cartoon with Edwin Alva, Jr. [[CompositeCharacter borrowing her resentment towards not being respected by their father]]).

** In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', Batman outright intended to kill Superman before he could even become a threat. In one of the movie's major influences, ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'', Batman merely intends to beat Superman up and other stories have Batman come up with non-lethal countermeasures in dealing with a rogue Superman. [[spoiler: The combination of Superman mentioning the name [[MeaningfulName "Martha"]], the subsequent PTSD episode where he recalls the death of his parents, and Lois explaining who Martha Kent is and [[IHaveYourWife what's going on]] is what snapped him out of his murderous rage.]]

* ''Film/{{The Batman|2022}}'': Another aspect from ''Batman Earth One'' is how, unlike how most incarnations of the Riddler show off the InsufferableGenius and ComplexityAddiction aspects of the character, this one is basically a MadBomber version of the Zodiac killer, between brutal murders, sending taunting cyphers to Batman, and much destruction through explosives.

** Deathstroke, while still an enemy, was less supervillain and more mercenary. He only stepped to be a major enemy of the Titans after his son's accidental death, but even then he wasn't on par with the likes of The Joker or Lex Luthor. Slade (avoiding his moniker for censorship) however is a cruel sadist and essentially a domestic terrorist who has a penchant for mass destruction and manipulation, whose main animosity with ComicBook/{{Robin}} now is derived from being willing to force him to be his apprentice.

* ''Series/{{Titans 2018}}'': [[spoiler: ComicBook/{{Raven}}'s mother Angela turns out to have beeen EvilAllAlong, with the penultimate episode of the first season revealing that she was secretly working to bring Trigon to Earth the entire time. This is in ''sharp'' contrast to the comics, where she opposed Trigon and actively sought to prevent his return.]]

** This trope is the reason why Aresia, Tsukuri, Hro Talak, Galatea, and the Ultimen are {{Exp|y}}ies as DC wouldn't allow either woman who's been codenamed [[ComicBook/InfinityInc Fury]] to attempt to commit {{Gendercide}} (Aresia), ComicBook/{{Katana}} to be party to said Gendercide (Tsukuri), ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} to be willing to blow up the Earth to help Thanagar win a war (Hro Talak)[[note]]The real Hawkman eventually shows up later on as a separate character who is heroic[[/note]], ComicBook/PowerGirl to be a hitwoman for ComicBook/AmandaWaller (Galatea)[[note]]While not an actual appearance, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndHarleyQuinn'' sees a waitress at the restaurant Harley works at dressed as Karen, implying that like Hawkman, an actual version of Pee Gee exists in the DCAU[[/note]], or the {{Canon Foreigner}}s and {{Canon Immigrant}}s of the WesternAnimation/SuperFriends (namely Samurai, Black Vulcan, and the Wonder Twins) to attempt to kill members of the League (the Ultimen, barring Apache Chief expy Long Shadow, who still retained his sanity and tried to stop it, though later clone copies were just as bad as the other members).

** Played within the case of the Greek gods and goddesses in the comic. A number of them started out as LighterAndSofter than they were in Myth/GreekMythology. However, ComicBook/{{Ares|DC}}, the God of War, is portrayed as so dangerous and TooPowerfulToLive that Wonder Woman has to actually ''kill'' him in [[ComicBook/WonderWoman2006 at least two]] [[Film/WonderWoman2017 adaptations]]. Ares in the Greek myths, although TheBerserker and ironically a bit of a DirtyCoward, [[HiddenHeartOfGold looked after his kids]] and was worshipped like the other gods. However, the more recent Wonder Woman stories have taken to portraying the pantheon as somewhere closer to what they were like in mythology.

* ''ComicBook/GreenArrowRebirth'' reintroduces Green Arrow's mother, Moira Queen, and applies elements of her morally ambiguous portrayal in ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' to the character without any of the depth or reluctance she had in the show, most notably attempting to start a war in the Middle East for the sake of [[WarForFunAndProfit reaping its profits]]. Likewise, Green Arrow's FriendOnTheForce Eddie Fyers takes after the same show's portrayal of the character as a PsychoForHire, albeit working for Moira instead of Amanda Waller.

* ''ComicBook/GreenArrowRebirth'' reintroduces Green Arrow's mother, Moira Queen, and applies elements of her morally ambiguous portrayal in ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' to the character without any of the depth or reluctance she had in the show, most notably attempting to start a war in the Middle East for the sake of [[WarForFunAndProfit reaping its profits]].

* ComicBook/GreenArrowRebirth reintroduces Green Arrow's mother, Moira Queen, and applies elements of her morally ambiguous portrayal in ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' to the character without any of the depth or reluctance she had in the show, most notably attempting to start a war in the Middle East for the sake of [[WarForFunAndProfit reaping its profits]].

* Batman and Red Hood are usually heroes. In ''ComicBook/GothamCityGarage'', Bruce Wayne is ComicBook/LexLuthor's chief enforcer and Jason Todd leads a road gang

** In ''ComicBook/TheFlashRebirth'', Professor Zoom is delighted to learn that one of the differences between the history of this Flash and the one he's familiar with is [[spoiler: that Barry's future children, Don and Dawn, become villains because he was never there for them. In the previous continuity, they were the heroic Tornado Twins.]]

* ''Series/{{Titans 2018}}'': [[spoiler: Comicbook/{{Raven}}'s mother Angela turns out to have beeen EvilAllAlong, with the penultimate episode of the first season revealing that she was secretly working to bring Trigon to Earth the entire time. This is in ''sharp'' contrast to the comics, where she opposed Trigon and actively sought to prevent his return.]]

** The alternate Comicbook/{{Sinestro}} is also a good deal eviler than his mainstream counterpart, and with Wondy functions as a devilish voice in Superman's ear to push him further past the MoralEventHorizon. Perhaps most strikingly, his viewing of the Earth Lanterns as {{Worthy Opponent}}s is completely omitted from this version; he gruesomely kills both Kyle and John personally, then [[ManipulativeBastard manipulates]] Hal into murdering Guy.

** While Comicbook/TheJoker is known to be an AxCrazy MonsterClown, his Injustice version is responsible for ComicBook/{{Superman}}'s StartOfDarkness by nuking Metropolis and having him kill his wife Lois Lane. And the rationale for this? All ForTheEvulz, as he was tired of constantly losing to ComicBook/{{Batman}}, so he decided to go after an easier target and see if they would break. And most [[EvenEvilHasStandards villains such as Brainiac, Darkseid, Gorilla Grodd and Reverse-Flash agree]] that the psychotic jester went ''way too far'' this time.
** In most continuities, while Comicbook/PoisonIvy is a misanthropic villain, she has a soft spot for Harley Quinn, and is sometimes even romantically linked to her. In ''Injustice 2'', she acts openly hostile to Harley in some of their battle intros (for example, when Harley tearfully tells her that she's breaking her heart, she responds that she'll break more than that), and during the Story Mode, [[spoiler: she uses her pheromones to send Harley into shock, which almost kills her.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueThroneOfAtlantis'', the Ocean Master is far eviler than he is in the comics, where he was an AntiVillain. He is shown working with ComicBook/BlackManta and staging a false flag attack on Atlantis, which in the comic book storyline the movie is based on were done by [[spoiler: Vulko]]. He also knowingly wages an offensive war on the surface, when in the comic he believed he was acting in self-defense due to the aforementioned false flag attack. He also [[spoiler: murders his mother]], while in the comics [[spoiler: she faked her death]].

* Aquamaria from ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' is a villain while she was of the more heroic members of ComicBook/BloodSyndicate in the comics.

* Timber Wolf's father Dr. Mar Londo gets this treatment in the ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' animated series. While still responsible for his son's powers in the original comics (at least in Pre-Zero Hour continuity), he was in no way even suggested to be as abusive and manipulative as his animated counterpart.

* ''ComicBook/BatmanRebirth'':

** Livewire gets hit with this trope to an extent. While she's still a villain in the comics and the [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries the cartoon]] that [[CanonImmigrant she originates from]] (though her comic incarnation would end up making a HeelFaceTurn), prior to gaining her powers, she was just a {{jerkass}} ShockJock rather than straight up evil. In this show, meanwhile, she's a criminal mercenary from the start.
** The Kryptonians as a whole are changed to {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s rather than the gentle scholars they were in the source material, and Superman's birth mother Lara Lor-van (or rather, her VirtualGhost) consequently became an EvilMatriarch who was disappointed in Clark as she believed VirtueIsWeakness.
** [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Vicki Vale]] is depicted as a far less ethical writer than in the comics and other adaptations; taking advantage of Lois' admiration of her to further her own career and using dubious sources to discredit Superman.
** [[spoiler: General Sam Lane, who is typically an ally of Clark and a good father to Lois in most versions; is instead a more neglectful parent and leading member of Task Force X who distrusts Superman and wants to end him.]]