History Characters / DCAUSuperman

* FourTemperamentEnsemble: As always, Superman is very Sanguine, owing to his nature as TheLeader of the Justice League and being much more sociable and stable than say Batman who's the Melancholic.[[/folder]]

* FourTemperamentEnsemble: As always, Superman is very Phlegmatic.[[/folder]]

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Superman in the ''DCAU'' is still a BigGood with a idealistic, compassionate, and hopeful nature (albeit it is presented in a more realistic sense), but at the same time he is noticeably more grounded, short-tempered, serious-minded, and cynical in addition to having more fears and insecurities compared to most versions. Both his personal experiences with Darkseid and the Cadmus story arc push his morals and beliefs to their limits, and his Justice League teammates, especially Batman, constantly worry that Superman will ultimately lose his idealism and become no better than his Justice Lord counterpart.
* AdaptationalPersonalityChange:
** He is considerably less dorky as Clark Kent compared to his early incarnations.
** While he still retains his trademark idealism, this Superman is also shown to be more serious, short-tempered, fearful, insecure, sardonic, and cynical compared to most versions.
** Also, like most modern versions, he identifies as Clark first in order to keep himself sane and believes Superman is just his way of helping people out now and then.

* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Averted in this continuity. When Superman goes into space, he's consistently wearing some kind of space suit. An exception occurs in "Little Girl Lost, Part 2," when he goes into space to deal with the comet without a suit. He's clearly above the atmosphere and [[SpaceIsNoisy grunting out air]] without a suit.

** In "Blasts from the Past, Part 2," he uses a chunk of Kryptonite and the KryptoniteProofSuit to bring down Mala.

%%* FlyingBrick: The TropeCodifier.

* HasAType: Strong, brash, intelligent women (and of, course beautiful). Lois Lane and Lana Lang are his two greatest love affairs, and in "For the Man Who Has Everything," Clark's dream world shows his fictional Kryptonian wife is a blend of the two: Loana.

%%* NerdGlasses: He wears them as Clark Kent.

* RefuseToRescueTheDisliked: Superman's a big believer in ThouShaltNotKill and will usually SaveTheVillain, but there's a limit. In "World's Finest," when the Lexjet is going down, he and Batman save Lex and Harley but leave the Joker to die ([[JokerImmunity he survived, of course]]). And in "Fish Story," he at first tells Aquaman not to finish off Luthor's ship - and then the captain fires a harpoon gun at Aquaman's back after he agreed to stand down. Superman does ''nothing'' to stop Atlantis from going lethal in response.

*** In "Knight Time," he uses his super-hearing and microscopic vision to solve Bruce's disappearance. He also uses his super-hearing to mimic Bruce's voice (and at one point Tim's, majorly freaking Tim out).

** This Superman is shown to be more serious, short-termed, fearful, insecure, and cynical compared to most versions in addition to retaining his trademark idealism.

%%toe-to-toe in what * DeadpanSnarker: He can go toe-to-toe with Lois and come out on top.

* TheLeader: Subverted, despite his Charismatic personality. Although he is the Justice League's public face, they make decisions by consensus and other members (especially the Original Seven) tend to ignore Superman and do what they want if they disagree with him about something.

* ProperlyParanoid: During his tenure on the Justice League, Superman tends to be very distrustful of villains coming with olive branches such as Darkseid in "Twilight" and Lex Luthor in "Clash". And he’s usually right. He also takes the existence of Cadmus as a personal affront to his very being and is the Leaguer with the most emotional investment in bringing them down.

* ActionHero: He's Superman, after all. He is willing to use violence when the situation calls for it.

** He is considerably less dorky as Clark Kent compared to most versions.
** As mentioned above in AdaptationalAngstUpgrade, this Superman is shown to be more serious, short-termed, fearful, insecure, and cynical compared to most versions in addition to retaining his trademark idealism.

* AgeLift: As mentioned above, Clark in the ''DCAU'' doesn't become Superman until he is an adult, while most versions begin their superhero careers as Superboy.

* ArchEnemy: Lex Luthor and Darkseid, as always.

* BadassArmFold: He does this in "The Last Son of Krypton, Part 3" while in midair no less.
* BadassCape: His iconic red cape.
* BadassInDistress: In "Feeding Time", Superman is kidnapped and has his powers drained by [[PowerParasite Parasite]]

* BewareTheNiceOnes:
** Against Darkseid, see ItsPersonal below.
** Against Mongul, see UnstoppableRage below.
** Against Doomsday in "The Doomsday Sanction". Superman has taken a savage beating from Doomsday and is desperate enough that he tries the unthinkable: Burning into Doomsday's brain with his heat vision. This isn't so different from [[EvilCounterpart Justice Lord Superman]]. However, this doesn't work and Superman changes tactics, grabbing Doomsday and hurling him into the volcano.

* BigBrotherInstinct: In "Question Authority", while he is understandably angry at [[spoiler:Professor Hamilton]] for [[spoiler:his]] betrayal, he's particularly furious at the fact that [[spoiler:he cloned Kara to create Galatea]].

* BroughtToYouByTheLetterS: [[TropeCodifier Obviously]].
* TheCape: The original and still the best.

* ChickMagnet: Clark Kent was irresistible in high school and Lana Lang even complained about his ability to attract every woman in the area. As Superman...well, the villainesses all want a piece of him.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Lana Lang when he was a teenager, as in the Post-Crisis comics.
* ClarkKentOutfit: TropeNamer. He wears a suit, glasses, hair slicked back without the sylized curl, etc.

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Being Superman, he long ago had to come to terms that being protector of earth meant that he was going to witness some pretty horrible things like alien invasions, demonic take overs, and even witness horrible crimes and natural disasters, and try to see a silver lining in any of these situations.

* DeadpanSnarker: He can go toe-to-toe with Lois and come out on top.

** In [[ChristmasEpisode "Comfort And Joy"]], Superman is eager to light the Christmas tree, tries to use his X-ray vision to sneak peaks at his presents, and still believes in Santa Claus.

* EvilMeScaresMe: He has this reaction after first encountering the Justice Lords in "A Better World".
* ExtremityExtremist: Whenever he fights, Superman almost exclusively uses his fists - the exceptions usually being enemies it would be extremely unwise to touch with his bare hands.
* EyeBeams: His famous heat vision, which is useful for heroics and [[MundaneUtility shaving]].

* FightOffTheKryptonite: A couple of times.

* FlashStep: He uses his SuperSpeed like this frequently.
* FlyingBrick: The TropeCodifier.

** In "Hereafter":
--->'''Batman:''' I've got some things to say. I should've said them when you were here, but... despite our differences, I have nothing but respect for you. I hope you knew... know that. You showed me justice doesn't always have to come from the darkness. I'll miss...\\

* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: Usually pretty good at averting this, but after defeating Darkseid directly in front of the populace he subjugated and enslaved, he's dumbfounded to see that they're so broken that they immediatley come to their oppressor's aid.

* HasAType: Strong, brash, intelligent women (and of, course beautiful). Lois Lane and Lana Lang are his two greatest love affairs, and in “For the Man Who Has Everything,” Clark’s dream world shows his fictional Kryptonian wife is a blend of the two: Loana.

* TheHero: Of the ''DCAU'' as a whole. Compared to [[Franchise/{{Batman}} his]] [[Characters/DCAUBatman distinguished colleague]], Superman is a more traditional type of hero.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Superman was often absent in ''JLU'' due to this trope. In "Patriot Act", Eiling accuses Superman of being a coward when he doesn't show up. Shining Knight informs Eiling that Superman is billions of miles away, saving a star system of alien lives from a planetary crisis.
* HeroicSecondWind: In "Destroyer", as Darkseid prepares to kill Batman, Superman who now has his second wind, knocks Darkseid through a wall and starts unleashing his full power against Darkseid.

** This backfires in "The Doomsday Sanction" when he responds to Batman’s concern over how they could be stopped if they went rogue by jokingly reminding Batman that he still has kryptonite. This only pisses Bruce off as he feels Superman isn’t taking the matter seriously. Superman apologizes and reaffirms he’d never go rogue.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: Gets hit by this at the end of "Legacy", [[BrainwashedAndCrazy thanks to Darkseid's brainwashing]]. It takes him years to fully regain people's trust by the time of ''Justice League''.

** During the Cadmus story arc, he does what’s right, not what’s easiest. Consider the fact that Superman is powerful enough to end Cadmus right away. Why doesn’t he? He tells Huntress why in "Question Authority". Later, despite his understandable anger and frustration, he talks about it with the rest of the Justice League (who he knows will disagree with attacking) instead of than after Cadmus. As J’onn points out, Superman came there to be talked down.

* IntrepidReporter: As always, Clark Kent is a newspaper reporter at the Daily Planet, but he also gets involved in stories to help solve cases as well. In "The Late Mr. Kent", while investigating a murder case, he becomes the apparent victim of a murder attempt, and cannot reveal that he survived without exposing his secret identity..

* KryptoniteFactor: He is the TropeNamer of course.

* {{Leitmotif}}: The opening theme song of the ''Superman: TAS'' (or a shortened variation of it with the same melody) is the music that tends to play whenever Superman is around and/or does something heroic and/or awesome in the ''DCAU''.
** In "The Doomsday Sanction", when Superman throws Doomsday in the volcano after the line "I guess I'll need a bigger fire", [[DarkReprise an extremely dark variation of the ''Superman: TAS'' theme plays.]]

* LoveInterests: With Lois Lane, as always.

* MeaningfulName: He was given the moniker of Superman by Lois due in part to the Kryptonian crest of the House of El resembling an "S" and in reference to the works of the Ubermensch of Nietzchean texts.
-->'''Lois Lane:''' He's strong. He flies. He's the Nietzchean fantasy ideal all wrapped up in a red cape. The Superman.

** In ''Comfort and Joy'', he attempts to use his X-ray vision to peek on his presents. Key word being "attempts"- he's been doing it so long that the Kents have gotten wise to him and wrap his presents in lead.

* NerdGlasses: He wears them as Clark Kent.

* NotSoAboveItAll: During Christmas in [[ChristmasEpisode "Comfort And Joy".]]

* PhysicalGod: This becomes part of the conflict with Cadmus after their encounter with the Justice Lords.

* PowerLossMakesYouStrong: He memorably has this in "Hereafter".

* PrimaryColorChampion: His traditional blue and red costume. Eventually, he ditches the primary color part by the time of ''Batman Beyond''.

* RapidFireFisticuffs: Whenever he faces someone as strong as he is, he'll resort to this. Just ask Darkseid, Braniac, Captain Marvel, Mongul and Doomsday.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: When he uses his EyeBeams.

* SarcasticConfession: He does this in "The Last Son of Krypton":
-->'''Lois:''' How'd you get here before me?\\

** In the first part of “The Main Man”, Clark tells Lois ''every single thing about his secret identity'' to explain why he always gets better scoops than her. Of course, she just blows him off.
* SecretIdentity: Clark Kent, obviously.

* {{Superhero}}: As always, he is the TropeCodifier and TropeNamer.
* SuperheroesWearCapes: Just like most versions, he is the TropeCodifier.

** In “The Last Son of Krypton, Part 2”, teenage Clark was played by Creator/JasonMarsden.

* TranquilFury: In "Twilight", Superman's fight with Darkseid.

* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: Because of ExecutiveMeddling (DC's then-current policy of taking Superman's nickname of "Last Son of Krypton" literal), Supergirl reimagined as an adopted cousins rather than a biological one.
* UnstoppableRage: In "For the Man Who Has Everything", nearly blind with rage after waking from his [[YourHeartsDesire dreamworld]], [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown Superman batters Mongul]], even using his heat vision to burn Mongul's chest. However, before he can strike the decisive blow, Superman is distracted by a statue-his parents holding Krypton aloft and is saved by Wonder Woman.

* WolverinePublicity: Averted in ''Justice League'' and ''JLU''.

** As mentioned above in AdaptationalAngstUpgrade, this Superman is shown to be more short-termed, fearful, insecure, and cynical compared to most versions in addition to retaining his trademark idealism.

** As mentioned above in AdaptationalAngstUpgrade, this Superman is shown to be more short-termed, fearful, insecure, and cynical compared to more versions in addition to retaining his idealism.
** Also, like most modern versions, he prefers to be identified as Clark first in order to keep himself sane and believes Superman is a way of helping people.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Superman in the ''DCAU'' is still a BigGood with a idealistic, compassionate, and hopeful nature (albeit it is presented in a more realistic sense), but at the same time he is noticeably more grounded, short-tempered, serious-minded, and cynical in addition to having more fears and insecurities compared to most versions. Both his personal experiences with Darkseid and the Cadmus story arc push his morals and beliefes to their limits, and his Justice League teammates, specially Batman, constantly worry that Superman will ultimately lose his idealism and become no better than his Justice Lord counterpart.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: {{Downplayed}}; Superman in the ''DCAU'' is still a BigGood with a idealistic, compassionate, and hopeful nature (albeit it is presented in a more realistic sense), but at the same time he is noticeably more grounded, short-tempered, serious-minded, and cynical in addition to having more fears and insecurities compared to most versions. There is also the fact that he is more prone to losing his temper and struggling with his dark side, not to mention being willing to kill Darkseid with his bear hands in addition to arguing with his teammates in the Justice League.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: {{Downplayed}}; Superman in the ''DCAU'' is still a BigGood with a idealistic, compassionate, and hopeful nature (albeit it is presented in a more realistic sense), but at the same time he is noticeably more grounded, short-tempered, serious-minded, and cynical in addition to having more fears and insecurities compared to most versions. There is also the fact that he is more prone to losing his temper both as Clark and Superman and willing to kill Darkseid with his bear hands in addition to arguing with his teammates in the Justice League.

* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: {{Downplayed}}; Superman in the ''DCAU'' is still a BigGood with a idealistic, compassionate, and hopeful nature (albeit it is presented in a more realistic sense), but at the same time he is noticeably more grounded, short-tempered, serious-minded, and cynical in addition to having more fears and insecurities compared to most versions. There is also the fact that he is more prone to losing his temper both as Clark and Superman and willing to kill Darkseid with his bear hands in addition to arguing with his teammates in the Justice League.

* AdaptationalSeriousness: {{Downplayed}}; Superman in the ''DCAU'' is still a BigGood with a idealistic, compassionate, and hopeful nature (albeit it is presented in a more realistic sense), but at the same time he is noticeably more grounded and cynical in addition to having more fears and insecurities compared to most versions.

* AdaptationalSeriousness: {{Downplayed}}; Superman in the ''DCAU'' is noticeably more grounded and cynical in addition to having more fears and insecurities compared to most versions, but he is still a BigGood with a idealistic, compassionate, and hopeful nature (albeit it is presented in a more realistic sense).

* AdaptationalSeriousness: {{Downplayed}}; Superman in the ''DCAU'' is noticeably more grounded and cynical in addition to having more fears and insecurities compared to most versions, but he is still a BigGood with a idealistic and hopeful nature (albeit it is presented in a more realistic sense).

* AdaptationalSeriousness: {{Downplayed}}; Superman in the ''DCAU'' is noticeably more grounded and cynical in addition to having more fears and insecurities compared to most versions, but he is still a BigHero with a idealistic and hopeful nature (albeit it is presented in a more realistic sense).

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In "The Last Son of Krypton, Part 2", a teenage Clark Kent is going through some serious personal problems related to his powers developing quickly (most likely due to the onset of puberty as, though he was strong enough as an infant to break a man's finger, he was nowhere near as powerful as he started to become in his teen years). Clark feels like an outsider and is dealing with feelings of isolation not sure of his place in the world. Then, suddenly a camper crashes into a gas station and without hesitation or even conscious thought, Clark speeds in to help, tearing the camper apart and saving the people inside while rescuing their little girl at the last second. This version of Clark may have more doubts and insecurities (in other words, more human qualities) than previous versions to that point, He is still Superman, the BigGood who will always step up to save the day.

* InformedAttribute: Supposedly one of the most powerful superheroes, and is usually the one who is defeated first.

-->'''Teen Clark:''' It's not true. I'm not a freak. I'm not. (''punches a wall'') '''''I'M NOT!!''''' * FourTemperamentEnsemble: As always, Superman is very Phlegmatic.
[[/folder]]

-->'''Teen Clark:''' It's not true. I'm not a freak. I'm not. (''punches a wall'') '''''I'M NOT!!'''''

* BigBrotherInstinct: In "Question Authority", while he is understandably angry at [[spoiler:Professor Hamilton]] for [[spoiler:his]] betrayal, he's particularly furious at the fact that [[spoiler:he made it possible for Cadmus to clone Kara to create Galatea]].

* AdaptationalWimp: Ultimately downplayed. From the very beginning with ''Superman: The Animated Series'', the writers scaled down Superman's strength levels in keeping with the then-current ComicBook/PostCrisis status quo of DC Comics, as opposed to the "quintessential" or "classic" Superman of comics and pop culture whose strength was basically limitless, to say nothing of his other powers and abilities. They also scaled down his NoSell capacity by having him be sent reeling from the kind of blows or blasts that he would just "tank" in the comics. His physical nigh-invulnerability was still in effect, as he wouldn't be visibly injured, but he could still be hurt by things comic Superman wouldn't be, most notably electricity as demonstrated by CanonForeigner Livewire. This came to a head in Season 1 of ''Justice League'' where TheWorfEffect was in full swing and stuff like an electric prod and an electrified metal lid could incapacitate him, but the writers caught on to it and dialed it down for later seasons. They also did an AuthorsSavingThrow that Superman was holding back his full strength all along until he demonstrates it on Darkseid.

* AdaptationalWimp: Ultimately downplayed. From the very beginning with ''Superman: The Animated Series'', the writers scaled down Superman's strength levels in keeping with the then-current ComicBook/PostCrisis status quo of DC Comics, as opposed to the "quintessential" or "classic" Superman of comics and pop culture whose strength was basically limitless, to say nothing of his other powers and abilities. They also scaled down his NoSell capacity by having him be sent reeling from the kind of blows or blasts that he would just "tank" in the comics. His classic invulnerability was still in effect, as he wouldn't be visibly injured, but he could still be hurt by things comic Superman wouldn't be, most notably electricity as demonstrated by CanonForeigner Livewire. This came to a head in Season 1 of ''Justice League'' where TheWorfEffect was in full swing, but the writers caught on to it and dialed it down for later seasons. They also did an AuthorsSavingThrow that Superman was holding back his full strength all along until he demonstrates it on Darkseid.

* AdaptationalWimp: Ultimately downplayed. From the very beginning with ''Superman: The Animated Series'', the writers scaled down Superman's strength levels in keeping with the then-current ComicBook/PostCrisis status quo of DC Comics, as opposed to the "quintessential" or "classic" Superman of comics and pop culture whose strength was basically limitless, to say nothing of his other powers and abilities. They also scaled down his NoSell capacity by having him be sent reeling from the kind of blows or blasts that he would just "tank" in the comics. His classic invulnerability was still in effect, as he wouldn't be visibly injured, but he could still be hurt by things comic Superman wouldn't, most notably electricity as demonstrated by CanonForeigner Livewire. This came to a head in Season 1 of ''Justice League'' where TheWorfEffect was in full swing, but the writers caught on to it and dialed it down for later seasons. They also did an AuthorsSavingThrow that Superman was holding back his full strength all along until he demonstrates it on Darkseid.

* AdaptationalWimp: Ultimately downplayed. From the very beginning with ''Superman: The Animated Series'', the writers scaled down Superman's strength levels in keeping with the then-current PostCrisis status quo of DC Comics, as opposed to the "quintessential" or "classic" Superman of comics and pop culture whose strength was basically limitless, to say nothing of his other powers and abilities. They also scaled down his NoSell capacity by having him be sent reeling from the kind of blows or blasts that he would just "tank" in the comics. His classic invulnerability was still in effect, as he wouldn't be visibly injured, but he could still be hurt by things comic Superman wouldn't, most notably electricity as demonstrated by CanonForeigner Livewire. This came to a head in Season 1 of ''Justice League'' where TheWorfEffect was in full swing, but the writers caught on to it and dialed it down for later seasons. They also did an AuthorsSavingThrow that Superman was holding back his full strength all along until he demonstrates it on Darkseid.