Line #180 AdaptationalVillainy/TheDCU


1	!!Franchise/TheDCU
2	AdaptationalVillainy in this series.
3	----
4
5	[[foldercontrol]]
6
7	[[folder: Comic Books]]
8	!!Comic Books
9	* ''ComicBook/AmalgamUniverse'':
10	** Cable and Manhunter are both heroes in their respective universes but become the villainous mercenary Wired.
11	** Deathlok (a cyborg who, in every iteration, wishes to break free of his killing machine programming) and Jason Todd (the then-thought-dead Robin, whose Red Hood AntiVillain days wouldn't be for another nine years) are merged into a ruthless cyborg HYDRA agent.
12	** Mr. Freeze lacks the redeeming qualities he has in the comics, due to being merged with Nazi scientist Wolfgang von Strucker.
13	* ''ComicBook/BatmanDamned'' shows a nasty depiction of Bruce Wayne's family. Thomas Wayne is a shameless philanderer who picks up women in young Bruce's presence and threatens to divorce Martha when she confronts him on it. Martha, in response, hires a hitman to have Thomas assassinated so she can get the Wayne fortune before the divorce is finalized - the implication being that the hitman was Joe Chill. No wonder Batman is even more messed up here than his mainstream depiction.
14	* ''ComicBook/BatmanThrillkiller'':
15	** ComicBook/TwoFace in the mainstream continuity was ultimately a tragic figure who was constantly trying and failing to reform. His counterpart Duell is a DirtyCop racketeer who ends up becoming [[ComicBook/TheJoker Bianca Steeplechase]]'s first [[TheDragon right-hand man]] and has zero redeeming qualities.
16	** Killer Croc may be a violent criminal, but he's never been the bodyguard to a Nazi.
17	** [[spoiler:At the time of the comic's release, Harley Quinn was still a villain and Joker's gleeful sidekick in the mainstream continuity, but her tragic elements are omitted in this canon.]]
18	* PlayedWith in ''ComicBook/BillyBatsonAndTheMagicOfShazam:'' when Freddy first shows up, he blames Captain Marvel for his disability and originally gains superpowers as [[EvilCounterpart Black Adam]]'s sidekick. Of course, within a few issues he [[HeelRealization realizes that was a bad idea]] and defects for the Marvel Family.
19	* ''ComicBook/CatwomanGuardianOfGotham'': In a world where Catwoman and Batman have [[SwappedRoles switched places]], with the former becoming a vigilante superhero after her wealthy parents were killed, you'd think Batman would just be some handsome GentlemanThief who often flirts with the female protagonist... he's more of a deranged SerialKiller who murders the Joker in his first scene before offing the rest of Catwoman's RoguesGallery to prevent them from stealing his spotlight. He's also revealed to be the one to have killed Selina Kyle's parents ForTheEvulz. The whole DatingCatwoman angle is invoked when Bruce seduces and ''marries'' Selina, then murders her best friend before trying to kill her as well.
20	* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'':
21	** One of the changes made ComicBook/PostCrisis was changing Rudy and Mary West, Wally West's biological parents, from good parents into {{Abusive Parent}}s, both emotionally and, in Rudy's case, physically.
22	** In ''ComicBook/TheFlash2016'', 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.]]
23	** In ''ComicBook/JayGarrickTheFlash'', 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.]]
24	* 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.
25	* ''ComicBook/GreenArrowRebirth'' reintroduces Green Arrow's mother, Moira Queen, and applies elements of her portrayal as a reluctant criminal 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.
26	* A staple of [[Creator/DCComics DC Comics']] ''ComicBook/HannaBarberaBeyond'' line, since the franchise is basically [[DarkerAndEdgier grimmer takes]] on old Creator/HannaBarbera properties. To wit:
27	** ''ComicBook/ScoobyApocalypse'': Just like in the movies, the traditionally heroic Scrappy is a [[TheNapoleon little bully]].
28	** ''ComicBook/WackyRaceland'': A good chunk of the cast is portrayed this way compared to ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces''. For instance, Red Max in the original series was a [[FunnyForeigner bumbling, yet gentlemanly German pilot]]. In ''Raceland'', well...he's a [[AllGermansAreNazis Nazi]].
29	* ''ComicBook/JustImagineStanLeeCreatingTheDCUniverse'': This continuity's take on the ComicBook/DoomPatrol are a villain team rather than a hero team, though the namesakes of the individual members (Deathstroke, Blockbuster and Parasite) were already villains.
30	* ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes'':
31	** In the 2004 reboot, White Witch, Polar Boy and Chlorophyll Kid (as Plant Lad) are all members of the Wanderers, which is an antihero version of the Legion of Super-Villains. In the original continuity, White Witch is a Legionnaire, and Polar Boy and Chlorophyll Kid are founders of the Legion of Substitute Heroes.
32	** ''ComicBook/TheDominatorWar'': In the original continuity, the Dominators were originally a warlike alien race, but they could be reasoned with (sometimes holding peace talks with the United Planets government). In this story arc belonging to the 2004 reboot, they are "an entire race of irredeemable monsters" who need to be dealt with permanently.
33	* The basic theme of ''ComicBook/MichaelCray'' is Cray hunting down the [[ComicBook/TheWildStorm Wild Storm]] universe counterparts of the ComicBook/JusticeLeague, who are all complete monsters. [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Oliver Queen]] became obsessed with survival on the island and now [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunts people]] to see if they deserve to live; [[ComicBook/TheFlash Barry Allen]] is a paranoid lunatic with a SplitPersonality who uses his SuperSpeed to murder anyone working to develop ArtificialIntelligence; [[ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} Arthur Curry]] is a mutant fish monster and [[SerialNumbersFiledOff lawyer-friendly]] equivalent of [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Dagon]]; [[Characters/{{Hellblazer}} John Constantine]] is a sociopathic dark wizard and even more of a prick than his mainstream equivalent; and [[ComicBook/WonderWoman Diana Prince]] is a CorruptCorporateExecutive and religious zealot planning to unleash the Old Gods on the world who gets her powers from [=LexCorp=] experimental super-steroids.
34	* ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity'':
35	** In ''Thunderworld #1'', Magnificus Sivana is on his father's side with [[DaddysLittleVillain Junior and Georgia]], while traditionally he's [[MadDictatorsHandsomeSon a good guy]] and friend of the Marvel Family.
36	** In ''Pax Americana #1'', Sarge Steel, a hero in both Franchise/TheDCU and the Creator/CharltonComics universe, is the [[TheDragon bloodthirsty second in command]] of the [[EvilChancellor evil Vice President]].
37	* The ComicBook/{{New 52}} (as with the ''Wonder Woman'' examples below, many of these were reversed by ''ComicBook/DCRebirth''):
38	** [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Mr. Freeze]], who has been revised to be less of an AntiVillain. He's still out to cure his frozen wife Nora - but this is a lie. Nora was preserved long before Freeze was even born, he's just deluded himself into believing they're married as part of his obsession with cold. Of course, the antivillain version of Freeze [[CanonImmigrant in the first place was based off of his alternate portrayal]] in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. The original Freeze, from the Silver Age, lacked any such humanizing qualities, being an unrepentant villain who uses a cold theme.
39	** In ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'', [[spoiler: Vulko has undergone a FaceHeelTurn, due to bitter exile]].
40	** ComicBook/TheCreeper, formerly a [[EvilCounterpart Good Counterpart]] to ComicBook/TheJoker as well as an alter ego of Jack Ryder, was brought back in ''ComicBook/{{Katana}}'' as an oni who seems to want to ''haunt'' Ryder.
41	** In the original ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' comics, Francine Langstrom was the long-suffering wife of Kirk Langstrom/Man-Bat, whose occasional bouts of being She-Bat were either against her will or out of a desire to keep her family together, and she generally had more control than Kirk did. The New 52 version [[spoiler: is an industrial spy who only married Kirk to steal the Man-Bat formula, and who based her own version of the serum on a ''vampire'' bat, making her much more vicious than Kirk is.]].
42	** In the New 52 ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'', [[spoiler: Raven is a willing servant of her father, the demon Trigon, and is using the Titans as part of a thus-far undisclosed plan; Superboy is a living weapon who doesn't really "get" morality (and was later replaced by a full-blown murderous psychopath); Cassie/Wonder Girl is a thrill-seeking cat burglar; and Bart/Kid Flash is a former terrorist leader (albeit against a really horrible-seeming regime). Tim/Red Robin is a bit of a jerk as well.]]
43	** In the original ''ComicBook/NewGods'', the good gods of New Genesis were the creative free-will of chaos, and the evil gods of Apokolips were the stifling controlling forces of order. In the New 52 version (as seen in ''Infinity Man and the Forever People'' and ''ComicBook/GreenLantern: Godhead'') they ''both'' represent order and control, with Highfather as a WellIntentionedExtremist, who may be just as much a threat to humanity as Darkseid.
44	** Before ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint\|DCComics}}'', Terry Sloane was ComicBook/MisterTerrific, a superhero from the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica who believed in "Fair Play" - the ''ComicBook/Earth2'' version (named [[AdaptationNameChange Mister 08]]), on the other hand, reads more like ComicBook/LexLuthor; a [[SmugSnake smug]], [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]] [[KnowNothingKnowItAll know-it-all]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist who attempted to destroy his planet in a misguided attempt to save it]].
45	* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'': Supergirl's father Zor-El was a decent, nice person and a good father in the original pre-Crisis continuity. Post-Crisis he was briefly portrayed as a paranoid lunatic defined by his jealousy of Jor-El, who turned Kara into a weapon, but that got retconned as a hallucination. In the ''ComicBook/New52'' universe and ''ComicBook/SupergirlRebirth'' he took part in the creation of world-killing biological weapons and became the villainous Cyborg Superman.
46	* Pre-Crisis ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' comics would see Morgan Edge as a ruthless businessman, but was overall a BenevolentBoss to his employees, though a clone impersonating him did have ties to Intergang and Darkseid. ComicBook/PostCrisis, Edge was a CorruptCorporateExecutive with genuine ties to Intergang.
47	* In ''ComicBook/SupermanFamilyAdventures,'' Lor-Zod was raised by his villainous parents and works with them. In pre-Flashpoint mainstream comics he gets adopted by ComicBook/{{Superman}} and ''ComicBook/LoisLane'', renamed "Chris Kent" and becomes a superhero himself. ''ComicBook/Superman2016'' makes the ''SFA'' version canon so [[Characters/SupermanJonathanSamuelKent Jonathan Samuel Kent]] could have an EvilCounterpart.
48	* ''ComicBook/BatmanTomKing'':
49	** After the ''New 52'' Mr. Freeze rerailed 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.
50	** The Creator/TomKing run does this to [[spoiler: Thomas Wayne, of all people, as his ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint\|DCComics}}'' 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/JusticeLeagueIncarnate Justice Incarnate]], and it's revealed that Negative Speed Force manipulation by Eobard Thawne was used to make him evil.]]
51	* ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'': Wonder Dog in ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' is a cute, Franchise/ScoobyDoo-like mascot. Wonder Dog in the DC comics is a hellhound belonging to Ares' son who disguised himself as a normal dog, ''killed'' Marvin, and paralyzed Wendy, carrying out his master's desires to target Wonder Girl. He ended up getting killed by the Teen Titans in the end.
52	** In his cameo in the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "Ultimatum" he's portrayed similarly as a beast.
53	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'':
54	** 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, [[Characters/WonderWomanAres Ares]], 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.
55	** Since its change from [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Paradise Island]] to Themyscira the Amazon homeland has always had its share of misandrists and {{Straw Feminist}}s, but their attitude gradually descended over the years from an isolationist community serving as a refuge for women, to having a few bad apples, to having a legit excuse for hating and fearing men ([[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 being the spirits of women who were murdered by abusive spouses]]), to the [[ComicBook/WonderWoman2011 New 52]], where they have truly become evil, [[ConceiveAndKill raping and murdering men in order to reproduce]] and engaging in child slave trading. [[http://www.geekscape.net/how-dc-comics-forced-one-lifelong-wonder-woman-fan-to-quit-buying-her-comic Most fans were furious.]] The New 52 explanation has been retconned away with ComicBook/DCRebirth by revealing that everything Diana knew of them was actually a lie.
56	** [[ComicBook/HerculesUnbound Heracles]] in the modern adaptation is portrayed as a villain who raped Hippolyta (instead of just seducing her). He becomes TheAtoner, however.
57	** Ironically, in the ComicBook/New52 Wonder Woman series, Ares (only referred to as "War") is one of the few Olympians who isn't somewhat villainous. The most villainous of the Olympians is Apollo, one of the most noble Olympian gods in the original mythology.
58	** Cottus, one of the Hekatonkheires, is a major enemy of Wonder Woman and a frighteningly powerful PersonOfMassDestruction. In mythology, he and his brothers allied with the Olympians against the Titans and he was their jailer in Tartarus.
59	** The New 52 version of Donna Troy was never ComicBook/WonderGirl and was created as a murderous misandrist to lead the Amazons in slaughtering their male offspring. This change was undone in ''ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth'' and ''ComicBook/TitansRebirth'' where its revealed her mind was tampered with and her past as Wonder Girl did really occur.
60	** In ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'' Dr. Leslie Anderson spoke out against her friend Veronica Cale's questionable opinions, and once she realized her friend was a villain left to tell Wonder Woman what she'd learned and ally with her. In ''ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth'' Cale is given much more sympathetic motivations so Dr. Anderson never leaves her side and dies fighting Wondy.
61	** In ''ComicBook/{{The Legend of Wonder Woman\|2016}}'' Antiope is SparedByTheAdaptation at the cost of becoming a villain instead of being the Amazon to lead those who could not accept the god's biased judgement of their actions in killing the men who drugged, raped and enslaved them and instead chose to remain mortal and abandon the gods like main DC counterpart.
62	** In ''ComicBook/WonderWomanHistoriaTheAmazons'' the male Olympians get hit with this hard, being shown as either apathetic to or justifying the treatment of women in Ancient Greece. Though to be fair, as shown above, previous iterations of Wonder Woman had already recurringly established Ares and Zeus as misogynistic villains.
63	* Ra's al Ghul was a lot of things -- cult-leader, killer, egomaniac -- but his aspirations boiled down to a desire bring about a just world for humanity. In ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDoomThatCameToGotham'' he's an EvilSorcerer who's desire is to please his god, [[EldritchAbomination this thing]] capable of driving all of humanity to madness and destroying the world.
64	* Zigzagged in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' comic, ''[[ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures Batman: The Adventures Continue]]'' with [[spoiler:Hamilton Hill. The animated version of MayorPain Hill was well-meaning, unlike his corrupt comic counterpart. In ''The Adventures Continue'', he has a FaceHeelTurn, faking his death and taking over the Court of Owls.]]
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder: Films]]
68	!!Films
69	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamByGaslight'' replaces [[spoiler:Jacob Pecker with ''[[TheCommissionerGordon Jim Gordon]]'' as UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper. Barbara Eileen-Gordon is also his PsychoSupporter. In addition to the [[AdaptationalJerkass added misogyny]], Harvey Dent is perfectly willing to help frame Bruce Wayne over his relationship with Selina Kyle (whom Harvey wanted an affair with) and takes on an antagonistic role without becoming ComicBook/TwoFace.]]
70	* The titular Batwoman in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMysteryOfTheBatwoman'' is much more of an anti-heroine than the original Kathy Kane (and it predated the Kate Kane Batwoman), so they DC insisted that the filmmakers not actually use Kathy Kane. This didn't stop them from homaging her via the character Kathy ''Duquesne'' or making her a suspect... [[spoiler: or even making this Kathy one of the [[CollectiveIdentity Batwomen]].]]
71	* WesternAnimation/DCAnimatedMovieUniverse:
72	** 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]].
73	** 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 and inadvertently caused her suicide while possessed by Joey (now Jericho).
74	** 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]].
75	* In the ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' comics, Boodikka is a loyal member of the Green Lantern Corps, but in ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternFirstFlight'', she sides with Sinestro in his coup against the Guardians of the Universe.
76	* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueGodsAndMonsters''[[note]]Designed as an alternate universe to begin with, so these are ''far'' from the only changes to mainstream versions. Batman usually isn't a vampiric Kirk Langstrom, for example.[[/note]]:
77	** In the movie proper, Doc Magnus and the ComicBook/MetalMen are the main villains.
78	** Also from the movie proper, Highfather is willing to double-cross Darkseid.
79	** The tie-in miniseries, ''Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles'' sees Harley Quinn undergo this. Sometimes, Harley is portrayed as an AntiVillain with some sympathetic qualities. This version, however, is an AxCrazy psychopath who WouldHurtAChild--and as the Joker isn't seen, this version is doing this of her own free will.
80	* In ''WesternAnimation/SupermanVsTheElite'', Atomic Skull is an unrepentant mass murderer who would deliberately target civilians to pick a fight with Superman, which [[BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork leads to his death at the hands of the Elite]]. However in the comics he wasn't nearly as bad and actually had a HeelFaceTurn.
81	* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'':
82	** ''Film/BatmanBegins'': Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) proves himself a ruthless villain. In the comics, he's not really much more than a cynical French detective (whereas the movie leaves his nationality ambiguous). While the comic book Ducard is certainly an unsavory figure (in addition to being a MisanthropeSupreme, he's a sociopath who has no problem with shooting enemies InTheBack), he's far from being a supervillain and will even help Batman and Robin [[AloofAlly if he believes it is in his interest to do so]]. The film turns this character into a mass-murdering lunatic...although the plot eventually renders this forgivable by revealing that [[spoiler:"Henri Ducard" is nothing more than an alias for Ra's al Ghul, another comic book character who is portrayed more or less accurately]], and possibly with more sanity than he deserves, since the relatively-realistic setting cuts out Lazarus Pits.
83	** ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'':
84	*** [[spoiler: In the comics, ComicBook/RasAlGhul's daughter ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul is a gray-shaded character constantly going between AntiHero and AntiVillain, and has sincere feelings for Batman. In the film, Talia is a flat-out villain with none of the moral conflicts she has in the comics, instead being just as much of a KnightTemplar as her father. And her feelings for Batman are revealed to have been all an act: she never loved him, she loved Bane.]]
85	*** ComicBook/{{Bane}} himself, possibly, depending on whether you think the version that occasionally verges on NobleDemon but doesn't care about anyone but himself is more or less evil than the nihilistic destroyer with the bomb who [[spoiler: serves the League of Shadows]]
86	* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse:
87	** In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', [[Characters/DCEUBatman 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.]]
88	** ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'':
89	*** Rick Flag undergo this as in the comic, he is one of the more moral officials and members of the Squad in the DC Universe. [[spoiler: In the film, he is willing to look the other way when he sees Waller gunning down her staff. ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' amends this as Rick is horrified upon discovering America’s part in Project Starfish and immediately turns against Waller, refusing to be a blind puppet for the government.]]
90	*** ComicBook/AmandaWaller herself, in the comics she's a flawed and militant figure but she still does genuinely care about saving innocent lives and forming shady organisations like the ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' can be seen as an extreme case of GoodIsNotNice on her part. In the film any affable traits Waller has are removed, her GeneralRipper traits are dialled up and she's willingly to personally gun down all her employees in cold blood so they don’t see classified information. Waller only gets worse in ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' as she’s willingly to make sure Bloodsport’s teenager daughter will go to prison and die, just so he’ll be more willingly to go on the mission. [[spoiler: She’s also okay with letting thousands of innocent lives in Corto Maltese be killed by Starro and she attempts to activate the squad’s [[ExplosiveLeesh explosives chips]] when they decide to disobey orders and [[BigDamnHeroes save the day]], only to be knocked unconscious by her staff who are sick of her awfulness.]]
91	** In ''Film/BirdsOfPrey2020'' [[ComicBook/BlackCanary Dinah Laurel Lance]] willingly works for AxCrazy {{sadist}} Black Mask at his club, something she would never do in the comics. She does a HeelFaceTurn to the side of good though.
92	** ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'': The Mother Boxes were simply a PlotDevice in the 2017 theatrical cut. In this version of the film, they are revealed to be malevolent ArtifactsOfDoom, as seen when they try to tempt Cyborg into joining Darkseid.
93	** ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'':
94	*** One of the new members of the team is T.D.K., who turns out to be a loose adaptation of Arm-Fall-Off-Boy from the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes''. Though he appears to be AffablyEvil at worst, as, despite being a convicted criminal, he is shown to be pretty friendly and polite.
95	*** Peacemaker is still a vigilante like his comic counterpart, but this version of the character turns out to be TheMole for ComicBook/AmandaWaller, and kills Rick Flag while acting on orders from Waller to destroy all evidence of America's involvement in Project Starfish. His loyalty to Amanda Waller and his willingness to support her extremes would eventually appear in mainline comics as well when she becomes one of the overarching threats of ''ComicBook/DawnOfDC''.
96	* ''Film/{{The Batman\|2022}}'': Another aspect from ''Batman Earth One'' is how, unlike how most incarnations of [[Characters/TheBatman2022TheRiddler 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.
97	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tomorrowverse}}''
98	** ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes2023''
99	*** The Brainiac clones before Brainiac 5 are all mentioned as having become villains in the film. In the comics, Brainiacs 2 and 4 are heroes and Brainiac 3 is a WildCard.
100	*** [[spoiler:Mon-El]] is a traitor in this movie, despite always having been a genuine hero in the comics.
101	* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanBrainiacAttacks'': Mercy Graves is a lot less morally ambiguous. She is fully supportive of Lex's secret pact with Brainiac.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
105	!!Live-Action TV
106	!!!The following have their own pages:
107	[[index]]
108	* ''AdaptationalVillainy/{{Arrowverse}}''
109	[[/index]]
110	----
111	* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'':
112	** In the comics, Sarah Essen was a clean cop, but here, she's a reluctant DirtyCop.
113	** Penguin is more willing to commit bloodshed than other incarnations.
114	** The character of Gerald Crane is a murderous SerialKiller, while in the comics he was a civilian whose worst crime was abandoning his pregnant girlfriend Karen and their unborn son, Jonathan. This is largely because the show borrows more heavily from his characterization in the New 52, in which he ''is'' a MadScientist who, unlike his TV counterpart, experiments on his son for no reason whatsoever beyond ForScience.
115	** Although she isn't a full blown villain, Barbara Kean isn't ''quite'' as nice as she is in the comics. She willingly [[spoiler: cheats on Gordon with Montoya (and eventually, the Ogre), and tries to convince Selina that she could use her beauty as a weapon.]] But perhaps the most striking instance occurs in "Under the Knife", where she begins to establish [[spoiler: a firm relationship with the Ogre. When he introduces her to his secret torture room, she isn't the least bit disturbed. In fact, she ''smiles at him''. She's embraced this trope by the season one finale, having [[SelfMadeOrphan killed her own parents]] and trying to kill Leslie Thompkins. Some aspects of this are due to being made a DecompositeCharacter, taking on traits from modern versions of ComicBook/HarleyQuinn]]
116	* ''Series/LoisAndClark'': Mr. Mxyzptlk received this treatment. He was a superpowered imp from the 5th dimension like in the comics, but rather than the relatively harmless trickster as he usually is, here he's a FauxAffablyEvil villain who traps the world in a time loop where each time around humanity grows more depressed and pessimistic to make them all cross the DespairEventHorizon and destroy themselves.
117	* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
118	** Believe it or not, ''Jor-El'' is the main villain of [[spoiler:Season 3]]. Even after the season, he still does pretty nasty stuff like [[spoiler:[[TheyWereHoldingYouBack freezing Chloe almost to death and intending to trap Clark in a crystal until everyone he cares for has died.]] The finale does reveal this was all to test Clark's will in order to make him the hero he's meant to be... though he did some pretty dark stuff in pursuit of that, and it's all fairly unneeded given how well Clark fared without Jor-El's intervention.]]
119	** This version of Bizarro is less of a confused HarmlessVillain and more of a dangerously intelligent one.
120	** Mr. Mxyzptlk isn't a funny omnipotent imp, but more of a smug psychopath who likes to use his MindControl to induce {{Squick}} and tries to stab Chloe for a deal with Lex Luthor.
121	** Lana Lang is also turned into a much shadier character, although that may well have been unintentional; the show's creators seemed to think she was all but a Purity Sue to the very end.
122	** The comic book incarnation of Zor-El sent his daughter, [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]], to Earth as a protector for her cousin, though at one point he was wrongly believed to have been a villain who sent his daughter as an assassin. The series made him an outright villain who sent his daughter to Earth as part of a plot to have himself resurrected as a conqueror.
123	** In the comics, ComicBook/LexLuthor's father has been everything from a nice guy with a terrible son to a petty criminal, to an alcoholic {{Domestic Abuse}}r. He has never, however, been a CorruptCorporateExecutive on the scale of his ''Smallville'' incarnation, Lionel, who serves as a proto-Lex and {{supervillain}} in his own right.
124	* ''Series/{{Titans 2018}}''
125	** [[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.]]
126	** Jason Todd becomes the Comicbook/RedHood in Season 3 but takes it far further than his comic counterpart. [[spoiler: While the comic version of Red Hood initially opposed Batman, he was usually an AntiVillain (verging on outright AntiHero status) at worst, and had a clear set of lines he wouldn't cross. This version of Red Hood kills civilians, kidnaps children, and even [[HeroKiller murders]] his former teammate Comicbook/{{Hawk\|And Dove}}.]]
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	[[folder: Video Games]]
130	!!Video Games
131	* ''Franchise/BatmanArkhamSeries''
132	** In the comics, most of Anarky's actions were targeted at specific individuals, and although some of his actions put his targets in critical condition, he wasn't a killer and he would avoid collateral damage. In ''Videogame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'', Anarky plans to blow up buildings connected to what he believes are the root problems of society, and he's unconcerned with who might get hurt in the process. He's also portrayed as somewhat less rational than his comic book counterpart. You probably wouldn't hear the comic Anarky ranting against soft drinks, for example.
133	** ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' does this to [[spoiler: Jason Todd. As the titular Arkham Knight, he's party to a chemical attack on a major metropolitan city, something that, even at his worst, his comic counterpart hasn't done. That said, he's also a case of AdaptationalHeroism as his issues with the Batfamily are limited to just Bruce, and he still turns good at the end.]]
134	** In the comics, [[Characters/BatmanArkhamSeriesTheJoker The Joker]] role in the death of Jason Todd amounted to just beating him with a crowbar and blowing him up. In ''Arkham Knight'', he actually kidnapped Jason and brutally tortured him for a year in an abandoned wing of Arkham Asylum, going so far as to brand his left cheek with a J.
135	** In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Ferris Boyle, the guy who turned Victor Fries into Mr. Freeze, was already a greedy, murderous jerk who didn't care if he ended a life just to save money, and him turning Victor into Freeze was a reaction to Victor pulling a gun on him. In the "Cold, Cold, Heart" DLC, he asked Victor to build cold-based weapons in exchange for helping his wife, only to renege on the deal. [[spoiler: Later, he was willing to kill Batman and Freeze so he could leave no witnesses, and was preparing to kill Nora in front of Freeze out of spite.]]
136	* ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries'':
137	** Most incarnations of [[spoiler: Thomas Wayne]] were good people in a corrupt city, but here, [[spoiler: while Bruce remembered Thomas fondly, Thomas himself was more ruthless, being in league with [[TheDon Carmine Falcone]] and [[MayorPain Hamilton Hill]], and even driving Esther Cobblepot into insanity and locking her up in Arkham just so he could get a hold of land the Cobblepots own to build a tower. However, he still loved his family enough to try to defend them from Joe Chill and Alfred believes that Thomas would be [[SoProudOfYou proud]] of Bruce [[EvilParentsWantGoodKids not following in his footsteps]] and actually trying to help Gotham as Batman.]]
138	** The Children of Arkham leader is [[spoiler: Vicki Vale]].
139	** The Riddler is much more AxCrazy and bloodthirsty than his comic book counterpart, who is usually portrayed as one of Batman's least violent enemies. He's also an AdaptationalBadass, and can actually put up a good fight against Batman despite this version of him being 60 years old. This is later revealed to be due to [[spoiler:taking part in a secret government project where he was exposed to an experimental virus that acted as a PsychoSerum, increasing his mental and physical attributes at the cost of sanity]].
140	** Harley Quinn, as shown in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' and the comics is just another victim of the Joker, having been warped into CuteAndPsycho villain by his corrupting charisma before DC retooled her into a AntiHero due her [[BreakoutCharacter immense popularity]]. Here Harley isn’t nearly as sympathetic as she’s already a AxCrazy supervillain before meeting Joker, whom in a case of SwappedRoles is given AdaptationalHeroism being the who is used and manipulated by Harley. Telltale Harley is also much more sociopathic and cruel to others, displaying little of her compassionate traits from the comics.
141	* ''VideoGame/GothamKnights2022'': Jacob Kane's been an antagonist in the comics, [[spoiler:even to the Prime Earth version of the Gotham Knights specifically]], but never an outright villain. Here, he's the leader of the largest, most secretive criminal organization in Gotham.
142	* ''Franchise/{{Injustice}}'': ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' and ''VideoGame/Injustice2''
143	** [[AllThereInTheManual Supplementy materials]] show the alternate universe Wonder Woman was already veering into [[HeWhoFightsMonsters She Who Fights Monsters]] territory even before assisting the alternate Superman in taking over the world. In the game proper, she's a BloodKnight, something which horrifies the mainstream Wonder Woman.
144	*** The comics shed some light on Wonder Woman's jerkassery, pointing out she only became more vicious as a result of being mentally abused... by Steve Trevor of all people, who is a war hero and honorary citizen of Themyscira in most adaptations, but a manipulative Nazi bastard in the Injustice continuity.
145	** 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.
146	** ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} is grouped with the villains in the first game and is seen in the story mode fighting against the Justice League. In the comics, Selena had been an antihero for over 20 years by that point and would sooner work ''with'' the Justice League when their interests align and knows how to avoid them when they don't. This is touched upon in the story mode, but the game still considers her a villain.
147	** 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.
148	** 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.]]
149	* [[ComicBook/TwoFace Harvey Dent]] is an unusual case in the DS version of ''VideoGame/LEGOBatman: The Video Game''. While he became the villain Two-Face in all continuities, he was originally an honest district attorney. While playable as both, he is marked as a villain as Two-Face and pre-scarring Harvey.
150	[[/folder]]
151
152	[[folder: Western Animation]]
153	!!Western Animation
154	!!!The following have their own pages:
155	[[index]]
156	* ''AdaptationalVillainy/YoungJustice2010''
157	[[/index]]
158	----
159	* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'':
160	** In the comics, Kirk Langstrom created the serum that turned him into Man-Bat to cure his own deafness, but on ''The Batman'', he transforms himself into the Man-Bat out of a desire to be feared. That said, by his appearance in the fifth season, he's done a HeelFaceTurn, saying that he's done with being Man-Bat and even offers to assist in stopping the Terrible Trio, who have stolen his research.
161	** Chief Angel Rojas is a [[RaceLift Hispanic]] fusion of Harvey Bullock and Gillian Loeb--and leaning personality wise towards Loeb as even as a DirtyCop, Bullock had lows he wouldn't sink to, like using fellow cops as a hostage or be a (complete) jackass to other officers, whereas Rojas has done these things.
162	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' depicts UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age\|OfComicBooks}} ComicBook/{{Batwoman}} as a washed-up former superhero who captures Batman, performs a FreakyFridayFlip on him with the help of Felix Faust, and then tries to murder the Riddler as payback for unmasking her and ruining her career. The depiction was so at odds with her comic counterpart that the creators were forced to refer to the character as "Bat-Lady" and [[AdaptationNameChange change her name from Kathy Kane to Katrina Moldoff]].
163	* ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'':
164	** One example is the BigBad ComicBook/{{Anarky}}. In the comics, Anarky was depicted as twelve year old Lonnie Machin, a political anti-government activist and altruist who saw humanity as naturally good, but with consumerism and big government getting in the way. He wasn't a villain more than he was an anti-hero who even Batman acknowledged was well intentioned but misguided. Beware's Anarky is a self-diagnosed sociopath and aimless terrorist whose only difference between him and The Joker is name and chess theme.
165	*** There was briefly a second person to hold the Anarky mantle, namely Ulysses Armstrong, also known as The General. Armstrong, unlike Manchin, subscribes to the AnarchyIsChaos school of thought and lacks Manchin’s good intentions. However, even if the Anarky of the show is Armstrong and not Manchin, the trope is still in effect because [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes Armstrong has a brother and sister that he loves dearly,]] while the Anarky of Beware the Batman couldn’t give a damn about anyone.
166	** [[spoiler:Sapphire Stagg, the good-natured love interest of Metamorpho in the comics, who is here depicted as very much similar in nature to her corrupt father, Simon Stagg, though her feelings for Metamorpho remain intact.]]
167	** Harvey Dent, who is usually a man of justice and a big supporter of Batman (at least before [[FaceHeelTurn his transformation into Two-Face]]), is now an opportunistic, corrupt politician who targets Batman and Katana as part of Gotham's problem, who eventually teams up with Anarky to kill him and hires Deathstroke to take down Batman.
168	** Sort of with Ra's Al Ghul. His actual motivations are unclear, but he doesn't seem to have the WellIntentionedExtremist goals of his comic counterpart. On the other hand, he seems hellbent on focusing on Gotham only, so the rest of the world doesn't have to deal with genocidal plots.
169	** And then there's Humpty Dumpty. His comic counterpart was a HarmlessVillain at best and a TragicVillain at worst. While he starts off as tragic as his comic counterpart, he's become a sadistic psychopath driven by revenge who loves to put those he feels have wronged him in elaborate deathtraps. Essentially just add [[Franchise/{{Saw}} Jigsaw]] and the Riddler and you've got him.
170	* While the Red Lantern leader Atrocitus was [[AntiHero in no way]] [[KnightTemplar a nice guy]] in the ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' original comics, he was more of an AntiHero whose hate was focused on the Green Lantern Corps and who was reluctant to endanger innocents. His animated counterpart in ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'', while retaining his WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds backstory, is completely crazy and genocidal, willing to destroy whole planets to reach his goals and cause wars or personal tragedies to get new recruits.
171
172	* ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse''
173	** ''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).
174	** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and ''Justice League Unlimited'':
175	*** 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.
176	*** 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).
177	*** 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.
178	** ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'':
179	*** Aquamaria is a villain while she was of the more heroic members of ComicBook/BloodSyndicate in the original Creator/MilestoneComics continuity.
180	*** 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]]).
181	* In ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls2019'', Dex-Starr of the ComicBook/RedLanterns plays up CatsAreMean and is just evil [[ForTheEvulz for the sake of being evil]] as opposed to his DarkAndTroubledPast in the comics. While in the comics he was an AntiHero who preferred to PayEvilUntoEvil, this version of him HatesEveryoneEqually and sought to burn the world just because he could.
182	* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueAction'': Toyman is usually a villain, but what's surprising is which one is the villain; it's Hiro Okumara, aka the HEROIC Toyman, who now instead of a hero is a villain like Winslow Schott.
183	* Timber Wolf's father Dr. Mar Londo gets this treatment in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Legion Of Super Heroes\|2006}}'' 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.
184	* ''WesternAnimation/MyAdventuresWithSuperman'':
185	** 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. [[DownplayedTrope That said]], this version of Leslie is also [[AdaptationalNiceGuy far more honorable and professional than her other counterparts]].
186	** Mr. Mxyzptlk traditionally plays the role of an irritant trickster whose main goal is based around committing big, elaborate pranks that run the risk of high collateral damage. His appearance in this show instead has him play the role of a destructive GodOfChaos who's actively antagonistic to the heroes, mocking [[IJustWantToBeNormal Clark]] by saying he'll never be normal and [[spoiler:sowing seeds of doubt in Clark and Lois' relationship by revealing the existence of evil alternate Supermen to the latter]].
187	* For most of the ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' series, Bizarro is depicted as a clear villain who has murderous designs on the super heroes. However, the final season depicts him faithfully from the comics as a well-meaning bumbler.
188	** In an episode, Toyman creates a device that traps Wonder Woman inside the story of ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'', a version where the place becomes the type where EverythingIsTryingToKillYou, including the Cheshire Cat and Caterpillar, who were friendly creatures (more or less) in the actual book.
189	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003''
190	** In the comics, Mad Mod, while initially a villain, eventually pulled a HeelFaceTurn and became a sincere supporter and ally of the new Teen Titans - he was the one who designed their costumes. In the [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans show]], he remains an irredeemable villain throughout.
191	** In the comics, while some writers portray Deathstroke as a NobleDemon, more often he's portrayed as a ruthless killer who really ''is'' as evil as he seems, but he does consistently have a few redeeming qualities (his friendship with Bill Wintergreen, his love for his children [[AbusiveParents even when he's not a very good father to them]], and occasionally shows disgust for people worse than him. Ain't ''none'' of that in this show; [[Characters/TeenTitans2003Slade Slade]] doesn't have a single redeeming quality in the show and is even willing to help Trigon create HellOnEarth as long as he benefits, and only turns against Trigon when the demon refuses to honor their agreement.
192	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' sees this zig-zagged and parodied with Terra. The original Teen Titans 2003 made her an example of AdaptationalHeroism. In her debut episode, "Terra-ized", she has actions similar to her [[ComicBook/TeenTitans comic book counterpart]]; and openly tries to seduce Beast Boy in order to get sensitive information on the Titans. It's zig-zagged in that while she acts as a straight antagonist in most of her episodes, she's still not as vile as her original comic counterpart and is portrayed as more of an IneffectualSympatheticVillain with her subsequent appearances showing a [[TookALevelInKindness kinder]] [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold side]] to her.
193	** Played straight with Rose Wilson/Ravager. In the comics, Rose's psychopathic behavior was the result of Slade pumping her with mind-altering drugs and would pull a HeelFaceTurn and join the Titans once she was freed from his grasp. Here, Rose is a villain by choice, completely independent of Slade, and [[VileVillainSaccharineShow one of the few genuinely ruthless]] villains in the show; being a sociopath willing to kill ForTheEvulz.
194	** Generally PlayedForLaughs with the Titans themselves. On top of being [[AdaptationalJerkass major jerks]] mostly uninterested in heroism, there are a couple of episodes where they willingly become villains.

Context AdaptationalVillainy / TheDCU