Main Characters (Terry McGinnis, Bruce Wayne) | McGinnis Family | Villains (One Shot Villains, The Joker) | Recurring Characters | Justice League Unlimited (Superman) | Comic-Only Characters
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The recurring characters of Batman Beyond.
Sam Young
Gotham City's District Attorney and Barbara Gordon's husband.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's not made clear if he knows his wife used to be Batgirl.
- Distressed Dude: He is frequently the target of assassinations and other attacks, usually requiring Batman and/or Barbara herself to rescue him.
- Happily Married: To Barbara.
- Older Than They Look: While Sam's age isn't specified, he's presumably close to that of his wife (mid-sixties), but looks to be in his late forties at the latest.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: A better example than his wife. He utterly refuses to discuss the police's and court's dealings with her after hours, and doesn't seem to have that much of a problem with Batman running around.
Howard Groote
A nerdy student and Terry's friend. He tends to find ways to make himself popular.
- Lovable Nerd: Although not very popular, Terry, Dana, and Max hang out with him regularly as friends.
- Nerd Glasses: They may be future, green-tinted glasses, but they're still huge glasses.
- Self-Deprecation: Paul Dini based Howard on his teenage self.
Bobbi "Blade" Sommer
The most popular girl at Hamilton Hill High.
- Alpha Bitch: She's actually fairly apathetic, but has the look down pat, and is more than content to do things such as throw most of a school assignment on Terry, or manipulate a classmate to make another guy jealous.
- Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: Her outfits constantly depict her belly.
- Dating Do-Si-Do: Seems to have a new boyfriend every episode.
- Dude Magnet: Almost every boy at school found her attractive and Blade knew it. Willie Watt was infatuated with her, and twice tried to win her with help from his telekinetic powers.
- Emotionless Girl: She has this vibe normally, but does show emotion on several occasions.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: On some occasions. She's very in favor of nerd Howie scoring with a hot girl, as long as that hot girl wasn't herself.
Chelsea Cunningham
Voiced by: Yvette Lowenthal (Season 1-mid season 2), Rachael Leigh Cook (remainder of season 2, 3, and Return of the Joker)
Appearances: Batman Beyond | Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
Appearances: Batman Beyond | Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
Dana's best friend and a student at Hamilton Hill High.
- Alliterative Name: Chelsea Cunningham.
- Animal Eyes: Provides the trope picture from the episode "Splicers," when she is revealed to have literal cat-eyes due to undergoing a trendy but controversial splicer treatment. In later appearances her eyes are back to normal.
- Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: She's always seen wearing a black-and-white sleeveless top that never covers her navel.
- Boyish Short Hair: Sports a blonde Pixie Cut.
- Break the Cutie: Before being sent to David Wheeler's clinic, she was vivacious and had a cool yet cordial relationship with Terry. After an extended period in the camp, when Terry sees her again, she's overjoyed to see him, has bags over her eyes from sleep deprivation, is physically and emotionally worn down, and starts crying - begging Terry to get her out. It was clear to her friends and even the audience that Chelsea simply had no reason to be there. The clinic was so traumatic for her that when she's released at the episode's end, she refused to forgive her father for sending her there, in contrast with the reunions with the other kids with their parents.
- Dating Do-Si-Do: Has a new boyfriend in every episode.
- Easily Forgiven: Averted with Chelsea and her father at the end of "The Last Resort", in contrast to the joyful reunions with the other kids and their parents.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Dana.
- Little Black Dress: Tends to wear this when she goes clubbing
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: She's actually a rather nice person, as seen in "The Last Resort," and except for being dismissive of Howard Groote, doesn't really do anything bad. Though she sometimes tries to get Dana to see other guys, it's because she thinks Terry isn't good for Dana, due to him always brushing her off (she’s unaware that Terry’s the new Batman).
- Parental Issues: She mainly acts out due to her rough relationship with her father.
- Special Guest: When she was voiced by Rachael Leigh Cook, though Rachel did enjoy playing the role. The production team reportedly felt awful about calling her in to record a single line for The Movie, though she was a good sport about it.
- Took a Level in Kindness: She becomes noticeably nicer after Rachel Leigh Cook replaced Yvette Lowenthal.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: She is the Tomboy to Dana's Girly Girl.
Nelson Nash
The jock and bully of Hamilton Hill High. He and Terry don't get along.
- Alliterative Name: Both his names start with "N."
- Bullying a Dragon: Once he brands someone as an acceptable target, he will continue to hound him even after it's been established that said guy could beat him up. This includes insulting Terry after seeing him take down several Jokerz and continuing to torment Willie Watt after the guy buffed up and gained superpowers.
- Butt-Monkey: Not that he doesn't deserve it, though.
- Dating Do-Si-Do: He's implied to be in a relationship with Chelsea in one episode, hits on Dana in another and has a messy break-up with Blade in yet another.
- Dirty Coward: When he is chased by the "Golem" robot, he ditches Blade, whom he's trying to woo, and runs for his car.
- Expy: Pretty clearly one of Flash Thompson, minus the redeeming traits.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: In the first episode of season one, he gets angry at seeing Scab and his gang of Jokerz to the point of wanting to pick with a fight with them but deciding they're not worth his time.
- Hate Sink: His main purpose in the series, but he does soften up a bit towards the end of the series. For example, after he's put in the hospital during "Terry's Friend Dates A Robot," Terry bluntly states anyone could've had a reason to be pissed at Nelson.
- Hated by All: In "Golem" and "Terry's Friend Dates A Robot", Terry makes it clear that almost everyone in school hates Nelson just as much as he does.
- Hidden Depths: "The Eggbaby" revealed that Nelson is surprisingly good as a father, if his grade was anything to go by. Remember, Max did his math homework so he'd raise the kid by himself.
- Jerk Jock: A massive one. In the pilot alone, he introduces himself by spitting in Terry's face. He also picks on weaker kids.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: In "Golem", he's bullying Willie Watt. When Terry steps up to defend him (Nelson has witnessed Terry kicking the asses of a Jokerz gang), Nelson considers it for a moment and backs down.
- Laser-Guided Karma: There are some times when Nelson's jackass tendencies come back to bite him, especially in "Terry's Friend Dates A Robot", when said robot pushes a row of gym lockers on top of him. If Nelson hadn't been wearing his sports gear, he'd have died. Willie Watt also destroyed more than one of his cars.
- Spiteful Spit: In the first episode, he spits on Terry's face after the other insults him during a wrestling match. Terry punches him, causing him to get in trouble and get grounded by his father.
- Teens Are Monsters: He's a massive bully and causes Willie Walt's Start of Darkness. He even shoves him off the pier into the water and doesn't care if he possibly dies.
Infiltration Unit Zeta
Voiced by: Gary Cole ("Zeta"), Diedrich Bader ("Countdown")
Tim Drake
Voiced by: Dean Stockwell
In Batman Beyond, Tim Drake is now a grown family man and a top-level communications engineer. Like Barbara, his relationship with Bruce is strained at best.
See here for info dealing with him in the rest of the DCAU.
- Brainwash Residue: Still has after-effects of his last encounter with The Joker (of the "uncontrollable shaking and bad dreams" kind) after 40 years. Given what Joker put him through, that's really not that surprising.
- How much of it was trauma and how much of it was Joker's mind chip can be debated, though one residue was him hating being Robin, something which went away with the chip.
- Break the Cutie: Will the cute little boy who wants to be a hero end up targeted, tortured, brainwashed and driven insane? Yes.
- Deprogram: It is mentioned offhand that it took well over a year of intense therapy to make him sane again. Judging by some of his reactions, he still isn't entirely over it some 40-50 years later. Of course, how much of it was trauma and how much of it was the Joker's microchip can be debated.
- Fan Disillusionment: He now says that he regrets ever taking up the Robin mantle, saying that appeasing Bruce was impossible no matter what he did, a far cry from his younger self's massive admiration for the Dynamic Duo and delight at becoming a part of it. At least part of this may have been due to Joker's microchip, as he lacks his former hostility towards Bruce and Barbara once Terry freed him from the Joker's influence.Tim: We gave our best, but in the end that wasn't good enough for the old man. When I was younger, part of me thought I would go on and on and someday...ah, capes, costumes, playing hero—it was kid's stuff! Bruce probably did me a favor. In the end, I was so sick of it I never wanted to see that stupid Robin suit again...!
- Grand Theft Me: The Joker did this to him, having implanted a microchip in his neck during his time as a captive. The chip made the Joker's mind into adult Tim's sort-of Superpowered Evil Side.
- Happily Married: Has a wife and two children, with his wife frequently calling him when he's working late out of concern for his well-being.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's gruff and cynical, but still a nice guy who approves of Terry's work as the new Batman.
- Kid Hero: Used to be one, as the second Robin.
- Legacy Character: Aside from being the 2nd Robin, some of Tim's dialogue with Terry indicates that he had once hoped that it would've been him who succeeded Bruce as Batman. Obviously, that didn't pan out.
- Mythology Gag:
- His job as a communications engineer is one to his comic counterpart's increasing portrayal as The Smart Guy of the Batfamily.
- His unnamed wife, when she briefly appears onscreen, is shown to be blonde and is wearing purple-and-black; this is a nod to Stephanie Brown, comic Tim's long-time girlfriend who is blonde and wore purple-and-black costumes as both Spoiler and Batgirl.
- Never-Forgotten Skill: He's been retired from Robin for over 40 years, but he retains some measure of his old skills, able to hear an invisible Batman coming "from a mile away."Tim: I'm no Boy Wonder anymore, but that old training never goes away, even at my age.
- Passing the Torch: By the end of the movie, he gives Terry his support in being Batman, to which Terry replies that it meant a lot coming from him.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: After what the Joker did to him? Can't be blamed. He does become better when Terry destroys the chip with Joker's mind that was implanted on Tim.
