Character page for Batman: Under the Red Hood and DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family.
Beware of unmarked spoilers. You Have Been Warned.
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Introduced in Under the Red Hood
Bat-Family
Batman
Bruce Wayne
Voiced by: Bruce Greenwood and Nick Carson (child) Foreign VAs
Appearances: Batman: Under the Red Hood | DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
Orphaned at a young age, billionaire Bruce Wayne took on the identity of Batman to serve as the protector of Gotham City. Five years prior to the start of the film, Batman suffered his greatest failure when his surrogate son, Jason Todd, who was the second Robin, was brutally murdered by the Joker.
- Action Dad: He adopted both Dick and Jason as his sons. As for the action part, he's Batman.
- Anti-Hero: Isn’t afraid to terrify his enemies for information.
- The Atoner: Following Jason's death. Batman considers Jason's fate his greatest failure, and learning of his foster son's return drives Bruce's desire to reach out to and help the man Jason has become. Tragically, Bruce fails to save Jason, and ends the film solemnly reflecting that nothing has changed.
- Baritone of Strength: He has a very deep voice courtesy of Bruce Greenwood, and the strength goes without saying. He is Batman after all.
- Badass Cape: What can you expect from Batman ?
- Badass Normal: He has no superpowers, but that doesn't stop him from being one of the most badass superheroes in the setting thanks to a lifetime's worth of training. Granted, the cool gadgets he buys from his fortune also help.
- Costume Evolution: In the prologue and flashbacks, Batman is wearing the old-school gray and dark blue Batsuit with the yellow oval emblem and yellow capsule utility belt. In the present, he's switched to the modern black and gray Batsuit with the plain black emblem and his utility belt has pouches.
- The Cowl: The Trope Codifier of the shadowy superhero who works at night and uses fear and intimidation to combat villainy.
- Cynicism Catalyst: While always The Stoic, he was shown to be much happier before Jason was killed.
- Failure Knight: The plot of the movie revolves around his greatest failure in being unable to save Jason Todd from the Joker. Jason's Robin costume has a permanent place in the Batcave as a constant reminder of the surrogate son he lost. He chooses to keep the costume up as a monument even after Jason's fall to villainy and his inability to redeem him.
- The Fettered: Unlike Red Hood. He states he's been tempted to kill the Joker, many, many times, but he's afraid that if he starts killing he will take a step too far and never stop.
- Genius Bruiser: It is Batman after all. He's as much a detective as he is a fighter.
- Good is Not Nice: Very cold and aloof, and willing to get his hands dirty to fight crime.
- Heartbroken Badass: A non-romantic version. Jason's death and subsequent downfall into villainy left him broken and angry at himself for not being able to save Jason and leaving him with the wish that he could have done more for him if he had the chance.
- I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Bruce is still eaten up by guilt for failing to save Jason from the Joker.
- It's All My Fault: Directly blames himself for Jason’s death and what he’s become.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He acts cold and aloof in the beginning of the movie, particularly when he keeps insisting he doesn't need Nightwing's help despite Dick's continued assistance. Though never warm and cuddly, it's clear he cares about him.
- My Greatest Failure: Jason's death and his downfall into becoming Red Hood.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: After the Joker kills Jason, Batman beats him so badly that the Clown Prince Of Crime is stuck in a full-body cast for six months.
- Not So Stoic: Expresses shock when Red Hood calls him Bruce and has an Oh, Crap! expression when he sees a bomb in the chimney at the end of the film.
- Oh, Crap!: When he hears the recording of the Red Hood calling him "Bruce", Batman stands up in utter shock.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Jason was his surrogate son, and the beginning of the movie has Bruce too late to save him from the Joker's death trap.
- Papa Wolf: Once he finds out that Jason Todd is the Red Hood, he pays a personal visit to Ra's al Ghul to find out what part he played in it, effortlessly going through his guards and threatening to dislocate his shoulder once he finds him. Earlier, he nearly kills the Joker when he visits him in Arkham after he mocks Jason's death.
- Parental Substitute: To both Dick Grayson and Jason Todd whom he adopted as his surrogate sons and trained to fight alongside him as partners in crime.
- Pet the Dog: After acting like he didn’t need Nightwing’s help and in general acting the part of the bitter loner, he sincerely thanks Nightwing for his help after Dick injured his leg.
- Save the Villain: Saves Red Hood more than once throughout the film, and later saves the drug dealers and gangsters Joker tries to set on fire. His moral code is so strong that he even saves the Joker.
- The Stoic: True to form, Batman is calm, composed, and controlled at all times. Even at the climax, he responds to Jason's ultimatum with an absolute sense of calm, easily making his decision, and coolly defeats Jason.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: As Bruce Wayne is as usual a tall and dark-haired handsome man.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: His classic code against killing puts him at odds with Red Hood, who has no such reservations. The climax of the movie is Jason trying to force Bruce to break his code by murdering the Joker.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Jason says he forgives him for not saving him, but is enraged at how he never killed Joker to avenge him, allowing him to continue killing countless innocent people.
- When He Smiles: Has a warm and fatherly smile when Jason first put on the Robin suit as a kid.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Was much happier in flashbacks when Jason was a kid.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Says "unreal" when he catches a young Jason stealing the Batmoblie’s wheels.
Nightwing
Dick Grayson
Click here to see him in Death in the Family
Voiced by: Neil Patrick Harris Foreign VAs
Appearances: Batman: Under the Red Hood | DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Familynote
Formerly the original Robin, Dick Grayson has since become an independent superhero in his own right known as Nightwing. Though he's no longer his sidekick, he still lends a hand to Bruce whenever he needs it.
- Badass Normal: Like Batman, he's a superhero with no actual powers, just a load of gadgets and skills earned through rigorous training.
- Butt-Monkey: Batman keeps leaving him behind.
- Deadpan Snarker: "I'm chatty. It's part of my charm."
- Foil:
- To Jason Todd. He's upbeat and doesn't resort to excessive force. The Joker points this out a few times.
- To Batman as well. While Batman is a classic example of the cold, aloof and intimidating superhero, Nightwing is charming and funny.
- Game-Breaking Injury: Injuring his leg while he and Batman chase after Red Hood both writes him out of the story and references him wearing a brace on his leg in the original comic.
- Good Counterpart: To Red Hood. Both are former Robins who eventually went independent but Dick is on good terms with Bruce and still abides by a strong moral code while Jason is at odds with Bruce and is willing to resort to dirtier methods.
- Hero of Another Story: He becomes this in the "Batman saves Robin" route of Death in the Family. He takes up the mantle of the Bat after Bruce's death, but all that's shown of his exploits are what relates to Jason's story.
- Legacy Character: One route in Death in the Family shows him becoming the new Batman.
- Nice Guy: Dick is a charming, friendly, and funny guy who doesn't let his past tragedies define him like Bruce and Jason do. Even the Joker describes him as having "had manners" in comparison to Jason.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: He's one of the more light-hearted and funny characters in the movie. Once he's forced to sit out the rest of the film because of a leg injury, things continue to get darker.
- Sidekick Graduations Stick: Dick has become Nightwing, an independent superhero in his own right, while the mantle of Robin was adopted by his successor, Jason Todd.
Robin II
Jason Todd
Voiced by: Alexander Martella (Young), Vincent Martella (Teenager) Foreign VAs
Appearances: Batman: Under the Red Hood | DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
Jason was a troubled kid who first met Batman while he was stealing the tires off the Bat-Mobile. Batman ended up taking him under his wing and Jason became the second Robin, only for his crime-fighting career to meet an abrupt and tragic end when he was murdered by the Joker.
- Anti-Hero: Flashbacks show him more willing to injure people than Batman would like.
- Bullying a Dragon: Tried to rob Batman as a kid. Luckily for him, Bruce admired the sheer balls it took and decided to recruit him.
- Composite Character: His second Robin costume, the one he ends up dying in, resembles the costume Tim Drake started wearing shortly after Infinite Crisis.
- Costume Evolution: Starts off wearing the classic Robin costume as a kid before switching to a red, black, and yellow design based on Tim Drake's second Robin costume.
- Darker and Edgier: In-universe. His costume changes to something more serious as he gets older, while he himself becomes more temperamental.
- Deadpan Snarker: When he captures the Riddler, he spends most of his time snarking. This trait disappears as he gets older.
- Dead Sidekick: He's killed by the Joker in the opening.
- Death of a Child: He's only a teenager when he's murdered by the Joker.
- Defiant to the End: Even after the Joker collapses one of his lungs with a crowbar, his only response is to spit a gob of blood at his face when he gets close enough.
- Delinquent: Not only did he do a stint in juvie, Batman first met him when Jason had successfully stolen the tires off the Bat-Mobile.
- The Determinator: Even after the Joker beats him to a bloody pulp with a crowbar, collapses one of his lungs, and leaves him broken and handcuffed on the floor, Jason contorts himself so his hands are in front of him, rather than behind, and walks then crawls to the door. He only gives up when he realizes there's bomb nearby that's about to go off in seconds.
- Face Death with Dignity: When he finally sees the bomb the Joker left behind with only seconds left on the timer, he merely adopts a look of calm resignation before it goes off.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He was a violent and temperamental kid, but he clearly loved Bruce and wanted to do good.
- Legacy Character: He was the second Robin after Dick became Nightwing.
- Leotard of Power: In his early Robin days.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Due to his quicker temper and more emotional nature, he’s more willing to utilize excessive brutality when fighting criminals. Bruce chews him out for shattering a criminal’s clavicle, sending him into shock even though they needed him for information. Jason apologizes, then insists the man deserved it anyway.
- Posthumous Character: Initially appears to be this given the fact that the story opens with his murder by the Joker.
- Time-Shifted Actor: Young Jason is voiced by Alexander Martella, while Teenage Jason is voiced by Vincent Martella. And then there's Jensen Ackles as Jason as Red Hood.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Though he started off as a street tough, when he was adopted by Bruce as the next Robin, he was shown to be an adorably cheerful and wise-cracking sidekick. As a teenager, he became more hot-headed and ruthless when fighting criminals. Tragically, the final scene of the movie is Jason about to embark on his first night of crime fighting as Robin, declaring it the best night of his life.
Alfred Pennyworth
Alfred Pennyworth
Voiced by: Jim Piddock Foreign VAs
Appearances: Batman: Under the Red Hood | DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Familynote
Bruce's faithful butler and confidant.
- Cool Old Guy: A polite, snarky, and supportive father-figure to the middle-aged Bruce Wayne.
- Deadpan Snarker: As per usual.Alfred: Master Bruce got almost three hours' sleep in the last two days. True busman's holiday.
- Dramatic Drop: Drops a tray when he sees that Red Hood is Jason Todd.
- Nice Guy: As with most incarnations, Alfred is a caring father figure to the Bat Family.
- Not So Stoic: Alfred is in top form, unflappable in the face of everything Batman-related. But when the computer confirms that the Red Hood is Jason, he drops the tray he was carrying, and can only stare at the screen in numb recognition.
- Only Sane Man: Tries to talk some sense into Bruce when he blames himself for things outside of his control.
- Parental Substitute: Just like Bruce ended up being a father-figure to Dick and Jason, Alfred became Bruce's parent after the death of the Waynes.
- Servile Snarker: Being a devoted butler to Master Bruce doesn't mean he won't lay on polite-sounding snark when the occasion calls for it.
Rogues Gallery
Red Hood (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Jason Todd
Click here to see him unmasked (SPOILERS).
Voiced by: Jensen Ackles (Under the Red Hood), Vincent Martella (Death in the Family) Foreign VAs
Appearances: Batman: Under the Red Hood | DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
A mysterious new player in Gotham City's underworld. Seeking to forge his own empire, he's begun waging war against the crime boss Black Mask. It quickly becomes apparent that he's no ordinary criminal. Instead, he's incredibly skilled and he seems to have a history with Batman. It's later revealed that he is actually none other than Jason Todd, who was resurrected from the dead thanks to the Lazarus Pit.
- Adaptational Heroism: As opposed to how he was in the original comics, who was absolutely fine with killing innocents as well as criminals, this version of Red Hood strictly sticks to criminals and has a much stronger moral code.
- Antagonistic Offspring: In spirit, if not connected by blood. Jason was Bruce's adopted son and sidekick before he became the villainous Red Hood.Ra's al Ghul: I have returned your son to you as a blight upon your house. He burns the very kingdom you protect.
- Ambiguous Situation: Did Jason go mad because of his resurrection, or did he go bad all on his own? Ra's al Ghul believes the former, Jason himself believes the latter, and the movie ends without confirming either possibility.
- Anti-Villain: His first act upon assuming control of the various gangs is to make children untouchable to the drug trade, and he only ever targets criminals in the course of his various activities. As he tells Batman during their first real chat, he's actively attempting to control the criminal element of Gotham, but we don't find out why until the climax. While his grudge against Bruce is wrong, his anger over the Joker being allowed to live is pretty understandable.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He sets himself up as the drug kingpin in Gotham and rival to Black Mask by showing up at a meeting of the heads of the organizations under Mask's thumb and giving them a bag full of the heads of their lieutenants.Hood: That took me two hours. Wanna see what I can get done in a whole evening?
- Back from the Dead: Courtesy of Ra's al Ghul and the Lazarus Pit.
- Bad Boss: He threatens his subordinates with death if they break his rules about dealing drugs to children. He also doesn't care if they get immolated by the Joker.
- Badass Biker: He rides a motorcycle and his "costume" is essentially just a leather jacket with a red combat helmet. The Joker lampshades it, as per usual.Joker: When I wore that number, it was classy. More flashy maitre d' than motorcycle fetish. (sighs) Oh, these kids today...
- Badass Boast: Presenting the biggest drug lords in Gotham with a duffel bag filled with the severed heads of their lieutenants, he boasts of how long it took and offers a demonstration of what he can do if they don't fall into line.Red Hood: Those are the heads of all your lieutenants. That took me two hours. Wanna see what I can get done in a whole evening? Make no mistake: I'm not asking you to kick in with me. I'm telling you.
- Benevolent Boss: Subverted. Red Hood promises his would-be minions a much better cut of proceeds than Black Mask is offering, and intervenes when two of Black Mask's thugs tries to kill one of his lieutenants, but in the end, he doesn't give a good goddamn if the Joker sets the lot of them on fire.
- Big Bad: While he’s in something of a Big Bad Ensemble with Black Mask and The Joker, Red Hood has them all beat as the final antagonist and ultimate threat to Batman at the climax.
- Big Bad Ensemble: He's the main antagonist of the film but he's in a gang war with Black Mask, and the Joker eventually gets out of Arkham determined to raise a little hell of his own.
- Came Back Wrong: According to Ra's al Ghul. Jason himself throws it back in Batman's face, suggesting his current activity is somehow easier to digest if the Lazarus Pit "turned [him] rabid," instead of this just being the real Jason finally showing himself.
- The Chessmaster: The movie's entire events were all a plan to get the Joker out of Arkham and put him in a situation where Batman would have no choice but to kill him.
- Cold Sniper: He kills three people from a significant distance without touching Batman or Nightwing standing to either side of them.
- Combat Pragmatist: Though he has plenty of gadgets up his sleeves, he's not afraid to use anything in the environment to his advantage in a fight, and, as noted under The Unfettered, is willing to use any methods necessary to gain an advantage.
- Complexity Addiction: His endgame to make Batman realize that Murder Is the Best Solution sometimes, particularly for irredeemable people like Joker. Rather than just finish Joker right after torturing him A Taste of Their Own Medicine-style and be able to brag that his pragmatism succeeded where Batman's idealism failed, he goes the extra mile to keep Joker alive in order to force Batman to make the Sadistic Choice himself - which (predictably) backfires on Todd.
- Deadpan Snarker: Red Hood has a dry quip on hand for any occasion, even when he's blowing up the upper floor of Black Mask's headquarters.Red Hood: [seeing Black Mask run for his life] Wow. He sure can move when he really wants to.
- Dramatic Unmask: After demasking Bruce he takes off his own mask to "Keep it even".
- Establishing Character Moment: His first appearance has him set up a gathering of Gotham's gang leaders without them knowing, uses a gun on them when they start to pull out their weapons. Red Hood then announces he will be running the drug trade with each of them giving him 40%, however he makes it known to them to not deal to children otherwise they end up dead. When one of them questions why they should take his offer, Red Hood drops a duffel bag...containing the heads of their top enforcers.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Subtle, but Jason lists "the friends [Joker]'s crippled" to call out Bruce's refusal to kill the Clown Prince. He wants Joker to pay for what he did to Barbara as well.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- While he allows the drug trade to continue so long as he gets a cut of the cash, he declares dealing to children off-limits under penalty of death.
- While he despises the Joker and considers him an irredeemable monster who should be put down (he's not wrong), he believes that some of Gotham's lesser super-villains note still have a shot at redemption and so should be spared.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Even with Batman spelling out his reasons, Jason is too far gone to understand that Batman would never kill, not even the Joker.
- Evil Counterpart: He has similar skills and training as Batman, and his goal is to protect Gotham by controlling crime and killing the criminals who aren't susceptible to Batman's fear tactics. During a fight between the two, Red Hood claims he's going to be a better Batman than the real one ever was.
- Faux Affably Evil: He has a rather snarky, personable, and somewhat laid back personality, is cool under fire and logical, always with a few tricks up his sleeves, and a sharp tongue to match. However, this belies his true nature of an angry, violent, young man with serious emotional and (possible) mental issues.
- Guns Akimbo: Likes to use a pair of handguns.
- The Heavy: The main antagonist and the one who drives the plot along for the majority of the film.
- He Who Fights Monsters: He's a vigilante with no hesitation against killing, and his entire plan consisted of forcing himself into the criminal underworld to keep Gotham's criminals in line.
- In Spite of a Nail: In Death in the Family Jason becomes Red Hood in one storyline after the death of Batman, and despite it being five years before Under the Red Hood he ends up doing the same things he did in the film.
- Irony: There's the fact that his actions are based around heroism, but are so brutal that he is a firm villain. But there is also a bit of symbolic irony in a bat family member becoming a new Red Hood, with the original being the original villain alias of who else but The Joker.
- It's Personal: He has personal grudges with both Batman and Joker.
- For Batman: It is eventually revealed that Red Hood is actually Jason Todd, the second Robin and Batman's former sidekick who he failed to save. Batman initially thinks Jason has come after him for revenge for letting him die, but Jason reveals he actually forgives him for not saving him. The actual issue he has, is that Batman never avenged his murder by killing Joker, allowing the criminal to continue to cause pain and misery to countless lives.
- For Joker: Joker was the one who tortured and murdered him as Jason Todd. When Red Hood kidnaps Joker, he subjects him to the same beating via crowbar that Joker put him through years ago, and when Joker asks him who he really is, he says he's "someone you helped make".
- Kick the Dog: When he tries to force Batman to either let him kill the Joker or himself, he specifically throws Batman a gun despite knowing full well the memories which those weapons conjure up for Bruce.
- Knight Templar: Believes that everything he has done, every life he has taken, has been in the name of bringing order and stability to Gotham.Red Hood [To Batman]: You can't stop crime. That's what you never understood. I'm controlling it. You wanna rule them by fear. But what do you do with the ones who aren't afraid? I'm doing what you won't. I'm taking them out!
- Lack of Empathy: Doesn’t care when his men start getting picked off by Black Mask and when Joker threatens to set the lot of them on fire.
- Legacy Character: Many people have adopted the identity of the Red Hood over the years, the Big Bad of the movie merely being the latest. The first individual was the Joker.
- A Million Is a Statistic: The crux of Jason's grievance with Batman. Despite the "entire graveyards" worth of people that the Joker has killed, Jason thought that his murder would've been different, that he'd be the one Batman actually avenged since he once considered him a son.
- Necessarily Evil: His argument for why establishing his own criminal empire is a good thing. Crime will never be completely eliminated, so the best thing to do is control it so its worst excesses don't hurt as many people as it would otherwise.
- Never Found the Body: Twice over. First, after Ra's brought him back from the dead, as part of his post-resurrection Freak Out, he jumps out of Ra's hideout into the gorge below. Despite having his men search for months, Ra's never found his body or a trail and presumed him dead. The second time happens in the climax where his body isn't found amidst the rubble after he sets off an explosion in the apartment building he, Batman and Joker were in.
- Nice Mean And In Between: Of the three main paths that appear in Death in the Family, Red Hood is the in-between version of Jason Todd. While he is trying to become a crime lord in Under the Red Hood it's out of a desire to control it in a way to keep people safe, he's a Noble Demon and he mainly just wants revenge on the Joker for killing him. Even in the secondary Red Hood path of Death in the Family he's the nice to his Red Robin and Jaybrid identities simply because he's trying to avenge Batman, and while he seems to be suffering from some issues that cause him to repress killing criminals he can ultimately make the right choice in the end.
- Noble Demon: He refuses to sell drugs to kids. While he has a very murderous and justified vendetta with the Joker, and is angry at Bruce for letting the clown live, he refuses to kill Batman's less evil enemies.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Usually, the Red Hood is snarky and irreverent, even with Batman. That attitude disappears completely when he's dealing with the Joker, with whom he shows, at best, suppressed rage and utter loathing.
- A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: He was once the second Robin, Batman's sidekick and protege, but following his death and resurrection, he becomes one of his greatest enemies.
- Pet the Dog: He's exceedingly brutal in his crusade against Gotham's underworld and wants nothing more than Batman to finally kill Joker (more than rightfully, considering the wake of pain and death the clown leaves wherever he goes and he tortured and murdered him as Robin), but states he isn't asking Bruce to kill the other Rogues like Scarecrow or Penguin, implying he thinks they can still be redeemed.
- The Reveal: Blood analysis shows that he's Jason Todd.
- Sarcasm Failure: Despite spending most of his scenes acting casual and witty, he lets out a dejected "Yes, we have" when the Joker questions if they'd actually met before.
- Taking the Bullet: Or laser blast, in this case, during the battle with the Fearsome Hand of Four.
- Tragic Villain: He was slowly growing bitter and more violent as the second Robin, was brutally murdered by the Joker, resurrected by Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus Pit—which may or may not have affected him mentally—and learned that the surrogate father that failed to save him, didn't even avenge him by killing the Joker. Learning all this made him decide to be a Batman willing to kill to protect Gotham.
- Uncertain Doom: Jason is last seen in the same room as an explosion that both Batman and the Joker survived, but Batman finds no sign of him.
- The Unfettered: Will use whatever methods necessary, no matter how brutal or violent, to achieve his end goal of "cleaning up Gotham." Despite that, he still won't tolerate drug dealing to children, even if it would increase his cut of the profits.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: He went from a precocious child ecstatic to be the new Robin, to a murderous vigilante with father issues. The final scene of the movie is a tragic flashback to Jason's first night as Robin, proudly declaring it "the best night of [his] life!"
- Villain Has a Point: He calls out Batman for not killing Joker, enabling the crazed clown to continue murdering who knows how many victims but also personally hurt their family. When he calls out the fallacy of Batman's He Who Fights Monsters argument, that it's just a one-time exception against the one villain who's completely irredeemable and deserving of it, Batman can only reply with a weak "...I can't."
- Walking Spoiler: While his mere presence isn't much of a spoiler, good luck trying to discuss Red Hood without giving away The Reveal that he is a resurrected Jason Todd.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Is willing to kill and become a crime lord to control Gotham’s crime.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: He was once the partner of Batman and a former juvenile delinquent whose hard background, brutal death at the hands of the Joker, and subsequent resurrection drove him over the edge to become the murderous Knight Templar Red Hood.
- Would Hit a Girl: Threatens female mobsters and beats down the female member of the Fearsome Hand of Four.
- Would Not Hurt A Child: Threatened to kill any of the drug lords who sold drugs to children.
The Joker
The Joker
Voiced by: John DiMaggio Foreign VAs
Appearances: Batman: Under the Red Hood | DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
Batman's archenemy and the original Red Hood. Arguably Batman's first failure, an accidental dip into a vat of chemicals turned the Joker from a smalltime criminal into a psychopathic, mass-murdering, clown-themed supervillain. His most personal act to date was the murder of the second Robin five years ago.
- Adaptational Badass: In most adaptations, Joker is more of a schemer than a fighter, or at best a desperate scrapper when cornered. Here, he quickly and effortlessly murders a room full of armed mob bodyguards while handcuffed. He's also got a more muscular build than usual; in the comics and most other adaptations, he's typically depicted as rather lanky.
- Adaptational Ugliness: His design is more in line with the Joker from The Dark Knight than the comics or cartoons, having long, greasy hair, haggard eyes and pockmarks all over his face.
- Arch-Enemy: He holds the distinction of being Batman's most personal nemesis, to the point where Bruce says a day doesn't go by when he doesn't think about murdering him. Not only did he murder Batman's surrogate son, Jason, in the beginning of the movie, a line from the Red Hood implies in this continuity that he crippled Barbara Gordon as well.
- Ax-Crazy: As usual. The movie opens with him beating Jason Todd with a crowbar. Almost to death. Then the bombs finish it.
- Badass Longcoat: His iconic purple overcoat.
- Big Bad Ensemble: While Red Hood has his own agenda and plans of his own, the Joker started the plot by killing Jason Todd, and ends up taking advantage of the chaos that ensues when Red Hood shows up to make everything worse.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: First he's hired by Ra's al Ghul to act as a distraction, only to go off mission and violently murder Jason Todd instead. Then, after Black Mask breaks him out of prison so he can assassinate the Red Hood, the Joker tries to burn him alive.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: The Joker first appears brutalising Jason Todd with a crowbar for kicks. Jason pays him back with the same treatment later in the film.
- Crowbar Combatant: At the movie's beginning he viciously tortures Jason by beating him with a crowbar.
- Darker and Edgier: Kind of; this version of The Joker is more thuggish, but does the Tommy Udo version of the Giggling Villain.
- Deadpan Snarker: While he still giggles like a deranged schoolgirl, his sense of humor is more acidic and sarcastic here, compared to his usual bonkers antics.Joker: I'm going to need... something to wear and a very big truck.Black Mask: Sure. Anything else?Joker: I'll need some guys. (Pauses. Then indicates Black Mask's men which he just killed) Not these guys, because, well, they're kind of dead.
- Death Seeker: Dreams of dying alongside his nemesis, and almost gets that wish when Jason arms a bomb in the abandoned apartment they’re in.
- Establishing Character Moment: The Darker and Edgier treatment for this version of the Joker is clear from his very first scene, where he savagely beats the teenaged Robin with a crowbar, cracking sadistic jokes all the while.
- Evil Is Hammy: This aspect of him hasn't changed.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: In a moment of desperation, Black Mask breaks Joker out of Arkham in exchange for him killing the Red Hood. Naturally the Joker betrays him almost immediately. Ra's al Ghul made a similar mistake, hiring him to serve as a distraction, only to be horrified when the Joker actually murdered the second Robin.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Highly unusual for the Joker, aside from Jack Nicholson's version, but this plays into his Darker and Edgier characterization.
- Eviler than Thou:
- Twice when he's up allied himself with another villain, the Joker quickly proves himself to be more dangerous than his erstwhile "employers" can handle. Ra's al Ghul was so disturbed by the Joker's actions that he called off his war with Batman, while the Black Mask nearly ends up immolated after he tries to hire the Joker as an assassin.
- He ends up on the receiving end of this at the end of the movie. While the Joker is definitely more evil than the Red Hood, the Red Hood is far more skilled and effortlessly captures him and beats him to a bloody pulp.
- Face Death with Dignity: When Red Hood sets off bombs in the climax to try to kill himself, Batman and the Joker, the Joker actually tries to stop Batman from deactivating them, laughing about how it's the perfect "happy ending" to their story. Batman and the Joker end up surviving the explosion, but the Red Hood disappears.
- Faux Affably Evil: This Joker is one of the most transparently sociopathic versions of the character, but he never drops his fun-loving, friendly and joking manner even as he beats a child to death with a crowbar or tries to set his own allies on fire.
- For the Evulz: Why does the Joker brutally murder a child and kill his own allies at the drop of a hat? For laughs, of course.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: A brief flashback shows him as the original Red Hood, where he's implied to just be a pawn of actual criminals before he slips and falls into a vat of chemicals. When he emerges as the Joker, he's one of the most evil individuals walking the Earth.
- Giggling Villain: Wouldn’t be The Joker without laughing.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Is in the background for most of the film, but as the killer of Jason Todd, he’s responsible for the plot.
- Hated by All: Nobody likes the Joker: even other criminals like the Black Mask and Ra's Al Ghul find him repugnant to work with. The only reason Batman hasn't finally killed him is because he's afraid of giving into hatred.
- The Heavy: In the greater scope; the events of this movie are entirely his fault, and he doesn't feel a drop of remorse for it.
- Improvised Weapon: He asks Black Mask for a glass of water. He quickly smashes it to use as a knife and slashes one of the other villains' guards throats.
- Jerkass: Enjoys mocking Batman about his murder of Jason.
- Karma Houdini: At the end of the day he suffered no comeuppance for his villainy other than being returned to Arkham, and he had an utter blast watching Batman's struggle with Red Hood.
- Kick the Dog: The Joker gets kicks out of reminding Batman of Jason's death.
- Lack of Empathy: He has zero guilt or shame over any of his crimes. He treats Batman and Jason's tense confrontation as some kind amusing sideshow.
- Laughably Evil: Though he's not as funny as other interpretations of the character, he can still get laughs in a Dead Baby Comedy kind of way."So, who's got a camera? Ooh, ooh, get one of me and the kid, first, then [Batman] and me, then the three of us and then one with the crowbar!"
- Laughing Mad: Especially as he pins down Batman so they can all die in an explosion.
- Made of Iron: Despite being closest to the bomb and crush under ruble he lives and is quiet laughing to himself.
- Monster Clown: Moreso than other incarnations.
- Not Afraid to Die: This version of the Joker has little fear of death, both because of his lack of value for human life and his ability to rationalize it as his victory.
- Not Me This Time: When the Red Hood starts making trouble in Gotham, Batman and Nightwing think the Joker is somehow responsible, despite still being in lockup in Arkham. But, as the clown says..."This new 'hoodie'...you really think I'd stir up this much trouble and not make sure you knew it was me?"
- Oh, Crap!: He initially is unintimidated when he is captured by Red Hood, making jokes the whole time. Once Red Hood pulls out a crowbar though, then he noticeably gets a bit nervous."So, are we gonna play Truth or Dare? I choose Dare! (Red Hood pulls out the crowbar from his bag) Or maybe I'll stick with Truth...
- Pretender Diss: Says his time as the Red Hood was "Classy, more flashy maître d' than motorcycle fetish" when initially questioned by Batman and Nightwing, and later to Red Hood himself.
- Psycho for Hire: For some reason, other villains keep trying to hire the Joker to do their dirty work even though it's clear he's too crazy to control. The first time Ra's al Ghul hired him to serve as a distraction for Batman while he tried to blow up banks and cripple Europe's economy. Instead the Joker brutally murdered the teenage Jason Todd, something Ra's never planned on. When the Black Mask breaks the Joker out of Arkham to assassinate the Red Hood for him, the Joker chooses to do so by trying to burn Black Mask, his employees and his rivals alive. Although Black Mask does have the excuse of being desperate to survive and was smart enough to realize that hiring the Joker was going to be a real nightmare.
- Sadist: He takes immense joy out of the suffering he inflicts on others.
- Slashed Throat: Does this to one of Black Mask’s men with a glass cup of water.
- The Sociopath: He has absolutely no regard for human life, including his own.
- Taking You with Me: While Red Hood is the one who armed the bomb at the end, The Joker stops Batman from defusing it and holds him down so they can all die together.
- Villain Respect: He's actually impressed by how Jason came back to life and started all this.
- Would Hurt a Child: His first scene shows the Joker beating a teenage boy nearly to death, and then finishing the job with a bomb."Now, that was rude. The first boy blunder had some manners. I suppose I'm going to have to teach you a lesson so you can better follow in his footsteps. (Beat) Nah, I'm just gonna keep beating you with this crowbar."
Black Mask
Black Mask
Voiced by: Wade Williams Foreign VAs
Appearances: Batman: Under the Red Hood | DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Familynote
The first crime lord in twenty years to reign over Gotham's underworld, Black Mask gets his name from the skull-like mask fused to his head. Though he longs to ascend to higher realms of crime, he finds his position threatened when he becomes embroiled in a gang war with the Red Hood.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: While he's still a horrible person, some of his excesses are toned down; in the comics, he's a raging misogynist who revels in Cold-Blooded Torture. Here, he doesn't lay a finger on Mrs. Li, unlike his other Mooks who he often punches in fits of rage, showing something of a chivalrous streak, and his torture penchant is absent entirely, replaced with a fierce temper.
- Adaptational Wimp: He was even more badass in the comics, putting up more of a fight against Red Hood. Here, he hardly fights anyone.
- Ax-Crazy: Due to his short temper. Though he’s more prone to beating people half to death than slaughtering them.
- Bad Boss: When ranting about Red Hood, he's willing to randomly punch his subordinates, notably the new guy who isn't used to his appearance.Black Mask: *suddenly calm* You. New guy. Don't be nervous kid, but if you keep staring at me like that, I'm gonna cut your eyes out.*Black Mask lays him out*
- Big Bad Wannabe: Prior to its theft by Red Hood, AMAZO was to be Mask's ticket into international arms deals, a step-up from his current "local leg-breaking garbage" of small scale drug and weapons trafficking. Later, after a direct attack from Red Hood, Mask decides to get out of the "cross-fire" by breaking the Joker out of Arkham, which goes about as well as could be expected.
- Butt-Monkey: In Death in the Family, he's brutally killed in most endings. Depending on the ending he's either decapitated, sliced in half, or set ablaze and thrown into a gasoline truck.
- Captain Obvious: During a rant about taking down the Red Hood.Mask: Maybe my last request was too mired in subtlety. I want this man dead. When I say "dead", I mean "seriously dead". Beaten. Broken! HIS-HEAD-MOUNTED-ON-MY-WALL KINDA DEAD!Ms. Li: Understood. We'll be taking further precautions at every transaction.Mask: Screw that! Time he learns that this is a contact sport. We're going on offense. Rough up his business; something big! Something loud! When he shows up to shut us down, have a party waiting for him! And when I say "party" I actually mean a whole lot of people who are gonna KILL HIM!Li: I figured.Mask: Just being clear.
- The Don: At the start of the movie, he's the reigning crime lord of Gotham. The first one to have most of the underworld under his thumb in twenty years.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He's clearly uncomfortable with hiring the Joker. He has good reason to feel that way.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: He hires the Joker to assassinate the Red Hood for him. The Joker agrees, and then goes about luring Red Hood out by trying to burn Black Mask and a bunch of other criminals alive. To be fair to Black Mask, however, he only hires the Joker after the Red Hood launches a rocket at him, and he correctly realizes that hiring the Joker is probably going to be a nightmare.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Minor variant. He goes on his usual tirade against his subordinates as the Red Hood keeps getting in his way until the matter of why Batman has not taken action against him comes up. It is then that it occurs to him that he's not the main target of the Red Hood's actions, but rather caught in the middle between him and Batman.
- Genre Blind: To an extent, he hires the Joker but it's clear he was reluctant to do so, only going through with it out of desperation.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Prone to beating up his subordinates for little to no reason. Though, to his credit, he is less homicidal than the comic version.
- Idiot Ball: He seriously thinks it's a good idea to hire The Joker to kill the Red Hood, even though he does so out of desperation, and is genuinely surprised when the Joker betrays him.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Downplayed since he's such a Jerkass it's hard to feel bad for him a lot of the time, but that doesn't change the fact that literally nothing goes right for Black Mask. By the end of the film, he has lost any and all chance of becoming an international arms dealer, dozens of his men have been killed by the Red Hood (who repeatedly humiliates him throughout the film), and he is betrayed by The Joker and almost killed in the process. To rub more salt on the wound, the Red Hood outright admits he was playing Black Mask the entire time to get to Joker, showing how insignificant he really is.
- Jerkass: A loudmouthed Bad Boss whose anger management skills consist of beating the snot out of his own men.
- Karma Houdini: Though he’s arrested, the newscaster pointed out he’ll most likely be released due to lack of evidence.
- Large Ham: His mannerisms are based on Al Pacino in full overblown gangster mode.
- Laughably Evil: While he doesn't make actual jokes, his explosive temper coupled with his hammy mannerisms give him some of the funniest moments in the movie.
- Malevolent Masked Men: If the name wasn't a give away, he's called Black Mask because of the black mask he wore that ended up permanently stuck to his face.
- Mean Boss: Towards Mrs. Li. While he doesn’t beat her like the rest of his men, he isn’t afraid to chuck an insult her way when she says something he doesn’t like.
- Nerves of Steel: While he is initially left exasperated at the Joker killing a room full of his men, he keeps total composure and calm even when the clown holds him at gunpoint afterward.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He becomes eerily calm and doesn't shows his usual anger once he realises he will have to get the Joker out of Arkham to deal with the Red Hood, something he's highly reticent of doing.
- Pet the Dog: He never harms Ms. Li physically unlike the rest of his henchmen. He still treats her like crap, though.
- Red Right Hand: His skull-like mask is permanently stuck to his face, pretty much making it impossible for him to pass himself off as anything but the villain he is.
- Skull for a Head: His mask looks like a skull that's only barely covered by desiccated flesh.
- Unwitting Pawn: Of the Red Hood; Black Mask is the only one with the connections to spring Joker from Arkham, which was Red Hood's real goal all along.
- Villain in a White Suit: In contrast to his black mask, he wears a white suit befitting his role as crime lord of Gotham.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Downplayed. While he has absolutely no problem taking his anger out on his underlings by wailing on them, he never strikes Ms. Li, his sole female employee. It isn't clear whether it's because she's a woman or because, as his Number Two, she's too valuable to him, or because he might care about her as a person. Either way, it's a far cry from the comics where one of his favorite hobbies is subjecting women to Cold-Blooded Torture.
Ms. Li
Ms. Li
Voiced by: Kelly Hu Foreign VAs
Appearances: Batman: Under the Red Hood | DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Familynote
Black Mask's Number Two woman. She's a much more subdued and calculating individual than her boss.
- Brutal Honesty: She's the only member of Black Mask's inner circle who isn't afraid to be frank when telling him how badly his operations are going.
- Deadpan Snarker: Emphasis on deadpan.
- The Dragon: To Black Mask. She doesn't do a lot onscreen, but she's apparently the one who organizes Black Mask's heists and plans out their finer details.
- Gender Flip: The character was Mr. Li in the comic.
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Downplayed as Li doesn't do much, but her calm demeanor and approach to situations makes her come across as more intelligent than her Hot-Blooded boss. Not to mention, she's the one who comes up with Black Mask's plans.
- Morality Pet: A downplayed example. Black Mask still acts like a Jerkass around her, but he doesn't try to lay a finger on her, unlike the rest of his employees.
- Not So Stoic: She understandably loses her composure when the Joker shoots several bodyguards dead in front of her before holding her and the Black Mask at gunpoint. She later freaks out while the Joker is holding her, Black Mask, and several drug dealers hostage, and is preparing to set them on fire.
- Number Two: She's Black Mask's second-in-command and top advisor.
- Only Sane Man: While Black Mask is too enraged to think straight and everyone else is too scared of their boss to be productive, Ms. Li always keeps focused on the task at hand.
- Pet the Dog: Expresses genuine concern for her boss when he’s almost killed by a door.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: She is Black Mask's calculating Number Two and planner who wears glasses.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Mr. Li is killed by Jason in the original story, whereas Ms. Li is fine by the end of the movie.
- The Stoic: Takes Black Mask's tantrums without so much as a change of face.
Ra's al Ghul
Ra's al Ghul
Voiced by: Jason Isaacs Foreign VAs
Appearances: Batman: Under the Red Hood | DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Familynote
One of Batman's greatest enemies, Ra's al Ghul has walked the Earth for centuries thanks to the rejuvenating powers of the Lazarus Pit. Once a terrorist who didn't shy away from horrific acts of violence in pursuit of "noble" goals, nowadays he's ended his war against Batman in penance for the part he played in Jason Todd's death.
- Adaptation Origin Connection: He's indirectly responsible for Jason's death and directly responsible for his resurrection in this version of the story.
- Affably Evil: He states that he never resorts to violence or killing unless it's for "greater goals" and is deeply remorseful that his hiring of the Joker was ultimately what led to Jason's murder; his attempt to fix things via Lazarus Pit resurrection is what sets off the main plot.
- The Atoner: After Jason's death, Ra's chooses not to oppose Batman again, and tries to resurrect Jason to try and repair the damage he inadvertently caused.
- Beard of Evil: As is typical for the character, Ra's sports a nifty goatee, although he is arguably the least evil villain in the story.
- Composite Character: While Ra's played a role in Jason's recovery, he replaces Superboy-Prime as the party directly responsible for Jason's resurrection.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He is greatly upset by the death of Jason, calling it both unnecessary and brutal. Batman points out he never had a problem killing before. Ra's counters by pointing out he has killed for a greater good, never for laughs as Joker did.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: Ra's hired the Joker to serve as a distraction so he could blow up European financial institutions to cripple their economy. He admits he underestimated just how psychotic the Joker was when he murdered the second Robin.
- Friendly Enemy: As per usual, though he and Batman are at odds, Ra's continues to respect his foe, treats him with courtesy even when Batman breaks into his lair, and always refers to him as "Detective."
- Immortality Begins at Twenty: Averted. While an expositionary scene shows him emerging from the Lazarus pit looking like a 20-something, he still ages between treatments in the pit, and by the present he looks to be in his 50s.
- Knight Templar: Ra's is a terrorist but he believes his violent acts are all done on behalf of noble intentions.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After his actions cause Jason's death, and again after hearing of Jason's actions as the Red Hood, following Ra's raising him from the dead.Ra's al Ghul: I should never have allied myself with a madman.
- Really 700 Years Old: He's several centuries old thanks to the Lazarus Pit rejuvenating him whenever he ages.
- Retired Monster: While he no longer opposes Batman and feels remorse for Jason Todd's death, there's no indication he feels remorse for any of his other countless acts of villainy, as he still seems to think they were for the greater good.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Ra's only appears in two brief scenes, once in the beginning of the movie and once near the end where he provides exposition to Batman. However, his actions in hiring the Joker to serve as a distraction for one of his own schemes resulted in the death of Jason Todd, and his attempts to atone for this by resurrecting Todd led to the creation of Jason's villainous alter ego, the Red Hood.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Twice. First, when his hiring of the Joker was ultimately what led to Jason's murder. Second, he tried to resurrect Jason to try and repair the damage he inadvertently caused, but his actions only made things worse.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Ra's claims that he has only shed blood in pursuit of a higher cause. His resurrection of Jason was equally well-meaning, but toying around with the laws of nature wound up having terrible consequences.
- Would Not Hurt A Child: At least, he wouldn't needlessly kill one. He went to great lengths to resurrect Jason Todd as penance for the unwitting part he played in his death at the hands of the Joker.
Talia al Ghul
Talia Al Ghul
Voiced by: Zehra Fazal Foreign VAs
Appearances: Batman: Under the Red Hoodnote | DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
Daughter of Ra's Al Ghul.
- Ascended Extra: After her cameo in Under the Red Hood, she appears in some of the endings to ''Death in the Family'.
- The Cameo: Makes a non-speaking appearance in the first film.
- Dating Catwoman: Despite being a technical enemy to Batman, they've conceived a child together.
- Implied Rape: If Jason is saved, Bruce dies, and Jason still becomes the Red Hood, it's implied Talia took advantage of a resurrected Bruce who is mentally impaired, rationalizing that Bruce spoke with his body.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: As noted above, one route sees her take advantage of a mentally-impaired Bruce.
The Fearsome Hand of Four
The Fearsome Hand of Four
Voiced by: Keri Tombazian (leader), Phil LaMarr (Bulk), Carlos Alazraqui (Baton), Gary Cole (Shot)
Appearances: Batman: Under the Red Hood | DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Familynote
A group of cyborg mercenaries hired by Black Mask to kill Red Hood.
- Character Death: Red Hood shoves a taser into Shot's eye, causing the taser to misfire and explode.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Shot's helmet painfully misfires and explodes, taking the poor schmuck's head with it.
- Cyber Cyclops: Shot has a single cybernetic eye, which he can fire laser beams out of.
- Dual Wielding: Their leader wields two swords.
- Only in It for the Money: Their concern for who Red Hood is begins and ends with Black Mask paying them to kill him.
- Professional Killers: Mocked by Jason, pointing out how they have all this power, but all they do is kill for money.
Amazo
Amazo
Voiced by: Fred Tatasciore Foreign VAs
Appearances: Batman: Under the Red Hood | DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Familynote
An android with the ability to duplicate superpowers.
- Eye Beams: He uses Superman's heat vision against Batman and Nightwing.Nightwing: Lasers! He's got lasers!
- Flying Brick: Using Superman's powers, Amazo can fly and sports Super-Strength.
- Your Head Asplode: Batman defeats Amazo by sticking plastique over his eyes, then detonating it, blowing Amazo's head clean off.
The Riddler
Edward Nygma
Voiced by: Bruce Timm
Appearances: Batman: Under the Red Hood | DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Familynote
A supervillain with a penchant towards riddles.
- Bit Part Bad Guys: What his role amounts to in this story. The rest of his thugs count too.
- The Cameo: He only appears in a wordless (but not painless) cameo during flashbacks.
- Composite Character: He only appears in Under the Red Hood in a flashback, replacing Captain Boomerang.
- Groin Attack: Jason subdues him with a kick to the testicles.
- Off with His Head!: In Death in the Family, the path where Jason survives the explosion has the Riddler appear as a victim of Jason's criminal-killing spree, with a couple of shots showing that he was killed by decapitation.
Other
Commissioner Gordon
James Gordon
Voiced by: Gary Cole Foreign VAs
Appearances: Batman: Under the Red Hood | DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
The commissioner of Gotham City.
- The Cameo: He makes small appearances in both Under the Red Hood and Death in the Family.
Introduced in Death in the Family
Bat-Family
Hush
Jason Todd
Voiced by: Vincent Martella Foreign VAs
Appearances: DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
In one Alternate Timeline, Jason cheats death and survives the explosion. However the experience leads him broken and transforms him into the violent vigilante Hush.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: In this version of events he ends up joining the League of Assasins in order to get revenge on the Joker, and to turn Damian into a pawn against Batman and the Ra's al Ghul for his role in ruining his life. In the comics Jason wouldn't meet Damian until after he had become Robin while he never joined the League.
- Mythology Gag: It was originally planned for Hush to be a resurrected Jason Todd until it was changed. Death in the Family has him adopt this identity in one storyline.
- Nice Mean And In Between: Of the three main paths that appear in Death in the Family, Hush is the meanest version of Jason Todd. His motivation for becoming Hush is purely to get back at Batman and the Bat-Family who he blames for what happened to him, and he only agrees to join the League of Assassins to make Damian a pawn in his war against Batman.
Red Robin
Jason Todd
Voiced by: Vincent Martella Foreign VAs
Appearances: DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
In one Alternate Timeline, Batman saves Jason at the cost of his own life. Jason is able to slowly heal from the tragedy with the help of his family, until one tragic night when he runs into a retired Joker.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the comics Tim's relationship with Jason has always been problematic and he joins Batman not long after Jason's death. In Death in the Family he becomes Jason's sidekick and they seem to have a far closer bond than any canon since Tim convinces Jason to stop killing.
- Fallen Hero: Regardless of what happens with Two-Face, he comes to see how bad he's fallen.
- Heel Realization: Eventually has one, either because Two-Face gives him a "The Reason You Suck" Speech or because Tim Drake reminds him of his promise to Bruce. The result is either quitting as Red Robin and returning to the Bat-Family if it was Two-Face, or becoming a hero again and taking Tim on as his new sidekick.
- Karma Houdini: If Tim convinces him to return to being a true hero, he's seemingly accepted back into the Bat-Family with little issue despite having killed several people. However it's implied the public has more of a mixed opinion based on a newspaper, which suggests that it's started a new debate about vigilantes.
- Nice Mean And In Between:
- Of the three main paths that appear in Death in the Family, Red Robin is the nicest version of Jason Todd. While at first wanting revenge on the Joker he eventually starts to recover from Batman's death with help from his family until he encounters a retired Joker, killing him out of rage for killing Batman and paralyzing Barbara. He then becomes a violent vigilante but does so out of the belief that it's the best way to protect people, and regardless of how things turn out with Two-Face he comes to see how much he has failed Batman.
- The "Batman Saves Robin" path results in this Jason taking on two other identities, Red Hood if he chooses to catch the Joker and Jaybird if he allows himself to be arrested after killing the Joker. In this case, Red Robin is the in-between since while motivated to protect the innocent, he is knowingly killing people unlike his Red Hood counterpart, who is the nice due to unknowingly repressing any memory of his murders, and Jailbird, who is the mean for brutally killing prisoners and seemingly enjoying it.
- Point of Divergence: If Red Robin had allowed the police to arrest him, he would have ended up in prison and started killing prisoners under the name Jailbird. He also could have still become Red Hood if he had chose to catch the Joker.
Bat-Kid
Tim Drake
Voiced by: Nick Carson Foreign VAs
Appearances: DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
An idealistic youth that Red Robin encounters during a clash with Two-Face.
- Adaptational Name Change: In one of the endings, Tim joins the Bat-Family. But instead of going by Robin, Red Robin, or Drake like in the comics, he is called Bat-Kid.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the comics Tim's relationship with Jason has always been problematic and he joins Batman not long after Jason's death. In Death in the Family he becomes Jason's sidekick and they seem to have a far closer bond than any canon since Tim convinces Jason to stop killing.
- The Heart: He pleads with Jason to not resort to killing criminals, stating that's not the way of the man who raised him.
- Point of Divergence: In one possible version of events, Tim saves Red Robin from Two-Face which leads him to become a member of the Bat-Family. In the main timeline of Under the Red Hood he isn't mentioning which suggests he never became Robin (or at least that he hasn't taken up the mantle of Robin yet).
Batgirl / Oracle
Barbara Gordon
Voiced by: N/A
Appearances: DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
Daughter of Commissioner Gordon and the former Batgirl.
- Broad Strokes: Her design and Jason's flashbacks suggest that she is essentially the same Barbara from the animated adaption of The Killing Joke, though with some differences such as not immediately becoming Oracle like she did at the end of the film.
- Handicapped Badass: She was paralyzed by the Joker, something Jason throws in Bruce's face as a reason why the Joker deserves to die.
Ace
Ace
Voiced by: N/A
Appearances: DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
The loyal dog of the Bat-Family.
- The Cameo: Appears briefly in the "Robin Cheats Death" path, while Jason is in his bed recovering from his injuries, and the "Kill Joker" path, appearing with Alfred who attempts to talk to him.
- Uncertain Doom: He doesn't appear in Under the Red Hood which takes place five years after Jason's death, implying that he passed away during this time.
Villains
Two-Face
Harvey Dent
Voiced by: Gary Cole Foreign VAs
Appearances: DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
Former District Attorney turned criminal after suffering a facial disfigurement that awakened his latent mental instability.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: While he doesn't wear his usual full two-piece or three-piece suit, he still looks good with his asymmetric dress shirt, trousers and even mismatching shoes. Replacing the suit jacket/waistcoat with a combat vest. The fact he was able to actually beat Red Robin Jason, who has already killed several villains and criminals, adds to his badass-ery.
- Cruel Mercy: When he has Red Robin dead to rights with his coin landing on the scratched side, he ultimately decides to spare him after a very scathing "The Reason You Suck" Speech. Letting Red Robin realize how much he's disgraced Batman's legacy and how he has to live with that now, a fate worse than death.
- Guns Akimbo: As expected of Two-Face, he dual wields firearms when he's facing Red Robin Jason. Impressively enough it's not dual handguns but instead dual assault rifles, and he's firing them without much care for weight nor recoil neither.
- In Spite of a Nail: When Two-Face flips a coin to determine Jason's fate, the viewer gets to decide which side of the coin it lands on. Both outcomes have Two-Face decide to kill Jason, but for different reasons. The coin landing on the unblemished side has Two-Face choose to kill Jason on the grounds that ending his spree of killing criminals will be doing something good for Gotham (Jason saved only by the intervention of Tim Drake), while landing on the scarred side has Jason beg Two-Face to get it over with, but Two-Face instead decides that letting Jason live would be far crueler than putting him out of his misery.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: When Two-Face's coin lands on the scarred side and he is about to kill Jason. He responds to Jason's plea for death with giving him a scathing speech about how far he's fallen and disgraced Batman's legacy, killing criminals and villains, and striking fear into the hearts of Gotham's citizens instead of solely its criminals. Then finally deciding to let him live as killing him would be merciful and letting him live with the fact he's basically become what his father figure would despise is a much crueler fate than dying.
- See You in Hell: After giving Red Robin Jason a verbal thrashing, he caps it off by telling Red Robin that he's going to see him in Hell as he leaves after enacting his Cruel Mercy.
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Voiced by: N/A
Appearances: DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
The billionaire Arch-Enemy of the Man of Steel.
- The Cameo: Makes a brief appearance in a path where Jason kills Joker, reading the newspaper.
Cheetah
Barbara Ann Minerva
Voiced by: N/A
Appearances: DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
An enemy of Wonder Woman who ends up killed by Jason.
- The Cameo: Her only appearance in Death in the Family is to be killed by Jason in certain paths.
- Death by Adaptation: She is killed by Jason which never happened in the comics. Justified as these are alternate timelines and she's presumably still alive in the main Under the Red Hood timeline.
- In Spite of a Nail: Regardless of whether it's the "Robin Cheats Death" or Red Robin path, Cheetah will be captured by a Batman after killing a man before being killed by Jason.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: For some reason she ended up in Gotham and fighting Batman, despite traditionally being a Wonder Woman villain.
Other
Superman
Clark Kent
Voiced by: Nolan North Foreign VAs
Appearances: DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
A reporter for the Metropolis-based newspaper The Daily Planet and an alien superhero who acts as one of Bruce Wayne's confidants.
- The Cameo: Appears in the "Kill Joker" path as being one of the heroes who visits Jason to check he is ok, and according to Jason tried to console him with stories of the "world's finest detective and friend". He also appears in the "Robin Dies" path where it turns out that Bruce is discussing the events of Under the Red Hood with Clark.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Downplayed Trope. After having a heart-to-heart with Bruce, the two heroes jokingly tease each other by pointing out they've got contingency plans in case either goes rogue. Unlike most versions of this trope there's no genuine malice in it.
Damian al Ghul
Damian al Ghul
Voiced by: N/A
Appearances: DC Showcase – Batman: Death in the Family
The infant son of Batman and Talia al Ghul.
- Age Lift: Damian's only a baby here, as opposed to being a pre-teen. This makes him significantly younger than Tim Drake, unlike in the comics who was a teenager when Damian debuted.
