Batman: The Animated Series

[Jade]

Kevin Conroy has one of the best voices EVER.

September 5, 1992 – September 15, 1995

Batman: The Animated Series is an American award-winning animated series based on the DC Comics character Batman. The series featured an ensemble cast of many voice-actors including Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Arleen Sorkin, and Loren Lester. The series won four Emmy Awards and was nominated for six others. Batman: The Animated Series, which is noted for its thematic complexity, darkness, and high artistic quality, has been praised by critics and fans alike as one of the most faithful adaptations of the character. IGN has called the series the best adaptation of Batman anywhere outside of comics, the best comic book cartoon of all time, and the second best animated series of all time.

It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The visual style of the series, dubbed "Dark Deco," is based on the artwork of producer and artist Bruce Timm.

The original series aired on Fox from September 5, 1992 to September 15, 1995. When the first season of the series aired on weekday afternoons, it lacked an on-screen title, and was referred to within the series itself as simply Batman in open narration for the second half of a two-part episode ("Previously on Batman..."). When its timeslot was moved to weekends during its second season, it was given the on-screen title The Adventures of Batman & Robin. The series was the first in the continuity of the shared DC Animated Universe, and spawned the feature film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993).

Main Characters

Batman/Bruce Wayne

Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, an American millionaire (later billionaire) playboy, industrialist, and philanthropist. Having witnessed the murder of his parents as a child, he swore revenge on crime, an oath tempered with the greater ideal of justice. Wayne trains himself both physically and intellectually and dons a bat-themed costume in order to fight crime. Batman operates in the fictional American Gotham City, assisted by various supporting characters including his crime-fighting partner, Robin, his butler Alfred Pennyworth, the police commissioner Jim Gordon, and occasionally the heroine Batgirl. He fights an assortment of villains such as the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin, Two-Face, Poison Ivy and Catwoman. Unlike most superheroes, he does not possess any superpowers; he makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess, martial arts skills, an indomitable will, fear, and intimidation in his continuous war on crime.

Robin/Dick Grayson

Dick Grayson was a 9-year-old acrobat, the youngest of a family act called the "Flying Graysons". A gangster named Boss Zucco (loosely based on actor Edward G. Robinson's Little Caesar character) who had been extorting money from the circus killed Grayson's parents, John and Mary, by sabotaging their trapeze equipment as a warning against defiance. Batman investigated the crime and, as his alter ego billionaire Bruce Wayne, had Dick put under his custody as a legal ward.

Alfred Pennyworth

Alfred serves as Batman’s (and Bruce Wayne's) tireless butler, assistant, confidant, and surrogate father figure. In modern interpretations, this has gone to the point where Alfred was Bruce's legal guardian following the death of his parents. He has sometimes been called "Batman's batman." Alfred also provides comic relief, as his sometimes sarcastic and cynical attitude often adds humor to dialogue occurring between himself and Batman.

Batgirl/Barbara Gordon

Barbara Gordon, daughter of Commissioner Gordon, is described as one of the most popular characters to appear during the Silver Age of Comic Books and is also regarded as a pop icon due to her appearances in the Batman television series and continued media exposure. The character has been the subject of academic analysis concerning the roles of women, librarians and people living with disabilities in mainstream media. The events of The Killing Joke, which led to the character's paralysis, as well as the restoration of her mobility, has been a subject of debate among comic book writers, artists, editors and readership. Viewpoints range from sexism in comic books, to the limited visibility of disabled characters and the practicality of disabled characters existing in a fictional universe where magic, technology, and medical science exceed the limitations of the real world. Barbara Gordon, as both Batgirl and Oracle, has been adapted into various media relating to the Batman franchise, including television, film, animation, video games, and other merchandise.

Catwoman/Selina Kyle

Batman's creator, Bob Kane, was a great movie fan and his love for film provided the impetus for several Batman characters, among them, Catwoman. She was primarily inspired by Hedy Lamarr and partially inspired by 1930's film star Jean Harlow who at Kane's then-early and "impressionable age... seemed to personify feminine pulchritude at its most sensuous." Wanting to give his Batman comic books sex appeal and someone who could appeal to female readers as a female Batman, Kane and writer Bill Finger created a "friendly foe who committed crimes but was also a romantic interest in Batman's rather sterile life." She was meant to be a love interest and to engage Batman in a chess game with him trying to reform her. At the same time, this character was meant to be different from other Batman villains like the Joker in that she was never a killer or evil.

Commissioner James Gordon

Gordon is the Police Commissioner of Batman's home of Gotham City. He shares the hero’s deep commitment to ridding the dark and corrupt city of crime. In Golden and Silver age comics and on the 1960s Batman television show, Gordon fully trusts, and is even somewhat dependent on Batman. In most modern stories, he is somewhat skeptical of Batman's vigilante method but recognizes the necessity of Batman and the two have a mutual respect and tacit friendship. Gordon's relationship with Batman as his contact in the police is comparable to the relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Lestrade. He was the husband of Barbara Kean Gordon and, after his divorce, of Sarah Essen Gordon. Gordon is also the father of James Gordon Jr. and the father or adoptive father, depending on the continuity, of Barbara Gordon, the first modern Batgirl and later Oracle.

Harvey Bullock

Bullock is a crooked police detective under instructions from Gotham City's Mayor Hamilton Hill to sabotage Commissioner Gordon's career. His method of doing so is to pretend to be exceedingly clumsy, thereby spoiling whatever Gordon is trying to do, seemingly accidentally. After inadvertently giving Gordon a heart attack, however, Bullock turns over a new leaf. His character later develops into a well-meaning cop who (probably) is exceedingly clumsy, similar to the later animated version. He also forms a close bond with Robin, based initially on their mutual love of old movies. Subsequent to this, he is a Bishop in the spy organization Checkmate.

The Riddler/Edward Nigma

The Riddler is obsessed with riddles, puzzles, and word games. He delights in forewarning both Batman and the police of his capers by sending them complex clues. With this self-conscious use of a gimmick, the Riddler's crimes are flamboyant and ostentatious. The character is often depicted as wearing a domino mask either with a green suit and bowler hat, or a green unitard with question mark prints. A black, green, or purple question mark serves as his visual motif.

The Riddler is typically portrayed as a smooth-talking yet quirky character, deemed insane by the courts of intense obsessive compulsion and neurosis.

The Penguin/Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot

The Penguin is a short, round man known for his love of birds and his specialized high-tech umbrellas. A mobster and thief, he fancies himself a "gentleman of crime;" his nightclub business provides a cover for more low-key criminal activity, which Batman tolerates as a source of criminal underworld information.

Two-Face/Harvey Dent

Two-Face was once Harvey Dent, the clean-cut district attorney of Gotham City and an ally of Batman. However, Dent goes insane after a criminal throws acid at him during a trial, hideously scarring the left side of his face. Dent adopts the "Two-Face" persona and becomes a crime boss, choosing to bring about good or evil based upon the outcome of a coin flip. Originally, Two-Face was one of many gimmick-focused comic book villains, plotting crimes based around the number two, such as robbing Gotham Second National Bank at 2:00 on February 2.

 

[Jade]

Poison Ivy/Pamela Isley

Poison Ivy is depicted as one of the world's most prominent eco-terrorists. She is obsessed with plants, botany, and environmentalism. She uses toxins from plants and mind controlling pheromones for her criminal activities, which are usually aimed at protecting the natural environment. Fellow villain Harley Quinn is her recurring partner-in-crime and possibly her only human friend. She is best known as a villain of Batman and plays an important role in his rogues gallery and has proven to be one of his more powerful foes.

Harley Quinn/Dr. Harleen Quinzel

She becomes fascinated with the Joker while interning at Arkham, and volunteers to analyze him. She falls hopelessly in love nearly instantly with the Joker during their sessions, and she helps him escape from the asylum more than once. When the Joker is returned to Arkham after a battle with Batman, the sight of her badly injured patient drives Harley to don the costume and become Harley Quinn, the Joker's sidekick and on/off girlfriend. She later becomes fast friends with Poison Ivy, who injects her with antitoxins to give her the same immunity to poisons she has.

The Joker

The Joker is portrayed as a master criminal whose characterization has varied. The original and currently dominant image is of a highly intelligent psychopath with a warped, sadistic sense of humor, while other writers have portrayed him as an eccentric prankster. Similarly, throughout the character's long history, there have been several different origin tales; they most commonly depict him as falling into a tank of chemical waste, which bleaches his skin white and turns his hair green and his lips bright red, giving him the appearance of a clown.

Scarecrow/Dr. Jonathan Crane

A psychologist who uses a variety of drugs and psychological tactics to exploit the fears and phobias of his adversaries, the Scarecrow is a member of Batman's rogues gallery.

Mr. Freeze/Dr. Victor Fries

Freeze is a scientist who must wear a cryogenic suit in order to survive, and bases his crimes around a "cold" or "ice" theme, complete with a "cold gun" that freezes its targets solid. In the most common variation of his origin story, he is a former cryogenics expert who suffered an industrial accident while attempting to cure his terminally ill wife, Nora.

Ra's al Ghul

Ra's al Ghul is an international terrorist and assassin whose ultimate goal is a world in perfect environmental balance. He believes that the best way to achieve this balance is to eliminate most of humanity. Ra's usually tries to assault the world's human populace with a biological weapon, such as a genetically-engineered virus. He is aided in this quest by the Lazarus Pits, reservoirs of rejuvenating chemicals that restore the dying to life; these pits have granted him a lifespan of several centuries.

He regards Batman (whom, out of respect for his intellectual brilliance, he addresses as "Detective") as his most worthy opponent, and has frequently sought to make the Dark Knight his successor. He is one of the few criminals in Batman's rogues gallery to have deduced his secret identity as Bruce Wayne. For his own part, Batman's opposition to Ra's is complicated by his attraction to the villain's daughter, Talia.

Killer Croc/Waylon Jones

Killer Croc's backstory explains that he was born with a condition resembling epidermolytic hyperkeratosis, a disfiguring skin disorder. However, it is actually a form of regressive atavism, meaning that he has inherited traits of ancestral species of the human race, such as reptiles. This condition has been augmented by the presence of a metagene. Consequently, he has several extraordinary physical abilities relating to his endurance, strength, and speed.
His skin is hardened to the degree that it is nearly impenetrable to ordinary forms of abrasion including high caliber weapons fired from a distance. He possesses a degree of super strength; for example, he was able to tear a bank vault door off of its hinges with minimal effort. He has demonstrated regenerative powers allowing him to heal and restore lost limbs and teeth. He possesses superhuman reflexes and speed, especially while he is moving underwater. Killer Croc also has an enhanced sense of smell.

Bane

Bane was born in the fictional Caribbean Republic of Santa Prisca, in a prison called Peña Dura ("Hard Rock"). His father Edmund Dorrance had been a revolutionary and had escaped Santa Prisca's court system. The corrupt government however decreed that his young son would serve out the man's life sentence, and thus Bane's childhood and early adult life are spent in the amoral penitentiary environment. Though imprisoned, his natural abilities allow him to develop extraordinary skills within the prison's walls. He reads as many books as he can get his hands on, builds up his body in the prison's gym, and learns to fight in the merciless school of prison life. Despite his circumstances, he finds teachers of various sorts during his incarceration, ranging from hardened convicts to an elderly Jesuit priest, under whose tutelage he apparently receives a classical education. Bane murders this priest upon his return to Santa Prisca years later. However, he commits his first murder at the age of eight, stabbing a criminal who wanted to use him to gain information about the prison. During his years in prison, Bane carries a teddy bear he calls Osito (Spanish for "little bear"), who he considers his only friend. It is revealed that Osito has a hole in his back to hold a knife that Bane uses against anyone who bullies him.

The Mad Hatter/Jervis Tetch

Tetch reveals that growing up, he never had any friends, due to his appearance. He becomes a scientist, and at some point moves into a boarding house owned by Ella Littleton. There he befriends Ella's daughter, Connie Littleton, and her friends in her junior high school computer club, sometimes helping them with their projects. A few years later, when Connie is in high school, she becomes pregnant. Fearing the reaction of her extremely strict mother, Connie lies to her and claims she had been raped by someone on her high school's baseball team, the Gotham Hawks. Ella, in turn, approaches Tetch for help and convinces him that the Gotham Hawks are "bad kids". Tetch agrees to use his mind control technology on a member of the team, making him use a pipe bomb to kill the other players. Although this is Tetch's first known criminal act, his involvement in the locker room bombing would not be discovered until years later

Clayface

In the late 1950s, Batman began facing a series of science fiction-inspired foes, including Matt Hagen, a treasure-hunter given vast shape-shifting powers and resiliency by radioactive protoplasm, become the new Clayface. He retained the title for the next several decades of comic book history. In the late 1970s, Preston Payne became the third Clayface. A scientist suffering from hyperpituitarism, Preston Payne used the second Clayface's blood to create a cure but became a claylike creature that needed to pass his condition onto others to survive instead. His condition was used as a metaphor for drug abuse and sexually transmitted disease.

Sondra Fuller, of Strike Force Kobra, used the terrorist group's technology to become the fourth Clayface, also known as Lady Clay. She formed the Mudpack with the original, third, and second Clayfaces During that time, Payne and Fuller had a son dubbed "Cassius 'Clay' Payne," who also had metahuman clay powers. During this era, the original Clayface used the DNA of Payne and Fuller to become the most powerful Clayface, often considered the current and ultimate incarnation of the villain.

Clayface has appeared in three animated adaptations of Batman, starting with the late 1970s-era The New Adventures of Batman, which featured a comedic version of Hagen. The 1990s-era Batman: The Animated Series featured a past-his-prime actor disfigured in a car accident who uses an experimental, addictive cosmetic to regain his appearance only to became a monstrous hunk of clay after a massive overdose of the substance. This interpretation, like the series' Mr. Freeze, was applauded as a deeper, more sympathetic version of a sci-fi-era villain, and the comic book incarnation of the Basil Karlo Clayface was retooled after it. The 2000s-era The Batman featured a new character Ethan Bennett, who had ties to a young Bruce Wayne, as Clayface before introducing a version of Basil Karlo.

 

[xkSongblindedxk]

about time, batman the animated series got its own thread.. anyways the joker ftw

 

[luxul]

Geez, Jade, we must have been separated as little kids or something because this cartoon (plus The Real Ghostbusters, TMNT '87, Darkwing Duck, and Gargoyles) absolutely rules in every way possible! Excellent post(s). This Batman series alone crushes all, hands down. I used to watch this EVERY afternoon after coming home from school. G'ddamn golden. Ah, I miss those days.

 

[Sal8a]

Mark Hammil is the best Joker ever!

 

[Sky Valley]

I got all 4 seasons on DVD

just a great show. I love the dark colors, and the gothic 1930's Archistructure.

my favorite episode has to be the clayface one, and its kind of sad once you know his story

 

[Doc]

Best ****ing cartoon ever. Everything about that show is iconic Batman to me.

 

[xkSongblindedxk]

this is one of the only animated series where the villains where as cool as the main character

 

[xkSongblindedxk]

has anyone seen the outfits in Batman: Arkham City?

 

[FlawlessVictor]

Clayface kinda scared me as a kid.

 

[Sky Valley]

has anyone seen the outfits in Batman: Arkham City?

yeah, they are pretty cool. And its funny that the same batman voice actor in the animated series also does the one in arkham asylum. and now that he's a costume it makes it all the more better. Mark Hamill also voiced in animated and arkham asylum as well


So if you have that costume, you're pretty much playing "Batman The Animate Series The Game"

 

[Sky Valley]

this is one of the only animated series where the villains where as cool as the main character

Villians MADE this show. I like how they went with a tragic plot for alot of them such as Mr.Freeze Two Face, Clay Face. And the 2 part episodes were always the best as they were able to explain their backstory and uprising.

no other superhero comes close to having as good of villains as batman.

 

[xkSongblindedxk]

the Villains not only Made the show, but they ARE the show.. that Animated Series outfit looks cool, you've got a cool point Sky Valley

 

[battle_scarz13]

I loved this show as a kid. I remember the saturday it started it was the premier of Batman:TAS then Mighty Morphin Power Rangers premiered as well!(I know I'm old) My favorite episode of Batman: TAS was I think called "Fishing Stories" where like Killer Croc,Joker,Two-Face and Penguin sat around telling stories about how they "almost" got Batman. Great series all around. My kids really dig Batman: Brave and The Bold. Its pretty cool but Deidrick Bayder voices Batman in that series. IMO Kevin Conroy is the best Batman. And of course Mark Hamill's Joker!

 

[Sky Valley]

My favorite episode of Batman: TAS was I think called "Fishing Stories" where like Killer Croc,Joker,Two-Face and Penguin sat around telling stories about how they "almost" got Batman.

The Episode is called "Almost got em" and it is awesome


I also still have the episode on an old cassete tape and the narrator reads the plot while it has audio from the episode

 

[battle_scarz13]

The Episode is called "Almost got em" and it is awesome


I also still have the episode on an old cassete tape and the narrator reads the plot while it has audio from the episode

Yes its ****ing epic! That's one of the episodes I really remember and I'm surprised I still do that was almost 20 years ago.

 

[battle_scarz13]

has anyone seen the outfits in Batman: Arkham City?

I know the 1st is Batman Beyond. The 2nd is Batman from "Frank Millers The Dark Knight Returns". Not sure about the 3rd. The 4th is "Jim Lee's" version of Batman that resembles the 70's Batman. The 5th is Bruce Timms from "Batman:The Animated Series". And the last is his Arkham Asylum look. Can't remember the 3rd though. Really wished they would've used his first look from Detective Comics #27.

 

[xkSongblindedxk]

Killer Kroc talks from when he threw a big rock at Batman in Almost Got Im

 

[KangsBeau]

Mark Hamill will always be my Joker (Heath comes really close though)

 

[xkSongblindedxk]

the third outfit from the left is from Batman: Earth One