TV Tropes Superman Animated Series

This is based on opinion. Please don't list it on a work's trope example list.

Despite the fact that The DCU is known for its contrast between light and darkness, it doesn't mean that is Lighter and Softer than in any way, as the following examples of Nightmare Fuel will quickly tell you. Darkseid, the Big Bad, is a stone-skinned Evil Overlord from a Crapsack World who isn't amusing or likable or suave like Lex Luthor: he's just cold, calculating, and plain evil. While the show weakened Supes so the villain of the week stood a chance, Darkseid was one of the few to really crack Supes and inflict Clothing Damage. Darkseid after he is all beat up himself isn't a pleasant sight, either. Made worse by the fact that unlike most evil overlords, his people don't hate him or try to overthrow him- Perhaps the most chilling line ever uttered by Darkseid comes when his subjects come to collect his broken form and take him to be healed, having no concept of a life without him:

Darkseid: I am many things, Kal-El. But here, I am God.

Granny Goodness, a sadistic hag who raises orphans to be superpowered killers loyal to Darkseid through torture and brainwashing. And she's voiced by Ed Asner, of all people. The Toyman is portrayed in the episode as completely disturbed, wearing a porcelain mask, sporting a creepy child-speak, and wielding genuinely dangerous weapons. Said weapons include a bouncy ball that gains in speed until it ricochets so fast it can crush steel, toy soldiers that fire real bullets, and "Dopey Doh" - a self-replicating biogenic weapon designed to suffocate its target. And he always seems to come out of the shadows. Even his duck-like Giant Mecha is creepy. Fridge Horror ensues when the Toyman captures Lois Lane and dresses her up as a doll. In the follow-up episode, he is now a Stalker with a Crush, is actually made worse in that regard, as the character named Darcy, the model, is later revealed to be a human-like robot he created as a "playmate". Lana catches Darcy removing her face and spot welding her facial circuitry to repair damage from the Toyman's latest kidnapping attempt. Toyman is especially scary because he's arguably the only one of Superman's rouges gallery who is genuinely insane: not over-the-top comic-book crazy, but actually, certifiably mentally ill. The origin of Parasite: he's in the back of a truck and chemicals spill all over him, horrendously transforming him into a monster than can drain abilities and memories from other people, even Superman. Not to mention what the victims can look like - in his first episode, we see him put major drain on a policewoman, Clark, and Jimmy. All three of them went limp like they'd just had all the life sucked out of them. Also, there's his ability to impersonate his 'lunch' so he can keep feeding without anyone realizing that the person is missing. At one point, he switches to Clark's voice and calls in sick for him. On a related note, Parasite's screams in "Two's a Crowd" are some of the most unnervingly realistic ones placed into a kid's television show.