11 Superman’s Darkest And Emotionally Mind Wrecking Moments In Animated History – Explored

In the DC Universe, Superman is regarded as a beam of hope. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all kind. In stark contrast to the vigilante Batman of Gotham. Superman is the Sun, whereas Batman is the Moon.

While the Batman comics and animated shows have been able to explore darker themes more frequently, it is fascinating to see Superman do so as well. As the themes for DC grew more mature, the writers became more comfortable portraying the heroes in a darker, more sinister light, and with Superman donning the anti-hero mantle, fans were given an all-powerful character who is both the hero and the villain. When compared to a clear separation between a group of good folks and a group of bad guys, it keeps things more interesting.

In the history of animation, Superman has had various dark periods. He frequently became an adversary for his Justice League allies as he battled adversaries such as Darkseid, Lex Luthor, Doomsday, and Brainiac. Following the death of Lois Lane, he teamed up with Lex Luthor to take control of Metropolis, was brainwashed by Darkseid to attack the Earth, was commanded by the government to fight against Batman and has been known to go on killing sprees.

In this video, we will discuss eleven episodes and instances in which Superman appeared to lose control and act out entirely. Certain scenes from these episodes, like Superman’s fight with Doomsday, have been turned into live-action for Warner Brothers’ DCEU films, making them more recognizable.

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Superman Takes Down Kid Brainiac – Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles

The second episode of the Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles opens with Brainiac, a supervillain created by the US Government, to check Superman’s power. Brainiac is using a lethal, red, energy field in Metropolis to destroy the place. The government of the United States is unable to get in touch with Superman so to avert the crisis, Amanda Waller must order a nuclear strike on the city, which she does, reluctantly.

Before the nuclear bomb can drop, Superman intercepts it. He sends the message that he needs five minutes to deal with Brainiac.

Superman enters Metropolis and uses his strength against the forces and wind generated by the energy field created by Brainiac. He overpowers the forces and enters the field, where he finds Brainiac to be nothing but a distraught child. The child is mutilated and cybernetic. He does not know himself or how to control his powers. All he knows is that he got away from someone, possibly his guardian.

Superman tries to get the child to concentrate by telling him the way he tried to control his own power while growing up. However, the child keeps failing at it. Superman reaches the conclusion that his only way out of this situation is by killing the child, who agrees to it as well. In the end, Superman kills Brainiac with his heat vision, causing the lethal energy field to disintegrate.

Superman is happy to have averted the crisis but he’s the good guy so he’s not too pumped about having to kill the child.

Rogue Superman: Superman vs The Elite

During Superman’s speech at the United Nations, he is interrupted by the leaders of Pokolistan and Bialya. The leaders blame one another for violating a peace treaty and declaring war. Superman arrives in Bialya where the military forces are more or less destroyed by a Pokolistani bio-weapon. Superman tries to save the remaining soldiers and destroy the weapon alongside the anti-hero squad, the Elite.

When Superman returns to the Metropolis, he investigates the organization. It consists of a Manchester Black, a man who uses incredible telekinesis and telepathy and emits electrical energy, Hat, a magician who wears a fedora which is the focal point of his magical abilities, and Menagerie, a woman bonded with demonic-looking beasts.

After interrogating some terrorists, Manchester Black sends a broadcast message where he talks about the Elite dealing with problems lethally, which does not sit right with Superman, who questions the integrity of his new friends.

Superman goes back to Bialya where he is weakened by a Cold cast-generated neutrino pulse. The Elite then intervene to save him and teleport Superman to their base, which is not a place but a sentient creature named Bunny. Superman tries to explain to the Elite how killing is unnecessary but fails to convince them. He is then teleported back to Earth.

Meanwhile, Atomic Skull breaks out of prison and the Elite engage them in battle. Superman teams up with the Elite and Manchester Black manages to kill Atomic Skull. The Elite then explains how they have killed leaders from both Bialyan and Pokolistani sides for peace and they consider Superman’s disapproval a declaration of war.

Superman is pitted against the Elite and the fight is broadcasted. After withstanding Coldcast’s blast of electromagnetic energy, Superman gets serious with the fights and his life, deciding to kill the real-life villains.

Superman destroys every Elite member when Manchester teleports him back to Earth. Manchester tries to harm him but Superman’s body of steel takes little to no damage. Superman is then brought back to his reality where he is still being attacked for his powers.

Superman uses his visual prowess to lobotomize Manchester, who tells him that the world cannot trust Superman while being on the verge of death. He says so because he believes Superman has killed the members of The Elite but the Man of Steel reveals how the Elite was actually transported to the Fortress of Solitude. The members were also stripped of their power.

Superman Kills The Joker: Injustice

Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane follow up on a lead when they encounter Joker and Harley Quinn. They end up killing Jimmy and kidnap Lois Lane. They attach a stolen nuclear weapon to a heart rate monitor that was surgically attached to Lois Lane’s heart.

Batman calls for the Justice League to search for Lois. Superman is able to locate the two villains in a submarine where he is attacked by Doomsday. Superman punches him into space.

Meanwhile, the Justice League apprehends Joker, and Harley and Batman analyze the gas. Turns out, the gas is a fear toxin laced with Kryptonite. Much to everyone’s dismay, the gas had caused Superman to hallucinate his altercation with Doomsday when, in reality, he had killed Lois Lane.

Lois’ heartbeat stops and the nuclear weapon attached to her detonate. Metropolis is destroyed and millions of people are killed. Enraged, Superman arrives and murders the Joker. He announces his identity as Clark Kent to the United Nations and confesses that he wants to make Earth a peaceful place but he will use force if necessary.

The US government frets over Superman’s interference and orders Mirror Master to kidnap Jonathon Kent and use it as leverage against Clark. Meanwhile, the Justice League has divided opinions as Batman wishes to follow his no-killing policy while Wonder Woman is supportive of Superman’s actions.

Superman, with help from Wonder Woman, rescues his father while Batman warns the President about Superman’s wrath if he found out that the President had ordered Jonathon Kent’s kidnapping.

Superman and Batman meet up in the Batcave but their conflicting ideologies result in them getting into an argument. Superman also wishes to relocate the inmates in Arkham Asylum to a more tightly protected and secure facility. Robin joins Superman while Harley is now a self-proclaimed hero who releases the inmates from the Asylum.

Superman and Batman put their ideological differences aside to deal with the problem at hand but Robin accidentally kills Nightwing. However, Nightwing meets Rama Kushna in his afterlife and is transformed into Deadwing.

Batman plans to steal a red sun cannon to take on Superman. Captain Atom engages Superman in battle but is outclassed when Superman is faced with a severe headache. Batman tells him that he had Captain Atom shrink to microscopic size and impale his internals with a shard of Kryptonite.

Superman is allied with Ra, who intervenes and offers Superman a concoction that kills foreign microorganisms. This kills Captain Atom. Green Arrow tries to shoot a kryptonite arrow at Superman but the Man of Steel deflects it. However, the arrow strikes his father, Jonathan Kent, in the chest. Superman is enraged once again and murders Green Arrow.

The earth turns into a police state where Mr. Terrific uses his drones to monitor people who try to go against Superman. They find a group of teenagers who are seen worshipping the Joker. Superman crashes the party and kills them with his heat vision.

Batman records the incident and leaks the footage. Superman deploys Amazo for a world place but Amazo has been secretly programmed by Ra to kill Superman so it turns hostile. It kills Cyborg and Hawkeye. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and their other allies destroy Amazo but Robin and Wonder Woman turn against Superman.

Superman incapacitates Wonder Woman when Mr. Terrific brings Superman from Earth-One to confront this Superman in Earth-22.

Earth-22 Superman overpowers the one from Earth-1 as the latter was holding back in the fight. He moves forward to kill Batman but stops when he hears the voice of Lois Lane from Earth-9. She had lost Superman in her universe due to a fight with Brainiac and tries to knock some sense about life and death into him. In the end, Superman folds and surrenders.

Superman Lobotomizing Doomsday: Justice League

In this episode, Batman and Wonder Woman take on the Secret Service in the White House to help Superman acquire easier access to the Oval Office. Superman bursts into the office and tells Lex Luthor that he will take him for his crimes.

Luthor tries to start a nuclear war but points out how Superman would need a deadly force to stop him. Oh, he also thinks that the people cannot see his ‘grand design’. Naturally, Superman hesitates, which Luthor uses as an opportunity to give another speech that Superman never asked for. This time, Superman’s threshold has been crossed and he looks at Luthor with his red, glaring eyes.

Batman and Wonder Woman rushes into the office and sees that Superman has killed Luthor. Two years pass by and the Justice League enjoys a position as the Earth’s effective ruler. They have also taken away people’s freedom of speech and taken over the government in the name of protecting the people. Batman has retreated to his Batcave with a supposed project.

Batman shows the others the image of an alternate reality Justice League battling Luthor. In this reality, the Flash is alive as well while the Justice League is its original, passive, law-enforcing superhero group. They decide to take over the new world with their order.

In the primary universe, the Justice League defeats Lex Luthor when an inter-reality portal opens up and the Martian Manhunter appears. The League decides to trust him when he says that he has been sent to help the Justice League.

The League goes to the alternate reality where the Justice Lords incapacitate them with a trap. They are locked in special cell blocks and the Justice Lords cross over to the primary reality to take over the world with their order.

However, Doomsday is apparently on the loose, so their arrival happens in the nick of time. They are all unable to battle him due to Doomsday overpowering them. Superman can hold the fight but in the end, the League is outclassed. Superman uses his heat vision to lobotomize Doomsday. The crowd cheers but Lois Lane is shocked. Luthor watches this from prison and realizes that they are not the true Justice League.

A Weakened and Frail Superman: Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox

In Flashpoint, The Flash struggles with his powers. He visits Batman in the Wayne Manor where they try to find information on Superman. He explains to Batman how his powers have returned but his speed isn’t good enough to break the time barrier.

Barry comes to the conclusion that another speedster might be messing with the Speedforce to curb Barry’s speed and suspects it to be Professor Zoom. So, he considers Superman as a back-up plan as he expects Superman to be able to break the time barrier.

Barry learns that Superman in Flashpoint had crashed into Metropolis from Krypton almost thirty years ago. They meet with Cyborg and ask for his help in tracking Superman’s location.

Cyborg locates Superman in a secret military base where he is being held. Wayne and Barry follow suit and find the cell that holds the Man of Steel. They find an extremely frail and weak Superman who follows them outside the base.

However, soldiers surround the four of them and demand for Superman to be returned. The soldiers open fire while Superman uses the Sun to charge himself. He accidentally ends up killing the soldiers with his heat vision and flies away in despair due to his lack of control.

He Killed Doomsday and Himself: The Death of Superman

Intergang attempts to abduct the Mayor of Metropolis. Superman rains on their parade and takes a piece of Intergang’s technology to have it analyzed by the ones in S.T.A.R. Labs. Dr. John Irons and Dr. Silas Stone confirm it to be of Earth and Apokoliptian origin which makes Superman suspicious over the involvement of Lex Luthor. However, Luthor denies being affiliated with the Intergang.

A Meteorite hurtles out of nowhere in space. Its crash lands in the ocean, when the Atlanteans and Lex Luthor’s submarine crew go near it to investigate the crash, a large being in a containment suit attacks both parties and goes on a rampage across the country.

While Clark is in a restaurant with Lois, he confesses his identity as Superman to her. At the same time, Doomsday destroyed everything in its way. The Justice League arrives to tackle the matter but he outpowers several League members. Superman arrives at the battle scene and the creature comes out of its containment suit.

Doomsday and Superman battle fiercely and Superman is fatally wounded. It tries to kill Lois when Superman snaps Doomsday’s neck with a violent blow. Superman wins the fight but in the process, dies as he is stabbed in the chest. He dies in Lois’s arms. This is the moment that has been filmed in DCEU’s Batman vs Superman.

Soviet Superman Kills Comrade Stalin: Superman – Red Son

In the 1946 Soviet Union, a girl named Svetlana saves a young boy who was being chased by bullies. The boy reveals to her that he wasn’t scared for himself but for what he could do if he fought the bullies and shows her that he has superhuman strength and can fight.

A decade later, a propaganda film with an alien superhuman is released. This superhuman apparently worked under the command of Joseph Stalin. American media calls it the Soviet Superman who the US President considers to be a threat. He seeks out Lex Luthor and tasks him to develop a countermeasure for this potential adversary.

Superman reaches a secret gulag where he finds Svetlana dying. She was imprisoned because she knew his true identity. Superman is enraged and ends up killing Stalin. He subsequently becomes the leader of the Soviet Union and pledges to protect the state and spread its influence.

He propagates communism, ends the Korean War, destroys the Berlin Wall, and becomes a massive threat to the Western powers.

Superman Is Brainwashed To Believe That He Is The Adopted Son Of Darkseid: LEGACY [Season 3 Episode 12]

A race of aliens battles an army of Apokoliptian soldiers. The alien race seemingly takes the lead in battle until a lone soldier single-handedly defeats everyone. The king of the planet hands over his scepter to the soldier and admits defeat.

The Apokoliptian army returns to Darkseid’s ship where the soldier removes his mask. This soldier is Superman. Even though Superman and Darkseid are arch-rivals, Darkseid refers to Kal-El as his son and offers him his own planet to rule as a reward: Earth.

Back on Earth, the real Superman is missing. The one seen by the people is a robot, controlled by Supergirl. On Apokolips, Kal-El is attacked by another Superman, who destroys him with heat vision. When Kal-El awakens after losing the battle, he goes to Granny Goodness for therapy. He is put into a chair and memories are placed in his mind. In these memories, his origin story is the same, with his pod crashing onto a planet after the destruction of Krypton. But, the planet he crashed onto is Apokolips instead of Earth.

Darkseid had Superman brainwashed to use his strength and attack Earth. To curb the threat, the military forces of Earth would unify, which Darkseid would use to his advantage and eventually take over the planet under the guise of restoring order in the decimated world.

Kal-El reaches Earth and attacks a NATO base with a Legion of Parademons. Kara aka Supergirl is stunned while Lex Luthor finds the perfect opportunity to kill his longtime rival. He readies his special weapon.

As Superman attacks another military base, Supergirl engages him in battle. He overpowers her until Lois Lane appears and asks him to stop. He suddenly begins to recollect his original memories when a Kryptonite missile is fired at him and seemingly kills both Superman and Supergirl.

However, Superman is not dead and he has recollected his memories. Turns out, he had fallen into a trap in outer space. A weapon then incapacitated him and he fell into the clutches of Granny Goodness, who brainwashed him to think that Darkseid was Superman’s adoptive father.

Later, Superman steals a boom tube generator to reach Apokolips and take on Darkseid. First, he goes to Granny Goodness’ orphanage and pushes her into the brainwashing machine, wiping out her mind temporarily. He then marches towards Darkseid’s palace and defeats the Female Furies and the Kalibak with ease.

Darkseid rises and fights Superman. A lack of sunlight tires Superman fast and Darkseid gains the upper hand. However, he covers Darkseid’s eyes to prevent him from using the Omega beams and the beams deflect in his head, causing a massive explosion that severely injures Darkseid and helps Superman gain victory.

Superman throws Darkseid to the ground, frees the Apokoliptian slaves who, much to his dismay, choose to aid Darkseid.

Darkseid Kill Dan Turpin – “APOKOLIPS… NOW!” Part -1 [Season 2 episod 25]

Intergang launders money and loads it in the cargo of a truck. The Special Crimes Unit confiscates the amount in a heavily guarded building. Criminals driving high-tech aerial tanks arrive and use force which causes Captain Maggie Sawyer to suffer a serious blow. The tank gets the truck and leaves the building.

Superman intercepts the tank and attacks it but the tank fires a flash which is surprisingly strong enough to battle Superman. In the end, the criminals get away after deploying a device with a screeching sound.

Mannheim is presented with the stolen money. He receives a holographic message from Darkseid, expressing his disappointment with Mannheim for his petty use of the aerial tank and he subsequently destroys the money. But he proposes to make Mannheim a king if he succeeds at serving Darkseid well enough.

Dan Turpin from the SCU addresses the press and claims that the public cannot expect Superman to rescue them from every threat and that the SCU will take matters into their own hands. Clark Kent points out the extraterrestrial nature of the tank but his claims aren’t paid attention to. A boom tube opens and a man dressed in red and helmet approaches Clark and addresses him as Superman and faints.

The man is taken to S.T.A.R. Labs where he insists on seeing Superman. He reveals himself to be Orion, as Superman arrives he warns him about the arrival of Darkseid. He also tells Superman that he possesses his Mother Box and explains the origins of New Genesis and Apokolips.

He talks about the world being split into two at one point: the almost good world being called the New Genesis while the almost evil world was Apokolips. The two worlds were in the eternal war until Highfather and Darkseid exchanged their sons with one another. But, Darkseid searched for the Anti-Life Equation and went on to conquer other planets. One such planet that has fallen under his radar is Earth and he had given his human agents Apokoliptian weapons.

In another scene, hover tanks attack an Air Force Base. Superman and Orion arrive at the scene and Superman is captured by one of the tanks. Orion saves Superman and destroys the other tanks with his advanced technology.

Darkseid speaks to Mannheim and takes him to a nuclear power plant to begin phase two of the plan. As the Air Force battle ends, Orion fears for Darkseid’s next strike because the son Darkseid had exchanged was Orion himself. He then leaves Earth to report the events to New Genesis but gives Superman a device to contact him with.

Mannheim and the parademons activate a device and are congratulated by Darkseid. However, Darkseid leaves Mannheim to die in the explosion and dubs him to be the ‘King of Fools’, as he had promised that he would make Mannheim a king.

Luthor Tries To Kill Lois In Alternative Dimension – BRAVE NEW METROPOLIS  [Season 2 Episode 12]

Professor Hamilton uses the Phantom Zone projector as a reference to build a new machine that can open portals to another dimension. However, the machine does not work. So, Lois tries to take a look into it and gets too close to the device. She is pulled into another dimension.

She reaches a destroyed S.T.A.R. Labs and goes to Metropolis. The city has been deserted but a statue of Superman and Lex Luthor greets her with the label, “the men who saved Metropolis”. Dan Turpin appears and demands to see Lois’s curfew card and tries to arrest her when she claims she doesn’t have one. But before he can arrest her, a group of men fire at Turpin. Superman arrives and stops the gang but Jimmy from the gang drags Lois away in secrecy.

Jimmy tells Lois that she is supposed to be dead after being killed by Intergang with a car bomb. But Lois’ memory tells her that she was saved by Superman. Jimmy digresses and mentions how Superman was too late to save her and turned brutal after her death, turning Metropolis into a police state.

Jimmy’s mission was to steal a rock of Kryptonite but the people from Jimmy’s gang are taken into custody. Meanwhile, Lois Lane is taken to Luthor who is surprised at her presence. He labels her as too dangerous to be kept around, due to Superman’s feelings for her and orders Mercy to kill her. But, Mercy and Lois run into Angela Chen who helps Lois steal Mercy’s gun and escape.

Lois fights off a group of police choppers but is injured in the battle. Superman arrives and sees his target is Lois herself, causing his entire demeanor to change in an instant. She falls from atop the statue of Superman and he catches her. Mercy witnesses the events and reports them to Lex Luthor.

Lois and Superman talk and he explains how her death had caused him to realize that his heroism was for nothing. This is why he had joined hands with Luthor to use force and keep crime in check. But when Lois reveals how Luthor tried to have her killed, Superman is enraged and decides to confront Luthor.

Luthor reveals that he had the rock of Kryptonite stolen by Jimmy after Superman confronts him. Lois Lane and Mercy battle and the rebel units crash into the building, revealing that they know of Luthor’s true intentions of ruling Metropolis by himself.

Luthor tries to escape with Mercy but the crowd advances on them. He escapes in a flying vehicle and is pursued by Superman, who damages the entire vehicle. Luthor crashes into the side of their monument and dies.

Superman Beaten to Death – Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2

Joker wishes to go on a talk show and speak about his story in the meantime he uses a mind-controlling lipstick for his escape.

The President of the United States is seemingly distraught over Batman’s vigilante activities and seeks out Superman’s help for keeping the Dark Knight in check. Meanwhile, the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union gets more and more hostile over the possession of an island called Corto Maltese.

Yandel orders for Batman’s arrest after becoming the commissioner and Superman lays Batman off with a warning. Batman fights with the GCPD while Joker kills Wolper on the talk show. He releases a gas in the studio that kills everyone and escapes. He uses his mind-controlling lipstick and one of Selina Kyle’s escorts to control a Congressional representative and calls for a nuclear strike on the Soviets.

Batman finds Kyle bound and notices after Kelley notices cotton candy on the floor, realizes that the Joker must be around. Joker guns down several people and when in battle with Batman stabs the Dark Knight incessantly. Batman ends up breaking Joker’s neck in front of several witnesses.

Joker tries to provoke Batman into killing him, completely aware of the Dark Knight’s reputation suffering in the eye of the government. In the end, the Joker twists his own neck and kills himself to brand Batman as a murderer. Meanwhile, Superman deflects the nuclear missile and is terribly wounded. An electromagnetic pulse from the device causes the electricity in the country to be wiped out.

The US gets overrun by crime but due to Batman, Gordon, and Kelley, Gotham remains safer than the rest, which further embarrasses the President. They deploy Superman to stop Batman and the two heroes meet in Crime Alley.

Batman sports a powerful extreme to fight Superman. He is backed by the Green Arrow and Kelley. Green Arrows attacks Superman with synthetic Kryptonite, weakening him severely. Batman takes the opportunity to defeat Superman and claims how he made the Kryptonite weak so as to not kill Superman. However, a heart attack claims Wayne’s life then and there and the Wayne Manor self-destructs. Alfred dies of a stroke as well.

In the end, the public learns about Bruce Wayne being Batman while his finances and secrets disappear and are damaged with the Manor. While Superman leaves the funeral, he detects a faint heartbeat coming from the coffin and tips off Kelley about it with a wink. In the end, it is revealed that Wayne fakes his death to work more discreetly.

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