Top 10 Satisfying Deaths in DC Animated Movies & TV Shows

“Batman: Hush” (2019)

During the course of a movie, the question-themed villain made Superman hunt Batman, slayed the dark knight’s childhood friend and tried to drop Bruce’s girlfriend Selina into a fatal trap. So, we completely understand why the hero didn’t hesitate to pummel the Riddler. Their battle ended when the Riddler nearly fell into a vat. Despite everything the villain did, Batman tried to save his enemy. But Catwoman stepped in to make the Riddler fall. Although Batman wasn’t happy with the fatal outcome, Selina and the audience felt relieved that the villain’s rampage was over. In an ironic twist, he died by the same method he was willing to use to eliminate Catwoman.

“Harley Quinn” (2018-)

After Harley helped the royal villain break out of imprisonment, the two had a major falling out. When the Queen of Fables returned, she teamed up with the Joker and tried to kill the anti-heroine with fairy tale constructs. Harley only turned things around after she was nearly killed by the big bad wolf. With the help of King Shark, she hid inside of the creature and snuck right up to the royal villain. While we can’t show you what Harley does to the Queen of Fables here, we can definitely say the anti-heroine came out…ahead. Quinn’s quick and brutal revenge was the perfect ending to her twisted rival’s fairy tale.

“Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths” (2010)

When a nihilistic villain named Owlman tried to destroy the entire multiverse with a dangerous device, the dark knight raced to stop him. Since neither of them had superpowers, they had to rely on their smarts, fists and gadgets. The two seemed evenly matched. But in the end, Batman secured the win with one of his weapons and an awesome one liner. Unable to defuse the device, the dark knight sent Owlman and his dangerous machine to a dead world. Even the villain couldn’t help but smile when he realized he had been bested and was going to expire. Owlman’s death ensured that the multiverse lived to see many more days.

“Batman Beyond” (1999-2001)

Victor Fries was stuck living as a head in a jar for decades before he got a chance to reside in a new body. Although he wanted to make up for his former misdeeds, he embraced his bad instincts after villains tried to kill him. The reborn Mister Freeze tried to take revenge on the man who ordered his assassination by destroying a building. However, he forgot his vengeance when a battle in the structure wrecked the ceiling and endangered the new Batman’s life. Mister Freeze used what was left of his powers to make the futuristic dark knight to get to safety. While the frosty villain alternated between being good and evil, his last act allowed him to die as a hero.

“Young Justice” (2010-12; 2019-22)

If there was a worst uncle of the year award, this supervillain would win for a solid decade straight. Baron Bedlam imprisoned his royal nephew and niece, ensured the death of their parents and tried to steal his country’s throne. The villain also ran an organization where people were turned to metahumans and sold as warriors to other planets. After committing all these crimes, his nephew gained powers and made his uncle pay the ultimate price. Brion used his fiery elemental abilities to ensure that the Baron’s death was extremely painful. Both the prince and the country were quick to celebrate when they realized the twisted villain was gone for good.

"Batman: The Brave and the Bold" (2008-11)

The dark knight wouldn’t exist if the gunman known as Joe Chill hadn’t slain Thomas and Martha Wayne. Decades after their tragic deaths, Batman got a chance to face the killer. After easily beating Chill to a pulp, Bruce had a chance to end the villain’s life. But Batman decided to spare the gunman. Although the hero showed mercy, Chill got fatally wounded after one of his guns caused the ceiling to fall atop of him. Seeing this Batman villain face justice without the Dark Knight having to cross the line was incredibly cathartic. While it’s implied that the supernatural Spectre may have set up this death, Chill’s end still felt like a full circle moment.

“The Death of Superman” (2018)

As soon as Doomsday was unleashed on Earth, he went on a violent rampage that left many civilians and heroes severely wounded or worse. The only one that could’ve stopped the brutal beast was Superman. But despite the man of steel’s best efforts, Doomsday kept finding ways to evolve and become more deadly. At multiple points of the battle, it looked like the creature would come out on top. But Superman was able to find just enough strength to slay Doomsday at the last moment. We breathed a sigh of relief when Clark finally silenced the roaring beast. But the scene was just as sweet as it was bitter because the battle seemingly cost Superman his life.

“Teen Titans” (2003-06)

It seemed like Slade had gone too far when he manipulated his young apprentice Terra into befriending and betraying the Teen Titans. However, the villain sunk to lower depths when he physically and mentally tormented her into obeying his every whim. And if all that wasn’t bad enough, Slade threatened to eliminate Terra if she didn’t assassinate her old friends. The young metahuman eventually decided she had enough and lashed out at Slade with her full might. Although it’s unclear what happened to him at first, the image of his mask sinking into lava confirmed he perished. Slade was appropriately undone by the apprentice he had so viciously mistreated.

“Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay” (2018)

In an alternate war-torn timeline, Reverse-Flash, aka Zoom, was killed by a single gunshot after he tried to prevent the heroes from saving the world. Or, so we thought. Reverse-Flash later revealed that he’d found a way to delay his death. Upon realizing there was no way to save his life, he did whatever he could to nab a mystical get-out-of-hell free card. Zoom sadistically tormented and even killed multiple people to achieve his goal. But right as he was about to win, two villains teamed up to make sure he didn’t run away with the card. Zoom’s demise was doubly gratifying because we saw him die in both the new and alternate timelines. He couldn’t run away from his crimes forever.

“Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker” (2000)

Eight years after we first saw the clown wreak havoc in Gotham, we watched in horror as he used painful methods to turn Tim Drake’s Robin into a mini Joker. The brainwashed sidekick was then commanded to shoot Batman. But instead of slaying the dark knight, Tim took the Joker out. The clown’s karmic death was so satisfying because it marked the end for a villain who had escaped justice for nearly a decade. And just in case fans weren’t satisfied, Joker fell again after he basically resurrected himself by using a microchip in Tim’s adult body. This time around, the new Batman erased the last traces of the villain by using one of the clown’s signature weapons.