DC Youngverse/Tropes

Tropes for Batgirl

 * Adaptational Badass:
 * In this version, Harley Quinn is shown to be an athlete in addition to her skills as an aspiring therapist.
 * This version has the Joker taking the Man-Bat serum, making him a far more physically imponent fighter.
 * Adaptational Intelligence: While still pretty much The Ditz, Harley is smarter than most versions, mainly due to her failing in love with the Joker due to a facination with creepy clowns instead of believing bullcrap from him, and being able to see the monster he is far sooner than most versions.
 * Adaptational Nice Guy: While Harley Quinn still has a crush on the Joker, she ultimately chooses her friendship with Barbara Gordon over him, to the point of helping her defeat the Joker and becoming her crime-fighting partner afterwards.
 * An Aesop:
 * If you wanna change the world, do it in a way that both is morally right and ypu feel comfortable with.
 * Don't be afraid to be who you are.
 * When it comes to choose between someone you have a crush on and friends who truly love you, choose wisely.
 * Author's Saving Throw: Similar to The Lego Batman Movie, the film avoided criticisms towards the Bruce/Barbara ship by explicity showing them in a mentor/mentee relationship that obky involves into a quasi-father/daughter, to not to mention the age gap between both being too big for even supporters to agree with it here.
 * Awesome Moments: The film's potrayal of Harley Quinn can be seen as one from a meta perspective. The film potrays her as a Nice Girl who becomes Batgirl's crime-fighting partner and even fights against her pudin, The Joker. Yet the entire creative team and Genesis Rodriguez neverthless kept everything audiences love about the character, from her wacky actitude to even her crush to Mister J. That's good writing.
 * Catharsis Factor: Given how horrible the Joker treats Harley in most media, seeing her actually beating the crap outta him can be very satisfying from a meta perspective.
 * Character Relaiment: A franchise-wide example. The film potrays the Batman mythos closer to their pulp science fiction potrayal from the comics, something only The Lego Batman Movie has shown in theatrical Batman films, and avoiding the Badass Normal potrayal shown eber since The Dark Knight Trilogy.
 * Composite Character:
 * This version of Batgirl is level-headed like lost of her potrayals, but occasionally shows a Genki Girl actitudes closer to her 2019 DC Superhero Girls self.
 * This version of Harley Quinn has her usual Ditz/Genki Girl aspects, is best friends with Batgirl like her 2019 DCSHG self, and is a more heroic person much like her New 52 self.
 * Dating Catwoman: A "crush" variant; Harley Quinn still has a crush on The Joker even while fighting him. Also lampshaded and discussed when Batgurl expresses surprise that her friend crushes on their enemy, only for Harley to say: "So? Bruce loved Catwoman even when she was a thief".
 * Fridge Brilliance:
 * The filmmakers admitted The Joker turning his henchmen into the Man-Bat Commandos was a deliberate Ass Pull. Which is something totally in-character for The Joker! After all, he does have a reputation for doing things in a whim!
 * Its already fitting that the song that plsys duribg the Joker's raid on S.T.A.R. Labs is "The Joker and the Thief". Its also fitting that the song playing right before is the song "Born to be Wild", performed by the band Steppenwolf.
 * Funny Moments: Harley and Joker's fight. The fact that these two are really nuts and wacky as hell means that seen them both fighting equals a lot of Toon Physics, funny dialogues between boths, and even a few jokes that are straight out of Looney Tunes.
 * Heartwarming Moments:
 * Barbara and Harley's friendship in general is this! Even througth the two are fans of arch-enemies and Harley is in love with the Creepy Clown, the two are with each other througth thick and thin, to the point that not only Barbara admits her secret to her right after becoming Batgirl and even taking her to the Batcave while working, but Harley is very supportive of her, delivers sweet and sound advice, and is generally geniunely happy for her friend.
 * And even througth she spents part of the film torn between her friendship with Barbara and her crush on the Joker, Harley ultimately chooses to actively help her friend by fighting the Joker. She even does the failing-to-chemicals thing just so she can be in the same state of mind as Mister J and be able to fight him in equal grounds. Talk about true friendship!
 * The origin of Harleen Quinzel's codename "Harley Quinn" in this version? "Harley" is Barbara's Affectionate Nickname for her. It really gives her Catchphrase "Call me Harley" a lot of emotion behind it.
 * The scene where Barbara discovers Bruce gave her one of his Batmobiles. And not just any Batmobile, Its the Tim Burton version! Which he said was his favorite!
 * And then is Barbara's reaction. The same one any fan lf the Burton films would have if they were in her shoes.
 * A more subtle one: The shot revealing her new Batmobile is a direct homage to the opening shots of the Joel Schumacher films, down to Elliot Godmenthal's theme playing in the background. No Take That! No mocking. Pure awesomeness. It's a straight up homage. Considering how both of the Schumacher films are seen as the worst luve-action Batman films, and he never got a chance to redeem himself after his planned third, Darker and Edgier, film got axed, this feels like a great Throw the Dog a Bone moment towards a fellow Batman fan who never got the chance to make, in his words, "a true Batman film".
 * Bruce also left a message for Barbara in the Batmobile: "Do whatever you please with it. Just don't scratch it". Its his way of saying "Do your own thing, Barbara. Don't copy me if you don't want to". It shows how Bruce didn't actually cared if Barbara did things her own way or like he does. He just wanted her to be happy.
 * Also, remember this: Early in the film, Barbara was shunned by everyone but Harley for being herself. Now, her personal hero is showing that he loves her like a daughter because of who she is.
 * He Really Can Act:
 * While no one doubted Genesis Rodriguez would have the comedy chops required to voice Harley Quinn, she also manages to deliver some surprisingly heartwarming lines while still feeling pretty much in-character gor Harley.
 * Everybody agrees that Mark Hamill's vocal performance as the Joker is one hell of a Tough Act To Follow, but it is unanimously agreed that Tom Hiddleston more than managed to live up to the task by providing a performance just as creepy and entertaining as Hamill while giving the character a level of eloquence that allows his interpretation to stand on his own.
 * Hilarious In Hindsight: Loki's boast in his self-titled series' fourth episode of having lost track of how many times he died becomes a lot funnier now that his actor, Tom Hiddleston, appears in this film as the voice of The Joker, who has defied seemingly-impending dooms so many times he even had an entire trope about that named after him.
 * Nightmare Fuel: Not because is one of the Lighter and Softer versions of the Batman mythos dosen't mean its not terrifying. Its not the 60s, you know!
 * The Joker. He is as much of a Creepy Clown as he is in the comics. And Tom Hiddleston's lines are both eloquent and truly wild, making up for a truly chilling performance.
 * The scene in which Batgirl and the police attack what appears to be the Man-Bat. The filmmakers admittedly drew inspiration from the equally terrifying bottle factory scene in The Incredible Hulk, and it really shows. The scene becomes even more terrifying when its revealed kt wasn't Langstorm who attacked, but The Joker himself, having taken the Man-Bat serum. And unlike him, he's perfectly aware of what he's doing and enjoyed it.
 * And right before leaving, he drops a captive Langstorm to his death cackling like hell. And after his henchmen congrakute him on killing him before he coukd provide the heroes with a cure to the serum, he asks: "Wait, do you really think he would've give them a cure?". The fact that his voice tone is completly sincere manages to mame the line even more chilling.
 * His plan this time? Combine the Man-Bat serum with his Joker Poison and unleash it on Gotham City. But he firsts tests it on a civilian. And tp the results are creepy would be an understatement. The victim starts to painfully turn into a mindless monster while laughing uncontrollaby, and all that's left is a dead giant werebat with an offputting smile. And he plans to do it to all of Gotham.
 * Right before his final clash with Batgirl, The Joker chooses out of nowhere to turn his henchmen into the Man-Bat Commandos with the remaining of the original serum. And the scene is predictably horrifying, with tons of Body Horror to spare. Even worse is that this is followed by the Joker unleashing them on Batgirl wkth a delivery of the line "Fly, my pretties. Fly. Fly" that would make the Wicked Witch of the West proud.
 * The film dosen't even try to sugarcoat how Gotham City is a lawless hellhole. Most of the city's design looks straight out of a zombie apocalylse movie. Also, police sirens, gun shots, and even screams can be heard in the background. Thank goodness Batgirl managed to correct that by the end of the film.
 * Meaningful Echo: Upon being given the mantle of Batgirl, Barbara exclaims "I'm Batgirl!". She later repeats these words after choosing to make the world a happier place and do things her way, when a poor man asks her who she is.
 * Mythology Gag:
 * Before fighting the Joker, Harley Quinn says "Hey, Joker. You wanna get nuts? Come on! Let's get nuts!"
 * Harley's entrance at the climax causes the Joker to ask Batgirl "Is she with you?". The shot also resembkes the scene in which Catwoman met Batman and the Penguin in Batman Returns.
 * Shirley Walker's The New Batman Adventures theme appears througth the film.
 * At one point in the film, Batgirl says to Bruce that he should have tried with contacting Wonder Woman if he tried go fight Kryptonians due to their weakness to magic.
 * This version of Harley uses a javelin to fight as well as her maze, a nod to her being given one in The Suicide Squad.
 * A joke at the start of the film has Gotham City being referred as "the one place worse than Corto Maltese",
 * Barbara's school is called "Faust's School for Gifted Young Minds", a nod to 2019 DCSHG creator Lauren Faust.
 * Barbara's room has posters with nods to Batman composers from Shirley Walker to Michael Giacchino.
 * The Joker's death scene was done as an homage to Two-Face's death in Batman Forever (1995).
 * Once again, the Joker attacks the Batcave of an elderly Bruce Wayne and destroys everything.
 * At one point, the film recreates the Joker's dance in the stairs from his solo film.
 * While showing his Man-Bat form for the first time, the Joker jokes that "it was either that or a pit", a reference to Lazarus' Pit, a mystical pit used by Ra'as Al Ghul in the comics to return himself and other (most notably Jason Todd) to life at the cost of their sanity.
 * The scene near the end where Harley throws the Joker off Gotham Bay and into the ocean was meant to be a reversal of the scene in the comic Mad Love, where the Joker threw Harley off a window. Additionally, before throwing him, she calls him a "lousy scum-sucking creep", the same insult she used towards him in tge Batman: The Animated Series episode "Trial".
 * Role Reprise: Michael Keaton reprises his role from the Burton films and The Flash as the voice of Batman.


 * Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The Joker faces three at the film's conclusion:
 * When fighting against multiple enemies, make sure to ambush one alone after checking in were the others are to prevent them from interfering in time to save the first one. The Joker learns this the hard way when he tries to take Batgirl hostage and escape, only for Harley Quinn, who happened to be close by, to save Batgirl by attacking Joker by surprise, resulting in her literally kicking the crap outta him and launching him onto the river.
 * Also, the Joker expects to be sent to Arkham Asylum due to him having put on sn "insane" façade, but Harley, a gifted student on psychiatry, to reveal that she made a pdychological profile on him that shows to the authorities he is actually a perfectly-sane psychopath. Façades can only take you so far for so long, but you'll eventually get exposed no matter what, especially if the lie involves an area full of professional on the subject.
 * Due to his years of false insanity pleas, Joker ends up with an even bigger sentence than if he didn't get one. After all, he did lied to law enforcers on a subject where doing such thing is illegal.
 * Take That!:
 * After the Joker is done dancing on stairs, he starts dancing on the ground in a manner simikar to Emo Peter's mementically famous Spider-Man 3 dance... only that this clearly is meant to be intentionally ridiculous.
 * At the start of the film, while mocking Batman due to his age, Joker says he "kinda looks like Iron Man".
 * Tearjerker:
 * The opening scene is heartwrenching to its core. A shot even shows tombstones revealing that everyone Bruce was clode with, from Selina Kyle to Alfred, ended up dying eventually. The following shot is of Bruce sitting in solituded until the Batsignal appeared ála Batman Returns. However, whereas that was an awe-inspiring if solemn image of Batman waiting for duty to call, thus one is a downright depressing look of a man who's job is practically the one thing he has left.
 * Barbara giving up being Batgirl. While serious, she was still an upbeat young person who felt she was meant to be the new Batman, so seeing her giving up and falling into a Heroic BSoD just because she wasn't able to be like Bruce is truly gut-renching,
 * Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: While the film is relatively lighthearted, specially for a movie based on the Batman franchise, it neverthless dosen't sugarcoat how much of a monster the Joker is, being as every bit as terrifying as always.
 * Unexpected Character:
 * Man-Bat surprised auduences by actually showing up here. Ehile in the actual film his alter-ego dosen't habe a big role, at least the serum does.
 * On that note, nobody expected to see the more unknown Man-Bat Commandos making their theatrical debut here.

Tropes for Supergirl

 * Composite Character: While Supergirl's personality is mainly modeled after her DC Superhero Girls (2019), her character arc if copi g with the destruction of Krypton is partially based on her Superman/Batman: Apocalypsis incarnation.
 * Prequel: The film is set a few years before Batgirl.
 * Mythology Gag:
 * Supergirl overcoming Brainiac's manipulation was inspired by the clinatic scene from Zack Snyder's Justice League where Cyborg overcomes the Mother Boxes' influence.
 * John Williams' Superman theme appears througth the film.
 * Role Reprise: Corey Burton reprises his role from the DCAU as Brainiac
 * The Stinger:
 * In a mid-credits scene, Lex Luthor uses Brainiac's computer and discovers somethibg that sets him to got to Gotham City in order to recover something even if it meabs fighting the Joker. Anyone who's seen Batgirl knows he'll have it easy.
 * A post-credits scene shows Brainiac-5 in the middle of the ocean, as he glitches and his eyes turn blue instead of red.
 * Tainted by the Preview: While the trailer overrall received a positive reception, many fans protested over how the film seemed to potray Brainiac-5 as The Dragon to Brainiac, as they felt it was disrespectful to the character. Fans changed tune, however, when the film's post-credits scene indicated subsquent DCATU films would feature a more faithful potrayal of the character.

Tropes for DC Superhero Girls

 * Central Theme: Friendship. The girls slowly become Fire-Forged Friends as they bond over the course of the story and learn to work together as a team, leading to their victory, while Lex Luthor slowly isolates himself, leading to his defeat.
 * Mythology Gag:
 * The heroes join after a villain tries to use a Mother Box to conquer the world, much is pretty much the plot for blth versions of Justice League. All films also include Wonder Woman as a main character.
 * The still poses the Superhero Girls make in the credits resemble those of the Justice League in the opening credits for their own animated series.

Tropes for Harley & Ivy

 * Central Theme: How not all people who do bad things have bad intentions, and can actually be reasoned with and become good if given the chance.
 * Friendly Enemy: The entire plot for the film centers on Harley Quinn befriending ecoterrorist Poison Ivy while still being a hero.