For over 30 years, Batman: The Animated Series has remained most people's definitive version of The Dark Knight. With its dark atmosphere, iconic music, and talented writers and actors, it took a more nuanced approach to storytelling that paved the way for a new era of children's television. One of its greatest successes was its approach to Batman's iconic villains.
Unlike previous superhero shows, the villains were humanized and given as much depth as Batman himself. Several of them had episodes dedicated to exploring their humanity and showing that, deep down, there might be hope for them to improve.
10 "Mad as a Hatter"
Jervis Tetch (Roddy McDowall) is an employee of Wayne Enterprises working on a device that can control the minds of others. Due to his love of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, he has a crush on his secretary, Alice (Kimmy Robertson). He tries to woo her when she breaks up with her boyfriend, but they get back together, which drives Tetch to use his technology for nefarious ends.
The first half of this episode shows Tetch as a sympathetic eccentric pining for unrequited love. This is a very human emotion and something almost everyone goes through, and McDowall's performance is spot-on at capturing the range of emotions this brings out. It goes wrong for Tetch because he gives into his jealousy and decides it's better to have Alice as a puppet than a person.
9 "Sideshow"
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Killer Croc (Aron Kincaid) breaks free of his bonds while being transferred to a maximum security prison outside of Gotham. He gets hit with a tranquillizer and pursued by Batman (Kevin Conroy) before collapsing into a river. He is rescued by a community of circus performers and lies low among them while forming a bond with a seal boy named Billy (Whit Hertford).
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This episode takes a lot of inspiration from the Aesop fable, "The Farmer and the Viper". Croc is given a chance to start a new life with people who understand his plight, but cannot help but fall back on his criminal ways. He even laments this at the end of the episode when he tells Billy that he was just, "being himself".
8 "House & Garden"
Strange plant-like creatures have been robbing wealthy bachelors and leaving them poisoned. Batman suspects Poison Ivy (Diane Pershing), but she has been reformed and married her doctor, Steven Carlyle (Peter Strauss). Batman tasks Robin with learning more about Carlyle, but he is taken by one of the plant creatures for ransom.
During his interrogation, Batman learns that Ivy cannot conceive children, so hopes to build one with Carlyle and his two sons. It's later revealed that her family is a fabrication made by mutating plants with the DNA of an unwilling Carlyle. Though her terms for a family are wrong, Ivy's desire is understandable, and in the end, she is forced to leave her happiness when Batman gets close to the truth.
7 "His Silicon Soul"
Two thugs break into a Cybertron warehouse and awaken the last creation of H.A.R.D.A.C: a robotic duplicate of Batman. The robot believes that it is the real Batman and tries seeking answers from Karl Rossum (William Sanderson), who created H.A.R.D.A.C. Refusing to accept that it is a robot, the duplicate eventually tracks down H.A.R.D.A.C's remains and gets infused with the machine's desire to replace humans with robotic duplicates.
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"His Silicon Soul," asks the age-old question of if a machine can have a soul. This final robot proved to be so similar to Batman that it developed a moral consciousness. After fearing that it killed Batman in their final struggle, it sacrificed itself to destroy H.A.R.D.A.C for good.
6 "Harley's Holiday"
Harleen Quinzel (Arleen Sorkin) is released from Arkham Asylum and tries to live as a regular citizen. Unfortunately, a misunderstanding over a dress makes her relapse into Harley Quinn. Kidnapping a nearby Veronica Vreeland (Marilu Henner), Harley gets herself into a high-stakes car chase with Batman, the police, mobsters, and Veronica's tank-commander father.
"Harley's Holiday," is a wild ride from beginning to end, but it never loses sight of its theme. Harley's situation is one everyone can relate with: one bad day that spirals out of control. Even Batman sympathizes with her and tries to encourage Harley to calm down before all of her hard work gets undone.
5 "Birds of a Feather"
The Penguin (Paul Williams) has always distinguished himself as one of Gotham's more refined criminals. When he is released from Blakegate Penitentiary, he decides to try and turn over a new leaf and mingle with high society instead of robbing them. He befriends Veronica Vreeland, who seeks to exploit Oswald at her next public gathering.
The Penguin's struggle to move on is tragic because of how real it is. He puts in a lot of effort to fit in with high society, but no matter his actions, his imperfections make him a source of mockery. Veronica does manage to grow as a character and accept his friendship, but by then it's too late as the Penguin relapses upon learning the truth.
4 "Two-Face Part 1&2"
As he runs for re-election as Gotham's District Attorney, Harvey Dent (Richard Moll) suffers sudden moments of violence against friends, loved ones, and the press. This is due to a split personality, named Big Bad Harv, who was created due to a life's worth of repressed anger and negative emotions. Dent tries to keep this a secret, but crime boss Rupert Thorn (John Vernon) learns and intends to use the knowledge to blackmail Dent.
Dent was an established character from the first episode, meaning audiences got to see him both on the job and hanging out as friends with Bruce Wayne. This made the revelations of his demons, as well as the accident that turns him into Two-Face, all the more surprising and tragic. It's heartbreaking to see Dent lose himself to his other persona, though there is hope that, deep down, he might be able to resurface.
3 "Feat of Clay Part 1&2"
Prolific actor Matt Hagen (Ron Perlman) was disfigured in a car accident. While recovering, he was approached by Roland Daggett (Ed Asner), who gave Hagen access to an experimental product called Renuyu. It allowed Hagan to restore his face but was highly addictive, which Daggett used to force Hagen to imitate people for him.
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This two-parter does not shy away from heavy themes of addiction, abuse, and body dysphoria. Hagen's self-destruction is handled very realistically, especially in how his need for more Renuyu is what ultimately transforms him into the shapeshifter, Clayface. There's also a tragic relationship between Hagen and his friend, Teddy (Dick Gautier), who tries to be his beacon of light in a dark storm.
2 "Baby-Doll"
When a number of actors go missing, Batman and Robin find that they all worked on the sitcom "Love That Baby". The culprit is the show's star, Mary Louise Dahl (Alison LaPlaca), who was born with a condition that prevented her from physically developing. Driven insane by her inability to move past the show, she has completely retreated into her character, Baby Doll, and intends to rebuild her fake family.
"Baby-Doll," could have been the silliest episode of the show, but the creative team turned it into one of the most dramatic. Dahl's sympathy comes from how she isn't driven by malice but by sadness. She is desperate to return to a time in her life when she was happy, but by the end, is forced to admit that it was all built on a lie.
1 "Heart of Ice"
Victor Fries (Michael Ansara) worked as a scientist at GothCorp until he embezzled money to place his terminally ill wife, Nora, in suspended animation. When his boss found out, he shut down the project, and in the struggle, Fries was knocked into some chemicals that altered his body. Now he cannot survive outside sub-zero temperatures and seeks vengeance as Mr. Freeze.
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Ansara's performance pulls you into Freeze's plight with every word, particularly when he laments the loss of basic pleasures like walking in summer or holding someone's hand. His plight is Shakespearean in nature and is the show's best example of someone who did wrong with good intentions. The backstory with Nora proved to be so effective that it became canon in DC Comics, video games, and Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin.
Next: 10 Best Episodes of 'Batman: The Animated Series', Ranked
