History BewareTheSuperman / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'': Unlike the comics, this version of Omni-Man is a full-blown supervillain masquerading as the world's greatest hero. Using his publicity allows him to get away with ''genocide'' of both heroes and enemies of Earth, intentionally causing unnecessary strife and warmongering for Earth so his true allies, an all-conquering empire, can steamroll over the survivors. When his cover is finally blown, he goes on a mass-murdering spree [[GrievousHarmWithABody using his own son as a living weapon]] to break him. [[spoiler:Realizing that he has a shred of empathy left for his family ''still'' doesn't give him empathy for the humans he murdered for sport, and he just leaves his family and Earth to die.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' takes the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' and it's themes of ThePowerOfFriendship and FamilyOfChoice, and [[DarkParody gleefully twists them]] into SadistShow about a bunch of amoral {{Heroic Comedic Sociopath}}s who destroy everything they touch, including [[WithFriendsLikeThese each]] [[TheyKilledKennyAgain other]]; to the point that the show at times resembles a PG-Rated version of ''ComicBook/TheBoys'' and ''ComicBook/MarshalLaw''.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'', Gosalyn accidentally traveled to a BadFuture where DW, not realizing she was in the time machine, suffered a breakdown over her disappearance which resulted in him becoming Dark''warrior'' Duck, a dictator who punished people harshly for the smallest of "offenses" such as eating too much junk food. Even though he didn't have super powers, he was still pretty [[BadassNormal scary]], even being more savvy than he was before his dark transformation. Also, he had a [[TankGoodness tank]] and an [[MechaMooks army of robots]], which helped.

* The ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'' episode "Hyperion", featuring Marvel's notoriously despotic Superman expy, naturally explores this concept, as Hyperion attempts to take over Earth in order to "save" it.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' brings this up with [[GodEmperor Princess Celestia]] and her hypothetical [[SuperPoweredEvilSide counterpart]] [[EvilIsBurningHot Daybreaker]], who would be what Celestia would become if she decided that, as the most powerful pony in Equestria, she stopped caring [[AfraidOfTheirOwnStrength about the dangers of their own power]] and the wellbeing of others and decided to whatever she wanted with ''nopony'' capable of stopping her. Thankfully {{averted|Trope}} since the real Celestia is far too idealistic to fall down that path.
* ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'': Unlike the comics, this version of [[Characters/Invincible2021OmniMan Omni-Man]] is a full-blown supervillain masquerading as the world's greatest hero. Using his publicity allows him to get away with ''genocide'' of both heroes and enemies of Earth, intentionally causing unnecessary strife and warmongering for Earth so his true allies, an all-conquering empire, can steamroll over the survivors. When his cover is finally blown, he goes on a mass-murdering spree [[GrievousHarmWithABody using his own son as a living weapon]] to break him. [[spoiler:Realizing that he has a shred of empathy left for his family ''still'' doesn't give him empathy for the humans he murdered for sport, and he just leaves his family and Earth to die.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' dealt with this trope in the episode "A Better World", presenting the WellIntentionedExtremist version of the league: The Justice Lords, who run an authoritarian earth free of crime, but likewise also empty of free speech or self government.
** Creator/BruceTimm states in the commentary that the episode was originally supposed to be a straight up "Crime Syndicate" story, which involved characters that are almost-{{Evil Twin}}s-[[CaptainErsatz but]]-[[{{Expy}} not-exactly]], but fell in love with the idea of using actual alternate versions of the regular characters. He comments during the Batman vs Batman fight in the Bat Cave that the scene was specifically animated to not make it clear from visual clues who was talking, so either character could be saying either side of the argument. Ultimately, Justice League Batman is unable to respond when Justice Lord Batman points out that in this new world [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yxu4z9L31U "no eight-year old boy will ever lose his parents because of some punk with a gun."]] This scene arose from conversations among the writers, who were trying to find a way for Batman to successfully respond when they realized that there ''was'' no verbal response; they had meant for League Batman to win the argument, but the fact of the matter was that, because of who the characters were, Lord Batman won instead. Justice League Batman does get his response later, though; after seeing the zeal of the PoliceState his counterpart helped create, he sarcastically mentions to Lord Batman: "They'd love it here. Mom and Dad. They'd be ''so'' proud of you." Justice Lord Batman is not pleased at this [[HeelRealization realization]], prompting his HeelFaceTurn (or at least, willingness to rid his own universe of superpowered heroes). Perhaps the proper verbal response would be "I'm glad they're dead so they didn't have to live in this world", but there's no way Batman would be able to say those words.
** The regular Justice League in the ''Unlimited'' incarnation, seeing the horrors the Lords have done, work to avert this trope by recruiting ComicBook/GreenArrow, a politically astute and strident BadassNormal to be the team's political conscience. Sure enough, he essentially saves the team's soul during the Cadmus affair, which revolved around this trope as it involved a secret government agency being set up to rival the League in the event it turned evil.

** The aforementioned "Crime Syndicate" story was the later basis for ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths'', where as planned the League is recruited by an alternate universe GoodCounterpart of ComicBook/LexLuthor to deal with the evil Syndicate which here are so powerful they are the ''de facto'' rulers of the world, bullying the President (Deathstroke!) and working on a bomb that can destroy the planet to hold the world hostage indefinitely (or as Owl Man chooses, to [[OmnicidalManiac blow up every universe in existence]]). Animation and voice actors aside, its written in a way that it can easily fit into regular DCAU continuity, and implicitly serves as a bridge between the regular ''Justice League'' and ''Justice League Unlimited'' series, so the League had ''that'' hanging over their heads as well.
** The Cadmus arc of ''Unlimited'' invoked this trope further, with Cadmus being reimagined as a covert government agency that [[CapeBusters exists to counter the League]] in the event they ever go rogue (which is what prompts Arrow's "you guys scare me" speech). That they are backed by ComicBook/LexLuthor (and actually recruit supervillains to work for them) is neither surprising nor does their cause any favours, nor does all the disasters they inadvertently cause as a result of this crusade (such as creating, then accidently unleashing, Doomsday, as well as the AxCrazy Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} clone Galatea; or even, indirectly helping EvilSorceror Felix Faust take over ''the Underworld)'', basically showing that it's not the power, but who wields it that matters.
*** The conversation between ComicBook/AmandaWaller and Batman during this arc brings to a head the series' attitude towards this trope. After a number of run-ins with Cadmus, Batman does some digging and then confronts Waller after bypassing her house's heavy security to catch her in the shower.
---->'''Batman''': Whatever you think you're doing, if you present a threat to the world, the Justice League will take you down.
---->'''Amanda Waller''': If WE present a threat? You've got a space station floating above our heads with a laser weapon pointing DOWN. In another dimension, seven of you overthrew the government and assassinated the President! We're the good guys, protecting our country from a very real threat: YOU.
*** Lex, for that matter, is running for President during this arc, and he milks this trope for all its worth, most notably by tricking Superman and Captain Marvel into a very public and very destructive fight in order to make Superman look bad, and later hijacking the laser the League attached to their Watchtower and using it on a city in order to frame them. The whole Justice Lord fiasco started when [[PresidentEvil their-President]] Luthor murdered the Flash and seemed ready to start WorldWarIII (if that big red button on his desk was any indication) and regular-Luthor only ran for President just to make Superman and the League paranoid and ticked off -- his ''true'' plan being to get superpowers for himself, though that ironically ends up working in a way he didn't expect when it is revealed that a copy of ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} had been living inside him since the days of ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', Once Luthor merges with Brainiac, the resulting fusion becomes dead-set on destroying the world and remaking the universe. Once again showing that Luthor, if given the appropriate superpower, can potentially be a bigger threat to humanity than the entire League combined.

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' had the episode "[[Literature/BraveNewWorld Brave New Metropolis]]" in which Lois Lane went into an AlternateTimeline where, due to her death, Superman had become a benevolent dictator over the years. [[VillainWorld He and Lex Luthor ruled the world side by side.]]
** The 2-part finale "Legacy" deals with this in some detail; Superman is {{Brainwashed}} into becoming a minion of {{ComicBook/Darkseid}}, partly out of petty vengeance for his earlier defiance of him, and becomes TheDragon, his ultimate soldier who leads his armies to conquer the universe. Superman is eventually unleashed on Earth where, with the help of ComicBook/LexLuthor, the army manages to capture and defeat Supes, at around the same time his brainwashing is removed; he is also rather annoyed to find out that the army is ''also'' holding Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} prisoner, after he had beat her up while under mind control. After freeing Supergirl, an enraged Superman has to threaten Emil Hamilton into giving her medical treatment, since they are both technically fugitives. It's ''this'' show of rage that actually leads to Hamilton joining Cadmus in ''Justice League Unlimited'', as it was the first time he was actually afraid of Superman (there's nothing like seeing someone pissed off that their family has been hurt to convince you that person can never be trusted again). The episode ends with a number of characters being asked if they can ever trust Superman again.
** [[WhatCouldHaveBeen An unproduced]] final season would have been entirely Beware The Superman. Superman, coming off his perceived betrayal of humanity, would have had to deal with people's mistrust and skepticism of his actions at the end of "Legacy".

*** In "Blast from the Past," Superman discovers Mala in the Phantom Zone, and Braniac reveals that she and Jax-Ur were imprisoned in the Phantom Zone because they tried to take over Krypton a few years before its destruction, but were stopped by Jor-El. Jax-Ur was given a life sentence, but since the court ruled Mala was JustFollowingOrders, she was given twenty years. Mala seems to have been rehabilitated, but she then steals the Phantom Zone projector to bring back Jax-Ur, and when they imprison Superman in the Phantom Zone they use their powers to take over earth. When Superman is let out thanks to Lois and Hamilton, they imprison Mala and Jax Ur once again.
*** In the episode "Absolute Power," after they escape the Phantom Zone, they take over an inhabited planet, and show Superman they are benevolent rulers who have raised the natives' standard of living. Superman decides to leave them alone, until a member of [[LaResistance a rebel group]] shows that Mala and Jax-Ur are building a fleet of star-ships to invade earth. They are only stopped because they were sucked into a black hole that was near the star system.

** The 2-part finale "Legacy" deals with this in some detail; Superman is {{Brainwashed}} into becoming a minion of {{ComicBook/Darkseid}}, partly out of petty vengeance for his earlier defiance of him, and becomes TheDragon, his ultimate soldier who leads his armies to conquer the universe. He is eventually unleashed on Earth where, with the help of ComicBook/LexLuthor, he is captured and defeated, and his brainwashing removed; he is also rather annoyed to find out that they are ''also'' holding Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} prisoner, after he had beat her up while under mind control. It's ''this'' show of rage that actually leads to Emil Hamilton joining Cadmus in ''Justice League Unlimited'', as it was the first time he was actually afraid of Superman (there's nothing like seeing someone pissed off that their family has been hurt to convince you that person can never be trusted again). The episode ends with a number of characters being asked if they can ever trust Superman again.

*** Lex, for that matter, is running for President during this arc, and he milks this trope for all its worth, most notably by tricking Superman and Captain Marvel into a very public and very destructive fight in order to make Superman look bad, and later hijacking the laser the League attached to their Watchtower and using it on a city in order to frame them. The whole Justice Lord fiasco started when [[PresidentEvil their-President]] Luthor murdered the Flash and seemed ready to start WorldWarIII (if that big red button on his desk was any indication) and regular-Luthor only ran for President just to make Superman and the League paranoid and ticked off -- his ''true'' plan being to get superpowers for himself, though that ironically ends up working in a way he didn't expect when it is revealed that a copy of ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} had been living inside him since the days of WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries, Once Luthor merges with Brainiac, the resulting fusion becomes dead-set on destroying the world and remaking the universe. Once again showing that Luthor, if given the appropriate superpower, can potentially be a bigger threat to humanity than the entire League combined.

* Another example is the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "The Call" -- although not exclusively this, it is basically centered around the premise that [[spoiler: Superman has lost it and is taking out Justice League members one by one]]. Although he doesn't give the theory any more credence than any of previous brainwashing or mind-game SuperDickery Superman has gone through, Bruce Wayne does acknowledge the real possibility of the world's strongest man snapping from the strain of his responsibilities.

* ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'': Unlike the comics, this version of [[Characters/Invincible2021OmniMan Omni-Man]] is a full-blown supervillain masquerading as the world's greatest hero. Using his publicity allows him to get away with ''genocide'' of both heroes and enemies of Earth, intentionally causing unnecessary strife and warmongering for Earth so his true allies, an all-conquering empire, can steamroll over the survivors. When his cover is finally blown, he goes on a mass-murdering spree [[GrievousHarmWithABody using his own son as a living weapon]] to break him. [[spoiler:Realizing that he has a shred of empathy left for his family ''still'' doesn't give him empathy of the humans he murdered for sport, and he just leaves his family and Earth to die.]]

** The Cadmus arc of ''Unlimited'' invoked this trope further, with Cadmus being reimagined as a covert government agency that [[CapeBusters exists to counter the League]] in the event they ever go rogue (which is what prompts Arrow's "you guys scare me" speech). That they are backed by ComicBook/LexLuthor (and actually recruit supervillains to work for them) is neither surprising nor does their cause any favours, nor does all the disasters they inadvertently cause as a result of this crusade (such as creating, then accidently unleashing, Doomsday, as well as the AxCrazy Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} clone Galatea; or even, indirectly helping EvilSorceror Felix Faust take over ''the Underworld)'', basically showing that its not the power, but who wields it that matters.

** The 2-part finale "Legacy" deals with this in some detail; Superman is {{Brainwashed}} into becoming a minion of {{ComicBook/Darkseid}}, partly out of petty vengeance for his earlier defiance of him, and becomes TheDragon, his ultimate soldier who leads his armies to conquer the universe. He is eventually unleashed on Earth where, with the help of ComicBook/LexLuthor, he is captured and defeated, and his brainwashing removed; he is also rather annoyed to find out that they are ''also'' holding Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} prisoner, after he had beat her up while under mind control. It's ''this'' show of rage that actually leads to Emil Hamilton joining Cadmus in ''Justice League Unlimited'', as it was the first time he was actually afraid of Superman ([[WhatAnIdiot there's nothing like seeing someone pissed off that their family has been hurt to convince you that person can never be trusted again]]). The episode ends with a number of characters being asked if they can ever trust Superman again.

---->'''Amanda Waller''': If WE present a threat? You've got a space station floating above our heads with a laser weapon pointing DOWN. In another dimension, 7 of you overthrew the government and assassinated the President! We're the good guys, protecting our country from a very real threat: YOU.

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' had an episode where Lois Lane went into an alternate future where, due to her death, Superman had become a benevolent dictator over the years. He and Lex Luthor ruled the world side by side.

*** Lex, for that matter, is running for President during this arc, and he milks this trope for all its worth, most notably by tricking Superman and Captain Marvel into a very public and very destructive fight in order to make Superman look bad, and later hijacking the laser the League attached to their Watchtower and using it on a city in order to frame them. The whole Justice Lord fiasco started when [[PresidentEvil their-President]] Luthor murdered the Flash and seemed ready to start WorldWarIII (if that big red button on his desk was any indication) and regular-Luthor only ran for President just to make Superman and the League paranoid and ticked off -- his ''true'' plan being to get superpowers for himself, though that ironically ends up working in a way he didn't expect when it is revealed that a copy of ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} had been living inside him since the days of WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries, Once Luthor merges with {{Brainiac}}, the resulting fusion becomes dead-set on destroying the world and remaking the universe. Once again showing that Luthor, if given the appropriate superpower, can potentially be a bigger threat to humanity than the entire League combined.

*** Lex, for that matter, is running for President during this arc, and he milks this trope for all its worth, most notably by tricking Superman and Captain Marvel into a very public and very destructive fight in order to make Superman look bad, and later hijacking the laser the League attached to their Watchtower and using it on a city in order to frame them. The whole Justice Lord fiasco started when [[PresidentEvil their-President]] Luthor murdered the Flash and seemed ready to start WorldWarIII (if that big red button on his desk was any indication) and regular-Luthor only ran for President just to make Superman and the League paranoid and ticked off -- his ''true'' plan being to get superpowers for himself, though he later changes that to merging with ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}, destroying the world and remaking the universe. Once again showing that Luthor himself is a bigger threat to humanity than the entire League combined.

* The BadFuture shown in ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' has been driven to ruin by Dan Phantom, a FusionDance between Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius. He has all of Vlad's evil as well as Danny's powers, allowing him to dominate humans and ghosts alike without fear of consequence.