History GoodIsNotNice / TheDCU

* ''ComicBook/GreenArrow'': {{Deconstruction}}. While [[Characters/GreenArrowOliverQueen Oliver Queen]] is ultimately a force for good, he has never been particularly nice about it. On his best days, he's rude, arrogant, and is always convinced that his idea is better. On most days, he's a sanctimonious, elitist JerkAss. At his worst, he's a complete asshole. Oliver's personal and professional lives are a wreck because of his behavior and actions. His relationship with his friends and family is strained, with him constantly cheating on his long time girlfriend Black Canary (Dinah Lance), neglecting his sidekick and ward Speedy I/Arsenal/Red Arrow I (Roy Harper), abandoning his biological son Green Arrow II (Connor Hawke) at birth and lying to Connor that he did not know he was his son when they met and Connor became his sidekick. Oliver also doesn't have a great reputation among the superhero community due to his smug tendencies and boorish behavior. While Oliver generally tries and usually manages to do the right thing, there are times were even his teammates at the ComicBook/JusticeLeague barely tolerate him. While he made a genuine effort to be a better boyfriend and husband to his girlfriend/wife Dinah, and reconnect with Roy and Connor while being a better father to them, and was able to repair his relationship with them and become a better superhero, things went crashing down in the ''Cry for Justice'' & ''Rise and Fall'' storylines where Oliver murders Prometheus for destroying Star City and causing the death of his adopted granddaughter Lian Harper. His family washes their hands of him, with his wife returning her wedding ring and declaring their marriage over and Roy and Connor telling him they are through with him. It's implied that Oliver killing Prometheus is the last straw for his family and his mistreatment of them was the main cause of them leaving him.

* ''Series/WonderWoman'': In the pilot, Wonder Woman blows up a submarine, killing all on board. In "Anschluss 77", she [[TooPowerfulToLive kills the clone of Hitler]] by using her magic lasso to force the doctor to reverse the process.

** ''Film/{{Batman|1989}}'': [[Characters/BatmanFilmSeriesBatman Batman]], natch.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Detective Harvey Bullock, though especially in the episode, "A Bullet For Bullock". He may be an oafish, uncouth, unpleasant cop who doesn't like the dark knight, but he is one of the few decent, completely uncorrupted cops in the Gotham PD. Pretty much the entire force hates him since you could count the nice things about him on one hand, and pretty much the entire criminal underbelly hates him because of his impressive track record at bringing in criminals.

** Batman himself is sometimes portrayed as this, DependingOnTheWriter. He can be callous, rude, vicious, and fully employs nearly every trope in the TerrorHero handbook while crusading to defend the weak and innocent. He'll even show some mercy to bad guys, but never too much (for instance, ''Videogame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' has him saving a thug dangling over a pit of deadly Joker Gas... and then punching the thug unconscious right on the spot.).

* ''ComicBook/GreenArrow'': {{Deconstruction}}. While Oliver Queen is ultimately a force for good, he has never been particularly nice about it. On his best days, he's rude, arrogant, and is always convinced that his idea is better. On most days, he's a sanctimonious, elitist JerkAss. At his worst, he's a complete asshole. Oliver's personal and professional lives are a wreck because of his behavior and actions. His relationship with his friends and family is strained, with him constantly cheating on his long time girlfriend Black Canary (Dinah Lance), neglecting his sidekick and ward Speedy I/Arsenal/Red Arrow I (Roy Harper), abandoning his biological son Green Arrow II (Connor Hawke) at birth and lying to Connor that he did not know he was his son when they met and Connor became his sidekick. Oliver also doesn't have a great reputation among the superhero community due to his smug tendencies and boorish behavior. While Oliver generally tries and usually manages to do the right thing, there are times were even his teammates at the ComicBook/JusticeLeague barely tolerate him. While he made a genuine effort to be a better boyfriend and husband to his girlfriend/wife Dinah, and reconnect with Roy and Connor while being a better father to them, and was able to repair his relationship with them and become a better superhero, things went crashing down in the ''Cry for Justice'' & ''Rise and Fall'' storylines where Oliver murders Prometheus for destroying Star City and causing the death of his adopted granddaughter Lian Harper. His family washes their hands of him, with his wife returning her wedding ring and declaring their marriage over and Roy and Connor telling him they are through with him. It's implied that Oliver killing Prometheus is the last straw for his family and his mistreatment of them was the main cause of them leaving him.

** ''Film/{{Batman|1989}}'': Batman, natch.

** ''Film/{{Aquaman|2018}}'': Arthur Curry

** ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumLivingHell'' has this has part of its plot. Warren White, a CorruptCorporateExecutive who committed stock fraud, tries an InsanityDefense--and the jury actually bought it. However, because the city his trial was held in is [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham]] [[WretchedHive City]], the judge, who was disgusted with the jury buying it, decides to throw White into Arkham Asylum indefinitely. While he was never nice to begin with, (his behavior even early on being an example of this trope) Jeremiah Arkham's behavior towards Warren is implied to be because Jeremiah was among White's victims and likewise, it's also implied the Asylum suffered cutbacks because of White.

* Jack Knight from the '90s ''Comicbook/{{Starman}}''. He becomes a better person - outside of being a superhero - as the series goes on but he's still a JerkAss AntiHero for a good portion of the early issues. Even at the end, he still shows signs of being a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* The [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Franchise/{{Superman}} had no trouble with threatening crooks to get them to confess. He didn't kill people, but if criminals suffered KarmicDeath (which happened a ''lot'') he'd usually comment that they got what they deserved. In one comic he grabbed a doctor, ignored his protests, and flew him ''through a hurricane'' and two hundred miles cross-country so he could save a dying kid. This era was later referenced and deconstructed by Creator/GrantMorrison. Young Superman tries to beat a confession out of a corrupt media mogul; he succeeds in scaring the guy but what he gets is no way admissible in court.

** Batman himself is sometimes portrayed as this, DependingOnTheWriter. He can be callous, rude, vicious, and fully employs nearly every trope in the TerrorHero handbook while crusading to defend the weak and innocent.

!!Franchise/TheDCU

* [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel Junior]]. Freddy Freeman is a NiceGuy day-to-day, it takes a ''lot'' to get on his bad side, but he ''does'' have one in contrast to Billy Batson's IncorruptiblePurePureness. He's had to be restrained from trying to kill Captain Nazi, but for the most part he's typically been written as much more hotheaded and prone to act before thinking (in other words, more of a teenage boy) than Billy. [[Film/Shazam2019 Rescuing the kids who'd bullied him in school via suitcase wedgie]] is right on-brand.

* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueElite'':
** Naif Al-Sheikh is a sexist, elitist asshole, but he's also usually honest and works to hold his team to high standards.
** Manitou Raven dedicates almost every waking moment to the team, but he also alienates his wife to the point where she hooks up with Green Arrow just to try and get a reaction out of him. [[spoiler: Despite this, he sacrifices himself to save the team, even the guy who slept with his wife.]]