http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E9AFishStory
Creatures of the sea are acting in strange and aggressive ways lately. It turns out Lex Luthor is undergoing an unethical, underwater experiment and has also imprisoned the legendary Aquaman. Lois and Clark must help Aquaman before a war breaks out between Earth and the City of Atlantis.
- Always a Bigger Fish: An Atlantean ship makes Luthor's ship look like a trout.
- Bad Boss: Is it any surprise that Lex Luthor fills this role?
Lex: Arm for detonation.
Henchman: But our own men are still down there.
Lex: And their beneficiaries will be well-compensated.
- Big "NO!": Lois when the Captain's attempt to shoot Aquaman In the Back results in the Atlanteans opening fire.
- Bittersweet Ending: Luthor's tests are stopped, but Aquaman threatens to escalate against the surface world should further incidents occur.
- Brick Joke: From this episode on, just as she said she would in "Superman's Pal", Lois wears pants.
- The Cavalry: The Atlanteans arrive to support their king in repelling the surface dwellers.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Aquaman and Superman made short work on the divers.
- Damsel in Distress: Luthor lampshades about Lois' importance to Superman who will come to save her when she is in trouble.
- Does Not Drive: Jimmy is asked by Lois to do so. Since he doesn't have his driver's licence yet, obviously the results are not pretty.
- Downer Ending: Thanks to Luthor and his men's actions, humanity is now made the enemy of the Atlanteans who will one day return to finish them for good should their seas be harmed again.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The version of Aquaman that appears in this series is based on the golden age Aquaman. All later appearances are based on the revamped 90's version.
- Giant Squid: Aquaman summons one to deal with Luthor's men.
- Hope Spot: Superman and Lois manage to convince Aquaman and his fleet to stand down. Then one of Luthor's men gets trigger happy...
- Humans Are Bastards: Aquaman justifies his war against humanity for polluting his oceans. He tries to convince Superman since humanity pollutes his skies but the latter convinces Aquaman that there are people trying to solve the problems.
- Loophole Abuse: Luthor insists that being in international waters means he is in the clear legally and that Superman can't do anything about it.
- Nature Hero: Aquaman.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Aquaman says his peaceful overtures resulted in him being captured. It makes him balk at Superman's calls for a peaceful solution.
- Real After All: Lois had heard stories about Aquaman, but she assumed he was just an urban legend. She's also stunned to learn Atlantis does exist.
- Recycled Animation: When Aquaman's armada opens fire at Luthor's ship, there's a full screen frame of a fire explosion, which is reused footage from "Where There's Smoke" when Volcana blasted Superman with a fire ball in the parking lot. Soon afterwards, there's another explosion that is reused footage from the gas canisters that Superman ignites in "The Way of All Flesh". Finally, when two crewmen jump overboard, there's another explosion that is reused footage from the explosion of Pa and Ma Kent's barn in "New Kids in Town".
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Lois demands that the test be stopped before it's too late.
Captain: [to Lois] It's Mr. Luthor that gives the orders here!
Superman: [grabbing him] Mind your manners. [tosses him aside]
- Threatening Shark: Luthor's men think that Lois is going to be eaten by a shark. She isn't. Aquaman controls the shark to help her instead.
- Too Dumb to Live:
- The captain thinks he could harpoon a guy with super powers and thinks that his fleet of warships will let this go.
- Luthor chastises Dr. Cardy for abducting Lois, saying that's a surefire way to attract Superman's attention.
- We Will Meet Again: Aquaman tells Superman to deliver his message to the world and promises to be watching.
- Wham Shot: Sneaking around the facility, Lois finds a detained man in a very familiar orange and green costume.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Luthor and Mercy leave the crew stranded in the sea. It's presumed Superman saves them.
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Aquaman is out to protect Atlantis and is even a beloved king, but Luthor dismisses him as "an ecological terrorist" and orders his men to dispose of him.
