http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/TheAdventuresOfBatmanAndRobinE6TheTerribleTrio
A trio of spoiled, wealthy playboys enter a life of crime purely for the "fun" of it.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Animal Motifs: Each of the trio’s identities reflect their personalities —
- Warren’s Fox is cunning, manipulative and sociopathic.
- Armand’s Vulture is that of a cowardly scavenger.
- Gunther’s Shark is the closest to a brute.
- Answer Cut: Dick asks why the Trio would steal if they're so rich. We then cut to Warren yelling, "Because we were bored!"
- The Beautiful Elite: The Trio certainly see themselves this way.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The Trio.
- Bribe Backfire: At the conclusion, Fox tries to pay off Batman with $10 million, explaining that it "buys a lot of batarangs." Batman refuses not just because he already has "a lot of batarangs," but because he refuses to let Fox just buy his way out of his troubles.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Throughout the episode, the Trio has managed to get away from Batman via dirty tricks (hurting Robin, putting bystanders in the way, etc). When they try to face him one-on-one...well, they're three frat boys with superiority complexes versus the flipping Batman. You do the math.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Warren's girlfriend Rebecca has a rocky relationship with her father (despite still showing concern for him when he's hospitalized), and he clearly doesn't like Warren too much. His dislike of Warren turns out to be justified.
- Didn't Think This Through: Warren assumes he'll be able to use his wealth to get away with his crimes. He fails to realize that most of the crimes he's committed were against other members of the city elite,
who also have the wealth to ensure that he won't. - Distressed Dude: At the beginning of the episode, Robin is thrown from the pier when the Trio blow it up. He spends the rest of the episode with his arm in a cast. The only reason he wasn't hurt worse was because Batman realized the dock had been booby trapped and warned the Boy Wonder in time.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Warren figures that Bruce Wayne is "the dullest man in Gotham", unaware that this same man is really the Caped Crusader.
- Warren's girlfriend accepted his invitation to go with him and his friends on a trip to the mountains so she could take her mind off her father being in a coma, unaware she's going on a trip with the very people who put her father in the coma in the first place.
- When a desperate Warren finds himself caught by Batman, he tries to bribe the Dark Knight into looking the other way, convinced he could use it to buy "a lot of batarangs". Between Batman's strong morals and his wealth as Bruce Wayne, the audience knows this won't work.
- Even Evil Has Standards: The Vulture hesitates when they rob people they know, not to mention when their leader decides to kill his own girlfriend once she learns they're criminals.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Warren doesn't understand why his girlfriend cares about her father.
- Fashion-Victim Villain: Compared to the well-designed, colorful, scary and sometimes flattering costumes of a majority of Batman's rogues gallery, the animal masks and drab overcoats worn by the trio make them look like this trope. As Dick puts it best:
Dick: They look like refugees from Mardi Gras.
- Foil: Between Bruce and Warren. Both are rich playboys by day and have a double life by night. But there's no denying there's a dichotomy in how they play it out. Bruce is a gentleman who respects the staff and uses his wealth for good, and is kind to Rebecca regardless that she thinks he's "boring". Warren is an elitist who looks down on "the help", sees his wealth as a means to entertain himself, and is only nice to Rebecca as a trophy up until she learns his secret. On the flipside, Batman is a honorable hero who uses his gifts and talents to help people, and has developed a thick skin. By contrast, Fox is an arrogant thief who uses wealth as an excuse to steal from others, and cowers when the odds aren't in his favor.
- Gilligan Cut: A dramatic example: the end has the rich playboy Warren declaring his family's lawyers will undoubtedly get him off as Batman apprehends him. The very next scene is him being pushed into a jail cell.
- He Knows Too Much: Warren tries to kill his girlfriend after she finds out he and his two best friends are criminals. Not that it matters, since Batman has already long since deduced their identities anyway.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Warren felt he knew everything he needs to know about Bruce Wayne and assumes he's not worth noticing. If only he knew what he was at night...
Warren: Dollar for dollar, that has to be the dullest man in Gotham!
- Irony: Rebecca looks down on Bruce for being 'safe and boring' and looks to her boyfriend Warren as the more desirable of the two. But not only does Warren try to kill her when she learns of his double life, Bruce (as Batman) comes to her rescue.
- It Amused Me: The Terrible Trio commit crimes purely for their own entertainment. Batman considers them worse than the Joker (who at least has insanity as an excuse).
- It's Personal: Batman is clearly not pleased that the Trio almost got Robin killed. If there's one thing you shouldn't do, it's mess with Batman's sidekick.
- Jerkass: Warren's definitely this.
- Lack of Empathy: Warren has absolutely zero concern for anyone beyond himself, to the point that he's willing to murder his own girlfriend just because she accidentally finds out he's the criminal.
- Land, Sea, Sky: The eponymous trio from the comics. They all are bored, rich men who inherited family fortunes from oil (land), a shipping magnate (sea), and an aerodynamics firm (air).
- Money to Throw Away: Happens with the wealthy trio throwing out the takings from their latest robbery to slow down the pursuing Batmobile.
- Nice to the Waiter: Bruce Wayne is this, which becomes more evident in contrast to the trio's civilian identities. He's the only one who'd thank servants. Warren mockingly asks Bruce if he would thank the garbage man for taking the garbage away.
Bruce: If I happen to run into him.
- Prison Rape: At the end, when we see Warren put into a prison cell this is the implication of what's to come given a sinister amused grin given by his new rather burly cellmate. Especially ironic since the last we saw of Lawford, he was bragging about how his rich family would get him off scot-free.
- Rich Boredom: That's what drove the Terrible Trio into a life of crime.
- Rule of Three: The antagonists are a trio and their getaway car has three grenades ready for launching.
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules!:
- Warren pathetically attempts to bribe Batman to let him go. Naturally, the Dark Knight refuses the offer.
- Warren gives the security guard at their first target a "tip" from the loot in an extremely condescending way. The guard throws the stack of cash back in his face.
- Warren claims to have every judge in Gotham in his pocket. It didn't save him from prison.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: The leader of the Terrible Trio tries to pull this when Batman catches him. When Batman refuses the bribe, he claims he can use his money to walk away anyway. One Gilligan Cut later, he's being pushed into a cell.
- Shark Man: Gunther Hardwicke, a.k.a. Shark.
- Smug Snake: The Terrible Trio, especially Fox, who seems to have trouble not lording it over "the little people."
- Terrible Trio: The (literal) Terrible Trio, three wealthy young men who commit crimes for the thrill and excitement.
- Übermensch: Warren justifies the Trio's crimes by claiming that they are the übermenschen of Gotham, inherently superior and therefore entitled to do as they please.
- Villain Episode: The episode largely follows Warren and his cronies, and only cuts to Batman's perspective once or twice briefly to make it clear he's closing in on them.
- Was It Really Worth It?: Warren has a lavish and cushy lifestyle, but commits his crimes out of boredom, believing he can get away with it because of his status. Once apprehended by Batman, the next scene shows him shoved into a dark dank prison cell, with an unsavory cellmate. The fallen rich boy becomes frightened almost immediately once the reality of his situation finally hits him. One simply has to ask, "Was your fun worth it?"
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It's never explained if Warren's girlfriend's father recovered from his encounter with Warren (he's last shown in a coma), and it's never explained what happened to Warren's girlfriend after Batman rescues her.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Warren's initially convinced that he could buy his way out of trouble once Batman apprehends him and rejects his attempts at bribery. Warren doesn't seem to realize (or possibly ignores the fact) that most of his victims are just as rich as he is (if not richer in some cases), and thus can easily afford high-priced lawyers themselves and ensure that whoever ends up being the judge that presides over the trial remains unbiased. Therefore, it's not much of a surprise that Warren's presumably found guilty on all charges—breaking and entering, theft, aggravated assault, and attempted murder, just to name a few—and tossed into a filthy prison cell with a burly (and apparently ill-tempered) cellmate.
- Younger Than They Look: Vulture is supposed to be the same age as Shark and Fox but is already balding and looks almost ten years older than them.
