What An Idiot / Batman

Even Batman can have a stupid moment or two.

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DCAU

Batman: The Animated Series

• There's Harley Quinn's relationship with the Joker. In her backstory, Joker seduced Dr. Harleen Quinzel while she was interning at Arkham, showing a sweet side that hasn't appeared since she donned the clown makeup and busted him out. Dr. Joan Leland and Janet Van Dorne find her case a tragic example of domestic abuse, Batman tells her that Joker is a liar who cares about no one, and Ivy makes her opinion clear that Joker is scum who doesn't appreciate what he has.
  You'd Expect: With everyone telling her that the Joker is no good for her, villains and heroes alike, and that she's throwing her life away, Harley would eventually listen, and start getting the treatment she needs to break the abusive cycle. It's shown that Ivy and she nurtured a relationship, to the point where Ivy leaves behind several plant clones in Gotham when she starts a new life outside the city, and the worst Ivy does to Harley is toss gardening equipment towards her in annoyance.
  Instead: Despite a few times when Harley manages to go straight and cold turkey with her Pudding, she always goes back to him and crime. Including the time when he pushed her out of a window because she attempted to replicate one of his murder plots.
  The Result: Tragedy ensues when in an attempt to have "children," Harley helps Joker kidnap Tim Drake, the second Robin, and torture him into becoming a Joker Jr. In the ensuing fight with Batman and Batgirl, Harley falls into a deep chasm, and Joker dies — that is, his actual body dies and then a digital clone of his mind, implanted in Tim's brain, awakens later. Harley afterward disappears, has a Heel Realization, and moves on to have the family that she wanted. She also knows she's a wanted fugitive who crossed the line, and Joker soon recruits her granddaughters.
• In the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Mudslide", Batman is chasing down actor Matt Hagen, who has been robbing various chemical factories. Hagen is falling apart at the seams, leaving muddy trails behind him as he struggles to run. Batman offers to help restore Hagen's humanity but Hagen - justifiably skeptical given that Batman nearly killed him in the past - says that he doesn't need Batman's help. It turns out he has found another doctor - a medical consultant from one of his old movies - who has found a chemical process that will restore his body... and the final chemical they need is at Wayne Enterprises, which leads to Batman catching the trail again and finding Hagen's hideout, just as Hagen is undergoing the final process to save his life.
  You'd Expect: Batman to just let this crime go. Hagen was an unwilling villain, blackmailed into crime by a corrupt businessman and unwittingly turned into a monster by the minions of the same businessman. Batman knows of Hagen's past and offers to help Hagen earlier in the same episode. Even if he couldn't justify letting the crime go, nothing stops him from letting him get cured and then throwing a non-superpowered Hagen in jail. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time Bruce Wayne made a public show of supporting the rehabilitation of a criminal, having paid for the experimental surgery and therapies that would restore Harvey Dent to normal life in "Second Chance".
  Instead: Batman blows up the machine that is injecting Hagen with the chemicals and says "It's all over, Hagen. The lab boys can take it from here." This leads to an all-out battle which Batman only wins after taking the fight outside where the rain further weakens Hagen.
  • Batman does this to Clayface again in the Justice League episode "Secret Society". Granted, Grodd probably wouldn't have allowed Hagen to be cured of his condition anyway, but still...
    Batman: Always trying to find a cure, aren't you?
    Clayface: Can you blame me?
    Batman: No... but it's made you predictable.
• But the above example just leads to another one, this time on Clayface's part. So the only thing Hagen wants in the entire world, the thing that he says makes him keep committing crimes and falling in with villains, is his humanity back. Batman has been shown to not only offer Hagen his help with this but has attempted it with other villains before, and isn't known for lying about something as serious as this.
  You'd Expect: Mr. "I Just Want to Be Normal" would consider, even the slightest, turning himself in. He could get actual, legal help for his condition, and he wouldn't have to worry about Batman tearing him a new one every time they cross.
  Instead: He stays a criminal, often going out of his way to use someone either under duress or just as crooked as he is, if not worse. He eventually stopped whining about being normal and just turned bad.
  Even Worse: This could be said for just about any villain really, not just on the show, including some of the ones listed here, like Mr. Freeze.
• In "Cat Scratch Fever", Batman is being chased by a rabid, infected dog through the snowy wilderness with several crooks he was trying to foil also following him. He slides out onto a frozen-over lake and manages to administer a cure to the dog. The villains arrive on the scene, armed and ready against a potentially tired and weakened Batman.
  You'd Expect: The villains keep their distance and shoot Batman with their weaponry from afar, perhaps breaking the ice so that he falls in and guard the immediate area so that he can't get back out. This would ensure an icy death for the caped crusader.
  Instead: The villains do indeed submerge Batman after shooting the ice, but not before walking out onto the ice themselves.
  Predictably: Batman comes out from under them, causing the villain's weaponry to go off and break the ice beneath their feet, disarming them and allowing Batman to take them in.
• "Joker's Wild": A millionaire called Kaiser has a casino built but becomes bankrupt in the process, so he hatches a plan to undo it all: he decides to extensively use the Joker's image and name for his casino so that the Joker would become enraged and destroy it, allowing him to collect the insurance money.
  You'd Expect: Him to realize how convoluted and just plain moronic his plan is. Enraging one of the most dangerous psychotic serial killers in the world isn't the best of ideas, and he had no guarantee that the Joker would decide to destroy it (he might have thought of it as a homage to him), or that he wouldn't directly go after Kaiser rather than targeting the place.
  Instead: He goes ahead with his plan.
  Later: Despite all, his plan works. And would have succeeded, if not for a major screw-up on Kaiser's part: Thanks to security cameras, he catches the Joker planting explosives in the place's basement. Just as Kaiser is about to leave the place, Batman breaks in and reveals to him that he knows his plan. Following this, Kaiser pushes a button that sends an electric shock to Batman and knocks him out.
  You'd Expect: Him to leave Batman there chained up or something to get killed when the place blows up. Or better yet, shoot him before leaving in case he wakes up.
  Instead: He has Batman sent to the Joker, hoping this one would take care of him.
  Predictably: Batman reveals Kaiser's plan to the Joker who, not happy with having been manipulated and played for a fool, cancels his plans to blow up the place and goes after Kaiser instead. In the end, Kaiser gets lucky that Batman survives and barely manages to stop the Joker and save his life.
• In "Terror in the Sky", Francine Langstrom sees her father accidentally drop a beaker of chemicals.
  You'd Expect: As an accomplished scientist, Francine put on some protective gloves and apply the proper procedure to clean up that mess.
  Instead: She doesn't take any precautions and cleans with a rag.
  As a Result: A shard of glass cuts her skin and she bites the wound to suck the blood, effectively infecting her with the mutagen her father was working on.
  Even Worse: Francine later mutates into She-bat and goes on a rampage inside an airplane.
• In "The Clock King", the future title character, Temple Fugate, is due to appear at an important business hearing appealing a $20 million lawsuit against his company. Mayor Hill—then just an attorney—suggests that he take fifteen minutes to relax before the hearing, so he's not so tense. Temple takes the advice and decides to enjoy the park, and takes along the important documents he needs for the hearing. Some children are playing volleyball nearby, but otherwise, the park is very quiet.
  You'd Think: He would carry the extremely important documents that he cannot afford to lose in a briefcase so they're protected from any mishaps that should occur.
  Instead: Temple carries the documents to the park in nothing but the folders they were delivered to him in.
  Result: He loses the papers when the kids hit him with their ball, rushes to recover them before the wind can blow them away, and then ends up falling into a fountain with them because of a random dog startling him.
  As a Result: Temple shows up disheveled, waterlogged, and late to his hearing, and loses the appeal by default.
• "Mad as a Hatter": After Jervis treats Alice out to a wonderful night in Gotham City, she returns home to find Billy, ready to apologize for breaking up with her.
  You'd Expect: Alice to politely refuse or at the very least, tell him to Get Out! since she found a new man who's willing to be with her forever, even if it sounded stalkerish.
  Instead: She predictably accepts Billy's offer and becomes engaged to him.
  The Result: When Jervis finds out the next day, he becomes pissed and fully becomes the Mad Hatter, starting with brainwashing his boss Dr. Cates who attempts to reprimand him for his antics and then Billy and later Alice herself, forcing Batman to stop this villain, who blames him for doing this to Alice.
• "House and Garden": Ivy has found a ticket out of Arkham: a man named Dr. Carlyle. She uses her chemicals to make him fall in love with her and sign her release papers. Due to Ivy's experiments, she's been rendered infertile. Dr. Carlyle has two girls, Chris and Kelly, but his ex-wife has custody.
  You'd Expect: She would stop there. The police are none the wiser since Dr. Carlyle vouches for her. She can spend time with the girls when they come on visitation, or play The Long Game and adopt later.
  Instead: Ivy goes one step further. She traps Carlyle in their newly built greenhouse, takes his DNA, and uses it to create expensive, short-lived clones. The clones become boys instead after one day, look like Dr. Carlyle the next, and then become hideous monsters after the third. To pay for the clones, Ivy sends the monsters to steal from Gotham's wealthiest.
  The Result: The police and Batman become suspicious of Ivy; at least, Batman does, because it fits her previous crimes. She goes too far by kidnapping Dick, not knowing that his father is Batman. While she seems to have an alibi, Robin reveals that Dr. Carlyle has daughters, not sons, because Dick Grayson had the professor for a college class and saw the kids once. Cue a trip to the greenhouse and Batman planting some herbicide, and he busts the plot quickly. Ivy to her credit planned a getaway, but she wouldn't have needed one if she had kept her plan simple.
• "Deep Freeze": Billionaire Grant Walker has his Killer Robot break into Arkham Asylum and kidnaps Mr. Freeze, intending to strike a deal with this one, as Walker to replicate Freeze's condition. Knowing that Freeze can only survive in sub-zero temperatures, he makes a replica of Freeze's suit for him to wear.
  You'd Expect: To do just that, and then explain to Freeze why he kidnapped him.
  Instead: He doesn't just replicate Freeze suit, but also his Freeze Gun for no given reason, and hands it to him before doing any explaining.
  The Result: Freeze comes this close to killing Walker with his gun. Fortunately for Walker, he manages to talk Freeze into sparing him and agreeing to his deal. Unfortunately for Walker, Freeze changes his mind after talking to Batman and promptly uses his brand new Freeze Gun to trap Walker in a block of ice, foil his plans, and condemn him to a Fate Worse than Death.
• "Lock-Up": Lyle Bolton, the new chief of security for Arkham Asylum, has been secretly abusing and torturing the patients, so much to the point where Scarecrow escapes just to get away from him. During the board meeting, it isn't until Bruce Wayne offers to extend Bolton's contract that Crane, Harley, and Scarface blab out the truth.
  You'd Expect: Bolton to realize they'd have no credibility at first, considering they're certified lunatics.
  You'd Then Expect: Him to stay calm, and with a straight face, tell the heads that they're mere exaggerations, and vaguely say that he's just doing the job he was assigned to do: keep them in line.
  Instead: He completely flies off the handle and makes a move to harm them, knocking out a few guards in the process.
  As A Result: He's fired, and sometime later, becomes a vigilante himself, only unlike Batman, he locks up innocent people he believes are the cause of the villains, including Robin.
  Unsurprisingly: Batman defeats him, and he becomes another inmate of Arkham Asylum.
• "Joker's Millions": The titular character realizes that he's been duped by a rival mob boss about the money. If he tries to tell the public about it, he'll be a laughing stock. His only option is to commit a crime, but without any use of the gadgets, he usually carries.
  You'd Expect: He would go to the Iceberg Lounge by himself and allow his men to secretly rob Gotham Mint by placing it on a boat. That way, Batman wouldn't have any clue that he did the crime since he's not with his men.
  Instead: He sends his lawyer, Ernie, to impersonate him. Batman interrogates him roughly to discover what the Joker just did and successfully foils it.
  • In the same episode, Batman quickly realizes that Ernie is not the Joker when he notices the makeup fall off of Ernie, and when Ernie fails to remember an incident that occurred in a crossover episode in Superman: The Animated Series. He immediately decides to interrogate Ernie about what Joker is doing.
    You'd Expect: That Batman would try to ambush Ernie not near the Iceberg Lounge, as he just met Ernie as Bruce Wayne.
    Instead: Batman attacks Ernie in the Iceberg Lounge, which if it hadn't been for Ernie being scared out of his wits, could have led to Batman's identity being exposed or possibly threatened.
• "Over the Edge" has this when Batgirl is pursuing Scarecrow by herself. She noticed him standing on the ledge of a skyscraper.
  You'd Expect: She throws a Batarang to make sure if it's him or not. If he's not knocked over, then it's a decoy.
  Instead: She tackles him, only to discover it's just his coat worn on an antenna. Scarecrow then shows up and hits her with his stick, sending her falling to her death.
  • This moment becomes null when it's All Just a Dream, but still.
• "Legends of the Dark Knight":
  • Played for Laughs when Matt relates his story. He says his uncle was knocked out by the Joker and his gang while protecting a music museum. Batman and Robin come and start thrashing the trio.
    You'd Expect: Robin after taking care of his henchman would find the Joker, who is lurking like a Dirty Coward, or go help Batman with number two.
    Instead: Robin stands smugly watching Batman fight.
    The Result: Joker manages to trap Robin, while his henchmen overpower Batman. They nearly get killed. The other two kids also dispute Matt's story, saying his uncle was asleep for most of the fight so there's no way Batman and Robin would be that ridiculous or cheesy.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

• In Batman's Superhero Origin story, Bruce is struggling with choosing between a life with Andrea and a life as Batman. He's only known her for a few months, but she's the first girlfriend he's had who likes sparring with him and has the brains to match her beauty.
  You'd Expect: Bruce to be upfront with Andrea and tell her about his struggle and plans and leftover trauma from his parents' death (he trusts her enough to marry her, after all), maybe even think of her as a partner after that surprise sparring match with her. What's more, maybe it means they can build a new life of being heroes and being a happy couple.
  Instead: He doesn't tell her about his long-term plans and assumes he couldn't be Batman because she'd "always be home waiting for me." And this isn't even a universe where female characters have always stayed in the kitchen! Bruce, what gave you that idea that's what marriage had to be like? He pops the question to her.
  The Result: An aversion from the usual course of action. Andrea hears Bruce pleading to his parents' grave that he wants to give the mission, and tells him they would want him to be happy. Bruce finally agrees, prepares to move on with his life, never become Batman, and marry Andrea. Well, they both paid the price when Andrea was forced to break her engagement...
• Also in Mask of the Phantasm, Andrea Beaumont's father embezzled a lot of money from some very nasty gangsters. They've given him 24 hours to give it back, but that's not enough time. His daughter is dating Bruce Wayne, one of the richest men in the world.
  You'd Expect: Mr. Beaumont would talk to Bruce and ask to borrow the money from him to pay back what he owes. Wayne is a good guy, and Beaumont can pay him back in a few weeks.
  Instead: Mr. Beaumont and Andrea flee the country, and Andrea leaves Bruce a note breaking up with him.
  The Result: Bruce becomes Batman, now that Andrea isn't a potential future for him. A few years later, the gangsters track them down and kill him. Andrea, seeking revenge, starts hunting down her father's murderers and kills them, one by one. As she and Alfred later put it to Bruce, her happiness was destroyed a long time ago and can never be recovered.

Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero

• In Batman and Mr. Freeze: Subzero Freeze and his partner in crime, Dr. Gregory Belson, just discovered that the vital signs of Freeze's terminally ill wife Nora have stabilized. They take Barbara Gordon, their captive and involuntary organ donor, into the operating room, where Freeze's adopted Inuit son, Koonak, sees them nearly kill Barbara to save Nora's life. Horrified, Koonak rushes to stop them, and in the ensuing chaos, Barbara escapes and runs to the outside of the hideout (an abandoned oil refining station.)
  You'd Expect: Mr. Freeze (wielding a cryogenic energy gun) to have Gregory watch over Nora and go after Barbara himself. This would be a safe way to retrieve her without causing much damage.
  Instead: Freeze sends Belson (wielding a revolver) to do it for him.
  As a Result: Belson, being the impulsive dumbass that he is, ends up starting a fire when his bullets hit some fuel tanks, effectively ruining Mr. Freeze's chances to save his wife.

Batman Beyond

• "Lost Soul": An evil AI (the preserved mind of the late Robert Vance) is on the loose in Gotham, hijacking all sorts of computer systems. Bruce and Terry are fully aware of this; Bruce even shuts down the cave's computer at one point to stop Vance from hacking in. At a later point, while Terry's in the field, the last thing Bruce hears him say is, "There's something wrong with the suit — I can barely move my leg" before all contact is lost completely.
  You'd expect: The original Batman to deduce that Vance has hacked the suit (or at least realize it's a strong possibility) and hit the suit's kill switch immediately.
  Instead: He waits over a minute before hitting the kill switch, giving Vance enough time to drag Terry up to his shoulders in the middle of the Gotham River. Terry's seconds away from drowning before Bruce arrives with the Batmobile to pull him out.

• "Hidden Agenda": Batman realizes that the Jokerz are after Max and believes this is because of the computer program she's running to uncover their identities. He rushes to the school where she's stayed after hours to work on it and saves her from their latest trap.
  You'd expect: Batman to tell Max, "The Jokerz are after you because of that program you're running — for your safety, you need to stop." After all, there would be nothing suspicious about Batman having such knowledge.
  Instead: Batman leaves as soon as he saves her, without saying anything, immediately returns as Terry, with no explanation for what he's doing there or how he got in the building, and then tells Max why the Jokerz are after her.
  Result: Max instantly believes her program's conclusion that Terry is one of the Jokerz. Later, she easily deduces he's Batman.

• "The Last Resort": Terry gets caught secretly videotaping a friend's testimony of the emotional abuse Psycho Psychologist Wheeler is inflicting on the teenage inmates of his facility. Wheeler destroys the camera and recording and locks Terry in a patient room until he can think of how to stop him from revealing the truth. He considers just denying everything since "it's his word against mine" but discards that plan and decides to just kill him and Make It Look Like an Accident, after putting him in an isolation chamber ("total sense deprivation — no light, no sound") for a few hours to "take the fight out of him." The (in)efficiency of this plan aside...
  You'd expect: Wheeler to put his plan into motion immediately since there's no reason in context for him to delay and the first part will take several hours.
  Instead: He waits until morning for absolutely no reason.
  Result: Terry eventually gets word of his plan through the prison grapevine and has plenty of time to form a (successful) plan of escape with another inmate who's being sent to isolation at the same time.

• "Rebirth": Warren McGinnis comes into possession of an incriminating disc that proves Derek Powers created an illegal nerve gas. This disc costs Warren his life, after which Terry finds it and shows it to Bruce Wayne.
  You'd expect: Someone to make at least one backup of the disc's contents, especially knowing that Derek is seeking it and had Warren murdered because of said disc.
  You'd also expect: Bruce to call commissioner Barbara Gordon and inform him about the whole deal with Derek Powers right away and tell her to come to Wayne Manor right away and bring some backup for safety. Knowing that Derek is likely to target Terry for being Warren's son, he would also instruct him to wait with him for the police to arrive so that they can safely hand over the evidence.
  Instead: Neither Warren nor Terry nor Bruce thinks of making a backup. In addition, Bruce gives the disc to Terry and sends him to Barbara with no protection.
  As a Result: Derek intercepts Terry, forcefully takes the disc (the only evidence they had against him) away from Terry and almost has him killed (would have, if Terry's quick thinking hadn't allowed him to come up with an escape route).
• In Ten's second appearance, she reveals to Terry that Jokerz has kidnapped her parents and is demanding ransom money; she's so desperate that she robs a mob boss to get the amount. Batman investigates, and the Jokerz gang leaders that he interrogates swear they haven't done any kidnappings recently. It turns out that King and Queen staged this to test Ten's loyalty.
  You'd Expect: They would have realized the effect this would have on their only daughter. Melanie got arrested along with them last season when helping them stage a heist reluctantly and Batman caught on to their evildoings. She's been having second thoughts about being Trapped in Villainy, and the fact that Terry ostensibly likes her the way that she is, warts and all. That he's cheating on his girlfriend with her is not important.
  Instead: When they reveal themselves to her, they handwave it that they love her but didn't know if she loved them enough to continue committing crimes for them. This is although Melanie went to jail for them before. King assumes now that she knows and passed the test, they're cool.
  Predictably: Ten blows up and disowns them on the spot. She says that she gave up her chance for a normal life, and to have romantic love, because she thought they were in danger of getting killed. Batman then shows up and gives Ten a distraction to run; he ratted out King and Queen to the local mob bosses who were robbed and notified the cops. Ten escapes, reforms, and takes up a waitressing job. Her parents are near-bankrupt in season 3 without her expertise.
• In "Ascension", Paxton's goal after learning of his father's condition was to ruin him so Paxton could be more than a puppet CEO. To do this he staged a protest that led to Derek publicly revealing he was a violent monster.
  You'd Expect: Him to just follow a plan to contact the authorities so his father would be forced to run from the lab he was hiding in, and contact Batman and arrange for him to use a radiation-draining device to disable Derek, all of which would mean his father would end up in prison or asylum and unable to do anything to control Paxton. Even if he tried to use his knowledge of the company's dirty secrets, it'd be the word of the man known to be nuts against the son who appeared to just want to help his father.
  Instead: After taking those two steps Paxton also tried to kill Derek even though he knew this would probably mean making an enemy of Batman and his father was already out of power.
  The result: His attempt results in Batman interfering, the ensuing fight fails to kill Batman and helps Derek break free, and at the end, it's implied that Derek survived it all anyway.

• In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, the Joker is controlling a Kill Sat from his hideout in a candy factory. Terry confronts him there in costume. The Joker isn't convinced that Terry is Batman. However, Batman or not, Terry has demonstrated in previous encounters with the Jokerz and the Joker's deathtraps to be every bit as resourceful as Bruce was when he wore the mantle.
  You'd Think: The Joker would not tell Terry how he survived all these years in an implant he put on Tim Drake's body when he was holding him captive years ago as Robin.
  Instead: He not only tells Terry about the implant containing his mind and DNA, but also points out its location.
  You'd Then Think: The Joker would only use weapons that couldn't be used to destroy that implant. For example, the grenades he starts throwing later, or his host's extensive martial-arts combat training from his time as Robin.
  Instead: He busts out his old Electric Joybuzzer, which has always had mixed results when used against Batman and his associates.
  Result:Throughout the fight, Terry manages to knock the joy buzzer out of the Joker's hand, retrieve it, and then manipulate the Joker into getting within arm's reach so Terry can fry the implant with the joy buzzer and kill the Joker for good.

Other

The Batman

• In "Traction", Bane commits a bank robbery and Yin decides to go after him alone (the first stupid action was refusing to wait for backup, as noted by Ethan). After she tells Bane to freeze at gunpoint, Bane takes her gun and crushes it with his bare hand.
  You'd Expect: Yin to immediately get the hell out of there.
  Instead: She tries to fistfight Bane.
  Result: Yin's punch does not affect Bane, while one hit from Bane knocks Yin unconscious and hospitalizes her.

• In "The Rubberface of Comedy", Ethan gets captured by the Joker and is about to go into a Mind Rape situation until Batman stops his plan. Joker is about to use Joker Putty on Ethan...
  You'd Expect: Batman to take away the formula from his hands and smash it somewhere far.
  Instead: He makes the Joker drop the formula with the use of his Batarang. Ethan inhales the dose of it, turning him into Clayface.

• "Meltdown": Clayface breaks into Joker's cell at Arkham to kill him. Batman has tracked Clayface there and breaks it up.
  You'd Expect: Batman would shut the cell door (or at least block it off) to make sure neither Clayface nor Joker escaped.
  Instead: He doesn't.
  As a Result: Batman subdues Clayface with an ice pellet, but Joker escapes.

• "Riddler's Revenge"
  • In Riddler's backstory, he reveals that he used to work at the local university and created a device that would enhance people's memory. However, during the demonstration, the invention went haywire and injured the volunteer. Later on, it was discovered that his ex-partner Julie was the one who sabotaged it so she could sell to Gorman's company, something that Edward refused to do at first.
    You'd Expect: Julie to understand Edward's reasoning, considering he told her about his personal life and confided in her.
    Instead: She got greedy and betrayed him, caring more about money and success.
    As A Result: Not only does Riddler try to kill her, but Batman ends up turning her over to the police, presumably ruining her career.
    You'd Also Expect: The heads of the university check the security footage of the lab, thereby finding out the true culprit.
    Instead: They found Edward guilty by default and dismissed him.
    As A Result: He became the King of Conundrums we all know today.

• "Two of A Kind"
  • Dr. Harleen Quinzel is a TV psychologist with an online degree. She hosts a late-night talk show where callers can ask for advice about their relationships, or their problems.
    You'd Expect: Harleen would deliver common-sense advice and optimism. That is sensible stuff.
    Instead: Harleen is Obliviously Evil. She advises boys to ignore girls' boundaries when asking them out, for children to sneak out behind their parents' back-to-date people their parents don't like, and focus on the drama. It gets to the point where she has to ask the crew to screen the calls that come into the show because it causes bad publicity.
    The Result: Angry callers soon come in, from parents who are concerned about Harleen being a toxic influence on their children, and the crew can't screen all of them. The Joker also soon becomes a fan of her show because Harleen in his words is a terrible psychologist, and thus it's hilarious to see how her Insane Troll Logic and lack of qualifications. He also relates to her.
  • During the first commercial break of the show, her producer warns her that her show is causing people to get angry and that it may be canceled. It's also a night when Bruce Wayne is guest-starring because he wants to promote a charity. Harleen invited Bruce because he's Gotham's wealthiest and most elusive bachelor. He also has a stream of women that have reason to be annoyed with his dates.
    You'd Expect: Harleen would listen to her producer and go easy on Bruce, and tone down her show's peerless drama.
    Instead: Harleen ambushes Bruce by grilling him about his love life, and making fun of him when he reminds her that he's on the show for charity reasons. She pretends to fall asleep and snore loudly as he starts talking about it and then brings one of his exes on live camera to complain about how Bruce disappeared on a date and left her with the check. Bruce puts up with this since it's implied that he saw this coming, up until the Joker calls under the pseudonym "Mr. J". Batman had been chasing down Joker that night and has been looking for a lead.
    The Result: Bruce storms off the set, pretending to be in a huff but making an excuse to change clothes. The producer comes onto the camera, apologizes to Bruce because anyone would be furious about Harleen humiliating them on live camera, and forcibly cancels Harleen. While Bruce shows sympathy for the doctor as the Joker manipulates her into becoming his accomplice Harley Quinn, this was Harleen's fault because if it hadn't been Bruce, it would have been someone else.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

• Generally, Bat-Mite is an Ascended Fanboy Reality Warper who wants to use his powers to give Batman memorable foes. This has gone wrong several times. Batman of course calls out Bat-Mite for this.
  You'd Expect: After this happened several times that Bat-Mite would get the memo that he's not helping Batman and using his powers to satisfy fanboy expectations is harmful in the long run.
  Instead: Bat-Mite gets Aesop Amnesia and instigates the plot of several episodes.
  The Result: In the series finale "Mitefall," Bat-Mite erases himself by accident in a Puff of Logic; he can't exist in the Darker and Edgier Batman reboot that he wanted.
• In "Plague of the Prototypes", Black Mask manages to take control of Batman's Batbot army, using them to enact a major crime spree. Naturally, Mask's original gang members are feeling threatened by the Batbots' successes, and want them removed.
  You'd Expect: For them to remember how ruthless Black Mask is (not to mention he wouldn't dream of getting rid of such valuable tools), and keep their mouths shut.
  Instead: They make sure Black Mask is made well aware of their discontent.
  The Result: Black Mask calls them "ungrateful", and has the Batbots wipe them all out (save for Taboo, the one who allowed him control over the Batbots in the first place).
  Even Worse: For a brief moment, the gang members believe Black Mask is considering getting rid of the Batbots.
• "Mayhem of the Music Meister":
  • The titular villain has succeeded in hypnotizing the heroes and villains fighting over a rocket satellite. Music Meister is attracted to Black Canary, whose sonic screams can knock him down. When Batman frees her from the hypnosis and gives her special Bat earplugs to cancel out the hypnosis, Canary makes it clear that she's not interested in Meister and runs for Batman, believing he needs help from a "gal pal". Meister succeeds in knocking her out by shooting her in the back.
    You'd Expect: Meister would either keep her gagged, as other villains have the sense to do with Canary, or remove the earplugs to keep her under his spell, which he does later.
    Instead: He ties up Black Canary and Batman together in a Death Trap.
    The Result: Canary works with Batman to escape the trap, and they go to foil him at his international and interstellar concerts.
  • In the climax, Batman calls out Meister for removing Canary's earplugs and using her voice. He then challenges a hypnotized Canary to a sing-off on her matching his tune.
    You'd Expect: Since Batman hasn't sung at all, that Meister would be suspicious.
    Instead: He compels Canary to match Batman's increasing pitch, which goes higher and higher.
    The Result: Eventually Canary sings so high that she activates her weaponized screams and Batman uses them to destroy Meister's broadcast.
• "Emperor Joker!": Thanks to Bat-Mite (again), Joker gains Bat-Mite's Reality Warper powers. He uses them to destroy the universe and cause Batman to die over and over again. Eventually, Batman begs Joker to not take away his sanity. Joker slices Batman's head open and prepares to walk inside. Harley Quinn gets suspicious and asks "Puddin'" if this is a good idea.
  You'd Expect: Joker to remember that Harley has his best interests at heart, with her obsessive love for him. He should ask her why she's worried.
  Instead: He steals her voice so she can only talk in silent-film subtitles and enters Batman's mind.
  Predictably: It's a trap; Batman captures Joker in a nightmare where there is no Batman in Gotham, and thus Joker is an ordinary man. Joker surrenders his powers in exchange for Batman letting him out, and in the meantime, Joker's gang tries to murder him and Batman at the same time. Harley Quinn and Bat-Mite conduct an Enemy Mine to save Joker and Batman, using her subtitles as weapons.
• "Chill of the Night!" sees Batman reveal his true identity to Joe Chill, the murderer of Thomas and Martha Wayne. In a panic, no doubt helped by a mysterious man and a specter trying to sway Bruce's choices, he runs off to get some of Batman's rogues gallery for help.
  You'd Expect:Chill to keep his role in Batman's origin quiet.
  Instead: He outs his role in Batman's origin.
  The Result: Even if the Spectre didn't get to him, Chill signed his death warrant the second he revealed he killed Batman's father as naturally, Batman's enemies didn't take too kindly to learning Chill is the reason Batman exists (except Joker, who finds the whole situation hilarious).
• "Darkseid Rising" sees the Justice League International celebrate their victory over Darkseid, including having a cake. Guy Gardner wants a corner piece, but Booster Gold already got to one.
  You'd Expect: Guy Gardner would realize there are three corner pieces left or someone points this out to him.
  Instead: No one points this out to Guy and Guy doesn't give a crap.
  The Result: In typical Guy fashion, he and Booster get into yet another fight.
• "The Criss Cross Conspiracy!" sees Batwoman unmasked by the Riddler.
  You'd Expect: That Batwoman would turn away from the public and try to hide her face.
  Instead: She turned directly to the media and press.
  The Result: Her identity is outed.

Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold

• In one scene, after barely escaping the released inmates of Arkham Asylum, Batman and the Scooby gang start investigating the nearby cemetery, finding a clue in a crypt. When they're done, they head back to the Mystery Machine, only to run into Harvey Bullock and the Mystery Analysts of Gotham. Bullock quickly accuses them of starting the riot, and Detective Chimp and Black Canary find stolen evidence in the van. Harvey immediately thinks they're guilty and orders them to be arrested.
  You'd Expect: At least the other heroes to realize the obvious set-up, especially considering they've known Batman for many years now and were working with Mystery Inc. the whole time.
  Instead: Despite Batman vouching for them, they're also quick to believe that the gang is the true culprits, only going by Batman acting distant, even though they should also know he only felt guilty about his unsolved case.
  As A Result: After being chased through the streets of Gotham City, the others barely make it to the Batcave in time, only to eventually come back out to save Batman after he and Aquaman were captured by the Crimson Cloak. This, of course, means that the Mystery Analysts would've been responsible for the destruction of Gotham.

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