YMMV / Todd McFarlane's Spawn

• Awesome Art: The show's animation and art absolutely nails the dark grittiness of the comics.
• Can't Un-Hear It: You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone whom wouldn't think of the succulent and badass tones of Keith David, when they think of what Spawn sounds like or what his voice should be. So much so that they brought him back for Spawn's DLC appearance in Mortal Kombat 11.
• Complete Monster:
  • Jason Wynn is the director of the NSC, who ordered the death of Al Simmons by having him burned alive. In exchange for favors from a corrupt Senator, he covers up the crimes of said Senator's son, child killer Billy Kincaid. Using his position to steal weapons from the U.S. Department of Defense, Wynn sells them to various terrorists and dictators across the globe. When one of Wynn's employees, Terry Fitzgerald, discovers Wynn's crimes, Wynn frames him for them and later orders a hit squad to kill Terry's wife Wanda and his daughter Cyan. Wynn later has his former subordinate, Major Forsberg, thrown into a cell and starved when he tried to leave Wynn's services. Seeking the mask of Genghis Khan, which will give him the powers of Hell, Wynn tries to get answers from Forsberg by threatening to kill his family. When Terry tries to kill Wynn in revenge, Wynn has him dragged to an opium den and forcibly drugged, to make his death as slow as possible, while gloating about how he will sell his wife into forced prostitution.
  • Clown/Violator is a demon in service to Malebolgia whose job is to ensure that Spawn remains firmly on the side of evil, tormenting Spawn with images of Wanda while he was in Hell and pushing him into increasingly violent acts so he can lead Hell in its conquest of Heaven and Earth without remorse. In his own time, he takes pleasure in the carnage left behind by Spawn and others, standing by while knowing that Billy Kincaid is raping and murdering children on a whim, and helping him abduct Cyan Fitzgerald. He's also not above engaging in violence himself, abducting a deaf boy while disguised as an insane priest, murdering cops in front of him, and attempting to blow him up with a bundle of grenades strapped to his chest along with a whole SWAT team. Once Spawn has Billy Kincaid cornered, he makes one last effort to goad him into killing him in cold blood before he goes down to finish him off himself.
• Creepy Awesome:
  • Clown/Violator is terrifying beyond all reason in this series, but it's part of what makes him such an appealing villain.
  • Spawn isn't too far behind on that either, with great lines delivered by Keith David and more than willing to pull some pretty Nightmare-ish things on his opponents.
• Crosses the Line Twice: A shot of the Clown vigorously massaging his undergarments to a picture of Al's wife is more than a little unnecessary and gross, him doing it right in front of Al and then wiping his palms on Al's cape goes so far beyond "wrong" that it lands in hilarious.
• Cult Classic: Thanks to being much Darker and Edgier than any other Western Animation of its time^note as well as any that came after for that matter. and among one of the only American animated series to bring such genuinely mature and sophisticated themes to the table, the Spawn animated series fits this trope like a glove.
• Evil Is Cool: Clown/Violator, he's such a deplorable antagonistic figure but you can't help but enjoy how much he reviles in his depravity.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • One of the bums in the first season likens Spawn's appearance to a vampire. He later fights a vampire in season 3 that looks nothing like him.
  • This wouldn't be the last time Keith David found himself as a damned soul in service of another demon.
• Narm: Todd McFarlane's live action intros, which combine Purple Prose with the flat delivery of a non-actor, are often unintentionally hilarious.
• Paranoia Fuel: Walking into the wrong alley just might get you killed by a Hellspawn and that might even be the least of your troubles.
• Strangled by the Red String: The kiss Jade shares with Spawn and subsequent implied relationship between them... really comes out of nowhere. Even when she was shown to be sympathetic towards Spawn and having doubts about her job to kill him, they only briefly met in person once before and there was never any mutual attraction implied. Even Spawn and the Vampiress showed more chemistry, at least before she tried to kill him.
• Values Resonance: While the constant theme of homelessness and the abuse of alley "bums" was definitely not dismissed at the time, with homelessness only becoming worse since the 90's, it continues to become more relevant as the years go by. Especially the scenes where homeless people are murdered and abused by criminals and the police, which is sadly Truth in Television.
• The Woobie: Spawn is an even bigger woobie here than he is in the comics.

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