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From brutal beatdowns to soul-crushing sacrifices, the animated DC universe doesn't hold back! Join us as we count down the most shocking and gruesome departures in superhero animation. Our list features beloved heroes meeting tragic ends and villains getting their just desserts in spectacularly brutal fashion. Which animated death left you most traumatized?
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down art pics for the most gruesome deaths in
00:10animated DC movies. There'll be spoilers for various DC films in here so consider this your
00:17warning. 20. Rache is Burnt to a Crisp, Son of Batman
00:26The demon's head got the short end of the stick in Son of Batman. His whole organization
00:30got blindsided by an attack from Deathstroke, a cold-blooded mercenary who Rache once trained.
00:3520. Rache, Slade didn't have any love left for Rache, as proven by the helicopter he used
00:52to launch rockets at his former mentor. As you can imagine, the end result wasn't pretty,
00:57with Rache getting scorched to death. Normally Rache has been able to cheat death thanks to
01:01the Lazarus Pit, but the damage here was so bad that even the pit wouldn't have been able to save him.
01:07It's even sadder since his grandson Damian Wayne witnessed the entire thing.
01:11The pet can't restore a body that's damaged. He's beyond healing.
01:25You did your best.
01:27Though Rache lived a long life, eventually the Grim Reaper had to catch up with him.
01:3119. The Flash is Sliced Apart, Injustice
01:35This movie was a truly sad send-off for the Scarlet Speedster. As The Flash tries tracking
01:40down the Joker, problems arise for him when he's in one of the clown's safe houses.
01:45Batman, I found Scarecrow. He's dead. Joker toxin.
01:48He's struck with the Scarecrow's fear gas, which daces him for a couple of seconds. In that brief
01:53window of time, Barry is then sliced by one of Joker's sharp death traps. Though this sadistic
01:58moment technically happens off-screen, we can guess what happened pretty easily. You'd think that a
02:03character as powerful as The Flash would have a much more fitting death than this.
02:09Unfortunately, he was taken from us too soon by the Joker.
02:13Guess this safe house wasn't safe after all.
02:1618. Owlman shrugs off his obliteration. Justice League, Crisis on Two Earths
02:21What's more insane? Getting blown up on a desolate planet or getting blown up on a desolate planet
02:25and not even caring about it? Our money's on the ladder.
02:28Man is a cancer, and I've chosen to cut out the disease.
02:33You're talking about killing everyone who ever lived, whoever will live.
02:37As Owlman is stranded on a barren alternate Earth with his plan to destroy the multiverse foiled,
02:42things don't look too good. But if you know anything about Owlman, then you know he isn't just an evil
02:48Batman. He's also a complete nihilist. Owlman actually has a chance to stop the quantum eigenstate
02:53device from detonate, which would at least stall his demise. Instead of doing that, though,
02:58he decides to let things play out, and the entire world along with him explode.
03:02It doesn't matter.
03:03This death is pretty much the definition of hardcore.
03:0617. An injured reverse flash is gunned down. Suicide Squad, hell to pay.
03:11You'd think that a bullet straight through the brain would kill somebody, but the reverse flash
03:15is on another level.
03:16You killed him. Not necessarily.
03:25Not if you go back in time and fix this.
03:28He survived getting shot by Thomas Wayne at the end of Flashpoint Paradox, but he wasn't exactly in
03:33perfect shape. Desperate to get a special get-out-of-hell-free card to save himself,
03:37Thawne got into a couple of squirmishes with the Suicide Squad. Though he's a demented speedster,
03:41he's not immortal. And during a fight with the Bronze Tiger in Deadshot, he's injured enough
03:46for Deadshot to land the Killing Blow. Actually, multiple Killing Blows. Eobard is basically drowned
03:52in a flood of gunfire. For someone who can travel timelines and escape almost any situation,
03:57even reverse flash couldn't escape his own death.
04:00Tell me. We got him.
04:04He just crossed the finish line.
04:06Number 16. Mera gets beheaded. Justice League. The Flashpoint Paradox.
04:10Queen Mera had a really rough life in the Flashpoint timeline. When she found out that
04:14her husband Aquaman was having an affair with Wonder Woman, she quickly sought revenge.
04:23Unfortunately, her attempt to attack Wonder Woman was a complete disaster. Honestly.
04:28That's underselling the moment. Mera was completely decapitated by Wonder Woman.
04:32She went looking for a fight and lost her head in the process. She didn't just go out like a complete
04:37chump. Her death also ended up instigating the war between the Mascarans and the Yelantians.
04:42Cyborg is amassing the outside world's superhumans in an attempt to interfere with our war.
04:47He will fail.
04:48That war also led to countless other deaths and essentially doomed the Flashpoint reality.
04:53So, yeah. When we say that things weren't great for Mera, we mean it.
04:57Number 15. The Teen Titans are decimated. Justice League. Dark. Apocalypse War.
05:02As the war against Darkseid rages on, the Teen Titans are systematically slaughtered by Darkseid's
05:07forces.
05:08I feared your plan would fail from the beginning. An army without killers is no army at all.
05:13We get an up-close shot of the carnage with Kid Flash, Starfire, Beast Boy, and other members of the
05:18team now dead. Many in the superhero community were wiped out by Darkseid, so we knew there were going
05:24to be casualties. But still, these were just kids who were mercilessly massacred. While the Teen Titans
05:30understood the risk of being superheroes, they didn't deserve to have their lives get cut so
05:34short.
05:35Nightwing convinced me not to voice my many objections. There are always risks in war, he said.
05:44He's not saying that anymore.
05:46Their deaths are a sobering reality of just how much of a monster Darkseid is, and why taking him down
05:52is the most important priority of all.
05:54Number 14. Toy Man is dropped to his death. Superman Doomsday.
05:58When Toy Man finally went too far in Superman Doomsday, there would be no more fun and games
06:03left in store for him.
06:05Toy Man doesn't feel like sharing. The goodies are mine, mine, mine.
06:10Normally, after Toy Man commits heinous crimes, Superman just throws him in prison. But this
06:15time, Toy Man was dealing with Superman's clone, and the clone didn't have a problem dealing
06:19out a more intense punishment. The clone of Superman flew Toy Man up into the air and
06:23then dropped him. That's right. Toy Man fell all the way to his death, crashing on top
06:27of a police car.
06:28What?
06:29Did he?
06:31While he definitely deserved to be punished after he endangered several kids, this was
06:35undeniably an extreme response. In the end, Toy Man's death sent the message that this
06:40Superman clone was not playing around.
06:43Number 13. Captain Adam is new. Justice League The Flashpoint Paradox.
06:47Is there anything that Captain Adam can do besides getting blown to Kingdom Come all
06:51the time?
06:52I could try to vaporize the bombs.
06:54Seriously, it kind of feels like that's all he's known for nowadays, especially in
06:58Flashpoint Paradox. As the Mascarian Atlantean War rages on, he's used by Atlantis as the
07:04final defense against Wonder Woman's army. The nuclear-powered superhero is essentially
07:08turned into the most destructive nuclear bomb imaginable. It's a grim situation made even worse
07:13when Captain Adam detonates. It's too late.
07:20This not only kills him, but also sends a massive explosion that destroys everything in its weight.
07:25The Flashpoint reality was a nightmare to begin with, but the cataclysmic death of Captain
07:29Adam cemented it as a truly hellish timeline.
07:32Number 12. Cyborg sacrifices himself. Justice League Dark Apocalypse War. As Darkseid quickly
07:38enslaved humanity, Cyborg was one of the many heroes taken as prisoners.
07:42None can resist Darkseid.
07:45What was left of his body was systematically taken apart, and once he was broken free of
07:49the programming that kept him loyal to Darkseid, he realized he could still never escape.
07:53So in his final moments, he sacrifices himself to trap Darkseid in a void of darkness.
07:57It's a very bleak death, sure, but it's also an incredibly brave and noble choice for
08:01Cyborg to make.
08:02Looks like I get the last word.
08:04Even though he died in a brutal way, he died on his own terms and took Darkseid down in
08:09the process. It reminds us that Cyborg is a true hero through and through.
08:13Number 11. Jason Todd is killed in an explosion.
08:15Batman Under the Red Hood.
08:17When it comes to DC's darkest deaths, Jason Todd's has got to be one of the most famous
08:21ones. The second Robin's demise at the hands of Joker has gone down in the history books
08:26as one of his most sinister crimes.
08:28Wow, that looked like it really hurt.
08:31In Under the Red Hood, Joker used a crowbar to savagely beat Jason within an inch of
08:36his life. He then left him locked in a warehouse that was set to explode. Batman tried his best
08:41to rescue him, but unfortunately, Jason died in the explosion. Sure, he'd eventually get
08:46resurrected as Red Hood, but this trauma became a permanent part of his character that could
08:50never be forgotten.
08:51Tell me, what bothers you more? That your greatest failure has returned from the grave?
08:56Or that I've become a better Batman than you?
08:59The harsh reality which Jason discovered is that sometimes being a sidekick isn't as cool
09:04as it looks.
09:05Number 10. Sal Dies Laughing. Batman Mass of the Phantasm.
09:08Now hold on to your hat and watch those valuables. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
09:14The Joker has disposed of innocent lives in every way imaginable. And yet, this one might
09:22just be the most disturbing of all. In the film Mass of the Phantasm, exposure to Joker's
09:27venom sends gangster Sal the Weezer Velestra laughing all the way to an early grave.
09:31That's it. That's what I want to see. A nice big smile.
09:37Death by laughing is just the kind of twisted fate that only the Joker could think of.
09:41When the Phantasm finds Velestra's body, an eerie smile is plastered across his dead face.
09:46Sal Velestra. Your angel of death awaits.
09:54Since this marked the first lethal use of Joker's gas, it's fair to say his villainy was no laughing
09:59matter anymore.
10:00Number 9. Doomsday Takes Superman Down With Him. The Death of Superman.
10:04Man, Superman's not looking good.
10:07Even though the film's title totally spoils the ending, that doesn't make the inevitable
10:12smackdown any less ferocious. The villainous Doomsday manages to match Superman's attacks
10:16blow for blow. So, with Lois and the rest of Metropolis at stake, Clark rams into the monster
10:22with everything he has.
10:23The force is enough to take Doomsday down for good, but in doing so, he's caught by one
10:37of the fiend's fights. It's a tragic end to the son of Krypton, but Lois can take
10:41solace that dying for his city is exactly the way Clark would have wanted to go out.
10:45That thing...is here.
10:50Yes. You did it. You saved everyone.
10:55Number 8. Cyborg Superman Eradicated. Reign of the Superman.
10:59And it's all your fault. It's almost poetry.
11:04Up against a cyborg version of himself, the blue boys got realized that punches won't
11:12get the job done. Instead, he needs a technological solution.
11:15So, the real Kal-El uploads the faker with an eradication program. Right in the face, no
11:21less.
11:21The robot immediately short-circuits from the inside out, conveniently taking out his machine
11:31empire in the process. It couldn't have been a pleasant way to go, but considering how
11:35much damage foe Superman did, we can't say he didn't have it coming. Either way, Kal-El
11:40definitely proved that the real Man of Steel doesn't need any actual metal.
11:43What? What is this?
11:47Eradication.
11:48Number 7. Crystal's Parasite. Suicide Squad, hell to pay.
11:52Who else?
11:53You heard of Killer Frost?
11:54The Ice Queen?
11:55Yeah.
11:56Most villains relish a kill, but the way Crystal Frost's foes of her parents is just…
12:01Well, cold.
12:02After years of abuse at their hands, she manifested her metahuman abilities as a child.
12:07Her first order of business is to put her mom and dad on ice.
12:10Think she's dismayed at what she's done? Think again.
12:13She gets her revenge using a fire poker, shattering them into pieces.
12:17I never knew how cold her heart really was.
12:20After seeing her turn her parents into snow cones, it's no surprise to hear Crystal would grow up to
12:25become Killer Frost. Emphasis on the killer part.
12:28You were right, Speedy. Nobody knows what I'm capable of.
12:32Number 6. Zatanna's Final Blow, Justice League Dark Apocalypse War.
12:36Darkseid didn't kill everyone, something he had plans for.
12:40From the moment Darkseid waged war on humanity, it was obvious that not every hero was going to make
12:46it out alive. Unfortunately for Zatanna, that meant the curtain was falling on her show. The sharp-tongued
12:51sorceress ended up as the parademon's next meal, and they definitely cleaned their plate. While
12:56being devoured isn't a particularly good way to go, what hurts the most is that Zatanna could've
13:01survived. She spent her final moments crying out for her lover Constantine, but she had already
13:10begun to run away automatically if the battle went south. As her body was torn apart, Zatanna had to
13:26accept that she had doomed herself to this grim fate.
13:29Number 5. Talon's Heart-to-Heart with The Dollmaker Batman vs. Robin
13:33The Dollmaker must've had some serious heart palpitations in his final minutes.
13:37Damian Wayne spared the villain's life because of Bruce's teachings about justice over vengeance.
13:41Justice, not vengeance. Justice, not vengeance.
13:47However, the vigilante Talon had no such qualms. He certainly stopped Dollmaker's spiking heart rate,
13:54but he did it by performing an impromptu surgery with his bare hands.
13:57I could've done it easily, but I didn't, out of respect for you.
14:01There's something incredibly visceral about someone holding an actual beating heart in their hands.
14:06It's all the more jarring because of the tone of whiplash between Damian's mercy
14:10and Talon's murder. So we can only imagine how shocking it must've been for Dollmaker.
14:15Who did it?
14:17Figure it out for yourself.
14:19Robin!
14:20Number 4. Queen Atlanta Betray Justice League,
14:23Throne of Atlantis As long as I am queen,
14:26you will preserve the peace. At all costs.
14:29After Queen Atlanta refuses to wage war on the surface world,
14:33her bloodthirsty son Orm stages an attack on Atlantis.
14:37When the queen sees through his machinations,
14:39he gives up on the subtle roundabout route and quite literally stabs her in the back.
14:43I am queen and war is not in my plans.
14:48While it might be a relatively quick death,
14:51the fact that she's killed by her own son is just a different kind of messed up.
14:55The worst part of it all though, is that Orm doesn't even seem bothered by the blood on his hands.
14:59You killed her!
15:01I did. I ran the sword through her myself as she mewled for peace.
15:08Number 3. Joker's Last Lap, Batman Beyond Return of the Joker
15:12Say hello JJ.
15:13There's a deep poetic justice that the Dark Knight's nemesis ended up dying at the hands of his own
15:22creation. After all, the madcap villain kidnapped and brainwashed Tim Drake into a terrifying Joker
15:28Junior of sorts. So it's both disturbing and moving to see the crazed Robin make the right choice in
15:33the end, even though it comes at the cost of the Joker's life.
15:41That's not funny.
15:42However, a shot to the chest didn't keep the crook down for good. So decades later,
15:47it was up to Terry McGinnis to fry the Joker's consciousness once and for all.
15:53I can't hear you!
15:55This might be the only movie with two Joker deaths for the price of one.
16:06Number 2. The Green Lanterns are snuffed out. Justice League Dark Apocalypse War.
16:11With malice and I-beams, Darkseid successfully dismantles the entire Green Lantern Corps.
16:16In fact, even though the heroes are on their own turf,
16:19the warlord tears through each of them until their uniforms have more red than green.
16:23No evil shall escape my sight.
16:26Send the Furies to capture the invaders. I will deal with them myself.
16:31Each death is somehow more gruesome than the last, until Jon Stewart is the last Lantern remaining.
16:36Then, in suitably dramatic fashion, Darkseid ends his assault by dumping magma on the planet.
16:41And also, teleport a portion of Earth's magma here. I'd like to make a point.
16:47Against all that, Jon Stewart didn't stand a chance. At the very least,
16:52his death was mercifully quick. That's more than his green-clad comrades can say.
16:56Green Lanterns light!
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17:231. Bye Bye Billy Batson – Justice League – The Flashpoint Paradox
17:28As tragic as it is, death is a common work hazard for superheroes. But it's completely different
17:34watching the same fate befall a young kid, even if he is a part-time hero.
17:381. Captain Thunder – I'm happy to see that a real man is here to watch the end of man's world!
17:442. Shazam – or Captain Thunder as he's known in his timeline – is actually a pretty good match
17:50for the belligerent Wonder Woman. The issue is that she knows that too, so using her lasso,
17:55she compels him to transform back into the young Billy Batson.
17:582. This form is not your own. How is the enchantment broken?
18:012. With a word. Speak the word.
18:06Without getting into the gory details, let's just say Wonder Woman doesn't show any mercy to the
18:11youthful hero. This horrifying moment really showed that these time lost variants are anything but
18:17heroic. 2. There will be no glorious victor, Diana. No prize.
18:22Are there any other grisly DC deaths from animation that we forgot? Let us know in the comments.
18:272. You knew this was going to happen.
18:352. Good one, mate.
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