Creepiest moments in BTAS

Started by The Laughing Fish, Sat, 21 Mar 2015, 23:49

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Some of my favourite creepy moments of the show include:


  • Harvey Dent having a nightmare of Big Bad Harv taunting him and flipping a coin at the very beginning of Two-Face - Part I, and Two-Face freaking out over his disfigurement at the end of the same episode.
  • In the episode House & Garden, Batman goes into Poison Ivy's house and finds that the family she has inherited are secretly plant monsters in disguise. Batman dropping his flashlight in horror as he sees a baby infant's hand rising out of a plant pod crying out "Mommy!" is something that looks right out of a David Cronenberg film.
  • Batman walking down the halls of Arkham Asylum, and walking past Joker, Poison Ivy, and Two-Face to learn that Scarecrow had escaped in Fear of Victory. It's the ominous music that gives that uncomfortable feeling, and the cowardly corrupt security guard freaking out. In fact, Scarecrow's theme is the most haunting theme of the show, together with Two-Face's theme.
  • HARDAC's replicated version of Batman grows too sentient to the point of developing a human conscience; feels incredibly remorseful for believing that he killed the real Batman and he destroys the time bomb - effectively killing itself - in His Silicon Soul.
  • The thug accidentally shooting Scarface to 'death' at the end of Read my Lips, and Ventriloquist breaks down in tears. And then we see Ventriloquist carving Scarface 'back to life' while he's imprisoned in Arkham Asylum.

What are your favourite creepy moments?
QuoteJonathan Nolan: He [Batman] has this one rule, as the Joker says in The Dark Knight. But he does wind up breaking it. Does he break it in the third film?

Christopher Nolan: He breaks it in...

Jonathan Nolan: ...the first two.

Source: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uwV8rddtKRgC&pg=PR8&dq=But+he+does+wind+up+breaking+it.&hl=en&sa=X&ei

-Clayface transforms from an old woman into Clayface when he confronts Daggett.

-All of Baby Doll. One of my favorite episodes, but the entire episode is just creepy to me.

-In The Joker's Favor, when Charlie causes Joker some road rage, and he follows him into the woods.

Clayface certainly had some screwed up moments. Who could forget the scene where he had a transforming breakdown while Batman tried to intervene him in the episode in Feat of Clay? The animation in this scene is insane.



And of course right at the end of Mudslide, Batman inadvertently prevents Clayface from morphing back into human form permanently and the two fought each other till it seemingly got Clayface killed after he fell off a cliff. Although I'd regard that ending tragic rather than creepy.
QuoteJonathan Nolan: He [Batman] has this one rule, as the Joker says in The Dark Knight. But he does wind up breaking it. Does he break it in the third film?

Christopher Nolan: He breaks it in...

Jonathan Nolan: ...the first two.

Source: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uwV8rddtKRgC&pg=PR8&dq=But+he+does+wind+up+breaking+it.&hl=en&sa=X&ei

What do I think are the scariest moments?:

ON LEATHER WINGS - The Man Bat transformation. Scary vocalization and music there! "It's in me!...BATMAN!!!..."
THE FORGOTTEN - Being locked in that steel box prison in the baking sun (Yes really lol). The voice actor did a great job selling his terror and generating the sympathy for his predicament.
TWO-FACE PT 1 - A hypnotized Harvey Dent gives an evil grimace in the moonlight and lightning and tries to attack his therapist.
TWO-FACE PT 2 - Two-Face apparently plunges to his death in a dream sequence that scared me as a child. "WHY COULDN'T YOU SAVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE..."
SEE NO EVIL - Creepy invisible villain charming a child with a chilling, soft voice. Gets worse when he tries to get her into his car.
FEAT OF CLAY PT 2 - Haunting end sequence in the morgue of Clayface's "fake body" as told by Batman. Lots of spooky music and my autistic sister is creeped by a disguised Clayface's laugh lol
FEAR OF VICTORY - Dude getting spooked by Scarecrow after following him into the stadium.
THE CLOCK KING - Temple Fugate screams in "classic Batman villain" insanity after missing his court case. Darkly funny too.
MAD AS A HATTER - Jervis Tetch influences Billy to break off his marriage to Alice by phone. Again, my autistic sister finds this scary and upsetting lol
APPOINTMENT IN CRIME ALLEY?: I think it is this one or it may be I AM THE NIGHT? Batman watches his parents enter a tunnel which turns into the gun barrel that killed them.
DREAMS IN DARKNESS - Basically all the dream sequences. The rat turning into the Joker...is just wrong man lol
ETERNAL YOUTH - Will never forget the horror of watching Alfred as a child turned into a tree.
PERCHANCE TO DREAM - Bruce discovers he's in a dream by seeing the upside down writing in his book's. Something's seriously wrong...
THE LAUGHING FISH - Victims of the Joker's poison yes, but that darn laughing cat?...Brrr!
IF YOU'RE SO SMART WHY AREN'T YOU RICH? - Mockridge nervously checks his house before entering bed but can't get himself a good night's sleep (who'd have thought you can make the Riddler THIS scary????).
TYGER, TYGER - The spooky title card. Batman's William Blake poetry narration and the final shot of Tygrus over his jungle, silently watching. Always thought Tygrus was a spooky opponent especially when he catches up with Batman during their first fight.
DAY OF THE SAMURAI - If your engrossed in the story as much as I am, I think you can almost swear Batman really has felt the touch of death in his dangerous final battle.
BLIND AS A BAT - When Batman has gone blind and the Penguin knows it and is silently stalking him, suddenly the diminutive Cobblepot becomes terror on an entirely different height.
THE DEMON'S QUEST PT 1 - Another creepy one for my sister, Ra's threatens his own daughter and laugh's maniacally!
THE DEMON'S QUEST PT 2 - The hand of Ra's rises again from his pit!
READ MY LIPS - Arnold Wesker viciously "stabs" into a new incarnation of Scarface!
AVATAR - The spooky Egyptian goddess/beast.
HOUSE AND GARDEN - Poison Ivy introduces her "children".
SIDESHOW - The deformed aquatic boy. Like Baby Doll, intense subject matter for an animated character. And like Batman Return's Penguin has an element of you feeling his anguish at being trapped in that kind of a body.
BANE - Bane pumps an overdose of venom.
BABY DOLL - Pretty much her whole appearance. Her final scene should have won awards!
THE LION AND THE UNICORN - Batman thug's with cockney accents are always...uneasy for me lol Especially when one is literally Adam Ant! Can't take the threat seriously. Though I appreciated the tribute of sending Batman and Robin to England for an adventure still. See also Adam West three parter, "THE LONDINIUM LARCENIES"! It's hilarious! (albeit thankfully intended!).
DEEP FREEZE - Grant Walker scream's silently, locked for eternity in a block of deep sea ice.
MASK OF THE PHANTASM - Phantasm discovers the grinning body of Salvatore Valestra, followed by the loudest f***ing explosion in animation history on your sound system!
RETURN OF THE JOKER - The night of Tim Drake's fate. Harley Quinn falls to her "death" and the Joker finally discovers Batman's true identity! Followed by the funniest Joker laugh moment of his animated era.






I was thinking about the ending of The Terrible Trio today, and how terrifying the music was when one of the culprits is locked up in Stonegate Penitentiary together with a convict three times his size. The craziest part is that nothing happens. None of the characters say a word to each other, nor does anything really dramatic happens. They simply stand there in silence eyeing each other, with the big convict looking ready to kill the scared Trio member while this ominous music plays in the background. That scene and imagery alone remind me of the real-life horrors that go on behind prison bars as an adult, but not really something I thought too much of as a kid.

I don't remember much of this episode, but that ending was pretty chilling. Another creative way to get around censorship to make older audiences use their imagination and think of the hell that Trio member would go through.
QuoteJonathan Nolan: He [Batman] has this one rule, as the Joker says in The Dark Knight. But he does wind up breaking it. Does he break it in the third film?

Christopher Nolan: He breaks it in...

Jonathan Nolan: ...the first two.

Source: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uwV8rddtKRgC&pg=PR8&dq=But+he+does+wind+up+breaking+it.&hl=en&sa=X&ei

Quote from: The Laughing Fish on Sat, 21 Mar  2015, 23:49
  • Harvey Dent having a nightmare of Big Bad Harv taunting him and flipping a coin at the very beginning of Two-Face - Part I, and Two-Face freaking out over his disfigurement at the end of the same episode.
Harvey's hypnotism where the lightning flashes and you see a quick glimpse of Two-Face.

One big strength of BTAS is how Harvey appeared in a few episodes before becoming Two-Face. It allowed viewers a chance to get invested in him when the inevitable transformation came along.

Quote from: thecolorsblend on Wed, 13 Sep  2023, 14:43
Quote from: The Laughing Fish on Sat, 21 Mar  2015, 23:49
  • Harvey Dent having a nightmare of Big Bad Harv taunting him and flipping a coin at the very beginning of Two-Face - Part I, and Two-Face freaking out over his disfigurement at the end of the same episode.
Harvey's hypnotism where the lightning flashes and you see a quick glimpse of Two-Face.



Similar to the shot of the light flashing away to reveal Killer Croc was Batman in disguise during that Almost Go 'Im episode, only BTAS could execute such a creative piece of animation. The noir setting and the use of lighting can do wonders for imagination.

Quote from: thecolorsblend on Wed, 13 Sep  2023, 14:43One big strength of BTAS is how Harvey appeared in a few episodes before becoming Two-Face. It allowed viewers a chance to get invested in him when the inevitable transformation came along.

Definitely. Harvey having a brush with danger when he was poisoned by Poison Ivy with Bruce concerned for his welfare was a good way of establishing their friendship and making Harvey's downfall later on all the more tragic.
QuoteJonathan Nolan: He [Batman] has this one rule, as the Joker says in The Dark Knight. But he does wind up breaking it. Does he break it in the third film?

Christopher Nolan: He breaks it in...

Jonathan Nolan: ...the first two.

Source: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uwV8rddtKRgC&pg=PR8&dq=But+he+does+wind+up+breaking+it.&hl=en&sa=X&ei