This article lists the various background character deaths that occur in Batman: The Animated Series. Since this is a children's cartoon series, much of the infomation listed here is conjecture based on the circumstances of each episode.
Season 1 (Batman)[]
The Last Laugh[]
- Throughout the episode, the Joker spreads a toxic gas throughout Gotham City that causes its victims to fall into an uncontrollable state of hysterical laughter. While no deaths are confirmed, such a scenario would surely cause numerous accidents on the streets that could potentially be fatal.
Pretty Poison[]
- When Batman investigates Poison Ivy's lab, he is attacked by a giant, mutated flytrap plant. He uses a bat-knife to cut the vines that bind him, causing the plant to bleed chlorophyll. An enraged Ivy takes aim at Batman with her crossbow, but Batman dodges the bolt, which strikes the flytrap and kills it.
The Forgotten[]
- When some new homeless men are "recruited" for his mining operation, Boss Biggis sets an example for them by taking one of his slaves and having him locked up in a metal box. Under the harsh rays of the desert sun, the box heats up to dangerous temperatures. While the prisoner's death isn't confirmed, he is never seen again.
- After seeing his henchmen get beaten by Batman, Biggis is terrified and tries to run away through the darkened mines. He trips over and accidentally sets fire to a crate of explosives when his lantern shatters. While Batman manages to save Biggis' life, the crime lord's henchmen may have died when the explosives went off and collapsed the mine.
The Cat and the Claw - Part 2[]
- When Catwoman trespasses onto Multigon's construction site, she ties up one of Red Claw's henchmen. A mountain lion approaches and Catwoman sneaks off, leaving the terrorist to the big cat. Whether the terrorist was killed by the mountain lion or not is unknown.
Prophecy of Doom[]
- A ritzy casino ship sinks to the bottom of the ocean after a bomb detonates in the engine room. While many people are seen evacuating in lifeboats, it is unknown if all the passengers and crew escaped.
Dreams in Darkness[]
- After Batman sabotages the machine that Scarecrow plans to use to contaminate Gotham's water supply, it suffers a catastrophic malfunction and explodes. While Scarecrow's three goons notice the fire coming from the machine, they are not shown running away from it as it explodes and may have perished.
Robin's Reckoning - Part 1[]
- This episode features a flashback of when Dick Grayson became Bruce Wayne's ward following the murder of his parents. After Haly's Circus refused to pay him protection money, extortionist Tony Zucco sabotaged the Flying Graysons' high-wire trapeze act by cutting part way through the ropes. During the act, which lacked a safety net, the rope broke and John and Mary Grayson fell to their deaths in front of a full audience.
The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne[]
- After using a machine to read and record Bruce Wayne's thoughts, Prof. Hugo Strange realises that Bruce and Batman are one and the same. Deciding to auction off Batman's identity, Strange contacts several of the Dark Knight's rogues. When he attempts to call the Joker, he gets through to an answering machine that tells him to leave a message at the sound of the shriek. Joker's voice is followed by that of an unknown captive who lets out a chilling scream. Whatever the Joker did to him, it's no stretch to assume that he didn't survive it.
- Joker, Two-Face and Penguin attack Strange when they believe that the doctor tricked them. Strange's henchmen fight the three rogues while the doctor runs away. The brawl isn't shown on-screen, but given the murderous nature of the three villains, it's entirely possible and likely that they killed Strange's goons during the fight.
Heart of Steel - Part 1[]
- Wayne Enterprises is robbed by a robotic suitcase, of all things. Batman tries to stop the mechanoid, but it flees to the WayneTech roof before launching a rocket from its interior that carries the stolen wetware chips within it. The robot is destroyed by the blast of the rocket's exhaust.
Heart of Steel - Part 2[]
- While meeting with Barbara Gordon on the roof of the GCPD, Batman is attacked by what appears to be Harvey Bullock. "Bullock" appears to overpower Batman atop a ledge, but Barbara grabs the grapple gun that Batman had dropped and fires the line around "Bullock's" leg before pulling him down. "Bullock" falls on top of the Bat-Signal and is electrocuted. As Barbara looks at the body with tears in her eyes, "Bullock" suddenly gets up and his skin and clothing crumble away, revealing him to be a robot duplicant. As the robot lunges at Barbara, Batman throws a Bat-Star that slices through the automaton's neck, severing its head.
- Bruce visits the Gotham Club, only to find that Mayor Hill and the other members are all H.A.R.D.A.C. robots. Bruce runs for the elevator and the robots follow, but Bruce changes into his Batman suit and jumps out of the emergency hatch in the elevator's ceiling. He then uses a cutting torch to sever the cable and send the elevator crashing down to the building's basement level. The four robots inside the elevator are destroyed in the crash.
- When Batman breaks into Cybertron Laboratories, two robots attack him. They are quickly disabled when Batman throws Batarangs into their optic sensors.
- H.A.R.D.A.C. explains its plan to Batman, making mention of its creator's, Karl Rossum's, wife. Mrs. Rossum had died in a car accident, which drove Karl into designing robotic duplicants of humans that lacked the capacity for human error, thus could not make mistakes that might otherwise cost lives.
- Just as Randa Duane raises a taser to shock Batman, the robot copy of Karl Rossum leaps at him. Batman dodges and the Rossum robot comes into contact with Randa's taser, which electrocutes it and causes it to explode.
- Batman throws a grenade towards H.A.R.D.A.C., but the robotic Jim Gordon leaps after the explosive and grabs it. The grenade then goes off, destroying the robot.
- As H.A.R.D.A.C.'s captives make their escape, a small greeting robot appears in the hallway and fires a laser-like beam that stuns Comissioner Gordon. While Barbara uses a pocket mirror to reflect another incoming beam, Rossum gets behind the robot and flips its off-switch.
If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?[]
- Inside the Maze of the Minotaur, Batman and Robin are engaged by a pair of fireball-shooting gryphon robots. They manage to avoid the blasts and trick the robots into destroying each other.
- After Batman solves the Minotaur's riddle, the Riddler commands the Minotaur robot to kill the Dynamic Duo. Having previously hijacked the Hand of Fate drone, Batman uses his palmtop computer to remotely pilot it, sending it flying straight into the Minotaur. Although the Minotaur gets up after being struck by the Hand of Fate, it falls apart a moment later.
What is Reality?[]
- After a pair of Riddler's hired thugs get away from him at the DMV, Batman is attacked by a van with a '?' on the side. The van is being driven by a robot operated remotely by the Riddler and is carrying several crates of explosive material. With Batman clinging to the hood, the van drives towards a brick wall. Batman leaps off of the van before impact, which sets off the explosives, destroying the van and the robot inside.
I Am The Night[]
- During a police raid, one of Jimmy "Jazzman" Peake's triggermen opens fire on a police helicopter. As the copter goes down, the men inside attempt to bail out. In the next shot, however, Batman stands on a rooftop and the chopper goes down behind him, exploding when it hits the ground. Since the chopper crew weren't seen getting away, it is possible they died in the crash.
Off-Balance[]
- Atop Gotham's Statue of Freedom, Batman confronts two agents from the Society of Shadows. Unable to escape, the agents activate gas canisters in their masks, leaving them in a vegetative state from which they will never recover.
Zatanna[]
- On the outside of Montague Kane's flying wing, Kane's two henchmen attack Batman. After a brief fight, the two cronies stumble off the edge of the wing and fall. While they fall into the ocean, this doesn't necessarily mean they survive the fall or whatever dangers may lurk in the sea.
Season 2 (The Adventures of Batman & Robin)[]
A Bullet for Bullock[]
- As Detective Bullock and Lt. Montoya are about to raid a criminal hideout, Bullock warns Montoya of how dangerous the perps are, stating that they killed a pair of bank guards on Christmas Day.
House & Garden[]
- In this episode, Poison Ivy has supposedly reformed and is trying to live a normal life with her new husband, Steven Carlyle. In truth, however, she has been exploiting Steven by using his DNA to create several plant-human hybrid creatures which she uses to poison and rob single wealthy men in Gotham. As Batman and Robin discover late into the episode, the mutants only have a short lifespan: they are born from large plant pods, grow into child-like bodies before finally turning into hulking, cactus-like monsters in their final growth phase.
- One mutant that had previously attacked Batman at the Gotham Docks returns to Ivy's lab and collapses to the floor before it starts to dissolve.
- Ivy sets several cactus mutants on Batman, Robin and Dr. Carlyle. The Dynamic Duo lure the creatures out of the lab and upstairs into the greenhouse where Batman had earlier hooked up a tank of weed killer to the sprinkler system. While Robin takes Carlyle outside, Batman sets off the sprinklers which douse the mutants in weed killer, causing them to melt into sludge.
- As it turns out, the Poison Ivy that Batman was confronting at the end of the episode was a clone created in the same method as the cactus mutants. After coming into contact with the herbicide Batman used to destroy the mutants, she destabilizes and loses her human form before dissolving like the others. The real Ivy is later shown to be on a plane out of Gotham.
Harlequinade[]
- The Joker interrupts a mob auction where an enormous city-busting bomb is up for bid. After brandishing a little bomb of his own, he scares off all of the bidders. He then throws the bomb to the auctioneer, but it turns out his bomb is fake as it pops open to reveal a Jack. However, the Jack then sprays the auctioneer with Joker Toxin, sending him into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Later, the police arrive on the scene and the dealer is shown being wheeled into an ambulance, still laughing. Whether the Joker Toxin kills him or not is left to the imagination.
Showdown[]
This episode is set in 1883 and is presented in flashback.
- Ra's al Ghul's airship opens fire on the small town of Devil's Hole, causing large-scale destruction. No people are shown to be killed, but such an attack would most certainly yield some casualties.
- When bounty hunter Jonah Hex boards the airship, he causes an explosion that causes the ammunition stores to detonate. While the crew aren't shown being killed, it is more than likely that some would have been thrown overboard by the explosion and fallen to their deaths.
Deep Freeze[]
- Theme park mogul Grant Walker uses a robot to kidnap Mr. Freeze from prison to assist him with his plan to become immortal. After being provided with a new suit and cold-gun, Freeze uses the weapon to freeze the robot that abducted him. After being frozen, the robot topples to the floor and breaks apart.
- When Batman and Robin infiltrate Oceania, three flying security robots attempt to capture them. Batman fires his grapple gun at one of the robots and the line gets tangled in the robot's propeller blades, causing it to crash.
- As Walker is preparing to fire his cryogenic cannon to freeze the Earth over, Mr. Freeze enters the control chamber and blasts the worker robots with his cold-gun, freezing them solid.
- A worker robot is about to throw the switch to fire the cryogenic cannon when Batman jumps down on it from above and snaps its neck.
- Batman throws a Batarang that decapitates two security robots that are manhandling Robin.
Season 3 (The New Batman Adventures)[]
Holiday Knights[]
- On New Year's Eve, the Joker makes a New Year's resolution not to kill anyone for a whole year, so decides to work overtime to kill as many people as he can that night.
- Dr. John Erikson - A scientist who had developed an experimental sonic weapon. Joker had poisoned him with Joker Venom and left a party horn in his mouth before stealing his device to use for his New Year's massacre. Erikson's killing isn't shown, but Batman and Robin learn about it after the fact after looking at a file provided by Commissioner Gordon.
- At the New Year's Eve celebration in Gotham Square, Joker begins setting up the sonic bomb on the stage. Behind him are two security guards who have been tied up. They appear to be dead, their faces contorted into ghoulish grins by the Joker's poison.
Sins of the Father[]
- Steven "Shifty" Drake - Petty criminal and father of Tim Drake. Batman investigates Steven via the Batcomputer and learns of a John Doe that was pulled out of Metropolis River over a month ago. The John Doe's prints are identical to those in Drake's criminal profile. How he died is unknown, though it was most likely a gang-related murder.
Never Fear[]
- While undercover, Bruce investigates the Never Fear Seminar and discovers Scarecrow's no-fear gas. Scarecrow knocks him out, and when he wakes up, he finds himself in a swamp surrounded by crocodiles. Scarecrow shoots Bruce with a no-fear gas pellet and watches as he climbs the fence and is forced to fight the animals. A crocodile lunges at Bruce and drags him beneath the water. Thinking that Bruce is dead, Scarecrow walks away, but a moment later a cloud of blood appears in the water and Bruce emerges, seemingly unharmed. The crocodile, however, emerges belly-up, indicating that Bruce had somehow managed to kill it.
Over the Edge[]
- In this episode, Batgirl is supposedly killed after being knocked off a rooftop by the Scarecrow. Later, Batman and Commissioner Gordon appear to meet a similar fate following a confrontation with Bane. However, the episode is revealed to be a lengthy dream sequence; Barbara was hit with Scarecrow's fear gas right before Batman apprehended him, causing her to experience her greatest fear in the form of a nightmare.
Critters[]
- One year after being banned from conducting his genetic experiments, Enoch Brown engineers a group of four giant praying mantises which he then unleashes on Gotham. Batman intervenes in the creatures' rampage and attempts to kill them with a tanker full of pesticide, but the poison has no effect. However, the creatures suddenly fall apart and die as they are about to kill Batman. Following the attack, Batman discovers that the mutant insects were genetically designed to self-destruct.
- After breaking out of the silo rocket carrying Brown's advanced batch of bugs, Batman drives the armoured truck that previously carried Brown's ransom into the silo. After Batman jumps clear, the truck charges through the silo door, crushing one of the mutant mantises.
- The rest of the mantis swarm is destroyed when the silo rocket explodes mid-flight.
Chemistry[]
- In this episode, Poison Ivy executes a plot to seize control of all the major industries based in Gotham. It involves creating a number of plant-human hybrids who go on to marry the CEO's of the companies Ivy is targeting. Ivy then orchestrates a honeymoon cruise for the newlyweds while planning to sink the cruise liner, killing the CEO's so that their new spouses can inherit their fortunes, and by extension, her as well.
- When Robin boards the cruise liner, Ivy orders two of her genetically-engineered minions to attack him. Robin hoses the two with a chemical agent that causes the hybrids to rapidly dissolve.
Beware the Creeper[]
- While TV journalist Jack Ryder is filming a live documentary on the Joker at the ACE Chemical Plant, the Clown Prince of Crime disrupts the broadcast. From the rafters above the catwalk Ryder and his crew are on, Joker and Harley toss a pair of rubber chickens towards the film crew. The rubber chickens release laughing gas that sends Ryder and his crew into hysterics. While Ryder survives to become The Creeper, Joker mentions during his attack "I'm live, you're dead!", indicating that the laughing gas is lethal. The camera crew are not shown on-screen again after emerging from the cloud of gas, though it seems likely that they didn't survive.
- Following the explosion at ACE, Joker returns to his hideout via taxi. The taxi driver may be dead as he has clearly been poisoned with Joker Toxin.