Body horror in Batman: The Animated Series

By Alex Wiggan

When it comes to Batman: The Animated Series, amongst the crooks, the crime, the madness, and the macabre, you’ll find the horror. Or to be more accurate, the body horror.

It might not seem obvious at first, but Batman: The Animated Series is big on body horror. There are elements of it spread throughout the show, sometimes in small doses and at other times it becomes a key focus of plotlines and stories.

Take the opening episode, ‘On Leather Wings’, as well as its later series follow-up ‘Terror in the Sky’, which both revolve around a terrifying transformation. In the former, Dr. Kirk Langstrom experiments on himself to become the menacing Man-Bat, while in the latter his wife Francine is the one who becomes a humanoid bat creature.

This isn’t a case of the Langstroms dressing up in the guise of bats like Batman, they undergo a full body metamorphosis. Hair, teeth, wings, and even a high-pitched screech all become part of their altered state.

And the horror of human to animal transformations doesn’t just stop there, they can also be seen in ‘Moon of the Wolf’ and ‘Tyger Tyger’. In the case of ‘Moon of the Wolf’, ex-Olympic champion, Anthony Romulus becomes a savage werewolf.

As for ‘Tyger Tyger’, the plot revolves around genetic engineer Emile Dorian, and his experiments with humans and animals. As a makeshift Dr. Moreau, Emile creates walking talking animals, such as his man-cat hybrid, Tygrus.

But Tygrus needs a mate, which prompts Dorian to orchestrate the kidnapping of Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman. From here he temporarily mutates Selina into a ‘cat woman’, so she no longer just acts like a cat but actually becomes as close to one as humanly possible.

Sticking with humanoid animals and the most notable example in the show is Killer Croc, who makes his first appearance in ‘Vendetta’. Croc is a villain with a genetic condition which gives him a reptilian appearance.

There’s no significant transformation or rogue experiment here, Croc is just presented as a man-crocodile. Scaly skin and gnashing jaws, he is a dangerous foe and one not to be trusted.

In the episode, ‘Sideshow’, Killer Croc demonstrates his true nature when he befriends a kindly circus troupe, only to betray them at the first opportunity. Croc doesn’t just look like a human crocodile, he also possesses the ruthless attributes of both man and beast.

Moving away from animals and Batman: The Animated Series brings more body horror via the two-part tale, ‘Two-Face’. The story sees District Attorney Harvey Dent blackmailed while suffering with his mental health.

During the course of the first episode, Harvey is involved in an accident which disfigures half of his body. This in turn unlocks a hidden, dark personality, known as Big Bad Harv, which essentially takes over from here on out.

From the moment Harvey is transformed into Two-Face, he never returns back to Harvey Dent. Instead, he remains in the series with half of his entire body scarred, with his injuries split down the middle from head to toe.

The right side still retains his original features, but the left side is a significant contrast. His skin blue and covered in blisters; his hair a shocking white; his left eye a deep yellow; and his mouth twisted, with teeth exposed and lips blown out.

But Harvey isn’t the only villain with a staggering appearance, arguably the villain who is the most notable example of body horror is Matt Hagen, aka Clayface. The former actor, who also indulges in criminal activity, finds his whole body transformed into living clay when he overdoses on an experimental beauty cream.

Already disfigured in a car accident, Hagen becomes addicted to the cream known as Renuyu, before his body is exposed to a dangerous amount of the substance. This transforms his body in the two-part story, ‘Feat of Clay’, and leaves him resembling a mound of moveable mud, with shape-changing abilities.

But Hagen’s transformation worsens over time, and in ‘Mudslide’ his body even begins to break down. He starts to come apart, at times melting and leaving remnants of himself all over Gotham City.

Eventually Hagen manages to pull himself together and by the episode, ‘Growing Pains’, he has learned a new trick. Hagen is able to separate parts of himself and use his shape-shifting powers to turn these ‘body bits’ into seemingly sentient beings to do his bidding.

One of these sentient off-shoots even begins to believe it is a real person. The true horror here is how lifelike Clayface can make his pretend people seem.

Other elements of body horror can be seen via the episodes ‘Heart of Ice’, ‘Deep Freeze’, and ‘Cold Comfort’, which all revolve around the cold-hearted villain, Mr. Freeze. Formerly Dr. Victor Fries, this once brilliant scientist is transformed into Mr. Freeze after being caught up in accident and left for dead by his employer.

Freeze doesn’t die, but his body undergoes a dramatic transformation which leaves him in a permanent icy state. In order to survive, Freeze needs to keep his body below freezing point, which largely means he needs to remain imprisoned within a cold suit to regulate his temperature.

But the transformation doesn’t just change his physical appearance, it mostly affects his emotional responses too. Freeze becomes largely devoid of emotion, caring little for people and the world around him.

And the further Freeze moves away from his former life as Victor Fries, the less human he becomes. By ‘Cold Comfort’ he is able to detach his head, giving it mechanical, spider-like legs to move around. It’s freakish and bizarre.

Further examples of body horror in Batman: The Animated Series can be seen in ‘The Laughing Fish’, where the Joker uses contaminated fish to poison Gothamites and leave them with a twisted grin; as well as in ‘Beware the Creeper’ where the Joker is responsible for transforming a local news reporter into a crazed citizen. ‘Beware the Creeper’ also makes mention of Joker’s origin, which saw his body bleached after being dropped into a vat of chemicals.

And then there are the Poison Ivy episodes, such as ‘Pretty Poison’, ‘Eternal Youth’, ‘House and Garden’, and ‘Chemistry’, which demonstrate what happens when plants and poisons mix with a villainous vixen. Dr. Pamela Isley becomes Poison Ivy, has an immunity to toxins, transforms people (against their will) into tree-like statues, creates freakish plant-creatures, and even conjures up plant people.

And if all the above wasn’t enough – and let’s be honest, there hasn’t even been mention of the bird-like Penguin – Batman: The Animated Series serves up more body horror, this time of the techno variety, with the two-part story ‘Heart of Steel’, as well as its sequel ‘His Silicon Soul’.

In the former, an artificially intelligent super-computer known as H.A.R.D.A.C starts replacing prominent citizens of Gotham City with android replicas. These replicas cross paths with Batman, and in turn this leads to some creepy scenes as the human-like machines are either maimed, destroyed, or in one case crawl like an insect.

And then in the latter story, ‘His Silicon Soul’, a leftover replicant of Batman/Bruce Wayne comes to believe it is the real deal. This ultimately leads to a showdown between two versions of the Caped Crusader (the real one and the robot), with Batman facing the horror of defeating a skewed copy of himself.

Imagine coming face-to-face with your replacement – a cold, calculating robot. It doesn’t bear thinking about.

So, yeah, Batman: The Animated Series is packed with body horror. It’s not a theme which viewers instantly pay attention to, as the show delivers so many things, but it’s there.

Many of the villains undergo some kind of body-altering transformation, which not only leaves them forever changed, but over time they also find themselves moving even further away from their humanity. So, next time you watch the show, keep an eye out for all the creepy body horror which takes place.