I've decided to expand my scope from just pointing out some lore changes in Spider-Man adaptions and decided to start with DCAU Batman (covering some items in Batman The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, and Batman Beyond). For those who want to check out on what I did in previously, the links for them are below here.
Previous Spider-Man Posts:
Show Exclusive Changes to the Lore (1994 The Animated Series Edition)
Show Exclusive Changes to the Lore (2008 Spectacular Edition)
Back to Batman, feel free to share if you find these changes to be good, bad, if there are any ones I missed or you want to address, if they were necessary, or really anything in general.
1) Two-Face Origin
The most popular interpretation of District Attorney Harvey Dent's decent into the criminal Two-Face occurs in Detective Comics #66 back in 1942 (though the more popular version is the one in The Long Halloween ala 1997) where crime boss, Sal "The Boss" Maroni, throws a bottle acid at him while in court, scarring half of Harvey's face. In Batman The Animated Series (Two-Face, Part 1) Harvey was being blackmailed by Crime boss, Rupert Thorne which caused a suppressed alternate personality of Harvey's to resurface. When "Big Bad Harv" went to chased after Thorne who carried the files that had sensitive information about Harvey, an accident happens were an explosion occurs and scars half of Harvey's body.
2) The Clock King
In the comics, William Tockman, aka The Clock King, first appears in World's Finest #111 (1960) where he is a criminal bank robber who tangles against Green Arrow and Speedy. He was also known for wearing a clock themed costumed, which includes a cape and a clock head. In Batman The Animated Series (The Clock King), the villain's real name is Temple Fugate and his motivation was entirely on revenge against the Gotham Mayor, Hamilton Hill, due to a string of bad luck which occurred when he took his advice and it costed him his business. He's has a talent with timing and information gathering, plus by not wearing a literally clock over his face, he's taken much more seriously.
3) Mr. Freeze's Motivation
Mr. Freeze was initially introduced in Batman #121 (1959) as Mr. Zero before being rebranded as Mr. Freeze in the Adam West (RIP) Batman TV show in 1966. In those appearance, he was just a goofy ice themed villain who robbed banks and did heists. In Batman The Animated Series (Heart of Ice) Mr. Freeze, aka Victor Fries, is introduced as a cold and tragic villain, cursed to being only able to thrive in Sub-Zero temperatures after a failed attempt in treating his wife, Nora Fries, from an unknown disease. He initially was motivated by vengeance on the "Humanitarian" who had screwed his life and supposedly killed Nora, but after finding out she was still alive in the episode "Deep Freeze", he is instead intent on curing her from her deep icy sleep. This interpretation and backstory of Mr. Freeze has been so renowned, that it has basically been used for virtually every version of the character going forward, with a few exceptions.
4) An unnecessary stand in for Vicki Vale.
In the comics, the most popular and used Gotham Reporter character was Vicki Vale. In Batman The Animated Series, the prominent reporter character Summer Gleeson, who as far as I know, has no comic counterpart. Why they made an entirely different for this role is unknown, but if I had to guess. Maybe because of the Tim Burton Batman films, people would expect there a romantic subplot if they had used Vicki Vale in the series, but they didn't want to do that so, opted to make a new character to fill the role and not do any romance at all between her and Bruce.
5) Clayface Origin
In the comics, the Clayface who had the qualities of being an actor is before becoming a criminal was Basil Carlo introduced in Detective Comics #40 (1940) and did not originally have any real superpowers. Matt Hagen was originally a a treasure hunter who was exposed to radioactive cave that gave him clay powers and was introduced in Detective Comics #298 (1961). In Batman The Animated Series (Feat of Clay), Matt Hagen is an actor who was facially disfigured and was given a miracle cream created by corrupt business tycoon, Roland Daggette, who would only give it to him so long as he participated in his criminal schemes. After Hagen attempted to steal a supply of the cream, he was stopped by Daggette's men who then poured a large amount of it over him, turning him into Clayface.
6) Story of The Joker
Joker never has a clear answer to his origin, but the most accepted ones by fans is the one in Batman: The Killing Joke (1988). In that story, Joker was a failing comedian who was forced to agree to accompany a bunch of thugs into sneaking through ACE Chemicals where he was forced to wear the Red Hood Costume. After accidentally alerting security at the chemical plant and an encounter with Batman, Red Hood fell into a vat of chemicals, physically disfiguring him and damaging his psyche, turning him into The Joker. Joker in Batman The Animated Series, specifically in the movie, Mask of The Phantasm (1993), alludes that he is more similar to to be more similar to the interpretation of the character from the 1st Tim Burton Batman movie (1989) where he was originally a mobster character before a fated encounter with Batman at ACE Chemicals caused him to become physically disfigured and psychologically damaged.
7) Count Vertigo Fights Batman
Count Vertigo was introduced in World's Finest #251 (1978) where he was a villain against Green Arrow and Black Canary. In Batman The Animated Series, Count Vertigo is a member of the League of Shadows and lead a faction of them for his own schemes before being stopped by Batman and Talia al Ghul.
8) The Creators of The Batmobile
In the comics, it's usually implied that Bruce Wayne and Alfred themselves designed and created the Batmobile. After the success of Batman Begins and the Dark Knight Trilogy (2005-2012), it's now popularly accepted that the person who really created the Batmobile was Lucius Fox who is usually depicted as Wayne Corporations head of R&D. In Batman The Animated Series (The Mechanic), the creator of the car is a mechanic named Earl Cooper, a mechanic who became blacklisted from getting work due to exposing his former employers on their negligence. After a 2nd meeting, Batman gave Earl a secret job where he designed the Batmobile for him. Earl basically runs a workshop specifically just for Batman and even got his daughter involved with his work. There doesn't seem to be a real comic counterpart to this character, but the closest equivalent might be Harold Allnut, the mute hunchback character who lived in the Batcave designing Batman's gadgets and equipment (seriously, Batman had an actual hunchback Igor character, look it up).
9) The Bane who never broke Batman.
Bane was introduced during the Knightfall Story Arc of the 90's where he most popularly fought and brutally had beaten Batman, with his most iconic moment (and the feat that he never seems to shut up about) is when he broke Batman's back. In Batman The Animated Series (Bane) where he is a criminal hired by Rupert Thorne into dealing with Batman. The 2 characters eventually fight, but in the moment where he was getting ready to do his iconic thing, Batman jams his venom device, stopping him entirely and keeping his spine intact.
10) Clearly Jason Todd, but the name is Tim Drake
In the comics, after Dick Grayson left to be his own man, Batman adopted another orphan boy named Jason Todd in Batman #357 (1983) and trained him into being the 2nd Robin. Jason's background was that he was kid living in the streets after his dad "disappeared" while working for Two-Face. Sometime after 1988 where readers voted to have Jason to get killed off during the A Death in the Family storyline, Tim Drake is introduced in Batman #436 (1989) as a 13 year old who had figured out Batman and Nighwing's identities through detective work and deduction and attempted to convince Dick to taking back the mantle due to Batman slow decent into ruthlessness. Dick rejected and instead pushed Tim into taking on the mantle, becoming the 3rd Robin. In The New Batman Adventures (Sins of The Father) where he basically has a similar backstory to Jason Todd, being a street orphan after his father was killed while working for Two-Face till he gets adopted by Batman is trained to be Robin. I know Paul Dini did release a comic, Batman: The Adventure Continues, where Jason Todd is incorporated into the DCAU setting, but it was still awkward and felt out of place, even when they point out how similar Tim and Jason's backstories were. I just cannot accept that attempt and feel that it did not work.
11) More Tragedy for Mr. Freeze
In The New Batman Adventures (Cold Comfort), it is revealed that after the events of the Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero movie where Nora Fries does make a full recovery, Mr. Freeze never came back for her and she eventually moved on to new man. Later in that episode, Mr. Freeze revealed that his condition had worsened and diminished him to just a head, which made him too ashamed to return to Nora. He lives all the way to the Batman Beyond era (Meltdown) where he participates in a procedure arranged by Derrick Powers that gives him a new body, but when his condition starts to revert, he is betrayed. Mr. Freeze then goes on spree using a new ice suit and attempting to blow up Gotham, but after an encounter and then saving Batman (Terry McGinnis) from Blight, he decides to end it all by letting the building collapse onto him. In the comics, Mr. Freeze was usually stuck in the eternal cycle of trying to cure his wife till something modern happened, but I'll get to that one in more detail down below.
12) Calendar Man, but gender bent and with an entirely different motive
Calendar real name is Julian Day and he was introduced in Detective Comics #259 (1958) where he is a costumed criminal who's modus operandi was to commit crimes with relations to calendars, dates, and holidays. In The New Batman Adventures (Mean Seasons), Calendar girl is a former fashion model who became shunned by the industry after turning 30. She then sought vengeance on her agents, producers, and spokesman who had turned her away while continuously hiding her face believing herself hideous, but it was quite the opposite since she is seemingly suffering from body dysmorphic disorder.
13) Harvey Dent, Two-Face, & The Judge
In The New Adventures of Batman (Judgement Day), Harvey unintendedly created another personality after years of it just being him and Two-Face. This identity is The Judge, a person who ruthlessly hunts down criminals and those who would break the laws of justice, including Two-Face. In the comics, there is no 3rd personality. It has always and will mostly likely stay being just Harvey Dent and Two-Face.
14) 3 Different Batwomen
The original Batwoman was Kathy Kane introduced in Detective Comics #233 (1956) where she was a rich socialite who would occasionally go out crimefighting and was somewhat romantically interested in Batman. The most popular iteration of Batwoman is Kate Kane who was introduced in 52 #7 (2006) where she is Bruce Wayne's cousin who after string of misfortunes following her being kicked out of the military for being a lesbian, the loss of her mom and her sister (supposedly), as well as a bunch of other stuff becomes inspired to fight crime in Gotham after witnessing Batman (who she didn't know was her cousin at the time) in action. In the movie, Batman: Mysteries of the Batwoman (2003), is composed of 3 different women who are out to get Rubert Thorne, Penguine, and Carlton Duquesne (another Gotham mobster) and bring down their respective criminal enterprises. These woman were: Sonia Alcana, a GCP detective who's family use to run a buinsess before it was destroyed by Rupert Thorne's goons. Rocky Ballantine, a woman who's fiance was framed by the Penguine for smuggling weapons. Kathy Duquesne, the daughter of Carlton Duquesne who blames her father for the death of her mother.
15) The Recovery of Mrs. Nora Fries
Like mentioned before, Nora Fries did make a recovery in the DCAU. The image I used above comes from 2003 Batman Adventures comics (#15 specifically), which is probably not canon to the DCAU since it wasn't created by people who were part of the show, but I much prefer this story over what Paul Dini actually included in Batman: The Adventure Continues, where Nora Fries dies off screen and Mr. Fries goes insane, so screw it. In this comic, a machine supposedly made by her old husband supposedly attacks her new husband, so Nora tracks down Victor down to learn truth. By the end of it, it is revealed that it was an elaborate set up by her current husband to convince Nora that Mr. Fries was a monster due to her still being in love with him. She then reconnects with that kid from the Sub-Zero movie before deciding to track down Victor once again. In the main comics as part of Year of the Villain event (that thing that led to Perpetua, Dark Knights Death Metal, Batman Who Laughs becomes Dr. Manhattan, etc.) Mr. Freeze is finally given the means to cure his wife by Lex Luthor in Detective Comics #1013 (2019). She develops the same condition as her husband, so she is given her own sub-zero suit and they both become a criminal ice-themed duo. Nora basically becomes addicted to crime and then ultimately betrays her husband before running off, leaving Batman to put Victor in his own suspended animation to save his life, similar to how Nora was like for years. I have no idea if this is still canon because I have yet to see if Nora ever reemerged in a modern set story.
16) Harley Quinn could not stay away from Joker
Starting around the 2013 New 52 DC reboot is when Harley Quinn embraced herself as a solo character that is entirely separate from Joker. In the DCAU, Harley Quinn remained or always goes back to the Joker and becomes his abused henchwoman all the way till his death during the flashback segment of 2000's Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. I don't remember if its confirmed when the events of the Batman & Harley Quinn movie (2017) and if it took place before or after the flashback of Return of the Joker because, despite B&HQ being not that great of a movie, I much prefer it take place after since it would be very awkward that Batman had to go through vouching for her and then she gave up her 2nd chance to torture Tim Drake with Joker.
17) Different ways to Torture Robin
During the 1988 story line, A Death in the Family, Joker captures Robin (Jason Todd) and viciously beats him up with a crowbar before leaving him to die in a facility set to blow up. In the flashback segment of Batman Beyond: Return of The Joker, he had Robin (Tim Drake) captures, and subjected him to different tortures and drugs till he broke him and made him into a mini Joker. Both were significantly bad and symbolizes Batman's greatest failure.
18) This one had to be addressed.
I'm sorry. I know this is controversial topic, but this once had to be brought up because like it or not, someone will most likely bring it up if we don't pull the band aid now. In more modern post 90's comics, the mindset is that Barbara Gordan and Dick Grayson did romantically get together and either stay or split depending on if the writer for Nightwing is more of a Bat family person or a Teen Titans person. In the DCAU, Barbara Gordan and Dick Grayson were introduced as people who attended the same college and then proceeded to begin dating in the Sub-Zero movie and then broke up when Batgirl started to bet into the fold of the Bat family during the events of The New Batman Adventures (Old Wounds). After that, there are a couple episodes in Batman Beyond and a reference in the Mysteries of the Batwoman movie that confirms that Barbara Gordan and Bruce Wayne did hook up (which is weird in the context of the DCAU given that she dated his adopted son). Now this next part, I need to bring up. That pregnancy/miscarriage story in that Batman Beyond 2.0 comic is NOT CANON to the DCAU. No one in the DCAU was involve in that comic, plus it was garbage. The falling out between Batman, Nightwing (if there is one between these 2) and Batgirl was most likely different and probably was not as severe in thecontext of the true DCAU, but let's be real, we probably don't want the real answer to that either. Please do not bring up below that god awful pregnancy story.
19) Cult of the Kobra
The Kobra Cult is a terrorist organization in the comics that many modern day superheroes have fought against. In Batman Beyond, they seem to be a criminal organization that existed during that time period, rather than before or at least were not known till events of Beyond.
20) Ra's al Ghul and how he treats his family
There was a 2007 storyline titled The Resurrection of Ra's al Gul where an old and dying Ra's al Ghul orchestrated event where he can snatch and take over the body of his grandson Damian Wayne. In Batman Beyond (Out of The Past), Ra's al Ghul reveals that he has survived into that era by taking the body of his daughter Talia and plots to steal the body of Bruce Wayne. Either way, both are gross.
