10 Batman Fates Worse Than Death

6. Mister Freeze Becomes A Spider Robot Head... Thing - The New Batman Adventures

Batman Last Knight on Earth
Warner Bros.

One of the best things about Batman: The Animated Series was how it humanised the Dark Knight's rogues gallery. Plenty of episodes were great at tapping into the tragedy of most of the Bat villains, but none arguably more so than Heart of Ice, the seminal story that forever redefined Mister Freeze, and turned him into a truly legendary character.

Victor Fries was the subject of several endings over the course of the DCAU Batman shows, the first of which arrived in SubZero, a 1998 film that ended with Freeze roaming the Arctic, safe in the knowledge that a procedure funded by Bruce Wayne had saved his wife.

Victor seemed to be at peace, but it wasn't to be. He returned with a vengeance in TNBA, as it was revealed that the procedure that led to his icy condition had caused his entire body to deteriorate, leaving nothing but his head intact. Fries retains his cryo suit, but when not inside of it, he navigates his surroundings courtesy of some nifty little spider-legs that sprout out of the base... and it is the exact opposite of dignified.

After years of pain and hardship Fries thought he'd finally gotten his happy ending, only to be confronted with an entirely new level of body horror that only got worse in Batman Beyond.

Content Producer/Presenter
Content Producer/Presenter

Resident movie guy at WhatCulture who used to be Comics Editor. Thinks John Carpenter is the best. Likes Hellboy a lot. Can usually be found talking about Dad Movies on his Twitter at @EwanRuinsThings.