10 Darkest Endings In The DC Animated Universe

7. The Earth Mover - Batman Beyond

Of all the shows in the DCAU, Batman Beyond might just be the scariest. Yes, BTAS may have had Clayface, Scarecrow, and that weird bleeding gun... thing, but that doesn't mean Beyond didn't double down when it came to horror.

Seriously, this show LOVED body horror. It lived for it. Villains get turned into half-animal hybrids, biological warfare is a real threat, and while radiation or toxic waste might give you powers in the Marvel Universe, in Batman Beyond's, it was liable to turn you into a Cronenbergian monster.

No episode arguably typifies that train of thought better than Earth Mover, which was one of the first episodes in Beyond's second season.

The episode opens with one of Terry and Dana's friends, Jackie, confessing that they feel as though they're being watched. Terry spots a figure in the distance and pursues, only to discover it's actually an earth monster before losing the trail entirely.

It's eventually revealed that Jackie's father isn't actually her father at all, and that he's really an ambitious businessman who left her real father to die when a quick trip to illegally dispose of some toxic waste went horribly wrong.

The presumed deceased, as it turns out, was genetically bonded to the earth and has been using these mud monsters in a bid to exact some kind of revenge. The show doesn't bother sparing any details either, showing the eponymous Earthmover as a glowing corpse with a demonic voice living beneath the surface.

Earth Mover is a brilliant episode, and while it does conclude on a relatively positive note, when Batman, Jackie and her adoptive father are all locked underground with the titular villain, things are literally the exact opposite of schway.