10 Darkest Endings In The DC Animated Universe

3. Clayface Murders A Part Of Himself - The New Batman Adventures

The New Batman Adventures Growing Pains
Warner Bros.

Feat of Clay tends to be the go-to "oH MY GOD BTAS WAS REALLY DARK WASN'T IT" episode for most fans, but you know what's worse? Growing Pains.

This episode came about during The New Batman Adventures, and basically tells a story wherein Robin (Tim Drake), tries to rescue a young girl who's on the run from someone. She's clearly terrified, and the Boy Wonder does his best to look after her, even going so far as to give her a name - Annie - all the while realising that he's developing a huge crush.

During this time, he and Batman try to fight Annie's pursuer - supposedly her father - but they lose them both. Robin persists with the search while Batman studies some samples, discovering that the man in question is none other than Clayface.

This is where things get truly disturbing. You see, Annie isn't actually Annie, but a part of Clayface created after he encountered some chemicals in the sewer. She went missing, and he's been trying to reabsorb her this entire time, which is obviously something Robin isn't too pleased with.

Cue Annie hurling herself at Clayface to save Robin, where she gets reabsorbed and essentially dies.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.