10 Most Heartbreaking Moments In The DC Animated Universe
4. Dick Grayson Leaves The Circus - Batman: The Animated Series
Warner Bros.
It would be remiss to make a list all about the DCAU's most heartbreaking moments and not include Batman: The Animated Series.
BTAS is rightly lauded as one of the finest animated shows of all time, boasting tremendous animation, gripping stories and superb reimaginings of some of Batman's characters to impart the definitive version of the Dark Knight.
One of the show's best episodes was Robin's Reckoning, a two-part special that recounted the origins of Dick Grayson and how he found his way to Batman. It's an incredibly heartfelt story, showcasing how two kindred spirits found each other through great tragedy, and how they turned that pain into a force for good.
Of course though, with it being about the death of Dick Grayson's parents and how he became an orphan, things were bound to get a little emotional. Arguably the saddest moment arrives when Dick says his goodbyes to Haly's Circus, with even the elephant welling up and giving him a hug with his trunk.
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.
