The DC Animated Universe (DCAU) comprises dozens of characters in parallel universes. Thus, the young and older heroes of Young Justice have doppelgangers on the Earth where Justice League Unlimited resides. These duplicates often have similar traits.
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Most of them work incredibly hard in their superhero roles. Yet, there’s a small group of animated characters that display more laziness than activity. Despite the urge to let people like Superman and Wonder Woman do the heavy work, these slothful heroes are quite intelligent.
9 Wally West Knows His ScienceThe early episodes of Justice League revealed Wally West’s version of The Flash as the team’s cutup. He’s shown relaxing, making jokes, and generally not taking things too seriously. Underneath that persona is a sharp mind.
There are several examples of this. In the famous two-part episode “A Better World,” Wally learns how to slow his heartbeat down so Justice Lord Batman thinks he’s dead. In the Justice League Unlimited episode “Divided We Fall,” he comes up with the idea of running across the globe several times to become the Speed Force. This helps him defeat the Luthor/Brainiac hybrid.
8 Booster Gold Couldn’t Make It To the Present Without SmartsBooster has never been touted as a genius in any form of media. Several people consider him as a joke who’s always in search of the next quick buck. Peel away that top layer of his facade and there’s a smart man underneath.
There aren’t many individuals who could figure out 31st-century technology like a Legion flight ring and Brainiac 5’s force field belt, let alone know how to combine them to create a superhero persona. Nor could those without a certain intelligence level adapt so well to a past that isn’t as technologically advanced as his own time. In the end, the animated Booster isn’t dumb. He’s simply misjudged.
7 Brave & The Bold Aquaman Has Intelligence Underneath His BlusterBatman: The Brave & The Bold provided a Silver Age look at several DC Comics heroes. In doing so, the animated series also adjusted their personas. One superhero that appeared far different than his current appearances is Aquaman.
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The Arthur Curry of Brave & The Bold is pure bluster. Plus, at times he seems dense as to what’s going on around him. This is simply for the public and Batman. Beneath all the posturing is someone with the smarts to know when it’s time to fight.
6 John Constantine Uses Magic For ConvenienceJohn Constantine would rather spend most of his time at the pub smoking and drinking. It takes a huge effort for him to get involved. It took some serious peer pressure from Superman and Raven in Justice League Dark: Apokolips War to get John to join them against Darkseid.
Nevertheless, there’s no doubt he’s one of the most powerful mages in the DC animated universe. He knows the right spells to cast to damage or eliminate a threat so he can go back to the pub. Plus, he has the investigative chops to hunt down the worst occultists.
5 Bouncing Boy Knows The Right Literal And Physical AnglesElastic heroes like the Legion of Super-Heroes’ Bouncing Boy get a bad rep. Others believe their simplistic powers make them lazy on the battlefield. In a way, BB does have some of those tendencies. On the other hand, he’s quite smart.
To take down 31st-century villains he needs to know the literal and physical angles to a situation. For instance, in the Legion of Superheroes episode “Man of Tomorrow,” BB helps Clark Kent hold up a collapsing Ferris wheel by inflating his body to the right size. Other episodes show him bouncing off walls at various angles to avoid weapon fire.
4 Gar Logan Has Business SmartsThe Young Justice version of Gar Logan is not a book smart type of hero. Frankly, he would rather hang out with members of The Team and The Outsiders. Yet, when the situation arises, Gar utilizes promotional skills gained from his time on television. This is how he inspired the public to support The Outsiders when the press and people like Lex Luthor tried to diminish their importance.
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3 Marvin Is Actually Smarter Than WendyIt was an unwritten prerequisite to have teenage sidekicks in Saturday morning cartoons of the 70s. For the Super Friends, it was Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog. While Wendy had the scholarly smarts of the twin siblings, Marvin was really the lazy intelligence of the pair.
He’s quite similar to Scooby-Doo’s Shaggy in this sense. He let his sister and the rest of the Super Friends do the hard work. In doing so, he minimized risk to himself. Furthermore, he provided needed backup should the Friends be defeated by the lukewarm villains of the show’s first season.
2 The Wonder Twins Utilized Science To Defeat VilliansIt didn’t seem like Wendy and Marvin’s replacements, the Wonder Twins, did much as the teenage partners to the Justice League. During their segments in The All-New Super Friends Hour, Zan turned into a bucket of water and Jayna became an eagle to take him along.
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Their smarts came into play when they confronted the week’s evil-doer. It takes scientific knowledge to understand what form of water (solid, liquid, vapor) could hamper a villain’s moves. The same goes for finding the right animal to help. Jayna had to determine if finesse or brute force was in order.
1 Hal Jordan Relied On His Ring Too Much In Justice League: WarIt’s hard to tell if Hal Jordan was being lazy or arrogant at the start of Justice League: War. Either way, he relied on the immense power of his Green Lantern ring to destroy the parademons invading Gotham City. It seemed like this version of Hal wasn’t too bright.
That’s just his facade. Fans of Hal know he’s highly intelligent. If not, then he wouldn’t have become a test pilot. Nor would he have been able to quickly adjust to the ring and his new role in the universe.
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By: Richard Keller
Title: DC: 10 Animated Characters Who Are Smart (But Lazy) | CBR
Sourced From: www.cbr.com/dc-animated-characters-who-are-smart-but-lazy/
Published Date: February 08, 2022
