Boff! Bonk! Pow! – The Story Behind The Cheesy Batman Fight Words From The 1966 TV Series

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Boff, Bonk, Pow, Plop, Kapow, Swa-a-p, Whamm, Zwap, Bam! Those are either the sounds of your gassy uncle exploding after a bean burrito or comic book style Batman fight words from the 1966 Batman TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward.

What Are Batman Fight Words?

If you’ve never watched an episode of the 1966 Batman TV series before, then you might not be familiar with the Batman fight words graphics and how they were used in the show. Every time someone got punched, kicked or hit during a fight scene, a giant Pow or Bonk graphic was sure to follow.

The Practical Reasons Why Batman Fight Word Graphics Were Used In The 1966 Batman TV series

Many people found these graphics a little corny, but they served a dual purpose. They helped connect the 1966 Batman TV series back to its comic book origins while covering up the terribly choreographed fight scenes. If you watch closely, it’s obvious that most punches never landed on or even near the body of their intended victims.

These Batman Fight Graphics Were An Expensive Production Element

Initially, the title shots like POW! were placed over a scene so you could see both the actors and graphic. But because it cost too much money to create these title pages (combination of camera work and artwork), it was decided that just the fight word, like POW!, for example, would fill the screen on a solid color background. These images were reused over and over again and saved both production time and helped reduce the show’s per episode budget.

These Batman fight words were used throughout the TV series and its companion TV movie. In the first season of the TV series, they were placed on top of the scene showing the actors in the background. But in an effort to reduce production costs, they were inserted over a solid colored background allowing them to be reused in additional episodes.

Detailed Episode Breakout Of Batman Fight Words

Here’s a detailed breakout every Batman fight word graphic and how many times it was used during the run of the show (1966-1968).

Episode	Batman Fight Words
02	krunch zlonk klonk bam kapow ouch whamm zap kapow urkkk zok biff zzzzzwap
04	pow ooooff clunk
05	crraack ooooff thwapp
06	awk bam crunch eee-yow crr-aaack ooooff
07	pow crash thwapp
08	biff whamm sock pow zam crunch zlonk
09	(stars)
12	pow whack zlopp boff zap krunch (stars)
13	zap boff zlott crash zlopp
14	zzzzzwap bam zok pow kapow biff pam thunk whamm
16	biff pow zap kapow whamm klonk
17	zap crash boff
18	pow zzzzzwap
19	zap crraack crunch bonk rakkk ooooff thwack
20	thwack zap crunch ooooff bonk
21	awkkkkkk zzzzzwap zgruppp kapow pow powie crunch boff
22	crraack boff (stars) pow awkkkkkk zok biff crunch qunckkk
23	bam thwapp pow zlonk pow sock
24	ooooff aiieee biff sock thunk bam crunch whap swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh pow zamm biff crraack
26	clunk sock kapow sock pow zap thwapp crash owww zamm zowie crraack eee-yow
27	qunckkk sock clank thwack bonk ouch
28	(stars) biff clank clash touché kayo ooooff rip
29	pow zap sock crash ooooff
30	klonk thunk whap zok zam whamm
31	(stars)  eee-yow ooooff biff boff pow klonk whap
32	zap sock zamm kapow whamm
33	clank clank crash eee-yow pow whap swish
34	zamm uggh swoosh pam zap flrbbbbb
TV Movie	pow whap thwack biff bap bap zwapp sploosh klonk urkk swoosh swa-a-p eee-yow ouch kapow ker-sploosh spla-a-t plop urkkk blurp ker-plop
35	zapeth thwacke wham-eth clunk-eth thwape
36	bang-eth whack-eth thwacke clank-est clange crunch-eth ouch-eth wham-eth
37	zap boff thwack whamm kapow z-zwap eee-yow ooooff
38	bam crunch thunk cr-r-a-a-ck whamm pow biff boff
39	kapow
40	bam uggh ooooff zamm kayo
41	thunk sock whamm vronk bonk clunk zlopp z-zwap klonk zamm powie bam splatt
42	bam urkkk glipp ooooff
43	sock boff pow bonk ooooff rakkk powie bam touché crash zap zlonk
44	bam powie zowie vronk cr-r-a-a-ck splatt
45	boff awk splatt whamm
46	z-zwap splatt flrbbbbb kapow kayo
47	aieee uggh pow ooooff awkkkkkk bonk kapow
48	thwack bonk whamm kapow bam splatt ooooff
49	sock splatt boff zamm whap bonk z-zwap bam kapow
50	whamm bam pow zlopp zlonk sock whack zowie
51	biff boff kapow whack
52	bonk z-zwap bam
53	splatt whamm whack z-zwap boff zowie
54	boff whamm sock kapow splatt crash zamm
55	bam zap boff whack zamm pam sock pow whamm rakkk kapow z-zwap
56	zap kapow splatt pow z-zwap
57	kapow klonk pow ooooff uggh awkkkkkk bonk
58	urkkk clank klonk clash
59	clank ooooff whack crash eee-yow splatt
60	boff sock splatt zap zowie
61	biff pow kapow boff zap splatt sock whamm eee-yow ooooff zowie thunk kayo
62	cr-r-a-a-ck ooooff ouch eee-yow biff kayo boff
63	pow boff kapow z-zwap bonk
64	whamm boff z-zwap cr-r-a-a-ck ooooff
65	whap zamm pam eee-yow kapow
66	ooooff pow splatt zlopp
67	rakkk ooooff thunk whap splatt biff bam boff
68	klonk clash zlopp vronk uggh zowie crunch zlonk touché flrbbbbb
69	z-zwap zowie whamm kapow sock kayo
70	ooooff boff zap crash sock kapow
71	whack pam biff sock kapow
72	clunk vronk zap sock zlopp whap ooooff  boff ooooff zamm
73	zap ooooff klonk whack vronk thwack kapow thunk whamm bam zamm
74	whack pam sock vronk kapow rakkk ooooff zap boff splatt splatt zlonk
75	zlopp kapow sock
76	kapow sock whack
77	clank sock whap clash zlonk whamm
80	bloop glurpp ooooff slosh
81	pow thunk boff ooooff zap kapow whap kayo
82	biff boff eee-yow kapow
83	boff eee-yow sock whack biff
84	zowie zap zamm kapow boff biff
85	zamm crash vronk whamm bam
86	zlonk zlopp zap ouch
87	crash whack zamm
88	whap vronk pow zamm ooooff zlopp zap
89	awk biff whap zamm
90	pow crash ouch
91	crash urkkk whap kapow pow vronk
92	sock whamm zamm ooooff kapow z-zwap eee-yow
93	whap awk bam pow zamm zowie boff kapow
94	flrbbbbb ouch ooooff biff boff kapow ooooff biff splatt whamm sock
95	kapow zowie crash clunk boff whamm zap whack whap biff boff pow zowie splatt
96	pow splatt boff whamm
97	bam zap biff pow crash kapow sock pow splatt
98	kapow sock bam whack biff
99	whap boff kapow splatt
100	pow crash whap kapow crash zap kapow
101	kapow whack pow whap clunk sock bam
102	biff boff zowie zap pow sock
103	splatt boff
104	kapow whack biff zap crunch splatt bam
105	splatt crash pow whack whamm zowie zap sock kapow crunch
106	bam boff sock crash whamm pow zap splatt zowie clunk biff boff splatt crash
107	bam pow zap whack sock kapow
108	crash boff bam crash whack
109	crash zap whap bam kapow pow biff boff sock bam
110	sock crunch kapow whack
111	clunk zowie
112	whack biff boff crash splatt crunch
114	zap whap whamm zowie biff
115	splatt biff bam boff pow crash whap zap bang whamm
116	biff sock splatt crash pow whack whap zap zowie clunk kapow
117	crash bang sock biff bam zap crunch boff zowie bang
118	splatt zap sock pow kapow crunch crash
119	pow sock zap crash zowie
120	whamm zowie crash zap sock whap zowie splatt

In case you’re curious, the top 5 most used Batman fight graphics were…

1. Kapow (50 times)
2. Pow (49 times)
3. Boff (43 times)
4. Zap (42 times)
5. Sock (41 times)

Complete Archive Of Batman Fight Graphics

Here’s a complete archive of Batman fight words from the 1966 Batman TV series. They span from the obvious, like ZONK!, SPLAT! and POW!, to the bizarre, like Flrbbbbb!, URKK! and !Ox?-eth!

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NERD NOTE: The 1960s Batman television series last 120 episodes over 3 seasons ending in 1968. After ABC cancelled the show, the producers waited to see if anyone else would pick up the series. There was no immediate interest, so they impatiently bulldozed the Batcave set rather than pay for its storage fees. Two weeks after the set was destroyed, NBC offered to pick up the TV series. They were unaware that the set had already been dismantled. When they realized that they’d have pay out of their own pocket to rebuild the set, NBC withdrew their offer to acquire the series.