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 ($28 via Amazon) 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.
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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…
- Kapow (50 times)
- Pow (49 times)
- Boff (43 times)
- Zap (42 times)
- 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!
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.
Boff! Bonk! Pow! – The Story Behind The Cheesy Batman Fight Words From The 1966 TV Series — #batman #adamwest #batmantvseries #batmantv #batman1960s #batmantvshow Share on X
Frank Wilson is a retired teacher with over 30 years of combined experience in the education, small business technology, and real estate business. He now blogs as a hobby and spends most days tinkering with old computers. Wilson is passionate about tech, enjoys fishing, and loves drinking beer.
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