Why batman doesnt kill

In 's Detective Comics 27, during his very first appearance Batman kicks a man into a vat of acid and calls it "a fitting end" -- this bit was famously reimagined in The Killing Joke to explain the origins of the Joker and, of course, inspired the backstory Jack Nicholson's iconic performance in 's Batman. In Detective Comics 29, Batman kills his first supervillain known as Doctor Death by trapping him in a burning building and chillingly stating, "Death And in what is most likely his most brutal crime, he hangs the Monster Man from the batcopter in the debut issue of his solo title, Batman 1.

Actors Who Almost Played Batman. Was this article informative? YES NO. A lot's changed! This isn't the first time Batman's mercy for the Joker has been questioned or challenged.

Even some of his most trusted confidants like the Red Hood and Catwoman could never convince him to take a life. Even when Joker kidnapped and tortured Jason Todd , something that almost made Batman put up the cape and cowl for good, he still wouldn't end Joker's life.

Even after Bane killed Alfred with his bare hands, he still held firm on his famous rule. There's a good argument to be made that if he could have saved Alfred's life and Jason's soul if he would have ended the lives of their respective murderers. Batman is convinced that if he kills the Joker he'll sink to his level and become something like him.

Joker echoes this sentiment frequently while badgering Batman about their many similarities. If Batman really believed he was as limitless as he says he is, he wouldn't be so scared of losing himself so easily. Batman seems like he's cherry-picking ideas to justify his no-killing rule. Phantasm implies that Batman has failed to save lives for nothing more than protecting his ego and his pride, and she's not wrong in the least.

Jonathan Olsen-Koziol has been training for this his entire life. These often are done to either keep within the lines of the law or stop him from going beyond redemption. Over the years, they have generally become simplified to either No Killing or No Guns rules. However, some incarnations, including the mainline Batmen, have either broken or not retained these.

When first introduced, Batman did not have any concern about the lives of his enemies. His first confirmed kill was in Detective Comics 27 , where he knocked Alfred Stryker into a vat of acid. Batman continued to murder criminals, cause their deaths or leave them in lethal situations.

In some stories, he also wielded a pistol. Both were well known for wielding firearms and often used lethal methods to dispatch enemies. This continued until Batman 1 , where he gunned down Hugo Strange 's henchmen and hung one of the Monster Men with a noose from the Batgyro. According to Bob Kane , this incident evoked complaints from parents, due to children becoming interested following the introduction of Robin. This led editor Whitney Ellsworth to tell Finger to never have him use guns again.

The editor later created a policy for all published characters from killing, which stated "Heroes should never kill a villain, no matter the depths of his villainy. Officially, Batman's "no killing" rule came into affect in Batman 4. During a swordfight with pirates, Batman tells Robin "Use only the flat of your sword, Robin! Remember, we never kill with weapons of any kind!

These now meant Batman was no longer considered a vigilante and would have to work within the guidelines of the law. Despite these changes, Batman still continued to kill criminals in his stories, though most were indirectly caused by either knocking them into hazards or throwing them off buildings.

However, direct kills were gradually phased out, though they still continued to occur albeit rarely. Batman's use of lethal tactics finally stopped after a trip to the frontlines of World War II during Batman This issue was notably one of the largest sprees in his history, causing a vehicle crash and later destroyed an entire warship full of soldiers. The issues also depicted Batman using a machine gun on the cover of the issue.

After this incident and with the new policies in place, Batman would not kill his enemies and even attempt to prevent their deaths. He also stopped using weapons that could be used to cause deadly harm, such as guns and swords.

Some stories would justify this as him allowing the courts to serve justice, with the character now being on the side of the police and the law.

Due to Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent targeting comics for violent acts and blaming them for juevinial delinqency, the Comics Magazine Association of America created the Comics Code Authority 's guidelines to prevent government intervention. Comic books, including issues of Batman and Detective Comics , would need to abide by these if they wished to be published, meaning Batman and other characters had to abide to stricter rules.

These meant that Batman could no longer be portrayed as a vigilante operating on the edge or use excessive violence, though these rules had been in place since This also meant that Batman and Robin could not get into fights nor use direct violence on their enemies. The codes also meant that criminals could not be portrayed sympathetically and stories could not sow distrust in authority. As such, the Dynamic Duo were to solely focus on criminals and not investigate issues like police corruption.

Ironically, it also meant that Batman's supervillains could also not be shown committing violent crimes, including acts of murder or gang wars. These codes would remain in place until they were updated in the earlys. The new portrayal of Batman and his enemies would heavily influence the s Batman series and how Batman was presented.

Later, the group planted charges on a bridge to destroy it and an entire battalion of soldiers, with Bruce being the one to detonate them. However, given the time-frame in question, it could be argued that it was before Batman adhered to the non-lethal codes or took on Robin as his sidekick.

The story also came at a time when Julius Schwartz was trying to reinstate the darker Batman seen in the later s and earlys. With the Comic Codes being restrained in the earlys, Batman began to take a somewhat looser approach to non-lethal crime-fighting. Many of these came at the hands of incidents that the villains fell into, though most were indirectly caused by Batman. These usually ranged from moves pulled in self-defense to indirectly causing incidents. Despite this, he still would not use guns.

However, swords and bows began to reenter his arsenal, primarily due to encounters with the newly-met Ra's al Ghul and his League of Assassins.

The first of Batman's murders during this time was in Batman , where the Dark Knight tossed Otto Kramm into a pit with a killer lamb the scientist created. In narration, it is mentioned that the two killed each other off-panel and Batman regarded it as "a fitting end" for the villain.

In the s Batman series, Batman does not either use weapons or kill any of his enemies. This was primarily due to influence from the Silver Age depictions of his character.

The show presents these as him giving them the chance to reform and do good for society. Batman also attempts to save criminals from situations that were potentially lethal. Despite this, he is also depicted as open-minded enough to consider other causes or even challenge authority, primarily suborn attitudes from Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Hara.