r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Doot_revenant666 • Mar 27 '25

Weekly Discussion Post Probably the most controversial one , honest thoughts on "No Kill Rule"? What are the most egrigious examples of it in your opinion? What media makes it work in your opinion?

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u/alguien99 Mar 27 '25

Imo invincible has a good take on the no kill rule.

Like, Mark tries not to kill everyone he sees, but if you keep coming back after him and his family or just causing a lot of pain to everyone, he will kill you.

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u/Xignu Mar 31 '25

What I like is that it's nuanced and Mark actually experiences this slippery slope. It's not so simplistic as him breaking this rule and he's suddenly unable to stop. He's not in a static position in this slope as his life continues.

I don't read DC comics but the rationale of "Oh Batman/Superman can't kill people, kill one and they become bad!" like Injustice really pisses me off with how binary it is.

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '25

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u/Good_Morning_World01 Sep 16 '25

Didn’t he kill Thragg’s kid?

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '25

i'm show only but i already knew this shit and i gotta say i'd hope they change this up in the show. it's dumb to make it an arc all over again when he already went thru with it once

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '25

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '26

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u/Worldlyoox Jul 09 '25

But what Mark does is the exact thing DC heroes try to avoid, they have so much power/ressources that they don’t to risk breaking that rule once leading to breaking it again. Not that it becomes a habit but they’ll resort to it more often.

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u/Xignu Jul 10 '25

It's more interesting to see the moral slope actually in the story instead of theoreticals.

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u/AntonSugarwater 12d ago

A black and white no kill rule has never applied to the majority of comic characters. Obviously all of them try their best to avoid killing, but the majority will/have if there is no other option

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u/YaminoEXE Jan 15 '26

Batman has a no kill rule because he's just as mentally ill as his enemies. Superman though, he prefers not to kill but he will if the time comes for it. Batman at his core is a traumatized man who has not moved on from the day his parents died. Batman has always been an empathetic character and he has gone out of his ways to help many of his villains.

Superman has proven multiple times that if he's not trying to uphold the symbol of hope ideal, he's can be just as ruthless as the villains. He just prefer to keep his hand clean because he's a hero that people can aspire to be. He's has always designed to be the platonic ideal of a superhero.

I am just saying this because you say you don't read DC. These characters were designed for a simpler time to uphold simple ideals of justice and compassion.

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u/AntonSugarwater 12d ago

Superman has killed plenty when the time called for it. Batman and Daredevil are the two that make it their whole personality. Daredevil because he’s a catholic and Batman because he’s just crazy. Superman usually follows Camus’s rules for taking a life: absolutely no other option, you’re willing to do it yourself, and you’re willing to sacrifice your own life as well if needed.

This was most clear with Doomsday when they punched each other to death. People shit on MoS for getting a lot wrong about the character, which it does, but snapping Zod’s neck may be the most accurate Superman portrayal in the movie.