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/SisterSabathiel Mar 27 '25

I also find the critique "Well they just break out of prison anyway" to fall flat. This is just an issue of the comic book genre, you need the villains to come back if they are popular enough. Comic books are stories that just simply do not end, and applying this logic solely to no kill heroes feels weak. Especially given, full kill heroes rarely seem to actually kill the big bad either. Punisher kills dude after dude, but Jigsaw he often finds a reason to spare. Its not the fault of Batman, Joker breaks out of prison for the millionth time, its just the nature of the medium. At bare minimum, the no kill actually better justifies things, both for the writer and in universe for why these characters can come back, with minimal contrivance.

I'm no Batman afficionado, but I find Batman super interesting because he doesn't place himself above the law. Killing the villains would be appointing himself judge, jury and executioner, so he captures them alive for processing by the criminal justice system. If the Joker was tried for his crimes and executed by electric chair, I doubt Batman would intervene to stop it.

I find this much more interesting and reflects on vigilante justice.

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u/Cory123125 Sep 10 '25

because he doesn't place himself above the law.

In what universe is vigilanty justice, breaking and entering, trespassing, holding definitely illegal weapons and much much more not putting yourself above the law.

Its an arbitrary line in the sand that is purely frustrating to watch.

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u/PinkLionGaming Jan 27 '26

I've seen "Superheroes can't break the law" (paraphrased) a couple of times as an argument in different discussions and it's so strange. Putting no-kill rule discussions aside "Superheroes can't or shouldn't break the law" is just not true. Even in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 1 his response to being told he's under arrest when he comes back is "I'm not coming back Chief."

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u/Karl_StoneM63 22d ago

I think many Superheroes who have to work outside of the law and hide their true identity kind of HAVE to break some laws to get the villain. Like the saying, "You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet(paraphrased heavily),"