Everyone has heard of Batman, and most have probably seen a movie with the dark knight. One of his most important aspects is a rule: Batman does not kill. At least, he tells himself that, because he doesn’t strictly adhere to it.
Batman is supposed to be a symbol that Gotham can be saved. Bruce Wayne has no powers but still does everything he can to fight crime. He always follows the rule: Batman doesn’t kill anyone. But is that really true?
Batman made his debut in Detective Comics No. 27 in May 1939. The first time the rule is mentioned, according to Screen Rant, is probably in Batman No. 4 from 1940. There, he fights alongside Robin against pirates. At some point, he says to Robin: Just use the flat side of your sword, Robin! Don’t forget, we never kill with any weapon.
To which Robin simply responds: “Right!”.
This already implies that it is a general rule of heroes. However, the rule is not always lived up to as one might believe.
Batman started quite ruthlessly
When did Batman kill? On the website The Batman Chronology Project, comic historian Collin Colsher summarized many moments in which Batman (more or less obviously) killed. Even in his very first appearance in Detective Comics No. 27, he pushes a criminal off a roof into a vat of acid. Afterward, Batman simply says: A fitting end for his kind
. Since this was before the explicit naming of the rule, it shouldn’t be taken too strictly.
Colsher counts 35 situations in which Batman killed from 1939 to the mid-1940s. Sometimes in self-defense, sometimes actively. Aside from stories from World War II, it remained quiet or very vague thereafter, according to Colsher. Even villains like the Joker, who have been killed by Batman, just returned.
From 1954, comics in general became more child-friendly and tamer. That year, the Comics Code was established. To get the positive stamp from the Comics Code Authority, DC, Marvel, and other publishers had to adhere to certain rules. For example, excessive violence should be avoided, and the good guys should always win to show the right morality (Source: cbldf.org).
Batman became dark again from the 1970s
In the 1970s and 1980s, comics became significantly darker – including Batman. His rule was still intact, but it was interpreted more loosely. Thus, Batman could go against vampires, undead, or immortal beings like Ra’s al Ghul in a significantly deadlier
way because they were immortal anyway. There are also situations in the 70s where Batman throws criminals somewhere, and they obviously die. However, it is rarely addressed as a major point.
Depending on the story and author, Batman was sometimes more, sometimes less violent, and the rule
was stretched or interpreted in other ways. This extends to the present day. Sometimes Batman uses other villains as shields (for example in Detective Comics No. 572), but mostly it’s in the form of self-defense or it is never explicitly mentioned, asserting that Batman never killed anyone. Ultimately, Colsher arrives at the following numbers:
- Golden Age (1939 to 1956): Between 60 and 65
- Silver Age to Bronze Age (1956 to 1985): About 33
- Modern Age (1985 to about 2011): Between 26 and 34)
- New 52 (2011 to 2016): 0
- Rebirth (2016 to 2017): 0
It should be noted that these numbers only refer to the main Batman character. Other variants from different multiverses do not count. Flashpoint Batman, for example, is not Bruce Wayne but Thomas Wayne, who, as a brutal Batman, does not shy away from killing.
What about in the movies? Even in the movies, Batman approaches his rule rather loosely. In Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie, Batman even kills the Joker at the end by dropping him from a great height. It looks just as brutal in the sequel, where Batman attaches dynamite to a criminal.
In films like Batman v. Superman or the Nolan trilogy, it can also be strongly doubted whether all the criminals survived their encounter with Batman. The Ben Affleck Batman throws cars at criminals, uses explosions, and hits so hard with his gadgets and fists that it’s impossible for everyone to have survived.
User Lucass Nesteov has created a Kill Count
for Batman v. Superman:
Batman’s important rule can serve as a strong story element
Why is the rule so important? It’s not uncommon to read or hear the question: Wouldn’t it be better if Batman killed all the villains?
At first glance, Batman could save many lives by doing that, but it’s not just a simple question of morality.
In stories, this aspect can be used to put Batman in difficult situations. In the animated film Under the Red Hood, Jason Todd, the former Robin, confronts Bruce with exactly this question: He doesn’t care about other villains, but he finds it incomprehensible that he lets the Joker live after he tortured Jason.
The legendary comic Batman: The Killing Joke from 1988 drives this moral question to its peak. In the end, the Joker and Batman realize: The hero will probably never be able to help the villain. On the last page, we see the two laughing, and Batman begins to strangle the Joker. It is implied that he killed him.
Batman wants to be a symbol for Gotham, and for that, he cannot (from his perspective) kill. But the limits of that are precisely what makes many stories of the dark knight so compelling. That is probably also the reason why the rule remains the most important element of the hero to this day.
What do you think of the rule? Do you find it ridiculous, or is it an important trait for you? Feel free to let us know in the comments. Even if the Joker probably won’t manage to break Batman, it looks quite different with another hero: The Joker has tried for years to break Batman, but it only took him one day with Superman
