History Main / ThouShaltNotKill

** Bunker implicitly shoots people in his solo comics as a MilitarySuperhero with at least four guns, but spent a good chunk of his time with the Freedom Five relishing the chance to cut loose against the aliens and robots who UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode will actually let him shoot.

SubTrope to NoHarmRequirement where characters for one reason or another are restricted in how much harm they can deal to or allow another being to take, if any. Also very frequently a form of HeroicVow, though villains can take this stance too.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has the Book of Exalted Deeds, which contains the feat "Vow of Peace". It grants benefits as long as you don't inflict lethal damage, allow an ally to finish off a defeated opponent, or cause similar harm to a creature. It takes this trope to extremes; accidentally swallowing a gnat in your drinking water will cause you to lose the benefits of the feat, in fact the feat specifically references paladins drinking their water through a strainer. It doesn't really make you a pacifist, [[TechnicalPacifist technical]] or [[ActualPacifist actual]], though; you can still fight all you want, as long as you never inflict lethal damage.

* In Creator/GeorgeCarlin's routine on The Ten Commandments, he ends with this one, claims that more people have been killed in the name of God than for any other reason, and concludes that it really comes down to who's doing the killing and who's getting killed. He decides it should be renamed "Thou shalt try ''really'' hard not to kill anyone, unless they pray to a different invisible man from the one you pray to."

** A chapter in ''Sins of the Blood'' advises a vampire seeking Golconda to refuse to kill humans for ''any'' reason.

* In the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness, Lifesaver is a 3 point flaw that makes you unwilling to take life. Pacifist is a 5 point flaw and is taken literally -- the character can do no physical harm to others.

Thou Shalt Not Kill is closely related to JokerImmunity. Whilst many writers believe a never-kill creed makes the hero more likable and righteous, on another level it might simply be a plot device [[StatusQuoIsGod to prevent the hero from killing off popular recurring villains]]: the rationale is that if a hero, say, Franchise/{{Superman}} were to kill a bad guy in one story, why wouldn't he simply resolve all of his problems by, for example, incinerating ComicBook/LexLuthor with his heat vision on sight? Related is PacifismBackfire, where their reluctance to fight (or to kill as in this trope) may cause JokerImmunity. This trope is more common in serial fiction, such as TV shows and comic books, rather than one-shots like movies. In action movies [[SuperheroMovieVillainsDie it is common and acceptable for the hero to kill the villain]] because there is usually no planned sequel for the villain to appear in. It's also somewhat common for both stand alone and serial storytelling to feature a character who begins adhering to this trope, but over the course of various dramatic devices, such as a TraumaCongaLine, is finally forced to — or chooses to — cross the line.

* A key point of Gine's character in ''Webcomic/DragonBallReboot'' is her extreme unwillingness to take a life. In fact, the entire reason she left Bardock's squad and became a kitchen worker was because she couldn't find it in herself to kill anyone while on the battlefield. She even chooses to spare the life of a criminal who kidnapped and attempted to murder her son, despite being in full MamaBear mode and seeming just about ready to drop him off a cliff.

** Bunker implicitly shoots people in his solo comics as a MilitarySuperhero with at least four guns, but spent a good chunk of his time with the Freedom Five relishing the chance to cut loose against the aliens and robots who the UsefulNotes/ComicsCode will actually let him shoot.

** Bunker implicitly shoots people in his solo comics as a MilitarySuperhero with at least four guns, but spent a good chunk of his time with the Freedom Five relishing the chance to cut loose against the aliens and robots who the Comics Code will actually let him shoot.

* Defied in ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse''. In fact, the resident Batman {{Expy}} has a FlavorText quote warning against the perils of mercy that originally comes from one of the Caped Crusader's villains. Taken in context, this appears to be a proportionate response thing, since most of the game's villains are potentially apocalyptic threats and there are examples in the wider lore of heroes [[TheFettered limiting themselves]] (the example given is that everyone's happy to have [[AllCrimesAreEqual Fanatic]] on their side against villains, but nobody's in a hurry to let her deal with a bank robbery).

SubTrope to NoHarmRequirement where characters for one reason or another are restricted in how much harm they can deal to or allow another being to take, if any.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[GoodIsNotSoft ...But you'll wish that he did kill.]]]]

* In Creator/GeorgeCarlin's routine on The Ten Commandments, he ends with this one and claims that because more people have been killed in the name of God than for any other reason, it really comes down to who's doing the killing and who's getting killed. He decides it should be renamed "Thou shalt try ''really'' hard not to kill anyone, unless they pray to a different invisible man from the one you pray to."

"Thou shalt not kill" is derived from the sixth of Literature/TheBible's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments Ten Commandments]], and the religious implications of taking life in apparent violation of this commandment (which is often translated as "Thou shalt not murder," which results in debates over semantics)[[note]]The original Hebrew word used is "ratsahk" which could arguably be better translated as "murder" given that it typically refers to unlawful killing, whereas the word "mut" refers purely to the act of killing outside of any potential legal exception.[[/note]] are sometimes also invoked in storytelling.

"Thou shalt not kill" is derived from the sixth of Literature/TheBible's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments Ten Commandments]], and the religious implications of taking life in apparent violation of this commandment (which is often translated as "Thou shalt not murder," which results in debates over semantics) are sometimes also invoked in storytelling.

"Thou shalt not kill" is derived from the sixth of the Bible's Ten Commandments, and the religious implications of taking life in apparent violation of this commandment (which is often translated as "Thou shalt not murder," which results in debates over semantics) are sometimes also invoked in storytelling.

* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'': The Toa take this rule ''very'' seriously. One minor character was Orde, a [[ExtraOreDinary Toa of Iron]], who killed a Makuta to save his village, and suffered guilt for years even though...well, it was a ''[[AssholeVictim Makuta]]''. While WhatMeasureIsANonHuman comes into play more often than not, with villains employing robots, AnimatedArmor and mind-controlled wildlife, none of which this rule apparently applies to, a Toa will only kill a ''sentient'' opponent when given no other alternative.
--> '''Vakama:''' Toa aren't killers. If we were, we would have started with [[BigBad you]].
** There are a few exceptions, however: Helryx and Tuyet avert this, the former due to leading the Order of Mata Nui where killing is necessary and the latter due to being outright evil. Toa Ignika would have averted this if not for the Toa Nuva due to literally being a few hours old.

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/{{Batman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/no_killv1.jpg]]]]

* ''Webcomic/DragonBallReboot'': A key point of Gine's character is her extreme unwillingness to take a life. In fact, the entire reason she left Bardock's squad and became a kitchen worker was because she couldn't find it in herself to kill anyone while on the battlefield. She even chooses to spare the life of a criminal who kidnapped and attempted to murder her son, despite being in full MamaBear mode and seeming just about ready to drop him off a cliff.

[[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman Opinions differ on how this applies to sentient life other than humans.]] [[FateWorseThanDeath or indeed whether it is always more heroic to spare lives]]. In general, it's still up to villains to kill other villains when pulling off a VillainousRescue. It's perfectly fine to [[ImmortalLifeIsCheap "kill" immortals though]] as it is to kill the undead. The MercyKill sometimes winds up as an exception. KarmicDeath, SelfDisposingVillain, and HoistByHisOwnPetard provide alternate ways to kill off villains without forcing the heroes to get their hands dirty.