History Main / ThouShaltNotKill

* In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', Superman is placed in an impossible situation where, [[spoiler:General Zod, enraged beyond reason, has sworn he will ''never stop killing'' humans in an effort to hurt Kal-El for preventing the rebirth of Krypton. There is no super prison, no gateway left to the Phantom zone - just Kal, Zod, and a family of four about to be incinerated by Zod's rampage...so he ''breaks Zod's neck''.]] This not an action he undertakes lightly however, as the following scene shows.

* In ManOfSteel. Superman is placed in an impossible situation where, [[spoiler:General Zod, enraged beyond reason, has sworn he will ''never stop killing'' humans in an effort to hurt Kal-El for preventing the rebirth of Krypton. There is no super prison, no gateway left to the Phantom zone, just Kal, Zod, and a family of four about to be incinerated by Zod's rampage... so he ''breaks Zod's neck''.]] The is not an action he undertakes lightly however, as the following scene shows.

** Another fact to consider is that Batman ''personally threw'' the Joker off the building. If he didn't catch the Joker, then he explicitly killed him. But with Ra's, Ra's willingly put himself on the train with the knowledge that Batman would try his absolute hardest to stop him. Ra's taught Batman everything he knows and remembers that one time that Bruce unintentionally burnt down an entire fortress to avoid killing. Ra's obviously understood the potential risk of going against Batman, and one could reasonably assume that Ra's would have some sort of way to escape. Nolanverse's Batman follows the could that he will never intentionally kill a person, but if the badguy puts himself into a position where s/he will be killed by collateral damage in the act of Batman saving Gotham / the innocent, and there is no way to save them, then there is nothing that can be done. Ra's had no way of saving himself on the mountain; but, Bruce could save him, and so he did. On the train, Batman had reason to believe that Ra's could save himself, and the only choices were Btaman and Gordon destroy the train, '''''or every living thing in Gotham dies.''''' The same exact problem comes up in Film/TheDarkKnightRises, when [[spoiler: the nuke will go off in less than ten minutes, the tanks are actively trying to kill Batman and Catwoman, they cant force the truck to go back to the generator, and all warning shots have failed to get the truck to stop. Either the truck and tanks are stopped with force, '''''or literally everything in Gotham is wiped off the face of the earth and the rest of the US gets hit by the fallout.''''']]

** Averted in the ManOfSteel movie. Superman is placed in an impossible situation where, [[spoiler:General Zod, enraged beyond reason, has sworn he will ''never stop killing'' humans in an effort to hurt Kal-El for preventing the rebirth of Krypton. There is no super prison, no gateway left to the Phantom zone, just Kal, Zod, and a family of four about to be incinerated by Zod's rampage... so he ''breaks Zod's neck''.]] The is not an action he undertakes lightly however, as the following scene shows.

** Averted in the Man of Steel movie. Superman is placed in an impossible situation where, [[spoiler:General Zod, enraged beyond reason, has sworn he will ''never stop killing'' humans in an effort to hurt Kal-El for preventing the rebirth of Krypton. There is no super prison, no gateway left to the Phantom zone, just Superman, Zod, and a family of four about to be incinerated by Zod's rampage... and Superman ''breaks Zod's neck''.]] The is not an action he undertakes lightly however, as the following scene shows.

* Similar to the ''Literature/WarriorCats'', PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians downplays the trope. While the demigod heroes do kill monsters, DeathIsCheap with them. They recover in any time between weeks and centuries. On the other hand, Percy deliberately avoids killing other demigods, though it's a bit like Harry Potter's example in that many of them are duped. The views of other demigods aren't really as known but probably were not as merciful.

* Similar to the ''Literature/WarriorCats'', PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians mildly subverts the trope. While the demigod heroes do kill monsters, DeathIsCheap with them. They recover in any time between weeks and centuries. On the other hand, Percy deliberately avoids killing other demigods, though it's a bit like Harry Potter's example in that many of them are duped. The views of other demigods aren't really as known but probably were not as merciful.

* ''Literature/ExilesViolin'': Jacquie is a downplayed example; after killing her father's murderer she swore to herself that she would never kill again but kills {{mook}}s when there is no other option. [[spoiler: At the climax she kills Gunslinger because her rule is not a unbreakable rule.]]

This is actually TruthInTelevision in quite an extreme manner. In general, as an evolutionary-based concept, there are very few humans who can even STAND the thought of TRULY ending the life of another human (without military training, of course.) In fact, the military has developed many studies over the years to evolve the best training curriculum to dehumanize the "enemy" and enable their soldiers to kill enemy soldiers. And even then, when a soldier is tasked with actually shooting a bullet that would end the life of another human being...many would rather intentionally miss. It is this (strength, in the case of all human life, but weakness in the case of human life with an opposing ideology) that makes modern militaries attempt to make the enemy soldiers appear as "unhuman" as possible.

* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', the main character Goku strongly personifies this trope (so much so that is almost considered a RunningGag) as he refuses to kill even the most evil opponents. He lets Piccolo Jr., a character who was at that time considered a demon who also just tried to kill him live, he tries to let his brother to live after threatening his son and rest of the population of the planet, and he even tries to let Frieza, a genocidal alien [[ForTheEvulz who destroys planets for fun]] and just killed his life long best friend, live.
** It is odd because he was willing to kill an entire mook army as a kid and eventually is willing to kill evil opponents later in the series, but for a long period of time in the middle he insist on giving everyone a second chance.
** In Frieza's case, Goku seemed to think letting him live as HalfTheManHeUsedToBe was a greater punishment than simply killing him. When he realized that Frieza had been restored to full strength as a cyborg, he was going to finish the job. Trunks beat him to it.
*** And even then, at the finale of battle Goku clearly blasts Freeza at full power with intent to kill, but had to flee to try to save himself rather than confirm his death. Freeza just happened to have survived.

* Technically, Literature/TheBible doesn't say "Thou shalt not kill", it says "Thou shalt not murder/shed innocent blood". In other words, don't kill someone without a very good reason. Warfare and capital punishment were accepted practice in ancient Israel and in many cases sanctioned by God.
** Killing in self-defense of your own life, or killing someone who is currently attempting to murder someone else, is likewise permissible and obligatory under Biblical law, as elaborated in the Literature/{{Talmud}}; a would-be murderer is considered legally "dead" for the period of time in which he is attempting to commit murder, and killing them during that period is therefore not considered murder at all. (It is still preferable to stop them in another way if possible.)

* The [[EldritchAbomination Leviathans]] of ''Series/DarkShadows'' have this as a rule. Not due to any sort of morality, but rather because anyone they kill will become a BadassAbnormal ghost, capable of hindering their plans even further. At least that's how it's supposed to work, but due to RealLifeWritesThePlot issues the matter was rather derailed.

* In ''AstroCity'', the Street Angel, a Batman-like vigilante who had recently become DarkerAndEdgier but who still refused to kill, receives a nice bit of smack-talk from murderous {{antihero}}ine Black Velvet. She notes that, although he still claims that he never kills, [[TechnicalPacifist he leaves an awful lot of people with severe internal injuries]] without actually checking to see whether they survive or receive medical attention. (After she says this, a BeatPanel follows as this sinks in...)

** In ''Spider-Man Noir'', Peter carries a revolver in his masked identity, and uses it to [[spoiler: kill the Vulture when he threatens Aunt May. The fact May is as horrified by him as the Vulture is what convinces him to adopt his mainstream counterpart's morals]].

** Specifically, it's a bit of CharacterizationMarchesOn. After ScarletWitch killed Hawkeye, [[AntMan Ant-Man]] and TheVision during ''ComicBook/AvengersDisassembled'', ComicBook/CaptainAmerica came to the conclusion that it was unethical and dangerous to completely take killing off the table. He asked {{Wolverine}} to join the Avengers precisely because he wanted a hero who wouldn't hesitate to use lethal force if a situation ever called for it.
** This was continued in ''SecretAvengers''. In one instance, Beast was forced to kill a group of terrorists in order to save the populations of two large cities. He was understandably upset by this, and Captain America comforted him by telling him not to dwell on the few lives he'd taken, but the millions he'd saved.

** In the {{Novelization}} of ''{{Knightfall}}'', Batman's use of violence is explored. A monk refuses to reach Batman some of the most secret fighting techniques because he won't foreswear violence. Lady Shiva teaches Batman to fight again, but is mildly offended and amused when Batman learns how to ''enjoy'' violence again, but won't cross the line into lethal violence. Bruce has a startled, depressing EurakaMoment when he realizes that he'd always ''loved'' the violence, despite what he told himself.

* In ''{{Saiyuki}} Gaiden'' the heavens have to abide by this rule and do so to varying degrees. Konzen is vegeterian however Kenren thinks its fine to eat fish but has to fight in the army with a stun gun...yet Tenpou has a katana but presumably still obeys the rule of course [[spoiler: all of that goes out the window in the end]]. In the main series the merciful goddess had essentially sent four guys to India killing demons on their way.

* In ''Manga/DragonBall Z'', the main character Goku strongly personifies this trope (so much so that is almost considered a RunningGag) as he refuses to kill even the most evil opponents. He lets Piccolo Jr., a character who was at that time considered a demon who also just tried to kill him live, he tries to let his brother to live after threatening his son and rest of the population of the planet, and he even tries to let Frieza, a genocidal alien [[ForTheEvulz who destroys planets for fun]] and just killed his life long best friend, live.

-->"In the case of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' and ''Manga/DragonBall Z'', the reason you don't see any of the main characters take a life is pretty much the same reason most of the villains in Creator/{{Disney}} movies [[DisneyVillainDeath fall to their death offscreen]], rather than killed triumphantly by the heroes. It's because we want our protagonists to remain pure. Even if it were justified, we'd rather not have blood on the hands of our favorite, pure-hearted characters. Given that Goku and Naruto themselves function as, essentially, the moral compass of their respective worlds, it makes narrative and thematic sense for them to avoid any sort of bloodshed, no matter how dicey things get."

** The same mercy is shown to Grí­ma Wormtongue (twice!) and Saruman as well. [[EclCannotComprehendGood Neither can comprehend mercy]], thinking it's a trick. [[spoiler: As a contrast, Grí­ma kills Saruman at the end.]]

** The same mercy is shown to Grí­ma Wormtongue (twice!) and Saruman as well. Both cannot comprehend mercy, thinking it's a trick. [[spoiler: As a contrast, Grí­ma kills Saruman at the end.]]

** The same mercy is shown to Grima Wormtongue (twice!) and Saruman as well. Both cannot comprehend mercy, thinking it's a trick. [[spoiler: As a contrast, Grima kills Saruman at the end.]]

** Specifically, it's a bit of CharacterizationMarchesOn. After ScarletWitch killed Hawkeye, [[AntMan Ant-Man]] and TheVision during ''Comicbook/AvengersDisassembled'', CaptainAmerica came to the conclusion that it was unethical and dangerous to completely take killing off the table. He asked {{Wolverine}} to join the Avengers precisely because he wanted a hero who wouldn't hesitate to use lethal force if a situation ever called for it.

* Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}} is also strongly against killing anyone.

** Specifically, it's a bit of CharacterizationMarchesOn. After the deaths of Hawkeye, [[AntMan Ant-Man]] and the Vision during ''Comicbook/AvengersDisassembled'', CaptainAmerica came to the conclusion that it was unethical and dangerous to completely take killing off the table. He asked {{Wolverine}} to join the Avengers precisely because he wanted a hero who wouldn't hesitate to use lethal force if a situation ever called for it.