History ThouShaltNotKill / ComicBooks

** Vision has a fluid programming, but this rule is fixed. Even non-lethal fighting is troublesome for her.

** Spider-Man actually did once kill someone by accident (sort of). In 1987, a one-shot issue called ''Spider-Man Versus Wolverine'' had the two teaming up in Europe along with Wolverine's ex-girlfriend Charlie, a secret agent who is being hunted by the KGB. Charlie asks Wolverine to kill her so she can't be captured by their enemies, but Spidey stops him before he can and they end up [[LetsYouAndHimFight duking it out]]. When it's over, Wolverine seemingly sneaks up behind Spider-Man, who is still angry and punches him, thinking he can take it...only to realize it was actually ''Charlie'', having intentionally snuck up on him knowing he would lash out. Charlie dies,effectively committing SuicideByCop, and Spidey is left traumatized. To this day, this remains the only time Spider-Man has ever killed anyone.

** [[spoiler: Well and truly averted after he finally killed Bullseye.]] [[spoiler:[[DeathIsCheap He got better]].]]

* Despite being knwon for his soldier days; ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' prefers not to and would like to avoid it if possible. In Avengers #0, Steve sends Deadpool on a mission to get a canister of Terrigen Mists with the specific instruction of not killing anyone. Deadpool being able to do this is what then gets Steve to name him an Avenger.

** [[spoiler: Well and truly averted after he finally killed Bullseye.]]

* Used for great dramatic effect in ''ComicBook/ElfQuest''. The main tribe of the story, the Wolfriders, have one simple rule: elves don't kill elves. It's a concept so ingrained in their culture, killing others of their kind would not even occur to them. Until one elf from a different tribe, Kureel from the Gliders, ends up kidnapping a young Wolfrider and threatens to kill him. The boy's father (the tribe's archer) shoots and kills Kureel. He goes into a complete HeroicBSOD until he's finally able to ask Kureel's spirit for forgiveness many months later. As it was, since Kureel's spirit was at peace and barely remembered the circumstances of his demise anyway, he granted that forgiveness without hesitation
** Interestingly, at the very start of the series, the Wolfriders seem to treat death ''much'' more casually, briefly considering killing Rayek because he looks at them funny. This is, however, shortly after the humans burnt down their home and the trolls betrayed them and left them to die in the desert, and while they were still figuring out what to make of these strange new elves who walked around in broad daylight, had huts, and actually ''cooked'' their meat just like their old human enemies did. (It's telling that the Wolfriders decided to 'introduce' themselves to the Sun Village by raiding it for food rather than just walking up and saying hello. Thankfully for both sides, that didn't last long.)
** Also interestingly, in the very early days of the Wolfrider tribe, there were many elves born with wolf-blood and just as many wolves born with elf-blood (it's not as icky as it sounds - the first elves were shapeshifters lost on a low-magic planet. Mating with the local fauna was their way of bonding with the new land). Timmorn, the first Chief and first mix between elf and wolf, took on the task of deciding what was elf, what was wolf, and what should just be killed instantly.
** Two-Spear didn't have too many qualms either about killing his own daughter. But (a) Two-Spear tried to be more wolf than elf, using the pack's way of life as an excuse to act violently insane, and (b) the story in which he thinks he's killed his daughter was a case of RunningTheAsylum anyway.

* Discussed in Issue 9 of ''The Shade'' (2011). The Shade is about to kill a villain before he brings up this trope. The Shade outright denies being something so "average". The villain then talks to Silverfin, a friend of The Shade's and a true hero. Silverfin then responds that, as a hero, he only fights for what he ''perceives'' as good, citing no superhero rulebook. And if letting this villain die is a good thing, then he'll let it happen.
* Subverted in ''ComicBook/PrinceOfPersiaTheGraphicNovel''. Guiv subdues a lion which attacks him in the mountains. Kneeling over the lion, he lifts his sword, then has a thought and says, "No one gave me the power to take life." As he walks away, the lion gets up and charges at him, and he quickly turns and slashes it to death.
-->'''[[IntellectualAnimal Turul]]''': No one gave you the power to ''spare'' life, [[VerbalTic yaaahr]].

----

* In recent years comics have tended towards a greater degree of [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynicism]], or been more willing to engage with the ambiguities of this rule, with the result that most heroes have ended up killing at least once.

* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}''. After the [[SuperTeam JLA-analogue]] repels the same AlienInvasion for a second time (by destroying the devices that allow them to safely exist in our universe), Invincible, as the NaiveNewcomer, wonders at the wisdom of just letting them go again:
-->'''Robot''': Keeping them here would be a death sentence. Hopefully they've learned their lesson.
-->'''Invincible''': Right... and '''I'm''' supposed to be the new guy.
-->'''Robot''': It is not mathematically inconceivable that at some point we encounter an adversary that realizes the error of their ways and gives up their plans for revenge.
-->'''Invincible''': I hope you're right.
* In the Creator/{{Wildstorm}} imprint, in one issue of ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'', it was mentioned that an alternate earth was essentially destroyed when the Hero refused to kill their enemies no matter what, and the villains killed every single one of them. They attacked the Authority's Earth, and were quickly killed, much to their surprise, saying "Superheroes don't kill". Unfortunately for them, The Authority did. This universe in general, and ''The Authority'' especially, fall on the cynical side.
* In ''ComicBook/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...)

* Invoked to an almost headache-inducing degree in the early 2000s run of ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica''. ComicBook/BlackAdam, having gotten utterly fed up with villains who don't give a damn about the lives of people being allowed to go free again and again, gathers up a small crew of like-minded people and goes off to smash the brutally dictatorial regime that's set itself up in his home country. Even though one (''one'') JSA member acknowledges that they and the U.S. government had turned a blind eye to the fact that these people had been conducting murder sprees and enslaving children, the ''entire team'' nonetheless goes after Adam's crew for taking them out. And then when Hawkman's methods for dealing with ''Black Adam's'' allies proves too brutal for their taste, they turn on ''him''. All in about five issues.
* The Franchise/GreenLantern Corps ''used'' to follow this policy. The Guardians revoked it during the ''ComicBook/SinestroCorpsWar''. [[spoiler:[[XanatosGambit Apparently this was Sinestro's goal all along.]] Whether the Sinestros won or lost, a more lethal and fearsome Corps would be policing the cosmos.]] Part of the writers' reasoning was that real-life police are permitted to shoot to kill; SpacePolice shouldn't be any different. The next few issues after the event explored the morality of giving the Lanterns this authority. Some Green Lanterns are against it, some are all for it, but neither side is presented as wrong and the ones against killing can't deny that being able to kill was the main reason they won the war. (Though needless murder is right out.)
** There was a subversion in the case of NinetiesAntiHero Jack T. Chance. When he discovered his GreenLanternRing would not let him use lethal force, [[LoopholeAbuse he adapted and started using a revolver to deliver the killing blow.]] The only reason the Guardians didn't throw him out was because nothing less had worked on his CrapsackWorld, and this policy was also why they didn't need to recruit a new lantern for his sector as quickly as they usually did as he was the first one in ages to have a sizeable tenure.
* The ''Comicbook/SonicTheHedgehog'' comic has something like this: in one issue Dr. Eggman, [[spoiler:still insane after the events of issue #200, is locked up in New Mobotropolis. A character asks Sonic why he's showing mercy to Eggman. Sonic admits he doesn't know for sure, and guesses he moves too fast to get hung up on revenge. The character isn't sure if Sonic has a Zen state of mind or is foolish, but he's impressed either way.]]
** In issue #225, Eggman [[spoiler:mocks Sally for showing mercy on all the times she could've finished him, as doing so allowed him to stay a threat. A few pages later, he seemingly killed her, then reset the Universe.]]

* In ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'', this is played utterly straight with the title character; even her most powerful energy blasts have never been seen to do worse than knock someone out cold. The rest of the cast ([[spoiler:including, from the look of things, her costume]]) averts it, especially Thugboy. [[spoiler:In volume 6, she does leave Deathmonger to be disintegrated by a nuclear blast... but he's not only an enslaver of the walking dead, but a walking dead man himself.]]
** Averted in volume 9 when she [[spoiler: kills Fleshmaster.]]
* ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'' member ComicBook/{{Huntress}} had no time for this early in her vigilante career. She's getting better, but she still doesn't seem to have too much of a problem with killing criminals. It's the main reason Franchise/{{Batman}} doesn't trust her. Oracle, being more forgiving and willing to offer second chances, does trust her. Oracle does, however, use this excuse to treat her like crap.
* ComicBook/GreenArrow is a big believer in this. It's why he uses so many trick arrows, like the infamous boxing glove arrow, instead of actual arrows. The downward spiral that culminated in his first death started the night he actually killed someone. [[spoiler: He made an exception for Prometheus after the latter attacked Star City with a KillSat and killed thousands, including his granddaughter Lian Harper.]]
** Seriously averted during Mike Grell's run, where Green Arrow began using lethal force regularly after killing a man who was torturing Black Canary. The series flip flopped on how he felt about killing, sometimes doing it casually and other times feeling remorseful about it. Once his series ended, the events and characterization have been ignored.
* Enforced in ''ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody'' by Quantum's heroic idealism. This proves problematic when the duo attacks Terrence Magnum's private mercenary army and Quantum has loaded Woody's rifle with ''rubber bullets''.

* In Antarctic Press' ''ComicBook/GoldDigger'', the giant superheroine Crush is adamant about this - mainly because, during a brief period during which she was being blackmailed by a supervillain, she killed a bunch of gang members... and, coincidentally, an undercover cop.

* The Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles, being ninja, were pretty much trained to kill from their first appearance in order to avenge Splinter's owner via his death from The Shredder. It varies from incarnation to incarnation with some versions vowing never to kill, but for the ones that do it's made apparent that none of them really relish having to kill anyone period, but if it comes down to survival or saving someone they will take that step.

* This attitude causes some trouble for Batman in ''Comicbook/{{The Ultimate Riddle}}'', as he isn't willing to murder those who are trying to kill him. This is contrasted against the more [[{{Combat Pragmatist}} pragmatic]] Dredd, who has no moral qualms with lawful killing, though he isn't pleased to be doing so for someone else's amusement.
* Subverted in ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke: The Tenderfoot''. The titular character, Waldo Badminton, challenges the BigBad to a TenPacesAndTurn duel. The latter panics, still manages to shoot first but misses, then [[VillainsWantMercy begs]] a [[StiffUpperLip stoic]] Waldo for mercy, offering him his estates and promising to never return; Waldo accepts. Whem Lucky Luke later asks him why he didn't shoot, Waldo reveals that he couldn't because the shot had hit him in the arm.
** Zigzagged with Luke himself, who while clearly preferring to catch his enemies alive (he's not the poster-boy for BlastingItOutOfTheirHands for nothing after all), he had in the past killed some particularly evil outlaws like Bob Dalton and Mad Jim and isn't shocked by the prospect of some villain dying by the hands of a friend, though he is still not very fond of lynchings and hangings.
* Mocked by Hit-Girl in ''Comicbook/KickAss'':
-->'''Kick-Ass''': "No way. I'm not going to kill anybody. I'm supposed to be a fucking superhero."
-->'''Hit-Girl''': "Oh, kiss my ass. What is this, [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks the Silver Age]]? I'm afraid we forgot our magic fucking hypno-ring that turns bad guys into good guys."
* In ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'', our heroes from the mainstream universes keep running with this, incapacitating those they're forced to fight with and getting them to join them in their dome in some capacity.
* When ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' thought he killed Godspeed, whom he'd been insisting that real heroes never kill:
-->'''The Flash:''' ''(depressed)'' Heroes don't kill. We find a better way.
* Originally and for most of her career, ComicBook/MsMarvel was a kind (if not precisely gentle) heroine who always attempted to avoid any loss of life if at all possible. In one ''Avengers'' story arc (involving a rampant Kang the Conqueror) she broke this rule, for which she felt sufficiently bad to demand an actual court-martial inquiry for murder.

* Played straight in ''ComicBook/MightyMorphinPowerRangersShatteredGrid''. In the second to last part, Rita Repulsa of the "Prime" universe uses the Green Candle on [[BigBad Lord Drakkon]] and prepares to kill him as he is helpless and losing his powers. Before she can do so, Zordon and Anubis Cruger tell her to stop, that killing him wasn't part of their deal. While she's telling them off for it, it allows Finster-5 to sneak in and take them out.

** [[CharacterDerailment This aspect of her characterization was dropped/ignored]] by Creator/BrianReed, however, who wrote her as a SociopathicSoldier and showed her killing gleefully with a SlasherSmile.

** ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' revolved around the fact Superman abandoned humanity when he realized the public approved Magog's murder of ComicBook/TheJoker. Ross and Waid even broke their backs to make the kill visually parallel [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy JFK]] assassin Lee Harvey Oswald's death at the hands of Jack Ruby, [[{{Anvilicious}} just in case anyone was thinking]] that maybe killing the guy who had just gassed the entire staff of the Daily Planet might not be such a bad thing. In the same series, Superman is disturbed by Wonder Woman wielding sword; she snaps back that not everyone has ''heat vision''.

** ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' revolved around the fact Superman abandoned humanity when he realized the public approved Magog's murder of ComicBook/TheJoker. Ross and Waid even broke their backs to make the kill visually parallel [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy JFK]] assassin Lee Harvey Oswald's death at the hands of Jack Ruby, [[{{Anvilicious}} just in case anyone was thinking]] that maybe killing the guy who had just gassed the entire staff of the Daily Planet might not be such a bad thing.

** The Creator/TimBurton Batman movies disregard this entirely, with Batman frequently killing both henchmen and the central villains (It's not like though he had any alternative in most cases). In ''Film/TheDarkKnightSaga'' Batman refuses to kill anyone, but he is generally [[HighAltitudeInterrogation more than happy to come scarily close to frighten someone, without actually crossing the line.]] This is demonstrated best during ''Film/TheDarkKnight''.

* In one issue of ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'', the writer says [[{{Anvilicious}} "Some armchair moralists would hold superheroes to an impossible standard, requiring them to routinely face opponents who use lethal force while denying themselves the same option."]] This punctuated a series of panels in which the members of the team agree, reluctantly and with much debate, that the particular foe they're facing cannot be contained, cannot be controlled, and cannot be made anything remotely resembling safe. You can guess what comes next. Surprisingly, this did not mark a StartOfDarkness for the title.

* Zigzagged with Luke himself, who while clearly preferring to catch his enemies alive (he's not the poster-boy for BlastingItOutOfTheirHands for nothing after all), he had in the past killed some particularly evil outlaws like Bob Dalton and Mad Jim and isn't shocked by the prospect of some villain dying by the hands of a friend, though he is still not very fond of lynchings and hangings.

* Originally and for most of her career, ComicBook/MsMarvel was a kind (if not precisely gentle) heroine who always attempted to avoid any loss of life if at all possible. In one ''Avengers'' story arc (involving a rampant Kang the Conqueror) she broke this rule, for which she felt sufficiently bad to demand an actual court-martial inquiry for murder. This aspect of her characterization was dropped/ignored by Brian Reed, however, who wrote her as a SociopathicSoldier and showed her killing gleefully with a SlasherSmile.

** ''Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow'' also has ComicBook/{{Bizarro}} [[InvertedTrope go on a murderous rampage on the basis that he wants to be more closely the opposite of Superman]], though he's really being manipulated into thinking that by the BigBad. He also kills himself.

** Another Superman story, "What's So Funny 'Bout Truth, Justice, and the American Way?" famously had him forced to deal with the arrival of "The Elite" (a [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent thinly-veiled copy]] of ComicBook/TheAuthority), superheroes with absolutely no qualms about killing villains. Over the course of the issue, he watched them become more and more popular, despite their excessive use of force. In the end, he challenged them to a fight - and proceeded (after giving them a HopeSpot) to subdue them more or less harmlessly. Though it sure dang LOOKED like he killed them, until he revealed that he used painful-looking non-lethal techniques. The story showed not only why does Superman not kill, but just how downright ''scary'' he would be if he did. The story eventually got an AdaptationExpansion into the made for DVD movie ''WesternAnimation/SupermanVsTheElite''.

** ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' revolved around the fact Superman abandoned humanity when he realized the public approved Magog's murder of ComicBook/TheJoker.

** In a {{crossover}} series, Franchise/WonderWoman cold-bloodedly executed Maxwell Lord by breaking his neck. Although some other heroes have accepted the justification (Lord had telepathic control over Superman, had killed ComicBook/BlueBeetle, and was at the heart of a planet-wide conspiracy), she was wanted for murder by some authorities as the act was broadcast. Might be noted that she used the Lasso of Truth on Lord and he told her she would ''have'' to kill him if she wanted to stop him, so as far as Lord himself thought at least, killing him was the only real choice.

*** This marked a major turning point in the depiction of her character. Traditionally, much of the point of Wonder Woman was that she was the most ''compassionate'' of the big heroes, sent into Man's World to teach us a better way. [[CompletelyMissingThePoint The entire point of depicting her use of lethal force in Kingdom Come's dystopian future is that it was violently out of character for her.]] However, it became such an iconic image that now she has, ironically, become known as the only member of the Big Three who ''will'' kill.

** In the Creator/ChrisClaremont era, Comicbook/{{Storm}} was the only character to have an iron-clad policy of not killing anybody, which caused consternation among her teammates when she abandoned it for a more [[PragmaticHero pragmatic]] attitude to go with her new punk look. Comicbook/{{Colossus}}, the most good-hearted of the team, was also very against killing enemies, to the point where the times he ''does'' kill someone either means they've crossed the GodzillaThreshold or someone's gotten the generally sweet-natured guy [[RageBreakingPoint genuinely mad]]. Notably, he killed Moira [=McTaggart's=] psychopathic, god-like son Proteus, and during the Mutant Massacre story, snapped a villain's neck for killing innocent mutants.

** ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman'': "Generations" includes a flashback in which a very young Diana is taught the Amazon's law of avoiding killing opponents if at all feasible, even when it might endanger themselves.

** Emphasizing Superman's adherence to his code is this: in the few official {{crossover}} series that exist, Superman has even refused to kill ''[[Franchise/{{Alien}} Xenomorphs]]''! For context, xenomorphs are a highly aggressive species of alien predators with no higher reasoning than basic animal instincts and a parasitic reproductive cycle, which are capable of causing ''planet-scale extinction events'' thanks to their voracious and insatiable need for living victims as food and hosts for their young. Even ''Batman'', himself a noted devotee of this rule, is willing to forgo it when xenomorphs are involved, and in the Superman/Batman/Aliens crossover (yes, this exists)), actually calls Superman out on his willingness to spare such dangerous animals.

* In the Creator/ChrisClaremont era, Comicbook/{{Storm}} was the only character to have an iron-clad policy of not killing anybody, which caused consternation among her teammates when she abandoned it for a more [[PragmaticHero pragmatic]] attitude to go with her new punk look. Comicbook/{{Colossus}}, the most good-hearted of the team, was also very against killing enemies, to the point where the times he ''does'' kill someone either means they've crossed the GodzillaThreshold or someone's gotten the generally sweet-natured guy [[RageBreakingPoint genuinely mad]]. Notably, he killed Moira McTaggart's psychopathic, god-like son Proteus, and during the Mutant Massacre story, snapped a villain's neck for killing innocent mutants.

* In ''ComicBook/XMen'', the rule against killing is partially due to the usual reasons, and partially due to human/mutant relations. Mutants have a hard enough time ''without'' ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} carving people up on the six o'clock news, so you'd better stifle any DarkerAndEdgier tendencies, ''especially'' while wearing an X symbol. However, it's not as absolute as it is with Batman or Superman, as individual members can fall anywhere from TheCape to NinetiesAntiHero, and most X-teams will defend themselves or others lethally if it's [[IDidWhatIHadToDo the only way]]. A few of their main villains also have JokerImmunity.

** ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} is one of the most glaring subversions in comic books as he won't hesitate to cross the line so threats can be put down and he will go so far as to hunt down those who have done horrific things even long after the fact. That being said his views on the subject lean much closer to the idea of being a PragmaticHero where he will put morality aside to deal with problems rather than default to tearing people apart as a first response.

** The ComicBook/PostCrisis version of ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1987}} has trained as a classical Greek warrior with a fighting practicality of that time. That means while she is willing to control herself in combat when possible when she decides that lethal force is necessary, she will use it without any regrets as seen when she beheaded the god Deimos in order to help her friends in peril. Notably at this point it was unclear if the gods retained their RessurectiveImortality from the previous continuity.

* The ComicBook/PostCrisis version of Franchise/WonderWoman has trained as a classical Greek warrior with a fighting practicality of that time. That means while she is willing to control herself in combat when possible, when she decides that lethal force is necessary, she will use it without any regrets as seen when she beheaded the demigod Deimos in order to help her friends in peril.

** Played with in the ''Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' story "The Legionnaire Who Killed!" where the Legion decided whether to expel Star Boy for killing. Superman and the other Flying Bricks -ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, Mon-El and Ultra Boy- voted to not expel him. The reason? Because it's easy for him, Superman, to have a code against killing when there aren't a lot of things that can hurt him, but other people may have different circumstances than him and he has no right to hold them to his code.

* The bylaws of the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' firmly forbid killing any sentient - unsurprising, since they were created during UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|OfComicBooks}}. The tradition has been retained throughout the Legion's various continuities; even in the DarkerAndEdgier ''Legion Lost'' limited series, Live Wire officially resigned from the Legion before performing a HeroicSacrifice to kill the Progenitor, an OmnicidalManiac with [[AGodAmI the power to control matter on a cosmic scale]], in order to allow his teammates to escape without the Progenitor following them back and taking over their universe.

* ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'': Discussed by Hawkeye, to Reed Richards, when boarding the Kree vessel. He kills, Tony kills, Marh almost certainly kills, but Reed and Sue do not. Later on, Nick mentions that Johnny and Ben only beat up the Kree soldiers they fought, as opposed to everyone else. So he'll have them burnt once the Fantastic Four aren't looking.

** By the time of ''ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel'', Spider-Man has abandoned that line of thinking, telling ComicBook/{{Mockingbird}} that it was an "impossible dream" and that he'll just try to save those he can when he can.

** There was a subversion in the case of NinetiesAntiHero Jack T. Chance. When he discovered his GreenLanternRing would not let him use lethal force, [[LoopholeAbuse he adapted and started using a revolver to deliver the killing blow.]] The only reason the Guardians didn't throw him out was because nothing less had worked on his CrapsackWorld.