History ThouShaltNotKill / WesternAnimation

* Aang in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is more than willing to use violence if necessary, but draws the line at killing. While he doesn't complain when his friends use potentially lethal force against soldiers, he does take issue when they suggest deliberately killing someone (Katara avenging her mother). This weighs heavily on him in the finale, where he is faced with the possibility that killing Fire Lord Ozai may be the only way to end the Hundred Year War, and pretty much everyone is telling him that he's going to have to do so despite his reservations. He then tries communing with the spirits of previous Avatars, hoping one of them will provide a non-lethal solution, but they too say he'll have to kill Ozai. Even the previous Air Nomad Avatar, who shared Aang's religious objection to killing, says that as Avatar, his duty to protect the world is more important than his personal beliefs, implicitly accusing him of selfishness for being so reluctant to kill. [[spoiler:[[DebateAndSwitch The dilemma is ultimately rendered moot once Aang comes across someone who has the perfect solution to his problem, allowing him to defeat Ozai without killing him.]]]]
** This is averted by Aang's successor Korra in the SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', who is not only more violent than Aang, but has shown that she is willing to kill, even when it isn't strictly necessary. When Tarrlok pressed her BerserkButton one too many times and started a fight, she implicitly intended to kill him for it even after he was rendered defenseless (he used bloodbending to stop her). In the following season, she blatantly threatens to murder a judge when he sentences her father to death for supposedly trying to kidnap her uncle, then chases him down and threatens him further when the sentence is reduced to life imprisonment. When she thought her father was killed by Zaheer in Book 3, she likewise threatened to kill him (that didn't pan out, though not for lack of trying). She also actually kills [[spoiler:[[ShootTheDog Unalaq after his fusion with Vaatu]]]], though she regrets having to do so. Korra's allies haven't shown any aversion to lethal force, either; in the Book 3 finale, [[spoiler:P'Li is killed by Suyin and Mako kills Ming-Hua]].

* The titular ''Franchise/Ben10'' follows this principle, and often refuses to kill his enemies. Even when his enemies are [[ANaziByAnyOtherName the Highbreed]], [[spoiler:he decides to save them by fixing their DNA once he finds out that they're dying]]. Any instance where he goes out to kill someone is a telltale sign that [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness things are that bad for him]], such as when he attempts to kill Kevin during ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien Ultimate Alien]]''.

** Steven and his mother Rose both view shattering a Gem (which would permanently kill them) as a horrible thing and refuse to do so. Rose took this to the point of having her personal sword forged specifically to be able to destroy a Gem's unimportant body (thus rendering them helpless, but able to regenerate eventually) but ''never'' their Gem. [[spoiler:Both end up refusing [[KnightTemplar Bismuth's]] offer of a OneHitKill weapon designed specifically for shattering Gems for this reason.]] However, Rose did seem to only apply this condition to herself, merely desiring her army treat shattering as a last resort rather than their go to battle strategy [[spoiler:given her interactions with Bismuth]] and [[spoiler:we learn [[BatmanGrabsAGun Rose had to make an exception to save Earth by killing Pink Diamond]], its reigning EvilOverlord.]] [[spoiler:Except she didn't, as Rose Quartz ''[[TwoAliasesOneCharacter is]]'' Pink Diamond.]]
** The Crystal Gems as a whole seem to have this mentality towards ''humans''. Which makes sense, given the entire reason they've done everything they have was for their protection. They're still willing to beat one up though if [[MamaBear they threaten Steven.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Much like the rest of the franchise, Bruce enforces this trope, though there are times when he comes dangerously close to breaking this rule.
** In "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE6TheUnderdwellers The Underdwellers]]", the villain Sewer King uses a small army of abandoned children to steal and commit crime for him, punishing them cruelly when they fail. Batman, furious about this, corners him at the end of the episode. He saves him from an incoming train. When the Sewer King hysterically asks why, Batman angrily responses that although he realizes that passing judgment is a matter for the courts, he was ''sorely tempted'' to take matters into his own hands.
** In "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE62HisSiliconSoul His Silicon Soul]]", the robot copy of Batman that Hardac created in a final attempt to gain revenge on Batman and KillAllHumans follows his human template's example all too well. The robot has a HeroicBSOD when it thinks it killed Batman during their fight and sacrifices itself to foil the scheme it had earlier set in motion when it realizes more people will die because of it.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'':
** Terry seems to have an attitude somewhat similar to the ''Film/BatmanBegins'' version of Batman: the series makes it a specific point that he won't kill in cold blood, and he generally tries to make sure his villains rot in jail, but he often won't go very far out of his way to save them, either. He's also consistently willing to use lethal force in the heat of combat, usually in the form of [[CombatPragmatist combat pragmatism]] such as chucking handy barrels of toxic waste.
** In "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS2E24SentriesOfTheLastCosmos Sentries of the Last Cosmos]]", Simon Harper tricks three fans of the titular video game into thinking it is real and equips them with weapons and armor based on the game, telling them to destroy his enemies. He is infuriated when they capture Eldon Michaels instead of killing him. They remind him that the code of the Sentries forbids them from killing in cold blood. Simon then tries to kill Eldon himself before Batman interferes.

* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', an alternate universe episode sees the Flash die by Lex Luthor's hand, to which Superman responds by killing his archvillain in a gruesome fashion. These events eventually draw the default universe's Lex Luthor to try to ruin Superman by goading him into the same murderous rage. Late in this arc, the Flash appears to sacrifice himself to stop Lex's grandest scheme, to which Lex defiantly gloats. Superman hoists Luthor in front of his face and bitterly growls, "I'm ''not'' the Superman who killed Lex Luthor. Right now, I wish to heaven I were, but I'm ''not''."
** The prime universe Superman made an exception for Darkseid in "Twilight". After Darkseid's latest gambit to conquer the universe, Superman has had it with the tyrant and stays behind on the exploding asteroid so he can kill Darkseid with his bare hands. The only reason he doesn't manage it is because Batman pulls him and Orion into a Boom Tube to save them. As it stands, Superman does manage to kill Darkseid by trapping him on the self-destructing asteroid. It even sticks for four whole seasons. Notably, he spared Darkseid the first time he beat him, and this is when Darkseid had nearly (indirectly) killed Supergirl. Kara herself had to persuade him from killing Darkseid that time though.
** Braniac is another exception. While Superman doesn't get the chance to destroy Braniac himself, he tries very hard to do so after learning that Braniac destroyed Krypton. Once Darkseid sets Braniac to self-destruct, the League doesn't even try to save Brainiac, instead letting him explode with his asteroid. And when Braniac manages to come back from that in the climax of the Cadmus arc, the Flash destroys Brainiac with no qualms. "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueUnlimitedS3E10FarFromHome Far From Home]]'' implies that even that might not have finished him off for good.
** The League doesn't seem to adhere to this rule under wartime conditions. In "The Savage Time," every member of the Justice League present committed clearly lethal actions in battle against the Nazis, and with the Green Lantern ring out of commission, John used an ordinary rifle like any other Marine. Similarly, in the pilot, nobody batted an eye at killing Imperium aliens, and when fighting Thanagarians, the League are willing to use deadly force as well.
** In the episode "Epilogue", we learn in a flashback that because the PsychicPowers of Ace of the Justice League Royal Flush Gang have evolved, she was going to die of a brain aneurysm within days or even hours, and the psychic backlash would kill anyone within miles! Thus Amanda Waller gave a device to kill Ace before she took others with her. Shayera would have taken the device but Batman volunteered to do so -- and when he found Ace, sure enough, he had no intention of using the device. Instead, he convinced her to fix everything by staying with her at her request and holding her hand before she died peacefully.
** In the series finale, Superman subtly expresses his hopes that Darkseid and Lex Luthor are dead for good, without his having to kill them. He is so hopeful that five of the other founding seven have to [[DeathIsCheap convince him otherwise.]] According to WordOfGod, [[spoiler: Superman was actually right this time. Darkseid and Luthor both became part of the Source Wall.]]

* In the 1960s cartoon ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman'', Superman (yes, Superman) kills his opponents at least twice, although they might fall under WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: The first is when he causes a group of possibly sapient "lava men" to revert to being just ordinary lava, and the second is [[GoingToGiveItMoreEnergy when he consciously and deliberately allows the Parasite to absorb all of his power, knowing that the Parasite cannot contain so much power.]] Superman is right, and the Parasite explodes. On screen. Oh, and this version of the Parasite isn't a weird-looking purple humanoid. He's a heavy-set man with a strange power.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTroubleInTokyo'' Robin gets in some trouble with the law when it looks like he killed the supervillain he was fighting. In [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans the series itself]], however, the episode "Aftershock" [[AvertedTrope averts]] this trope. While the other Titans were holding back, Raven's words and actions indicate she was genuinely trying to kill Terra when they fought. Later [[spoiler:Terra decides to pull a HeelFaceTurn and stops working for the villain Slade; she accomplishes this by throwing Slade into a pit of lava, and Slade would have stayed there had he not been resurrected by Trigon to serve as messenger during Season 4.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/XMen97'', [[spoiler:Magneto decides to pull this trope after he comes into Xavier's legacy, wanting to uphold it in his old friend's memory. Thus, he holds back when rescuing the Morlocks from the Friends of Humanity and spares the X-Cutioner despite the fact that he had just {{depower}}ed Storm. He flat out tells the UN judges "Please... do not make me let you down.".]]

* Although killing is rarely touched upon in the show, ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' seems to somewhat demonstrate the KND, and some villians going by this trope. They instead try to subdue each other as a means to win fights; respectively, the KND would subdue and apprehend villains to imprison them in Arctic base, while the non-killing villians merely do whatever they have in mind with KND Operatives once they overpower them.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTroubleInTokyo'' Robin gets in some trouble with the law when it looks like he killed the supervillain he was fighting. In [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans the series itself]], however, the episode "Aftershock" [[AvertedTrope averts]] this trope. While the other Titans were holding back, Raven's words and actions indicate she was genuinely trying to kill Terra when they fought. Later [[spoiler:Terra decides to pull a HeelFaceTurn and stops working for the villain Slade; she accomplishes this by throwing Slade into a pit of lava.]]

* In the WesternAnimation/MGMOneShotCartoon "Peace on Earth," mankind has eliminated itself through warfare. Animals come out to assess things as an owl discovers a Bible which he turns to "Thou Shalt Not Kill." The owl percieves the book as a set of rules that man couldn't be bothered to pay attention to.

* In the WesternAnimation/MGMOneShotCartoon "Peace on Earth," mankind has eliminated itself through warfare. Animals come out to assess things as an owl discovering a Bible which he turns to "Thou Shalt Not Kill." The owl percieves the book as a set of rules that man couldn't be bothered to pay attention to.

** In "The Underdwellers", the villain Sewer King uses a small army of abandoned children to steal and commit crime for him, punishing them cruelly when they fail. Batman, furious about this, corners him at the end of the episode. He saves him from an incoming train. When the Sewer King hysterically asks why, Batman angrily responses that although he realizes that passing judgment is a matter for the courts, he was ''sorely tempted'' to take matters into his own hands.
** In "His Silicon Soul", the robot copy of Batman that Hardac created in a final attempt to gain revenge on Batman and KillAllHumans follows his human template's example all too well. The robot has a HeroicBSOD when it thinks it killed Batman during their fight and sacrifices itself to foil the scheme it had earlier set in motion when it realizes more people will die because of it.

** In "Sentries of the Last Cosmos", Simon Harper tricks three fans of the titular video game into thinking it is real and equips them with weapons and armor based on the game, telling them to destroy his enemies. He is infuriated when they capture Eldon Michaels instead of kill him. They remind him that the code of the Sentries forbids them from killing in cold blood. Simon then tries to kill Eldon himself before Batman interferes.
* The titular ''Franchise/Ben10'' follows this principle, and often refuses to kill his enemies. Even when his enemies are the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Highbreed,]] [[spoiler:he decides to save them by fixing their DNA once he finds out they’re dying]]. Any instance where he goes out to kill someone is a telltale sign that [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness things are that bad for him,]] such as when he attempts to kill Kevin during ''Ultimate Alien''.