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Anime & Manga
"Hey, 'Thou Shalt Not Kill', remember? What kind of church man are you?"
— Vash the Stampede, Trigun
"You're right, old pal. I'll never understand no matter what the reason what drives someone to murder. And I don't think I want to."
— Kogoro Mouri, Case Closed
"Stop. Stop it, Ray. Even if you are facing a bitter aspect of life...Drugs and murder are foul, without any excuse...Deserve a red card, for a loser."
— Conan Edogawa, Case Closed
"Courage is a word of justice. It means the quality of mind that enables one to face apprehension with confidence and resolution. It is not right to use it as an excuse to kill someone."
— Ran Mouri, Case Closed
Ed:He lost his philosopher's stone, and his transmutation circle is no longer useable! I...
Kimblee: "I win!", Is that what you're thinking? The determination not to kill... an admirable policy. But that's just asking for your enemy to take advantage of you during battle. You should have killed me at that moment. That softness is the cause of your defeat!
Kimblee: "I win!", Is that what you're thinking? The determination not to kill... an admirable policy. But that's just asking for your enemy to take advantage of you during battle. You should have killed me at that moment. That softness is the cause of your defeat!
—Fullmetal Alchemist, showing how this trope can backfire.
Comic Books
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.
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.
"Batman never kills. Life is sacred to him. In his book, life even beats out justice."
— Tim Drake, Batman #488, "Costumes"
"I broke my oath. I killed him. Nobody has the right to kill. Not Mxyxptlk... not you... not Superman. Especially not Superman."
Cyborg-Superman: You can't kill me!
Superman: To be honest, Henshaw, I've never tried.
Superman: To be honest, Henshaw, I've never tried.
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, the Silver Age? I'm afraid we forgot our magic fucking hypno-ring that turns bad guys into good guys.
Hit-Girl: Oh, kiss my ass. What is this, the Silver Age? I'm afraid we forgot our magic fucking hypno-ring that turns bad guys into good guys.
— Kick-Ass
You seem like a very nice girl, but I can't go with you to go off and kill someone. You don't know this about me, but I have a job, a very responsible job that I need to go back home to do. And the first rule of that job just happens to be "Don't kill people."
Superman: "He's dead, Zod. You're going to have to pay for that."
Zod: "Forgive my not trembling, Kal-El... But what am I to fear, in light of your moronic code against killing?"
Superman: "You're right, Zod! I can't take your life— much as I'm tempted! But my code does not say a damn thing— about not battering you to within an inch of it!! Murderer!!" (thinking) And there are moments... When I think I should chuck that code altogether...!
Zod: "Forgive my not trembling, Kal-El... But what am I to fear, in light of your moronic code against killing?"
Superman: "You're right, Zod! I can't take your life— much as I'm tempted! But my code does not say a damn thing— about not battering you to within an inch of it!! Murderer!!" (thinking) And there are moments... When I think I should chuck that code altogether...!
"I must be true to my vow! Now that I've taken a life...my career as a super-law-enforcer is over! Superman must hang up his cape forever!"
— Superman, The Plague of the Antibiotic Man
Lex Luthor: "See? I conned your friends out of a million bucks! And you're stilll a candidate for a coffin!"
Superman: (thinking) "I could pierce this protective suit...touch Luthor...and he'd get the virus! But— I can't break my code against murder!"
Superman: (thinking) "I could pierce this protective suit...touch Luthor...and he'd get the virus! But— I can't break my code against murder!"
Fan Works
Kara: You know, I didn't like what you had to do in my body.
Buffy: You mean, possessing it? Oh. Oh, now I know, sorry. Miss Obtuseness, here. You mean killing Zol-Am.
Kara: Neither I, nor Superman, take human life. I know Zol-Am wasn't technically alive. I know he was post-human. But still... These hands destroyed a thinking being. I realize why it had to be done. I destroyed M'nagaleh, when we last met. But it’s not something I'm proud of.
Buffy: You mean, possessing it? Oh. Oh, now I know, sorry. Miss Obtuseness, here. You mean killing Zol-Am.
Kara: Neither I, nor Superman, take human life. I know Zol-Am wasn't technically alive. I know he was post-human. But still... These hands destroyed a thinking being. I realize why it had to be done. I destroyed M'nagaleh, when we last met. But it’s not something I'm proud of.
Dev-Em: Kara, you ever have a chance to read military theory and / or history? In case you don't know, commanders have to make decisions that will endanger some innocents, perhaps even kill them—
Kara: Not me. Not ever.
Kara: Not me. Not ever.
Hippolyta: Since the Krypts are the last men from your planet, both groups decided to let you decided what should be done with them. We'll decide about Badra afterward.
Mala: Not even a Venus girdle can withstand that one for long. Though such is against our nature, O queen, perhaps execution is in order.
Hippolyta: Not while alternatives exist, Mala. She will remain in stasis till we find a means of imprisoning her for life. We will find that means. Our hands will not be stained with blood... even hers.
Mala: Not even a Venus girdle can withstand that one for long. Though such is against our nature, O queen, perhaps execution is in order.
Hippolyta: Not while alternatives exist, Mala. She will remain in stasis till we find a means of imprisoning her for life. We will find that means. Our hands will not be stained with blood... even hers.
I want to fight her, sure. I wouldn't mind even sending her to the med-center for a few days. But I'm a wrestler, not a killer, Zora. If I really hurt her, there goes my license and a shot at the movies.
— Jara, Kara of Rokyn
Captain America: I'm thinking of stepping out, Carol. This new age seems to be an age for killers— the Punisher, Wolverine, U.S. Agent. I've only killed one person in recent times. Flag-Smasher manipulated me into it. I didn't like it. I'm not a killer anymore.
Carol Danvers: But that's just why they do need you, Cap. To keep them from going down that slope anymore. I don't think we feel the same way about killing... but I won't do it unless there's no other way. I agree, I don't think the Avengers should become killers. You may be the only guy that can make sure they don't.
Cap: They weren't killing a man, and they were killing a killer. But I'm more worried that they might come to see this as a solution. Super-villains outnumber super-heroes by at least a 3 / 1 ratio, Carol. But guys like the Punisher never seem to have trouble with repeat offenders.
Carol: Guys like the Punisher end up hunted down as murderers. I don't want that to happen to the Avengers.
Carol Danvers: But that's just why they do need you, Cap. To keep them from going down that slope anymore. I don't think we feel the same way about killing... but I won't do it unless there's no other way. I agree, I don't think the Avengers should become killers. You may be the only guy that can make sure they don't.
Cap: They weren't killing a man, and they were killing a killer. But I'm more worried that they might come to see this as a solution. Super-villains outnumber super-heroes by at least a 3 / 1 ratio, Carol. But guys like the Punisher never seem to have trouble with repeat offenders.
Carol: Guys like the Punisher end up hunted down as murderers. I don't want that to happen to the Avengers.
[Captain Marvel] worked his tongue in his cheek. The Red Crusher, an Asian Communist mutant-being the size of a building, had crossed swords with the Marvel Family on several occasions. They thought they'd put him away during the last go-around, but the Marvels didn't kill their enemies. Sometimes that put them at a disadvantage, but they weren't about to change. They were heroes, not executioners.
Film — Animated
"Yo, wait a minute. Batman never cut nobody's head off. Everybody knows he don't ever kill nobody."
—B-Devil on Batman, Batman: Gotham Knight
Batman: You don't understand. I don't think you've ever understood.
Red Hood/Jason Todd: What? What, your moral code just won't allow for that? It's too hard to cross that line?!
Batman: No! God Almighty— no. It'd be too damned easy. All I've ever wanted to do is kill him. A day doesn't go by when I don't think about subjecting him to every horrendous torture he's dealt out to others, and then... end him.
Joker: Aww, so you do think about me!
Batman: But if I do that, if I allow myself to go down into that place... I'll never come back.
Red Hood/Jason Todd: What? What, your moral code just won't allow for that? It's too hard to cross that line?!
Batman: No! God Almighty— no. It'd be too damned easy. All I've ever wanted to do is kill him. A day doesn't go by when I don't think about subjecting him to every horrendous torture he's dealt out to others, and then... end him.
Joker: Aww, so you do think about me!
Batman: But if I do that, if I allow myself to go down into that place... I'll never come back.
"It's bad to kill. Guns kill. And you don't have to be a gun. You are what you choose to be. You choose. Choose."
— Hogarth, The Iron Giant
"I'm not anyone's judge and jury, Professor Baxter. Definitely not an executioner. My powers don't put me above the law."
—Superman, Superman vs. the Elite
Film — Live-Action
Bruce Wayne/Batman: I'm no executioner.
Henri Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul: Your compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share.
Bruce: That's why it's so important. It separates us from them.
Henri Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul: Your compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share.
Bruce: That's why it's so important. It separates us from them.
"I will not abandon someone to die, when I have the means to save his life."
—T'Challa, Black Panther (2018)
Salvatore Maroni: From this height, the fall wouldn't kill me.
Batman: I'm counting on it.
Batman: I'm counting on it.
"You truly are incorruptible, aren't you? You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness."
—The Joker to Batman, The Dark Knight
"When I became a doctor, I swore an oath to do no harm. And I have just killed a man! I'm not doing that again. I became a doctor to save lives, not take them!"
— Stephen Strange, Doctor Strange (2016)
"Every day we meet people the world would be better without, but we do not kill them. We must be better than the beasts."
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? The Silver Age?
Hit Girl: Oh, kiss my ass. What is this? The Silver Age?
— Kick-Ass
John Connor: You just can't go around killing people.
The Terminator: Why?
John: What do you mean why? 'Cause you can't.
Terminator: Why?
John: Because you just can't, okay? Trust me on this.
The Terminator: Why?
John: What do you mean why? 'Cause you can't.
Terminator: Why?
John: Because you just can't, okay? Trust me on this.
Literature
Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need... Deserves death! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.
— Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings
Lupin: Harry, the time for Disarming is past! These people are trying to capture and kill you! At least Stun if you aren't prepared to kill!
Harry: We were hundreds of feet up! If I Stunned him and he'd fallen, he'd have died the same as if I'd used Avada Kedavra!
Harry: We were hundreds of feet up! If I Stunned him and he'd fallen, he'd have died the same as if I'd used Avada Kedavra!
I could have killed her on the spot; I just had to enter her ear, then grow. End of story. Not even a vampire can survive having her brain squished out of her skull. In fact, I realized I could be an unstoppable assassin. Shrunk to a pinpoint, I could slip past any sensors. Unseen, I could sneak into anyone's body and wreak havoc: heart attacks, strokes, aneurysms. Then I could escape microscopically. With practice, I could make my kills look like natural causes... maybe even create delayed effects by starting little bleeds in the brain that wouldn't cause death until I was somewhere else for an alibi. I could murder anyone, anywhere, anytime. I could take down world leaders during televised speeches; I could dispatch any Darkling or Spark, hero or villain; if I wanted, I could casually kill innocents on the street.
The prospect made me sick to my stomach. I could be far worse than Lilith with her simple thirst for blood. It would be trivial to kill her, but then what? Where would it end?
So don't judge me for letting her live, or for any other monster I haven't slaughtered. Do you think I don't realize how much tragedy I could prevent? Leaving maniacs alive is a promise of horrors to come.
But.
When I shift my vision to look at myself, I see a perfectly normal person who happens to have powers. I don't see the apex predator of this entire plane of existence. I cling to that. I have to.
— All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault, by James Alan Garner
Live-Action TV
Matt Murdock: I know my soul is damned if I take his life. But if I stand idle... if I... If I let him consume this city, all the people that will suffer and die—
Father Lantom: There is a wide gulf between inaction and murder, Matthew. Another man's evil does not make you Good. Men have used the atrocities of their enemies to justify their own throughout history! So the question you have to ask yourself is: Are you struggling with the fact that you don't wanna kill this man—but have to—or that you don't have to kill him... but want to? "Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is the righteous man who gives way before the wicked." Proverbs 25 something, I never can remember.note
Matt: Meaning righteous men have a duty to stand up to evil.
Father Lantom: One interpretation. Another is, that when the righteous succumb to sin, it is as harmful as if the public well were poisoned. Because the darkness of such an act—of taking a life—will spread to friends, neighbors... the entire community.
[Beat]
Matt: What if it already has?
Father Lantom: Then we wouldn't be sitting here, would we? I don't believe you went to see this woman for insight into how to kill a man. I think, maybe you went looking for a reason not to.
Father Lantom: There is a wide gulf between inaction and murder, Matthew. Another man's evil does not make you Good. Men have used the atrocities of their enemies to justify their own throughout history! So the question you have to ask yourself is: Are you struggling with the fact that you don't wanna kill this man—but have to—or that you don't have to kill him... but want to? "Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is the righteous man who gives way before the wicked." Proverbs 25 something, I never can remember.note
Matt: Meaning righteous men have a duty to stand up to evil.
Father Lantom: One interpretation. Another is, that when the righteous succumb to sin, it is as harmful as if the public well were poisoned. Because the darkness of such an act—of taking a life—will spread to friends, neighbors... the entire community.
[Beat]
Matt: What if it already has?
Father Lantom: Then we wouldn't be sitting here, would we? I don't believe you went to see this woman for insight into how to kill a man. I think, maybe you went looking for a reason not to.
Hallucination-Fisk: So you're gonna bring me back to prison? But you know that won't work. There's only one way to stop me, but you're not gonna do it.
Matt: Are you sure about that?
Hallucination-Fisk: In a way, you're my accomplice. Everything that's happened since you refused to kill me is on you. The bodies that I've stacked up... The ones to come... I wonder who's next?
Karen: Look, I'm not saying that I want him to kill Fisk, I don't want that. What if it's the only way? [...]
Foggy: Eventually he'll come to his senses. Matt's Matt because he believes that everyone deserves a shot at redemption.
Karen: Except Fisk.
Foggy: Everyone. It's a Catholic thing. That's why he doesn't kill people. If he crosses that line...Matt will never be able to forgive himself. And being around us will just remind him of who he was and what he's done.
Foggy: Eventually he'll come to his senses. Matt's Matt because he believes that everyone deserves a shot at redemption.
Karen: Except Fisk.
Foggy: Everyone. It's a Catholic thing. That's why he doesn't kill people. If he crosses that line...Matt will never be able to forgive himself. And being around us will just remind him of who he was and what he's done.
Zoe: Preacher, don't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?
Shepherd Book: Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps.
Shepherd Book: Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps.
— Firefly, "War Stories"
"Whatever they did to you, Bette, you don't kill people."
— Chloe Sullivan, Smallville, "Plastique"
"Chloe Sullivan does not die this day... If your code was really based on me, your number one rule should be, 'Don't kill.'"
— Clark Kent, Smallville, "Legion"
Music
"I know Darth Vader's really got you annoyed, but remember if you kill him then you'll be unemployed."
— "Weird Al" Yankovic, "Yoda"
Religion & Mythology
וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֵ֛ת כָּל־הַדְּבָרִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה לֵאמֹֽר׃
לֹ֥֖א תִּֿרְצָֽ֖ח׃
— Exodus 20:1,13 (in the Westminster Codex — the English version is on the main page)
Toys
Video Games
"The Jedi do not believe in killing their prisoners. No one deserves execution, no matter what their crimes."
— Bastila Shan, Knights of the Old Republic
"Just because we can kill doesn't give us the right."
—Green Lantern (John Stewart), Injustice 2
Jackson Briggs: You just can't go around killing people.
Terminator: Why not?
Jax: You just can't. Trust me.
Terminator: Why not?
Jax: You just can't. Trust me.
Web Original
"So Wukong's like, 'Don't worry, Master, I know exactly what to do in this situation,' and proceeds to kill all the bandits with his trusty stick-thing. But Tripitaka's like, 'Sun, we don't kill people.' And Wukong's like 'I think you mean YOU don't kill people.' And Tripitaka's like, 'No, no, you're Buddhist now, Buddhists do not kill.' And Wukong's like 'Ooh, look at Mr. Bigshot over here, telling me who I can and can't kill,' and storms off in a huff."
Webcomics
Your crew fought off all my men without killing any of them. Criminals would not have wasted the effort not to kill their attackers. I can't in good conscience take you all in simply for defending yourselves.
— Duncan, Demon Fist
Kat: They are not monsters, and neither are we. Send them to the temple to recover, not the graveyard.
Trish: Did you not just electrocute that guy?
Kat: I nonlethally electrocuted that guy. He's alive and well.
Mook: (groans)
Kat: ...or he will be with some rest.
Trish: You bricked that other guy in the face.
Kat: I have wimpy wizard arms, he'll be fine!
Trish: Did you not just electrocute that guy?
Kat: I nonlethally electrocuted that guy. He's alive and well.
Mook: (groans)
Kat: ...or he will be with some rest.
Trish: You bricked that other guy in the face.
Kat: I have wimpy wizard arms, he'll be fine!
Western Animation
These are human beings, Michael. They're under alien control! We take them down, not out. Understand?
— Ben Tennyson, Ben 10: Alien Force, "War of the Worlds: Part 1"
Superman: There are at least six different ways I can stop you right now.
Lex Luthor: But they all involve deadly force, don't they? And you don't do that. (Superman is silent) No. You need me. You wouldn't be much of a hero without a villain, and you do love being a hero, don't you? The cheering children, the swooning women — you love it so much, it's made you my most reliable accomplice!
Superman: Accomplice?! What're you—
Lex Luthor: You could have crushed me any time you wanted. And it wasn't the law or the will of the people that stopped you — it was your ego. Being a hero was too important to you. You're as much responsible for this as I am! So go ahead, fix it somehow. Put me on trial, lock me up — but I'll beat it. And then we'll start the whole thing all over again.
Lex Luthor: But they all involve deadly force, don't they? And you don't do that. (Superman is silent) No. You need me. You wouldn't be much of a hero without a villain, and you do love being a hero, don't you? The cheering children, the swooning women — you love it so much, it's made you my most reliable accomplice!
Superman: Accomplice?! What're you—
Lex Luthor: You could have crushed me any time you wanted. And it wasn't the law or the will of the people that stopped you — it was your ego. Being a hero was too important to you. You're as much responsible for this as I am! So go ahead, fix it somehow. Put me on trial, lock me up — but I'll beat it. And then we'll start the whole thing all over again.
— Justice League, "A Better World"
"NOOOOOOO! I've taken a life. I've killed a man. My people. My city. What have I done?! AAAAAAAAARGH!"
— HARDAC-Batman Batman: The Animated Series, "Soul of Silicon"
Batman: No! One more punch would kill you. And I won't kill you.
Joker: That somehow means I win! I go to jail, escape, kill people, go to jail! RINSE AND REPEAT!
Batman: Yes I know, it's an endless cycle. But I'm sworn to let the courts do their work. Now what to do? Hmmm...
Judge Brown: And due to a persuasive testimony of the Batman, thank you, Batman, the court has decided upon the death penalty.
Batman: (to Joker) It's uh... it's out of my hands.
