Well, what is a vigilante man?
Tell me, what is a vigilante man?
Has he got a gun and a club in his hand?
Is that is a vigilante man?
Tell me, what is a vigilante man?
Has he got a gun and a club in his hand?
Is that is a vigilante man?
— Woody Guthrie, "Vigilante Man"
"I take to the city night, seeking crime and diversion. Pity any criminal that I catch in the act tonight."
A vigilante is just a man lost in the scramble for his own gratification. He can be destroyed, or locked up. But if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can't stop you, you become something else entirely... A legend, Mr. Wayne.
— Henri Ducard, Batman Begins
Do I look like a cop?!?!
— Batman, Batman Begins
"I'm a crazed vigilante hell-bent on eliminating all small claims crime, no matter how small. Er, replace 'crazed vigilante' with 'concerned citizen'. I always mix that part up."
— The Civil Defender, Nuklear Age
Paul Kersey: Nothing to do but cut and run, huh? What else? What about the old American social custom of self-defense? If the police don't defend us, maybe we ought to do it ourselves.
Jack Toby: We're not pioneers anymore, Dad.
Paul Kersey: What are we, Jack?
Jack Toby: What do you mean?
Paul Kersey: I mean, if we're not pioneers, what have we become? What do you call people who, when they're faced with a condition of fear, do nothing about it, they just run and hide?
Jack Toby: Civilized?
Paul Kersey: No.
Jack Toby: We're not pioneers anymore, Dad.
Paul Kersey: What are we, Jack?
Jack Toby: What do you mean?
Paul Kersey: I mean, if we're not pioneers, what have we become? What do you call people who, when they're faced with a condition of fear, do nothing about it, they just run and hide?
Jack Toby: Civilized?
Paul Kersey: No.
Chief: I'm sorry, Dr. Kersey. Nothing yet.
Paul Kersey: So there's nothing that I can do? Is that what you're saying?
Chief: You gotta have faith.
[Kersey looks at the tackboard stuffed to the brim with missing persons whose cases haven't been solved.]
Paul Kersey: How'd faith work out for them?
Paul Kersey: So there's nothing that I can do? Is that what you're saying?
Chief: You gotta have faith.
[Kersey looks at the tackboard stuffed to the brim with missing persons whose cases haven't been solved.]
Paul Kersey: How'd faith work out for them?
— Death Wish (2018) trailer
My dear Wife,
Mr. Davies will tell you what's happening here tonight. He's a good man and has done everything he can for me. I suppose there are some other good men here, too, only they don't seem to realize what they're doing. They're the ones I feel sorry for. 'Cause it'll be over for me in a little while, but they'll have to go on remembering for the rest of their lives. A man just naturally can't take the law into his own hands and hang people without hurtin' everybody in the world, 'cause then he's just not breaking one law but all laws. Law is a lot more than words you put in a book, or judges or lawyers or sheriffs you hire to carry it out. It's everything people ever have found out about justice and what's right and wrong. It's the very conscience of humanity. There can't be any such thing as civilization unless people have a conscience, because if people touch God anywhere, where is it except through their conscience? And what is anybody's conscience except a little piece of the conscience of all men that ever lived? I guess that's all I've got to say except kiss the babies for me and God bless you.
Mr. Davies will tell you what's happening here tonight. He's a good man and has done everything he can for me. I suppose there are some other good men here, too, only they don't seem to realize what they're doing. They're the ones I feel sorry for. 'Cause it'll be over for me in a little while, but they'll have to go on remembering for the rest of their lives. A man just naturally can't take the law into his own hands and hang people without hurtin' everybody in the world, 'cause then he's just not breaking one law but all laws. Law is a lot more than words you put in a book, or judges or lawyers or sheriffs you hire to carry it out. It's everything people ever have found out about justice and what's right and wrong. It's the very conscience of humanity. There can't be any such thing as civilization unless people have a conscience, because if people touch God anywhere, where is it except through their conscience? And what is anybody's conscience except a little piece of the conscience of all men that ever lived? I guess that's all I've got to say except kiss the babies for me and God bless you.
Your husband, .
— Gil Carter, reading the letter of Martin, The Ox-Bow Incident
"I'm not their judge. I'm their judgement, their executioner."
— Mack Bolan, The Executioner
Akihiko: (Why are you doing this? We never did anything to you!)
Clint Barton: (You survived... half the planet didn't. They got Thanos. You get me...)
Clint Barton: (You survived... half the planet didn't. They got Thanos. You get me...)
Corrupt Businessman: "This ain't right. You're not a cop, or a judge, or a politician!"
John Dusk: "No. They weren't doing such a good job for this neighborhood. So we're going to try things my way."
John Dusk: "No. They weren't doing such a good job for this neighborhood. So we're going to try things my way."
—Absolution: Rubicon
"Something to think about on your way to Hell. My family are avenged now. I wanted the five of you together so it could be done just right. But the war goes on. It's because of you and Apostolo that it is a war. Men like you, arrogant enough to think the streets are yours. You send your scum out to rob and extort, to fight your battles, to impose your will. You never give a fuck who might get hurt just for being in the way. Know this: I'm getting out of here. If I can start a riot, I can just as easily escape. And then I'll spend the rest of my life sending more of your people after you, I tell the dead man. Until you and your kind are gone from the world."
"If you're guilty, you're dead."
"So you're him, huh? The Avenger. The Killer of Killers."
—Top Dollar to Eric Draven, The Crow (1994)
David Della Rocco: Anybody you think is evil?
Connor McManus: Aye.
David Della Rocco: Don't you think that's a little weird, a little psycho?
Connor McManus: You know what I think is psycho, Roc? It's decent men with loving families. They come home every day after work and they turn on the news. You know what they see? They see rapists, and murderers, and child molesters. They're all getting out of prison.
Murphy McManus: Mafiosos. Getting caught with twenty kilos. Getting out on bail, the same fucking day!
Connor McManus: And everywhere, everyone thinks the same thing. That someone should just go kill those motherfuckers.
Murphy McManus: Kill 'em all. Admit it. Even you've thought about it.
"We do not ask for your poor or your hungry. We do not want your tired and sick. It is your corrupt we claim. It is your evil that will be sought by us. With every breath, we shall hunt them down. Each day, we will spill their blood till it rains down from the skies. Do not kill. Do not rape. Do not steal. These are principles which every man of every faith can embrace. These are not polite suggestions. These are codes of behavior, and those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost. There are varying degrees of evil. We urge you lesser forms of filth not to push the bounds and cross over into true corruption, into our domain. For if you do, one day you will look behind you and you will see we three. And on that day, you will reap it. And we will send you to whatever god you wish."
—The McManus Brothers, The Boondock Saints
"I'm declaring war on anyone who sells drugs to the community."
—Black Dynamite, Black Dynamite
Honey Bee: It's that new drug on the street. All the kids are falling prey to it. What we gonna do, Black Dynamite?
Black Dynamite: I know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna fight. The only way I know how. Ever since I was a boy, all I knew was how to fight. Fight, fight, fight. And when I got tired, I would fight some more. And now that the Man has got our backs to the wall, I ain't gonna let him hurt the kids. I'm gonna take him down. I'm gonna take them all down.
Black Dynamite: I know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna fight. The only way I know how. Ever since I was a boy, all I knew was how to fight. Fight, fight, fight. And when I got tired, I would fight some more. And now that the Man has got our backs to the wall, I ain't gonna let him hurt the kids. I'm gonna take him down. I'm gonna take them all down.
"If this is their home, they got a right to keep it clean, don't they? Sometimes on the streets, a broom just ain't gonna fucking cut it! That's when you gotta get a shotgun!"
—Abby, Hobo with a Shotgun
Red Hood: Just be happy I only killed one of them. They're all assassins.
Batman: And what are you?
Red Hood: I'm cleaning up Gotham. More than you ever did.
Batman: And what are you?
Red Hood: I'm cleaning up Gotham. More than you ever did.
"This is a call-out to the shadow cabinets, petty dictators and all-around tossers of the world. You're on notice. We're not bound by lines on a map or political alliances or government bodies of any kind. We are our own bosses, and we have a very simple job. There are the good guys, namely us and the bad guys, namely anyone who treats anyone else like trash to further their petty aims. We turn bad guys into memories. So mind your manners, lads and lasses, or we'll blow your house down. We're the Elite. You asked for us, world. Now you got us."
—Manchester Black, Superman vs. the Elite
Anchor Ted: Miss Lang, you've been perhaps the Batman's most vocal supporter. How can you condone behavior that is so blatantly illegal? What about due process? What about civil rights?
Lana Lang: Ted, we live in the shadow of crime, resigned to be the victims of fear, of violence, of social impotence. A man has risen to remind us that the power is, and always has been in our hands. For years, we've been under siege. This one man is showing us that we can take a stand.
Lana Lang: Ted, we live in the shadow of crime, resigned to be the victims of fear, of violence, of social impotence. A man has risen to remind us that the power is, and always has been in our hands. For years, we've been under siege. This one man is showing us that we can take a stand.
—Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: Part 1
