Discussion Main / SaveTheVillain

Pulled this:

• 1989's Batman subverted this trope, with Batman of all people killing the villain as he tried to get away. The Joker was escaping by climbing up the ladder to a waiting helicopter. Batman fires a set of bolas at him, causing the Joker's leg to be tied to a very heavy statue. As the helicopter pulls away, the statue drags the Joker down to his doom.
  • Technically, he didn't kill him, rather than stop him from getting away. It was the fault of the helicopter pilots and their Plot Induced Stupidity. The irony is that Batman did have the full intent of killing the Joker earlier during their fight. So he fails to kill him when he's trying, but does kill him when he's not trying to.
    • Precisely. Batman tied the Joker to the statue. Had the statue remained intact, he would have been pulled off the ladder and been left dangling for the police. Even if you take into account that Joker demonstrated the upper levels of the clock tower were less than stable ("They don't make 'em like they used to!"), even BATMAN could have hardly known the statue he'd tied Joker to would BREAK OFF AND TURN INTO A WEIGHT...
• In Batman Forever, Bruce feels remorse for killing the Joker, suggesting he did it on purpose.
  • You can feel remorse for causing an accident ...
    • His speech about revenge implies that he viewed it as revenge, not an accident.
  • Earlier in the film, Batman grabs Napier's hand as he's dangling above a for-all-we-know fatal chemical bath; it's left ambiguous whether Batman drops him or he merely slips to his "death". The Joker's later claim (you MADE me) notwithstanding.

Because it's just plain not an example. It's not a subversion, it's just a scene where the hero (accidentally) causes the villain's death.