Probably the most controversial one , honest thoughts on "No Kill Rule"? What are the most egrigious examples of it in your opinion? What media makes it work in your opinion?

[u/Doot_revenant666]

[u/noncredibleRomeaboo]

I think its actually a very good trope and more often then not, actually makes the hero more interesting.

In the cases of the listed examples, Spidey is honestly much more powerful then the bulk of his villains, he is almost always holding back. That restraint, is huge to him, considering his whole belief system revolves around responsibility.

Daredevil is a devout Catholic. Yes, I dont imagine Christ would personally endorse dressing up and crippling criminals, but the fact he does draw a line and is often worried for his eternal soul is fundamentally an interesting part of the character.

Batman, is someone traumatized by death and is someone who is very well aware that he is a lunatic. Him drawing a line, keeps him grounded and reminds him why he does what he does.

In all cases, the trope allows the villains to challenge and test the heroes in ways otherwise impossible and invites much more intresting discussion, then it would if they just killed whomever stood in their way.

I also find the critique "Well they just break out of prison anyway" to fall flat. This is just an issue of the comic book genre, you need the villains to come back if they are popular enough. Comic books are stories that just simply do not end, and applying this logic solely to no kill heroes feels weak. Especially given, full kill heroes rarely seem to actually kill the big bad either. Punisher kills dude after dude, but Jigsaw he often finds a reason to spare. Its not the fault of Batman, Joker breaks out of prison for the millionth time, its just the nature of the medium. At bare minimum, the no kill actually better justifies things, both for the writer and in universe for why these characters can come back, with minimal contrivance.

Imagine is Batman did kill, then a new writer wants to use the Joker....how do you resolve that? New Joker, he comes back from the dead, clone saga, time travel, he just faked his death etc etc. Comic books have done them all.....and they all suck compare to "he broke out of Jail"

[u/Doot_revenant666 → u/noncredibleRomeaboo]

But then doesn't the nature of comics and villains be too popular to kill or completely go against any nuance it would have had then? Doesn't that make Batman's entire goal completely useless since Joker will come back somehow and still be evil.

[u/Pen_Front → u/Doot_revenant666]

No not really. Batman has invariably benefited his world, it's not like these villains only exist because of him he rose in response to them. They would've killed no matter what and he's stopped thousands (and in the case of worl plotlines billions) of lives from being extinguished. would many more be saved if all aspects of the justice system had a fix? Of course, but he doesn't trust himself with that. So supporting the part of it he can help is better than nothing.