The moral dilemma of a superhero...
I've been a fan of comic book heroes for a while, and have read many a story where heroes are forced to make decisions which have very serious ethical and moral implications, but I think this question is the one which is raised most often across all these stories. Is it right to kill your enemies?
I think there's an argument to be made on each side, and that's what I'm going to look at here. I'm going to do this in a slightly difficult way, by looking at two of my favorite superheroes, who happen to have very different opinions on this issue. Batman, and The Punisher.
Punisher - Killing is the only way
One of the most interesting scenes in Daredevil season 2 is a scene where The Punisher is debating the morality of his war on crime with Daredevil. If you've not watched this scene then I suggest that you do, as it's brilliantly done and I'm only going to give you a summary of the events here.
You hit them and they get back up.
I hit them and they stay down.
- The Punisher
Daredevil Season 2 - Episode 3
The Punisher's argument behind his approach to crime fighting is that criminals don't deserve a second chance. He takes this to the extreme, saying that it doesn't matter if you lock them up, they'll eventually get out and continue to pollute the city with their crime. In his own worlds, he says that someone in society is needed to stop the criminals from repeat offending, and that he has taken the task on himself.
Frank Castle as a character is a very complex man, who served as a soldier in Vietnam, and after returning from war had his wife and children taken away from him in a gang land shooting. This pushed him into the role of The Punisher, who takes it upon himself to rid the city of crime by killing anyone who commits crimes.
He has a moral code with one simple rule. Only the criminals are punished. He will not kill anyone who hasn't committed a crime, and even lets some minor criminals go in his chase of finding the larger offenders. He also has a severe hatred of sexual assault, and has absolutely no tolerance for that at all.
It could be argued that his war on crime could be justified, as this prevention of repeat offenders might save more lives i the long term. By preventing killers from being released, he might be stopping them from re-offending and putting the lives of more innocent people at risk. This, in it's basic form, is a type of utilitarianism. He is choosing to take one life, and in the process he is saving many others lives in the process.
His role as judge, jury, and executioner in the comics and TV series helped put a stop to the plans of several criminal organisations in the past, and prevented those he comes across from re-offending and causing more problems for others, so his actions are justified in this way.
Throughout the years, there have been a number of comic books which have explored this issue, in a variety of different ways, with many people thinking that the Punisher Max series of comics depicts the best version of the vigilante, exploring the darker side of crime and more graphic depictions of his story and actions. This comic goes into lots of detail about his views of crime and punishment, and is a good read for anyone wanting to see Frank's actions in their purest form.
Batman - Killing is wrong
Although there are some adaptations of the character which have depicted the caped crusader in many different ways, since the 1940's he has had one major rule. Heroes Don't Kill.
Bruce Wayne's story is a timeless tale. After his parents are gunned down in an ally way at night, he dedicates his life to trying to prevent crime in his home city of Gotham. he spends years training his mind and body to become the masked man who uses fear and fists to wage a one man war on crime.
Batman has a lot of enemies, but the Joker is his most well known villain, and over the years has claimed hundreds, if not thousands of innocent lives in his escapades. Batman fights him, wins, and locks the Joker away, however the Joker escapes and has to do the same thing time and time again.
In my favorite comic book series of all time, Injustice: God Among Us, Superman is pushed to the brink and kills the Joker after he is tricked into killing Lois Lane, and watching the whole of Metropolis be destroyed in a nuclear explosion. Superman makes the decision, and kills the Joker. This one act is the starting point for the whole comic series, leading to the deaths of man heroes and villains.
Throughout this series there are many debates about whether the actions of Superman are right or wrong, but here is one of the first.
Batman: You killed a man Clark.
Superman: I did! Any every time you let that madman live, how many more did you condemn? Did you even feel responsible? Did you even feel guilty?
Batman: Every time. But we don't get to choose who dies
Superman: One death. To save millions. One. Death.
Batman: It always starts with one. That's how justification works. But once you justify something once you can do it again and again. It becomes easier.
Injustice: Year 1 - Issue #10
This argument sums up Batman's whole philosophy on killing, that you can't justify the taking of a life, no matter what the cost. Everyone has the right to live, so you shouldn't kill anyone. He believes that everyone has the potential for redemption, including Harley Quinn in the Injustice story itself.
