I’m not talking about when they are billed as such.
I’m talking about when they do so and it is passed by without comment or consequence.
In The Incredibles, Dash kills close to a dozen guards flying those disk things. It is never acknowledged, recognized or dealt with.
In The Forbidden Kingdom, at one point in the final battle, the hero kid grabs the sword of a soldier attacking him and slashes the guy’s own throat with it while the guy is still holding it. A short while later, of course, he essentially kills the Jade Warlord, but I was still rather surprised with the casualness of killing the soldier.
Where else is a Child Hero shown to be a killer and it is never acknowledged?
In both of those cases, the child is under attack by the people he kills…and in The Incredibles, at least, it’s pretty clear that the baddies intend to kill Dash and his sister. I haven’t seen the other movie, so I can’t comment on it. But Dash is definitely in a kill or be killed situation, he’s greatly outnumbered, and Mom has told him that the baddies WILL kill him and his sister, so he has Mom’s permission. What more does a boy need?
Well, in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, many of the children have to become warriors and take part in battles.
Peter and Edmund certainly have to kill enemy soldiers in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Of course, at the time, their own father was back on Earth, fighting against the Third Reich with the British Army. The kids are probably sort-of used to the idea of war, and figure they’re just doing their duty, just as Dad is.
I don’t think anyone’s arguing that it isn’t justifiable. But it’s still got to be traumatic. Compare Harry Potter, or Aang, who are both conflicted even about killing their worlds’ equivalents of Hitler.
Hansel & Gretel- they kill the witch and in some accounts their stepmother. True, the official version is the witch was out to kill them, but there were no witnesses so we really only have their version for that, and we already know these are kids who stole an old woman’s candy house.
How old is Robin of Batman & fame? He’s young enough that he’s Bruce Wayne’s ward, which would mean under 18 I’d think, and he and Batman have caused some deaths to supervillains and their henchmen.
Aang isn’t conflicted because he’s a kid — it’s because he’s essentially a Buddhist monk who believes in nonviolence to the extent that he’s a vegetarian.
I don’t think Harry Potter was ever conflicted about killing Voldemort for a second. He wanted that guy dead from the moment he learned Voldemort’s name.
Besides, Aang didn’t kill Fire Lord Ozai. Harry did give Voldemort a chance to repent, but he didn’t really think for a second that Voldemort would actually accept it.
How about Firestarter? Doesn’t Drew Barrymore fry George C. Scott at the end? It’s definitely a kill or be killed situation. GCS’s character wants to kill Drew’s character just to see her die.
Not to get off topic but in regards to Dash in The Incredibles. Can you really say he killed any of the guards? In just about every case the guards killed themselves by running into trees, rocks, or each other.
About the only death you can pin on him is when Dash lands on a guard’s disk in flight. Though it wasn’t his intent, their fight distracts the guard long enough for him to fly into a rock wall (after he knocks Dash off his disk).
“'One more step, Mr. Hands,” said I “And I’ll blow your head off!’” --Jim Hawkins to Israel Hands in Treasure Island. Hands threw a knife but missed. Hawkins, who had two pistols I think, didn’t miss.
