# superheroes who kill their opponents **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2010, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669 "2010-07-31T08:27:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![satoridt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@satoridt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satoridt)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/21 "2010-07-31T18:24:35Z")
Wow, thanks for the info. I have read and seen the watchmen comic, I like them a lot. I am also a big fan of the Alan Moore Miracleman series. I think those are the only two Alan Moore works I am familiar with, should I look more into his stuff? I didnt realize the current crop of superheroes was willing to kill. Like I said, I am not super familiar with this stuff, so that was interesting to learn ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/22 "2010-07-31T18:31:45Z")
Does Deadpool count as a hero? 'Cuz if so he has killed one or two people. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/23 "2010-07-31T18:39:10Z")
During the [Mike Grell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Arrow:_The_Longbow_Hunters)period, Green Arrow sometimes killed the bad guys, starting with the guy who kidnapped and tortured Black Canary. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/24 "2010-07-31T18:42:30Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > > [@Revenant\_Threshold](#): > > > > Wonder Woman killed a villain reasonably recently > > From what I hear, he got better. In the comic books? No way! ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/25 "2010-07-31T22:44:27Z")
Would Judge Dredd count as a superhero? A lot of perps are sent to the cubes, but he’ll take them out if necessary. Can’t totally hate the movie, but can’t recommend it either without feeling a bit guilty. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/26 "2010-07-31T22:59:33Z")
Captain America is amazingly vicious, but you have to understand the context. He would either be indirectly responsible for or lead an attack on thousands of “enemy forces.” He would often clear some obstacle to enable Allied bombing or some other attack. Whenever there’s a flashback scene, I try to keep a mental note of how many faceless soldiers he directly or indirectly kills. Of course, in splash panels, you never see him decapitate a soldier or fire a gun, but he tends to disable an amazing number of flying fortresses (e.g. a blimp or plane) and jump out with a parachute, leaving the entire crew to die. This tends to hold true for any sort of soldier or army-related comic book character. Even the GI Joe comic was famous for showing “real” death. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/27 "2010-07-31T23:20:57Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Captain America is amazingly vicious. Vicious? Not the word I would have selected. Ruthless perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/28 "2010-07-31T23:39:23Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > > [@Superhal](#): > > > > Captain America is amazingly vicious. > > Vicious? Not the word I would have selected. Ruthless perhaps. I wouldn’t even say ruthless. It means “lacking compassion.” The Steve Rogers Cap is professional. As a soldier, he would kill if he had to in the course of a mission, but not otherwise. (I don’t know about the Bucky Barnes Cap.) ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/29 "2010-08-01T00:01:36Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Batman killed The Joker in the [1989 movie.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096895/) Batman actually killed a _few_ people in the first two Batman movies (the Burton-helmed ones). Personally, that always made me respect him more—he wasn’t just wading in killing _everybody_ all the time, but he wasn’t refusing to kill _anybody_ for any reason. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/30 "2010-08-01T01:43:01Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Personally, that always made me respect him more—he wasn’t just wading in killing _everybody_ all the time, but he wasn’t refusing to kill _anybody_ for any reason. Coming back around to Steve Rogers as Captain America, a rare instance outside wartime saw him reluctantly gun down a crook who was about to open fire on a crowd; Cap promptly turned himself over to the authorities to face a jury trial, because he doesn’t take killing lightly sure as he doesn’t have a code against it. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/31 "2010-08-01T02:08:12Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Batman actually killed a _few_ people in the first two Batman movies (the Burton-helmed ones). A few? In the first movie, he blows up a factory filled with Joker henchmen. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/32 "2010-08-01T02:17:35Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > > [@Ranchoth](#): > > > > Batman actually killed a _few_ people in the first two Batman movies (the Burton-helmed ones). > > A few? In the first movie, he blows up a factory filled with Joker henchmen. I began to write that it’s left ambiguous enough so that we don’t know they were killed, but on balance I just don’t believe it. We see the remote-controlled-or-robot Batmobile go deep into the plant and drop the bomb, and we see it emerge WITHOUT henchmen around it before the whole thing blows to hell, as I recall it. It’s believable that it sped out of the plant faster than the henchmen could run, and not believable that most (if any) of them escaped. And he unequivocably kills at least one of the henchmen the belltower, as well as the Joker himself. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/33 "2010-08-01T05:22:53Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > And I say again, the Punisher is nothing but a [Mack Bolan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_Bolan) wannabe. Or even [Power Man and Iron Fist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Fist_%28comics%29)… Luke Cage… which I think is still the nominal nominary for Mortal Combat’s Johnny Cage. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/34 "2010-08-01T05:36:37Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Does Deadpool count as a hero? 'Cuz if so he has killed one or two people. Hell, one time he killed the same two people dozens of times in one sitting! ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/35 "2010-08-01T06:26:39Z")
The early comics Batman killed people. Some with a machine gun and some by hanging. The Authority kills people like it’s going out of style Miracle Man killed Dr. Gargunza. Hyperion in the “Supreme Power” series kills lots of enemy solders. The other “heros” in the Squadron Supremen also kill people. Black Adam, even when working with heros against cosmic menaces, kills people like files. The “Secret Six” which are DC heros or villains depending on context kill tons of people. “Invincible” kills people if he has to. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/36 "2010-08-01T06:45:25Z")
Heck, Superman killed a guy way back when, like in Superman #1. Picked him up and hurled him like a javelin to certain doom. More recently, and in current canon (or at least where it was in October of 1989) he killed three other-dimensional versions of General Zod, Faora Hu-El and Quex-Ul, but this set off on a spiral of guilt and depression and regret and such (_Superman_ Volume 2, #22). ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/37 "2010-08-01T08:23:08Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > Would Judge Dredd count as a superhero? The comic strip is a satire. At least it used to be. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/38 "2010-08-01T14:14:23Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Heck, Superman killed a guy way back when, like in Superman #1. Picked him up and hurled him like a javelin to certain doom. > > More recently, and in current canon (or at least where it was in October of 1989) he killed three other-dimensional versions of General Zod, Faora Hu-El and Quex-Ul, but this set off on a spiral of guilt and depression and regret and such (_Superman_ Volume 2, #22). I seriously doubt the Phantom Zone villains execution is still in continuity. Editorial was never comfortable with Kal killing people, and the various Supergirl, Legion of Super-Heroes, and Kandor revamps have pretty much washed it away. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/39 "2010-08-01T14:23:32Z")
_The Shadow_ has had numerous comics series in the 70s and 80s, and a 90s movie starring Alec Baldwin. He kills plenty. Most of the Brit Pack writers (I include Garth Ennis, even though he’s Irish) rack up a big body count in their comics: _Punisher, Fury, The Boys, Marshal Law, Astonishing X-Men, Doom Patrol_… These guys keep reminding us how much they hate superheroes, but seem to keep writing them. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669/40 "2010-08-01T17:16:37Z")
Starman Jack Knight killed Kyle, son of the Mist, in his debut battle, and killed a number of aliens, including the former Green Lantern Medphyl, in a fight on “Throneworld” (the home planet of another Starman, Prince Gavyn). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superheroes-who-kill-their-opponents/548669.md?page=3)