Poll: If you were a superhero would you kill criminals?

[Silver]

Sgt. They're already villains, and most of them even realise it themselves.


After watching Hancock I realised something. I would be neither vigilane or villain. Sure, I'd do what I could to help if I saw a crime happening, but if the police want more help than that they're going to have to pay me. I'm not a mercenary, in any sense, but I need to eat too, I need a place to sleep. If I'm employed by the police (or some other law enforcement agency) I don't have to worry about being hunted by them either, or keeping my identity too much of a secret.

Still wouldn't kill though. Hurt very badly if they did something too bad, like threatening my friends. But no killing. It's wasteful.

 

[Podunk]

If you're going to play the hero, then you're responsible to do whatever you think will result in the least loss of lives and the greatest well being of all.
It's the kind of thing that can be debated back and forth all day in virtually any situation.
I think the most important thing is for a hero to have a position on it and stick to it. I think the majority of heroes and people in general would want to avoid killing at all if possible, like spider-man.

...But then again, my personal favorite hero is Venom, so this opinion comes from a fan of the guy who eats peoples brains.

 

[SpikeShinobi]

Well i mean, for a start, how could actually bring yourself to take a life, also you really have no right, but i guess in the end there maybe no other choice besides killing, but then you just bring yourself down to the criminals level, so i would say no, but a good near death experience never hurt, well besides the criminal

 

[SpikeShinobi]

For a start, Batman never uses a gun, he hates them, secondly what you are refering to is an elseworld batman, not plan olde earth one batman we all know and love

 

[rossatdi]

For a start, Batman never uses a gun, he hates them, secondly what you are refering to is an elseworld batman, not plan olde earth one batman we all know and love

I thought the plain old Batman was the Earth 2 Batman. Wasn't Earth 1 the Golden Age?

Either or Batman actually started out very briefly as a gun wielding killer but that didn't last very long.

[a href="http://kundor.org/pub/batman-alignment.jpg"]Check this out, made me laugh.[/a]

For me, Batman is perfectly realised in the 90s cartoon show.

 

[MagnetoHydroDynamics]

I would... Like this [http://www.onemanga.com/Code_Breaker/1/01/]

 

[Fraught]

Ofcourse, my good sir. Actually, it'd probably take me a few minutes before I would be able to do it, but murderers definitely deserve it.

 

[DarkLordofDevon]

Yes, I would kill all criminals, but only because its easier and I know they'd never commit crimes again.
Besides, I'd probably be committing a few crimes of my own on the side.
I always go for the villain/anti-villain roles. Either go around robbing banks, or killing anyone who sneezes funny. Either I break the law or enforce it with an iron fist. No one is above the law... except me.

 

[Silver]

Sgt. They're already villains, and most of them even realise it themselves.


After watching Hancock I realised something. I would be neither vigilane or villain. Sure, I'd do what I could to help if I saw a crime happening, but if the police want more help than that they're going to have to pay me. I'm not a mercenary, in any sense, but I need to eat too, I need a place to sleep. If I'm employed by the police (or some other law enforcement agency) I don't have to worry about being hunted by them either, or keeping my identity too much of a secret.

Still wouldn't kill though. Hurt very badly if they did something too bad, like threatening my friends. But no killing. It's wasteful.

Yes I do suppose they would be villains, it would be hard to categorize them as an anti-hero as in real life there isn't such a thing. And there is no point trying to hide what they'd be behind the title of vigilantes because by vigilantes are breaking the law by doing what they do, in a twist of irony making the "heroes" themselves law breakers.

You also have a point about having to eat, and well be able to survive, though unlike you I'd rather do it in more of a mercenary fashion.

I do have one question though, how is killing a murderer wasteful? By taking a human life out side of self defense or war, they have become a waste as well, so wouldn't it be more like taking out the trash by removing them?

What are you talking about categorizing them as anti-heroes? They're villains, pure and simple, either they'd use their powers solely for personal gain, or they'd enfore their own rule over the world. Some of them would even kill for fun. There's nothing anti-hero about that. It's pure villainy.


I'm also curious about how you'd work as a mercenary. Does that mean you'd let anyone hire you? Would you take a job for a military? A private organisation? Would you even go so far as to take a job for a criminal (that may of may not include YOU doing anything illegal)?


A criminal costs society, wether you want to see it as purely monetary (hospital bills for their victims, burial, property damage, etc) or as something more than that (moral decay, lessening the trust in the government, whatever). Just killing a criminal means society as a whole has to pay, instead of the criminal. I don't think a criminal DESERVES to die, before that debt is repayed. I think it is every citizens duty to contribute to the well-being of society, and that's how I'd judge someone a criminal as well. Even if you move within the realms of the law, and exploit people, trick people, or hurt people, you're a criminal. If you break the law by crossing a red light, if you download stuff off the internet, I couldn't care less. If I decided on the vigilante routine (or got employed as an enforcer instead of a police officer by the government) that's what I'd use to judge people. Often the law agrees with me, but in some cases, it doesn't.

 

[NordicNinja]

Still wouldn't kill though. Hurt very badly if they did something too bad, like threatening my friends. But no killing. It's wasteful.

I find that rather admirable, and I do recall hearing something about a correction facility in Scandinavia which has had decent success with the 'treat them like a person' route.

I'm curious, though, about the people who really can't be 'fixed' and remade into productive members of society. Would they then be put out of their misery? Some people are just nuts.

 

[Silver]

Rehabilitation works for some, I'll give you that. Even if rehabilitation doesn't work, it doesn't keep people from working. Until they have repayed their debt to society, they have, in my eyes, given up every right they may have had earlier. When they have repaid their debt to society, an evaluation would have to be done. If they couldn't be taught to respect their fellow humans, and would keep up their crimes after being released, another solution would have to be thought up. Many prisons, especially in America and countries with similar penal systems seem to have their own society anyway. Build a really huge one for the people who can't be fixed, throw them in their for life, throw away the key, and let them govern themselves. If they want to be completely self-sufficient that's fine, if they want to trade food with us, they'll have to find a way to pay us, by producing goods of some kind for us perhaps.

 

[N-Sef]

With Rapists and Murderers I'd probably stump them (removing all limbs) and leave them like that, but still alive. As for actually killing them? I doubt I'd ever go that far, though arguably my other method is more cruel, but it serves them right for perpetuating those heinous crimes.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I already pointed out that were I to become a Super Hero with Superman like abilities...

I would probably do it like Marvel/Miracle Man.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracleman

 

[rossatdi]

I already pointed out that were I to become a Super Hero with Superman like abilities...

I would probably do it like Marvel/Miracle Man.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracleman

*Shudder* There's one creepy looking dude. All you'd have to do is smile at them and a criminal would probably go on the straight and narrow. Gah.

 

[Silver]

You're not reading, are you? In what way would I waste money on rapists or murderers? I believe they should repay their debt to society, that includes any resources spent on keeping them from doing more harm.