Batman does not kill people. Famously cited as his one rule, this self-imposed limitation has been the subject of dozens of Batman stories and endless fan discussions. Every fan and writer has their own justification for it, from respecting life and helping to redeem others to fear that tasting blood will push Batman over the ledge. While some of these interpretations are definitely more in line with Batman’s character than others, the fact is that Batman does not kill. Despite this being such a core part of his and most other superheroes’ ideals, this decision is almost always under scrutiny.
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Nearly all Batman content inevitably attracts arguments over the Dark Knight’s treatment of his villains and their tendency to always escape imprisonment. However, the most common arguments against Batman sparing instead of murdering always come back to a point that reveals that, when most people argue against this, it’s not about Batman killing at all. The most common defense for the idea that Batman should kill is that the Joker always commits bigger crimes. In fact, it’s not uncommon for people to say that Batman should make an exception and just kill the Joker. But that just reveals that the people generally don’t have a problem with Batman, but with the Joker.
A Joke of a Villain
The Joker is Batman’s number one enemy, and it’s easy to see why. He is the opposite of Batman in every way, being bright, bombastic, and laughing his way through crime. He brings out the worst and best parts of Batman in equal measures and pushes the Dark Knight as nobody else can. At his best, the Joker has starred in some of Batman’s most legendary stories, but that is only when the Clown Prince of Crime is at his best. Truth be told, the Joker has had a massive fall from grace in recent years. Over the last decade, the Joker has gone from a terrifying threat to a cringeworthy parody of himself.
Some of the Joker’s best stories are when he’s at his darkest and most foul. The Killing Joke, “Death of the Family,” “Endgame,” and Emperor Joker all feature the mad clown going farther than anyone thought possible and inflicting unimaginable horrors. However, it seems that the wrong lesson was learned from these stories. The Joker being dark does not equate to quality, and yet, practically every story featuring him now has to top the previous ones in scope and bodies put under. “Joker War” and “Joker: Year One” are great examples of everything wrong with the modern Joker.
All the Joker does now is show up and kill as many people as possible without any overarching joke or plan beyond wanting Batman to suffer. He’s lost everything that’s made his character special, becoming nothing more than a one-note embodiment of evil. Even other villains like Lex Luthor don’t want to work with him anymore because he’s that evil. The Joker is pure evil in the most boring way possible, and that is the real problem here.
The Character Killing Joke
The simple fact is that the meta nature of the Joker being Batman’s number one villain has made this problem. He’s popular, so he’s pushed in more and more books, but his best stories always have him top the past with violence and evil, so he shows himself up. The cycle repeats over and over in relatively short periods and has made everyone understandably tired of the Joker. When he appears now, it doesn’t herald a great story that pushes Batman to his limits; it heralds an overwritten, over-hyped story that’s going to last for too long. And in the end, Batman isn’t going to kill him, which, in many people’s eyes, is the only way for this cycle to end.
Batman will never kill the Joker, but because of that, DC is free to continuously bring him back and not justify how he pulled off his crimes at all. It’s caused the Joker to become a walking pile of plot devices, nonsensical abilities, and pointless drama that ultimately just grates on everyone, because instead of spending time developing a good story, modern Joker tales only focus on how impossibly evil the Joker is, which drags everything down. Everyone is tired of this style of Joker story, but instead of blaming the clown or DC’s handling of him, Batman is taking the brunt of it all. The best way to stop the Joker isn’t for Batman to kill him. It’s for DC to give us time away from him and make him an interesting character again.
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