4 Times Batman Broke His Own Rules, Became a Monster, and Proved He Isn’t Always the Hero Fans Think He Is

Batman is one of the most well-known and popular heroes in all of comics and for good reason. He has a compelling origin, a long, rich history, and over the more than 80 years since his debut in Detective Comics #27 has faced nearly every kind of villain, threat, or challenge you can imagine. He is complex, compelling, and, frankly, very cool. But beyond all of that, another aspect of what makes Batman such an enduring character is his personal code of conduct. The Dark Knight operates by his own strict set of rules and expectations, something that makes his stories all the more interesting.

Yet, while Batman’s rules enhance his stories and give fans a lot to consider, it’s the times that he’s betrayed his own rules that might be most fascinating. Batman is notorious for his “no kill” rule, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t broken it and it also doesn’t mean that there haven’t been grave consequences for that transgression. Sometimes, even the Dark Knight goes beyond his own boundaries and here are four such times that happened, times that saw Gotham’s protector pay the price.

4) Killed the Joker But Was Transformed Into Something Far Worse (The Batman Who Laughs #1)

Batman breaking his “no killing” rule is going to be a bit of a theme with this list, but while it’s happened several times and each time has tragic results, taking our fourth spot is the death of the Joker in The Batman Who Laughs #1. Taking place on Earth-22, Joker has long ago taken control of Gotham City. The Joker still has one major goal, however, and that’s to make Batman snap so he restrains the hero and makes him watch as he murders countless parents in front of their children, a cruel reference to Bruce’s own childhood tragedy. It eventually pushes Batman over the line and he ends up strangling the Joker. However, that’s exactly what the Joker wanted. His death caused a strange toxin to be released that ends up twisting Batman into something horrific: The Batman Who Laughs. It’s a terrifying transformation that turns Batman into not only his worst nightmare but the worst nightmare of everyone else as well making it a pretty high price to pay for breaking the “no kill” rule.

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3) Batman Becomes a Vampire and Entirely Loses His Humanity (Batman & Dracula: Red Rain)

While the rule that Batman breaks here is indeed his “no killing” rule, it’s much larger than that. In Batman & Dracula: Red Rain, in order to fight Dracula, Batman lets himself become a vampire as well. It certainly gives Batman the advantage he needed — the vampirized Batman defeats Dracula but it’s a pyrrhic victory. As a vampire, Batman is soon unable to control his thirst for blood and that in turn transforms him into the exact sort of monster he was fighting in the first place. Batman ends up violating every aspect of his personal code, entirely losing his humanity all because of the choice to fight fire with fire. However, becoming the villain isn’t the highest price he’d pay in all of this. Once Batman does manage to wrest back control of his humanity, he takes his own life to stop the terror, paying the ultimate price for breaking his own rules.

2) Killed Ra’s Al Ghul. Several Times.

Sure, killing Ra’s Al Ghul doesn’t exactly mean the Demon’s Head is dead. Give the man a Lazarus Pit and he’s back, but it’s the resurrections that are a part of why Batman breaking his “no kill” rule ends up being a problem when it comes to Ra’s. Ra’s simply doesn’t stay dead so not only is Batman not really accomplishing anything, but one could also argue that Ra’s just comes back worse every time. Each time Batman kills Ra’s, he’s actively making things worse and contributing to the larger problem is definitely a violation of Batman’s personal code of conduct. And as for the price? Batman has to keep dealing with Ra’s despite breaking his own rule. It feels like an exercise in futility to us.

1) Batman Took Out His Issues on Mr. Freeze (Batman: Cold Days)

While breaking his “no kill” rule is the most common of Batman’s transgressions, there’s actually one slip up that is worse, not because of the actual damage it caused but because of what it meant to him personally.  In Batman: Cold Days from Tom King’s run on the title, Batman is reeling after having been left at the altar by Catwoman. Already in a bad place, mentally, Batman is unable to separate his personal life with his professional life, as it were, and when he finds himself facing Mr. Freeze, giving the villain a severe beatdown. The beating is so bad that Mr. Freeze genuinely thought Batman was going to kill him. Mr. Freeze ends up on trial for a crime and Bruce Wayne ends up on the jury. What makes this the top moment Batman broke his own rules and paid the price is that Bruce is forced to confront the idea that Batman isn’t always right. He has a little bit of a crisis of conscience and has to accept his own mistakes. It’ may not be as high stakes of a cost as some of his other rule-breaking moments, but it is perhaps his most contemplative and most human and sometimes, those are the hardest ones to bear.

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