Would it matter if it turned out Bruce had killed?

[Mutate]

What if they told us that Bruce had shot and killed someone during his 6 week stint in the FBI. Would that be bad? or not count because it was before he was Batman?

[David Walton]

Even as Batman, hasn't Bruce thought he's 'killed' several villains in the context of self-defense?

How many times has the Joker ended up falling down a smokestack or off a cliff?

[Lorendiac]

What if they told us that Bruce had shot and killed someone during his 6 week stint in the FBI. Would that be bad? or not count because it was before he was Batman?

About that FBI point -- I was buying the Bat-titles before, during, and after "Zero Hour" in 1994, so I remember being very, very surprised when the idea was retconned in, via something like one little panel in a flashback sequence in one of his "Zero issues," that he had briefly tried being an FBI agent but found it unsatisfying.

My question is: Has that idea ever been referred to again, in any story since 1994? Or is it possible that it's just quietly faded away into limbo?

Offhand I don't remember seeing it, but the last few years I usually "wait for the trade" where Batman's story arcs are concerned, so I'm probably lagging behind other people if it's been mentioned in the last year or two.

[The Batman]

It would depend entirely on the circumstances and how Bruce reacted to it really. I mean, if it was a last resort, self defense kind of thing or if, in killing in the line of duty, he discovered that it wasn't something he could do and would need to find another way to combat evil, then it's a whole lot different than if he just charged in Judge Dredd style shooting first and asking questions later.

[swedishmeatballs]

Um, would killing animals count?

I got that impression while reading Secrets by Sam Keith last year.

[DaeJi]

In a word, no. Heck, when Batman first came out he was killing guys left and right, and even used a gun!

[trickster]

If anything it's weird he doesn't kill now. I assume he's become Batman precisely because he knows criminals hide behind lawyers and due process and what not. That is exactly why the cops tolerate him, he can do what they can't. Use violence, threaten, force criminals to confess.

[Choppa]

Without any clearly defined mission in place it's hard to really say. We only have bits and pieces of his training and formation into Batman and even those get changed from time to time.

Look at Murderer? for instance. In that we learn that Bruce actually had a trauma about guns that he never overcame. Well we don't really know anything about that before that story so does that mean that in the past he had used guns or didnt?

[GozertheGozarian]

If anything it's weird he doesn't kill now. I assume he's become Batman precisely because he knows criminals hide behind lawyers and due process and what not. That is exactly why the cops tolerate him, he can do what they can't. Use violence, threaten, force criminals to confess.
Of course, any confession Bruce got would be thrown out for being coerced.

[Sean Whitmore]

My question is: Has that idea ever been referred to again, in any story since 1994? Or is it possible that it's just quietly faded away into limbo?

Nope, not once.

And seeing as how there's been a time or two since then when it would have been really relevant, I think we can safely assume that bit of Bat-lore is in limbo.


SEAN

[Karl J Barnes]

Nope, not once.

And seeing as how there's been a time or two since then when it would have been really relevant, I think we can safely assume that bit of Bat-lore is in limbo.


SEAN

Or just forgotten.

Still,if Batman killed someone during a fight or something,it wouldn't make me think less of him. You know, like hitting someone too hard and the perp dies from complications.

[Sean Whitmore]

Still,if Batman killed someone during a fight or something,it wouldn't make me think less of him. You know, like hitting someone too hard and the perp dies from complications.

There is a precedent for it still on the books. Cosmic Odyssey (at least parts of which are undeniably canon) showed Batman picking up a blaster and killing an Apokoliptan soldier/grunt.


SEAN