Batman has the known rule that he does not kill criminals. Does this rule apply to extra-terrestrial villains? Is his morality more torn on the subject and he decides each case separately? If so how would he be okay with killing let's say Doomsday (a machine built just for destruction) vs not killing the Joker (an insane clown built for destruction)?
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I'm pretty certain he killed the creature in his crossover with the Alien franchise– Paulie_DCommented Oct 24, 2023 at 9:09
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I don't know if it counts. But in the video game Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe Batman had finishing moves that the player could do to perform a fatality on their opponents. There were alien as well as non-alien characters in the game.– Etack SxchangeCommented Oct 24, 2023 at 11:01
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Doomsday's not a machine! He's a living creature that was transformed into his current state through SCIENCE.– MartianInvaderCommented Oct 24, 2023 at 23:35
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@MartianInvader a machine not in the literal sense– YokedSinger8062Commented Oct 25, 2023 at 21:49
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He shot and "killed" Darkseid in Final Crisis (it lasted for a year, I think?), but his little speech about it was that it was his "once-in-a-lifetime exception" to his rule about firearms, not killing. So, I don't know if that works for this question or not.– samueiCommented Oct 26, 2023 at 15:17
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2 Answers
The answer to this question depends entirely on the continuity and also on the type of aliens, but in the animated movie Justice League: War (2014), Batman and every other members of the Justice League didn't show any remorse at killing the parademons who work for Darkseid, despite all of them having a no-kill rule in the DCAMU.
In the DCAU though, during the Thanagarians attempted invasion on Earth in episode Starcrossed, he mostly used relatively non-lethal methods to fight them, such as electric knuckles or stolen Thanagarian melee weapons (electric hammer, electric morning star) to knock them out since they are stronger than human-beings.
However, when they were fighting inside the batcave, he used a batarang which sent ultrawave signals to attract the bats into attacking the Thanagarians. It is arguable whether or not that merely hurt/distracted them, or if they got infected with exotic diseases that may come with bats bites/scratches.
Also, in the Justice League Unlimited finale episode Destroyer, because Darkseid launched a full scale invasion with his parademons, all the League members had to split out to defend the whole Earth. He didn't hesitate a single second to use explosive batarangs, which could have blown the creatures into pieces.
And at some point, when he used the entirely of his gadgets to fight them, he even resorted to shooting and possibly killing a parademon with his grappling:
Batman's no-kill rule has been disregarded and inconsistent multiple times. In fact, in the original Batman comics in 1939, he killed ruthlessly and even used a gun. Batarangs first appeared in Detective Comics #31 (September 1939), in the story "Batman Versus the Vampire".
"There's an incident [in Batman #1] where a bad guy is escaping and Batman dives on him with an airplane and machine guns him," O'Neil said.
That said, he does seem to apply his moral code to any and all sentient creatures. This would count aliens, Amazonians, humans, etc. He has not killed Doomsday but in "The Doomsday Sanction" - the third episode in the second season of Justice League Unlimited - he does manage to trick Doomsday.
In conclusion, his morality is an over-arching thing. He does not decide each case separately. That said, whoever is writing the comic (or the show) at the current moment is the one who decrees his moral status, his willingness to kill, and his choice of regular weapon.
