#but argue that *anonymous vigilantes* should commit *extrajudicial executions*

[dickheadcanons]

Bats and Killing

Something that I think bat fandom doesn't separate well enough is the difference between someone dying in a fight, and killing someone as a punishment.

When Dick beat the Joker to death in Last Laugh, he wasn't upset because the Joker died while he was trying to save Tim. He was upset with himself because he though Tim was already dead; the violence was pure anger. Pure punishment. He wasn't protecting anyone.

Same with Blockbuster. Blockbuster was making threats, yes, but Dick wasn't pushing someone out of the way of the bullet. Catalina killed Blockbuster executioner style in Nightwing (1996) #93. He's unarmed, laying on the floor, already had the shit beaten out of him....and he dies from a bullet to the back of the head.

On the other hand, the much discussed issue of Nightwing (1996) #146, where Dick lets a man get electrocuted in order to save a baby, doesn't effect him very much. Because they were literally in the air, and he had to hurt that guy so he could pluck an infant out of the air.

Like, people have always died in comic. Heroes watch bad guys die pretty often in the course of an active fight. But they're supposed to be the best of the best; killing someone who is unarmed and not actively threatening anyone is so different.

It's the difference between Bruce leaving Joker to die in the helicopter in Death in the Family because he doesn't have time to save him, and Jason demanding Bruce not lift a finger as the Joker is shot in the head. Regardless of whether you think the character deserves to die, or whether they were right to do it, not acknowledging just how different these things are makes the whole conversation pointless.