Thread:Mesektet/@comment-27729149-20151002041329/@comment-3581997-20151023155329

No, not doing something that can result in someone's death is not a measure of killing against the person, Batman did not kill Chief Gordon by not offing the Joker, Spider-man did not kill his uncle by not stopping a criminal, and you did not kill 1000 orphans because you didn't donate to Feed the Children, that's not how that works. Also keep in mind on the subject of Jason Todd that Bruce Wayne has had numerous opportunities to kill Todd and specifically not done so. So then which is it? Would you hold all the people Todd has murdered against Bruce Wayne but really not hold it against Todd himself?

The way evil works for classification purposes is about intent and result, not perceived responsibility. Freeza is not responsible Vegeta blowing up the planet of Arlia, only Vegeta is, he was not ordered to, he gained nothing from it, he blew it up cause he wanted to. Freeza being his boss or messing him up by raising him in a cruel military system is not the source of that planet blowing up. One villain made a concentrated effort, which paid off, to wipe out a planet of his own free will, we don't go assigning blame to someone who started a ripple effect. No we blame Freeza for his own personal crimes. By that same logic Batman deciding not to kill people doesn't put the crimes of those he spared on his head. That's like saying because Jesus supposedly died for the sake of giving humanity the benefit of the doubt that he is responsible for Adolf Hitler and the millions of other awful human beings he wanted to be given a chance. You can argue that it is simply not functional but there is no evil by zip-code ripple effect. Superman and Batman follow their consciences that is the precise opposite of evil, don't let over-analysis or fondness for a character blind you to those firm lines.