History ThouShaltNotKill / MarvelUniverse

* In both the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' and ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' franchise, Peter Parker will always try to reason with his enemies instead of killing them.

** The Hulk does makes exceptions for any thoroughly malevolent EldritchAbomination, OmnicidalManiac, and such, or as a very last option if too many other lives depend on it, but contrary to popular belief (due to that he loves to rumble and smashing inanimate objects), and similarly to Franchise/SpiderMan, the most heroic Hulk incarnations (including Banner, Savage Hulk, the merged version, and likely the Green Scar), are as close as the Franchise/MarvelUniverse gets, or at the very least far more so than the majority of the heroes. He really, ''really'' hates to kill, and has [[FriendTOAllLivingThings repeatedly gone into a panic or been brought to tears at times when he hasn't been able to save bystanders]]. It takes ridiculous extremes to get him to that point. Lampshaded by his son Skaar who considers him extremely "[[ARealManIsAKiller weak]]" in this respect. Of course, [[TokenEvilTeamMate Joe Fixit]] doesn't have that problem, although he seemed to avoid using lethal force during the Dale Keown run/towards the end. The Immortal Hulk likewise doesn't, being more than willing to kill if he feels it deserved.

** Surprisingly, this did ''not'' mark a StartOfDarkness for the title and is probably one of the best examples in comic books of handling the topic in a mature manner, with the writer quite firmly [[AvertedTrope averting]] any instance of [[UsefulNotes/LogicalFallacies Strawman Fallacy]], DebateAndSwitch, and JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope. Furthermore, the team is directly employed by the Canadian government and subject to governmental oversight, thereby preventing any accusations of their actions being a VigilanteExecution.

** However, despite the occasional team up he is frequently at odds with ComicBook/ThePunisher for his blatant disregard of the no-kill rule, to the point where the latter might qualify as a member of Daredevil's RoguesGallery. Though their enmity has softened somewhat ever since Punisher rescued Matt from prison and helped him keep his secret identity, Daredevil was probably the hero most devoted to locking Frank Castle up, even more than ComicBook/SpiderMan who only sporadically puts serious effort into catching him. Murdock was known to organize hero teams for the sole purpose of hunting The Punisher down.

*** The key word here being "blatant." Daredevil has killed when the situation called for it. And when the situation has called for it, he has hated but not regretted doing it. That said, he does not endorse wholesale murder as the answer to his, or anyone else's, problems.

* With the exceptions of truly mindless incarnations of the character, the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk rarely kills anyone intentionally. Most deaths caused by his rampages are accidental and the result of property damage, that -- to be perfectly fair -- could result from most superhero battles (admittedly, the Hulk tends to cause more damage than most superheroes). Even then, deaths are fairly rare. In one issue, where Bruce Banner admits to murdering his abusive father and making it look like an accident while defending himself, he stated that as the Hulk, [[NoEndorHolocaust he had leveled entire cities without killing a single person]]. All of this being said, it isn't clear just how much of this is intentional and how much is coincidental; in some cases the Hulk clearly intends to kill an enemy, with them happening to meet a KarmicDeath during the course of the battle.

** In Avengers #0, Steve sends Deadpool on a mission to get a canister of Terrigen Mists with the specific instruction of not killing anyone. Deadpool being able to do this is what then gets Steve to name him an Avenger.

* In the pilot episode of ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977'', David Banner's research partner assures him that the Hulk will not kill, "because David Banner wouldn't kill." Nevertheless, David spends the series worrying that the Hulk will one day cross the line. (He doesn't, but only because so many of the bad guys are MadeOfIron.)

** This was continued in ''ComicBook/SecretAvengers''. In one instance, Beast was forced to kill a group of terrorists in order to save the populations of two large cities. He was understandably upset by this, and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica comforted him by telling him not to dwell on the few lives he'd taken, but the millions he'd saved. Though this line of thinking may of been a mistake for Cap to impart to Beast, especially as Hank [[TookALevelInJerkass starts]] cruelly invoking TheNeedsOfTheMany hard in ''ComicBook/XForce2019''.

* ComicBook/TheMightyThor plays with this. In most comics as per standards of TheCape and BigGood, he shows mercy to most villains as well as evil gods like his brother ComicBook/{{Loki}} (though he has JokerImmunity). Yet when it comes to monsters and other cosmic threats, Thor is indeed prepared to kill and has one of the biggest bodycounts in the Marvel Universe having killed the likes of Desak, Gorr, FallenHero Sentry, Bor and Galactus. It’s implied spending time with the Avengers on Earth actually made Thor give heed to this trope more as before when he was just a PhysicalGod BarbarianHero he didn’t care at all for the lives of the foes he slew in battle.

** This was continued in ''ComicBook/SecretAvengers''. In one instance, Beast was forced to kill a group of terrorists in order to save the populations of two large cities. He was understandably upset by this, and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica comforted him by telling him not to dwell on the few lives he'd taken, but the millions he'd saved.

* Despite being known for his soldier days; ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' prefers not to kill and would like to avoid it if possible. How far is he willing to go? In one instance, the Red Skull becomes empowered by the Cosmic Cube itself and is slowly getting more and more adept at controlling its power, and Cap ''refuses'' to outright kill him. Remember, this is the ''Red Skull'' - a literal Nazi and Hitler's protege - and he makes it clear that should he receive the full power of the Cube, he will plunge the world into an eternal survival of the fittest contest to cull all of the non-worthy. Cap only does the deed when he's finally convinced there's no other way.

** This is averted when it comes to the ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'', who has no issue killing his enemies.

** This aspect of her characterization was dropped/ignored by Creator/BrianReed, however, who wrote her as a SociopathicSoldier and showed her killing gleefully with a SlasherSmile.

** Nightcrawler, given his religiousness...

* ComicBook/BlackPanther is not averse to killing, though he usually tries to use non-lethal means if at all possible. During his run as the protector of Hell's Kitchen, he notably told a thug that as a warrior first and foremost, he did not share Daredevil's no-kill rule.
** And in the first arc of the third ''ComicBook/NewAvengers'' series, he tells [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] that once their mission is over, he's going to kill him for the innocent Wakandans that were drowned during ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen''.

** Surprisingly, this did ''not'' mark a StartOfDarkness for the title and is probably one of the best examples in comic books of handling the topic in a mature manner, with the writer quite firmly [[AvertedTrope averting]] any instance of StrawmanFallacy, DebateAndSwitch, and JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope. Furthermore, the team is directly employed by the Canadian government and subject to governmental oversight, thereby preventing any accusations of their actions being a VigilanteExecution.

!!Franchise/MarvelUniverse

*** Averted by Bishop, as he has no problems shooting villains dead (much like 616 Bishop when he started out). Wolverine takes this in stride, but Storm is less sanguine about his itchy trigger finger tendencies.

* Despite being known for his soldier days; ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' prefers not to kill and would like to avoid it if possible. In Avengers #0, Steve sends Deadpool on a mission to get a canister of Terrigen Mists with the specific instruction of not killing anyone. Deadpool being able to do this is what then gets Steve to name him an Avenger.

** This is averted when it comes to the Immortal Hulk, who has no issue killing his enemies.

* ComicBook/SpiderMan is also strongly against killing anyone. He's the most pacifistic person of the Marvel Heroes due to his kindness and nobility, valuing every life and taking responsibility for every action. He takes this to a massive extreme after [[spoiler:the Spider-Slayer murders J. Jonah Jameson's wife]] and, haunted by it all, declares no more lives will be lost if he's around.
** In ''ComicBook/SpiderManNoir'', Peter carries a revolver in his masked identity, and uses it to [[spoiler: kill the Vulture when he threatens Aunt May. The fact May is as horrified by him as the Vulture is what convinces him to adopt his mainstream counterpart's morals]].
** In ''[[ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan Superior Spider-Man]]'', Massacre is executed by Spider-Man [[spoiler:(secretly Otto Octavius)]] after going on a bloody killing spree. Wolverine defends Spider-Man's actions by noting that Massacre was a particularly vile and depraved villain, and that most of the Avengers have used deadly force at one point or another.
** This ended up being a problem during ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'' as the Inheritors were dropping Spiders left and right and there was a problem between the Amazing and Superior Spider-Men with the idea of killing. In fact, many Spiders with them, including ComicBook/SpiderManNoir and the ComicBook/ScarletSpider, could and would kill and the Superior Spider-Man was pretty much counting on it.
** By the time of ''ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel'', Spider-Man has abandoned the 'no more lives will be lost when he is around' line of thinking, telling ComicBook/{{Mockingbird}} that it was an "impossible dream" and that he'll just try to save those he can when he can. However he still generally avoids lethal force personally.
** Spider-Man actually did once kill someone by accident (sort of). In 1987, a one-shot issue called ''Spider-Man Versus Wolverine'' had the two teaming up in Europe along with Wolverine's ex-girlfriend Charlie, a secret agent who is being hunted by the KGB. Charlie asks Wolverine to kill her so she can't be captured by their enemies, but Spidey stops him before he can and they end up [[LetsYouAndHimFight duking it out]]. When it's over, Wolverine seemingly sneaks up behind Spider-Man, who is still angry and punches him with spider-strength, thinking he can take it...only to realize it was actually ''Charlie'', having intentionally snuck up on him knowing he would lash out. Charlie dies, effectively committing SuicideByCop, and Spidey is left traumatized. To this day, this remains the only time Spider-Man has ever killed anyone.
* That being said, this line of thinking does definitely ''not'' apply to Symbiotes, since Peter's negative experience with the race has caused him to view them as AlwaysChaoticEvil monsters, often crossing the line into FantasticRacism. On one occasion, Peter even advocated killing off all Symbiotes of an invading force just to save the people of Earth, despite the fact the Symbiotes were used as weapons entirely against their will.

*** Averted by Bishop, as he has no problems shooting villains dead (much like 616 Bishop when he started out). Wolverine takes this in stride, but Storm is less sanguine about his itchy trigger finger tendencies.
* In ''ComicBook/XMen'', the rule against killing is partially due to the usual reasons, and partially due to human/mutant relations. Mutants have a hard enough time ''without'' ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} carving people up on the six o'clock news, so you'd better stifle any DarkerAndEdgier tendencies, ''especially'' while wearing an X. However, it's not as absolute as it is with Batman or Superman, as individual members can fall anywhere from TheCape to NinetiesAntiHero, and most X-teams will defend themselves or others lethally if it's [[IDidWhatIHadToDo the only way]]. A few of their main villains also have JokerImmunity.
** In general, Xavier has a personal no-killing policy, and he does his best to enforce it on teams he leads. But there have been many different leaders of the X-Men over the years, and many teams affiliated with them but not actually accepting Xavier's authority.
** In one issue, Cyclops explicitly refutes this trope with regard to villains over Storm's objections when they're looking for a villain who may have perished in a fight with the team; he states that he doesn't take killing lightly, but at the same time isn't going to waste any tears over someone who poses a clear risk to his team and students and has no compunction about attacking and killing them. Interestingly, during ''Inferno'', their positions were switched when Cyclops called out ''Storm'' for killing the demon N'astyhr.
** ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} is one of the most glaring subversions in comic books as he won't hesitate to cross the line so threats can be put down and he will go so far as to hunt down those who have done horrific things even long after the fact. His own views on the subject lean towards PragmaticHero -- he doesn't want cutting people up to be his first response, but equally he's not going to wait for a clear threat to make the first move. In one comic he tells Kitty he's never killed anyone who hadn't attacked first, or clearly and unequivocally demonstrated their intention to kill him, innocents or people he cared about. Unfortunately, thanks to be a natural [[TheBerserker berserker]], this is occasionally harder for him.
** In the Creator/ChrisClaremont era, ComicBook/{{Storm}} was the only character to have an iron-clad policy of not killing anybody, which caused consternation among her teammates when she abandoned it for a more [[PragmaticHero pragmatic]] attitude to go with her new punk look. After her punk phase and into the present-day, Storm has taken a moderate view; she ''prefers'' not to kill, but if it's the only way to stop a villain, she won't hesitate.
** ComicBook/{{Colossus}}, the most good-hearted of the team, was also very against killing enemies, to the point where the times he ''does'' kill someone either means they've crossed the GodzillaThreshold or someone's gotten the generally sweet-natured guy [[RageBreakingPoint genuinely mad]]. Notably, he killed Moira [=McTaggart's=] psychopathic, god-like son Proteus because there was no other way to stop him and he was the only one who could. And during the ''Mutant Massacre'' story, after the Marauder Riptide talks about [[{{Sadist}} how he enjoyed murdering innocent mutants]] and nearly kills Nightcrawler, Pete [[NoSell walked through his attack]] and broke his neck one-handed.
** ComicBook/{{Cable}} had no qualms about killing and invariably racked up a huge body county every issue. Always without any ramifications. And in his most recent shared series, he came across as the good partner. The other guy was ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}.
** A move towards this has actually become one of the significant driving arcs for ComicBook/{{X 23}}: She was bred and trained from birth to be the perfect assassin, and even after first joining the X-Men she was a ruthless killer who may have been even ''more'' efficient at it than Wolverine, with Matthew Risman telling her she was "bred for murder." However X herself hated what she was, and has increasingly tried to avoid resorting to lethal force. By the time of ''ComicBook/AllNewWolverine'' she has sworn off killing entirely. She does make a very specific exception for [[spoiler: Kimura, the woman who tortured and brainwashed her into a living weapon in the first place. Knowing that Kimura will never change and will always view her as property, Laura proceeds to drown her.]]
** By the time of ''ComicBook/DawnOfX'', they have clear rules over what they can and can't do: mutants killing mutants? Fine. Mutants killing humans? Nope.