History WhatMeasureIsANonHuman / ComicBooks

** Although that backstory has long been retconned out, ''World of Krypton (1987)'' established that this sort of thing was the reason for Krypton's cold and sterile world: at one time, Kryptonians grew clones of themselves to extend their lives and, pretty soon, people started to get uppity about it, going into a major war that would lead to the planet's ultimate destruction.

** In Vol #1 Issue #244 of Superman the Galaxy computer develops self-awareness and creates a child of pure energy. Even as Superman's referring to it as the computer's child he declares that it's too dangerous because of the energy the computer made it from and kills the computer leaving the child to perish from no longer having the computer's support. He's not bothered about it for more than a brief moment.

** In the reviled ''ComicBook/SupermanAtEarthsEnd'', Superman uses "you're just an android, '''''[[MemeticMutation I AM A MAN!!]]'''''" as justification when he ''punches Ben Boxer's guts out''. There are ''many'' things wrong with this, least among them the fact that Ben Boxer is about as close to human as you can be, with emotions, a personality, and ''brothers''. Oh, and ''intestines''. This guy has ''relatives'' and can ''poop'', man, that doesn't sound all that inhuman to me. Superman then condescends to him further, claiming that Ben is "only doing what your creators programmed you to do"... even though Ben actually has free will and makes his own decisions.

** The ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes's [[ThouShaltNotKill official rule against killing]] often excludes [=AIs=]. Among other examples, they originally killed Brainy's malevolent AI creation, Computo, without a qualm, and in the next incarnation tried to do it again, although Superman was the one who struck the death blow that time. Then there was a later arc about an invading machine race which raised the issue of the rights of [=AIs=] in the Legion's society (namely, that they didn't have any); at the end, the Legion's leader pointed out that they'd been killing the machines all through the storyline, and wondered if this was a violation of their code.

--->'''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}:''' I know who I am, and I know what you are-- A '''mockery''' of life. This is not murder. It is the end of a terrible mistake.

* Speaking of Skrulls in ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'' '''every''' hero killed Skrulls by the truckloads without blinking even when there were beaten and on the run, even [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POW POW]]s eating for their lives (ok the only ones that kill those are [[ArmiesAreEvil HAMMER]]) it makes you feel really sorry for the Skrulls (even if these ones were religious fanatics who odds are would have wiped out the human race if it wasn't for their Queen.)
** A particular example of ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} and Mockingskrull stands out among the killed Skrulls. This Skrull is a TomatoInTheMirror who is a perfect copy of Mockingbird (Hawkeye's late wife) in every way, including memories and personality, and very honestly believes it when she professes to be her. At first, Hawkeye believes her, too, since she thinks and acts [[SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay exactly like her]]. But when he finds out that she is NotEvenHuman, he kills her in a fit of rage -- Even though she had done nothing villainous whatever until then, and did not appear about to. In fact, she died confused and pleading with him, [[KillTheCutie never understanding why her Clint would want to murder her]].

** Batman's no killing clause varies depending on the author. He has no problem killing undead in the above-mentioned ''Batman Vs Dracula'', and in ''Batman/Aliens'' he goes ahead and jams a Bat-grenade down a Xenomorph's throat.

* In the ''Batman vs. Film/{{Predator}}'' trilogy, Batman refuses to actually kill the creatures and Alfred, twice, took up hunting rifles against the hunters and refuses to consider Batman's no-kill policy on that matter.

** Xander's treatment of [[spoiler: the fake ghost of Anya after he comes to terms with it not being Anya. He simply elects to ignore her as if she was a figment of his imagination, despite a medium confirming she's a spirit in a previous issue and more importantly, the fact that ''Xander is the only person she can interact with at all.'' Like anyone, this leads to her going mad from the isolation.]]
** Riley gets called out by the Magic Council when he calls himself a representative of "normal people."
---> '''Councilman''': "Normal"? Then what, dare I ask, are the rest of us? '''Your bigotry is intolerable, sir!'''
* ''ComicBook/CloneWarsAdventures:'' Several stories develop the B-1 Battle Droids sympathetically. One of them tries to run away from the war after being damaged, and another is carried around by Aayla Secura on a mission (while getting some good snarky dialogue) for information after she cuts off his arms and legs.

* ComicBook/DeathsHead discusses the rights of sentient robots and heroic ethics with [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] while they are teamed up.
-->'''Death's Head:''' You're not one of those guys who has a code against killing "except for robots"? I hate those Krypto-fascists.

* Heavily analyzed in ''ComicBook/EarthX'', not so much with the mutated population of the world (they're all people), as with X-51 (Aaron Stack the Machine Man), who wants to BecomeARealBoy. At one point, Uatu actually inverts the scale [[spoiler: since he believes the Celestials are so far above ordinary organic life that we might as well be bacteria]], telling X-51 that he is superior to the artificially-created organic being [[BeastMan Woodgod]] ''because'' Woodgod is a biological lifeform--a "beast". Aaron never buys into this argument, though.
** But he ''had'' adopted this viewpoint when he appeared in ''ComicBook/{{Nextwave}}.'' The official explanation is that he suffered an emotional breakdown after getting taken away by the Celestials and then seemingly rejected by them. His depression manifested as general misanthropy ''(literal'' misanthropy: a dislike of humans).
* Examined in ''ComicBook/ElfQuest''. It's an unwritten rule that elves, especially the Wolfriders, Don't Kill Other Elves. When finally one elf has to choose between killing his enemy and losing his son, it's appropriately traumatic for the character when he decides to shoot. However, the Wolfriders consider themselves part of the forest, and as a result, they hunt, kill, eat raw meat, return their dead to the earth, and never interfere when one of their wolves is cast out from the pack (which essentially means a lonely death). The Sunfolk, who live as oasis farmers, take it one step further and lived as vegetarians for close to 10000 years before a lack of rain forced them to take up hunting. One character who particularly fits the trope is the Wolfrider chief Mantricker, who enjoys hunting humans, but would never kill one. In an unfortunate case of a localization entirely missing the point, his name in the Dutch version roughly translates to "Humankiller".
** Concerning the interference with the pack, Cutter, living comfortably with the Sunfolk, is able to take care of his aged wolf companion in a kind of "retirement" after he is cast out.
* In ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'', Frankie Raye agrees to become the new herald of ComicBook/{{Galactus}} partially so that he'll spare the Earth, but also because she really wants to explore the universe. When ComicBook/MisterFantastic points out that as a herald, Frankie will likely have to let Galactus devour an inhabited planet one day, her response is a cold and blunt "So? A few less bug-eyed monsters?" Notably, it's this exact indifference towards alien life that convinces Galactus to select her for the job, as it was the ComicBook/SilverSurfer's sentimentality and unwillingness to let the Earth be consumed that ultimately led him to rebel during ''ComicBook/TheComingOfGalactus''.
* ComicBook/GhostRider, at least in his 90s incarnation, did not kill even the most inhuman of humans, to the point where his apparent destruction of a ninja in one issue was retconned into that single particular ninja actually being a robot. However, he was quite happy to maim and slaughter demons and other AlwaysChaoticEvil beings, in one instance tying the photosensitive pseudo vampire Blackout to the spire of the Empire State Building and letting him die a horrific burning death as the sun came up. Blackout didn't actually die and popped up on the Raft about fifteen years later, but Ghost Rider had no way of knowing that.

* Parademons in ''ComicBook/NewGods'' serve as ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}'s evil minions bred as modified clones from Apokoliptian citizens or recruited among the planet's most sociopathic denizens. Their sentience depends on the writer, as most are unquestionably loyal to Darkseid and do as they told, though there are exceptions like Mike and 3G4 who develop minds of their own. Most of the time, they are mowed down by superheroes without impunity (such as the DCAU, where even ''Superman'' vaporizes them without a second thought). That said, there are times where the opposite happens when in ''ComicBook/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', Superman unleashes his full power to eliminate Parademons all around the world at once and he is chewed out by Batman for taking so many lives, though in turn he gets called out by his own allies for criticizing Superman for doing what needed to be done.

* Depending on the author, Franchise/{{Batman}} varies greatly in this regard. However, he is shown many times to consider all sentient life sacred. An example would be where he believes he accidentally killed Judge Death in the ''Batman''-''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' {{Crossover}}, despite Death being an undead killing machine that just killed three people in front of him.

* In ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'', Frankie Raye agrees to become the new herald of ComicBook/{{Galactus}} partially so that he'll spare the Earth, but also because she really wants to explore the universe. When Comicbook/MisterFantastic points out that as a herald, Frankie will likely have to let Galactus devour an inhabited planet one day, her response is a cold and blunt "So? A few less bug-eyed monsters?" Notably, it's this exact indifference towards alien life that convinces Galactus to select her for the job, as it was the ComicBook/SilverSurfer's sentimentality and unwillingness to let the Earth be consumed that ultimately led him to rebel during ''ComicBook/TheComingOfGalactus''.

* The ComicBook/RedTornado angsts over this constantly, and when the ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' needs a member to sacrifice himself, he's usually at the top of the list. In the 1980s, however, he was retconned to contain an alien EnergyBeing called the Tornado Champion.

* In ''Franchise/TeenTitans'' issue 100, Superboy-Prime attacks Titans Tower in an attempt to kill Superboy (Conner) and brings along a handful of Superboy clones grown from Conner's DNA. Conner brings out his emergency Kryptonite and two Titans without a [[ThouShaltNotKill no killing code]], Ravager and Robin (Damian), kill the clones by stabbing them through the heart with a Kryptonite spike. Once Prime is taken down (and bearing in mind he's the most powerful and evil of any of the villains present by a mile) the same two suggest finishing him off. They're told "that would be murder" and "we're not killers". But killing the clones was apparently okay. And just to make matters worse, ''Conner is himself a clone'' whose [[ComicBook/Superboy1994 own series]] went to great lengths to show that he considers clones to be people who deserve another chance just like anyone else regardless of what horrible acts they've committed. He even mentions that he started off as a "blank slate" like the other Superboy clones.

** There was also a teenage version of Vision called Jonas who was a member of the ''Comicbook/YoungAvengers''. After Stature's death during the finale of ''Comicbook/AvengersTheChildrensCrusade'', Jonas was destroyed by an enraged Iron Lad, who argued "You can't kill something that was never ''alive'' to begin with." Even though the other Young Avengers clearly disagreed with this assessment, they later decided that it was better to leave him deactivated, reasoning that the futuristic technology that comprised his body was too advanced for them to fix and [[TogetherInDeath he wouldn't want to live without Stature anyway]]. However, while Stature has since been resurrected, there's zero indication the kids have tried to repair Jonas or even asked someone like Tony Stark or Reed Richards to make an effort, despite there no longer being any reason to leave him offline. Though at least the adult Avengers thought Jonas was human enough to warrant a memorial statue at the mansion.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':

** This double standard was lampshaded when Franchise/WonderWoman killed Maxwell Lord. As stated by Julian, a Checkmate spy who was working undercover in Diana's embassy, people were fine with Diana decapitating Medusa on live television because she had snakes for hair but Max "looked like everyone else", so Diana actually had to ''prove'' she was justified in killing him. Indeed, Diana had killed numerous people before in front of witnesses, with Superman and Batman being among such witnesses, with no complaint.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', during the ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' {{Crossover}}, the [[CapeBusters Cape Killer unit]] is shown to actively rate an enemy's worth based on [[SlaveToPR how much the news-viewing public might object]]. Minors are treated with non-lethal force, adult humans with moderate force, and with artificial beings like [[spoiler:Victor]], it is permissible to use full lethal force. Aliens have no legal standing in the US and do not generate any sympathy from news-viewing audiences, so it is considered the same as hunting an animal.

* Briefly discussed in the ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' story, "The Eagle and the Mountain". When Samaritan is disturbed at Infidel's use of female homunculi (non-sapient mindless apparitions) for his servants, Infidel asks him if he would've been disturbed if they were robots instead.

** ComicBook/JubileeMarvelComics was a particularly extreme example. Normally she's so firmly opposed to killing that she once abandoned an escape attempt -- effectively giving herself up for another round of torture -- in order to perform CPR on a random mook she had injured. Then during Marvel's ComicBook/SecretInvasion crossover, she was killing Skrulls without even blinking.

* Franchise/{{Superman}}:

* Comicbook/TheVision:

-->'''Spider-Man:''' If I was dating a robot, you'd all talk about me behind ''my'' back.

-->'''Mr. Fantastic''': "Dust to dust" doesn't apply to him, old friend. He was born in a lab, so this is a more fitting final resting place.

* It's long been assumed that ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} doesn't eat fish or would be offended by others eating fish. As of the DC ''ComicBook/New52'' relaunch, Aquaman shocks a restaurant full of patrons by ordering fish. As a telepath, he knows the fish he's ordering have very low order intelligence.
** While he doesn't get bent about people eating fish, he however doesn't tolerate the rampant killing of sea life.
** This quote also sums up his feelings about taking a life.
--->'''Aquaman:''' Do not assume I'm governed by some code against killing or fear of legal consequences. No one will ever find your body.

** ''ComicBook/SuperboyNew52'': Only "Red" thinks of ComicBook/{{Superboy}} Kon-El (who is half-alien ''and'' a clone) as a human. (Although Rose may have a soft spot for him, too.)

* Heavily analyzed in ''ComicBook/EarthX'', not so much with the mutated population of the world (they're all people), as with X-51 (Aaron Stack the Machine Man), who suffers from PinocchioSyndrome. At one point, Uatu actually inverts the scale [[spoiler: since he believes the Celestials are so far above ordinary organic life that we might as well be bacteria]], telling X-51 that he is superior to the artificially-created organic being [[BeastMan Woodgod]] ''because'' Woodgod is a biological lifeform--a "beast". Aaron never buys into this argument, though.

** Note that the Vision's was create from the body of the Golden Age Human Torch, who himself experienced instances of this trope. In the ''Fantastic Four'' annual where the original Torch was killed by the Mad Thinker, the team left his body on a table in an abandoned lab, despite the Thing arguing that, as a legendary superhero, he deserved a proper burial.