!!''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse''
* In the ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock''/''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' {{crossover}} episode "[[Recap/StaticShockS3E12ToysInTheHood Toys in the Hood]]", despite Superman helping Toyman's robot girlfriend hide from Toyman, after her self-destruct sequence is initiated by Toyman (after she betrays both Superman and him), Superman shows ''no concern whatsoever'' about her death. This is jarring, considering how far Superman will go to save even Lex Luthor. He'll grieve if he thinks Lex is dying, is a very strict vegetarian in several incarnations, and indeed was hesitant to kill ''Xenomorphs'' in a crossover with ''Film/{{Aliens}}''! He's frequently had a double standard with regard to non-biological life, though. See his lack of concern for the Bizarros.
** This is also pretty bad compared to the Superman episode where the robot girlfriend is introduced. The Toyman doesn't want to take over the world or destroy Metropolis; he just wants to get his property and get out. However Superman treats her like a human being, going to the Toyman's lair to rescue her. By the time he catches up to her and teams up with Static though, she's just a robot.
* On the other hand, the DCAU Superman presents every once in a while that he has no problem being a {{Jerkass}} when he feels he needs to be. Like the Parasite episodes...He doesn't get any in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', but he makes up for it in ''Unlimited''.
* It's not that he doesn't care about Bizarro. Bizarro's too misguided to cause anything but harm on his own and is easily manipulated, so it's best to keep him away from Earth. And Bizarro was shown to be perfectly happy on his planet. He had a carefully built (for him, anyways) rock Metropolis filled with rock people he interacted with, and when he wanted to be a hero, he rolled a boulder at them so he could stop it. And after a hard day of protecting the rock people of Rocktropolis, he went to his "Cave of Alone-ness" to watch his rock TV with rock Lois on his rock couch. Oh, and play with his vicious alien creature... er, "cute doggy" Krypto.
* Uncomfortably used in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', in which half of the League itself isn't human and, thus, probably ought to have given this issue more thought. Robots and AlwaysChaoticEvil gooey white aliens are destroyed without anyone blinking, no matter what they look like, and the latter can be painfully [[GlamourFailure fried out of a human form]]. Giant monsters and [[EldritchAbomination things with too many tentacles]] get slaughtered easily. The Parademons in the GrandFinale receive DemonicInvaders status honorary of their name and are mercilessly mown down in large numbers. However, directly killing any normal humans, human-like aliens, or alternate dimension duplicates is unacceptable, no matter how insane, murderous, violent, or dangerous the individual has demonstrated themselves to be. Violating Lex Luthor's JokerImmunity quickly sends an AlternateUniverse Superman JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope, making him a KnightTemplar with the goal of stopping crime [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans no matter the means]].
** Said White Aliens are the reason there is only [[LastOfHisKind one]] Green Martian left.
** This is mentioned somewhat in one episode in which Martian Manhunter admonishes Wonder Woman for being too aggressive lately. He brings up an incident against alien invaders, and Wonder Woman angrily replies that they weren't innocent -- [[ToServeMan they thought that humans were food]].
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'':
** In "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE8GrowingPains Growing Pains]]", Robin befriends a lost, amnesiac little girl who he names "Annie". The child turns out to be a portion of Clayface that has gained sentience and an identity of its own, and in the end is re-absorbed into the main body of the villain, effectively "killing" the girl as a separate person. Robin reacts as if she were always a separate being:
--->'''Police Officer:''' We'll book him on the robberies and B & E, right? Anything else?\\
'''Robin:''' Yeah -- murder.
** Clayface himself ends up on the receiving end in the ''Justice League'' episode "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS2E17And18SecretSociety Secret Society]]". While all the other villains are subdued non-lethally as usual, Flash and Hawkgirl cheerfully stuff him in a fireworks cannon and blow him to bits. The scene is treated like a joke, but this was [[KilledOffForReal his last DCAU appearance]].
** In "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE22Chemistry Chemistry]]", Bruce Wayne is briefly engaged to a woman who turns out to be [[spoiler:a plant clone created by Poison Ivy]] who he has a very emotional romance with. Bruce and many other wealthy people had been subdued by their new wedding partners through the effect of [[LoveIsInTheAir pheromones]] and the like. However, once it was revealed that these people -- who behaved like thinking, feeling, speaking creatures -- were not ''human'', Batman and Robin ''killed them all'', Robin at one point melting one with a gleeful smile on his face. Sure, they were evil, but if they'd been human con artists, the story would not have ended that way.
** In "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE62HisSiliconSoul His Silicon Soul]]", Batman encounters his robot double created by [[AIIsACrapshoot a supercomputer that decided to replace all people with machines]] to its ends but he turned out to be a copy so perfect that he even has his ThouShaltNotKill rule. Batman is able to deduce this and when cyber-Bats thinks that he has killed him, the shock causes the android [[HeelFaceTurn to turn against his master]] (Batman's plan) and destroy it at the cost of his own "life". Afterward, Batman commented that robot's sacrifice means he could actually have had a soul:
--->'''Alfred:''' It would appear, sir, that it would prefer to sacrifice itself rather than allow innocent lives to come to harm. Somewhat like you.\\
'''Batman:''' It seems it was more than wires and microchips after all. Could it be it had a soul, Alfred? A [[TitleDrop soul of silicon]], but a soul nonetheless?
*** Confusingly, the other robot duplicates and the computer creating them appeared to have exactly the same capacity for sapience, but [[UnfortunateImplications apparently you only count as having a soul if you're good]].
** In a few episode commentaries (e.g., "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE39HeartOfSteelPart2 Heart of Steel, Part 2]]" and "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE64ReadMyLips Read My Lips]]"), [[WordOfGod the creators]] note that the network would let them get away with a lot more graphic violence if the target was nonhuman (e.g., the robots in the former or the Scarface dummy in the latter). They gladly took advantage of the opportunity.
* In the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aptly named]] ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS2E13TerrysFriendDatesARobot Terry's Friend Dates a Robot]]", a high schooler orders a sentient robotic girlfriend from a roboticist. He specifies that he wants her to love him unconditionally and be 100% (i.e., fanatically) devoted to him. He enjoys the popularity having an attractive girlfriend brings him and begins hitting on other girls right in front of her. This obviously makes her jealous and she becomes possessive of him to the point of attacking people who either threaten him or her claim on him. When he calls her out on this, she pleads with him saying he is the only reason she lives and that she was only doing ''exactly what he had her programmed to do.'' He proceeds to break up with her anyway, giving an insincere LetsJustBeFriends speech. She is so angry and heartbroken that she is {{driven to suicide}}. The show treats this ending as ''humorous'' and the main characters [[EverybodyLaughsEnding share a laugh]].
* Applied thoughtfully in ''WesternAnimation/TheZetaProject''. The title character, Zeta, is a robot who gains a conscience and decides not to kill anymore. With time, it becomes evident he's his own person, with opinions, thoughts and knowledge he was never meant to have, and he's learning from the world around him much like a child would. The problem is that the agency that created him [[JustAMachine doesn't believe that he's sentient now]]. They think he's been reprogrammed. They treat him like a dangerous weapon. Zeta's friend Ro, however, treats him as a normal human being, since she's realized he's just a sweet, harmless, very, very, ''very'' innocent guy.
* In the initial arc of ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', a bunch of StarfishAliens stumble upon [[AIIsACrapshoot Brainiac]]'s ship, reactivate him and get swiftly slaughtered for their troubles. Only their silhouettes are visible at that, but their [[AlienBlood bodily fluids]] are spattered all over a wall. Nothing even remotely as graphic ever befalls humans. Brainiac himself, by the way, is also fair game for Supes to kill. Then again, this is more because destroying his body doesn't ensure that he's truly dead.
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