History ThouShaltNotKill / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'':
** After five or so years of semi-righteous [[TheStraightAndArrowPath murder]] left and right, [[AntiHero Oliver]] [[TheCowl Queen]] attempts to do his vigilante work with [[HeroicVow less collateral damage]] (barring that of [[HeroInsurance property]], of course) after [[HeroicBSOD Tommy's death]]. However, this trope is danced around, as he [[UnstoppableRage instinctively]] [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill puts three arrows]] in [[EvilIsHammy Count Vertigo]] when the latter [[ForTheEvulz grinningly]] [[AndYourLittleDogToo threatens]] [[TheHeart Felicity]]. And all this mere weeks after the vow is made, too. His resolve is nowhere near as strong as that of [[Franchise/{{Superman}} his]] [[Franchise/{{Batman}} counterparts]].
--->'''Oliver:''' ''[on choosing to kill the Count]'' Felicity... he had you and he was gonna hurt you. [[IDidWhatIHadToDo There was no choice to make]].
** Since then, he mostly keeps to the rule, only killing when absolutely necessary. What causes him to actually backslide is [[MyGreatestFailure Laurel's]] [[LivingEmotionalCrutch death]] in Season 4. Not only does he kill her murderer Damien Darkh, he almost discards the rule entirely, only going back to his previous provision of killing when necessary after a talk with Thea and the TraumaCongaLine that is the latter half of Season 5.

* ''Series/Batwoman2019'' largely sticks to this principle until her sister Alice reveals to Kate Kane that the villain she has hostage (who had held Alice prisoner for years) [[spoiler: kept their mother's severed head in his fridge to provide skin to give his own mother a facelift. Then she kills him with her bare hands]]. However she realises the dangers of the dark path after meeting an alternate universe version of her cousin Bruce Wayne who had started killing his villain's gallery and evolved into a psycho vigilante, killing his world's Superman.

* ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'': Daredevil makes it a hard rule not to kill, and is one of the only heroes in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse to do so. (The Hulk is a special case as Bruce Banner tries hard not to kill anyone but ultimately has no control over the Hulk's actions; the MCU version of Spider-Man has yet to be seen using deadly force and his views on the subject are as yet unknown.) This mostly comes from the fact that he's a devout Catholic and knows he's toeing the line of morality already by administering brutal beatings to criminals. This rule is challenged in the second season when he's contrasted with remorseless killers Characters/{{Elektra}} and [[Characters/MarvelComicsThePunisher the Punisher]]; Daredevil's appalled at how they kill their enemies, but at the same time his insistence at keeping everyone alive sometimes puts him and his allies at risk. He also finds his morals tested in regard to Wilson Fisk in both Season 1 and 3, as murder often seems the only way to stop the all-powerful crime boss.

* In ''Series/TheFlash2014'', Leonard Snart/Captain Cold is a petty thief turned supervillain who doesn't kill if he can help it but will if forced to or crossed. This is mostly out of [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatism]] rather than any kind of morality, as he finds the consequences of murder more trouble than they're usually worth. After Flash challenges him to continue his supervillain career without killing anyone, he accepts, seeing it as a true test of his skills.
* Since it is a Batman prequel series, it's no surprise that ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' invokes this. In the final episode of Season 3, Bruce Wayne outright declares it after defeating Jerome Valeska, saying that will keep him from becoming a villain himself. [[JustEatGilligan It's arguable, though, that if Bruce ''had'' decided to kill the villains, he'd spare himself- and the city- the future troubles he'd get into]].

* In the pilot episode of ''Series/{{The Incredible Hulk|1977}}'', 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.)
* ''Series/{{Iron Fist|2017}}'': Claire believes this, though Colleen disagrees, and they argue about it.

* ''Series/Peacemaker2022'': Discussed, and ultimately rejected, by the eponymous AntiHero. When someone asks Peacemaker why he doesn't have a RoguesGallery like the more traditional Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse superheroes he shares a world with, Peacemaker points out he ''kills'' his enemies so they can't commit any more murders. Then he demands to know how many Batman has indirectly killed by putting people in [[CardboardPrison Arkham]] so they can escape and kill again. [[JerkassHasAPoint The other guy has no comeback.]]

* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', Clark Kent refuses to kill enemies, but he does not consider KarmicDeath or accidental death to be murder. The one time he attacked an opponent ([[Characters/SmallvillePhantomZone Titan]]) with the intent to kill, he was haunted after he did the deed. Chloe also stresses this often, sometimes to meteor freaks who aren't bad at heart. [[AntiHero Oliver]] [[IDidWhatIHadToDo on the other hand]]... It leads to clashes between him and both Clark and Chloe. He often tries to get them to do what he does.
-->'''[[TheHeart Chloe]]''': This is ''murder''.\\
'''Oliver''': This is ''justice''.
** Clark also doesn't hesitate to [[spoiler:kill Brainiac]], justifying it with the lame technicality that [[spoiler:Brainiac [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman is a robot]]]].
** In another episode, Chloe admonishes Clark that he should not hesitate to let her die if that's what it takes to save the world.

* ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'': Supergirl follows the same general "Thou Shalt Not Kill" policy as her cousin, which has led to a few baddies escaping. That does not mean she has not had to destroy a few alien baddies from time to time, and she also destroys the Red Tornado in a fit of anger, not realizing that he'd become sentient a few moments before. The rule is decidedly ''not'' followed by her DEO colleagues, including her sister, Alex, who is a trained killer and uses such skills on more than one occasion. The Guardian, although he delivers Daredevil-style beatdowns on bad guys, also adheres to Supergirl's no-killing rule.

* ''Series/{{Wonder Woman|1975}}'': Wonder Woman declares in the pilot, "The New Original Wonder Woman", "Where I'm from we try never to hurt people". Aside from a couple of war-related incidents (destroying a Nazi U-boat and its' crew in her pilot movie) and [[TooPowerfulToLive an encounter with Hitler]] in "Anschluss 77", Wonder Woman's opponents are generally let off very lightly, especially considering [[StrongerThanTheyLook what she is capable of]]. She'd often let the [[{{Mooks}} hired thugs]] simply go since they're no threat.

* Series/{{Daredevil|2015}} makes it a hard rule not to kill, and is one of the only heroes in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse to do so. (The Hulk is a special case as Bruce Banner tries hard not to kill anyone but ultimately has no control over the Hulk's actions; the MCU version of Spider-Man has yet to be seen using deadly force and his views on the subject are as yet unknown.) This mostly comes from the fact that he's a devout Catholic and knows he's toeing the line of morality already by administering brutal beatings to criminals. This rule is challenged in the second season when he's contrasted with remorseless killers [[Characters/DaredevilSupportingCharacters Elektra]] and ComicBook/ThePunisher; Daredevil's appalled at how they kill their enemies, but at the same time his insistence at keeping everyone alive sometimes puts him and his allies at risk. He also finds his morals tested in regard to Wilson Fisk in both Season 1 and 3, as murder often seems the only way to stop the all-powerful crime boss.

* ''Series/{{Tracker}}'' Cole does not kill; he just incapacitates the human long enough to withdraw the life force from the body. Justified, because Cirronians are a peaceful species by nature, and abhor violence (yes, even the criminals-most are in prison for nonviolent crimes).

* ''Series/Batwoman'' largely sticks to this principle until her sister Alice reveals to Kate Kane that the villain she has hostage (who had held Alice prisoner for years) [[spoiler: kept their mother's severed head in his fridge to provide skin to give his own mother a facelift. Then she kills him with her bare hands]]. However she realises the dangers of the dark path after meeting an alternate universe version of her cousin Bruce Wayne who had started killing his villain's gallery and evolved into a psycho vigilante, killing his world's Superman.

** Of course, depending on just how far an enemy pushes him, he might make [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor them]] [[OhCrap genuinely]] [[FateWorseThanDeath wish]] [[BewareTheNiceOnes he]] [[AndIMustScream just]] [[WhoWantsToLiveForever killed]] them.

* ''Series/{{Wonder Woman|1975}}'': Wonder Woman declares in the pilot, "The New Original Wonder Woman", "Where I'm from we try never to hurt people". Aside from a couple of war-related incidents and [[TooPowerfulToLive an encounter with Hitler]] in "Anschluss 77", Wonder Woman's opponents are generally let off very lightly, especially considering [[StrongerThanTheyLook what she is capable of]]. She'd often let the [[{{Mooks}} hired thugs]] simply go since they're no threat.

* Series/{{Daredevil|2015}} makes it a hard rule not to kill, and is one of the only heroes in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse to do so. (The Hulk is a special case as Bruce Banner tries hard not to kill anyone but ultimately has no control over the Hulk's actions; the MCU version of Spider-Man has yet to be seen using deadly force and his views on the subject are as yet unknown.) This mostly comes from the fact that he's a devout Catholic and knows he's toeing the line of morality already by administering brutal beatings to criminals. This rule is challenged in the second season when he's contrasted with remorseless killers [[Characters/DaredevilSupportingCharacters Elektra]] and ComicBook/ThePunisher; Daredevil's appalled at how they kill their enemies, but at the same time his insistence at keeping everyone alive sometimes puts him and his allies at risk.

* The Shaolin philosophy from ''Series/KungFu'' has this as one of its core tenets. "Avoid rather than check. Check rather than hurt. Hurt rather than maim. Maim rather than kill. For all life is precious nor can any be replaced."

* ''Series/Peacemaker2022'': Discussed, and ultimately rejected, by the eponymous AntiHero. When someone asks him why he doesn't have a RoguesGallery like the more traditional Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse superheroes he shares a world with, he points out he ''kills'' his enemies so they can't commit any more murders. Then he demands to know how many Batman has indirectly killed by putting people in [[CardboardPrison Arkham]] so they can escape and kill again. [[JerkassHasAPoint The other guy has no comeback.]]

* Series/{{Daredevil|2015}} makes it a hard rule not to kill, and is one of the only heroes in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse to do so. (The Hulk is a special case as Bruce Banner tries hard not to kill anyone but ultimately has no control over the Hulk's actions; the MCU version of Spider-Man has yet to be seen using deadly force and his views on the subject are as yet unknown.) This mostly comes from the fact that he's a devout Catholic and knows he's toeing the line of morality already by administering brutal beatings to criminals. This rule is challenged in the second season when he's contrasted with remorseless killers [[Characters/DaredevilDaredevilAndSupportingCharacters Elektra]] and ComicBook/ThePunisher; Daredevil's appalled at how they kill their enemies, but at the same time his insistence at keeping everyone alive sometimes puts him and his allies at risk.

** The Union turns out to have this in its Code (which can [[ObstructiveCodeOfConduct can become difficult]]). Some of the younger members dislike it.

** After five or so years of semi-righteous [[TheStraightAndArrowPath murder]] left and right, [[AntiHero Oliver]] [[TheCowl Queen]] attempts to do his vigilante work with [[HeroicVow less collateral damage]] (barring that of [[HeroInsurance property]], of course) after [[HeroicBSOD Tommy's death]]. However, this trope is danced around, as he [[UnstoppableRage instinctively]] [[NoKillLikeOverkill puts three arrows]] in [[EvilIsHammy Count Vertigo]] when the latter [[ForTheEvulz grinningly]] [[AndYourLittleDogToo threatens]] [[TheHeart Felicity]]. And all this mere weeks after the vow is made, too. His resolve is nowhere near as strong as that of [[Franchise/{{Superman}} his]] [[Franchise/{{Batman}} counterparts]].

* ''Series/BuckRogersInThe25thCentury'': Buck gets into a lot of fights but never kills anyone directly. He never shoots anyone to death; this is easy to pull off since the rayguns are usually set on stun. The only time that a villain died due to Buck shooting him was ''Happy Birthday Buck''. However, it was still a stun beam and the villain died due to falling on his hand and turning himself to stone with his own RightHandOfDoom. {{Space Battle}}s are a different story, however. It can be assumed that pilots are killed when their ship is destroyed. But in ''The Plot to Kill a City'', this was shown to not always be the case. Also, ship to ship battle is often considered an impersonal form of killing since the two combatants don't see each other face to face, although in ''Planet of the Slave Girls'', Galen, TheDragon to Jack Palance's villain character clearly did not survive his space duel with Buck. Buck directly arranged for the Vorvon to be destroyed in ''Space Vampire'', but being a vampire, the Vorvon probably does not count.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Slayers are definitely not ''supposed'' to kill humans (even villainous humans). Vampires and other assorted demons are fair game. Although there were a number of {{Karmic Death}}s for the human enemies. There was also that time she had to kill about ten of the [[WellIntentionedExtremist Knights of Byzantium]] to defend herself and her sister, one by ''throwing an axe into his chest at point-blank range''.
** After [[spoiler:Faith accidentally kills a human with a wooden stake while still on a massive adrenaline rush after a fight, seconds after Buffy tries to warn her]] Giles actually tells Buffy that due to the high-stress nature of the Slayer's job, the Watcher's Council expects one or two accidents and has ways of dealing with them. This doesn't stop the angst on the part of the accidental murderer, though. [[spoiler: An episode soon after shows Buffy stopping just short of the killing blow to a vampire after Willow cries out, in exact parallel to the situation with Faith, showing that Faith could have avoided killing the deputy mayor if she had a clearer head.]] Shortly afterwards, [[spoiler: Faith's poisoning of Angel drove Buffy to nearly kill her so that her blood could be used as an antidote. Thankfully, Faith was only put in a coma and Buffy snapped out of killer mode, though actually entering it in the first place haunts her for a good long while.]]
** [[{{Discussed}} Mentioned]] in one episode when Ethan Rayne tells Buffy she can't do anything to him since he's human, only for [[GovernmentConspiracy The Initiative]] to arrest him.

* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': Chuck could never bring himself to kill an enemy no matter how much they deserve it, which is the reason why he {{Doesnt Like Guns}} and would rather use tranqguns instead. The closest he came to actually killing anyone was shooting [[spoiler: Shaw]] and dropping him into the river to save Sarah (though he survived) and grabbing him by the throat in their final confrontation.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'' makes it a hard rule not to kill, and is one of the only heroes in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse to do so. (The Hulk is a special case as Bruce Banner tries hard not to kill anyone but ultimately has no control over the Hulk's actions; the MCU version of Spider-Man has yet to be seen using deadly force and his views on the subject are as yet unknown.) This mostly comes from the fact that he's a devout Catholic and knows he's toeing the line of morality already by administering brutal beatings to criminals. This rule is challenged in the second season when he's contrasted with remorseless killers ComicBook/{{Elektra}} and ComicBook/ThePunisher; Daredevil's appalled at how they kill their enemies, but at the same time his insistence at keeping everyone alive sometimes puts him and his allies at risk.

* Shepherd Derrial Book from ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' follows the Ten Commandments to the letter, including the TropeNamer. However, he rather dryly notes in "War Stories" that the Bible is "somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps." In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', after shooting down [[spoiler:the Alliance gunship that just mortally wounded him and burned his town to the ground]], he comments that it was "not very Christian of me." This is explained somewhat in the comic books: [[spoiler:He spent the GreatOffscreenWar doing black ops, including assassinations, and is now TheAtoner.]]

* Since it is a Batman prequel series, it's no surprise that ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' invokes this. In the final episode of Season 3, Bruce Wayne outright declares it after defeating Jerome Valeska, saying that will keep him from becoming a villain himself. [[HonorBeforeReason It's arguable, though, that if Bruce ''had'' decided to kill the villains, he'd spare himself- and the city- the future troubles he'd get into]].

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': Matt Parkman had ample justification to kill Emil Danko, who is heading a program started by Nathan Petrelli to round up persons with special abilities. First, Danko's operatives [[spoiler: shoot Matt's girlfriend Daphne.]] Then when Danko takes control of the operation [[spoiler: he removes the still-living Daphne from the medical facility. Consequently, Daphne develops sepsis, leading to her death.]] Parkman seeks to get even by taking away the most important person in Danko's life, a call girl named Elena who knows Danko as "Jakob Pradasa". He [[spoiler: telepathically forces Danko to divulge his true identity, to admit what he does (hunting and abducting people), and to confess that he let Daphne die.]] Parkman then [[spoiler:points his gun at Elena, but cannot bring himself to shoot her.]]
* 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.)
* ''Series/IronFist2017'': Claire believes this, though Colleen disagrees, and they argue about it.

* In the 1998 miniseries ''{{Series/Merlin|1998}}'' (the one with Sam Neil), this is the limitation of the magic of TheFairFolk, that it cannot be used to kill, [[AllThereInTheManual according to the novelization]].
* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S2E15Afterlife Aftelife]]", Stiles declines to kill the commandos sent after him even to defend his own life.

** [[TheAtoner Ex-CIA assassin John Reese]] tries to avoid killing people (his fondness for KneeCapping is a RunningGag) though he has done so on occasion, often as a KarmicDeath. When his DistaffCounterpart Sameen Shaw joins Team Machine in Season 3, she visibly chafes at this restriction, feeling no embarrassment whatsoever about being a sociopathic BloodKnight. She does still follow it, though.

* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', Clark Kent refuses to kill enemies, but he does not consider KarmicDeath or accidental death to be murder. The one time he attacked an opponent ([[WorthyOpponent Titan]]) with the intent to kill, he was haunted after he did the deed. Chloe also stresses this often, sometimes to meteor freaks who aren't bad at heart. [[AntiHero Oliver]] [[IDidWhatIHadToDo on the other hand]]... It leads to clashes between him and both Clark and Chloe. He often tries to get them to do what he does.

* ''Series/VanHelsing2016'': After nearly [[HeWhoFightsMonsters succumbing to her bloodlust]] in Season 3, Vanessa takes a vow in Season 4 to no longer kill. [[MartialPacifist Which isn't to say she can't still kick ass, of course.]]
* ''Series/WonderWoman'': Wonder Woman declares in the pilot, "The New Original Wonder Woman", "Where I'm from we try never to hurt people". Aside from a couple of war-related incidents and [[TooPowerfulToLive an encounter with Hitler]] in "Anschluss 77", Wonder Woman's opponents are generally let off very lightly, especially considering [[StrongerThanTheyLook what she is capable of]]. She'd often let the [[{{Mooks}} hired thugs]] simply go since they're no threat.

* ''Series/WonderWoman'': Wonder Woman declares in the pilot, "The New Original Wonder Woman", "Where I'm from we try never to hurt people". Aside from a couple of war-related incidents and [[TooPowerfulToLive an encounter with Hitler]] in "Anschluss 77", Wonder Woman's opponents generally let off very lightly especially considering [[StrongerThanTheyLook what she is capable of]]. She'd often let the [[{{Mooks}} hired thugs]] simply go since they're no threat.

** Reese actually lampshades this in episode [=S1E3=] ''Mission Creep'': though soldiers in general specifically trained to kill in combat, significantly fewer are ''capable'' of killing in cold blood, let alone up-close and personal.