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| - Thou Shalt Not Kill was the first episode of Spooks's first series which aired for the first time on the 13 May 2002.
- When the first Superheroes were created in The Golden Age of Comic Books, they were essentially vigilantes, taking the law into their own hands. Accordingly, they would sometimes kill criminals, especially the more "skilled human" characters such as Batman. Some early superheroes, like Fletcher Hanks' Stardust, took this to extremes, torturing and killing their opponents in a bizarre new way in every single adventure. See also Kick Them While They Are Down, Actual Pacifist, Reckless Pacifist, Technical Pacifist, Non-Lethal Warfare, Would Not Shoot a Good Guy.
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| abstract
| - When the first Superheroes were created in The Golden Age of Comic Books, they were essentially vigilantes, taking the law into their own hands. Accordingly, they would sometimes kill criminals, especially the more "skilled human" characters such as Batman. Some early superheroes, like Fletcher Hanks' Stardust, took this to extremes, torturing and killing their opponents in a bizarre new way in every single adventure. However, with the formation of the Comics Code, it was no longer allowed to show a character taking the life of another, justified or not. This, along with the younger audience reading comics during The Silver Age of Comic Books, led to not killing becoming an ingrained part of the Superhero code. On one level, this makes sense. The heroes may have been vigilantes, but they left the punishment of the criminal where it belonged, in the courts. People, it seems, felt okay that there were immensely powerful people with secret identities patrolling their streets, as long as they didn't become Judge, Jury, and Executioner. Of course, it gets a bit ridiculous when the hero who refuses to kill is a soldier. Eventually the Code loosened, and it was allowed for villains, at least, to kill people. Comics were getting Darker and Edgier, and antiheroes started showing up who would kill villains. This led to the Nineties Anti-Hero, who would use lethal force at the drop of a hat, sometimes leading to Beware the Superman reactions among Muggles. Nevertheless, in Superhero universes that have been around long enough, there exists a long-entrenched bias against killing. The Huntress was kicked out of the Justice League of America for attempting to kill an enemy; Joker Immunity remains; and those characters who do kill are mistrusted almost universally by their peers. That has led some heroes to practicing Cruel Mercy on on their enemies, often making them wish they'd been killed; or, alternatively, they consign villains to something that has the same general effect as death but technically isn't (eternal cryogenic stasis being popular). That is, when they aren't facing a Self-Disposing Villain to begin with. Note that Ultimate Universes tend to have less of this. In general, non-killing is on the idealistic side of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism, and may even be a Heroic Vow for some characters. There's is also the tongue-in-cheek that, any villain important enough to be killed is even more likely to come back anyway. Opinions differ on how this applies to sentient life other than humans. In general, it's still up to Big Damn Villains to kill other villains. It's perfectly fine to "kill" immortals though as it is to kill the undead. The Mercy Kill sometimes winds up as an exception. Much of the problem here is from a misconception about the King James Bible. In King James' time, "kill" meant "murder", and "slay" meant "kill" -- Thou Shalt Not Kill, but David slew Goliath. This is a result of the English translation of the Hebrew, which uses the same root (r-ts-ch) for all three meanings - various forms of the word result in different interpretations. The KJV translates the base form of the word as "slay," as with David and Goliath; the intensive or emphatic form is used in the commandment, which more closely corresponds to modern English "murder". Thusly, no murdering of people, but killing someone in warfare or for justified reasons - self-defense - was a different issue. There was something similar with faith, hope, and charity. Thou Shalt Not Kill is closely related to Joker Immunity. Whilst many writers believe a never-kill creed makes the hero more likable and righteous, on another level it might simply be a plot device to prevent the hero from killing off popular recurring villains. This trope is more common in serial fiction, such as TV shows and comic books, rather than one-shots like movies. In action movies it is common and acceptable for the hero to kill the villain because there is usually no planned sequel for the villain to appear in. Whatever the moral case is, this trope is often used to show off the heros incredible precision, whether it be with a fist or a gun. This can include things like separating the mook from their weapon with a precisely aimed bullet, or possibly knocking an opponent out. Whatever the case, their non-lethal attacks are due to their incredible skill. Note that this often a case of Reality Is Unrealistic as many of these attacks are very capable of causing serious injury or killing a person. See also Kick Them While They Are Down, Actual Pacifist, Reckless Pacifist, Technical Pacifist, Non-Lethal Warfare, Would Not Shoot a Good Guy. Examples of Thou Shalt Not Kill include:
- Thou Shalt Not Kill was the first episode of Spooks's first series which aired for the first time on the 13 May 2002.
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