Honestly?

Yes.

While I love watching the real dynamic duo here, honestly speaking there's no value to keeping one psycho alive at the cost of thousands of innocent Gothamites.

He's obviously not curable (and I'm an HQ fan, but still) and he's obviously not above killing others indescriminately himself.

If I have to put it bluntly, I switched from reading Batman to reading Red Hood a long time ago; partly because unlike Batman, Red Hood (the former second boy wonder who Joker literally KILLED) understood the idea that not everyone is redeemable, and that sometimes it's more honorable just to kill the bad guys than continue to allow your mercy to be someone else's repeated trauma.

.............

Now, this is running under the assumption we're talking about the new, dark, gritty Joker & Batman and not the original slapstick 60's ones. If we were going back in time on that then absolutely not, there's no excuse for taking Caesar Romero out, he's legendary.

If Batman kills the Joker, he becomes a killer. A symbol for that which is good and just becomes tarnished with the blood of his victim. Is it worth it? Will he not be changed irrevocably? Crowds and cameras gone, Batman aka Bruce Wayne sits, elbows on knees, head in hands, assaulted by profound anguish, and whispers, what have I done? I have taken a life. Regardless of the evil that is perceived in said man, what right has anyone to take another’s life? Will not his own soul, if such wisps of hope exist, be sullied, poisoned, debased?

Whether one subscribes to them or not, six out of ten of the Ten Commandments seem pretty good advice for community living. One is Thou Shalt not Kill. There are no addenda or clauses - Well, killing is okay in the following instances…. You shall not kill. Period. No exceptions. Alas, though most, if not all, societies have secular laws to punish killing…killing is justified by those same societies over and over again, century after century – when a government declares war against a nation or group recognized as an enemy of the state or church or God…or even as punishment for crimes (not just for killing someone, but also for seemingly minor offenses like stealing grapes). We endow the state and therefore ourselves, with the right to judge, convict and kill. I do not think the latter is ours to bestow.

No, I don’t think Batman should kill the Joker. Dying at the hands of his arch nemesis would not be punishment for the Joker. He would laugh knowing he had twisted another, if only just a tiny bit, into his own image. And then he would be dead.

And Batman would have to live with the blood on his hands.

Perhaps that is why he wears a mask? Not to hide from the world but rather from himself?

Should Batman kill the Joker?

In a word, no.

Batman is supposed to be a symbol of justice, but really, he's just a lonely rich guy in a suit. I feel like all of the Batman movies, him fighting crime, are really just Batman trying to convince himself that he's a good guy. The Joker, as twisted as he is, is the perfect outlet for that. As Batman's arch nemesis, Batman loves to fantasize about killing the Joker, ending his regime of terror.

But he never would. Without Joker, Batman's life has no purpose. The Joker is the mastermind behind most of Gotham city's crime. If he were dead, Gotham city would be a lot safer. And what would Batman do then? He'd sit in his batcave, drinking lots of expensive vodka and drowning himself in his sorrows.

And would Joker kill Batman? Also no. Joker wants nothing more than to turn Gotham city into a stage for a brutal video game. If he were to kill Batman, no one in Gotham city would be able to stand up to him. The game loses its fun, its main objective.

What does this mean? This means that Joker and Batman will forever be at an impasse. Fighting eachother, outwitting eachother, but neither will ever truly beat the other. They will fight until nature runs its course.

Now here's a thought:

What if Batman is really just a lonely, delusional man, and in his pain, he imagined a villain to occupy his time? What if the Joker is really just a facet of Batman's personality, and he is both the hero and the villain?

Definitely not!

The joker has to be the funniest toxic villan who succeeds in getting under batman's skin.

A villan who smiles through it all, both the bad and good? Must be nice.

He is one of the most interesting characters in batman's world. I mean who pulls off green hair, a purple suit and clown makeup and still look pizzazz.

Even good police officers shoot to kill when they/other civilians are in immediate or imminent danger. It's not something taken lightly, but it is a necessary part of the job. Since batman is making war against organized crime. He needs to accept this as a necessary evil. I think that Batman just wants to prove something to himself and others around him.

Besides he's done far worse things to his fellow heroes with far less justification.

When a “Super Hero”

kills

who IS the “villain”?

Villains are lost souls,

their hearts hardened

usually by some loss,

losing control

Maybe an

Act of Kindness

would be best here

FOR

without a “villain”

there is no

“superhero”

Athena Knowz

batman is the joker. he always was. batman’s origin story is tied up with the joker. he was formed as the joker was. they are mutually dependant on each other because they are the same. they are one. I am not talking about some plot twist, some Tyler Dirden thing.

no. batman the superhero as a personification of Bruce Wayne lives to hunt down badguys. they are all evil and twisted and responsible for so much pain. but in batman's mind, they are lesser exsmples of the architype Joker. he can kill the fakers, but he can't bring himself to kill the real guy. he depends on him existentially. without joker, batman will be nothing. he had many opportunities to end the game, but always chose not to go through with it. not because of some high morality or a wish to see justice done, but out of fear. he knows the truth and bitterly gives in to his justifications.

he is just as crazy in many ways.

joker has the same problem. he can kill innocents, police officers, authority figures, even sidekicks. but he knows that the fuel to his rage is his life and what brings him rage is the thought that batman is still around. he self sabotages his own schemes just to leave an out to batman.

imagine if one of them died. how will the other go on?

Should the Batman kill the joker? From a completely practical stand point absolutely. Don’t get the wrong  idea though, Reaper think ’s the jokers a great villain. There’s no one else quite like him. He’s sick, he’s twisted, he can't be bartered, bought, or reasoned with. And he pulls of the most ridiculous look while still maintaining the sinister aura of a dangerous villain, and all without the aid of super powers. But let's be real, the Jokers a mass murder. In real life Joker would have gotten the death penalty if he was actually caught. He has no remorse or mercy towards his victim's. But believe it or not it's not actually by his morality that Reaper condemns him but, the overall responsibility of those involved in detaining him. Reaper explains this concept with two quotes. “With great power comes great responsibility.” Ben Parker.  “Being a hero isn't always a pretty job.” Daisuke. With that said we can review a couple of facts.

1. when joker is locked up in Arkham NOBODY expects him to stay there for long. He goes in and out so frequently you’d think he had a day pass. 2. when Jokers on the loose people die. Good, bad, rich poor, innocent, guilty, young old, man, woman, doesn't matter it's an indiscriminate killing spree.  And yet Batman, the Gotham Police and Arkham continue to let this happen. It's irresponsible. The Joker is too crafty to keep locked up, too dangerous to be free, and too sick to be helped, so for the sake of his thousands, literally thousands of future victims he needs to be put down. Even if there is some super loophole that prevents the Joker from being executed. That’s when the Batman really should be stepping in. Afterall one of the reasons the caped crusader donned the mask is so he can operate outside of the law. It simply doesn't make sense to place your immovable stance on a point that undermines your whole agenda. All that aside always you just toss common sense to the wind and while the world burns and thousands of innocent lay bleeding to death in the streets you can tuck yourself in at night and say “at least I stuck to my guns”.