Why Batman Doesn’t Kill

For a generation of kids growing up in the 1990s, voice actor Kevin Conroy was the definitive Batman. Conroy has voiced the Dark Knight in pretty much every cartoon featuring the character since 1992, with only a few exceptions. He was even the voice of Batman in the critically acclaimed Arkham Asylum games. Conroy’s performance on Batman: The Animated Series is so iconic that you’d recognize it anywhere as the voice of the Dark Knight.

Imagine our elation when we caught up with Mr. Conroy for a chat about Batman: The Animated Series at New York Comic Con. We spoke to Conroy about several aspects of the show, including whether the actor thinks Batman would ever kill. As you probably know, killing a bad guy is the one line the hero won’t cross. Breaking some bones? Sure. Scaring them into submission? All in a night’s work. But when it comes down to it, Batman won’t pull the trigger (despite all of the times he’s carried a gun in the comics, especially in the early days).

When it comes down to it, Conroy, a guy who knows Batman better than most, doesn’t think will ever kill. 

“I personally don’t think Batman kills and I love that about him,” says Conroy. 

The actor points out a pretty practical reason why Batman shouldn’t kill and how it benefits DC and the many creators who work on the character.

“That was something they established early on and it ended up benefiting them so enormously because years later they realized, ‘Wait a minute, we have this rogues gallery of crazy villains and they’re all in Arkham Asylum. Let’s get em! Let’s get them out of there and let’s open it up.’ And then you had the whole Arkham series of games that they were able to do out of that.”

Conroy, who is a big fan of the Arkham Asylum games, which feature Batman facing off against the Joker and many of his other infamous villains, is relieved that the Dark Knight didn’t kill any of the bad guys before they could appear in the series. 

“If he’d killed any of those people, they wouldn’t have been available, you know what I mean? I love the fact that he doesn’t kill.”

We all know that no comic book character stays dead for long, but Conroy does raise a good point. Den of Geek will bring you more from our conversation with Kevin Conroy in the next few days!