Batman's 9 Most Violent Moments

Time to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight.

Batman has always been a fairly violent character. After all, he's a guy who gets his kicks from dressing like a bat and pummeling the snot out of Gotham's criminal element. Usually, Batman's brand of violence is strictly PG-13. He may be tough, but he doesn't kill or even draw more blood than necessary.

Batman: Arkham Knight Is Rated "M"

But sometimes Batman's world can get pretty dark. We were reminded of that fact today when it was revealed that Arkham Knight will become the first Batman video game to land an M rating. Clearly this new adventure is going to test Bruce Wayne like never before.

Batman: Arkham Knight Shows Bruce Wayne At His Darkest

With that in mind, we're looking back at some of batman's most violent moments from his 75 year history in comics, film, and video games. These were the moments where the action got heavy. In some cases, Batman even broke his all-important rule against killing. Check out our list, and then let us know what your favorite "Violent Batman" moments are in the comments below.

Death by Hanging

As seen in: Batman Vol. 1 #1 (1940)

Batman's vow never to kill his enemies is one of his defining traits as a hero, yet it didn't even exist in his earliest comic book adventures. Batman was a pretty grim fellow in those days. He thought nothing of carrying a pistol into battle and using lethal force against Gotham's thugs. For whatever reason, he had a particular obsession with snapping necks. Whether he punched one criminal down a flight of stairs or delivered a swinging kick to another who stuck his head out a window, Batman's prey usually wound up a lifeless, shattered corpse in the Gotham morgue.

Easily the most unsettling of Batman's victims came when the Caped Crusader clashed with Hugo Strange in the original Batman #1. Strange's serum turned mental patients into enormous "man-monsters" that even a billionaire crimefighter would be hard-pressed to defeat in one-on-one combat. Sop Batman's solution was to shoot a truck of Strange's minions off the road, lower a steel cable nose, and hoist one of these monster men into the sky. The result was a grisly image of Batman flaunting his latest murder victim like a dangling trophy. The remark "He's probably better off this way," didn't really help matters.

Vaporizing Ra's al Ghul

As seen in: Batman Vol. 1 Annual #8 (1982)

Lest you think murder was something only Golden Age Batman partook of, this issue serves as a more recent example of the hero crossing that line. Here, Batman clashed with a new villain called the Messiah of the Crimson Sun. This villain's evil plan was to unleash a doomsday weapon that could harness the sun's rays and turn them into dehydrating death lasers. As Batman eventually discovered, this self-proclaimed messiah was none other than Ra's al Ghul.

The two proceeded to have an epic kung fu battle on the space station. However, when Ra's attempted to flee in an escape pod, Batman used a remote control to reverse the pod's course and send it directly into the path of the weapon's rays. Ra's was obliterated into so much space dust. As you might expect, it was a pretty controversial plot twist,. Even Robin was a bit shocked by his partner's behavior:

Dehydration-based doomsday weapon? Epic kung fu battles? Batman justifying the death of Ra's al Ghul with shaky logic? We have to assume Christopher Nolan and David Goyer were reading this comic when they wrote the screenplay for Batman Begins.

Fighting the Mutant Leader

As seen in: The Dark Knight Returns #2 (1986)

The Dark Knight Returns is a seminal Batman comic predicated on one simple question - "What if Batman got old?". This four-issue series explores what happens when an aging Bruce Wayne is called back into action and confronts new and old enemies in his quest to save Gotham. One of those new enemies was the leader of the Mutant Gang, a hulking powerhouse with all the speed, stamina, and strength of Batman in his prime.
Needless to say, their first fight didn't go so well for the old geezer. Batman was left bruised, broken, and near death, saved only by the intervention of young Carrie Kelly and his own desire not to quit until the crusade was finished. When it came time for their rematch, Batman abandoned the old way of doings things and fought dirty. The two warriors punched and gouged and hammered in a mud pit, until the Mutant Leader was near death himself and Batman stood triumphant.

In many ways, it was The Dark Knight returns that ushered in a darker, more violent Batman that would remain prevalent well into the '90s. This fight in particular has been adapted into animation twice - first as part of the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Legends of the Dark Knight," and again in a much lengthier form in the animated DVD adaptation of The Dark Knight returns.

The Cathedral Fight

As seen in: Batman (1989)

By the late '80s, and certainly in the wake of the Adam West TV series, it was pretty common knowledge that Batman doesn't kill. Apparently director Tim Burton never got that memo. His version of the Dark Knight was all too happy to kill henchmen when they presented enough of a physical challenge. Case in point, this climactic battle between Batman and one of Joker's thugs in Gotham Cathedral.

Batman found this particular thug to be a particularly challenging foe thanks to his size and ferocity (and the fact that Michael Keaton is like four feet tall). After doing their dance for a while, the thug tossed Batman down the clock tower stairwell. But instead of making a black rubber splat several hundred feet below, Bats simply held on, grabbed the thug with his legs, slammed his head into the bell, and let him plummet to his death instead.

As an encore, Batman went and did pretty much the same thing to Joker a few minutes later. This night set a bad precedent for the Caped Crusader.

The Dynamite Punch

As seen in: Batman Returns (1992)

Burton's murder-happy Batman was in top form for his second feature film. Early in this sequel, Batman did battle with the Red Triangle Circus Gang, a group of homicidal clowns working for Penguin. Most of these clowns were nothing a few well-placed punches or remote-controlled Batarangs couldn't solve, but one clown in particular had enough bulk to stand up to the Dark Knight. So, of course, Batman's solution was to jam a time bomb into the guys stomach, kick him down a hole, and saunter away as the poor guy exploded.

At least in the previous movie, Batman took his beating before resorting to tossing Joker's thug down a a clock tower. He didn't even try to take down this henchman by more conventional means.