Vigilantes: Heroes or Criminals

Vigilantes: Scum or Cleaning Service

The broad definition of a vigilante is a self appointed doer of justice. What does that mean? It means that a person decides to take justice into their own hands. Some examples of vigilantes include Batman, Punisher, Spiderman, Green Arrow, Superman, Dare Devil, the list goes on.

There are some vigilantes who anyone could argue, take things a bit too far. Some of the best examples of these type of vigilantes would be Batman and the Punisher. I will be talking about those two "heroes" in particular.

Batman:

Batman is one vigilante that people discuss over and over again. His tactics are what put him on the line between criminal and hero. His tactics, in case you are unfamiliar with him, is stealth and breaking bones of the criminals, doing his best not to kill most of them (depends on which version of Batman you are looking at).

He is a violent vigilante who has no problem severely injuring criminals by breaking bones like arms, ribs, the clavicle, and even the skull in some instances.  These actions have branded him a criminal in the eyes of people who disagree with his tactics. For example, in his early years, the Gotham City Police Department wanted his head.

Batman has also been viewed as a criminal by the government of the USA, in both Batman and Superman Enemies of the State and The Dark Knight Rises graphic novel. I personally like him better when viewed as a criminal though, it adds some spice to the character.

Punisher:

Punisher, well the Punisher just takes things to next level. He kills whereas Batman mainly maims and wounds people. The Punisher has crossed the line by actively killing criminals instead of putting them behind bars. I do like the fact that he does clean up the streets with his tactics, but he will kill any criminal even if it is for a minor crime, scary!

Honestly with the way he does things, I think his name should be Executioner instead of Punisher! The Punisher isn't a complete monster though, I remember seeing a clip from the show where he killed two adults and then called child protective services to take care of the kids.  That just tells me he stills has a heart somewhere.

I think the fact that he's an ex-cop, has made him see all the errors of the justice system. I believe that this is why he started going on a criminal killing spree. He has been confronted by numerous other super heroes for the way he handles things and they have never been able to change his mind.

Final Thoughts:

While both of these guys could be consider scum or a cleaning service the final decision comes down to you, the audience. Hi readers! What do you think? Personally, I think that they are both a cleaning service but I can also understand why they could be considered scum.

If you have any thoughts about this topic or would like me to write about a particular super hero topic comment below! Also be sure to follow me on twitter @JoaoMCostaJr1 to stay up on blogs and interact with me daily! Thank you for the read!