Top 10 Times Superheroes Broke Their Own Rules
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VOICE OVER: Adrian Sousa
WRITTEN BY: Owen Maxwell
Not every hero treats their powers with great responsibility. For this list we'll be looking at some of the times when Superheroes decided to break their own rules such as Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman. Do you have a favorite moment? Let us know in the comments below!
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Top 10 Superheroes Who Broke Their Own Rules
Not every hero treats their powers with great responsibility. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Superheroes Who Broke Their Own Rules.
For this list, we're looking at moments from the comics where heroes avoided the high road and went against their moral code. This is all about big moral dilemmas so we're excluding moments where caped vigilantes were mind-controlled or otherwise under an influence, but we will include alternate timelines. Please note, these picks contain some important events so a spoiler alert is in order.
In the 2016 event “Civil War II”, Ulysses' powerful visions set the heroes on a pre-crime crusade in the vein “Minority Report”, and Hawkeye’s hand is forced for what he believes to be the greater good. When Ulysses sees a vision of the Hulk killing the Avengers, Carol Danvers preemptively takes Bruce Banner into custody. When Banner starts getting agitated in front of Iron Man and Captain Marvel, an arrow flows right through Bruce's head. Though the shot seemed rather callous of Hawkeye, we learn that Bruce had previously asked and armed Clint Barton to be his executioner should Hulk take over again. Considering how much Banner trusted Clint, this moment is all the more tragic and complex.
In the 1980s, this android Avenger went through a bit of a rough patch. After being deactivated” Vision eventually returned with a new personality. Unfortunately, this version lacked the emotions that gave the character his humanity, Vision builds a supercomputer to take control of the world's electronics and defense satellites. He eventually returns to normal but is later destroyed by the US government. Hank Pym manages to put him back together… and yet again, an emotionless Vision betrays the team. Decades later, Vision would again turn on his allies when they tried to get between him and his troubled family. The character has certainly crossed personal lines, but by hurting humans he also broke the first law of robotics.
In this 2005 story arc, Maxwell Lord takes control of Superman, who quickly incapacitates everyone in the Justice League... except for Wonder Woman. Diana Prince finds herself pushed to the limits by Superman, but manages to distract him long enough to face Lord. Wonder Woman traps Lord with her lasso of truth, in a last ditch effort to find out how to free Clark. Maxwell insists that Diana will have to kill Lord himself to save Superman. Desperate, Wonder Woman viciously snaps Maxwell's neck. It’s an action that readers never forgot and has been the subject of fan debate ever since.
In the 2005 event “House of M”, Scarlet Witch's mind falls apart over her lost children, and with her formidable abilities, she creates an alternate reality where mutants dominate humanity. Countless lives disappear in House Of M's reality, and others cease to exist when it's reversed. In the end, Scarlet Witch utters “no more mutants” restoring reality to the way it was with one major difference: almost all of mutant-kind lost their abilities, reducing the mutant population to mere hundreds. Along with all the deaths that occur in House of M, many characters were emotionally traumatized in the aftermath. With great power comes great responsibility, and when Wanda lost control, all of reality paid the price.
In the 1993 storyline “Fatal Attractions”, Magneto damages electrical equipment around the world in a devastating display of power. When the X-Men try to stop him, the Master of Magnetism responds by savagely ripping the Adamantium from Wolverine's bones. In a fit of concern and anger, Charles Xavier completely wipes the villain's mind. Magneto is left in a coma and spends some time in a vegetative state. Professor X is undoubtedly a powerful telepath, and usually has good intentions, but Xavier went so far with his abilities that killing Magneto may have actually been the more merciful option in this case.
After getting his mind back from the clutches of Ultron, Hank Pym, now working under the alias Yellowjacket, becomes a mentally unstable hero. When he returns to the Avengers, Hank Pym ends up attacking an already-docile villain. Yellowjacket is suspended from the Avengers, and soon exhibits signs of a full-blown nervous breakdown. Pym decides to build a robot, Salvation 1, to play a villain that only he can defeat. The Wasp finds out and begs Hank to come to his senses again. Pym strikes his own wife in response and loses his marriage in the fallout. By refusing to take control of his emotions, Yellowjacket became the villain of his own story.
In an effort to save his own mother's life, Barry Allen harnesses the Speed Force and travels back in time to prevent her murder, creating a new timeline in the process. This altered world doesn't have a Justice League, leaving its heroes scattered and at odds with each other. In fact, Aquaman is leading the Atlanteans in a war against Wonder Woman's Amazons, leading to the deaths of countless innocent people across Europe and threatening to engulf the entire world in bloodshed. Bruce Wayne dies in this universe too, which turns his parents into Batman and the Joker respectively. By selfishly changing history for his own benefit, the Flash inadvertently gets thousands of people killed.
We know what you’re thinking: we said we’d be excluding cases where heroes were “mind-controlled or otherwise under an influence,” and while Scott Summers was certainly under the influence of the Phoenix Force when he killed Professor X during “Avengers vs. X-Men,” he can’t blame the Phoenix for the aftermath. After being imprisoned as a result of his actions in “AVX,” Cyclops is busted out by Magneto and joins his extremist mutant revolution force, fighting against his former teammates, and a version of his past self. As the former leader of the X-Men, working alongside Magneto is a true betrayal of the team’s values.
Though Batman is one of the most famous heroes with a 'no-kill' and “no guns” rule, he has crossed both lines more than once. Batman has a long history of bending his rules, famously trapping KGBeast in a room, leaving the villain to starve to death. The caped crusader once sent the immortal Lord Death Man into space within a satellite - leaving him to a fate worse than death. Seeing as Batman has even used goons as bullet sponges, his sense of morals aren’t as inflexible as many would believe.
In the Injustice continuity, Superman is tricked by the Joker into killing Lois Lane and his own unborn child. In response, he punched a bloody hole right through the clown's chest. Superman also tortured Zod and his cronies I in a pocket universe, before he killed them with Kryptonite. When he fought Brainiac and Imperiex, Clark went over-the-top and threw the pair into The Big Bang. Superman also ripped Mister Mxyzptlk in half when he shot him with a Phantom Zone Projector. Kent even shook his cyborg doppelganger to death. So yeah… there's no telling how far he'll take his powers for the right villain.
Not every hero treats their powers with great responsibility. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Superheroes Who Broke Their Own Rules.
For this list, we're looking at moments from the comics where heroes avoided the high road and went against their moral code. This is all about big moral dilemmas so we're excluding moments where caped vigilantes were mind-controlled or otherwise under an influence, but we will include alternate timelines. Please note, these picks contain some important events so a spoiler alert is in order.
10: Hawkeye
In the 2016 event “Civil War II”, Ulysses' powerful visions set the heroes on a pre-crime crusade in the vein “Minority Report”, and Hawkeye’s hand is forced for what he believes to be the greater good. When Ulysses sees a vision of the Hulk killing the Avengers, Carol Danvers preemptively takes Bruce Banner into custody. When Banner starts getting agitated in front of Iron Man and Captain Marvel, an arrow flows right through Bruce's head. Though the shot seemed rather callous of Hawkeye, we learn that Bruce had previously asked and armed Clint Barton to be his executioner should Hulk take over again. Considering how much Banner trusted Clint, this moment is all the more tragic and complex.
#9: Vision
In the 1980s, this android Avenger went through a bit of a rough patch. After being deactivated” Vision eventually returned with a new personality. Unfortunately, this version lacked the emotions that gave the character his humanity, Vision builds a supercomputer to take control of the world's electronics and defense satellites. He eventually returns to normal but is later destroyed by the US government. Hank Pym manages to put him back together… and yet again, an emotionless Vision betrays the team. Decades later, Vision would again turn on his allies when they tried to get between him and his troubled family. The character has certainly crossed personal lines, but by hurting humans he also broke the first law of robotics.
#8: Wonder Woman
In this 2005 story arc, Maxwell Lord takes control of Superman, who quickly incapacitates everyone in the Justice League... except for Wonder Woman. Diana Prince finds herself pushed to the limits by Superman, but manages to distract him long enough to face Lord. Wonder Woman traps Lord with her lasso of truth, in a last ditch effort to find out how to free Clark. Maxwell insists that Diana will have to kill Lord himself to save Superman. Desperate, Wonder Woman viciously snaps Maxwell's neck. It’s an action that readers never forgot and has been the subject of fan debate ever since.
#7: Scarlet Witch
In the 2005 event “House of M”, Scarlet Witch's mind falls apart over her lost children, and with her formidable abilities, she creates an alternate reality where mutants dominate humanity. Countless lives disappear in House Of M's reality, and others cease to exist when it's reversed. In the end, Scarlet Witch utters “no more mutants” restoring reality to the way it was with one major difference: almost all of mutant-kind lost their abilities, reducing the mutant population to mere hundreds. Along with all the deaths that occur in House of M, many characters were emotionally traumatized in the aftermath. With great power comes great responsibility, and when Wanda lost control, all of reality paid the price.
#6: Professor X
In the 1993 storyline “Fatal Attractions”, Magneto damages electrical equipment around the world in a devastating display of power. When the X-Men try to stop him, the Master of Magnetism responds by savagely ripping the Adamantium from Wolverine's bones. In a fit of concern and anger, Charles Xavier completely wipes the villain's mind. Magneto is left in a coma and spends some time in a vegetative state. Professor X is undoubtedly a powerful telepath, and usually has good intentions, but Xavier went so far with his abilities that killing Magneto may have actually been the more merciful option in this case.
#5: Hank Pym
After getting his mind back from the clutches of Ultron, Hank Pym, now working under the alias Yellowjacket, becomes a mentally unstable hero. When he returns to the Avengers, Hank Pym ends up attacking an already-docile villain. Yellowjacket is suspended from the Avengers, and soon exhibits signs of a full-blown nervous breakdown. Pym decides to build a robot, Salvation 1, to play a villain that only he can defeat. The Wasp finds out and begs Hank to come to his senses again. Pym strikes his own wife in response and loses his marriage in the fallout. By refusing to take control of his emotions, Yellowjacket became the villain of his own story.
#4: The Flash
In an effort to save his own mother's life, Barry Allen harnesses the Speed Force and travels back in time to prevent her murder, creating a new timeline in the process. This altered world doesn't have a Justice League, leaving its heroes scattered and at odds with each other. In fact, Aquaman is leading the Atlanteans in a war against Wonder Woman's Amazons, leading to the deaths of countless innocent people across Europe and threatening to engulf the entire world in bloodshed. Bruce Wayne dies in this universe too, which turns his parents into Batman and the Joker respectively. By selfishly changing history for his own benefit, the Flash inadvertently gets thousands of people killed.
#3: Cyclops
We know what you’re thinking: we said we’d be excluding cases where heroes were “mind-controlled or otherwise under an influence,” and while Scott Summers was certainly under the influence of the Phoenix Force when he killed Professor X during “Avengers vs. X-Men,” he can’t blame the Phoenix for the aftermath. After being imprisoned as a result of his actions in “AVX,” Cyclops is busted out by Magneto and joins his extremist mutant revolution force, fighting against his former teammates, and a version of his past self. As the former leader of the X-Men, working alongside Magneto is a true betrayal of the team’s values.
#2: Batman
Though Batman is one of the most famous heroes with a 'no-kill' and “no guns” rule, he has crossed both lines more than once. Batman has a long history of bending his rules, famously trapping KGBeast in a room, leaving the villain to starve to death. The caped crusader once sent the immortal Lord Death Man into space within a satellite - leaving him to a fate worse than death. Seeing as Batman has even used goons as bullet sponges, his sense of morals aren’t as inflexible as many would believe.
#1: Superman
In the Injustice continuity, Superman is tricked by the Joker into killing Lois Lane and his own unborn child. In response, he punched a bloody hole right through the clown's chest. Superman also tortured Zod and his cronies I in a pocket universe, before he killed them with Kryptonite. When he fought Brainiac and Imperiex, Clark went over-the-top and threw the pair into The Big Bang. Superman also ripped Mister Mxyzptlk in half when he shot him with a Phantom Zone Projector. Kent even shook his cyborg doppelganger to death. So yeah… there's no telling how far he'll take his powers for the right villain.
