10 Shocking Times Comic Book Heroes REFUSED To Help
Not every hero leaps in to save the day in each and every instance they are needed... some refuse.
The nature of superheroes is that because they are strong, they help the weak. Spider-Man knows this all too well, having had to learn it the hard way through his Uncle Ben's loss and his wise words, "With great power comes great responsibility."
It's almost unheard of for a superhero to walk by a couple of muggers and keep on keeping on. The whole point of putting on the spandex is to fight the bad guys and save the world, but that doesn't mean that every superhero has helped in every situation — in some cases, they've flat-out refused to render aid.
Granted, it doesn't happen often, and 99.99 times out of a hundred, they're going to do what's right and help protect folks. It's what they do... but then there's that 0.01 time they don't, and more often than not, they have a good reason for holding back or turning away.
These ten heroes saw something happening or were asked to help, and for a variety of reasons, they said no. They had their reasons, which may have seemed right at the time, despite being totally contrary to their normal roles as heroes.
10. Ghost Rider Left Town When World War Hulk Went On A Rampage
Before Marvel had its first Civil War and after he destroyed Las Vegas, the Illuminati tricked the Hulk and sent him off-world. The idea was to get the unstoppable monster out of the way, but it had some unforeseen effects. Namely, the Hulk became a gladiator, took over a planet, found peace, and lost it all when the ship he was sent away in exploded.
He was madder than he'd ever been in his life, so he made his way back to Earth to seek revenge on the Illuminati, which at the time consisted of several major Marvel superheroes who had formed a secret group behind the rest of the world's back.
When the Hulk began tearing up New York to get to them, Ghost Rider intervened. He had the power and ability to possibly stop the Hulk, but there was a problem. Johnny Blaze felt he needed to stop the Hulk, but Zarathos, the spirit that was the Ghost Rider, refused.
Their internal conflict saw Ghost Rider find and face off against the Hulk, only to walk away in the end. Ghost Rider punishes those who harm the innocent, but the problem was, the Hulk was the victim of the Illuminati and deserved his vengeance. Ghost Rider left town, leaving the Hulk to exact his revenge.