2. Batman IS A Killer
When making a point about Batman being an anti hero one cannot ignore that despite his so-called 'code of honour' Bruce Wayne's Dark Knight persona has in fact killed people. Don't believe me? Then Google it. You'll find all manner of bizarre murders committed in the name of justice by DC's favourite hero. Way back in the olden days when Batman was just starting out in comics he committed his very first killing. He passed it off as a mercy killing at the time with blatant nonchalance but to hang a 'mental patient' from a helicopter until he was dead doesn't sound like something a nice guy would do. In Detective Comics issue 35 Batman conveniently kicks an assailant so hard he lands on a sword impaling him causing a slow, agonising death. He didn't die directly by the hands of the bat but it is still his fault. More recently there was the incident in Hush where Batman strangled The Joker and the only reason he didn't end his favourite adversary's life is because Jim Gordon convinced him not to. If all that isn't convincing enough then how about the recent revelation by comics writer Grant Morrison that in the 1986 genre classic The Killing Joke Batman does indeed kill his arch enemy. Talking to Kevin Smith on his podcast Morrison said:
"No one's noticed -- however much, 30 years on, almost -- Batman kills the Joker. That's why it's called The Killing Joke. The Joker tells the 'Killing Joke' at the end, Batman reaches out and breaks his neck, and that's why the laughter stops and the light goes out, 'cause that was the last chance at crossing that bridge. And Alan Moore wrote the ultimate Batman/Joker story. He finished it ... but he did it in such a way that it's ambiguous, so people will never have to be sure, which means it doesn't have to be the last Batman/Joker story. It's brilliant!"
If Batman was the hero we all thought he was he would have brought Joker to justice not ended his life. It's just that simple.