10 Beloved Movie Heroes Who Are Actually Trash

10. Batman - The Dark Knight Trilogy

Batman is without question one of the most iconic superheroes in all of pop-culture, and he was lent an especially evocative treatment as played by Christian Bale in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight saga.

A cornerstone of Batman's mission statement in ridding Gotham of tyranny is his no-kill rule, yet it's one which the Caped Crusader rather recklessly violated in each of the three movies.

Batman Begins saw Bruce Wayne burn down the League of Shadows' temple and quite clearly kill at least a few men in the process, and he "didn't save" Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson) after setting in motion the events of his demise.

Meanwhile in The Dark Knight he killed Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), and in The Dark Knight Rises, he killed Talia al Ghul (Marion Cotillard) in the climactic car chase.

Now, nobody's doubting the moral quandary Batman faced in most of these scenarios - especially killing Two-Face to save Jim Gordon's (Gary Oldman) son - but it's the unbearable, unspoken self-righteousness with which Nolan depicts the character, as though these kills "don't really count."

If anything it just underlines how difficult it would be for a superhero to conduct their business without the occasional act of murder, but given that The Dark Knight in particular highlights Bats' steadfast refusal to take lives, the frequency with which he does it just makes him seem like a massive, sanctimonious hypocrite.

Granted, Nolan's depiction of the Bruce/Batman dichotomy has always been a bit morally frayed, but there's a clear cognitive dissonance between the sweeping portrayal of heroism we're supposed to be seeing and the more challenging, ambiguous one we actually get.

Just accept it, Batman - you're a stone cold killer when the time calls for it. But not as murderous as Batfleck, at least.