10 Defining Rules Of Iconic Characters (That Came Later Than You Think)

Even more than The Doctor, no iconic hero better fits the "no guns" rule than Batman.

Sure, the gadget-loving billionaire may make use of his fair share of projectile-firing devices of various kinds, not to mention relying on the odd "I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you either" technicality. But, after seeing his parents gunned down in front of him, killing someone with a gun is one line he will never cross.

Bruce has already crossed that line several times, though. In his early days Batman, despite his flair for a dramatic costume, was essentially a pulp detective character in the vein of the earlier Shadow or Dick Tracy. Like them, he fought mobsters and, like them, his chosen method of dispatching them was with a bullet. That was the pulp hero's way.

In Batman #1, his first solo comic after a run in Detective Comics, the Caped Crusader swoops down in a Batplane on Hugo Strange's giant henchmen, riddling them with machine gun fire. "Much as I hate to take a human life, I'm afraid this time it's necessary," serves as his only justification.

Batman #1 also introduced characters like the Joker and Catwoman, marking a shift from disposable mobsters to colourful recurring rogues. This meant that killing villains was soon out in favour of locking them up to reappear in future adventures.

As the forties progressed, DC story editor Whitney Ellsworth even laid down an official edict that Batman should no longer use a gun. And since then Bats has stuck to that. Well, most of the time.