Random Movie Heroes Who Killed Lots Of Innocent People Without You Noticing (15 items)

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  (#15) Superman

  • Man of Steel, Superman, Superman II, Superman, Superman III, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, Justice League: New Frontier, Superman: Doomsday, Justice League: Doom, Hindsight Is 20/20, Hot Shots!, Superman Returns, Superman

  The large-scale destruction during the climax of Man of Steel was considered by many to be too much of a mediocre thing, as Superman and General Zod fly and fight their way through Metropolis. While it’s been covered time and time again, the damage was so great that it simply could not be left off this list.

  While the battle between the two Kryptonians was certainly interesting to watch, viewers couldn’t escape the massive loss of life the film glossed over. Thanks to Buzzfeed and disaster expert Charles Watson, we have an estimate of the loss of life: a mind-blowing 129,000 confirmed dead with over 250,000 missing (many of whom are presumed dead) and nearly 1,000,000 more individuals injured. On top of that, Watson estimated the initial monetary damage at $700 billion, with total damage costing $2 trillion over the long term. Quite a hefty toll for the Kryptonian who claims to be the savior of the human race.
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  (#5) Genie

  • Aladdin, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Arabian Nights, The Return of Jafar

  In the film Aladdin, the Genie is a figure of terrifying potency. As he says himself, he possess near-unlimited cosmic power. He expresses his magic through wishes, but he's bound by three rules: 1) he can't kill anybody, 2) he can't make anybody fall in love with anybody else, and 3) he can't bring people back from the dead.

  While these may seem like hard-and-fast rules, it's pretty clear they're just the Genie's preference, not a statement of limitations. After the "no bringing back people from the dead" clause, the Genie adds "...it's not a pretty picture. I don't like doing it!" He doesn't like doing it. Not he can't, or won't, he just doesn't like it. The same probably holds true for his other "rules."

  So when, exactly, does the Genie kill countless innocents? Why, after a big song-and-dance number, of course. See, after Aladdin wished to be a prince, the genie made him a prince. Literally. He didn't wish to appear to be a prince or seem to be a prince, so the Genie made him an actual prince. And that means subjects. All the people we see in the song "Prince Ali" are real, thinking humans. They have to be, otherwise Aladdin is prince of nothing.

  So what happens to those people? Since we don't see them in any of the direct-to-video sequels, or the spin-off television series – and they're never mentioned again – we have to assume the Genie "unmade" them once Aladdin got the girl, and assumed the regal role he really wanted. That's murder, the same way it's murder if a parent kills a child.  
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  (#13) Bryan Mills

  • Taken, Taken 2

  This hero’s very particular set of skills appears to include the ability to cause mayhem and death for innocent people without batting an eye. We all know that Mills is a straight-up murderer, but we get to feel okay about it since he only kills bad guys. 

  In the third installment of the Taken series, however, Mills uses a busy highway to free himself from custody. While it makes for an exciting scene and facilitates his escape, the numerous high-speed crashes – and the cargo crate that rolls over several cars, crushing them entirely – definitely ended more than a few innocent lives.
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  (#11) James T. Kirk

  • Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek, Star Trek 2, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

  Captain James Tiberius Kirk stands for peace, justice, and general badassery. Sure, he's a bit of a hot head, but you always know that Kirk's heart is in the right place. In Star Trek Into Darkness, he saved the life of the man who killed his father figure, in service of the sanctity of sentient life. Well, sentient life that looks like Kirk, anyway.

  In 2009's Star Trek, Captain Kirk killed the entire crew of the Narada, a Romulan mining vessel from a future timeline. He gave the order to fire on the Narada, a ship full of time-displaced miners grieving the loss of their families and their culture, and sent them into a black hole to be consumed. Remember, Narada was a massive ship. It's statistically impossible that all of the crew were insane zealots. Likely, many of them were just trying to get home, or at least visit their family in the past. Kirk robbed them of that opportunity when he consigned them to oblivion, and he was rewarded with a promotion and command of his own ship.       
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  (#8) Danny Ocean

  • Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Thirteen, Ocean's Twelve

  This movie, and its group of heroes, could have easily made millions without causing mass off-screen deaths. In Ocean's Eleven, Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle) comes up with a genius way to fry the security system of their targeted casino, using an EMP device that he refers to as "a pinch" to shut off all the power in Las Vegas. 

  Tarr describes the EMP as a "device which creates, like, a cardiac arrest for any broadband electrical circuitry." While the plan goes off without a hitch, not one of the 11 criminal masterminds considers that an EMP detonation could cause literal cardiac arrest for anyone in the Las Vegas dependent on a pacemaker. Additionally, a total blackout in a city as large as Las Vegas could cause a potentially huge number of injuries and fatalities from road accidents, people dependent on life support in hospitals, and much more.

  To make matters worse, the subsequent mayhem we see take place on the Bellagio casino likely happened on every casino floor in the city. Las Vegas probably erupted into a small war zone, and physical altercations surely would have accounted for a non-zero amount of casualties.
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  (#14) Tyler Durden

  • Fight Club

  While he’s not exactly a hero, Tyler Durden's (Brad Pitt) also not exactly a villain. It's beyond argument, though, that he is one of the most beloved characters in film history. Despite his anarchic outlooks on the world, Durden does possess a staunch moral code. This outlook culminates in Durden’s execution of "Project Mayhem," an attempt at freeing the millions of Americans in credit card debt – and thus releasing them from the shackles of capitalism.

  When the Narrator (Edward Norton) and Marla (Helena Bonham Carter) watch as Project Mayhem becomes reality by way of blowing up several massive buildings, we feel okay about it. After all, Tyler just reminded us that all of the employees in the buildings worked for him, so there's no way anybody died.

  Well, except for any of the people who might have happened to be walking by. Or driving by. Or driving a block away. Or any of the first responders. Think of the thousands of first responders who struggle with terminal illness in the wake of 9/11. The terrorist attack Tyler carried out looks to be devastating in its own right, so we can be reasonably sure that he murdered a good chunk of the city's population while trying to free them from financial slavery. 

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