Gotham's Caped Crusader finds himself in a desperate situation in Batman #454 and does what he has to. But in the process, does he break his no-killing rule?
Batman a.k.a. Bruce Wayne is consistently going through great lengths to protect his identity, those he loves, and the innocent lives that dwell in Gotham. Hence, why he has a giant bat to help keep the Batcave secret and uses a robot batman for back-up. Although the Dark Knight works day and night to protect the vulnerable city of Gotham, he can't save everyone. But no matter what, he tries not to break his number one rule. But in Batman #454, the Caped Crusader does what fans least expect.
As the Batman swiftly moves throughout Gotham City-following a trail of riddles left behind by the Riddler a.k.a. Edward Nigma, he finds a baby that is in desperate need of saving. Because Batman knows the Riddler has recently lodged a ping pong ball inside of the baby's throat, he must perform a tracheotomy. Before performing the tracheotomy in a sewer, the Batman glares at the knife in his hand and realizes that what he really needs is a scalpel. In addition, he realizes that the blade he's using is not even sterilized or clean. If a cut from the blade doesn't kill the baby, an infection caused by the blade's impurity will. But he does what he must, and slits the baby's throat.
After Batman performs the tracheotomy, he dashes out of the sewer and to a nearby hospital. Along the way, Batman holds the baby close to his chest, trying to prevent the baby from losing too much blood. When Batman finally reaches a hospital, the baby is immediately brought into ICU and put on life support. Not long after the heart-wrenching event, Jim Gordon arrives at the hospital to see how the baby is doing as well as Batman. It's in the moment that Jim asks how the baby's doing, when Batman tells him the baby's name is Michael and that he's only eight days old. After telling Jim the baby's name and age, he also claims that if Michael dies, then it will be because he slit his throat to remove the ping pong ball. Jim then comforts Batman by saying if Michael dies, then the Riddler will be the one to blame. After being comforted, Batman gives Jim another clue regarding the possible location of the Riddler. Before knowing Michael's fate, the two return to the Batcave to try and solve the Riddler's riddle in the hopes of stopping anyone from getting hurt or worse... killed.
Similar to many other DC superheroes, Batman has a moral code that he tries to uphold and the main component of his moral code is his no-kill policy. In Batman #454, it's clear that Batman is a compassionate individual who also cares about his code of conduct.Though, sometimes, a man can only take so much and is pushed beyond their limits. Which is exactly why Batman has killed before.