Batman is my favourite. There are many reasons, but here is the most important one:
Batman refuses to compromise on his ideals. He is not a utilitarian, he believes in categorical ethics. For example, he categorically refuses to kill anyone. He wouldn't kill anyone even if killing them was the only way to save a million people. This shows that he understands the danger of a superhero becoming a utilitarian. He sees himself as a potential threat, not as a noble hero, and is constantly doubting his own motives. He even seriously considers the possibility that he may just be an crazy person acting out a revenge fantasy. He is a moral grown-up. Compare this to goody-two-shoes Superman, who has insanely dangerous amounts of power and yet doesn't ever seem to second-guess himself.
Batman's categorical ethics are sometimes made fun of, and the mockers often use a tone that is eerily similar to the tone that Americans use to defend their country's policy of torture. Compare:
Quote:
Why doesn't Batman just kill the Joker while he has the chance? If he doesn't, the Joker will just escape and go on to kill hundreds more people!
and
Quote:
But what if there is a ticking time-bomb scenario, like on that TV show? Shouldn't we torture a terrorist to save hundreds of lives?
Here is one of my favourite scenes ever, that shows why Batman's bizarrely strict ethics are actually a great strength. In this scene, Batman is the only member of the Justice League who can handle an extremely dangerous telepath. Why? Because the telepath wouldn't allow any other member to get near her, because she can read their minds and knows that they would kill her if the situation called for it. But she lets Batman get close, since when she reads his mind, she discovers that
he will not kill her, no matter what. Batman isn't bluffing. He really would rather let her kill thousands of people than allow himself to kill her. And paradoxically, this is precisely what allows him to prevent her from killing thousands of people.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bOJ3uR0s2s[/youtube]
EDIT: Sorry, I'm not a kid. I didn't notice that this thread is in Kids' Crater, since I use the "View Posts Since Last Visit" option to check for threads. Oh well, no harm done I guess. I'll just leave the post here in case anyone finds it interesting.