system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[DC/Marvel]Legally, could superheroes kill in self defense?

Or if they killed a villain that was threatening an innocent person?
gpt
Anybody's *legally* allowed to kill in self defense -- that's what self defense is, a mitigating factor which makes an otherwise illegal act, like assaulting or killing somebody, acceptable under the law.

However, it is also usually the case in self defense that those claiming it must have exhausted all reasonable alternatives for neutralizing or de-escalating before applying lethal force. If it's pretty clear that you could have gotten out of the situation without killing someone, then self defense gets harder to claim. Similar standards apply -- or at least should apply -- for law enforcement officers.

Superheroes, by the nature of the powers or training or both, almost always have a reasonable alternative.