What moral limits does Ash have when it comes to dealing with villains?

[techadon]

We all know how Ash is always willing to help those in need and fighting the forces of evil, but what lines does he refuse to cross when dealing with said forces? Whether the actions are excessive, needlessly cruel, or downright heinous.

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

Judging by his actions and behavior, he has no moral limits when dealing with villains, unless they're not threatening them anymore

 

[Max1996]

Define 'moral limits'?

 

[LazySpy]

Define 'moral limits'?

Imagine that Ash is fighting some bad guys. The police is underway, and the bad guys are flying away in a zeppelin of sorts.
Ash has two Pokemon, a Charizard and a Pikachu. He wants to stop the bad guys from getting away before they can escape, quite obviously, but how can he do that?

Analyze this situation for a bit: Ash has multiple ways of beating up the baddies in this situation. Some of them might cause some damage, even kill someone.

Would Ash be okay if his plan ends up with him killing someone?
Or perhaps he has a limit, a morall limit that forbids him from leading to chaotic death and destruction, so he tries to stop the team in a less nasty way?

Is it clearer now?

 

[Max1996]

Imagine that Ash is fighting some bad guys. The police is underway, and the bad guys are flying away in a zeppelin of sorts.
Ash has two Pokemon, a Charizard and a Pikachu. He wants to stop the bad guys from getting away before they can escape, quite obviously, but how can he do that?

Analyze this situation for a bit: Ash has multiple ways of beating up the baddies in this situation. Some of them might cause some damage, even kill someone.

Would Ash be okay if his plan ends up with him killing someone?
Or perhaps he has a limit, a morall limit that forbids him from leading to chaotic death and destruction, so he tries to stop the team in a less nasty way?

Is it clearer now?

I guess so...

 

[UxieLover1994]

Ash is one to pursuit bad guys without stopping until they're caught and arrested, or at least defeated and he gets back what is stolen. Not once in this whole series as of SM137 did he kill anyone; of the villains who died in the series, J and Lysandre were killed by Legendary Pokémon, while Cyrus pretty much self-disposed himself.

I wouldn't know if Ash has the capability to kill someone, whether a petty villain or someone who's well over the moral event horizon. And I can't say for sure if being a series aimed at children is the reason; many movies aimed primarily at kids have the villains die instead of getting arrested.

 

[Daenerys]

This topic got dark really fast. I don't think Ash is capable of premeditated murder even if it means that others might suffer if the villain were to get their way. He's the kind of character who values all life and I think he'd find another solution instead of going through with a decision that would intentionally kill a villain.

 

[UxieLover1994]

This topic got dark really fast. I don't think Ash is capable of premeditated murder even if it means that others might suffer if the villain were to get their way. He's the kind of character who values all life and I think he'd find another solution instead of going through with a decision that would intentionally kill a villain.

I agree. This type of mentality is no doubt the reason why almost every villain in the anime, movies included, got arrested in the end, when even in Disney movies, villains of a similar motivation wind up dead, trapped in a lamp, shipped to Timbuktu, or just left on the side of a road to be berated by their henchmen. Ash isn't one to let people die, even if they're sociopaths on par with Maleficent.

 

[techadon]

Make me wonder how he would react to another hero killing the villain. Even if it was justified by say, the villain attacking first.

 

[UxieLover1994]

Make me wonder how he would react to another hero killing the villain. Even if it was justified by say, the villain attacking first.

Probably the same way Sora reacted to Axel killing Vexen in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, even if Sora himself (who has a similar personality to Ash) holds no qualms in killing criminals. In several movies, Ash doesn't take (attempted) killings very well, even going as far as to help Officer Jenny humiliate Kodai in M13 for trashing the city and nearly killing Zoroark.

Though not once has Ash ever encountered a morally-grey character in the past 22 years who thinks it's okay to kill people for the benefit of others. The closest we get is Paul, but he just abandons Pokémon for selfish intent and darwinism.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

He orders his pokemon to attack a trio of criminals at full power on a daily basis. While I agree he wouldn’t outright try to murder someone, I doubt he’d be as restricted in using force as some are suggesting.

 

[Everclear]

He wouldn't object to hurting villains since we've seen him be perfectly okay with blasting off Team Rocket on hundreds of occasions, but anything beyond comedy violence is a big taboo for Ash.

 

[PrettySylveon]

He wouldn't object to hurting villains since we've seen him be perfectly okay with blasting off Team Rocket on hundreds of occasions, but anything beyond comedy violence is a big taboo for Ash.

Well to be fair, there were times when Team Rocket ordered their Pokémon to attack Ash. The most infamous example was when Ash’s poor Chikorita had to watch its trainer getting physically hurt by Arbok and Weezing, which pushed it to evolving into Bayleef.

 

[Silktree]

Hmm, Zygarde killed Lysandre and no one seemed to care. Steven was the only one who asked about him.

 

[PrettySylveon]

Hmm, Zygarde killed Lysandre and no one seemed to care. Steven was the only one who asked about him.

It’s not like Lysandre didn’t deserve it...the other characters tried (& failed) to reason with that lunatic with words.

 

[Silktree]

Maybe so, but moral people don't take any death lightly. Bonnie was a little too happy.

 

[techadon]

He wouldn't object to hurting villains since we've seen him be perfectly okay with blasting off Team Rocket on hundreds of occasions, but anything beyond comedy violence is a big taboo for Ash.

I'd hate to see how he'd get along with guys like the Punisher.

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

Maybe so, but moral people don't take any death lightly. Bonnie was a little too happy.

You mean the death of the guy who tried mass genocide? Yeah, no.

 

[Daenerys]

I don't think that Ash's lack of a reaction towards Lysandre's death was out of character or anything. I mean the dude deserved what he got and Ash wasn't directly responsible for his death anyway, so Ash ignoring it was fine with me and it doesn't change my views on Ash's moral code.

 

[prog rocker]

I guess Ash would be like Luffy: willing to beat the bad guys, but not kill them.