By nature of being vigilantes for the most part, superheroes are inherently breaking the law— but they get a lot of leeway since the good of their actions and cause outweighs the bad. However, this can’t be said for every superhero out there.

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Where some costumed heroes are just unaware of the damage they can cause, others knowingly inflict as much punishment on others as possible. Because of this, a good number of DC Comics’ and Marvel’s heavy hitters would be arrested the moment their superhero careers begin.

10 Spider-Man Would End Up In Juvenile Delinquency

Spider-Man Behind Bars

To protect the everyday people who just go about their daily business, Spider-Man fights criminals (both petty and super-powered) in the busy streets of New York City. These brawls cause grave injuries and property damage, both of which can be used in a case against a masked vigilante like Spider-Man.

But since Peter Parker is best known as a teenager who still attends high school, the worst that Spider-Man would face is serving time in juvenile delinquency. J. Jonah Jameson’s self-righteous vendetta against Spider-Man via smear campaign would only deepen the case made against the webslinger.

9 Red Hood Is A Murderous Vigilante

Red Hood Surprises The Bad Guys

Upon resurrection, Jason Todd christened himself as the new Red Hood: A gun slinging anti-hero who rarely leaves criminals alive. Aside from killing anyone who got in his way, Jason is also guilty of running an organized crime outfit. Even if it was brief in Under The Red Hood, Jason nearly destroyed Gotham City during his reign of the city’s underworld.

Whatever Jason’s reasons may be, executing people left and right is bound to get him imprisoned. The only reason Jason isn't as bad as some of the others is because, depending on the series, either Batman is there to hold him back or he actively tries to leave the murderous Red Hood behind. Red Hood may be an anti-hero right now, but he still has a body count to answer for.

8 Deadpool’s Mercenary Days Can’t Be Overlooked

Deadpool On A Regular Day

When he’s not joking about chimichangas or berating the reader for silly reasons, Deadpool spends his time as a mercenary. As a gun-for-hire before and after the Weapon X program, Wade Wilson killed and maimed countless people around the world for the right price. It wouldn’t be surprising to find out that he’s wanted in a dozen nations and some states as well.

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Even when helping the Avengers pro bono, Deadpool doesn’t hesitate to kill his opponents or violently dismember them. If not for the good graces of every other Marvel hero who vouched for him, Deadpool would’ve found himself in either a criminal or international court for all the bodies and limbs he left along the way.

7 John Constantine Can’t Hide Behind The Supernatural

John Constantine Casts A Spell

Though may be London’s best mage, John Constantine is the lowest kind of scum there is. But here's the thing: He's proud of this. As a result, he sees no problem in doing just about anything— from theft to murder— if it means stopping a demon or the Biblical apocalypse. While his intentions are good, his shady actions and persona beg to differ. Even worse is that his defense would fall flat in court.

In reality and fiction, even the best lawyers struggle to convince judges and juries that the "Devil" masterminded a grisly crime. Legally speaking, John can’t blame Nergal or whichever supernatural entity he annoyed that week. Not helping matters is that John is so unlikeable that witnesses would rather testify against him than help his case.

6 Batman Is A Destructive Vigilante

Batman Goes On A Rampage

If Bruce Wayne isn’t arrested/framed for a white collar crime or murder (see Batman: Bruce Wayne – Murderer?), Batman would be found guilty of vigilantism that causes wanton injuries and property damage. Worse, Batman intimidated people into testifying in high-profile cases, which would taint almost every statement made in court.

If ever Gotham City sued Batman, only Bruce’s old money would keep him out of jail. Additionally, this was the entire point of Batman: Year One. Here, the cops (both crooked and otherwise) saw Batman as a threat, even if he debuted by toppling Gotham’s crime families. It took some time before he earned the trust of Lieutenant Gordon and the police.

Daredevil Goes To Prison

By day, Matt Murdock is a famous attorney who put some high profile criminals in jail. But at night, Matt becomes Daredevil, the protector of Hell’s Kitchen. As Daredevil, he at times finds damning evidence or witnesses that would spell disaster for whoever Matt is trying to prosecute. While this generally works, Matt’s vigilantism runs the risk of throwing an entire case out of court.

If ever Matt’s identity as Daredevil were outed, any judge wouldn’t just throw him in prison for vigilantism and causing serious harm, but many of his successful prosecutions would be cast in serious doubt. Like Batman’s quandary, Daredevil strong arming others to testify the way he wants could be seen as intimidation or falsifying of evidence.

4 Harley Quinn Can't Atone For All Of Her Past Crimes

Harley Quinn Starts Anew

As of late, Harley Quinn was rebranded into an anti-hero who’s just a few steps from becoming a full-fledged hero. However, this does little to mitigate the fact that she was an accomplice of the Joker for the longest time. If ever her past with Gotham’s deadliest criminal were brought to court, Harley would lose in a heartbeat even if she turned a new leaf.

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During her time with the Clown Prince of Crime, Harley either helped him commit some of the worst atrocities in DC history, or actively perpetrated them herself. Fighting Joker or joining Task Force X can’t redeem her in the slightest, and she knows this. If anything, Harley wouldn’t mind being found guilty, since it would allow her to atone.

3 Captain America’s Rule-Breaking Will Get Him Court Martialed

Captain America Charges Forward

Since he fights for the American ideal more than the country and its selfish leaders, Captain America breaks a lot of rules to do what’s right. Morally speaking, Captain America is on the right side of history. Legally, though, he’s in a lot of trouble. As a military man, Steve Rogers will have to answer to a court martial, where he can be found guilty of disobeying orders at best.

This happened more than once, most notably at the end of Civil War. Here, Steve was arrested then assassinated on his way to court for actively going against official government mandate (i.e. the Superhuman Registration Act). That said, Captain America knows this risk and was always vindicated by history, where his defiance towards institutional injustices always proved to be the right thing to do.

2 Amanda Waller Violated International Accords & Treaties

Amanda Wallers Admits A Hard Truth

As the head of the Suicide Squad and other black ops programs, Amanda Waller orchestrated assassinations, espionage, and invasions on foreign soil. As one of DC Comics’ most grounded anti-heroes, she’s not afraid of getting her hands dirty if it means defending American interests or the Earth’s safety.

Waller is guilty of violating international agreements and committing what some nations would consider an act of war. She only avoided the courts because of her connections and the amount of plausible deniability her position grants. But on any other day or if ever she loses the government’s favor, an international criminal hearing awaits Waller.

1 The Punisher Is A Remorseless Mass Murderer

Punisher On A Night Out

There’s no comic book anti-hero as criminally liable as The Punisher. Unlike his costumed peers, Frank Castle’s only power is his army training and bottomless bloodlust that he uses in his war on crime. Aside from vigilantism, Punisher is also guilty of all types of murder, causing grave physical injuries, possession of illegal firearms, conspiracy, and a lot more.

The Punisher’s lack of accountability is an integral part of his stories, as authorities are torn between bringing him to justice or letting him wreak havoc as a necessary evil. Then again, arresting The Punisher wouldn’t help at all since, time and again, he just killed even more criminals while in prison.

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