Poll: Would you want to be a vigilante?

[OmniscientOstrich]

Actually Bruce Wayne does do all of that in the comics. It's usually not the focus of the story since most people would rather read about Batman, but it does get mentioned that he works to reduce poverty and unemployment through his buisness. He has even taken steps that were less profitable for himself if they helped Gotham such as reopening factories, preventing layoffs, and starting charitable foundations.

I had a feeling someone who read the comics might call me out on this. I was more joking than anything, I've never actually read the comics and thus wouldn't know if he actually does put his money rather than himself to more philanthropic uses, but I just thought it was interesting that this is something that seems to be pretty overlooked in many adaptations in other media.

 

[JochemDude]

If I could get away with it, maybe.
But I don't have the funds nor skills to pull something like that off.

 

[Use_Imagination_here]

That would require there to be something I can fight. And at least in my country, there ain't.

 

[ChaosBorne]

only if i had some sort of super power, i've toyed with the idea of disposing of the criminals that have evaded justice because of some technicalities, but i'm horribly out of shape and would probably end up in a ditch somewhere if i tried that now.

 

[jawakiller]

Just so I could wear a cape and be too scary for anyone to laugh at.

Oh, and I could also make up an epic secret identity and name everything I own after it.

[blank]car, [blank]belt, [blank]grappling hook, [blank]tablecloth, [blank]refrigerator, [bla-You get the idea.

I could also have mind blowing conversations with my sidekick.
ME -"Jugularboy, is that a rocket propelled, chrome, monster-spider, spaceship hurtling towards the mayor's speech?"
SK - "Why yes Tugboatman, I do believe that is. We must Save them!"
Me - "Right Jugularboy, we will give it a good shove with the Tugboat!"
SK - "How will we get there in time? We must use the major heat ray green boosters!"
Me - "Quite right lad, quickly, we must not let General Tofu blow the mayor up, not this time!"

And with the cops too.
Cop - "Thank you Incredible Richard, you saved the day again."
Me - " Doctor Panther got away though. I will count that as a loss, my good man."
Cop - "If you take the sewers, you may still be able to capture him!"
Me - "I see your point! Quick, somebody fetch me the Dicklauncher. It's time I fucked this pussy!"

 

[gamepopper101]

I think a better definition of Vigilante is someone who enforces the law, without following the law itself. You can stop, catch or take down criminals who commit or attempt theft or murder, but you would go as far damage of public property, unlawful use of lethal weapons or direct murder in order to get the job done.

As to answer your question, probably, but I'm not the guy that's usually violent or courageous enough to pull it off.

 

[JoJo]

Usually no, I believe in justice and the law, on the other hand if someone seriously harmed my little sister and managed to evade justice I'd want to hunt them down until their head was on a pike.

 

[Thyunda]

Yes, I would, if I had some way of escaping consequences (Batman/Bruce Wayne alter ego), or even tracking down bad guys. The most I could possibly do right now to be a vigilante would be to prevent crime wherever I see it - interfere in muggings, find a way to keep robbers in one place till they can be arrested - y'know, the usual stuff.

Saying that being a vigilante is no better than being a criminal is bullshit. Policemen are thugs with training and a badge. I don't actually mean that. I mean they have the capacity to be thugs - but they're blameless in everything. They're tha POLICE. Saviours of our rights and freedom.
Some policemen are dicks. But because they're policemen, they get away with it. And then when an honest bobby makes a mistake, the media leap all over him for brutality. It's quite fucked up, really.

And, notoriously, policemen take a bloody long time to arrive.

Also. There's a big difference between a vigilante and a thug. A vigilante prevents crime through direct intervention. A vigilante becomes a thug when he starts wailing on people for lesser and lesser crimes.
A thug just hits people for various reasons.

 

[Squilookle]

If the world was like this:


Then holy cow sign-me-up-this-instant yes. In the real world? I doubt it. The only thing I could see myself taking up arms against are speed cameras, and even then I'd have to be a lot better motivated to make a serious effort of it.

 

[MassiveGeek]

Only if... I actually had some sort of talent to prevent me from dying within the last second of my vigilante career.

 

[Sansha]

No. I'm one of those lunatics who believes in the police and due process. Only something like a massive injustice would make me get my murder on.

 

[dickywebster]

Go and watch kickass before the ones with all the skills and weapons turn up, thats probably how itd go for most people.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

I generally hate people so that wouldn't be the reason.
I'm married so I can't go for the I'm hot and awesome and I just saved you game.
And I generally would rather stay indoors.

So no, I really wouldn't like to be one, BUT I do love blowing things up. So maybe for a weekend.

 

[remnant_phoenix]

Only if I had some form of superpower that rendered guns useless against me and would allow me to assuredly evade discovery and capture when the authorities decide to crack down on me. It's too risky otherwise.

So if I had telekinesis powerful enough to deflect bullets with a telekinetic shield and fly away when the cops show up? I'd sign myself up in a heartbeat. There's nothing else I'd want to do with such powers.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Maybe if I had real superpowers as in being able to fly or have super strength (wearing a body suit and having pepperspray on me is not superpowers).
Even then my crime fighting routine would be chavs hunting (and helping any problems within the street like preventing a victim from being mugged) but I would be more of a selfish vigilante (I need cash to keep my vigilante activity going) but yet again I'm not a superhero.

 

[hotsauceman]

Only in my childish fantasies. In reality, I have serious issues with vigilantism.

Same here truthfully. While i have fantasies about being a super hero with my friends and ridding the world of crime realty come crashing donw when you realise that crime isnt black and white.

 

[Broady Brio]

As much as I'd would love to;

I'd have to be athletically fit.
It'll help considerably if I didn't have problems with my legs in terms of a deformed hip and shortened Achilles tendons since birth.
I also hear the job doesn't pay well. If at all.

 

[Bonecrusher]

Who could be more successful than a vigilante/assassin who could teleport?

vigilante and assassin are different concepts and opposite things.

weird thing is, most of the people would want to be a vigilante just for the show-off business of the mass media heroes.

human kind is selfish and egoistic, i don't think such a huge amount of people would really prefer risk their lives for tranquility, serenity or peace of other people.
especially our competitive and capitalistic lifes prevent such a thing.

let's say your boss comes to your office and makes an offer. you have to choose: a) you will promote, b) a person you never heard of will promote. what you would choose? if you chosen a, then you can not be a vigilante.

a vigilante fights for the benefits of people which he will not even know or heard before.
a default human being works for only himself (may be for his family too).

vigilante is not just an action hero.
they don't do it for money, for plain justice or for protecting his acquiantances.
if you want to be an action hero for money and for your benefits, than you are a bounty hunter.
if you do it for serving justice and upholding the law, then you are justiciar.
if you do it for protecting your friends and people that you know, than you are a protector.

 

[Random berk]

Who could be more successful than a vigilante/assassin who could teleport?

vigilante and assassin are different concepts and opposite things.

weird thing is, most of the people would want to be a vigilante just for the show-off business of the mass media heroes.

human kind is selfish and egoistic, i don't think such a huge amount of people would really prefer risk their lives for tranquility, serenity or peace of other people.
especially our competitive and capitalistic lifes prevent such a thing.

let's say your boss comes to your office and makes an offer. you have to choose: a) you will promote, b) a person you never heard of will promote. what you would choose? if you chosen a, then you can not be a vigilante.

a vigilante fights for the benefits of people which he will not even know or heard before.
a default human being works for only himself (may be for his family too).

vigilante is not just an action hero.
they don't do it for money, for plain justice or for protecting his acquiantances.
if you want to be an action hero for money and for your benefits, than you are a bounty hunter.
if you do it for serving justice and upholding the law, then you are justiciar.
if you do it for protecting your friends and people that you know, than you are a protector.

I understand perfectly well the difference between a vigilante and an assassin, my point was that the power of teleportation would make either one nigh unstoppable, and uncatcheable.

As for selfishness being a barrier to vigilantism, to a large extent yes. Few people would devote their entire lives to stopping crime, any crime, for no personal gain. However, if they had the means to do it easily, then they would be more likely to do it occasionally, for example, if a teleportation capable person saw a news report of a bloodthirsty serial killer getting off lightly in court, they might be tempted to jump to where he is, check in on him every now and then, and if he's preparing to kill again, they go vigilante on him. See what I mean? Essentially it would be a case of having great power, and deciding to use it on some bad people every now and then, which is probably quite selfish in itself, but I'm sure no one would miss the serial killer much.

 

[Berithil]

I would be fine with working incahoots with the police on something when I'm not part of PD, being the guy who can help the police while not having all the ridiculous restrictions and expectations that come with the job. But apart from that, vigilanteism usually does not end well.