History CombatPragmatist / Literature

* ''[[Literature/AMagesPower A Mage's Power]]'': Mercenaries don't fight with "honor". They use GroinAttack and EvilEye whenever it suits them. This is part of Eric's advantage in a tournament populated by high-society student mages.

** In ''Literature/EthanOfAthos'', Miles' protege, Elli Quinn, has to rescue a hostage, with inadequate forces and without collateral damage.

::: ... So she files a false report of a new infectious disease.

-->''"He thought more of [[WeirdAlEffect Bernardo del Carpio]] because at [[Literature/TheSongOfRoland Roncesvalles ]] he slew [[NighInvulnerable Roland]] in spite of [[AWizardDidIt enchantments]], availing himself of the artifice of Hercules when he strangled Antaeus the son of Terra in his arms. "''

** It is explicitly mentioned, however, in ''His Last Command'' where [[Main/DrillSergeantNasty Major Rawne]] is shown fighting with no restraint whatsoever against the Archenemy. It frightens some of the men beside him - men who've probably seen the worst the Galaxy has to offer. Justified in that the Major had spent a long time as an infiltrator on a Chaos-held World named Gereon, which [[Main/IDidWhatIHadToDo necessitated him learning how to fight dirty]].

* Catherine from ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'' is taught by her mentor to "kill- kill well and quickly, while giving as few openings as possible." She takes the advice to heart and later uses every advantage she can get in a fight: punching opponents in a sword fight, distraction, repositioning enemies so that they kill each other, or throwing the fantastic version of grenades. Naturally, her mentor, Black Knight Amadeus, is a master in combat pragmatism himself and has killed many a stronger hero with it.

-->Avery, on t'other hand, is a genius, as we know, and younger and fitter--but then again, Bilbo has the experience, and knows lots of tricks -- but curiously enough, black scoundrel though he is, the thought of using them [[WorthyOpponent never crosses his mind]].

--->She paced back and forth like a frenzied tigress. "I'm being stampeded. I know I am. ... Q.E.D.—Quinn Eats Dirt. Gods. Don't panic, Quinn. What would Admiral Naismith do in the same situation?" She stood still, facing the wall.\\

* Rob of ''Literature/AnOutcastInAnotherWorld'' fights enemies stronger than him for the majority of the series, and as a result, had adopted a willingness to do pretty much anything that will keep him alive. This includes sneak attacks, acting as a distraction so stronger people can sneak attack, acting aggressively evil to freak someone out, and throwing a bunch of magic grenades from a distance to end the fight before it begins.
* The only magical ability Literature/AlexVerus has is the ability to see the future, while most other mages have dozens of ways to make someone dead. As such, he generally uses this ability to run away, avoid fights entirely or, if he has to, sneak up and kill enemies before they know what's happened. He states outright in the second book that killing people is often safer than trying to disable them as half the time they come back to try again.
* In Creator/TomClancy's stories, the good guys subscribe to this line of thinking, particularly the military, who are paraphrased at one point as believing ''If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn't plan it very well.''
--> '''Admiral Mancuso:''' Sir, a fair fight means all my guys get to go home. Fuck the other guys.

* ''Literature/TheBridgeKingdomArchives'': Lara and her sisters can use anything as a weapon and playing fair is not something that bothers them, only winning (or at least surviving) counts. Subterfuge, disguise, poisons--anything is allowed. That's how they were [[TrainingFromHell taught]].
* ''Literature/TalesOfAnMazingGirl'' Though Sarah does to a point humor people who take the time to build elaborate death traps who have no chance of actually catching her, when she has to take someone out in a hurry she will do what ever it takes to end it quickly.
* ''Literature/EndersGame'':
** Ender explains to an enemy that real soldiers don't play fair; they do whatever it takes to keep themselves alive. Ender doesn't just win; he annihilates. If he's kicking someone's ass, they won't have an ass left to be kicked when he's done. This is true from the time he's six years old and fighting ([[spoiler:aka. Murdering]]) bullies in the schoolyard. This is a sentiment for every military figure in the books. Mazer Rackham tells Ender "This is war. There are no rules except what you can do to the enemy and what you can stop him from doing to you."
** Bean makes a similar point to Achilles in ''Literature/EndersShadow'' about how real soldiers do whatever it takes to win.
--->'''Bean:''' We don't give a [[PrecisionFStrike shit]] about fairness here. We're [[ItsWhatIDo soldiers]]. Soldiers shoot [[InTheBack in the back]], lay traps and ambushes, [[DidYouActuallyBelieve lie to the enemy]], and outnumber the other bastard every chance they get. Your kind of murder only works among civilians. And you were too stupid, too ''insane,'' to realize that.
* In Creator/OrsonScottCard's novelization of ''Film/TheAbyss'' the SEAL team leader, Coffey, is mentioned as having taken down a neighbourhood bully eight years his senior not in a straight-up street fight but rather by lying in wait for the guy and caving his head in with a cinder block when his back was turned. Coffey then tidies up, goes home, and never seeks any recognition of his act. On the other hand, Coffey is characterised as somewhere between a SociopathicHero and a monster.
* Locke Lamora of the Literature/GentlemanBastard(s) is most definitely one of these. He once escapes a difficult situation because it simply doesn't occur to anyone that Locke would have no problem punching an 80 year old woman in the face.

** Cohen the Barbarian has heard of fighting fair, and long ago decided he wanted no part of it. Cohen is over 90 years old, and has been a BarbarianHero for a ''very'' long time. He didn't get that way by being nice and fancy. He got that way by slaughtering his foes while they were busy being fancy with swift sword to the face.

* Most characters in [[{{Literature/Voidskipper}} In Pursuit of Bark's Finest]] adopt this attitude for serious fights, but the Red Star Union's navy provides a stunning collective example. [[spoiler:The instant they work out where Bark's Finest has gone, they drop a fleet outnumbering it ten thousand to one on its location via HyperspeedAmbush.]]
* Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'':
** Simon Illyan, Miles's 50-something boss, is a fairly uptight but ReasonableAuthorityFigure. He doesn't actually get his hands dirty, he has underlings for that. However, when his artificial memory chip is sabotaged in ''Literature/{{Memory}}'', and his underlings have to get him into medical treatment, he fights back... and he fights ''dirty''. No one knew, because no one had ever seen him fight before.
** In ''Literature/EthanOfAthos'', Miles' protege, Elli Quinn, has to rescue a hostage, with inadequate forces and without collateral damage.
--->She paced back and forth like a frenzied tigress. "I'm being stampeded. I know I am. ... Q.E.D.—Quinn Eats Dirt. Gods. Don't panic, Quinn. What would Admiral Naismith do in the same situation?" She stood still, facing the wall.\\
Ethan envisioned diving Dendarii starfighters, waves of space-armored assault troops, ominous lumbering high-energy weapons platforms jockeying for position.\\
"Never do yourself," muttered Quinn, "what you can con an expert into doing for you. That's what he'd say. Tactical judo from the space magician himself."
::: ... So she files a false report of a new infectious disease.
* Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/TheCurseOfChalion'' has Cazaril, an experienced soldier who is a decent swordsman but notes on many occasions that swordfighting is not nearly as useful as dirty fighting, which he is also good at.
**
--->Cazaril had to admit, the battlefields he'd been on had more resemblance to the butcher's yard than the dueling ring. But if Dy Sanda knew the desperate brutal tricks that kept a man alive on the battlefield, he'd not taught them to Teidez.
**
--->"I don't duel, boy. I kill as a soldier kills, which is as a butcher kills, as quickly, efficiently, and with as little risk to myself as I can arrange. If I decide you die, you will die when I choose, Where I choose, by what means I choose, and you will never see the blow coming."
* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''Literature/WarOfTheDreaming'', we have the HandicappedBadass Peter Waylock, who is very much the Unfettered when it comes to fighting:
-->'''Peter:''' Kind of hard to kill a man when you've looked in his eyes, ain't it... ''[his opponent keels over with a knife in his eye]'' 'course, it gets easier once you've done it a couple times.
** Marshal Atkins, from ''[[Literature/TheGoldenOecumene The Golden Age]]'' kills an alien saboteur by a) accelerating the spaceship they're on to fifty gees, immobilizing him; b) bathing the command deck with hard radiation, c) infecting it with nanobot poison, d) severing its spinal cord with a katana.
* Catherine from ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'' is taught by her mentor to "kill- kill well and quickly, while giving as few openings as possible." She takes the advice to heart and later uses every advantage she can get in a fight: punching opponents in a sword fight, distraction, repositioning enemies so that they kill each other, or throwing the fantastic version of grenades. Naturally, her mentor, Black Knight Amadeus, is a master in combat pragmatism himself and has killed many a stronger hero with it.
* Will and Lyra from the ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' trilogy have no problems fighting dirty if this gives them an advantage. Being children going up against adults who are very willing to kill them, it's just about their only chance to win anyhow. It's mentioned that Will learned at a relatively young age that the point of fighting is to hurt the other person more than they can hurt you, not to show off; he broke a boy's arm in school and he can and has killed. He's ''twelve''.
** Mention should also go to Lyra's ability to inspire other people to follow her example, leading a rabble of confused children to pack rock-hard slushballs and "aim for the eyes".
* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'':
** Corwin is big on this. For example, in his climactic duel with a master swordsman who'd been foreshadowed a book earlier, Corwin runs away, rounds a corner, throws his cloak into the other man's face as he follows, then stabs him while he's blind. The guy then proceeds to whine about being killed by cheating.
--->'''Corwin:''' ''[to Borel's dying body]'' This isn't exactly the Olympic Games.
** His son Merlin later mocks the guy's ghost for fighting fair after defeating him again by [[spoiler:accidentally throwing a sword at him.]]
--->'''Merlin:''' ''[to Borel's [[ItMakesSenseInContext dying ghost]]]'' This isn't the Winter Games, either.
** This is essentially Corwin's biggest personality trait. He takes over a swords-and-sorcery kingdom with a small force [[spoiler:carrying assault rifles.]] At one point he wants his son to follow him; his son declines, and so Corwin [[spoiler:attacks him with a sword, feints around him, punches him unconscious and carries him away.]]
* Creator/PoulAnderson is fond of these characters.
** In his ''Wing Alek'' series of short stories the main character is forbidden from ever using killing to win a conflict (luckily the villains don't know that) so he uses underhanded methods to get the villains to defeat themselves.
** Nicholas van Rijn from the ''Literature/PolesotechnicLeague'' series frequently uses sneaky methods. On one occasion, he taunts an alien prince into biting his behind; the alien prince realizes too late that human biochemistry is toxic to his people.
* While he prides himself on his pure combat skill, the assassin Artemis Entreri of the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' novels is not above using blackmail, dirty tactics and overwhelming odds to win fights when necessary. It isn't often necessary. There is one particularly memorable scene in the ''Literature/TheIcewindDaleTrilogy'' where he spits a mouthful of sewer water into Drizzt's face to gain the upper hand. Drizzt had just a few minutes earlier been wondering why Entreri was a little less talkative.
** From the same series, Entreri's Drow sometimes-ally Jarlaxle is not beyond using some tricks or magic items to gain the upper hand in a fight, often to the surprise of his enemies.
** In the main [[Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt Drizzt]] novels, Drizzt met a dwarven Battlerager, a group of combat pragmatists who fly into a rage and attack like a spazzed ball of spikes, in this case their leader, Thibbledorf Pwent cops to this off the bat, citing that he's not above kicking an enemy when they're down. Usually subverted in Drizzt's case though, as he prefers to fight with a bit more honour, but its generally well understood that he'd kick an opponents ass either way.
** Drizzt's weapons instructor [[spoiler:and father]] Zaknafein is just as skilled as Drizzt, if not more so considering he's the one who taught Drizzt swordsmanship, but he's also very pragmatic. He uses the magical equivalent of flashbangs to temporarily blind Drow opponents and he doesn't hesitate to [[GroinAttack kick people where it hurts]]. He urges Drizzt to become pragmatic as well, since losing a fight means death.
* ''Literature/TheBlackCompany'', a mercenary force in the series of the same name by Creator/GlenCook, make a living, and survive in the face of enormous odds, by fighting dirty and using every resource available to them in order to make themselves look like the baddest motherfuckers around. When it works, things look good for the Company. When it doesn't, that's when the fun begins.
* In the ''Literature/{{Raffles}}'' stories, both Bunny and Raffles fight dirty: hitting people from behind, chloroforming them, using other people as distractions and just in general doing anything in their power to get one over their opponent.
* Smilla Jaspersen from ''Literature/MissSmillasFeelingForSnow'' by Peter Hoeg has a history of winning against people much bigger and stronger than her. She stabs a man in the neck with a screwdriver when he tries to kidnap her, and topples a shelf onto a person she thinks is following her in the filing room of an office building. She also forces her stepmother to listen to her demands by pinching her in the crotch and bending her pinky finger all the way back. Apparently she's been this way all her life. She beat up a racist school bully much larger than her by finding out where he lived and ambushing him early in the morning, sending him to the hospital. When her father, a noted surgeon, tried to grab her and drag her home after she ran away at the age of twelve, she cut him with a scalpel she stole from the hospital she escaped from. When she is trapped on a ship with the vaguely psychopathic character Jakkelsen, she [[ImprovisedWeapon makes a weapon from a towel and a ball bearing]], and injures him badly enough that he needs medical attention. However, she is always described as a [[WaifFu petite and delicate woman]]. She is the narrator, by the way.
* In the ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' series:
** In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Horus Rising'', Loken defeats Lucius in a practice sword fight by [[TalkToTheFist punching him]]; Lucius's still smarting over it in Creator/GrahamMcNeill's ''Fulgrim''.
** In Creator/BenCounter's ''Galaxy In Flames'', Tarvitz, who watched, commented that he had learned from it, to do whatever was needed to win. [[spoiler:So, Lucius being a TurnCoat who had betrayed them to Horus and having gotten into a figh with Tarvitz, Tarvitz has [[TheCavalry the Emperor's Children coming to make a flanking attack]] shoot at Lucius and end their fight.]]
** Possibly the best example of this trope in the 40K universe is that of Alpharius and the (Pre-Heresy) Alpha Legion. Whilst other legions had very specific ways of doing things (one legion would specialise in assault, another in defense, seigecraft etc), Alpharius decreed that his marines should master all aspects of warfare. He went even further by doing away with "inefficient" things like honour and chivalry, and often conquered entire planets through stealth and treachery.
** While Alpharius did indeed preach pragmatism, he rarely practiced it. Alpharius wanted to prove himself to his elder brothers, so his tactics were usually incredibly convoluted and elaborate purely so he could show how great his men were when they pulled it off - in one case, he held off attacking a poorly defended planet so the defenders could bolster the defenses to a huge level. He won, and told his fellow primarchs that "it would be too easy" to just attack at once. A better example would be Guilliman, who favoured efficiency (he concentrated on the boring stuff like logistics and supply, knowing it would help more towards victory than cool weapons etc) or Night Haunter, who was a completely ruthless, [[AxCrazy psychotic]] [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans vigilante]], who led a Legion of rapists and murderers and nuked his own homeworld.
* ''Literature/GauntsGhosts:'' Considering that the main characters (The Tanith 1st and Only) are all stealth experts fighting a war against an enemy [[Main/TheUnfettered that feels no fear, pity or remorse and has no morals or qualms whatsoever]], and considers most atrocities [[Main/ReligionOfEvil as a form of worship to their Gods]], this trope comes into play a lot from both sides.
** It is explicitly mentioned, however, in ''His Last Command'' where [[Main/DrillSergeantNasty Major Rawne]] is shown fighting with no restraint whatsoever against the Archenemy. It frightens some of the men beside him - men who've probably seen the worst the Galaxy has to offer. Justified in that the Major had spent a long time as an infiltrator on a Chaos-held World named Gereon, which [[Main/IDidWhatIHadToDo necessitated him learning how to fight dirty]].
*** Not that Rawne is a paragon of chivalry to begin with...
* Don "Mad Dog" Slade from Creator/DavidDrake's ''Cross the Stars'' observes that you should only hit someone with your bare hands when you're naked and your feet are nailed to the floor.
* Similar Advice is passed along to the protagonist of ''Literature/StarDance'' by a Space Fleet Captain: "My Daddy also told me 'Only hit the soft parts with your hand. Hit the hard parts with a utensil.' "
* If Literature/RepairmanJack can't beat it, he'll shoot it. Heck, he'll probably shoot it even if he ''can'' beat it--he'd rather err on the side of caution. Now, if shooting doesn't work (which is not unlikely, given some [[EldritchAbomination things]] he bumps into) things will get ''really'' funny.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** The mercenary, Bronn, regularly uses unchivalrous tactics to win fights. When championing Tyrion in a trial by combat, he uses light armor and evades his heavily armored knight adversary until the man is exhausted. The knights in attendance find these tactics in very poor taste.
*** Though, as Bronn points out, he may not have fought with honor, but the dead man certainly did. And look where it got him.
** When [[spoiler: Cersei]] orders [[spoiler: Bronn]] to be killed, Balman Byrch realises that he would be no match for such an experienced killer in a sword fight. Consequently he challenges [[spoiler: Bronn]] to a joust on horseback (thinking that the ex-sellsword would lose because he would have no experience of jousting,) and plans to kill him while he's lying stunned on the ground. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, Bronn proves himself to be a better Combat Pragmatist than Balman; Bronn aims for his horse rather than Balman himself both more quickly and accurately than the older knight could try pulling the same tactic, and kills him while he's lying stunned on the ground]].
** Oberyn Martell uses light armor, a spear, and poison to fight the much larger, heavily-armoured Gregor Clegane. [[spoiler:He forgets to be pragmatic where it really counts, and loses in the end, though not before fatally poisoning his opponent.]]
** In his first scene, Loras Tyrell faces down Gregor Clegane in a joust. Gregor favours large, bad-tempered stallions, so Loras comes to the joust riding a mare in heat. Gregor's stallion did all the work for him.
** Despite being a WideEyedIdealist with more devotion to the ideals of chivalry than any other character in the series, Brienne of Tarth can also be very pragmatic; she defeats [[spoiler:Loras Tyrell]] in a mounted melee by tackling him off his horse. In her fight with [[spoiler:Jaime Lannister]] she knows that her endurance is superior, so she stays on the defensive and lets him chase her through a forest until he tires before attacking him. When he manages to disarm her, she pins him down and tries to drown him in a river--it's only a third party interrupting the fight that saves him.
** Ser Duncan the Tall from the ''Literature/TalesOfDunkAndEgg'' prequel novellas starts out as little more than an upstarted street urchin. He is a terrible jouster, and is handily defeated in a sword duel by a proper knight. However, when the battle descends into an unarmed brawl, Dunk easily pins his opponent and beats him senseless, partially using his opponent's own shield.
** Tyrion Lannister ''has'' to be as pragmatic as humanly possible when any confrontation turns physical, simply because pretty much everybody outweighs and outreaches him.
* Feyd-Rautha of ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' hides a needle with a paralyzing agent on his waist in his knife-fight with Paul. On top of that, he also pretends to be "shield-conditioned" (slower than he is) and leaves his right hip undefended a little too much, leading Paul to guess there's a poison needle hidden there. However, when locked in close, Paul tries to keep himself to Feyd's left only to discovers the needle is actually on his left hip and he was playing Paul very, very well.
** Feyd took this approach to the Gladiatorial arena as well. [[spoiler:When Thufir's ''undrugged'' gladiator gave Feyd and the crowd the match of a lifetime, it turned out that Feyd had put the ceremonial poison for his bout on the ''wrong blade'', allowing him to show his cunning in front of the entire population of Harko.]]
* Lazarus Long in ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove'' is one of these. Generally all Creator/RobertAHeinlein's "good" characters are.

* In the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series:
** Kahlan learns about how the Mud People once slaughtered a vastly larger tribe simply by killing them everywhere except on the battlefields. In their homes, in their privies, in their beds, everywhere. Later, when confronting an army of D'Haran rebels who have sided with the Imperial Order, she puts these lessons to work. To start with, she poisons a cart of liquor and leaves it to be found by the enemy officers. Later, she leads a night raid into the enemy camp...[[MemeticMutation naked, like the Celts]], and butchers several of the officers remaining. This trend continues as she has her army made particular emphasis on killing physicians and other non-combatants, as killing one of them is as good as killing dozens of other soldiers who could no longer be healed by them. By the end, she has led an army of recruits to victory against a battle-hardened veteran force ten times its size.
** Later, during the fighting retreat as the Imperial Order [[MillionMookMarch in its millions]] finally invades the New World, Kahlan increases her pragmatism by an order of magnitude. After the D'Haran army is handily defeated in a stand-up fight, she takes charge and spends the better part of a year using hit-and-run guerilla tactics to grind down the Order's army by hundreds of thousands. In her most impressive feat, she she uses a barrel of powdered glass and scatters it in front of an advancing enemy force, killing thousands from lung infections and causing tens of thousands to go blind.

* Literature/AnitaBlake isn't at all averse to this, especially considering she's usually up against vampires, shapechangers or worse but she pales compared to Edward, famous for using a ''flamethrower'' against some vamps.

* The Dorsai in Creator/GordonRDickson's ''Literature/ChildeCycle'' believe in thinking outside the box. However, they would never, ever, violate the "Mercenaries Code" (which is something like [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar the Geneva Conventions]]). When one person asked one of the Dorsai commanders if he had ever shot prisoners, the commander got quite threatening about the idea that he would ever do such a thing.
* Mike Z. Williamson's Freehold, especially the Black Ops. Think {{Improvised Weapon}}s Of Mass Destruction.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
** In ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Starfighters of Adumar]]'', Wes Janson winds up in a duel using a blastsword, a weapon he has very little idea how to use. What Janson ends up doing is parrying his opponent's first strike, then knocking the sword out with his hands and [[GoodOldFisticuffs beating the crap out of him in unarmed combat]].
** In the Literature/XWingSeries, both Rogue and Wraith Squadrons are completely happy to use any unfair and probably illegal methods they can think of, including pretending to be the enemy, flying false flags, and acts of piracy. Note that in RealLife, all three of those are HIGHLY illegal. Hell, Wraith Squadron was BUILT on this, using random misfits and Special Forces soldiers as pilots specifically so they wouldn't fly and fight like pilots.
*** In Real Life pretending to be the enemy and flying false flags is illegal IF you open fire while pretending to be the enemy or flying false flags. Change to your own colors, flags, uniforms and IFF beacons before shooting and you are clear of problems (legal ones). Piracy is solved by letters of marque that names a enemy; acts of piracy against ENEMY (with whom you are at war) shipping is legal. Wraith Squadron was given permission from Command to carry out acts of piracy against Empire forces and goverments that support the Empire.
** In ''Yoda: Literature/DarkRendezvous'', this is how WeakButSkilled Padawan Scout wins an Initiate tournament. She takes advantage of a lot of things: that some of her opponents are unwilling to seriously hurt her, that she can throw things in people's faces, that [[LoopholeAbuse There Ain't No Rule]] against leaving the ring or ''ducking behind the referee'', and especially the fact that in the tournament, lightsabers are turned down and won't cut through her if she grabs the blade. Notably, she never outright ''breaks'' a written rule, just unsaid ones.
** Mara Jade is particularly fond of this, especially before she firmly joins the good guys.
** The novelization of ''Literature/RevengeOfTheSith'' offers a better explanation (that is to say, ''an'' explanation) of how Palpatine kills three of the best swordsmen in the galaxy without breaking a sweat. When the Jedi Masters come to arrest him, he pretends to be a helpless politician, terrified of four armed men threatening him for no reason. The moment their certainty falters, he's across the room and one's head is bouncing off the floor, while another staggers away with a hole drilled through his forehead. He may be old, but he's a Master of the Dark Side.
** Despite being a ProudWarriorRace, the Mandalorians pride themselves on pragmatism and flexibility in a combat situation. There are certain protocols in place for honor duels, competitions, and disputes between ''Mando'ade'', but when it's an actual battle, they fight to ''win.'' It's one of the reasons they praise [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Revan]] so highly as a WorthyOpponent. Revan was one of the few Jedi who was just as ruthlessly pragmatic as they were, and beat them with their own tactics.
* Partially because she's untrained but mostly because she's her, Sirantha Jax of ''Literature/TheSiranthaJaxSeries'' will use any means to win--fighting dirty, crazy tactics, you name it.
* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'' by Creator/TamoraPierce
** Alanna/Alan from ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'' is being abused by a bully. What does she do? She goes into the city, and has her friend [[GentlemanThief George]] and his men teach her street fighting. Alanna and the bully fight, and Alanna wins. Of course, everything that she does goes against the code of conduct for the boys, but...
** Keladry from ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' is an adherent of this too. When she's faced with uneven odds in the first pages of the first book, she grabs a big stick as an "equalizer" and hits all the boys in their muscles and belly. When punched in the stomach by Joren's gang, she deliberately aims the resulting barf at one of her opponents.
* In Chris Roberson's ''Literature/SonsOfDorn'', Jean-Robur learns to fight like this in his first battle, stabbing a foe InTheBack.
* In ''Literature/TheIronTeeth'', Blacknail the goblin has absolutely no sense of fair play whatsoever. He is constantly ambushing his opponents or attacking them from behind. He also attacks unarmed men with a sword several times as well. It never even occurs to him to fight fair.
** During one fight, he faces off against a rival assassin who urges him to fight with honor. Blacknail decides that's a fine weakness to exploit. [[spoiler:Turns out the rival didn't mean a word, and he says he wouldn't be a good assassin if he played fair.]]
* ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'': Vlad grew up in a bad part of town as a victim of FantasticRacism before clawing his way up to a mid-level position in [[TheSyndicate the Jhereg]] as an assassin. This, along with the fact that most of the people he's fighting are [[SuperiorSpecies bigger and stronger than him]], has led him to become the kind of guy whose standard tactics involve having his poisonous-miniature-dragon familiar fly into people's faces to distract them.
** Backfires on him once, as well. On their way into the Paths of the Dead, Vlad Taltos and Morrolan are forced to face a group of Dragonlords, one at a time, in single combat. Vlad throws a knife at his opponent while the latter is waiting for him to draw his sword, which makes the Dragons angry enough to attack them ''all at once'' instead.

* Sadrao, an [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic dog]] in Ursula Vernon's ''Literature/BlackDogs'', uses a weapon that a lot of FunnyAnimal protagonists forget about: teeth. He bites off a bandits ''face''.
* Garren in the Literature/FarsalaTrilogy fits this trope, despite being the villain. In a duel meant to decide the fate of Farsala, he calls in his entire army when the odds turn against him. Of all the characters, he's one of the few who really understands how to get the job done. That doesn't mean we have to like him.
** He does this twice. In the first book, when the king challenges him to a one on one duel on the battlefield to end the war quickly, what does he do? [[spoiler: He simply orders several archers to shoot him ''while he stood there without attacking'']].
** The second time is the one mentioned above. [[spoiler: When he has yet another duel to determine the kingdom's fate, he actually begins to lose...and so he orders the exact same thing on the teenager who was beating him. This was going a bit too far, however, because the main female protagonist completely destroys him with a bolt of lightning afterwards.]]
** On a larger scale, Garren's [[CombatPragmatism combat pragmatism]] causes him to win the battles but lose the war--while tactics like using hostages as shields, disregarding the challenge circle, using peasant conscripts as cannon fodder, and torturing a prisoner make life a lot harder for the protagonists, they also undermine the support of his subordinates and secure popular support for [[LaResistance the resistance]].
* Valentinian from the ''Literature/BelisariusSeries'' is a vicious bastard who compensates for his (relative) lack of height and bulk compared to some of the other badasses in the series by taking advantage of his lightning fast reflexes to help him pull off every dirty trick in the book. He's so good at it that late in the series he trains a twelve year old boy well enough that the kid can take out multiple professional soldiers on his own. He loses one fight in the series, against the legendary Rana Sanga, specifically because he steps away from this trope for once (he had Sanga wounded and could have picked away at him and bled him to death while staying out of reach, but chose to try to finish the fight honorably and had his sword (and skull) broken as a result). He survives and avoids doing anything that stupid ever again.
** On a larger scale, Belisarius himself. Facing an army too large to fight head-on? Give 'em a good swift kick in the logistics.
* Kirth Gersen from Creator/JackVance's ''Literature/TheDemonPrinces'' cycle. At one point during a BloodSport, he and one other player face off against TheDragon. Gersen has a number of cheating options available. What does he do? Make a deal with the other player to split the prize, and team up.
* Arthur Dent has a moment of ''Pacifist'' Pragmatism in ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''. He finds Trillian and Thor canoodling at a party, and challenges the later to step outside for a fight. The party was taking place in an ''airborne building''. This version of Thor can't fly. Of course, there might've been a porch outside, but Arthur locks the door when he leaves and suggests everyone nip out the back. It later turned out he survived.
* Present in ''Literature/ThePyrates'' in the form of Colonel Thomas Blood, skilled swordsman and master shin-kicker. His dirty fighting is enough to let him keep up with classical master Long Ben Avery, despite being slower, weaker, and far less fit. Also averted by pirate swordmaster Black Bilbo:
-->Avery, on t'other hand, is a genius, as we know, and younger and fitter--but then again, Bilbo has the experience, and knows lots of tricks--but curiously enough, black scoundrel though he is, the thought of using them [[WorthyOpponent never crosses his mind]].
* ''Literature/DonQuixote'': Alonso Quixano admires famous Knight Bernardo del Carpio because he defeated Roldan (in an alternative legend to the Song of Roland) because, instead of attacking Roldan the Enchanted with a sword, Bernardo just strangled him. Part I, Chapter 1:
-->''"He thought more of [[WeirdAlEffect Bernardo del Carpio]] because at [[Literature/TheSongOfRoland Roncesvalles ]] he slew [[NighInvulnerable Roland]] in spite of [[AWizardDidIt enchantments]], availing himself of the artifice of Hercules when he strangled Antaeus the son of Terra in his arms. "''
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's "Literature/BeyondTheBlackRiver", Literature/ConanTheBarbarian, with no shame, [[FriendOrFoe deceives a Pict into coming close enough to be killed]].
* Quite a few of the characters in the [[Literature/HonorHarrington Honorverse]]. At one point, Honor has to meet a pirate warlord in person to arrange the release of hostages he is holding. Knowing that he will scan her for energy weapons, [[spoiler:she simply brings along a semi-automatic handgun (of a model that went out of style ''millennia'' before the story takes place.) She [[BoomHeadshot plugs his goons]] and captures the warlord once they let their guard down.]]
** The Honorverse's undisputed master of this trope, however, is Nimitz, a telepathic six-limbed creature known as a [[CallASmeerpARabbit Treecat]] [[{{Telepathy}} who knows what you want to do before]] ''[[{{Telepathy}} you]]'' [[{{Telepathy}} do]], is ''[[FragileSpeedster very]]'' [[FragileSpeedster fast]], and knows that humans are useless in a fight once you've [[EyeScream clawed out their eyes]]. Oh, and he hangs out with [[LightningBruiser Honor]].
*** This is shown to rather gruesome effect in the thwarting of an assassination attempt during [[Literature/HonorHarrington ''The Honor of the Queen'']]. As the security cameras picked up the entire battle-cum-massacre, Honor and (especially) Nimitz completely shredding the assassins and nearly getting killed in the process ends up broadcast across the entire planetary news service, redefining her rather handily in the minds of almost any Grayson.
* In the novel ''Party Line'' by A. Bates the male protagonist goes to a self-defense class, the instructor emphatically tells the students to go for the eyes, ears, throat, etc. When the protagonist happens upon a kidnapper later, he does precisely that. [[spoiler:When he wakes up, he finds out that it didn't work because the kidnapper was ''the self-defense instructor''.]]
* Creator/JamesPatterson's ''Literature/KissTheGirls'' has a woman who takes self-defense classes, with the GroinAttack recommended. [[spoiler:When Casanova abducts her, she kicks him in the nuts. Unfortunately, Casanova was wearing protection. Because he had been watching her go to her self-defense classes.]]
* Both [[Literature/ClockpunkAndTheVitalizer Clockpunk and The Vitalizer]] are pragmatists, though the former is essentially forced to be one because of her non-physical powers. Thanks to her quick thinking, she manages pretty well.
* From the same author as ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' above, ''Literature/CodexAlera'' is set in a land where everyone has access to what are basically elemental Franchise/{{Pokemon}}, and the main character is the one kid who doesn't. As a result, he's had to rely on his wits where most people use brute force. For example, salt dispels wind "furies", wild or tame. So he specifically carries around rock salt should he encounter some wild ones, and gives his uncle the idea to use rock-salt arrowheads, which are very useful against aerial attackers using wind furies to fly. By the fifth book, he's pretty well known for winning apparently hopeless fights.
** The Vord Queen, the BigBad of the series and leader of a HordeOfAlienLocusts, is even more of a pragmatist than Tavi. She expresses her disappointment over the fact that she can't kill refugees because soldiers are covering their escape. When it's pointed out that every able man is already fighting, the Queen points out that the elderly civilians can bring experience, the women can bear young, and the children will grow up to be her enemies. If it's not clear, the Vord view this, and every war, as a GuiltFreeExterminationWar rather than something more conventional.

* In the Creator/DaleBrown novel ''Executive Intent'', the Chinese are this in their attack on Mogadishu. Some guy firing on their troops from a building? Most forces would try to storm the building and get into risky room clearing. Screw that. They level the whole damn building. Doesn't matter if you're a militiaman/pirate/gangster or really just a civilian - you make the mistake of gathering in a group that could be remotely construed as a regrouping squad, they'll mow you all down and let Chairman Mao sort out the dead.
* In the ''Literature/YoungBond'' series, there is a character called "Red" Kelly (introduced in ''Literature/SilverFin''), who teaches Literature/JamesBond (yes the very same only, well, younger) that fights don't have rules. He says that "No such thing as fighting dirty, really, Jimmy. There's just fighting to win. Use whatever you like, you can forget about rules..."

* ''Literature/{{Sandokan}}'':
** The [[CharacterTitle eponymous protagonist]] of the series and his best friend Yanez are this. While most of the times this manifests in ambushes and the normal tricks of the middle 19th century pirate of the Indian Ocean, they have sometimes gone overboard, with Sandokan setting the record for the foulest act of CombatPragmatist in ''Yanez's Revenge'' by using ''[[ThePlague cholera]]'' against the enemy of the novel (a twenty thousands-strong army of Indian outcasts armed with muzzle-loading guns and antiquated artillery) and deploying [[MoreDakka a dozen early machine guns]] to give the cholera time to make the enemies literally shit themselves to death.
** Sandokan is also at the receiving end of the first act of the series: in the first novel Sandokan and two ''prahos'' (small sailships) worth of pirates are fighting a British cruiser, and, knowing they're hopelessly outgunned, start paddling to board the enemy ship... That uses her steam propulsion to move away at the last moment, provoking the pirates into screaming insults and obscenities until the cruiser resumes firing.
** The British forces in general are this, always using [[MoreDakka all the firepower they need and then some just to be safe]].
* ''Literature/LightAndDarkTheAwakeningOfTheMageknight'': There ain't no rule about bringing a dagger to a sword fight and hiding it on your person until the time is right. [[spoiler: Danny wins the squire duel against Rigil this way.]]
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Professor Slughorn and the Slytherin students leave the school before the start of the Battle of Hogwarts. However, [[spoiler:Slughorn and several Slytherins return later to join the fight, after having gathered reinforcements from the families of those who stayed to defend the castle.]]
** Harry himself is this as well, initially trying to curse Voldemort from under his invisibility cloak. The rest of the school fights in a similar manner, using any tricks they can to overwhelm their superiorly trained opponents. Highlights include animating all the suits of armor in the school, blowing up the bridge, and throwing crystal balls down on enemy wizard's heads.
** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', Neville, temporarily unable to verbalize spells, stabs a Death Eater in the eye with a wand.
* Creator/DavidGemmell characters, by and large, tend to favour the policy that the best opponent is a dead one, and that rules that get in the way are best ignored. It's even a plot point in ''Literature/HeroInTheShadows'' when Waylander chooses to fight in a semi-honourable but still brutal duel rather than just nailing the guy with a crossbow bolt.
* In ''Literature/{{Trainspotting}}'', the feared barroom brawler Francis Begbie is known to carry a variety of home-made weapons about him, such as sharpened knitting needles. Renton suspects that he's actually not a very good fighter in a "square go."
* In the beginning of the first ''Literature/NightHuntress'' book, Cat complains that she would have killed Bones if he hadn't sucker-punched her, to which he laughs and lectures her that fighting dirty is the ''only'' way to fight. She takes the lesson to heart, and eventually teaches it to her subordinates in the military.
* Lampshaded in Creator/JohnVarley’s ''Golden Globe'': “If you must shoot somebody, aim for a spot right between the shoulder blades.” As the villain didn’t turn her back to Sparky, he shoots her through the door, looking through the peephole.
* The Justicar, the main character from the three ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' novels ''White Plume Mountain'', ''Descent Into the Depths of the Earth'', and '''Queen of the Demonweb Pits'' lives by this trope. He attacks from ambush whenever possible, [[GroinAttack hits below the belt]], and his (often repeated) personal view on combat is "if they hit back you did something wrong."
* Literature/{{Parker}}, the central character in a series of novels by Richard Stark, will do whatever it takes to win a fight. The idea of "fighting fair" would never cross his mind.
* In the ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' series:
--> Every Lensman has a completely detailed knowledge of all the lethal tricks of foul combat known to all the dirty fighters of ten thousand planets for twice ten thousand years.
* In ''Spellbound,'' the second book of ''Literature/TheGrimnoirChronicles,'' Sharpes, a heavyweight boxer decides to have fun beating up Heinrich, a currently-de-powered wizard. Unfortunately for him, Heinreich had grown up in a zombie-filled city and is used to fighting above his weight class. Heinrich opens with a series of groin shots and builds from there.
* Penny's mother in ''Literature/PleaseDontTellMyParentsImASupervillain'', to the point that most criminals will surrender instead of fighting her, despite the fact that she has no actual powers. One villain, the Bull, tells a story of how she fought him. She stuffed sand in his eyes, nose, and ears, tricked him into punching a telephone pole and electrocuting himself, and then hit him with a bus.
* ''[[Literature/AMagesPower A Mage's Power]]'': Mercenaries don't fight with "honor". They use GroinAttack and EvilEye whenever it suits them. This is part of Eric's advantage in a tournament populated by high-society student mages.
* In ''Literature/AHarvestOfWar'' all fighting characters are this, with clear nods to HEMA.
* The super powered training cadre of [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/literature/Citadel Citadel]] fit. The students' first lesson has half of them stripped naked, tied up and beaten by the other half. At least they get to take turns.
* Everyone but Wing in the ''Literature/HIVESeries''. When Wing alludes to fighting fairly, the rest of the team is genuinely confused as to why he would bother.

* ''{{Literature/Redwall}}'': Matthias has to be this, being a thirteen-year-old up against an experienced warlord. Cluny chases Matthias up into the belltower and demands he come down in exchange for the release of a hostage. Matthias does come down, [[spoiler:but first lets the ''bell'' down, directly on top of his opponent.]]
* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': Katniss Everdeen increasingly becomes this as the novels progress, though moreso during the games.
* In ''Literature/SonOfTheBlackSword'' by Creator/LarryCorreia, pragmatism is a way of life for [[ActionGirl Thera]]. She rather mischievously tells Ashok about the time she pretended to be a ScreamingWoman DamselInDistress ''just'' long enough to get a rapist off his guard. And then she [[GroinAttack unmanned him]] with a concealed knife.

* Literature/AlexisCarew fights dirty because, being a young woman barely a meter and a half tall, there's no other way for her to brawl effectively (demonstrated by her hurting nothing but her hand when she punches a SpaceMarine in the gut during practice). She was taught by her grandfather's foremen from a young age that if a man laid his hands on her with ill intent, she was to hurt him however possible until she could get away. She does things like striking eyes, stamping feet, and breaking fingers.
* Almost every moral message to be gleaned from David Weber's [[Literature/HonorHarrington "Honorverse"]] is about the excessiveness of combat pragmatism, including the brutality of pragmatism absent any morality. The unarmed combat style, ''coup de vitesse'' ("blow of speed", in the same sense as ''coup d'etat''), is about maximal damage and lethality in minimal time. One of many moments is the method by which a regime protects itself by strafing rioting civilians with miniguns that fire hundreds of rounds per second, dropping "snowflake" cluster bombs, and conducting precision orbit-to-surface kinetic strikes against buildings filled with sympathisers in the most populous city on the planet's surface. Even the main protagonist for the first twelve novels is well trained as a methodical military killer, impersonally as a starship commander as well as personally with sidearms or bare-handed brutality, saving any feelings of dread, guilt, and regret for afterward.
* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': Kaladin is very firm that it is a soldier's job to kill the enemy however possible, and makes no apologies for it. However, he does muse that he has been known to leave weakened enemies alive, avoids attacking the unarmed, and does tend to feel bad about some of his more underhanded tricks. He decides he's just [[HypocriticalHumor not good at following his own advice]].
* ''Literature/TheDarkswordTrilogy'' features an unusual example. Prince Garald is emphatically not one of these, but when he takes the time to teach Joram how to fence, he makes it very clear that he doesn't have time to teach him how to reliably win a fair fight.
-->'''Garald:''' Honour is a fine thing, but the dead have little use of it.
* Nobody actually fights cleanly in ''Literature/HereticalEdge'' but protagonist Felicity Chambers sticks out for just how dirty she'll fight despite a relative lack of experience. One of her most common moves is throwing telekinetically controlled sand in her opponent's face, and she's utterly ruthless about confirming kills. Stun a regenerating werewolf? Shove a knife into his brain and twist to make sure he stays down. [[spoiler: Evil angel commando Charmeine]] gets launched out a window and the multi-story drop isn't a sure kill? Jump after her, impale her through the chest on the way down, and then split her head in half vertically to make absolutely sure the enemy dies.
* ''Literature/CradleSeries'':
** Most [[SupernaturalMartialArts sacred artists]] are not shy about using whatever they have at their disposal, but special mention goes to Lindon. He will happily set up traps, gadgets, and whatever else he needs to survive when fighting above his weight class (which happens a ''lot''). Other sacred artists, who don't like having trouble with someone lower than them, call this cheating.
** Eithan says that Lindon's greatest strength is that he spent most of his life as the weakest around by a large margin, and therefore is very good at planning ahead and scrambling for any advantage he can. On the other hand, Lindon often forgets that he is not weak any more, and has occasionally tried to spend hours planning for an encounter that he could blast through in seconds.
* ''Literature/SchooledInMagic'': Emily's Martial Magic teachers teach her very early to cheat as thoroughly as possible in a real fight, a lesson she takes to heart.
* In ''Literature/CastleHangnail'', combat pragmatism is said to be the characteristic approach of witches in {{Wizard Duel}}s. A sorceress will rely on raw power, but a witch will improvise with whatever she has to hand.
* ''Literature/{{City of Bones|1995}}'' by Creator/MarthaWells: Khat is used to surviving on the fringes of society and can't afford not to fight dirty -- staging ambushes, pulling a knife on an unarmed opponent, and distracting them whenever possible. He usually fights in self-defense, and the rest of the time, makes sure that his opponents have it coming -- and never see him coming.
* ''Literature/CaptivePrince'': Veretian royalty apply this philosophy to war, pulling stunts like {{False Flag Operation}}s and staging surprise attacks during parlay. This works against them just as much: their ProudWarriorRaceGuy enemies despise underhanded tactics and assume that any Veretian offer of peace is being made in bad faith.

** 71 Hour Ahmed from ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'' is a NotSoDifferent counterpart to Samuel Vimes, e.g. they're both coppers. Vimes' beat is Ankh-Morpork. Ahmed's beat is all of the desert of Klatchistan, which he often has to venture into to chase desperate criminals by himself. That [[MeaningfulName nickname]] of his should tell you how pragmatic he is. [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Klatchians]] have to [[SacredHospitality shelter a guest in the desert for three days]], regardless of their relationship, and the guest should return the favor. Ahmed found a particularly bad sort of criminal who committed a heinous crime, and who also gave him shelter, and... Well, you can extrapolate the rest.

** Vimes describes the idea of "bottle covey" to Sybil in one of the earlier books and she remarks that it [[SarcasmMode in no way, shape, or form]] describes a [[NotSoDifferent certain someone she knows intimately.]]

** The Witches, Granny Ogg in particular, have very powerful magics at their disposal, but if danger comes around they'd rather use the aforementioned half-brick inna sock to subdue their foes.

* In Chris Roberson's ''Literature/ImperialFists'' novel ''Sons of Dorn'', Jean-Robur learns to fight like this in his first battle, stabbing a foe InTheBack.

* Catherine from ''APracticalGuideToEvil'' is taught by her mentor to "kill- kill well and quickly, while giving as few openings as possible." She takes the advice to heart and later uses every advantage she can get in a fight: punching opponents in a sword fight, distraction, repositioning enemies so that they kill each other, or throwing the fantastic version of grenades.

* Rebel leader John Rumford in the thriller ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' is the military version of this, signing off on deception, ambushes, use of hostages and bombings that ''will'' necessarily claim innocents as collateral damage, among other things. He typically does not like it, but rationalizes everything as the only way his vastly outnumbered underdogs can win the civil war.

--> '''Admiral Mancuso''': Sir, a fair fight means all my guys get to go home. Fuck the other guys.

* ''Literature/EndersGame''

---> "We don't give a [[PrecisionFStrike shit]] about fairness here. We're [[ItsWhatIDo soldiers]]. Soldiers shoot [[InTheBack in the back]], lay traps and ambushes, [[DidYouActuallyBelieve lie to the enemy]], and outnumber the other bastard every chance they get. Your kind of murder only works among civilians. And you were too stupid, too ''insane,'' to realize that."

* Sam Vimes of Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' is a great believer in dirty fighting. His fighting style consists of using everything you have to hit anything you can. He calls it "artful". About the only time he's ever been delicate about the subject was when he was mentioning Nobby's "favorite kick" in front of ''Lady'' Sybil Ramkin.
** His most iconic move is probably the "Vimes Elbow."
** Vimes' pragmatism can be pretty well summed up by this quote:
--->'''Vimes:''' "And for close-up fighting, as your senior sergeant [[CouldSayItBut I explicitly forbid you]] to investigate the range of coshes, blackjacks, and brass knuckles sold by Mrs. Goodbody at No. 8 Easy Street at a range of prices and sizes to suit all pockets, and should any of you approach me privately I absolutely will not [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial demonstrate a variety of specialist blows suitable for these useful yet tricky instruments]]."

---> "[[GroinAttack Make a sudden move, and neither are you]]."

** Also applies to Vimes' [[BattleButler butler]] Willikins, who in his youth was a member of a particularly tough street gang. He is arguably Vimes' equal - less artful, but less constrained in his choices of weapons and methods. [[note]]Translation: Vimes tries to avoid killing; Willikins does not.[[/note]]
** It's implied in the City Watch novels, that in the street fights of Ankh-Morpork being able to use your hands is already considered posh.
** Vimes' fighting style is contrasted with that of the Marquis of Fantailler, a send-up of the Marquis de Queensbury who "wrote a set of rules for what he termed 'the noble art of fisticuffs,' which mostly consisted of a list of places where people weren't allowed to hit him. Many people were impressed with his work and later stood with noble chest out-thrust and fists balled in a spirit of manly aggression against people who hadn't read the Marquis's book but did know how to knock people senseless with a chair." A surprising number of those people's last words were something along the lines of "Stuff the bloody Marquis of Fantail--"
*** Vimes' opinion on Fantailler seems to have softened slightly by the time of ''Literature/{{Snuff}}'', at least to the extent where he's prepared to offer the use of the rules when challenged to a duel. But this is simply one of many ploys used to try and scare his challenger, treating the challenge as a deadly serious endeavour, which means offering the man the chance to choose the rules of the duel.
*** This is a view carried (whether they learned it from him or not) by many of the watch.

** Vimes' antagonist in ''Literature/NightWatchDiscworld'' is Carcer, whom Vimes describes as a "bottle covey". The guy who'll take every possible way to kill you, just because he likes it, and takes advantage of the system whenever he can. [[{{Foil}} In some ways Carcer is "evil Vimes"]], which is hinted at several times in the book.
*** Vimes describes the idea of "bottle covey" to Sybil in one of the earlier books and she remarks that it [[SarcasmMode in no way, shape, or form]] describes a [[NotSoDifferent certain someone she knows intimately.]]

** Cohen is also the leader of the Silver Horde, six other equally ancient, equally pragmatic barbarians. ''Literature/InterestingTimes'' had one of them squaring off against a ninja. After pretending he was getting ready to break a block of wood barehanded and making sure the ninja was watching his hands, he [[GroinAttack kicked the ninja in the treasury]] and whacked him over the head with said block. Should've watched the leg, indeed.
*** Later on in the same book, one of the local lords shows off his Samurai by having him throw a handkerchief into the air, and slice it cleanly in half. Cohen then throws ''his'' handkerchief into the air...and then chops off the Samurai's head as he's watching the handkerchief. The Horde don't even need Cohen to give them instructions and are already slaughtering their foes.
** Although he's not a viewpoint character, it's very clear that General Tacticus was a big proponent of this style of warfare; his method of command tended to not only conquer lots of territory but do it with most of his men still alive at the end, which more traditional military historians felt was somehow cheating. Vimes is, rather unsurprisingly, a fan.
*** It should be noted that the regular style of warfare from Tacticus's time till the time the novels take place, was basically to inflict as many "heroic casualties" on each other's army as possible. Which means to allow as many of your men to be killed by the enemy as possible. If you have more men at the end than the enemy it was a nice bonus.
*** Tacticus described one of the good strategies for assaulting an near-impenetrable fortress with a good supply of water and food available to the defenders: "See (that the occupants) stay there". He considers the other good strategy to be "Endeavor to be the ones inside."
*** Lavaeolus (Discworld's Odysseus analog) counts as well, though for different reasons, he dislikes slaughter, and so looks for every method of winning that doesn't result in it.
** Rincewind will openly admit he's a coward and a rat--they ''survive'', after all--but when cornered, his strategy is to hit his opponent with everything he can before they can realize that he doesn't know how to fight.

*** As well, Ridcully and the Librarian are comparatively prone to this, although in both cases they also have the muscle to carry it off. In the Librarian's case, he's an Orang Utan who can unscrew your head off with his toes.
*** The Witches, Granny Ogg in particular, have very powerful magics at their disposal, but if danger comes around they'd rather use the aforementioned half-brick inna sock to subdue their foes.
** The Nac Mac Feegles are this to a tee, partly because they're fairies (of the Scottish type, i.e. neglectfully dangerous at best, ranging on down to pure evil) by origin, and partly because when you're six inches high, fighting 'fair' is actually rather difficult all around. [[UnderestimatingBadassery For their enemies]]. Feegle may be tiny, but they have the strength and durability of a large and angry man. If you think you can kill them by stepping on them, be prepared for a six-inch man climbing up your pant leg and breaking your kneecap, [[GroinAttack punching you in the balls]], or grabbing you by the eyelids and [[UseYourHead headbutting you into next week]]. The fact that they view the Disc as a sort of heaven (i.e. having been good in the past life they can let themselves go in this one) probably helps as well.

* Corwin in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'' is big on this. For example, in his climactic duel with a master swordsman who'd been foreshadowed a book earlier, Corwin runs away, rounds a corner, throws his cloak into the other man's face as he follows, then stabs him while he's blind. The guy then proceeds to whine about being killed by cheating.
-->'''Corwin, to Borel's dying body:''' This isn't exactly the Olympic Games.
** His son Merlin later mocks the guy's ghost for fighting fair after defeating him again by [[spoiler: accidentally throwing a sword at him.]]
--->'''Merlin, to Borel's [[ItMakesSenseInContext dying ghost]]:''' This isn't the Winter Games, either.
** This is essentially Corwin's biggest personality trait. He takes over a swords-and-sorcery kingdom with a small force [[spoiler: carrying assault rifles.]] At one point he wants his son to follow him; his son declines, and so Corwin [[spoiler: attacks him with a sword, feints around him, punches him unconscious and carries him away.]]

* In the ''{{Literature/Raffles}}'' stories, both Bunny and Raffles fight dirty: hitting people from behind, chloroforming them, using other people as distractions and just in general doing anything in their power to get one over their opponent.

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' series:

*** In "Day Off," when Darth Wannabe and company attempt to challenge him to a magical duel, Harry just pulls a gun on them. Incidentally, he keeps upgrading said sidearm through the series. This is also a special case, since killing a mortal with magic is strictly against the rules laid down by the White Council of wizards, and doing so means you can expect a visit from a surly enforcer with an enchanted sword. Harry killed his spellcasting mentor[[note]]in self defense[[/note]], which made his life hell for decades; thus, whenever he engages a mortal foe, he ''has'' to use conventional means.
----> '''Darth Wannabe''': Defend yourself! (draws out a wand)\\
'''Harry''': Okay. (Draws out a gun)\\
'''Darth Wannabe''': What are you doing?\\
'''Harry''': I'm-a fixin' to defend myself.
*** And because it's [[BornUnlucky Harry Dresden]], this comes back to bite him later when Darth Wannabe and his groupies take a page out of Harry's book and throw a Molotov cocktail in his apartment. [[spoiler: Fortunately, it doesn't do much. They're really incompetent.]]
** Harry has also found out, and demonstrated, that {{Groin Attack}}s work just as well on trolls and grendelkin as they do on humans. The fact that he does it using ColdIron on the former--resulting in said troll's bits ''bursting into flame''--lets him hold off a whole bunch of them, who wisely do not try to press their luck after seeing what happened to the first one.
** In ''Literature/GhostStory'' Harry interrupts the BigBad in the middle of a villainous monologue with a blast of fire. When she voices her outrage, he does it again. When she still doesn't get the idea he hits her with a ''third'' blast. [[spoiler: Turns out she's a bit of a pragmatist herself, luring Harry into wasting precious memories casting spells, and nearly reducing him to a mindless wraith. She can afford to take the hits better than he can afford to throw them.]]

* In the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series, Kahlan learns about how the Mud People once slaughtered a vastly larger tribe simply by killing them everywhere except on the battlefields. In their homes, in their privies, in their beds, everywhere. Later, when confronting an army of D'Haran rebels who have sided with the Imperial Order, she puts these lessons to work. To start with, she poisons a cart of liquor and leaves it to be found by the enemy officers. Later, she leads a night raid into the enemy camp...[[MemeticMutation naked, like the Celts]], and butchers several of the officers remaining. This trend continues as she has her army made particular emphasis on killing physicians and other non-combatants, as killing one of them is as good as killing dozens of other soldiers who could no longer be healed by them. By the end, she has led an army of recruits to victory against a battle-hardened veteran force ten times its size.

** Remember that above all Holmes loves a challenge--he most likely approaches his fights the same way he approaches his mysteries. Besides, contrary to what some people seem to believe, [[SarcasmMode having actual fighting skill gives you an advantage in a fight]] and Holmes ''is'' a damned good boxer. Plus he's pretty big and ''incredibly'' strong. A "fair fight" against Holmes isn't going to be particularly fair for the average person.

-->'''Baron Vengeous:''' "...only a heathen would bring a gun to a swordfight."
-->'''Skulduggery:''' "And only a moron would bring a sword to a gun fight."
* In TheSpellsongCycle, Ashtaar Ashtarr notes that Secca is one of the most dangerous people in Erde precisely because she is this, borne of her hatred of fighting and willingness to do anything to end a fight as expeditiously as possible. Her mentor Anna did that, too.

* In the ''Literature/YoungBond'' series, there is a character called "Red" Kelly (introduced in ''Literature/SilverFin''), who teaches Literature/JamesBond (yes the very same only, well, younger) that fights don't have rules. He says that " No such thing as fighting dirty, really, Jimmy. There's just fighting to win. use whatever you like, you can forget about rules..."
* Literature/TrappedOnDraconica: RuleNumberOne of Leondian training states 'victory is the only thing that matters'. Rule number two states 'honor is for the weak'.
* The [[CharacterTitle eponymous protagonist]] of the ''Literature/{{Sandokan}}'' series and his best friend Yanez are this. While most of the times this manifests in ambushes and the normal tricks of the middle 19th century pirate of the Indian Ocean, they have sometimes gone overboard, with Sandokan setting the record for the foulest act of CombatPragmatist in ''Yanez's Revenge'' by using ''[[ThePlague cholera]]'' against the enemy of the novel (a twenty thousands-strong army of Indian outcasts armed with muzzle-loading guns and antiquated artillery) and deploying [[MoreDakka a dozen early machine guns]] to give the cholera time to make the enemies literally shit themselves to death.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Professor Slughorn and the Slytherin students leave the school before the start of the Battle of Hogwarts. However, [[spoiler: Slughorn and several Slytherins return later to join the fight, after having gathered reinforcements from the families of those who stayed to defend the castle.]] Harry himself is this as well, initially trying to curse Voldemort from under his invisibility cloak. The rest of the school fights in a similar manner, using any tricks they can to overwhelm their superiorly trained opponents. Highlights include animating all the suits of armor in the school, blowing up the bridge, and throwing crystal balls down on enemy wizard's heads.
* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', Neville, temporarily unable to verbalize spells, stabs a Death Eater in the eye with a wand.

** Tyrion Lannister ''has'' to be as pragmatic as humanly possible when any confrontation turns physical, simply because pretty much everybody outweighs and outreaches him. He also happens to use his history of reading in a fight: when fighting with a party of the Vale Mountain Clans, he breaks out Dunk's "if in doubt, mash them with a shield" tactic to kill. There's little doubt about the source for that.

* ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'': Vlad grew up in a bad part of town as a victim of FantasticRacism before clawing his way up to a mid-level position in [[TheSyndicate the Jhereg]] as an assassin. This, along with the fact that most of the people he's fighting are [[OurElvesAreBetter bigger and stronger than him]], has led him to become the kind of guy whose standard tactics involve having his poisonous-miniature-dragon familiar fly into people's faces to distract them.

*** When taking on Cowl at the end of ''Dead Beat'', Harry doesn't even ''try'' to fight him fairly, because he knows Cowl is a badass who'd smash him in a straight confrontation. [[spoiler:Instead, he waits until Cowl is at the most delicately explosive point of the AGodAmI spell, and then brains him over the head with his staff. Kaboom.]]

* The only magical ability Literature/AlexVerus has in a world full of mages who want him dead is the ability to see the future. As such, he uses this ability to either avoid fights entirely, or sneak up on the bad guys and kill them before they know what's happened. He states outright in the second book that killing people is often safer than trying to disable them as half the time they come back to try again.

** Remember that above all Holmes loves a challenge--he most likely approaches his fights the same way he approaches his mysteries. Besides, contrary to what some people seem to believe, [[SarcasmMode having actual fighting skill gives you an advantage in a fight]] and Holmes ''is'' a damned good boxer.
** It also helps that Holmes is really big and ''incredibly'' strong, regardless. He has a lot going for him, fair fight or not.

** The Vord Queen, the BigBad of the series, is even more of a pragmatist than Tavi. She expresses her disappointment over the fact that she can't kill refugees because soldiers are covering their escape. When it's pointed out that every able man is already fighting, the Queen points out that the elderly civilians can bring experience, the women can bear young, and the children will grow up to be her enemies. That clears "pragmatism" and goes straight into "sociopathy".

* This is practically M.O. of [[Franchise/TheWitcher The Witchers]]. In addition to genetic enhancements and TrainingFromHell they use simple spells designed for quick use in combat with just a simple hand gesture and potions that improve their senses and capabilities. During training one of the witchers states that there is no such thing as "fair fight" and every advantage is to be used to win.

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': Kaladin is very firm that it is a soldier's job to kill the enemy however possible, and makes no apologies for it. However, he does muse that he has been known to leave weakened enemies alive, and avoids attacking the unarmed. He decides he's just [[HypocriticalHumor not good at following his own rules]].

--> "We don't give a [[PrecisionFStrike shit]] about fairness here. We're [[ItsWhatIDo soldiers]]. Soldiers shoot [[InTheBack in the back]], lay traps and ambushes, [[DidYouActuallyBelieve lie to the enemy]], and outnumber the other bastard every chance they get. Your kind of murder only works among civilians. And you were too stupid, too ''insane,'' to realize that."

*** The British forces in general are this, always using [[MoreDakka all the firepower they need and then some just to be safe]].

*** It didn't work in ''The Fifth Elephant'', where Carrot gets his ass handed to him in a fistfight by a werewolf who is just as strong and fast (if not stronger and faster) as he is. Although another character cynically notes that this ultimately got his romantic competition killed off...

** While Alpharius did indeed preach pragmatism, he rarely practiced it. Alpharius wanted to prove himself to his elder brothers, so his tactics were usually incredibly convoluted and elaborate purely so he could show how great his men were when they pulled it off - in one case, he held off attacking a poorly defended planet so the defenders could bolster the defenses to a huge level. He won, and told his fellow primarchs that "it would be too easy" to just attack at once. A better example would be Guilliman, who favoured efficiency (he concentrated on the boring stuff like logistics and supply, knowing it would help more towards victory than cool weapons etc) or Night Haunter, who was a completely ruthless,[[AxCrazy psychotic]] [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans vigilante]], who led a Legion of rapists and murderers and nuked his own homeworld.

--->'''Vimes:'''"And for close-up fighting, as your senior sergeant [[CouldSayItBut I explicitly forbid you]] to investigate the range of coshes, blackjacks, and brass knuckles sold by Mrs. Goodbody at No. 8 Easy Street at a range of prices and sizes to suit all pockets, and should any of you approach me privately I absolutely will not [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial demonstrate a variety of specialist blows suitable for these useful yet tricky instruments]]."

** Also applies to Vimes' [[BattleButler butler]] Willikins, who is arguably Vimes' equal, less artful, but less constrained in his choices of weapons and methods. [[note]]Translation: Vimes tries to avoid killing; Willikins does not[[/note]]

* In ''Literature/TheBridgeKingdomArchives'' [[TheProtagonist Lara]] and her sisters can use anything as a weapon and playing fair is not something that bothers them, only winning (or at least surviving) counts. Subterfuge, disguise, poisons--anything is allowed. That's how they were [[TrainingFromHell taught]].

--> "She’d die before she walked away, regardless of how Aren felt about her. Because freeing Ithicana from her father’s yoke was something she needed to do to live with herself."

*** As well, Ridcully and the Librarian are comparatively prone to this, although in both cases they also have the muscle to carry it off.
** The Nac Mac Feegles are this to a tee, partly because they're fairies (of the Scottish type, i.e., neglectfully dangerous at best, ranging on down to pure evil) by origin, and partly because when you're six inches high, fighting 'fair' is actually rather difficult all around. [[UnderestimatingBadassery For their enemies]]. Feegle may be tiny, but they have the strength and durability of a large and angry man. If you think you can kill them by stepping on them, be prepared for a six-inch man climbing up your pant leg and breaking your kneecap, [[GroinAttack punching you in the balls]], or grabbing you by the eyelids and [[UseYourHead headbutting you into next week]]. The fact that they view the Disc as a sort of heaven (i.e. having been good in the past life they can let themselves go in this one) probably helps as well.