History GuileHero / AnimeAndManga

* Most ''Anime/YuGiOh'' protagonists qualify, possibly one advantage of using card games as SeriousBusiness. Both Kaiba and Jonouchi could do it the old way if they had to, but it was rare that it was necessary. The only series in the franchise with a near-blanket exception is [[Anime/YuGiOh5Ds the third one]], where most of the main cast is from the Satellite slums and had to adopt considerable martial skills to survive.

** Part 3's Jotaro Kujo is also very noteworthy: his appearances in later Parts have most villains being cautious of him, claiming it's not '''''just''''' his super-powerful [[FightingSpirit Stand]], [[SuperSpeed Star]] [[SuperStrength Platinum]], that makes him dangerous as a foe, [[GeniusBruiser but his genius intellect, cunning, and brilliant deductive reasoning]].

** Part 4's Josuke Higashikata (provided you don't insult his hairstyle) is possibly an even smarter fighter than Joseph and Jotaro. While his Stand is very powerful, both in terms of physical strength and its ability (fixing anything except for himself), Josuke's creativity enables him to use it in ways no one else could anticipate. Yoshikage Kira, the Pert's main villain, even states that Josuke Higashikata is potentially more dangerous to him than Jotaro Kujo.

** Part 3's Jotaro Kujo is also very noteworthy: his appearances in later Parts have most villains being cautious of him, claiming it's not his super-powerful [[FightingSpirit Stand]], [[SuperSpeed Star]] [[SuperStrength Platinum]], that makes him dangerous as a foe, [[GeniusBruiser but his genius intellect, cunning, and brilliant deductive reasoning]].

** Part 2's Joseph Joestar is probably the best example, as he often sets intricate traps and ''backup traps'' in case his foes figure out the first one. hE even manages to defeat the BigBad of his starring Part, who by then was an out-and-out InvincibleVillain with CompleteImmortality by [[spoiler:tricking him into firing a attack that caused a volcano to erupt and launch them into the atmosphere. He even added onto it by tricking the villain into getting impaled on the arm Joseph lost to him.]] [[spoiler:Except that none of that was on purpose, rather through sheer luck, but Joseph had done such a good job of establishing his seemingly supernatural wit and guile by that point that he knew his enemy would actually believe him when he said he planned it from the start.]]

** Part 2's Joseph Joestar is probably the best example, as he often sets intricate traps and ''backup traps'' in case his foes figure out the first one. He even manages to defeat the BigBad of his starring Part by [[spoiler:tricking Kars into firing a Hamon attack that causes a volcano to erupt and launch them into the atmosphere; he even manages to get Kars impaled on his severed arm in a surprise attack.]] [[spoiler:And then we find out that none of that was on purpose but Joseph had done such a good job of establishing his supernatural guile by that point that he knew Kars would actually believe him when he said he planned it from the start.]]

* Kurapica from ''Manga/HunterXHunter''. He successfully convinces eleven of the most dangerous criminals in the world that any deviation from his directives, namely any harm done to his friends they hold hostage, will result in the immediate death of their leader Chrollo (whom Kurapica has captured.) During the course of their hostage exchange itself, he successfully de-powers Chrollo and separates him from his followers for the foreseeable future. And he ensures that if the Ryodan's negotiator reveals any personal information she learned during their negotiation, she will die, removing a significant threat his future plans as well as one of the more stable members of the Ryodan even if she doesn't uphold the deal. Keep in mind that up until this point the Ryodan has successfully curb-stomped their way through all obstacles, and Kurapica himself is only capable of restraining one of them at a time. And he managed to get ahold of Chrollo in the first place by simply turning off the lights.

* Nami from ''Manga/OnePiece''. To compensate for her lack of Devil Fruit powers (Robin, Brook, Chopper), [[{{Cyborg}} technological enhancements]] (Franky), and [[LightningBruiser monstrous physical/Haki skills]] (Luffy, Zoro, Sanji), her usual approach is the tactical one; when she first meets Luffy, she calls him [[HilariousInHindsight "Boss"]] to [[LetsYouAndHimFight get the guys chasing her off her tail]]. In the Totto Land arc, she manages to defeat [[BadBoss Charlotte Cracker]] this way - [[spoiler:using her Clima-Tact to soften up his Biscuit Soldiers so Luffy can eat through Cracker's defenses and gain a more powerful form]].

* Homeron in the ''Anime/BlueDragon'' anime is an ''[[InsistentTerminology informant]]'' who sneaks into a target, steals information, and gets out before his mark knows he's arrived.

* Considering that most of his opponents [[PersonOfMassDestruction could wipe out countries with a single thought]] and all he has as a weapon is a [[SpecialOddHand right hand with the power to dispel said opponents' abilities]], this leaves ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' hero Touma Kamijou no choice but [[CombatPragmatist to use every trick in the book]] ([[IndyPloy improvisation]], using improvised weapons, [[TheChessmaster occasional planning]], even breaking out [[BreakThemByTalking the speech]]) in order to get or break even against most of them. [[TheTrickster Motoharu Tsuchimikado]] and [[BadassNormal Shiage Hamazura]] are on the same boat, if only being far more efficient than [[AllLovingHero Touma]] due to their overall [[PayEvilUntoEvil pragmatic ruthlessness towards their foes]].

* Akira from ''Anime/EdenOfTheEast'', as expected from a series about a bunch of people with {{Supernatural Phone}}s and an obscene amount of money trying to outwit each other (except that Akira also manages to do it all ''[[AmnesiacHero with amnesia]]''.)
* SociopathicHero version: Hiruma Youichi, Deimon Devilbats quarterback in ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}''. How did he get his players? Blackmail, manipulation, or the ultimate fallback, guns. Lots of guns. What does he do with his players? Gives them all nicknames that start with "Fucking," and puts them through TrainingFromHell including running up Tokyo Tower and pushing a truck from Texas to Las Vegas. What does he do to his opponents? All out psychological warfare, showing his hand, taunting unmercifully and cackling madly (even through a freshly broken arm if he has to.) He keeps innumerable calculations going on in his head and strategizes on the fly, willing (and eager) to go for the insanest of insane trick plays. He's a terror, but he has the absolute loyalty of his players (even the ones he recruited at gunpoint) who are willing to push themselves to insane heights right along with him (although they would be happier if he left his guns at home).

* Reigen from ''Manga/MobPsycho100'' is a LoveableRogue and JerkWithAHeartOfGold who makes a living as a PhonyPsychic, with his life as a ConMan making him an expert at using manipulation and trickery to turn the odds in his favor.

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': All of the protagonists. Battles in this series are more about tactics and mind-games than power levels and the heroes are ''very'' good at this. [[ActionHero Not that any of them aren't any good just laying a good old-fashioned beatdown when the situation calls for it.]]
** Joseph is probably best at this, he often sets intricate traps and ''backup traps'' in case his foes figure out the first one. He even manages to defeat the BigBad of his part by [[spoiler:firing the two of them into the air and launching his severed arm at him with a volcano]] (well, he didn't do it on purpose, but his Guile Hero reputation had built up so much by that point that he knew the villain would believe him if he told him he planned it).
** Jotaro is also very noteworthy: later arcs have villains being cautious of him, claiming it's not his super-powerful [[FightingSpirit Stand]], [[SuperSpeed Star]] [[SuperStrength Platinum]], that makes him so dangerous a foe, [[GeniusBruiser but his genius intellect, cunning, and brilliant deductive reasoning]].
* Meta Knight in ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'' leans further towards this than in the games -- especially since he's definitely on Kirby's side in the anime. Nevertheless, he's so charismatic that he's very popular with the Cappies, and they even made a mini-figure of him. At the end of the series, [[spoiler:he reveals that he had been building his [[CoolAirship Battleship Halberd]] in King Dedede's basement ever since he came to Dreamland to everybody can battle Nightmare from inside it during their final assault on his fortress]].

* Considering that most of his opponents [[PersonOfMassDestruction could wipe out countries with a single thought]] and all he has as a weapon is a [[SpecialOddHand right hand with the power to dispel said opponents' abilities]], this leaves ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' hero Touma Kamijou no choice but [[CombatPragmatist to use every trick in the book]] ([[IndyPloy improvisation]], using ImprovisedWeapons, [[TheChessmaster occasional planning]] even breaking out [[BreakThemByTalking the speech]]) in order to get or break even against most of them. [[TheTrickster Motoharu Tsuchimikado]] and [[BadassNormal Shiage Hamazura]] are on the same boat, if only being far more efficient than [[AllLovingHero Touma]] due to their overall [[PayEvilUntoEvil pragmatic ruthlessness towards their foes]].

* Lawrence, the main character of the anime ''Manga/SpiceAndWolf'' is the economic type. [[IHaveYourWife When Holo is kidnapped and used as leverage in a covert deal]], he uses economic wizardry and manipulation to arrange for her release. This pisses her off to no end since she'd hoped to see him [[RescueRomance rescue her personally, all Prince Charming style]]. Every once in a while, he gets himself into deep enough trouble that Holo has to bail him out, but he's still quite the savvy trader…

* Aeolia Scheinberg from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' was the founder of Celestial Being, the organization that the protagonists belong to. He also was a very skilled ManipulativeBastard who came up with a [[spoiler: centuries-long]] plan involving the group he founded, manipulating events to suit the plan, and leaving [[spoiler: recordings of himself to the public long after his time.]] In fact, Scheinberg was such a guile hero that his influence and plans were still vital to the plot... [[spoiler: ''200 years after he [[HumanPopsicle froze himself]] to try seeing how CB would do centuries later'']].
* GreatDetective: Among them we have Hajime Kindaichi (''Manga/TheKindaichiCaseFiles''); Shinichi Kudo/Conan Edogawa (''Manga/CaseClosed''); Kyuu Renjou, his FiveManBand and his mentor Morihiko Dan (''Manga/DetectiveSchoolQ''); Ryouko Yakushiji (''Literature/TheCaseFilesOfYakushijiRyoko''), etc.
** In the case of ''Manga/CaseClosed'', Conan is later joined by Heiji Hattori, Shiho Miyano/Sherry/Ai Haibara, [[spoiler: Shuuichi Akai in his Subaru Okiya persona]] and presumably [[spoiler: Rei Furuya aka Tooru Amuro aka Bourbon.]]
* [[SilkHidingSteel Lacus Clyne]] of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Gundam SEED]]'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]'' combines this with AllLovingHero in order to set herself up as a political and ideological counterpoint to first [[GeneralRipper Patrick Zala]], and Murata Azrael, and later [[DarkMessiah Gilbert Durandal]]. Playing on [[IdolSinger her own fame]], and that of her martyred father Siegel Clyne, she talks people into switching sides, steals a battleship, launches a propaganda campaign that undermines both sides of the war, and ultimately gathers an army that's able to take them down and end the fighting. She also funnels her money into a private [[HumongousMecha Mobile Suit]] factory, so that when the next war breaks out, her side has up-to-date technology.
* [[SugarAndIcePersonality Audrey Burne]] from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'', a young woman who easily relies on her wit and persuasion as a means to fulfill her goals. Banagher calls her out on it in the second episode twice, first when she attempts to get him to escape with her from the Nahael Argama, and then when she is persuading Daguza to shoot her when her true identity as [[spoiler: Princess Mineva Lao Zabi]] is revealed.
* Relena Peacecraft from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]'', as the precursor to the aforementioned ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' heroines, also exhibits this. Being an ActualPacifist means she may not do a lot overtly, especially when her allies are all [[OneManArmy One-Man Armies]], but she learns how to make exceptional use of her charisma, empathy, and speaking skills to oppose the globe-spanning military-industrial complex which has been manipulating the planet into war for generations. At one point, [[spoiler:said complex convinces her to become their figurehead leader, and she parlays that into '''complete control of the organization''' merely by convincing its members to work for peace rather than war]]. All this from a [[ImprobableAge 15-year-old]] girl whose only credentials are being a diplomat's adopted daughter and the princess of a destroyed country (which she only learns about five episodes into the series, and spends seven months mostly off-camera rebuilding and acclimating herself to the role).

* Kurama from ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' is more about finesse and skill than his brutish teammates. His opponents are often [[OhCrap shocked when they find out he defeated them without them noticing until it was too late.]] One of the best examples is his brutal [[AssholeVictim and completely deserved]] mental and physical beatdown on [[spoiler:Elder Toguro]], whom he [[spoiler:traps in a FateWorseThanDeath]] for his horrible actions.

* ''LightNovel/BanishedFromTheHerosParty:'' When he was in the Hero's Party, Gideon was TheSocialExpert and TheSmartGuy of the party, who usually leave the combat planning and communications with local citizens and nobility to him. His [[ExcellentJudgeOfCharacter people smarts]] and amicable personality also made it easier for him to gain allies and gather information. One of the many reasons the party runs into problems upon Gideon being expelled is the person who took over his duties, Ares, is an arrogant snob and HorribleJudgeOfCharacter who can't do the same tasks half as well as Gideon could.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'': [[TheHero Kamijou Touma]] and [[BadassNormal Hamazura Shiage]], [[AntiMagic with their limited arsenal]] [[MacGyvering and lack of raw firepower]], often use their wits, resourcefulness, cunning, [[IndyPloy knack for improvisation]], [[UnluckilyLucky and Lady Luck's fickle assistance]] to battle against more powerful enemies.

* The Dollars from ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' as a collective whole are a decentralized version of this. This partially stems from their decentralized nature (they have no concrete organization, mostly rely on cellphones and the Internet for communications, and the only form of 'hierarchy' is that the founder is TheLeader but he's usually a hand-offs kind of guy) and it's partially because the vast majority of members are rank and file civilians of all ages, so many have to help using whatever means they have at hand, even if it's not in a direct fighting capacity, which Episode 22 of the anime shows in great detail.

* Kyon from ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' eventually becomes this. He achieves some truly impressive feats on this front as well, such as [[spoiler: blackmailing the Data Integration Thought Entity to keep it from taking Yuki away by threatening that he can convince Haruhi to use her RealityWarper powers to do all kinds of horrible things with only a single phrase.]]

* Two of the main characters from ''LightNovel/HowARealistHeroRebuiltTheKingdom'' fall neatly into this trope:
** King Souma is a NonActionGuy, but he has a strong grasp on history and politics, which combined with his cunning Prime Minister lets him manipulate just about anyone, constantly winning in situations where he should be at a clear disadvantage.
** Princess Roroa proves herself as even more capable at this than Souma, managing to completely outmaneuver him after the war between their two countries was seemingly over.

* ''LightNovel/KonoSuba'': This is why Kazuma is TheLeader (aside from also being the OnlySaneMan); he doesn't come close to the level of ability of his insanely over-powered but also [[CripplingOverspecialization overspecialized]] team mates, but he knows how to use what low-level abilites he ''does'' have in creative and unorthodox ways to get the most use out of them. Even more than that, he frequently comes up with clever gambits on the fly that make allow his allies to use their abilities to their maximum capacity. It also helps that he was BornLucky.
* ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'' gives us Yang Wen-Li, a textbook example: he has all the skills of the MagnificentBastard yet remains one of the nicest persons you could ever meet.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'':
** Sheryl is this as a {{Foil}} to the protagonist Akira, serving as a SupportingLeader leading their gang and generally being [[BrainsAndBrawn the brains to his brawn.]] Sheryl has a specialty in charming men to do her bidding in a HoneyTrap, which terrifies Akira who has a TraumaButton about that, but her skills as a guile hero repeatedly impress him despite how badly he treats her at first.
** As a product of Reina’s CharacterDevelopment, she turns into one of these, coming up with a BatmanGambit and generally being excellent at negotiations.

* Most of the fun of ''LightNovel/ReZero'' comes from the fact that [[TheHero Subaru]] has [[ActionSurvivor nothing on his side]] but [[GroundhogDayLoop immortality]] and guile. In each of the arcs, his ability to resolve it instead of dying horribly comes from his ability to figure out how to [[HeelFaceTurn recruit]] or manipulate the various antagonists into doing his job for him.

* Lina Inverse from ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', who mixes this and BlackMagicianGirl. When she can't solve her problems by blowing them up, she uses cunning.

* Clow Reed [[spoiler: and his reincarnation Eriol Hiiragizawa]] in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' manipulate the heroine into accomplishing his master plan [[spoiler: aid her in her quest to become the second master of the magical cards he created.]]

* ByronicHero Lelouch Lamperouge from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' in the AntiHero interpretation of his character. He prefers to play politics to sideline his opponents most of the time. For instance, at one point after losing his most important fighter and being attacked by the two most powerful armies in that universe -- the Chinese and the Brittanian -- he [[EngineeredPublicConfession manipulates the Eunuch Generals into announcing their evil plans to their entire country]], inciting riots and cutting off their Brittanian support. This plan went very smoothly because he managed to steal it from a third opponent without that third opponent ever telling something about it, who had no choice but to support Lelouch after this fight. Using politics he sidelined one bad empire, destroyed a second one, and got the support of the third one.

* Kurama from ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' is more about the finesse and skill than his brutish teammates. His opponents are often [[OhCrap shocked when they find out he defeated them without them noticing until it was too late.]] One of the best examples is his brutal [[AssholeVictim and completely deserved]] mental and physical beatdown on [[spoiler: Elder Toguro]], whom he [[spoiler: traps in a FateWorseThanDeath]] for his horrible actions.