History HonorBeforeReason / AnimeAndManga

* In a somewhat unusual example, Suzaku from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' displays shades of this trope. Unusual since many consider him to be a ''villain'', because the main character is a NecessarilyEvil AntiHero violently rebelling against TheEmpire that Suzaku has joined to attempt to induce legitimate social change.

** Lelouch himself falls under this on a few occasion: the chess match against Schneizel. Schneizel deliberately moves his king into check. Instead of accepting an immediate win, and in the process captivity of Suzaku, one of his biggest obstacles, Lelouch refuses the move. Schneizel notes that the Emperor would have immediately checkmated, and has just [[SecretTestOfCharacter learned the type of man the still masked Zero is]].
** Furthermore during the battle against Xingke and the Chinese Federation when Kallen was captured, Lelouch uncharacteristically chose to risk his entire military operation to engage the enemy and save her.
** Another notable example from Lelouch is shown in how he uses his [[HypnoticEyes Geass power]] throughout the story. After most of the series using it to make people perform specific tasks that are only done once in his quest to destroy [[TheEmpire Britannia]], by the final arc of the series [[spoiler:he uses it to completely enslave the Britannia Royal Court and its soldiers to take over as emperor.]] Why didn't he do that from the beginning? Because despite his Geass, Lelouch respected free will too much to do so, and his taking such a route is done as another sign that he's crossed the DespairEventHorizon after a brutal TraumaCongaLine. [[spoiler:It's also later revealed to have been deliberately temporary, as material explains that after Lelouch and Suzaku enacted the [[ThanatosGambit Zero Requiem]], Jeremiah freed everyone with his Geass Canceler.]]

** In a partial example, during Yusei's first duel with Aki, he tunes together Junk Warrior and Junk Synchron to summon Stardust Dragon and attacks with it. Rua asked what he was thinking, since Junk Warrior had more ATK points at the time and would have dealt more damage. However, while Yusei did want to win, he also wanted to save Aki from her inner darkness, and knew an attack by Stardust Dragon would resonate with her more. (A real player would probably go for Stardust anyway, since its protective effects are a natural counter for Aki's aggressive playstyle, and it ends up winning him the game anyway.)
** Yusei and Jeager have been locked in a factory with a time bomb and Yusei has to duel a robot for it to let them pass. In the end, the robot is open with 1750 life points left and Yusei has Junk Warrior with 2900 ATK. Even though they only have a few minutes left, Yusei chooses to waste time summoning his 2500 ATK Stardust Dragon to get the win. They barely manage to OutrunTheFireball.

** Reiji uses several cards that inflict damage to himself each turn. In their duel, Yuya is in a position where if he just ends his turn, Reiji will take 4,000 damage and lose, but he hesitates. When he finally does end his turn, Reiji quickly plays a card that mitigates the damage. Yuya says he's glad because it wouldn't have felt right to win that way instead of with his own cards and strategies.

** Serena absolutely refuses to back down from a fight, even when hopelessly outnumbered and when Yuya begs her to take the small boy Reira to safety while he holds the mooks off.
** Asuka confronts Yuri and it is pointed out that she is strong enough to simply kick his ass, but due to her having an issue with the way he duels, challenges him to a duel. It backfires when Yuri beats her and traps her in a card.

** In the episode where Judai duels Society of Light member Kanda, who uses a game show deck (his cards force the opponent to answer questions correctly or else lose their monsters and take damage). For the final question, Judai remembers that his opponent gave the answer to it earlier that day. The opponent goes OhCrap, but Judai purposely fudges the answer, saying he won't answer because it wouldn't be fair, and takes the damage. Sure, Judai wins anyway, but it was still pretty dumb, considering the [[{{Brainwashed}} consequences]] if he had lost to a member of the Society of Light.

** Shiro Amada of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam '', who believed in killing only as an absolute last resort, despite being the commander of a mobile suit unit. Even Zeon ''gassing his home colony in front of him during the first week of the gas'' doesn't change his mind about this. They're a reason why people laughed in his face when talking about this.

** Another notable example from Lelouch is shown in how he uses his [[HypnoticEyes Geass power]] throughout the story. After most of the series using it to make people perform specific tasks that are only done once in his quest to destroy [[TheEmpire Britannia]], by the final arc of the series [[spoiler:he uses it to completely enslave the Britannia Royal Court and it’s soldiers to take over as emperor.]] Why didn’t he do that from the beginning? Because despite his Geass, Lelouch respected free will too much to do so, and his taking such a route is done as another sign that he’s crossed the DespairEventHorizon after a brutal TraumaCongaLine. [[spoiler:It’s also later revealed to have been deliberately temporary, as material explains that after Lelouch and Suzaku enacted the [[ThanatosGambit Zero Requiem]], Jeremiah freed everyone with his Geass Canceler.]]

** Deconstructed in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans Iron Blooded Orphans]]''. In a post-war world where pragmatism and survival are more vital than honor, Carta Issue is obsessed with honor to a point she repeatedly loses to a group of [[CombatPragmatist Combat Pragmatic]] [[ChildSoldier Child Soldiers]]. Despite Tekkadan making clear that her rules do not apply to them, she [[TooDumbToLive refused to learn the lessons]] and [[TalkingIsAFreeAction repeated her feat]], to the point [[spoiler:she ends up [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge killed by Mikazuki in a cold blood]] in their third encounter]].

* LampshadeHanging: Both protagonist and antagonist fall victim to this line of thinking in ''Manga/{{Claymore}}''. An awakened being [[spoiler:Ophelia]] puts all of her vulnerable, human portions at her tail and challenges Claire to cut through the awakened being's body using her dangerous "Flash Sword" technique. As Claire begins the test of mettle, [[spoiler:Ophelia]] thinks to herself, "The fool, she could've just ignored me and aimed right for my tail." [[spoiler:Ophelia]] seems to slightly realize that she too is guilty of honor before reason since she agreed to put all of her vulnerable parts in one easy to target place. As she continues to berate Claire's foolishness, [[spoiler:Ophelia]] thinks to herself, "Wait, who am I talking about?"
* In a somewhat unusual example, Suzaku from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' displays shades of this trope. Unusual since many consider him to be a ''villain'', because the main character is a NecessarilyEvil AntiHero / HeroAntagonist / DesignatedVillain (pick one) violently rebelling against TheEmpire that Suzaku has joined to attempt to induce legitimate social change.

* ''Manga/FutokuNoGuild'': Hitamu Kyan is a trained martial artist, but she keeps losing fights and having to be rescued because she always thinks of a fight as an honorable spar. She always politely introduces herself to her opponent before challenging them, even if said opponent is a monster, which of course doesn't care and will usually attack her midsentence. [[AesopAmnesia She doesn't learn from this and keeps trying to introduce herself]].