History Main / GuileHero

* ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' give 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.

** ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}, particularly from ''ComicBook/AstonishingXMen'' onwards, completing the (most likely unintentional) trio of major team leaders with ComicBook/CaptainAmerica as the ActionHero and Reed Richards as ScienceHero.

* Sokka from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. He is the one who comes up with the majority of their battle strategies.

* Princess Carolyn from ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' Whenever there's some talking, negotiation or dealing the group has to do, she is always at the front, detailing the conditions, the basic requirements and bargaining with the other representatives in order to get the most beneficial deal she can make.
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'':
** Dipper Pines is perhaps the least manly character in town (apart from maybe [[AmbiguouslyGay Tyler the Cute Biker]]). Still, he uses his wits to uncover many many mysteries, much to the chagrin of the resident police constables.
** Dipper's great uncle, Stan Pines, is this to an even greater extent, to the point that in the GrandFinale he [[spoiler: [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu manages to trick a demon]] and save the world.]] [[spoiler: Stan's long-lost brother, [[ScienceHero Stanford]]]] even discusses how a con man like Stan never would have [[spoiler:fallen for Bill Cipher's ruse, like the Author did]].

* Lisa Simpson of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is extremely clever and perfectly able to outsmart and manipulate her enemies like Mr Burns.

** Harry Potter/Thorson, the protagonist, becomes this trope as a matter of survival -- for most of the first book he's suffering a major case of TheCallPutMeOnHold, combined with Everyone Wants To Kill Me, meaning that he has to rely on his wits to keep himself and those around him to stay alive, becoming [[IndyPloy excellent at thinking on his feet.]] The fact that he pays close attention to his uncle Loki and to Natasha (and not just for the obvious reasons in the latter case) explains a lot. However, these tendencies fade somewhat as his powers develop to PersonOfMassDestruction levels, and towards the end of the first book and during the first arc of the sequel, ''Ghosts of the Past'' [[CharacterDevelopment he learns]] [[TraumaCongaLine several rather harsh lessons]] about the virtues of planning ahead and controlling one's emotions, rather than just charging in and making it up as you go along, becoming an adept schemer, a deft manipulator, and a talented student of XanatosSpeedChess.

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

* ''Literature/SecretSanta'': Erik's SecretSanta [[spoiler: Marcy]], who drives Erik crazy with taunting secret Santa gifts, causing Erik to retaliate [[spoiler: against the person she's tricked him into thinking is responsible with an ExcrementStatement. Marcy then arranges for the whole office to witness this so their boss can see Erik for the sleaze ball he is. She also makes her last gift to Erik an innocent one, so he'll look crazy when he opens the present to try and explain himself.]] It's also implied that [[spoiler: Marcy's]] primary motivation wasn't to get revenge against Erik for being a MeanBoss but [[spoiler: to keep him from getting NiceGuy Sandberg fired.]]

* ComicBook/BlackPanther is sometimes this, depending on the writer. The epitome was Christopher Priest's run where he was running schemes against multiple opponents simultaneously. While he was more than capable of fighting in person, more often than not regardless of who beat who in the physical fight, T'Challa had already won in strategic terms.

** Several Jewish prophets were like this, especially [[BaldOfAwesome Elisha]] and [[FriendToAllLivingThings Daniel]]. Daniel, interestingly, is also a ScienceHero, considering the manner in which he manages to persuade the king to cut down on feasting…

* WesternAnimation/GravityFalls:

* Arsene Lupin III, the titular character of ''Characters/LupinIII'', wins by guile. Although he is often also the ActionHero (he carries a gun, and one of the best shots in the world) and SmartGuy (his planning and sometimes inventions are beyond current science), his behavior is always characterized by a desire to go "around". He tries to set up situations where the victim of his theft is doing most of the work for him.

** Dipper's great uncle Stan Pines is this to an even greater extent, to the point that in the GrandFinale he [[spoiler: [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu manages to trick a demon]] and save the world.]] [[spoiler: Stan's long-lost brother, [[ScienceHero Stanford]]]] even discusses how a con man like Stan never would have [[spoiler:fallen for Bill Cipher's ruse, like the Author did]].

* ''Manga/FantasyBishoujoJunikuOjisanTo'': Subverted. Tachibana is supposed to take this role, as his only skill is to charm others into doing things for him and his main stat as he levels up is luck, however, he tends to be too hot headed and impulsive to actually pull off this role.

* Akiyama from ''Manga/LiarGame''. In a series based around tactical mind games, Akiyama is usually the one to engage the villains in XanatosSpeedChess and win.
** Akiyama's partner Nao, the main heroine is this of the emotional variety. Without her, in fact, Akiyama would have long lost.

* Sheryl from ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'' as part of her BrainsAndBrawn dynamic with the AntiHero protagonist Akira. She uses social charms, looks, and manipulation to be his front woman amongst the political factions of the GrayAndGrayMorality infused setting. Most importantly, her ability to make normally guarded people reveal strategic information, which she masterfully does by being a HoneyTrap for TheRival Katsuya, despite being unbeknownst to him, Akira's girlfriend.

%%* ''Manga/SaiunkokuMonogatari'' has its female lead, Kou Shuurei.

* Kid Loki from ''ComicBook/JourneyIntoMystery'', because it's all he has left. He can't fight physically. He has no magic. All he has to go on is his wits and he's got a reputation as a scheming, deceitful bastard who can't be trusted, which makes his job even more difficult. He's usually trying to trick ancient and powerful beings, some of whom are no slouches themselves when it comes to deceit. Even the soul of his evil adult self gets played by Kid Loki. Yes, he's so good he can [[BeyondTheImpossible trick himself, the God of Lies]].

** 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, but his genius intellect, cunning, and brilliant deductive reasoning.

** Joseph is probably best at this, he often sets intricate traps and ''backups'' 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 Stand that makes him dangerous, but his genius intellect and cunning.

** VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas -- though obviously only if you choose to play your character that way, but there are a number of situations that, with a sufficiently high Speech skill, you can talk your way out of without firing a shot.

* Clementine of ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', as part of being a girl KidHero, just doesn't have the raw strength to tackle many challenges head-on. That said, she's very spry, clever, and quick to learn how to survive in this post-apocalyptic world, working well with other members of her groups ([[RagtagBunchOfMisfits most of the time]]). She's also a crack shot with a handgun.