History Main / OutsideTheBoxTactic

* Get the hit just right, and it's possible to OneHitKill the final form of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening's'' final boss with the boomerang.

* Mike Brezinski excels at this in The Stuart Gibbs “Spy School” series. For instance, shortly after being recruited He received both ire and admiration for running around the non-lethal DeathCourse rather than charging through it, arguing that in the field they’d be expected to go for something safer and easier rather than just blindly charge at a booby trap and depend on their reflexes. Even the DrillSergeantNasty gym coach is unable to argue with this despite clearly being mad at Mike for not braving the course.

* This can occasionally come up in ''Manga/OnePiece,'' [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower along with unexpected strengths]], when a Devil Fruit power sometimes provides an unforeseen advantage against another power. Since the powers themselves don't change as time goes on, their users have to figure out more creative ways to use the powers they already have (such as how Luffy exploited his rubber body to develop the Gear techniques). Being able to do this is also stated as one of the marks of a strong fruit user.
** Low-tier villain Mr. 3, whose power to create objects out of wax, ends up temporarily providing the single best countermeasure against poisonous ImplacableMan Magellan.

* A large draw of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'' is their sheer frequency. Rather than [[OnceAnEpisode Once a Chapter]] every now and then, they happen ''constantly''. The manga owes its title in part to the strange powers both the antagonists and the protagonists have, so the mangaka, Hirohiko Araki, spends a lot of time and energy making them into [[HeartISAnAwesomePower viable]], [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer practical]] powers.

* One of the main traits of Ash Ketchum, the protagonist of ''Anime/Pokemon''. Many times, Ash does things perceived as impossible to other trainers (in and out universe) that generally wins him a lot of battles, even before the oponent can even process what he actually did!

* In three occasions in ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'' the heroes had to face an Evronian SuperSoldier who doesn't need external equipment to [[EmotionEater drain and feed off his opponent's emotions]], and get defeated in novel ways:
** The first time is when Paperinik faces [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Trauma]], who, aside for having SuperStrength and [[NighInvulnerable taking a rocket to the chest without much damage]], can cause paralyzing fear in his opponents and feed off it, transforming his victims into [[SlaveMook coolflames]]. Paperinik defeats him by ''conquering his own fear'', with the accidental side effect of scaring the crap out of Trauma and [[{{Depower}} depowering him]].

** The third happens in a WhatIf story, where Paperinik and American troops have to fight super strong Evronians with accelerated metabolism that feed off negative emotions. When their prototype blabs out too much, Paperinik realizes all they have to do is to stop fighting and start thinking about nice and happy things, resulting in the Evronians literally ''starving to death''.

Compare EasyLevelTrick, where knowing the secrets about a level would makes the said level easier, which may involve outside-the-box thinking. Contrast LogicalWeakness, when it's immediately apparent what needs to be done, UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay, where the tactic ''shouldn't'' be outside-the-box, but is thanks to defying game logic, and CombinatorialExplosion, which defines the game's limitations of finding different ways to achieve a goal, which outside-the-box tactics defy.

** Your character's default form in both ZX games can duck, and bringing up the selection wheel pauses the game. This is handy against shots and attacks aimed at your head; just unmorph, duck the shot, then morph back.

** In ''VideoGame/FinaFantasyII'', a similar exploit of low-power spell interactions occurs when you cast Wall on the FinalBoss followed by Toad. The Wall blocks the Toad, but in a way that has the spell animation still go off - end result: Emperor Mateus, Lord of Hell, is subject to a wholly unintended BalefulPolymorph and hops off the screen to Firion's victory.

* In ''[[VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy Epic Battle Fantasy 5]]'', you start off controlling just Matt, and the other party members join [[DefeatMeansFriendship after you defeat them in battle]]. Each of those battles, however, has an alternate strategy that lets you win without beating the other character to a pulp, something that's even hinted at in the game's medal descriptions. Natalie, for example, can be defeated by [[spoiler:having [=NoLegs=] use a skill to give himself and Matt the Lovable status, charming Natalie enough that she forgets why you were even fighting]].

* In the ending chapter of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn]]'', the [[ImplacableMan Black Knight]] can be easily beaten by forgoing use of the InfinityPlusOneSword in favor of [[ArmorPiercingAttack using a common]] [[DropTheHammer Hammer]]. [[ThatOneBoss Ike's]] poor resistance can also be exploited by a Sleep staff on 3-13.

-->''Okay, but I'm still not hearing enough ideas. She's a god, let's think outside the box.''

** Ender does this sort of thing a *lot*. In Battle School, the most common training situation is to have two armies of cadets in a zero-g environment, trying to incapacitate every member of the other army. Once you've done this, you make your victory official by going to the enemy's "gate" (which is deep in their territory) so the computer will register your victory. At one point, Ender goes straight for the gate even though the enemy army hasn't been defeated yet. The computer counts this as win, to everyone's surprise. The instructors mention that they'll reprogram the computer to make sure this doesn't happen again.
** In a third example, [[spoiler: Ender is commanding a fleet of ships for a "simulation" (actually it's real)]] and he's given a weapon called the M.D. device. If you zap something with this device, it will explode, and anything nearby will also explode in the same way, potentially setting off a chain reaction. The idea is to get a bunch of enemy ships in one spot, then him one of them with the M.D. device so you can destroy a bunch of ships in one shot. At the end of his campagin, Ender's forces reach the enemy homeworld. Instead of attacking enemy fighters, Ender shoots the ''planet'' with his M.D. device, destroying the entire thing.]]

* In ''ComicBook/XMen'', Sebastian Shaw absorbs any kinetic energy directed at him, even a bullet, so Storm covers him in snow, [[YouFailPhysicsForever which actually saps his energy, due to cold being a lack of said energy.]]

* In ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'', Shondra Kinsolving had the ability to heal using HealingHands, but when combined with her stepbrother, she and he could kill anyone from afar by healing them ''too much'', putting the victim's glands and nervous system on fatal overdrive.

-->''Okay, but I'm still not hearing enough ideas. She's a God, let's think outside the box.''

%% Please see thread to discuss a new image.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/msr_01.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Sure, letting yourself get eaten might be a stupid way to hunt [[VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns Metroids]], but you can't argue with the [[FeedItABomb results]]]]

* This can occasionally come up in ''Manga/OnePiece,'' [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower along with unexpected strengths,]] when a Devil Fruit power sometimes provides an unforeseen advantage against another power. Since the powers themselves don't change as time goes on, their users have to figure out more creative ways to use the powers they already have (such as how Luffy exploited his rubber body to develop the Gear techniques). Being able to do this is also stated as one of the marks of a strong fruit user.

*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX:'' Inflict Blind on Ozma. It only uses magic, so it should not impede his performance, but he wastes time curing it anyway. Such time wasting strategies are often the best to beat it. Also, Vivi and Amarant using [[AttackReflector Return Magic]] to send his [[ColonyDrop Dooms]][[TakingYouWithMe day]] back at the source; a true TacticalSuicideBoss.