History Main / OutsideTheBoxTactic

%% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1546927337080324400
%% Please start a new thread if you'd like to discuss a new image.

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Accelerator is pretty much invincible while his powers are active. However, one of the Sisters found a tactic that he couldn't simply reflect: continuously zap the air around him. This doesn't hurt him, but it does ionize the air and lower the oxygen content by turning it into ozone, which is poisonous. For all his power, Accelerator still needs to breathe. Unfortunately for her, Accelerator figures out what she's up to and resolves to kill her before she can ionize the air to that extent, though he does congratulate her on being one of the few who has ever come up with a strategy that could possibly harm him.
* 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. Josuke Higashikata, protagonist of Part 4, is a simple example: He has the power to [[HealingHands repair objects]], but instead of playing the role of TheMedic, he is instead a frontline fighter, using those healing skills to nonlethally incapacitate his enemies. For example, he takes down someone with total control over [[ShockAndAwe electricity]] by [[spoiler:taking a rubber tire from heavy machinery that had burst earlier in the battle, then "healing" the tire around the adversary to contain him within a small space and render him at Josuke's complete mercy.]]

* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga'': Sebastian Shaw absorbs any kinetic energy directed at him, even a bullet, so Storm covers him in snow, [[ArtisticLicensePhysics which actually saps his energy, due to cold being a lack of said energy.]]
** 15ish years later the X-Man Bishop -- whose powers are similar to Shaw's -- would charge himself up ''by using snowfall''. Bishop, however, can absorb any kind of energy directed at him where Shawn can only absorb kinetic.

* In an issue of [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]], the League fight an Amazo who has the powers of the whole League...on a conceptual level. Every time they bring in more reinforcements, Amazo gets more powerful. ComicBook/TheAtom works out how to beat him; he tells Superman to officially disband the League. Since the League now no longer "exists", Amazo loses all his powers and shuts down.

* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'':
** The heroes once fought a robot similar to Amazo (see JLA example above). They beat it by exposing it to ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, and it absorbed his fundamental goodness. Then it declared that the Avengers were good guys and it didn't want to fight anymore, regardless of the wishes of its creator.
** Then there was the time the Avengers were fighting the Super-Adaptoid (a power mimic). Captain Marvel (cosmic awareness, FlyingBrick, blaster, and power wristbands that when clanked together would make him switch places with Rick Jones, who had been trapped in the Negative Zone for some time) let the Super-Adaptoid gain his powers: while the mimic was stunned from getting cosmic awareness, Mar-Vell clapped the Super-Adaptoid's newly-formed wrist bracelets together, banishing it to the Negative Zone and freeing Rick.
* On 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 from 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 second time is when Xadhoom faces Clangor, an Evronian cyborg who can absorb energy attacks and his enemies' emotions. Upon hearing this, Xadhoom lets go just a little of her enormous emotional control-And that small portion of her rage and [[SurvivorsGuilt hatred for herself for letting the Evronian destroy her homeworld]] overwhelmed his emotional absorption abilities and broke it. Clangor implies it's not the first time he's a victim of this trope: he once mutinied, and the Evronians neutralized him with his ''remote off switch''.
** 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 [[SayingTooMuch blabs out too much]], Paperinik realizes all they have to do is to stop fighting and [[ThinkHappyThoughts start thinking about nice and happy things]], resulting in the Evronians literally ''starving to death''.

** In the finale of the first book, he takes a leaf out of the below mentioned 'Judge' episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' when dealing with a [[PhysicalGod god-like]] necromancer with borderline FromASingleCell healing abilities - he telekinetically lops off each limb, and [[spoiler: Carol]] uses the GreenLanternRing to blast the rest halfway across the city. It is widely admitted to be a very bad plan, but it's more or less CrazyEnoughToWork.

* When fighting the prototype Omnidroid in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Mr. Incredible has to deal with a nigh invulnurable foe, which is faster, stronger and adapts to whatever he tries to throw at it. He eventually burrows inside of it and tricks it into [[AndShowItToYou ripping out its own power core]]. Then at the end of the film [[spoiler: every member of the team has to take turns distracting the production model so Mr. and Mrs. Incredible can launch one of its [[RocketPunch rocket-powered claws]] through its torso]].
* ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'': "Look for a new angle" is a recurring ArcWords for the film. During the final battle, the heroes manage to escape from a bad situation by applying their suit's powers in innovative new ways. Then in order to defeat Yokai and his massive swarm of microbots, instead of going after after the mask that controls the microbots like they originally planned, they [[spoiler: have Hiro and Baymax distract Yokai while the others attack his microbot swarm, sending them into the wormhole Yokai opened. Yokai only has a finite swarm, and he eventually runs out before he can finish off Hiro and Baymax.]]

* [=AT-ATs=] in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' series have thick armor impervious to the blasters on rebel fighters. However, due to their being very top-heavy, a simple harpoon and tow cable can bring them down with ease. (Relative ease, that is-- in the original movie it's difficult enough to pull off that only one [=AT-AT=] is successfully brought down this way. The tow cable's status as an easy, reliable anti-[=AT-AT=] weapon is mostly {{Flanderization}} from the video games.) They're also much less heavily armored, and therefore more vulnerable, in the ventral aspect, though a competent commander will deploy them in such fashion as to obviate any potential risk thus caused; they're not particularly quick, so a long advance to contact provides more than enough time for their heavy forward-mounted guns to flatten anything which might shoot up at them from below. (Shot-down stray Jedi, of course, notwithstanding -- but it'd take a whole lot of them, even at a rate of one Jedi and one thermal detonator per AT-AT, to make a real difference in any kind of serious battle.)

** With all of his enemies, he uses an unpredictable fighting style that can adapt to anything (Jeet Kune Do) and gains significant advantange.

* In ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'', water is this to the Wicked Witch of the West.
* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]] ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' series, the Yuuzhan Vong villains' OrganicTechnology ships use pinpoint black holes instead of DeflectorShields to "absorb" enemy fire, as well as for propulsion. This prompts a long chain of back-and-forth tactical innovations among the New Republic defenders, ranging from the trivial (unlike shields, voids can't be everywhere at once, so firing at a target from multiple angles will destroy it), to the inspired (an AcePilot can use the singularity to perform a gravity slingshot), to the outright bizarre (a Jedi can telekinetically seize the singularity and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard redirect it onto the ship]], although it requires a ''lot'' of energy--when Luke did it, he passed out from exhaustion, and while Kyp managed to stay conscious after his own successful attempt, he was left bone-tired).

** 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 the first ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' book, we're told how in one of her training exams, Captain Holly Short had defeated an "insurmountable" wave of holographic enemies by shooting the projector. Since she had technically defeated all the enemies, the examiners had to give her a passing grade.

* Mike Brezinski excels at this in the Stuart Gibbs ''Literature/SpySchool'' series. Shortly after being recruited, Mike received both ire and admiration for [[DungeonBypass running around the]] DeathCourse [[DungeonBypass rather than charging through it]]. At the end, Mike argues that he'd be expected to go for something safer and easier in the field rather than just blindly charging at an obvious booby trap. Even the DrillSergeantNasty gym coach is unable to argue with this logic, despite clearly being mad at Mike for not braving the course.

* This thinking is what ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' is known for, from creating a Slayer army to defeat the FinalBoss to the time she found out whether a demon who claimed to be invincible wasn't rocket proof. This appears to be the point of the Cruciamentum, a test undergone by Slayers who make it to 18 which strips them of their usual strength until they are at about the same as an ordinary human, thus forcing them to rely on other skills to defeat a particularly dangerous vampire.

* in ''TabletopGame/D20Modern Urban Arcana'', you have access to the Resist Energy spell, allowing you take up to 120 damage from energy sources without getting injured. Sounds fairly innocent, right? Well, one energy type is Sonic/Concussion, which is the type of damage inflicted by explosive damage. Resist Energy + a few blocks of C4 + a Demolition check to set them up for maximum damage = a suicide bomber who survives unharmed after blowing himself up.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', Sikari Macaque swarms are vulnerable to ''remove disease'' because most of the species is infected with a kind of monkey rabies, and that's why they're attacking - when healed, monkeys equal to half the swarm's current HP will calm down and wander off.

* ''VideoGame/NetHack'', a distant cousin, has "stone to flesh", which makes stone golems much easier to kill -- and also, when used on rocks or boulders, produces prodigious amounts of perfectly edible meat, which non-vegetarian characters can use to stave off starvation.
* In ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos'', the PostFinalBoss has a mountain of HP and therefore will take a long time to defeat normally, but can be instantly defeated by a Spirit Attack, a special type of FinishingMove which can only be triggered as the final attack of a maximum-length combo by the main character, and therefore normal tactics for combo construction like trying to use damage-boosting runs/X-of-a-kinds get thrown out the window in favor of just trying to string together as many cards as possible, and any Magnus that can be used in an offensive combo and isn't a FinishingMove is fair game--even healing magnus.

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', 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/DeusEx'', you have the option of simply ''running past'' bosses without being required to fight or kill them. [[CombatPragmatist Some can be killed by lobbing a LAM into the room they're in before they even realise what's going on.]]
* In several ''Videogame/ShinMegamiTensei'' games, buffs/debuffs are best used against bosses not for their intended effect, but to goad the boss into losing turns (or Press Turns where applicable) dispelling them instead of attacking.
* Asura of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' has Asura Roga, which inflicts Rage on the party. Rage-afflicted targets get an attack boost, but also uncontrollably attack random targets, including their teammates or each other, but not themselves. So if you challenge Asura [[DuelBoss alone]], his HatePlague will be used almost exclusively on him, letting your berserk main character slice Asura to ribbons without the worries of a team tearing themselves apart.
* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}:''
** ''VideoGame/Persona3'' has the 6th full moon boss: Strength and Fortune. The gimmick of the fight is that every turn Fortune will use the "Wheel of Fortune" attack, which has a variety of effects such as inflicting damage, debuffs or StandardStatusEffects on either your party or on themselves. Fear is one of those status effects. At this point, if you're versed enough in fusions, it's possible to have a Persona with the Ghastly Wail ability, which instantly kills all enemies with Fear. Strength and Fortune are ''not'' immune to this. Provided you know how to manipulate the wheel, the fight can easily become a CurbStompBattle.
** In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', some HumongousMecha Shadows have extremely high defense that most of your attacks dealt one digit damage. To offset this, they have low amount of HP. So, one use of any high level [[FixedDamageAttack attack items]] such as Hell Magatama will kill them in one hit.
** ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has a non-combat version. One dungeon has a maze-like section that is almost completely pitch black and thus impossible to safely navigate. It's a "game" designed to trap the people who enter it and leave them to be killed by Shadows. The Phantom Thieves beat the game by using Joker's Third Eye power, which highlights important details when used, and also tweaks the graphics in a way that lets the player see the walls of the maze.

* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series:
** The FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'' can be taken down by shooting a bunch of missiles at it... or you can take it down faster (and with less missile ammo) by shooting a missile into its open mouth to stun it, jumping into that mouth in ball form, letting it swallow you, then [[FeedItABomb crawling into its stomach and laying a trio of bombs]]. Rinse and repeat 5 times. You do take drain damage from being inside the boss's digestive tract, but it's a relatively slow drain, and in the end you take about the same damage that you would take trying to face-tank her lunges the normal way.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' has Draygon, who can be killed with a lot of missiles...or you can shoot out the cannons on the sides (exposing the power cables underneath), let the boss grab you, then use the Grapple Beam to grab one of the exposed power cables, electrocuting the boss to death rapidly. Again, you take damage from grabbing the power cable, but the boss takes far more.
** Several enemies in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' can be killed in a single strike of the Nova Blaster augmented by the X-Ray Visor, due to the limitations of their Phazite armor.

* In ''Videogame/SuperMarioRPG'', due to the unique mechanics of his fight, Exor is not actually classified as a boss by the ingame battle system. As a result, he lacks ContractualBossImmunity and can be easily dispatched with Geno's OneHitKill attack.

* The ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series continues the trend of its predecessor series. While many bosses have {{Logical Weakness}}es, Launch Octopus and Flame Mammoth both have one of these - the Boomerang Cutter can cut off Octopus' tentacles and prevent him from using his homing and tornado attacks, as well as being able to cut off Mammoth's trunk so he can't throw around globs of oil he can ignite into pillars of fire. You can also [[CycleOfHurting stunlock]] Spark Mandrill and Sting Chameleon.

* It's a running gag that the final boss, Dhaos, of ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' is susceptible to the ''Indignation'' spell. In cameo appearances in later games, he dies to one use of the spell.
* Gespent, a sub-boss in ''VideoGame/WildArms3'', can be killed with a single use of the ''Requiem'' spell.
* The Dominate special ability in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', which lets you control organic enemies so they'll attack their allies (basically the equivalent of the normal AI Hacking power), is also inexplicably able to kill husks instantly.
** The Citadel DLC of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' has overheard conversations that show the developer thoughts on these. For example, in multiplayer, one of the best tactics of a particular class is to use their tech armor[[note]]a skill that's supposed to be used to enhance defense and survivability[[/note]] and then detonating it for massive damage, rather than the intended use. Or the infeasibility of carrying more than one weapon into combat, when additional weight reduces power cooldown.

* ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'': In the third game, there is a segment in the second mission where a jammer is interfering with your nanosuit, and the way to the jammer is a field with tall grass and many Ceph Stalkers, making the journey a desperate run to destroy it while being slashed on all sides. The thing is, the jammer is just barely visible from the platform that you start that part on. A single shot from the bow with a fragmentation arrowhead means good-bye jammer and straight on to the next objective.
* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'': Two major flaws of the Time Bomb psych is that it takes a while to actually explode and when it does, any enemy hit flies into the air. Well, the [[BossInMookClothing elephants]], including the BonusBoss one, and both forms of the FinalBoss are slow/immobile and cannot fly in the air. The Time Bomb psych will utterly destroy them.

* Like most bosses in ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'', the Ancient Devil is [[UselessUsefulSpell immune to status effects]]. However, its main gimmick is its power to [[BrainwashedAndCrazy enchant your player characters into assisting it]], and ''they'' can be hobbled by status effects. Since the Devil will just enchant someone else if its current ally drops, this is a better way to minimize losses.
* Jormungandr, the second boss of ''{{VideoGame/Magicka}}'', is a giant snake of the burrowing flavor. Normally his head is the only weakpoint, which he holds above the ground when not attacking. While it's not too difficult to hit his head during the attack frames, it's far easier to use a shield spell before he comes up or burrows again because he takes collision damage. Not only does this do more damage than your average beam spell, it also stuns him briefly and then forces him back under ground before he can attack.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'':
** The giant Cheep Cheep that's fought at Surfshine Harbor can either be handled like a TimedBossBattle, or you can simply opt to pop it with a Spike Helmet, circumventing the need to use up your powerful stickers and/or spend coins on the battle roulette to defeat it before it self-destructs on you.
** When you find yourself facing a Big Chain Chomp, the solution to the entire problem isn't trying to deplete the monster's HP with your attacks. Instead, you simply pound down the stake keeping it where it is (before you even go into battle with it), and then face it and just wait for it to wake up. [[SelfDisposingVillain It does the rest on its own.]]
* There are a few examples in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series.
** One of the simpler ones involves the [[MultiMookMelee 15-Minute Melee]], where the player has to survive against waves of drones for 15 minutes. The drones start off with very poor AI, but each replacement drone for one that was defeated has better AI than the ones before. Solution? Don't attack - it's trivially easy to defend against the poor (and seldom-attacking) AI of the early drones, and if they're never defeated, you never have to deal with the ones that might be a challenge.
** One that crosses over into ViolationOfCommonSense and AIBreaker involves the Cruel Smash, where the enemy drones have extremely ramped up offense, defense, and aggression on their AI. However, it's possible to abuse that aggression by simply jumping off the stage - the player has ways to recover from that, but the AI doesn't (they only have a double jump, and lack an up special and the ability to grab ledges), so its aggression just goads the drones into committing suicide. Flying characters and characters who are momentarily still before using a move to return them to the stage are particularly good at this, as they can remain tempting off-stage targets for longer.
** The Miis in [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU the fourth game]]'s Cruel Smash have wised up to the above tactic, but another one was introduced: spamming Counters. Because the Cruel Miis have insane damage and knockback, and Counters get as powerful as the countered attack, landing a few counters is often enough to earn the requisite [=KOs=] for the achievements, especially if you prepare a custom Mii Swordfighter with Counter and buffed defense.
** The Assist Trophy version of Isaac from ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' does this. Powerful, flashy Psynergy or summons? Nope. He just casts Move, his noncombat utility power... and harmlessly pushes your enemies off the stage for an instant ring-out.
* Some monsters in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' have particularly clever ways to take them down. Is BigEater Nibelsnarf giving you trouble with its charge attacks? FeedItABomb, then [[FishingMinigame fish it out]] to make it vulnerable. Is the Zinogre, which uses Mega Thunderbugs to attack you, on the verge of going into its [[UpToEleven third]] [[TurnsRed Rage Mode]]? Make it trip and catch them with a bugnet.
* In ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy5'', 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.
** [=NoLegs=] can be defeated by [[spoiler:hitting him with Matt's water attack]]. (This one is simple enough that you'll probably blunder into it in normal gameplay.)
** Natalie 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]].
** Anna can be defeated by [[spoiler:bringing her down to low health and inflicting her with status effects]].
** Lance can be defeated by [[spoiler:bringing him down to low health, blowing up his tank, and using Natalie's 7th Heaven]].
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** As counterintuitive as it may seem given the fact that the Sonic series is all about speed ''and'' the water is constantly rising with no air bubbles to be found, the best way to handle the boss of Labyrinth Zone in the original ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'' is to just take your time and be deliberate with your moves. Missing a jump ''will'' likely cost you, and getting hit by one of the hazards can easily knock you down a few levels which is more or less the same thing. Don't wait around on a platform longer than you need to, but there's enough time to wait for the path to be clear.
** In ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', Sonic's final battle is against the powerful Egg Wyvern. As it's a final boss, it can be a really drawn out, knuckle-scraping battle... Or you can [[GoodBadBugs wait for Eggman to charge you a few seconds into the fight, jump up to intercept and toss your Sky Gem at the last moment before you grab for his controls, warp back onto the battle platform and simply wait 10-20 seconds for Eggman to be far enough out of range that the game considers him dead.]] Seeing as the battle area is basically a small-ish platform above a bottomless pit that's easy to accidentally run off of [[CameraScrew thanks to the sweepy, swoopy camera]], one of the last things you'd think of doing is tossing around a finicky gem that launches you wherever it may land, but it's not that difficult to pull off and is actually significantly easier to do than the fight itself and an easy S-Rank once you've got the timing down.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'':
** The Ceaseless Discharge is probably the largest enemy fought in the game, with enormous amounts of health and overwhelming attack power that will give even high level players a bit of trouble if they get hit. And since he's standing in a pool of lava with you fighting him on a cliff edge, the usual strategy of getting inside his attack range where he can't hit you is impossible. The way you're supposed to beat him is to wait for him to attack, dodge, and then strike the arm/tentacle he used to attack you, killing him via a DeathOfAThousandCuts... or, if you've been paying attention to the level architecture, make him chase you along the cliff and trick him into falling off a cliff of his own, instantly killing him.
** Manus, Father of Abyss is a formidable foe, with a very aggressive attack power and control over Dark Sorcery. Normally, he can prove to be a huge challenge even for veteran players. However, you can kill him effortlessly ''outside his arena'' by sniping him with bow and arrows above, from a far distance where he can't even fight back.
** Darkeater Midir is an Archdragon notorious for being a DamageSpongeBoss. It's hard hitting, humongous, and its breath of fire can turn into a laser beam that can sweep through half of his lair. You can spend hours pelting its legs with a sword, shooting its head with a Greatbow, OR you can the Pestilent Mercury sorcery to cast a dense mist that can NoSell the dragon's hard shell and smoke it to death effortlessly with percentage-based damage. Due to Midir's huge size, so long as it doesn't actually start flying, part of his body is practically guranteed to be within the spell's area of effect. Of all the things available, the best and easiest dragonslaying tool is not a [[{{BFS}} huge sword]], not a [[GreatBow huge bow]], but a ''[[DeadlyGas puny mist]]'', no less.
* Done in-universe in the 2002 ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' remake with Chris's flash grenade self-defense weapon. Being something he clearly brought to use on ''human'' aggressors and realizing the flash won't do anything to the zombies, he uses it by shoving it in their mouth so the blast [[YourHeadAsplode blows their head clean off]] instead. On the player's side, it may not be immediately obvious, but [[EliteMooks Crimson Head zombies]] are just as susceptible to this tactic... [[EasyLevelTrick including the very powerful and deadly one entombed under the cemetery that serves as a mini-boss]].
* The lava chamber in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' has three fire-breathing dragon statues you need to disable. The shields placed along the walkways hint that you're expected to fake out the enemies operating each statue and quickly snipe them before they can turn the statue toward you and hide behind it. You ''can'' do that, or you can stand a safe distance away, take a look at the chains each statue hangs from, and [[CuttingTheKnot shoot the D-ring couplers keeping them together]].
* In ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'', the Bubble Shield is a BeehiveBarrier that repulses all forms of ranged damage for several seconds, including plasma bursts and explosives. It is, however, not immune to having a Warthog plow through it and take out its user. That's not this trope. What ''is'' this trope, however, is a player rushing ''into'' an enemy Bubble Shield and detonating a grenade or rocket inside it -- since the Bubble Shield prevents damage from passing through ''either side'' of its barrier, this ends up focusing all that destructive potential in an enclosed space, usually resulting in the death of everyone inside the Bubble Shield.
* In ''VideoGame/LufiaCurseOfTheSinistrals'', getting the seventh Dragon Egg requires you to avoid taking damage during the boss "[[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight fight]]" against [[spoiler:Erim]]. You can expertly dodge the boss's attacks until the invisible timer ends...or you can have a character with an Ignore Falling Damage ability repeatedly leap off of the arena, which gives them long enough MercyInvincibility to immediately jump off before taking damage.
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'':
** The "Raise Zombie" spell reanimates an intact dead body and makes it your minion for the next sixty seconds (longer with certain perks) until it turns into a pile of ash [[note]]The "Dead Thrall" spell, however, allows you to ''reuse the same dead body'' over and over again without having it crumbling into dust[[/note]]. The zombie, by itself, is fairly weak, since it fights only with the armor and weapons it had when it died (that is, if you haven't already looted them). However, since you looted their items, it's only logical that you can put items ''back''. Raise a zombie, put some good armor and a strong weapon on it, and send it in from a safe distance to rip apart foes (for extra VideoGameCrueltyPotential, said foes might have been its former allies!) Once the spell runs out or your zombie re-dies, you can collect its equipment from the ash pile it leaves behind. Said zombie can also function as a handy pack-mule: give your heaviest VendorTrash items to the zombie until you get under the CriticalEncumbranceFailure limit (300 lbs. with no perks or Stamina boosts). Fast-travel to the nearest town, and your zombie will follow! However, it will crumble to dust the moment you arrive, but that's fine, you can just pick your stuff up and drag it to the nearest store; you'd rather walk 200 feet with a over-heavy load than the three miles it probably would have been without the zombie.
** In a similar vein, the Dremora Merchant is more often than not used as a garbage dump rather than an actual Shop Keep as he was intended; not only can you summon him anywhere in the world, you can also just wait for his gold to replenish in a day or two. On top of that, he takes just about everything you can sell him, unlike most other traders who only take specific types of items. It gets to the point that various guides have to remind you that he actually has higher spawn-rates for high-level gear that other shop keeps don't!
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'': Is your character not much for a straight-up brawl with the FinalBoss? No biggie -- the fight doesn't actually start until you walk into the center of the room, giving you room to plant a collection of mines on the walkway linking the entrance to him. Granted, you still need to work around the boss's healing gimmick, but a whole collection of mines is a great way to empty his life bar.
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'': The final boss spawns three floating lightsabers to chase after you, and follows you around the arena. Well, you could try to fend off the lightsabers with your own. But if you're feeling like fighting dirty and you saved up some mines, you can lay a bunch of those around the arena and watch said boss blunder into them, taking out most of their hit points.
* Some games that encourage open-world exploration (e.g. the ''Bioshock'' and ''System Shock'' games) keep the game world persistent between lives. If DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist in a game (either because the penalties are so minimal you barely notice or you're leveled enough that they don't affect you at all), you can use the respawn mechanic to exploit this. Need to get somewhere in a hurry? If you have a respawn point near where you want to go, just drop a grenade at your feet. Low on health and need to replenish before going in to fight a boss? Suicide right next to the respawn point, and pop back to life at full health. If you're playing coop multiplayer, though, be advised that [[DevelopersForesight some developers know about this tactic as well, and will design their boss battles to keep you from exploiting it]].
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' gives you a ton of creative ways to defeat the various bosses.
** Ocelot: You can shoot the beehives over his head, and then take a shot at him when he jumps out of cover in a panic. If you shoot his hat off he'll drop his guard as he goes over to recover it.
** The Fear: When his stamina drops, you can throw some poisonous or rotten food on the floor and he will run over to eat it, not only causing a health/stamina drop but also giving you a chance to shoot him.
** The End: If you picked up the thermal googles you can track his footprints in the mud. If you capture and release his pet parrot, the bird will fly over to his location and you can hear him through the directional microphone loudly admonishing his parrot. You can also use the directional microphone to listen for his heartbeat. Or if you're feeling ''really'' unfair, [[spoiler:just save and leave the game alone for a week; remember that the game counts time between plays as in-universe downtime, and The End is a one hundred year old man expending the last of his energy to fight Snake. He will die of old age when you come back!]]
** Volgin: CQC is surprisingly viable against him, though you do need to time it right or risk damage. Wearing the Raikov mask will cause him to pause for a few seconds and let you get some shots, but warning that he will become more aggressive afterwards as you are taunting him with his dead lover. A really bizarre tactic involves throwing out Russian Glowcap mushrooms to deflect his attacks (one mushroom will only absorb one attack however).
** A non-boss battle variant involves escaping from the prison cell after being captured. If you caught the EasterEgg [[spoiler:during the torture scene and kept note of the radio frequency The Sorrow showed you, using it will instantly unlock the cell door]]. You can also try befriending the guard by throwing your food back to him, which not only causes him to return Snake's [[ShoePhone Cig]] [[KnockoutGas Spray]], but makes him share a photo of his family, [[spoiler:on the back of which the radio frequency is also written]]. Another EasterEgg method involves going into the Viewer and spinning Snake around until he vomits when the game is unpaused; the guard will stupidly come in to investigate and then you can whack him.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel IV's'' [[spoiler:TrueFinalBoss fight]] requires that players need to split among 3 parties, 8 members per party, with [[TheHero Rean]] being on Team A aka the main body. Normally the player needs to go to the other two forms before the main party can even take on [[spoiler:Ishmelga Loge as the other two forms]] keep chucking Craft and Art Reflect buffs that lasts for two attacks before players can finally attack the main body and it will chuck those two spells instantly [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard while it's still the player's turn]] when they're casting a Brave Order. However, by casting the Mirage Art "Albion Wolf", it allows players to [[ArmorPiercingAttack bypass the craft and art reflect buffs]] plus debuff the boss from their permanent defense and art defense and easily kill the main body, skipping the other two forms. Coupled with a setup that allows Rean to instantly cast arts provided the player grabs Rean's exclusive accessory equipment [[spoiler:from Emma and Elliot's final bonding events at Mishelam]] and Rean could easily solo the boss on his own.

* ''VideoGame/RabiRibi'' has [[spoiler: Miriam]], a DittoFighter boss who gains a new attack pattern for every item Erina has in her inventory, and who copies the majority of the effects of all badges she has equipped. How do you defeat a boss who has item you have? [[MinimalistRun By getting to her with as few items as possible.]] Failing that (since no one would ever do that on their first run,) there's deequipping all your badges to prevent her from getting the buffs, and figuring out which ones she can't copy (or better yet, equipping ones like Atk Trade and Health Wager that decrease your defense and health in exchange for increasing your attack and mana, since she also copies the negative effects.) There's the one thing she can't copy: temporary buffs from townsfolk. Go to [[spoiler: Miru]] and shell out 25k EN to get every buff in the game and go full aggro on her.
* ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} VI'': Scythia is a terrifying war machine and becomes strong only a few eras in, not giving a lot of time to prepare when you'll be trying to settle your own cities. If you can get a chance meeting early enough, though, being diplomatically nice to their leader gives you the chance to declare an official friendship between your civilization and Scythia before they attack you. Friends can't attack friends anyway, but this is especially effective on Scythia because their leader is coded to especially value civs that have declared themselves as her official friend. In other words, once she's your diplomatic ally she'll never change her mind about it - and for the cost of a few diplomatic tributes, her terrifying power spike will completely pass you by.

* This is a very common strategy in the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series. When CourtroomAntics and {{Indy Ploy}}s aren't enough, the PlayerCharacter usually resorts to solving the case by thinking of another method of wrapping up the case or by switching the crime's premise and structure into an entirely new set of facts.

* When Trixie shows up for revenge and curb-stomps Twilight Sparkle in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Magic Duel", Twilight's only chance to fight back is some TrainingFromHell to become as powerful as Trixie. [[spoiler:However, being well-aware that she can't match her power, Twilight instead uses trickery and stage magic, which is Trixie's usual specialty, to defeat her.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' had Batman vs. a RobotMe that was trying to replace him. Batman let the Robot version believe it had ''killed him'' (by throwing him into a bottomless pit); the robot was such an exact copy it suffered a [[HeroicBSOD mental breakdown]] and then destroyed itself for violating Batman's [[ThouShaltNotKill One Rule.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'': Terry's on the ropes. The Joker is delighted at the prospect of another Batman to defeat, and has a lot more experience in the Bat-family's tactics. Bruce advises his usual strategy -- "Joker's vain and likes to talk... just power through." But that gives Terry an ''idea'' -- Terry likes to talk, too. [[IShallTauntYou Cue the younger Batman turning the tables on Joker and]] ''[[YouFightLikeACow taunting]]'' [[BreakThemByTalking Joker]] [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech into a first-rate]] VillainousBreakdown, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard finishing him off with his own joy buzzer.]]
* Using these is [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Ladybug]]'s ''primary'' means of victory. It's enabled by her [[RandomEffectSpell Lucky Charm]] that gives her exactly what she needs to be successful each time... once she figures out what it's used for.

* 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. Josuke Higashikata, protagonist of Part 4, is a simple example: He has the power to [[HealingHands heal]], but instead of playing the role of TheMedic, he is instead a frontline fighter, using those healing skills to nonlethally incapacitate his enemies. For example, he takes down someone with total control over [[ShockAndAwe electricity]] by [[spoiler:taking a rubber tire from heavy machinery that had burst earlier in the battle, then "healing" the tire around the adversary to contain him within a small space and render him at Josuke's complete mercy.]]

* [=AT-ATs=] in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' series have thick armor impervious to the blasters on rebel fighters. However, due to their being very top-heavy, a simple harpoon and tow cable can bring them down with ease. They're also much less heavily armored, and therefore more vulnerable, in the ventral aspect, though a competent commander will deploy them in such fashion as to obviate any potential risk thus caused; they're not particularly quick, so a long advance to contact provides more than enough time for their heavy forward-mounted guns to flatten anything which might shoot up at them from below. (Shot-down stray Jedi, of course, notwithstanding -- but it'd take a whole lot of them, even at a rate of one Jedi and one thermal detonator per AT-AT, to make a real difference in any kind of serious battle.)

*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Only go in with one character alive against Ruby Weapon; he can't use Whirlsand (an attack that removes a character from battle, normally used until only one is left), giving you complete control of who he faces. In fact, this is the recommended strategy for fighting Ruby Weapon. The countering of his attacks with Mime counts too, he'll eventually seal his own doom if set up correctly. Sort of works with Emerald, but look out for the time limit.

* Done in-universe in the 2002 ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' remake with Chris's flash grenade self-defense weapon. Being something he clearly brought to use on ''human'' aggressors and realizing the flash won't do anything to the zombies, he uses it by shoving it in their mouth so the blast [[YourHeadAsplode blows their head clean off]] instead.

** Transmutation school wizards are the king of this trope. ''Flesh to stone'', ''stone to mud'', ''purify water'', anyone?

* One of the main traits of Ash Ketchum, the protagonist of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime. 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 opponent can even process what he actually did!

** Sebastian Shaw absorbs any kinetic energy directed at him, even a bullet, so Storm covers him in snow, [[ArtisticLicensePhysics 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'', and the victim's heart goes into a fatal overdrive.
* In an issue of [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]], the League fight an Amazo who has the powers of the whole League...on a conceptual level. Every time they bring in more reinforcements, Amazo gets more powerful. ComicBook/TheAtom works out how to beat him; he tells Franchise/{{Superman}} to officially disband the League. Since the League now no longer "exists", Amazo loses all his powers and shuts down.
* In ''Comicbook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'', Franchise/{{Superman}} beats Comicbook/LexLuthor by being unpredictable: they were fighting inside a submarine, Superman was blinded and Lex kept blasting him and weakening him. So Superman's heat vision burned down a wall, flooding the submarine and forcing Lex to surrender.
* ComicBook/TheAvengers once fought a robot similar to Amazo (see JLA example above). They beat it by exposing it to ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, and it absorbed his fundamental goodness. Then it declared that the Avengers were good guys and it didn't want to fight anymore, regardless of the wishes of its creator.
** Then there was the time ComicBook/TheAvengers were fighting the Super-Adaptoid (a power mimic). Captain Marvel (cosmic awareness, FlyingBrick, blaster, and power wristbands that when clanked together would make him switch places with Rick Jones, who had been trapped in the Negative Zone for some time) let the Super-Adaptoid gain his powers: while the mimic was stunned from getting cosmic awareness, Mar-Vell clapped the Super-Adaptoid's newly-formed wrist bracelets together, banishing it to the Negative Zone and freeing Rick.

** In the sequel, he faces off against [[spoiler: Maddie]], an EvilTwin (well, PunchClockVillain and LivingWeapon) of [[spoiler: Jean Grey]], a fellow psychic who has him outmatched for power, skill, and experience. Oh, and he's trapped in AnotherDimension. How does he beat her? By refusing to engage in a direct contest of power, avoiding every conventional attack with maddeningly strange tactics, while flicking memories of her mirror image, [[spoiler: Jean]], at her as a distraction. And all the while, he's counting on the vast psychic noise of the battle to get the Avengers' attention and give them something to home in on. It works like a charm... right up until he ends up screwing up his own plan [[spoiler: by following Maddie back to the Red Room's base]] because of his AlwaysSaveTheGirl tendencies.

* In ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' storyline ''ComicBook/JudgmentInInfinity'', Diana and her fellow heroines have been abducted by the Adjudicator and encased in individual pods which not even the team's [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} strongest]] [[ComicBook/PowerGirl members]] can break out of. However, Wonder Woman wonders whether their cages are also protected against someone trying to break ''into'' them. Wonder Woman spins her Lasso super-fast until turning it intangible, phases one end of the rope out of the bubble, and then she draws it back. The partially solid end of the rope hits the pod's outer surface and shatters her cage.

* In ''ComicBook/XMen'', Sebastian Shaw absorbs any kinetic energy directed at him, even a bullet, so Storm covers him in snow, [[ArtisticLicensePhysics which actually saps his energy, due to cold being a lack of said energy.]]
** Interestingly, 15ish years later the X-Man Bishop -- whose powers are similar to Shaw's -- would charge himself up ''by using snowfall''. Bishop, however, can absorb any kind of energy directed at him where Shawn can only absorb kinetic.

* In an issue of [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]], the League fight an Amazo who has the powers of the whole League...on a conceptual level. Every time they bring in more reinforcements, Amazo gets more powerful. Comicbook/TheAtom works out how to beat him; he tells Franchise/{{Superman}} to officially disband the League. Since the League now no longer "exists", Amazo loses all his powers and shuts down.

** The second time is when Xadhoom faces Clangor, an Evronian cyborg who can absorb energy attacks and his enemies' emotions. Upon hearing this, Xadhoom lets go just a little of her enormous emotional control-And that small portion of her rage and [[SurvivorsGuilt hatred for herself for letting the Evronian destroy her homeworld]] overwhelmed his emotional absorption abilities and broke it.
*** Clangor implies it's not the first time he's a victim of this trope: he once mutinied, and the Evronians neutralized him with his ''remote off switch''.

* In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'', when you find yourself facing a Big Chain Chomp, the solution to the entire problem isn't trying to deplete the monster's HP with your attacks. Instead, you simply pound down the stake keeping it where it is (before you even go into battle with it), and then face it and just wait for it to wake up. It does the rest on its own.
** The giant Cheep-Cheep that's fought at the harbor can either be handled like a TimedBossBattle, or you can simply opt to pop it with a Spike Helmet, circumventing the need to use up your powerful stickers and/or spend coins on the battle roulette to defeat it before it self-destructs on you.

** One that crosses over into ViolationOfCommonSense and AIBreaker involves the Cruel Smash, where the enemy drones have extremely ramped up offense, defense, and aggression on their AI. However, it's possible to abuse that aggression by simply jumping off the stage - the player has ways to recover from that, but the AI doesn't, so its aggression just goads the drones into committing suicide. Flying characters and characters who are momentarily still before using a move to return them to the stage are particularly good at this, as they can remain tempting off-stage targets for longer.
** The Miis in [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU the fourth game]]'s Cruel Smash have wised up to the above tactic, but another one was introduced: spamming Counters. Because the Cruel Miis have insane damage and knockback, and Counters get as powerful as the countered attack, landing a few counters is often enough to earn the requisite [=KOs=] for the achievements, especially if you prepare a custom sword Mii with Counter and buffed defense.

* In ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', Sonic's final battle is against the powerful Egg Wyvern. As it's a final boss, it can be a really drawn out, knuckle-scraping battle... Or you can [[GoodBadBugs wait for Eggman to charge you a few seconds into the fight, jump up to intercept and toss your Sky Gem at the last moment before you grab for his controls, warp back onto the battle platform and simply wait 10-20 seconds for Eggman to be far enough out of range that the game considers him dead.]] Seeing as the battle area is basically a small-ish platform above a bottomless pit that's easy to accidentally run off of [[CameraScrew thanks to the sweepy, swoopy camera]], one of the last things you'd think of doing is tossing around a finicky gem that launches you wherever it may land, but it's not that difficult to pull off and is actually significantly easier to do than the fight itself and an easy S-Rank once you've got the timing down.
** As counterintuitive as it may seem given the fact that the Sonic series is all about speed ''and'' the water is constantly rising with no air bubbles to be found, the best way to handle the boss of Labyrinth Zone in the original ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' is to just take your time and be deliberate with your moves. Missing a jump ''will'' likely cost you, and getting hit by one of the hazards can easily knock you down a few levels which is more or less the same thing. Don't wait around on a platform longer than you need to, but there's enough time to wait for the path to be clear.

* When fighting the prototype Omnidroid in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Mr. Incredible has to deal with a nigh invulnurable foe, which is faster, stronger and adapts to whatever he tries to throw at it. He eventually burrows inside of it and tricks it into [[AndShowItToYou ripping out its own power core]]. This gets a CallBack at the end when [[spoiler: every member of the team has to take turns distracting the production model so Bob and Helen can launch one of its [[RocketPunch rocket-powered claws]] through its torso]].

* NASCAR driver Smokey Yunick did this so often "Yunicking the rules" became a phrase. As an example, when rules limited the size of the gas tank, he replaced all the fuel line with exhaust pipe to hold more, adding several more gallons that technically were not part of the fuel tank.

** The FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'' can be taken down by shooting a bunch of missiles at it... or you can take it down faster (and with less missile ammo) by shooting a missile into its open mouth to stun it, jumping into that mouth in ball form, letting it swallow you, then crawling into its stomach and laying a trio of bombs. Rinse and repeat 5 times. You do take drain damage from being inside the boss's digestive tract, but it's a relatively slow drain, and in the end you take about the same damage that you would take trying to face-tank her lunges the normal way.

** Several enemies in ''[[VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption Metroid Prime 3]]'' can be killed in a single strike of the Nova Blaster augmented by the X-Ray Visor, due to the limitations of their Phazite armor.

** Sniper Armors are very vulnerable to Air Shooter and several HumongousMecha are vulnerable to boomerangs.

* The ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series continues the trend of its predecessor series. While many bosses have {{Logical Weakness}}es, Launch Octopus and Flame Mammoth both have one of these - the boomerang attack can cut off Octopus' tentacles and prevent him from using his homing and tornado attacks, as well as being able to cut off Mammoth's trunk so he can't throw around globs of oil he can ignite into pillars of fire. You can also [[CycleOfHurting stunlock]] Spark Mandrill and Sting Chameleon.

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona:''

* 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.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode ''Day of the Dove'': an alien entity ensnares the crews of ''Enterprise'' and a Klingon Bird of Prey, influencing them to fight each other so it can feed off the anger they express. When Kirk figures it out, he convinces everyone to lay down their weapons and laugh in order to drive it off.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' two-part episode ''Gambit'': a band of pirates are raiding archaeological sites for what turn out to be fragments of an ancient Vulcan weapon that turns its targets' anger against them. Picard figures out the key to overcoming its effect ("Peace can defeat War and Death") and disarms the Romulan spy that had been searching for it by centering himself, giving the weapon nothing to use.

** In his fight with Pascal (Dan Inosanto), he uses a flexible bamboo stick that breaks Pascals rhythm.

* Mike Brezinski excels at this in The Stuart Gibbs “Literature/SpySchool” 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.

* 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 the ''Pokémon'' anime. 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!

An Outside-the-Box Tactic is a simple or otherwise overlooked tactic that is particularly effective against a certain monster or type of monster. It is closely related to an AchillesHeel; the difference being that this weakness is not the only reliable way to defeat such a foe. A foe susceptible to an Outside The Box Tactic is still vulnerable to other tactics, but is very weak to this particular strategy. It is primarily a RolePlayingGame trope, but may be found in other types of games as well.

The most famous and common example involves the use of healing magics or other restorative items to harm the undead, examples of which should be listed under ReviveKillsZombie. If this particular application of a technique is the only place where it is effective, it may be NotCompletelyUseless. If the method was [[NotTheWayItIsMeantToBePlayed unintended]] by the game developers, it may be the result of a GoodBadBug. If the method of attack actually involves not attacking the opponent at all, it becomes SheatheYourSword. If it's not hinted at in any way, yet is the only way to defeat the foe, it may also be a GuideDangIt. If it's not the only way to defeat a foe, but it requires ForcedLevelGrinding to defeat it otherwise, it may be commonly thought of as ThatOneBoss or a BeefGate. Outside-The-Box Tactics are often necessary to defeat a PuzzleBoss or the FinalExamBoss.

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