History PlayingWith / CombatPragmatist

** "Bob" is a [[Anime/FateStayNight superhuman manifestation of the legend of]] Bob Mann, one of the greatest swordsmen who ever lived and who was undefeated until his death of old age, summoned by the BigBad because [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill overkill is underrated]], while Alice is a very normal human with the skills and feats of a regular member of the IRS ([[EvilIsPetty she was going to audit]] the BigBad, you see). She [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu manages to kill Bob]] with a well-timed splash of hot coffee [[AHandfulForAnEye to his eyes]] and [[ChairmanOfTheBrawl bludgeoning him with a chair]] for about a half hour or so, after which [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown she just]] [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge couldn't lift the damn thing anymore.]]

** Bob challenges Alice's teammate, Charlie, to a one-on-one fist fight. While Alice initially stays out of the fight, Bob pulling out a knife prompts her to shoot him declaring that if he won't stick to the rules neither will she.
** To keep up appearances, Alice doesn't ''blatantly'' use "dishonorable" tactics in a fight,[[NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught but she'll do whatever she can get away with]].
** When Bob draws his sword, Alice draws her gun. Instead of immediately pulling the trigger, however, she offers him [[DontMakeMeDestroyYou one chance to give up without any bloodshed.]]

** Bob is the Villain and Alice is a firm believer in PayEvilUntoEvil
** Alice is in a war and doesn't have time to fight with honor.
** Alice doesn't even use a sword and only has a gun so by her logic she was using the only weapon she had at the time.
** Bob is too tough a foe to deal with in any other way.
** [[ScrewTheRulesTheyBrokeThemFirst Bob has a history of not following dueling rules or honoring deals if he loses. Alice doesn't expects him to act any better this time, and has planned accordingly.]]
** Alice is simply defending herself, as she never wanted to fight in the first place.
** Alice has a big disadvantage when it comes to size and reach, so fighting dirty is the only way she has any chance of surviving the encounter.
** Alice is a [[SoldierVsWarrior soldier,]] and therefore has no inclination to fight "fair".
** Intimidation factor. A honorable fight would leave Bob in condition to keep hounding Alice with constant duel requests until her inevitable defeat, which would open the floodgates for other duelists to come after her. By being absurdly brutal, she wins this duel... and (maybe) other possible duels in the future.

** Bob challenges Alice to "an honorable sword fight." She pulls a sword, then presses the trigger at the bottom of the sword's hilt, which fires a bullet out the end of the blade and kills him. "What, your sword doesn't shoot bullets?"

** Alice: [[DefensiveWhat What?]] It was a fight, nobody said it had to be a ''sword'' fight, it's not my fault he didn't bring a gun with him!
** Alice: Ha! You stupid wannabe Hero! Only a moron would bring a sword against a gunslinger like me! Bob: You do realize that I am practically bullet proof right? Alice: Oh... Heh heh, oh yeah I did forgot about that... [[OhCrap well this is awkward]].
** Bob challenges Alice to an arm-wrestling match; she immediately punches him in the crotch and declares herself the winner.
** Alice will do anything to win. Except acting honorably gets her more allies and a reputation for trustworthiness, so she ends up becoming the most honorable person in the kingdom out of sheer pragmatism. She has trouble explaining this to Bob.
** Alice's attempts at dirty tricks [[EpicFail constantly backfires at her]]; when she pulls out a gun to shoot Bob, it jams, when she tries to throw sand in Bob's eyes, she blinds herself instead, and when she tries to [[GroinAttack kick Bob in the nads]] as a last resort, she just [[BallsOfSteel breaks her feet]] and ends up on the ground, cursing whilst clutching her broken feet.

** Bob is an ImplacableMan. Any attempt to kill him with a method other than a honorable one-on-one sword fight (and that is if the plot actually provides such an "escape clause") is just asking to be on the wrong end of a MookHorrorShow... and obviously, this will be described on a ChekhovsClassroom early on, so Alice (and the audience) doesn't gets any funny ideas.
** BigBad Walker, even if a ruthless bastard otherwise, follows UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar (or the InUniverse version of them, written or not). It is made very clear that if Alice fights with honor, he will apply ContractualGenreBlindness as a kind of "reward" and she ''may'' have a chance of defeating him... but if she doesn't...
** Bob is the WorldsGreatestWarrior, a veteran of thousands of fights against all kinds of contenders, and as a result no amount of trickery can even the odds. Alice only lasts a split-second longer than she should (and/or gets a more humiliating defeat that she would) have had she faced off against him in a fair fight.
* '''Enforced''': The writers want to show how pragmatic Alice is in a fight for character development and/or a little humor.

** "If you're going to ask Alice for a duel, do yourself a favor... get a BulletproofVest and ask Bill to give you some support with that sniper rifle of his."

** Alice counted on Bob bringing a gun, so she brought a grenade.
** Alice doesn't care; she prefers whatever gets the job done.
** Alice's reputation for winning victories despite a lack of strength or skill wins her apprentices anyways.
** A story that tries to give the Aesop that just because someone is not strict with their Moral Code that doesn't mean they have no morals at all, so in other words just because Alice doesn't follow a strict code does not mean she is evil.

** Even without hidden weapons that give her an edge, Alice can still fight dirty by blinding, gouging, etc.
** Alice factors in the enemies' focus on her into another advantage by bringing backup to keep the enemy occupied or playing mind games and suggesting that their attention is exactly what she wants.
** If Alice's enemies will escalate because of her "breaking the rules", then she will escalate right back. Alice's enemies, thus, eventually [[TheDreaded become so damn spooked of the lengths Alice will go to in order to get the upper hand]] that they start to wonder [[WasItReallyWorthIt if this was a good idea at all.]]
** It may take a lengthy explanation of how Alice's training works and maybe a couple of Hail Marys with the evidence and the like, but in the end Alice is able to demonstrate that the circumstances of her encounter were unusual enough to merit her response. The subsequent discussion about whether or not this creates a dangerous precedent is not something Alice cares about.

-->'''Bob''': Cheater!\\
'''Alice''': Well that would disqualify me. Congratulations, you win.

** Alice's tactics are pragmatic but overtly savage and more often than not when one sees her strike, it's from the point of view of people becoming collateral damage because she blew up an entire city block without warning; the result is that Alice is branded a [[WesternTerrorists terrorist]] and she ''deserves'' the label.
** Combat Pragmatism is an InUniverse sign of sociopathy, and [[StupidEvil low-function]] sociopathy, at that. You ''[[ContractualGenreBlindness are]]'' supposed to engage in banter and {{Flynning}} and giving wounded people a chance to surrender. You ''[[BondVillainStupidity are]]'' supposed to shove prisoners into death traps. You ''are'' supposed to [[GunpointBanter talk to the guy you got a drop on and are pressing a gun to his temple]]. You ''are'' supposed to parlay. The reason Alice doesn't cares for any of this is because she gets bored fast, and loves to smash her toys when they bore her, be it a Game Boy or [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery all of society]].

** Alice is mentioned and showcased again and again to be a hard-core cheater with a penchant for scorched-earth tactics, turning her into TheDreaded. Bob doesn't cares, going into a fight with her having nothing else on his side but FightingSpirit. And "for once", Alice can't seem to shoot straight, letting Bob punch her lights out.

* '''Deconstructed''':
** Bob is smart enough to bring a gun of his own, knowing Alice would not be honorable enough to fight fair.
** Alice bring a gun but misses her shot, since she never fought fair she never bothered training her aim or react if Bob moves too fast for her.
** Alice's way of fighting is seen as dirty: she quickly gains a bad reputation as a weakling and/or DirtyCoward for not fighting with strength, skill, or honor.
** In addition to the above bullet point, while Alice thinks she is fighting "smartly" other people think she is an overtly cruel bitch (endangering noncombatants and torturing incapacitated enemies for the sake of terrorizing the rest into compliance does that) and [[BerserkButton pisses them off]] to the point that they ''[[ThisMeansWar will]]'' perform tactics they chose to outlaw [[ScrewTheRulesTheyBrokeThemFirst just to have a shot at getting rid of her]]. All that Alice has brought down on herself is a degree of escalation she will be hard-pressed to withstand, let alone defuse and she can just ''forget'' about topping.
** Alice's lack of standards while fighting means that, in the rare instance where she is defeated, Bob shows her no mercy because he does not expect it in turn.
** Alice is normally alright with using underhanded tactics because her opponents are [[PayEvilUntoEvil normally scum]] anyways but is a bit hesitant when she is forced to fight a brainwashed ally.
** Alice shoots Bob down and claims herself victorious but was deemed the loser as she failed a SecretTestOfCharacter and was banished due to her underhanded ways.
** The BigBad tries to exploit Alice's cynical underhanded nature by getting Alice's pragmatic tactics to backfire horribly on her, such as having the berserk werewolf that she shot in the head instead of using ThePowerOfLove to non-lethally dispel his curse turn out to be her boyfriend.
** There are rules (spoken or not) to this "game", and the "penalty" for either side breaking them is severe: Alice thus gets to see her DoomedHometown destroyed because a lesson had to be given about what happens if someone "cheats".
** Alice is good at fighting dirty, setting up traps and quick-drawing... but unfortunately she is very bad at fighting fair, because she lacks the physicality or she has a very bad sense for split-second planning; if anybody survives her initial ambush, Alice is '''screwed'''.
** Similar to the above, Alice's tactics are meant to seed terror and keep people from messing up with her no more than once (as Creator/OrsonScottCard termed it, "win this and all other future fights"). Sounds well and good against garden-variety RedShirt mooks that are there because they SignedUpForTheDental, but unfortunately fanatics who are [[TheDeterminator determined]] to cause ''any'' harm to her [[TakingYouWithMe no matter the cost]] ([[TooDumbToFool or people too stupid to understand they're supposed to be scared]], or [[UnstoppableRage too pissed off to care about such things as tactical analysis or even being three-quarters dead]]) are a wholly different story.
** Alice is forced into a weaponless duel, and is stripped of all her hidden weapons beforehand. [[DefeatByModesty Probably more than a bit literally.]]
** By painting herself as a disproportionately brutal person (even if she prefers of it as pragmatism), she finds herself scaring off everybody she likes or loves who cannot (hell, ''will not'') think the same way.
** Word of Alice's refusal to fight fair and underhanded tactics quickly spreads and future opponents focus their efforts on taking her out first, knowing better than to keep her in the fight.
** Bob was just going to give Alice a few bruises and a little trash-talk, tops; but, the fact she cheated [[RageBreakingPoint pisses him off so much]] that he brutalizes the living daylights out of her: it may create a CycleOfRevenge and/or traumatize her.
*** In addition, said cycle could even cause [[AwakeningASleepingGiant outsiders]], [[ThinkOfTheChildren up to and including children]] as well as [[NeverMessWithGranny elders]], to take the NuclearOption (metaphorically and/or literally) when dealing with those like Alice and/or Bob, all to send a powerful message about the importance of honor and respect, especially when civilian lives are threatened.
** If Alice had just fought normally in a mugging situation she probably could claim self-defense. [[CrimeOfSelfDefense But her overkill tactics allow the thief's]] AmoralAttorney [[MadeOutToBeaJerkass to paint her as the aggressor]] and local laws may still think you did a no-no (if you had enough time to draw a gun on someone you probably had enough time to start running, and if you had enough presence of mind to [[GroinAttack aim for the balls]] you probably didn't felt threatened).

** Combat Pragmatism is an InUniverse sign of sociopathy, and [[StupidEvil low-function]] sociopathy, at that. You ''[[ContractualGenreBlindness are]]'' supposed to engage in banter and {{Flynning}} and giving wounded people a chance to surrender. You ''[[BondVillainStupidity are]]'' supposed to shove prisoners into death traps. You ''are'' supposed to [[GunpointBanter talk to the guy you got a drop on and are pressing a gun to his temple]]. The reason Alice doesn't cares for any of this is because she gets bored fast, and loves to smash her toys when they bore her.

* '''Played For Horror''': Alice's tactics are pragmatic but overtly savage and more often than not when one sees her strike: from the point of view of people becoming collateral damage because she blew up an entire city block without warning; the result is that Alice is branded a [[WesternTerrorists terrorist]] and she ''deserves'' the label.

** If Alice had just fought normally in a mugging situation she probably could claim self-defense. [[CrimeOfSelfDefense But her overkill tactics allow the thief's]] AmoralAttorney [[MadeOutToBeaJerkass to paint her as the aggressor]] and local laws may still think you did a no-no (if you had enough time to draw a gun on someone, you probably had enough time to start running, and if you had enough presence of mind to [[GroinAttack aim for the balls]] you probably didn't felt threatened).

* If Alice had just fought normally she probably could claim self-defense. [[CrimeOfSelfDefense But her overkill tactics allow the thief's]] AmoralAttorney to paint her as the aggressor and local laws may still think you did a no-no (if you had enough time to draw a gun on someone, you probably had enough time to start running, and if you had enough presence of mind to [[GroinAttack aim for the balls]] you probably didn't felt threatened).

* '''Played For Laughs''': Bob pulls a sword and does a lot of {{flynning}}. Alice shrugs, pulls a gun, and shoots him.

** Bob was just going to give Alice a few bruises and a little trash-talk, tops, but the fact she cheated [[RageBreakingPoint pisses him off so much]} that he brutalizes the living daylights out of her. It may create a CircleOfRevenge or it may traumatize her.

* '''Played For Horror''': Alice's tactics are pragmatic but overtly savage and more often than not when we see her strike, we see it from the point of view of the people that become collateral damage because she blew up an entire city block without warning. The result is that Alice is branded a [[WesternTerrorists terrorist]] and she ''deserves'' the label.

** TheFilmBuff comic relief discusses what makes a proper NoNonsenseNemesis while the camera focuses on Alice checking her gun's load.

** Similar to the above, Alice's tactics are meant to seed terror and keep people from messing up with her no more than once (as Creator/OrsonScottCard termed it, "win this and all other future fights"). Sounds well and good against garden-variety RedShirt mooks that are there because they SignedUpForTheDental, but unfortunately fanatics who are [[TheDeterminator determined]] to cause ''any'' harm to her [[TakingYouWithMe no matter the cost]] ([[TooDumbToFool or people too stupid to understand they're supposed to be scared]]) are a wholly different story.

** Alice purposefully handicaps herself in the fight against Bob "to make it fair".

** In addition to the above bullet point, while Alice thinks she is fighting "smartly" other people think she is an overtly cruel bitch (endangering noncombatants and torturing incapacitated enemies for the sake of terrorizing the rest into compliance does that) and [[BerserkButton pisses them off]] to the point that they ''[[ThisMeansWar will]]'' perform tactics they chose to outlaw just to have a shot at getting rid of her. All that Alice has brought down on herself is a degree of escalation she will be hard-pressed to withstand, let alone defuse and she can just ''forget'' about topping.

* '''Zig Zagged''': Alice will fight fair until she's losing, then go for whatever dirty trick will put her on top. Then she'll fight fair again unless it's taking too long, at which point she'll use the necessary tactics to end the fight quickly.

* '''Played For Horror''': Alice's tactics are pragmatic but overtly savage and more often than not when we see her strike, we see it from the point of view of the people that become collateral damage because she blew up an entire city block without warning.

** "Bob" is a [[Anime/FateStayNight superhuman manifestation of the legend of]] Bob Mann, one of the greatest swordsmen who ever lived and who was undefeated until his death of old age, summoned by the BigBad because [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill overkill is underrated]] while Alice is a very normal human with the skills and feats of a regular member of the IRS ([[EvilIsPetty she was going to audit]] the BigBad, you see). She [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu manages to kill Bob]] with a well-timed splash of hot coffee [[AHandfulForAnEye to his eyes]] and [[ChairmanOfTheBrawl bludgeoning him with a chair]] for [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown until she just]] [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge couldn't lift the damn thing anymore.]]

** Alice is challenged to a boxing match by Bob. Instead of showing up at the ring,[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill she uses some tactically-placed pipe bombs to blow up the support columns beneath the gym, thus demolishing the entire building with Bob inside it]].

** Bob challenges Alice to a boxing match and [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill she opts to blow up the entire gym (and surrounding city blocks) with Bob inside it]].

'''Basic Trope''': A character who is defined by their willingness to do anything in a fight to win.

** Alice's way of fighting is seen as [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty dirty]]: she quickly gains a bad reputation as a weakling and/or DirtyCoward for not fighting with strength, skill, or honor.