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8!! Works with their own page:
9[[index]]
10* ''CombatPragmatist/DragonBall''
11* ''CombatPragmatist/OnePiece''
12[[/index]]
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16!! Other Examples:
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18[[foldercontrol]]
19[[folder: Bleach]]
20* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
21** Ichigo is very much a straightforward fighter, but even he knows the value of using this trope where he can get it- he enters the Battle of Karakura Town with a strike to the back of Aizen's neck, which only failed because Aizen was CrazyPrepared and [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe had a kidou barrier to block him]].
22** [[TheDragon Gin's]] philosophy is to strike like a snake in battle. As a result, he'll use his haori to hide his blade so that he can ambush-strike someone through his clothing. In the anime, he is even willing to throw dust into Hitsugaya's eyes when they fight. Additionally, in a series where characters are often [[ExplainingYourPowerToTheEnemy describing the mechanics of their powers]], [[spoiler:Gin is willing to leave out details or even outright lie about his abilities to catch his targets off guard. This allows Gin to blindside ''Aizen'' and nearly ''kill him''...and he ''would've'', if Aizen weren't already [[CompleteImmortality fused with the Hogyoku by that point]]]].
23** [[LovableRogue Ganju]] knows he's not strong enough to defeat [[AlmightyJanitor Yumichika]]. He uses every dirty trick in the book hoping that Yumichika will drop his guard because it's so obvious they're not equals in battle. It's his only chance, it allows him to target Yumichika's [[TheDandy hair]] with a firework, and it works.
24** Nnoitra is willing to use every underhanded method in the book to win. He waits until Ichigo's fight with Grimmjow is over to abmush and attach the former while he's still exhausted, and even has Tesra take Orihime hostage to further dissuade Ichigo from fighting back. In the past, he also used a device supplied to him by Szayelaporro to trick Nelliel into attacking an illusion of himself so he could deal her a grievous wound while [[InTheBack her back was turned.]] He would seriously be in outright DirtyCoward territory if it weren't for his unwavering determination in his battle with Kenpachi, who he [[DefiantToTheEnd goes down fighting]] against.
25** Kyoraku lives by this philosophy. He even lectures his allies to remember that [[WarIsHell when people go into war both sides are evil so there's no point in trying to be honorable about it.]] He will ambush opponents that are fighting other shinigami, he'll attack from unexpected angles such as behind... or through shadows. He describes his attitude towards battle as ConfusionFu when Starrk finally realizes they're not the same type of ReasonBeforeHonor personalities that he thought they were.
26** Mayuri Kurotsuchi practically thrives on this trope. In his case, it's {{justified|Trope}} because Mayuri isn't very effective at fighting traditionally like most other Captains, something he admits outright. His Zanpakuto's Shikai works by [[TheParalyzer paralyzing the opponent's limbs]]. His Bankai's ''main'' ability is to [[PoisonousPerson disperse a powerful, virulent poison]]. To make things worse, Mayuri is able to change the composition of his Bankai's poison, which he admits he does after ''every single time'' he uses it, [[CrazyPrepared just in case someone survives it the first time and may have developed antibodies]].
27** Iba tries to teach [[HonorBeforeReason Ikkaku]] that he should be much more willing to fight to win, not to fight for his ideals. He becomes particularly harsh in his criticism when Ikkaku throws a fight to protect his ideals, pointing out the only people who can afford to be idealistic on the battlefield are those who are strong enough to get away with it.
28** While putting Ichigo through TrainingFromHell, Ginjou slashes Ichigo's eyes to blind him. He also invites Orihime onto the battlefield just so he can put her life in danger because he knows Ichigo fights best when someone needs protecting. [[spoiler:He also sets up an ambush for Uryuu, using Tsukishima as bait to distract Uryuu while he strikes Uryuu's bow-arm, mangling it beyond use.]]
29** Momo Hinamori knows she lacks physical strength, but she has very strong spiritual power which gives her high proficiency in Kidou. She is therefore more than willing to secretly lay a Kidou net around the battlefield to ambush the enemy and then set fire to her trapped foes, knowing that she cannot beat them in an outright brawl.
30** The Onmitsukidou believes in dirty fighting, teaching that seeing a comrade being killed in front of you is just a good opportunity to stab the opponent from behind. While Soifon preaches these teachings, she is a showy, head-on fighter who explains her philosophy and tries to protect her comrades. Aizen bluntly observes she's mad for dismissing her own organisation's philosophy in favour of fighting him openly and honourably.
31** [[TheEmperor Yhwach]] takes advantage of every opening the enemy gives him. He told the Shinigami war would begin in five days, but attacks in less than 24 hours simply because Ichigo has gone to Hueco Mundo and cannot come to Soul Society's rescue. He tricks Yamamoto into revealing his Bankai too soon, which allows him to defeat Yamamoto's power. He comments that those Stern Ritter who fight less pragmatically than he'd hoped are fighting naïvely, although even the most "naïve" are willing to attack while the Shinigami are [[MyNameIsInigoMontoya introducing]] themselves or [[CallingYourAttacks calling their attacks]].
32** Unlike most {{Blood Knight}}s (including the current Kenpachi), the First Kenpachi, Yachiru, does not believe in holding back or fighting honourably. She goes for a killing blow as fast as possible and even draws a dagger with her free hand during a BladeLock. [[spoiler:First Kenpachi Yachiru is better known as Captain Unohana.]]
33** Ichigo does this twice against Yhwach in their final fight. First, he attacks the Quincy King [[InTheBack from behind]] after [[spoiler:Aizen grants him an opening by [[ImmortalLifeIsCheap using himself as a decoy]]]]. It doesn't stick, but then [[spoiler:Uryu shoots Yhwach with a Still Silver arrow that temporarily [[PowerNullifier erases his powers]]; Ichigo seizes the opportunity and kills Yhwach while he's unable to [[ResurrectiveImmortality resurrect himself]]]].
34[[/folder]]
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36[[folder: Fist of the North Star]]
37* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'':
38** Jagi made a career out of doing this. Be it spitting needles, using a gun, or making a hole in an oil tanker and lighting the leaking oil on fire with him on top of said tanker. This translates into the video game, in which his move set involves using a shotgun, setting oil barrels and gasoline puddles on fire, throwing needles, chaining his opponent to a cinder block, using pillars and random junk as weapons, pistol-whipping, and the aforementioned oil tanker trick.
39** Jackal was no novice at this either. His primary offense was throwing Dynamite, with concealed blades and other such dirty tricks, unlike most people, he [[BadassNormal did not receive martial training or any superpower]], yet he still poses as a serious threat to Kenshiro by manipulating the environment and the people around him.
40** Yuda takes the cake. Rei, a superior opponent, is out for his blood but is set to die in three days? Easy, he tells his head subordinate he's leaving for another town specifically to do this, waits for a pissed Kenshiro to torture him into saying in which town he's hiding in, and as soon as Kenshiro and Rei leave he calmly walks back at home and asks if his subordinate ''really'' expected him to tell him where he actually was going (he had not left the town at all, he was just hiding ''across the street''). And when Rei managed to prolong his life indefinitely, he accepts the challenge... And has his subordinates ''blow up a dam to flood the place and impair Rei's mobility'', as Rei needed to touch his enemy to kill him but Yuda could easily but slowly cut him from distance (and the water actually increased the power of the attack). The ''only'' reasons Rei won was that Yuda interrupted that attack to brag before using a similar but stronger one, giving Rei the time to use his hands to ''push on the water and jump'', and, after that, Yuda froze up seeing the beauty of Rei's attack.
41** Also, Kenshiro himself. He's a trained assassin, and, when the situation requires it, he's not above to grab the largest rock in the place and throw it at the enemy or use whatever he can, and at one point starts wearing a weighed glove to add some power to his punches (and to tribute the previous owner of said glove, an ally of his).
42*** ''All'' Hokuto and Nanto practitioners, with such highlights as a technique to grab an enemy arrow and throw it back [[OffhandBackhand without looking]] and techniques specifically made to sneak up on someone and detecting someone trying this. In fact, the only reason Hokuto and Nanto practitioners apart from Jagi and Yuda aren't obviously this is that they usually find themselves in situations wherethey lack something to bash the enemy with, it could cause collateral damage, or are fighting an opponent that is so good that normal tricks are next to useless. In fact, Jagi's above-mentioned reliance on those tricks is seen as him trying and ''failing'' to compensate for his own weakness (the needle-spitting trick was pulled on Kenshiro during a spar. At the same time, Kenshiro mock-performed a lethal move on him), and during their fight Kenshiro actually chastised Shin when a {{Mook}} tried to sneak up on him not for being underhanded but for actually expecting it would work (Yuda, on the other hand, is so good that his tricks work even on opponents that would usually not be even slowed down).
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45[[folder: Mobile Suit Gundam]]
46* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'': As the original bearer of the ''White Devil'' name, Amuro Ray is a textbook example, basically doing anything and everything in his power to kill his enemy. He has no qualms shooting distracted opponents, sacrificing various armaments, and ambushing opponents. He even takes this to the logical conclusion, [[spoiler: using the Gundam as a decoy in order to rush to the enemy cockpit and take out Char.]]
47** Char was no slouch either: the first thing he did after realizing that his Zaku's standard weapons were useless against the Gundam's armour was to repeatly kick the Gundam over the cockpit to stun the pilot, and, after being forced to retreat, he brought mecha-sized axes that could damage the Gundam and an ''anti-ship'' rocket launcher (good enough to pierce the armour of those five batteships at Loum, good enough to kill the Gundam, even without the nuke). His other tactics include force the Gundam to re-enter atmosphere out of the ''White Base'' (the only reason it didn't work was that the designer ''[[CrazyPrepared had equipped the Gundam for just that]]''), use strategically placed bombs to drive an enemy battleship to block the hangar of Luna II, and infiltrate the headquarters of the Federation to destroy the new mobile suits before they could be deployed.
48** The cake for the original series goes to both a group of Zeon soldiers who nearly destroyed the Gundam by jumping it on jetpacks and jetbikes and place demolition charges (the Gundam survived because they had only time bombs, and the crew managed to defuse them just in time), and M'quve, who used the same trick on much larger scale (he was the supreme commander of the Zeon invasion force, he had the resources) to down the ''White Base''.
49** One of the dirtiest and most creative fighters in the franchise is the protagonist of Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam, a shy, kind-hearted little thirteen-year-old boy named Uso Evin. In addition to using all of Amuro's tricks (see above) with considerable flair, he has several of his own devising, with a particular favourite (later adopted by the rest of the [[LaResistance League Militaire]]) being detaching his CombiningMecha's lower body and turning it into a giant kinetic warhead.
50** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'': In the final story arc, Zechs Merquise (previously a WorthyOpponent and thus a major subverter of this trope) has become the leader of the space rebel group White Fang. Treize Khushrenada, leader of the Earth's military, proposes a one-on-one duel in order to decide the conflict. Zechs' response? Fire his space fortress's WaveMotionGun, saying that a simple duel won't resolve the underlying causes of the war (for the record, it misses -- but only because of [[DivingSave external intervention]]).
51** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'': Shinn Asuka...when he's not too pissed off to think straight. When he fights calmly, he often uses clever improvised attacks (for example, using an enemy mobile suit with a breached reactor as a ''giant grenade'' to take out an enemy WaveMotionGun that was shielded against beam weapons, splitting apart his Gundam mid-flight (''Manga/GetterRobo'' style) to dodge attacks, or throwing away his fancy beam-reflecting shield...in order to bounce his beam rifle shots off it and hit the enemy from an unexpected direction). Unfortunately, he has led such a traumatic life ''and'' has such poor anger management skills that he gets pissed off very easily, and basically turns into a LeeroyJenkins. One of the few instances where being HotBlooded actively undermines a [[HumongousMecha mecha]] pilot.
52*** Kira Yamato is no slouch in this category when he needs to be. While he piloted the Strike Gundam, he did things like [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks throw his beam saber]] to skewer an enemy, throw enemies into the line of their allies' fire, kick up sand with his thrusters to make a dust cloud and pin an enemy down under his mecha's boot so he can't miss. And then there's his tendency to kick opponents whenever he finds the opportunity to knock them off balance in melee range.
53** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE'': The UE may have set the record for combat pragmatism in Gundam. They camp enemy hangars, shoot down supply crates, don't hesitate in killing off defenseless foes, promote infighting in their enemies, back off when faced with superior opposition... their effectiveness in battle is as much due to their intelligence as their advanced technology.
54*** Second generation Flit doesn't care about beating his opponents in mobile suits, as demonstrated when he responded to Desil's challenge by unleashing a full AA barrage from his battleship. "This is war. The manner in which I defeat you is meaningless."
55*** Third Generation Asemu [[spoiler: aka Captain Ash]] also qualifies. His pirate-themed Gundam is outfitted with some dirty tricks on its sleeve, like anchors charged with electricity to fry enemy mobile suits (and their pilots inside) and a floodlight mounted on its chest to blind his opponents.
56** ''Anime/GundamBuildFighters'': The Renato brothers take flak both in and out of universe for their CombatPragmatist attitudes. Notably, it's their attitude (they treat the Gunpla battles as if they're actual battles and wars) that's the issue: just about ''every'' successful Gunpla Battler in the series is a CombatPragmatist (and even some unsuccessful ones), from Felinni weaponising his Gunpla's CoolCape as an impromptu knuckleduster to Neils sitting out the Battle Royale by remaining hidden in order to avoid giving away his fighting style.
57** Mikazuki and Akihiro of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' fight to survive and crush their enemies, they wouldn't question the so-called codes of honor of Gjallarhorn and simply shoot them when they are talking, crushing them when they are ''outside'' the cockpit. And should you wronged them or killed any of their brothers, Mika would shred you into piece without caring who you are. One memorable moment late in the first season saw a group of Gjallarhorn pilots doing a sort of role call mid-battle...and Akihiro shoots one of them before he can finish his sentence. Then made hilarious when Akihiro nervously [[LampshadeHanging asks if he was allowed to do that]].
58---->'''Mikazuki:''' "[[BluntYes Of course.]]"
59*** Naturally this comes back to bite them in the ass come the final episode when they come up against a CombatPragmatist who operates on a vastly larger scale. Attempting to pull a YouShallNotPass, Akihiro and Mikazuki stand close together and are ready to make a LastStand against Gjallarhorn. However, [[FinalBoss Rustal]] has come to the conclusion that if they are going to act and kill like beasts, then he's going to treat them as such and orders an orbital strike (against which they're completely helpless) without a second thought. Unfortunately for both pilots this proves to be too much, and both are slaughtered by [[{{Mook}} basic grunts]] after a brief fight.
60[[/folder]]
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62* Mylene from ''Manga/ZeroZeroNineOne'' is a very effective ActionGirl and has no qualms about using all the tactics she can when she fights. [[spoiler:The way she beats Egg is notable. She reveals that her earrings allow her to track and dodge incoming bullets and takes them off. Egg in turn tells her that his eyes allow him to read her next move and agrees to fight their next duel at night. Mylene wins and reveals that she lied -- her super-sensitive hearing is built into her body.]]
63* ''Anime/AfroSamurai'' has no trouble with breaking most of the rules of ''bushido'' if they'll save his life. One of his trademark moves is using an enemy as a HumanShield. He'll use innocent bystanders, too.
64* ''Manga/AirGear'': It's easier to count the amount of times the protagonists have bested their opponents without recurring to cheap tricks than an actual straight fight, to give an example, in a battle aboard jets ([[ItMakesSenseInContext yes, the kind that fly at supersonic speed, don't ask]]) Kazu and Agito/Akito team up against two opponents, each team combines their respective strongest attack and charge head-on, but turns out Kazu and Agito/Akito where just an illusion and their opponents fell to the sea because there was nothing to clash on.
65* A somewhat meta example with ''Manga/AkazukinChacha'''s Magical Princess. Most {{Magical Girl Warrior}}s in those days took some time to fight the monsters before unleashing their FinishingMove. Chacha skips all of that and goes straight to using her Beauty Selene Arrow as soon as her TransformationSequence ends, usually as her very first counter attack if the enemy gets a chance to do so at all. It started to suffer from the WorfEffect as soon as the plot to get the Phoenix Sword was introduced, but after getting it, it was back to business as usual.
66* In ''Anime/AldnoahZero'', Inaho Kaizuka has to use every clever trick in the book to defeat his opponents, because they are piloting physics-warping {{Super Robot}}s, while he is piloting what amounts to a RealRobot [[MechaMooks Mecha Mook]]. In non-mecha terms, it's like fighting a tank with a slingshot, and Inaho has no choice but to exploit every weaknesses his enemies have with cold and ruthless efficiency.
67* Downplayed in ''Manga/AllRounderMeguru'': UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts have rules that the referees enforce very strictly, but if the opponent shows some weakness that can be exploited without breaking the rules the characters ''will'' take advantage of it, and generally use tactics to push the opponent to the extreme.
68** The most notable example is during the finals for the female bantamweight section of the All Japan Amateur Shooto Championship, where Aya at one point resorts to [[spoiler:dirty boxing (that is, blocking her opponent from behind and then [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown punch her everywhere until stopped by the referee]])]] on Maki, taking full advantage of Shooto rules banning elbow strikes to escape retaliation. And it wasn't even to knock Maki out, it was to cause her a nose bleeding that couldn't be stopped quickly and thus win by medically-enforced TKO.
69** This pragmatic mindset is so widespread that when Meguru at the Kansai tournament decides to [[HonorBeforeReason knock out his opponent to give him a good end to his last fight rather than win by points]] he's severely chewed out by his trainer, as exposing himself when he could avoid it, especially against a former ''pro boxer'', was just plain stupid, no matter if he won by knock out.
70** At one point Takashi finds himself fighting four knife-wielding opponents-and his ''first'' move was a [[GroinAttack kick to the crotch]], with everything else being more violent.
71* ''Anime/{{Bakugan}}'':
72** In a series filled with giant monster battles, Mylene from ''New Vestroia'' stands out for this. In Bakugan battles, her tactics most often revolve around manipulating the environment and trying to kill off enemy Brawlers directly. [[spoiler: After the Brawlers Resistance gets cut in half, she uses manipulation to split up the rest so the Vexos can pick them off one by one. She prepares a special arena for when Dan and Baron confront her in Beta City to ensure their Bakugan would remain contained. It only fails due to her being up against Drago and the Perfect Core. When she goes to Earth to retrieve critical data from the Resistance, she takes Mira as a hostage.]]
73** King Zenoheld mixes this with being a DirtyCoward. In nearly all of his battles, his go-to when the going gets tough is to bring out his Farbros’ Assail System. It boosts Farbros’ power level by ''3500,'' beyond any other gimmick that appears in-series, and that’s just its ''passive'' effect. In the only battle where he ''doesn’t'' use the Assail System, he has himself and his opponents fight in a special arena meant to set the power advantage in favor of Mechanical Bakugan.
74** Some of the Gundalians in ''Gundalian Invaders'' win their battles by playing dirty. Kazarina is the most prevalent, calling out reinforcements to ZergRush her enemies and using her MindControl powers very prolifically. [[spoiler: In addition to brainwashing many human children from Earth to act as ChildSoldiers, she has Ren’s old teammates brainwashed too to act as her bodyguards. When Nurzak tries to betray Barodius, Kazarina pretends to be on his side until he reveals his motives, siccing a whole host of hypnotized soldiers on him.]] Stoica is willing to inflict attacks against his own allies if it means dooming his enemies in the process. [[spoiler: Barodius, when he’s first beaten in battle by Dan, pretends to release Jake, whom Kazarina had captured, to Dan, only to have the mind-controlled Jake knock Dan out cold.]]
75** Team Anubias from ''Mechtanium Surge'' are a team of this. One of their members, Ben, outright says he likes to fight dirty, which he does in having two Bakugan double-team Drago in his battle with Dan.
76** Wiseman [[spoiler: A.K.A. Cordegon,]] also from ''Mechtanium Surge'', is this. Recognizing how powerful the Brawlers are as a team, he continually tries to corner individual Brawlers to catch them off-guard. [[spoiler: When Mira develops new Battle Suits to aid the Brawlers, Wiseman steals them for his own arsenal.]]
77* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'':
78** Guts is no honorable swordsman. He's willing to let opponents beat him up so that he can blast them with his ArmCannon at point-blank range, ''bites an opponent's sword'' in one fight after Griffith [[BladeRun jumps on his sword]], and will use his ranged weapons (like his automatic crossbow) before using his sword in most encounters in the Black Swordsman arc. And this doesn't even mention things like his willingness to take innocents hostage if he thinks that it'll give him an advantage, which fits the concept of "fighting dirty" much better than anything mentioned there. At one point, he uses a small child, hanging by his clothes on his sword, as bait to distract a swarm of vicious, homicidal "fairies" into chasing him into a barn where he blows them up. The kid doesn't get hurt, either.
79** At one point, Guts is training Isidro (a young boy who [[WrongGenreSavvy seems to believe Berserk is a SHONEN manga]]) and Isidro nearly pulls off a sneaky attack using his speed and smaller size to his advantage. Isidro berates himself for trying something so dishonorable, but Guts praises the pragmatism of the attack, telling Isidro that he needs to use every advantage he has. Isidro grudgingly takes this lesson to heart and it serves him very well.
80** Serpico displays a knack for this whenever he fights Guts. Knowing that Guts is much, ''much'' stronger than he is, he always forces a battle in some kind of terrain that puts Guts at a disadvantage, like a narrow cliff edge or a room full of huge stone pillars that make it impossible for Guts to swing the Dragon Slayer around.
81** Casca’s swordplay entirely revolves around this, as she lacks the physical might of her lover Guts so she instead focuses [[FragileSpeedster on agility]] and targeting her opponents’s joints, wrists, jugulars and gaps in their armor. [[spoiler: When she is cured of her mental regression, Casca proves to be the [[MentorArchetype perfect mentor]] to the aforementioned Isidro as their speedy pragmatic fighting styles compliment each other]].
82* Most characters in ''Manga/BladeOfTheImmortal'', except the truly bushido believing samurai (and sometimes not even those), are like this. The sympathetic villain Anotsu even based his entire sword school Itto Ryu on this concept, saying that the only thing which matters in a fight is that you win and survive but not how. His main goal at the beginning of the series was even to destroy other schools who, in his view, only teach fancy moves by making their students hit immovable practice targets.
83* As a TrapMaster, [[spoiler:Zora]] from ''Manga/BlackClover'' would naturally embody this trope. One of his noteworthy actions is to prepare for an upcoming fight in a TournamentArc by going into the arena the previous night and, having read the rules and knowing this won't disqualify him, literally covering the ground with his traps except for the space where he and his teammates would begin.
84* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'':
85** Revy from often assumes this role when she's not going for absolutely mind-boggling combat stunts. When a neo-Nazi corners her and [[BlingBlingBang goes on a speech about how mighty his Luger is]], [[TalkToTheFist she shoots him in the gut]], [[LampshadeHanging yells at him for wasting all his time talking]], and then [[BoomHeadshot shoots him in the head]].
86** And on a larger scale we have [[FormerRegimePersonnel Balalaika]] of [[TheMafiya Hotel Moscow]], who fights her mob wars like military operations. [[spoiler:Her men smashed the Washimine Group special forces-style, complete with snipers, frag grenades, flash-bangs, explosives and whatnot and suffered no casualty; the only loss from Hotel Moscow is the ex-KGB and his men, who is not part of Balalaika's ex-airborne troops [[InterserviceRivalry and who she never likes anyway]]. She does not fight her enemies, she ruthlessly annihilates them with overwhelming force.]]
87*** When facing [[EnfantTerrible Hansel and Gretel]], to a ''ruthless'' degree. After having lost several of her (extremely well trained) men to the little monsters, she sets up a meeting in an open courtyard. They try to play headgames with her, telling her how her men cried as they [[spoiler: hammered nails into their kneecaps]], but she keeps her calm and tells the one who came out to "KNEEL". Cue sniper shot. While she used herself as bait, she had more than one sniper surrounding her to pick off the kids' way of escape (ie, his legs) until she could deal the final bullet herself.
88* In ''Literature/BofuriIDontWantToGetHurtSoIllMaxOutMyDefense'', main character Maple depends on this to defeat even minor enemies in the VRMMO she plays. She uses poisoning and paralyzing skills to outlast and defeat her enemies (and sometimes, ''[[EatingTheEnemy eating them]]'').
89* ''Manga/BootyRoyaleNeverGoDownWithoutAFight'': The TournamentArc consists of MMA bouts between a couple dozen professional fighters from all over the world, several of whom fall into this.
90** Attempted by MMA fighter Airi in her match with main character Misora Haebara. After Airi takes a MegatonPunch and gets knocked to the ground, Misora stops short with her second blow, still thinking like a karate sport fighter. Airi takes advantage by grabbing Misora's arm and putting her into a triangle choke--but Misora uses her greater size and strength to throw Airi over her back and knock her senseless.
91** Mika Kujiraoka compensates the shortcomings of her martial art style with sheer pragmatism. She tells Nasstaja Ibrahimov that [[ExactWords she'll win with a single punch]], [[spoiler:and uses it to break one of Ibrahimov's ribs so that it skewers her kidney, sending her to the hospital on a DelayedCausality schedule]].
92** The match between Russian samboist Olga Zelenskaya and Filipino silat user Michelle Batista is a case study in this, since both of them are hand-to-hand combat trainers for their respective countries' militaries. Batista flouts the tournament rules with strikes to Zelenskaya's groin and jamming her fingers into her nose during a grapple. Zelenskaya responds by deliberately breaking Batista's arm, figuring that if she maintained the grapple Batista would likely start biting chunks out of her arm.
93* ''Manga/BusoRenkin'': Tokiko Tsumura will use almost any tactic possible to defeat her foes. One of her favourite tactics is to [[EyeScream go for her opponent's eyes]], and she is also willing to disrupt her opponent's ability to heal properly, use surprise attacks and pretend to be defenceless to win a fight.
94* In ''Manga/Brave10'', when Isanami isn't around to stop them, the ninja side of the team delivers ''{{coup de grace}}s'' and does whatever it takes to win the fights they're in, fair or not. They are not samurai, after all.
95* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
96** Touma Kamijou shows shades of this; he's perfectly willing to [[WouldHitAGirl punch women full on in the face]], use psychological warfare and [[ShovelStrike throw a shovel full of dust (then attack with the shovel)]], [[AHandfulForAnEye a tube of grease, or boiling tea into the eyes of another]]. This is entirely justified as most of his opponents have won the SuperpowerLottery like you wouldn't believe, while all he has is an AntiMagic fist.
97** [[BadassNormal Shiage Hamazura]] is even better than him, since unlike [[ThouShallNotKill Touma]], he is ''willing'' to get his hands dirty, so he often employs lethal weapons like guns and gadgets to defeat his opponents.
98** Motoharu Tsuchimikado, due to going into the Ability Development Curiculum, cannot use his magic safely in fear of internal damage. [[FightsLikeANormal He makes up for it by being a master in fighting dirty, developing his own fighting style which exploits weak points in his foes to gain an advantage, using guns and explosives]], [[UnscrupulousHero and being overall ruthless when trying to accomplish his own goals]], either alone, when working with fellow magicians, or working alongside GROUP,(which consists of a teleporter, another fellow magician who hasn't undergone the ADC and infiltrated the city wearing another character's face, and [[WorldsStrongestMan Accelerator]]). In fact, he is one of the few characters in the series who has easily defeated the UnskilledButStrong Touma Kamijou ''without using supernatural powers or magic''.
99* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'': Denji makes it a personal policy to always [[GroinAttack go for the nuts]] (possibly because he once sold one of his own bollocks before he got it back through fusing with Pochita).
100* ''Manga/ChoujinSensen'': The '''Experts''' are people with plenty of battle experience to fight on parr with their superpowered opponents. The '''Experts''' will methodically destroy their foes whether it be disarming their abilities or crippling their bodies.
101* Pretty much everyone in ''Manga/CityHunter''. As the protagonist is a HitmanWithAHeart it's to be expected (and the understanding for duels is: if you exchange guns you give your enemy a loaded gun, and the rest is allowed as long as it's not explicitly forbidden in advance. And if the enemy doesn't notice you gave him an unloaded gun, then it's his own fault for being an idiot), but seeing the hero whip out tear gas or hide sleeping agents in ''his trunks'' it's a bit over the top...
102* Almost everyone in ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' has no hesitation to fight four on one, strike without warning, or play dirty. The only person who does insist on fighting fair is a young and naive Claymore whose idealistic mindset [[spoiler: ends up driving her to become the BigBad.]]
103* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has a few examples.
104** Lelouch gladly exploits every possible advantage to win his battles, including causing a devastating landslide at one point to bury a sizable portion of the enemy force (and the town below). His idea of a fair duel is to bring in allies and drop the terrain out from under his enemies.
105** Luciano Bradley also uses these tactics, except he does it because he's a sadist who likes to torture his victims and commit murder on a grand scale, not out of any need to do so.
106* Jet Black from ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' is something of a master of this trope, utilizing head butts, glass bottles, the element of surprise, and ''his own spaceship'' to deadly effect; in one instance he is able to turn the tide of battle against a much better trained opponent by stopping a bullet with his own bionic arm.
107* ''Anime/CrossAnge'' has the protagonist herself who will use any means necessary to win. Even if it's a ''[[{{Fanservice}} twister game]]''.
108* Habara of ''Manga/DailyLivesOfHighSchoolBoys'', [[spoiler:despite being a [[ReformedButRejected refo]][[RetiredOutlaw rmed]] [[TheBully bully]], still]] has absolutely no understanding of the concept of fair play. She doesn't punch, she ''gouges''. She was even ready to bash her friends Yanagin and Ikushima's heads in with a large piece of rock when they prepared to fight each other. Cue an "OhCrap" reaction from both girls.
109* Pretty much ''everyone'' in ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'', but particularly [[BadassLongcoat Hei]]. He attacks from ambush whenever possible, and is particularly fond of [[ShockAndAwe electrocuting]] his enemies through anything handy, be it a pool of blood, a car, or a well-thrown choke wire. If he's in a bad situation, he [[StealthHiBye ninjas away]], and at one point even jumped off a building so he could come back a few minutes later and attack his opponent when he wasn't expecting it.
110* Ganta from ''Manga/DeadmanWonderland'' starts out as a kid who's never been in a fight before, but in his first fight, he shoots the ceiling to bring it down on his opponent. In his second fight, he [[ExactlyWhatIAimedAt ricochets a projectile into the back of his opponent's head]], then headbutts her. Yeah, he knows how to use his environment.
111* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', the titular Demon Slayers don't really give much thought to things like honor and fairness during their battles against demons. Often relying on tools like poison and sneak attacks to secure a victory. There is a very good reason for this: Demons do not fight fair, and as amazing as Breath techniques are the slayers are humans locked in battle with immortal and magical monsters.
112* In the TournamentArc of ''Manga/DrStone'', Senku's team has to fight VERY dirty to stand a chance of defeating Magma, the strongest of their opponents. Their original plan was to focus on having each fighter wear him down with non-stop {{Groin Attack}}s so their strongest combatants (Kohaku and Kinro) would be able to finish him off. When the brackets didn't allow that, they compensated with even more dirty tricks, such as using performance-enhancing drugs, having Gen trick Magma into thinking he's been cursed, and ''setting him on fire'' by using a lens to focus sunlight. Oh, and groin attacks are still involved: when Ginro goes against his friends' plans and tries to win the tournament himself, Senku takes him out by using Suika's helmet as a fulcrum to multiply the force with which he strikes his gonads. Of course, Magma himself isn't exactly a fair fighter either, with him pulling an ISurrenderSuckers on Kinro (making him ask the referee for a rules clarification, only to hit him from behind), and having his lackey kidnap Suika so Kohaku would miss her bout and get disqualified.
113* ''Manga/ElfenLied'' has several examples, because most fights are high risk, they'll do anything to win.
114** Lucy uses numerous tactics, often throwing nearby objects at her opponents in rapid succession. If an opertunity presents itself that distracts her opponents, she will seize it and move in for the kill.
115** Bando dips into CrazyPrepared territory, getting his fight with Lucy in a place where he set up, hid traps, and cleared of debris for her to throw.
116** The Unknown Man displays himself to be Badass, by taking down two ittle girls and a puppy (he got the drop on the diclonius). When confronted with a man his own size, he opts to beg, all the while reaching for his weapon. He prefers to use that weapon rather than get into a fair fight.
117** The Agent just witnessed an entire squadron of troops, and some dicloni wiped out by Lucy (several squads). So [[spoiler: she just waits at the side for Lucy to start torturing her opponents, before using the remaining half of a cloned Dicolnius to tear off one of Lucy's horns, and then shoot the other off which knocks the girl out, being the only human to ever defeat her.]]
118* This suddenly becomes abundant in ''Manga/FairyTail'' during the X791 arc. Raven Tail resorts to holding a child hostage and getting outside interference in battles to beat Lucy, while Fairy Tail [[spoiler: slips Jellal into their team disguised as Mystogan]]. Mavis allows this because he's one of the strongest mages shown thus far, and she wants Fairy Tail to win.
119* Kiritsugu Emiya of ''Literature/FateZero'' is basically revealed to be the god of combat pragmatists, if said god was injected with extra pragmatism steroids. He wants to save people, but came to understand that [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids saving some means sacrificing others]] and decided that at least he could [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans save the many by sacrificing the few]], and became an expert in killing mages with extremely low-blow tactics. This leads to personality conflicts with the [[KnightInShiningArmor "knight of the sword"]], Saber, who he summoned as a servant in the Fourth Holy Grail War and who greatly believes in fighting in an upright fashion.
120** To a lesser degree Archer, who [[spoiler:[[GenerationXerox grew up to learn the same lessons Kiritsugu did]], and]] grates on Saber and the [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Fifth War's]] Lancer with his combat pragmatism.
121** Kiritsugu [[DungeonBypass uses C4 explosives to bring down a magically defended building.]] Practical indeed. And he considers this worryingly ''soft'' of himself because he puts in a bomb threat to get the civilians out about fifteen minutes before. Even though his target would most likely never even ''get'' said warning from the hotel staff let alone bother to think it was dangerous.
122** This is the raison d'être of the Assassin class. They're unfit for fighting so they make extensive use of their [[InvisibilityCloak "Presence Concealment" skill]] while targeting Masters instead of their Servants.
123* In ''Literature/FateApocrypha'', Mordred says she is willing to do anything to win a fight, so she uses punches, kicks, and even bites in sword duels. Her Master, Kairi, who himself is a Magus but is willing to use modern weapons like guns and grenades, approves of her tactics [[note]]even if he thinks that [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks throwing her sword]] is a bit much[[/note]], but others find them in bad taste.
124* Despite often winding up in unfair fights anyways, most of the cast of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' pull dirty tricks in at least one big fight, if not all of them.
125** Ed is a good example -- in one fight he gets a foe to drop his guard by shouting to his brother Al (who has ''not'' just sneaked up behind him), and in another he realizes that the ninja he is fighting gets sloppy whenever her master is insulted and milks it for all it's worth. The first time he "beats" Alphonse while sparring he throws a towel in his brother's face and knocks him to the ground before he can react, while injured heavily enough that Al is afraid to hit back.
126** Wandering Prince Ling uses this tactic on Envy by throwing sand into his eyes when the homunculus, after snaring him, offers a sadistic choice on how he should kill him. Envy shouts at him in shock and anger on his cheating trick, but Ling counters that all the years of constant assassination attempts on him had made him willing to use any dirty trick in the book to live and run his country.
127*** This actually comes directly after Envy themself pulled this stunt. They start off looking as if they're willing to fight fair, but it only takes a few seconds for Envy to turn one arm into a snake to strangle Ling while the other arm becomes a blade. When Ling finally has them down, Envy doesn't even hesitate to [[ShapeshifterGuiltTrip turn into Lan Fan]] to screw with him. Their justification is 'I'm not human, so why should I fight like one' and also makes their tantrum over Ling's pragmatism pretty darn hypocritical.
128** Major General Armstrong is also a big proponent of pragmatism, although on a more abstract scale. She considers racism a luxury she cannot afford, because she needs varying viewpoints to evaluate the best course of action. She will also pursue any technology or any form of alchemy that will give her troops an advantage in combat. During Sloth's raid into her base, her first reaction is ''sack him with '''anti-tank recoilless rifle'''''. When that failed to stop him (and at that point, Sloth is pretty much TheJuggernaut), she opts to '''freeze him''' using northern cold climate. Practical indeed.
129** Hawkeye's preferred way of dealing with an enemy involves a rifle, a safe distance and ideally the element of surprise.
130** Maes Hughes uses ObfuscatingStupidity to get his enemies to drop their guard and dismiss him as a threat, and then out come the throwing knives.
131** And ''then'' there's Roy Mustang, who [[GoForTheEye goes for the eyes]], regularly uses ambushes and covert ops, maintains a sizeable intelligence network to give him plenty of forewarning, and views KillItWithFire as valuable life advice. He ends up as the only person to kill ''two'' Homunculi. With fire.
132** A canon omake revealed how Scar killed [[FourStarBadass Basque Grand]], one of the most powerful state alchemists and a hand-to-hand combat expert: he snuck up on him when he was walking home at night and then hit him with his destruction alchemy, killing him instantly.
133* ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'' -- Sousuke, Sousuke, ''Sousuke''. Being [[TheSpartanWay raised]] on [[ChildSoldiers guerilla warfare and land mines]] does not an honorable fighter make. Apart from pulling the Indy stunt no less than three times and inducing two of the most painful looking [[GroinAttack crotch stomps]] known to man, he also once saw it fit to use guns and tear gas in an official martial arts spar...and when that was barred, a [[HeyCatch hand grenade]].
134** He also defeats an opponent by ''kidnapping her brother and holding him hostage'' (or at least, making it look like he was when said brother was going along with it willingly.)
135* In ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'', this is typically Tasuki's first instinct. His first line of attack is a [[PaperFanOfDoom fan that shoots fire]], and he's not above combining it with a DynamicEntry. Nor is he above taking hostages, or attacking while his opponent is [[TalkToTheFist talking]] or otherwise distracted. On the rare occasion he's put HonorBeforeReason, he explicitly regrets it.
136* Honorable mention must go to ''Manga/{{Gantz}}'''s Masaru Kato. When threatened by a much larger bruiser what does he do? He catches the bastard with his pants down (quite literally -- he ambushed him on a toilet) and beats him to kingdom come. Can't get more pragmatic than that.
137* ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'': Guy Shishioh may be the world's strongest, bravest and most heroic cyborg, but he's not above sucker-punching his enemy right after it regenerates.
138* Most of Creator/GoNagai's characters have absolutely no trouble using cheap, dirty tricks to win their fights and nowehere they show they know of, feel concerned about or bound to rules of fair play and sportmanship. Given what is in stake when they fight, it is unsurprising. Several examples are:
139** Ryoma Hayato, Musashi and Benkei from ''Manga/GetterRobo''. Hayato is a particularly prominent example. If the enemy is holding hostages, he exhorts his teammates to disregard the hostages and keep fighting, arguing everybody will die if they do not.
140** Honey Kisaragi from ''Anime/CuteyHoney''. In one occasion Honey even ''stripped naked'' to distract a foe with the light of ''how'' she stripped just long enough to kick him in a fire (the foe [[FlamethrowerBackfire died when his flamethrower exploded]], just as planned).
141** The title character of ''Manga/KekkoKamen'' goes around stark naked specifically to [[DistractedByTheSexy distract her opponents with her sex appeal]]. And when she meets opponents that aren't distracted, ''then'' she gets dirty.
142* Section 9 from ''Manga/GhostInTheShell'' is probably one of the least heroic teams of protagonist police officers. As they are fighting terrorism and organized crime, and the government and judical system is completely corrupt, they have the policy to kill any armed suspects on sight and only try to make arrests when it's relatively safe and any other mission objectives have been secured.
143** Granted, this is a future in which a good portion of humanity is augmented and shooting a person ain't what it used to be, but they're still aiming for the weak spots more than usual.
144* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'':
145** For the most part Gintoki only [[PlayedForLaughs plays dirty in comedic situations]], though he's perfectly capable of fighting dirty against sufficiently troublesome opponents.
146** During a samurai showdown between [[ButtMonkey Kondo]] and Gintoki, Kondo's wooden sword snaps off at the hilt just as they start charging at each other. Kondo ends up KO'd in one hit. Turns out Gin had glued the blade to the handle, rigging the fight beforehand.
147** The fight against [[LightningBruiser Housen]] only ends after the Night King's greatest weakness, the same weakness shared by all [[ProudWarriorRace Yato]], is used against him. Namely, [[WeakenedByTheLight his non-existent tolerance to sunlight.]]
148** [[ProudWarriorRace Shinra warriors]] as a whole believe that no tactic is beneath them if it allows them to inch closer to killing their enemies. This includes using the corpses of their fallen comrades as cover or as a [[HumanShield meat shield]], or even {{Zerg Rush}}ing their target.
149** His rematch with Oboro has Gintoki destroying a ship engine to create a smokescreen and prevent Oboro from throwing poison needles at him, before distracting him with a decoy in order to ambush him from behind.
150* In ''Manga/GoblinIsVeryStrong'' the VillainProtagonist Honwasabi used to be a normal weak goblin, but she came across a nearly dead hero and finished him off. She gained a level. She kept at this until she is now a level 99 goblin and considered on par with the Demon Lord. She isn't above making idle chat with heroes or other distracting discussions before finishing them off. As heroes revive back at the palace, it isn't a permanent death.
151* ''Literature/GoblinSlayer'':
152** The titular goblins would count with their animalistic cunning, tendency to fill their lairs with traps and misdirection, ambush tactics, human shields, among other techniques both low and heinous. As a result they often end up being a far bigger threat than most are willing to give them credit for. Not the Goblin Slayer himself, of course, as he's full aware of all of the various dirty tricks they choose to employ. When dealing with a goblin nest, his tactics are so pragmatically brutal they tend to fall less into combat pragmatism and more into [[GuiltFreeExterminationWar extermination]]. His preferred method of dealing with a goblin hideout is to destroy it without ever even entering inside, burning them down and trapping the goblins inside on at least one occasion. Even when he's actually fighting "fair" it generally involves traps, smoke bombs, ambushes, blinding them, and a whole bunch of [[NotTheIntendedUse creative spell usage]] (and creative use of mundane items as well).
153** Goblin Slayer's partner, Priestess, is becoming this the longer she travels with him. One of the first lessons she learned from him was how to use her simple "Holy Light" spell as a magical Flash-Bang.
154* Why does a Medical angeloid seem so sure when challenging a Battle angeloid to a fight in ''Manga/HeavensLostProperty''? The answer is more [[MundaneSolution simple than you would think.]]
155* Qwenthur from ''Literature/HeavyObject'' is this in spades. His default strategy is to use more explosives than an enlisted student has any right to carry into combat. However, when dealing with unstoppable super weapons like Objects, you need to know every trick in the book. His accomplishments include: sabotaging the self-destruct sequence of an Object and then setting it off with C4, exploiting loopholes in an Object's AI control program to make it completely freeze up, using gunshots as Morse code to communicate the enemy's position to an allied Object, using diamonds as improvised shrapnel to destroy a heavily armored mining powered suit, and immobilizing an enemy Object with an IR Jammer. And all that still doesnt compare to the time he defeated one of the most powerful Objects ever seen in the novels [[spoiler: by using [[MundaneSolution bed sheets, lemons and milk.]]]]
156* You wouldn't expect it from ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', which might be better titled "{{Blood Knight}}s Come to London" (''Call forth your demons, regenerate your legs! FIGHT BACK!'' and of course ''Gentlemen, I love war...'') but then we recall Bernardotte giving a little speech on how humans fight vampires, complete with demonstrations. And the memorable assertion that claymore mines are just things, they have no killing intent.
157* ''Manga/HenkyouNoRoukishiBardLoen'': Bard Loen is fighting a fabled mercenary Ven Uril, who is paid by Yotish Pain. Since the contractor is standing right behind him nearly defenseless, Bard Loen kills him instead. Ven Uril decides to return to the Coendera Family to discuss the problem with his payment instead of doing the job.
158* ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'':
159** Issei Hyoudou fights dirty. He'll try to exploit any weakness in any situation regardless of what enemies do. He'll also have their guard down just in time for him to do something CrazyEnoughToWork. The most shining example would be when he took out Riser with [[AchillesHeel two holy bottles]], a PoweredArmor, and luring him into a trap. Also, he's not above using his enemies' strengths to gain the upper hand in a fight, like when he [[spoiler:adapted one of Vali's skills to defeat another enemy, even when Vali and his skills are the complete opposite of Issei's condition as a Dragon King]].
160** During one of their fights, Raynare stabs Issei while he was in the middle of summoning Boosted Gear, averting TransformationIsAFreeAction.
161* ''Manga/{{Holyland}}'' points out several times the differences between sparring in the tournament or training context and fighting on the tough streets where one has to do whatever it takes to win.
162* Many examples in ''Manga/HunterXHunter''--combat pragmatism is the norm in this series, and any character who isn't will not last long in battle:
163** The protagonist and deuteragonist Gon and Killua, when learning fighting using Nen, a life force energy that can be controlled and harnessed into superpowers, are told strictly to never let their enemies know what powers they have, as every power has a LogicalWeakness that can be exploited. This appears to be standard in Nen training, and skilled fighters keep their powers so secret that even their best friends, family members, and colleagues don't necessarily know about them unless they trust greatly in each other.
164*** To that extent, Gon falls back on a set of three abilities themed on Rock Paper Scissors, one for each, that requires CallingYourAttacks. He is able to get the upper hand against Binolt by ''mis''calling them, yelling out one and attacking with another knowing there's no consistent counter against all three.
165*** Gon defeats Gido and his BattleTops without ever needing to use any powers. As Gido himself is top-shaped and engages in SpinToDeflectStuff while his top weapons do the damage, Gon just lifts the floor tile Gido is on to send him off balance and crash.
166** The most straightforward example is Morel vs. Leol. He lured Leol into an enclosed space, and by that point, Morel had already won: It didn't matter what impressive powers [[PowerCopying Leol had copied]] -- Morel used his smoke powers to kill his opponent through oxygen deprivation.
167** Cheetu is a counter-example, as his tendencies toward ExplainingYourPowersToTheEnemy, EvilGloating, and a general AwesomeButImpractical style cause him to lose every battle against anyone remotely competent. Cheetu flubs a battle against Knuckle by explaining all of his powers while Knuckle never spills the beans to him, a battle against Morel (again) by...another example of explaining his powers allowing Morel to develop a counter, and ultimately dies in the midst of talking when Zeno disintegrates him with a wave of energy.
168* ''Literature/IsThisAZombie'': Mystletain Kick, [[PhraseCatcher IS NOT A KICK]]. It consists of Haruna bisecting the opponent with her {{chainsaw|Good}}.
169* Just about everyone in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' counts as this (especially from [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Part 2]] onwards, where fights become less about brute force and more about outsmarting the opponent). However, a few characters stand out:
170** While Bruford from ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood Phantom Blood]]'' may be an honorable NobleDemon who prefers to fight his opponents one on one, his fight with Jonathan shows that he still has few tricks up his sleeve, such as using his PrehensileHair in combat and trapping Jonathan underwater to hinder his [[PowerOfTheSun Hamon]].
171** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]'':
172*** Joseph Joestar gleefully declares himself to be "a master at cheating". His EstablishingCharacterMoment in his introductory episode involves him pulling a [[MoreDakka Tommy gun]] out of his pocket and riddling his martial artist foe full of holes, before using sleight of hand to cover him in grenades. In fact, his "Joestar family secret technique" [[KnowWhenToFoldEm is just to run away and buy time to think of a new strategy]]. His grandson Jotaro and his son [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Josuke]] inherit some of his skill and cleverness.
173*** Kars, the BigBad of the Part, also quickly proves that, unlike Wammu, he doesn't give two shits about honorable fighting when he goes up against Lisa Lisa under the pretense of a duel, only to [[spoiler:use a vampire {{Mook}} as a body double to distract her long enough to skewer her from behind]].
174*** Wammu, while usually a NobleDemon who believes in a fair fight, proves in his rematch against Joseph that he can be just as tricky as Joseph and Kars.
175** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'':
176*** Devo is aware when an opponent is stronger than him, and due in part to him being a DirtyCoward, will use tricks to restrain the opponent before taking them on directly.
177*** Rubber Soul uses disguises and sneak attacks to fight his opponents, and is willing to beg for his life if it means lowering the enemies guard.
178*** Hol Horse knows just how weak his [[FightingSpirit Stand]] is in comparison to the Crusaders' Stands, so he regularly has to be pragmatic about how he goes about things. These include using the environment to his advantage, always fighting with a partner (including forming a brief EnemyMine with the Crusaders), and [[KnowWhenToFoldEm running away when he recognizes that he's outmatched]].
179** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'':
180*** Illuso is one of the craftier members of La Squadra, a rather skilled player in XanatosSpeedChess, and has enough determination to do anything to make sure his mission is a success, up to and including [[spoiler:cutting off his own hand]].
181*** As should be expected for a [[TheParanoiac paranoiac]], Diavolo couldn't care less about what's seen as a fair fight, and is willing to use sneak attacks and dirty tricks if it means he'll win. In fact, his Stand, King Crimson, is pretty much designed for a pragmatic fighting style, as Diavolo uses its sub-Stand, Epitaph, to [[CombatClairvoyance see 10 seconds into the future]] before using King Crimson to "erase" those seconds, allowing him to position himself in a more advantageous spot while everyone else has no idea what just happened. He then usually follows this up by taking advantage of his opponent's disorientation to inflict a OneHitKill, [[spoiler:making him a HeroKiller with multiple major character deaths on his hand]].
182** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'': Jolyne Cujoh's Stand main ability is to turn her body into string. However, it's Jolyne's cleverness in how she uses this string that [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower makes her such a serious threat to the villains]]. Most notably, she rejects the idea that PowersDoTheFighting: unlike most Stand users, who only attack with their Stands, Jolyne herself likes to jump into the fray and double-team her enemies alongside Stone Free. Also, having spent much of her youth as a juvenile delinquent, she's shown to already be used to fighting dirty. Her battle with Vivian Westwood is a major example of just how ''brutal and savage'' Jolyne can be in combat.
183** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureJoJolion JoJolion]]'': Toru's Wonder Of U has the ability to [[TheJinx inflict instant misfortune on anyone who pursues him]], so his willingness to use sneak attacks and hidden weapons just makes him even more dangerous.
184* In ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'', basically everyone is this. The heroes never hesitate to fight dirty and press every possible advantage they have. Even in just Season 1, two different fights turned into vicious two-on-one beatdowns where the heroes were overwhelming the villain to such a degree that the villain was forced to use a LimitBreak to turn the tide of battle.
185** Even Sukuna, who’s already leagues beyond most of the series’ characters, engages in this. [[spoiler: When Yuji is temporarily killed, Yuji and Sukuna decide to fight to determine how they’ll share a body. The moment Yuji agrees to it, declaring he’ll win, Sukuna chops his head in half, winning the bet.]]
186** [[MageKiller Toji Fushiguro]] only engaged Satoru Gojo after keeping him on edge for 48 hours [[ThePawnsGoFirst by sending proxy assassins]] after the woman he was protecting at the time. Once the exhausted, sleep-deprived Gojo deactivated the Limitless while he thought he was in safe ground, Toji immediately stabbed him in the back.
187* Zagi Fenrir of ''Manga/JyuOhSei''. His favorite strategy in a one-on-one fight is to deliberately drop his sword, blind the enemy with his cape, and then kill them with a hidden blade. This is about as honorable as his fighting gets; he also might decide to slaughter an entire Ring of people without warning just because they happen to be in his way. Other characters try to call him out on this, to which he responds with scorn.
188* In ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'', they take the titular character to visit another martial artists to learn 'tactics' which amounts to pragmatic fighting. The lesson doesn't really take.
189** Also, [[spoiler: Fake!]]Loki counts as well -- during his fight with Kenichi, he pulled a tazer, among other nasty tricks (Although they didn't work well at all). [[spoiler: The real one is even more so.]]
190--> "An honest person is another name for a fool!"
191* Ryuko from ''Anime/KillLaKill'' is not above dirty tricks and dishonorable tactics ([[KnowWhenToFoldEm and running away when she knows she's outmatched.]]) Perhaps most exemplified with her Naturals Election fight with Jazukure, when Senketsu suddenly develops a flight mode. Since her whole reason for participating is to get information out of Satsuki, who's standing on top of the academy away from the fight, she suddenly tries to abandon the fight to go after her directly before Jazukure intercepts her. Then, after taking out Jazukure's flying machine, attacks her while still in flight mode despite her protests that she should instead go back to normal to fight her as well.
192** Jazukure herself also displayed some LoopholeAbuse during the fight. Since the fighters are only disqualified for falling ''off'' the arena, not flying above it, she just flies out of reach and bombards Ryuko with missiles.
193* ''Literature/KonoSuba'' has Kazuma the protagonist. He is this trope personified, doing everything from launching psychological attacks, using magic in a sword fight, stealing his opponent's weapons mid battle, the list goes on. To a point this elevate him to BadassNormal compared to other people in his party who actually have useful combat skills to a point of CripplingOverspecialization.
194* ''Manga/KyouKaraOreWa!!'': being a manga about school delinquents pretty much every character tried something dirty at least once. That said, the protagonist Takashi Mitsuhashi outclassed everyone: when fighting a supposed yakuza and a street gang, he feigned being stabbed to beat the enemy scared by his willingness to fight even when dying, and then convinced his best friend to cancel his debt; when facing a bear (it was actually a man in a suit, but Mitsuhashi didn't know), he suddenly kicked it in the crotch with all his might; when facing a huge American wrestler who could shrug his every punch or kick, Mitsuhashi got him in a chase until he was tired before slugging him; he routinely uses people as weapons and baits, especially if he's supposed to help them. In fact, when he stormed a delinquent-filled school, his allies fully expected him to use them as expendable baits to get at the enemy leader (they were OK with that, as long as he got at the enemy leaders. He slugged him in front of his henchmen). And don't even try martial arts or knives: he's still stronger and faster than any martial artist he faced but one he outsmarted, and when a guy tried throwing knives at him he caught all weapons with a ping-pong racket.
195** As of chapter 238, Mitsuhashi has been topped by the current foe, Kitagawa: he brought a gun to a fistfight. Partially subverted when he's scared by Mitsuhashi's ally Takasaki and miss him three times at point blank.
196* ''Manga/TheLegendaryHeroIsDead'': Touka Scott knows he isn't very strong nor skilled, so he makes up for it by always fighting dirty. He uses traps, will run away so he can come back and attack while his opponents are not ready, attack his opponent's insecurities, and [[DefeatByModesty strip female opponents]].
197* ''Manga/LoneWolfAndCub'''s Ogami Itto has been known to kill his quarries with a sword... or spears or naginatas... or his own bare hands... or any other damn thing within his reach, from a wooden board split in two with a knife hand strike to a proto-[[GatlingGood gatling gun]].
198** It's [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] heavily how dirty he fights. If he's facing someone with similar skills, you can expect him to use some kind of trick. This includes throwing his sword (quite dishonorable and unthinkable for a samurai) and using his own and only child as a bait.
199*** Itto wins most of his early battles this way, mostly because his opponents fail to understand just how quickly and how utterly he has abandoned the honor codes that bound him in his previous life. And, of course, he never fails to call out dishonorable behavior in his opponents. After all, if they are bound by HonorBeforeReason and he isn't, that just makes his job that much easier.
200** Of course, [[BigBad Yagyu Retsudo]] is equally pragmatic either in battlefield as in politics. He just has to do it undercover in order to not losing face (which Ogami also uses in his advantage).
201* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
202** Chrono tends to takes his opponents by suprise by entering fights late and sneaking up on them after his allies have already tired them out. Most of his spell repetoire includes things like binds and delayed traps, and he's one of the few named characters to use a Storage Device instead of an Intelligent Device ([[BoringButPractical since they can cast spells faster at the cost of lacking any kind of personality]]).
203** Nanoha Takamachi has no problem shooting people in the back, magically freezing them so they can't resist her attacks, et cetera. It's worth noting that every dirty tactic she uses on someone else [[TaughtByExperience is a tactic that was once used on her]]. (And her attacks tend to be non-lethal anyway, so she has almost no worries about killing her rival in battle.)
204** Teana Lanster uses illusions to trick her opponents and she tends to attack them on certain weak spots, such as the occiput or the chin, or simply from behind.
205** Deed tends to take her enemies by surprise, often by jumping out to suddenly attack, attacking from behind, or [[spoiler:PlayingPossum getting up from supposedly being unconscious for a sneak attack]].
206** Chantez Arpinion being a Teana expy also uses illusionary doppelgängers and is dirty enough to lie to the opponent about the number of said doppelgängers or that she's even using doppelgängers to begin with.
207** The very first thing we see Curren do on-screen is shank [[spoiler:Hayate]] InTheBack.
208* ''Manga/MakenKi'':
209** The one thing you'll never have to ask [[NoNonsenseNemesis Akaya Koudai]] is, [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim "Why don't you just]] shoot him?" 'cuz that's likely to be his first course of action. At the start of chapter 34, he helped saved Gen by using his Maken's hypnosis ability to conceal his presence, then shot two of his opponents. In the brief time it took them to realize they were under attack, it was already over.
210** [[AnimeChineseGirl Yan-Min]] doesn't believe in wasting time either. She [[SuperSpeed has lightning speed]] and uses her overwhelming advantage to instantly close in on her target and effectively end the fight before they can either see, or sense her. She was the one who took out the first pair of Kamigari in the aforementioned blitzkrieg in chapter 34.
211* In ''Maou no Hisho'' (Satan's Secretary) Satan has captured one human secretary. She will willingly serve Satan if he makes her his secretary. She then proposes a plan to his elite forces to win the upcoming war against the destined hero: kill the hero while he is still a child and kill the Saints who keep bringing him back. Do it now and swiftly and they could win the war in a rough 72 hours. If they push hard, they might make it in 48 hours. If they didn't like this one, she suggests spreading an illness throughout human lands by using their trade system that will become a plague while also salting the earth so nothing will grow that isn't infected. This will lead to massive human casualties, instability in the government and eventual riots against the human governments.
212* In ''Manga/MedakaBox'', the Abnormal Munakata turns out to be a combat pragmatist, though strange; he starts out fighting with multiple swords pulled out of Hammerspace, and once he determines the way Zenkichi fights(barehanded, by the way), he pulls a gigantic mace out of nowhere. When Zenkichi catches it with his shirt, Munakata pulls out pistols.
213** [[spoiler: Though it turns out that it's actually a strange case of [[WeaponForIntimidation heroic bluff]]: While Munakata does indeed have a pretty big urge to kill, he's also perfectly aware of the consequences of ending someone's life, and how much of a tragedy it is. So he merely pretends to be a dangerous combat pragmatist, by progressively using weapons that are more and more dangerous as the fight advance, hoping that people will simply back up, and not trigger his constant blood lust]]
214** As a Minus who can't even imagine being able to win properly, Kumagawa Misogi will fight dirty in every way he can. Using his confusing speech to unnerve opponents, playing up his injuries to induce nausea, and even losing a match on purpose to trap his opponent in a much worse battle. [[spoiler: Even when he drops his cool facade and acts with his true feelings, he demonstrates that he's still very much the kind of "loser" that will gladly use cheap shots that earn everyone's hatred, insisting that this is the only way for him to "win" as a Minus.]]
215* Balsa the spearwielder in ''Literature/MoribitoGuardianOfTheSpirit''. When injured and outnumbered she rushed one of her attackers, and smashed him in the head with rock in one swift motion, before collapsing moments later.
216* In ''Manga/MuhyoAndRoji'', [[spoiler:Rio Kurotori]], TheMole, decides to release several spirits inside a magical prison to force Muhyo to expend his tempering while sentencing them, leaving him easy pickings once he's finished. To quote the traitor,
217-->"You think it's unfair, don't you? But you know... a traitor never concerns themselves with a fair fight."
218* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': With the main cast being HighlyVisibleNinja, this attitude is encouraged early in the series, but rarely utilized afterwards. Some ninja are more successful in battle ''because'' they apply this trope.
219** Uchiha Itachi, who uses his tactical insight and cunning nature to apply everything in his favour. This becomes most obvious after his resurrection, where he allows a resurrected [[spoiler: Nagato]] To [[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]] Naruto and B simultaneously, so he can set up an ambush that grants them the advantage against [[spoiler: Nagato]]. Similarly, he uses Sasuke's presence to allow him some leeway for sacrificial attacks and strategies. He allows stalagmites/tites to impale him and later is cut in half, knowing that his Edo Tensei body can overcome this and Sasuke is there to back him up. He later on readily sacrifices one of his eyes, knowing that his goal will send him back to the afterlife anyway.
220** Naruto himself is no slouch, when he remembers to think about it. Some of his greatest hits are his fight with a partially transformed Gaara, in which he [[AssShove shoved a kunai up to its ass]] [[StuffBlowingUp after enveloping it with explosive tags]] (Gaara suffered ''hard'' from that) and using the [[spoiler: ''[[DistractedByTheSexy Sexy Reverse Harem Technique]]'']] to land a hit on the ''BigBad''.
221** Kakashi Hatake as well, is not above copying the techniques of others in order to succeed. As the literal ''Copy Ninja'' Kakashi knows multiple elements of Jutsu via his Sharingan. He could counter many characters, should the need arise but instead he makes up new tactics to be even less predictable.
222** Fourth Hokage [[spoiler: Minato Namikaze]], wasn't born with any inherited strengths, unlike his predecessors (and Tsunade). Instead he invented most of his techniques, improving on what was already achieved to the point of becoming nigh-unstoppable. His power may come from an [[FragileSpeedster overwhelming level of speed]], but if the Raikage couldn't stand against him? Then you can bet the Fourth isn't easy to break, let alone catch.
223** MadBomber Deidara flies on top of his clay birds, out of reach from enemy attacks while [[DeathFromAbove throwing down bombs]].
224** One of the best examples by far, has to be Madara Uchiha's first battle [[spoiler: after his reanimation]]. Like an absolute tank, Madara plowed through multiple groups of allied shinobi. Not one of them could get the upperhand on him, each massacred like weightless dolls. The scariest part however, wasn't the fact he could beat soo many so effortlessly. But the fact that, this was nothing compared to the [[OneWingedAngel horrors he can unleash]].
225* Rakan of ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' occasionally classifies. Lifting skirts up to flee from a fake dimension, plus stealing the girl's panties certainly does.
226** A flashback shows Rakan defeating Eishun... [[DistractedByTheSexy by distracting him with a bunch of naked women.]]
227** Upon arrival to the Magic World, Negi senses a familiar hostile presence (revealed to be Fate Averruncus). Fate, upon realizing he has been detected, rather than simply showing himself instead opts to attack with a Stone Spear from the shadows striking Negi in the back and seriously injuring him. After a fight Fate then proceeds to scatter Negi and his companions around the magical world by use of Forced Teleportation.
228--->'''Mana Tatsumiya:''' When in battle there is no such thing as holding back my techniques.
229* ''[[Manga/BakiTheGrappler New Grappler Baki]]'' starts with the appeareance of five supercriminals, who fight some of the main cast. Tokugawa states that theirs will be a confrontation between the shining martial arts and the dark martial arts; the later are the ones who use absolutely everything to win, including weapons and dishonourable tactics. That's on a series that considers EyeScream and GroinAttack as fair tactics.
230** The arc also explores the mindset of someone who considers themselves a martial artist despite using such dishonorable tactics. One considers that literally any tactic is a viable tactic (not even having a problem with a hypothetical opponent pulling a gun on him during a match) and that for him, defeat is when he's exhausted every possible tactic and weapon at his disposal and still loses. Another is subconsciously ashamed his dirty tricks, having at one point held the highest possible title within his fighting style, and [[spoiler: when he's forced to confront the fact that not a single one of his victories has ever been legitimate, the reality check crushes his ego so thoroughly that he regresses to the mind of a child.]]
231* The crew of the ''Anime/OutlawStar''.
232-->'''Jim:''' Hey Gene, let's beat this guy.. even if it means fighting dirty.\
233'''Gene:''' You got it. The fun's just getting started.
234* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
235** When not participating in sanctioned matches, the protagonists of ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' have demonstrated pragmatic strategies like attacking the opposing trainer directly or even [[http://www.onemanga.com/Pokemon_Special/81/04/ destroying their opponent's Pokeballs.]] Villains do it too, though sometimes more in the KickTheDog territory.
236** Often done as a strategy against villains such as Team Rocket. While they themselves often play dirty, the heroes aren't against using larger numbers or trickery that doesn't abide by battle rules. As they lampshade at times, why should they fight fair against the bad guys?
237** This is Guzma's approach to Pokémon battling. One standout case is his one-sided defeat of Ilima and his Kangaskhan: upon Kangaskhan's Mega Evolution, the baby leaves the mother's pouch. Guzma then has his Scizor move such that the separated baby is always between Scizor and the mother, causing the mother to be too nervous to attack, out of fear of hitting the baby, until she's defeated. Despite Guzma's ruthlessness, when he's in a competition, he makes sure to never actually break the rules, just stretch them as far as he can, so he never gets disqualified.
238** Paul stretches this trope as far as it goes, bordering on being a villain himself. Unlike most other trainers in the series, Paul is ''not'' interested in ThePowerOfFriendship or bonding with his Pokemon. He simply wants to win and be the best, by any means necessary. He subjects all of his Pokemon to TrainingFromHell and if they can't handle it, he releases or gives them away without any hesitation. He battles extremely efficiently and systematically picks his opponents apart once he's settled on a strategy. The main point of conflict between him and [[TheHero Ash]] is that their philosophies to being a trainer are completely at odds with each other and are trying to prove that their way is superior. Paul is one of very few trainers to beat Ash multiple times and forces the latter to rethink his usual IndyPloy strategies as they simply will not work against someone as pragmatic as Paul.
239* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': Homura Akemi is this [[JustifiedTrope with good reason]]. Given the [[spoiler: [[TimeMaster nature of her powers]], she doesn't have any real offensive capabilities]] and has to resort to stealing conventional weaponry from the local {{Yakuza}} and the military. She also makes her own bombs.
240** In ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion Rebellion]]'', she seems to engage in a fair fight with Mami; but they're evenly matched, so Homura ''shoots herself in the head'' to make Mami panic and let her guard down. (Mami didn't really want to kill her, and was unaware that Homura's [[spoiler:[[SoulJar soul gem]]]] allows her to survive a headshot.) It works, but Homura still loses, because Mami was being even more underhanded -- [[spoiler:she was actually [[IAmNotLeftHanded fighting with a ribbon-puppet clone of herself]], indistinguishable from the real thing until it suddenly ensnares Homura.]]
241* Being a Deconstruction PlayedForLaughs of the FightingSeries, ''Manga/RamenFighterMiki'' deconstructs this trope with Megumi, whom since childhood realized that she could never beat Miki in a fair fight, so she’s willing to do anything to defeat her that doesn’t involve direct combat, no matter how cowardly or wrong. Even so, Megumi really hates herself for this, so much she believes herself a CardCarryingVillain to cope with this, and has developed a GuiltComplex so enormous she is convinced that Kayahara Sensei is an avenging ghost decided to puhish her.
242* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'':
243** Ranma Saotome does this whenever he battles an opponent that is clearly more powerful than him. When facing his rival Ryoga, who'd been powered up by the Mark of the Gods, he resorted to using the "Saotome Desperation Techniques", which were basically just creative ways to make his opponent look away from him so could attack them while they were distracted ("What's that behind you?!", "Look, there's 500 yen on the ground!", etc.). When he was getting his butt kicked by prince Herb, a man with an irrational hatred of breasts (due to be being cursed by a naked girl while he was distracted by her boobs), Ranma repeatedly [[AttractiveBentGender flashed his breasts at him]], until the guy was so overwhelmed with anger that his [[BeamSpam accuracy was shot to heck]]. The man is the heir to the Saotome Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts for a reason.
244** Strangely enough, the other two key elements of his personal style (alongside this) are BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame and HonorBeforeReason.
245** Then there is the a twist on this with the "Saotome Ultimate Desperation Technique: Crouch of the Wild Tiger" which is getting on your knees and saying "I'm sorry" constantly. {{Lampshaded}} by Cologne on how stupid it is till Akane shows up and it gets used well.
246** Cologne herself. In the manga she once had a battle with Ranma in the sea. What did she use to stand on the water? A great white shark.
247** Kodachi Kuno is the dirtiest fighter of the series. She has weapons that can instantly turn lethal at will. She'll use her ribbon to grab and immobilize her opponent or throw objects at him/her. She bends the rules like mad and uses cheap tricks such as trying to shake Ranma's hand with tacks between her fingers and paralysis gas and pills in food and flowers, trying to put her opponents at a disadvantage even before a match. She will do anything it takes to win and sink lower than the Titanic to achieve victory.
248*** According to Kodachi herself, cheating is an inherent part of her style, and if you cripple an opponent before an official match she was obviously not good enough (and, to be fair, after the first attempt she didn't attack Akane again except by reflex: she was going to meet Ranma, and Akane was there...). Given that, when she fought Female!Ranma in an official match her use of ''her brother'' as a weapon was allowed, she may be right.
249** Let's face it, ''every single martial artist worth his salt'' is one here. The exception is Kuno... And even he will find a loophole to fight dirty.
250* ''Manga/RealBoutHighSchool'':
251** Asuka Kuronari. Sure, she's a ninja, but she proves almost suicidally determined to come out on top against Kyoichi Kunugi, who has her hopelessly outclassed throughout the fight. That is, until she starts crying her eyes out, telling him her pathetic life's story and deploying a smoke bomb while he's distracted, allowing her compatriot Xiaoxing the chance to attack him.
252** Xiaoxing herself, as well; her entire fighting style revolves around using InstantKnots to tie her opponent up, thereby incapacitating them.
253** Kunugi often uses the BreakingLecture to disarm opponents (figuratively speaking) while confusing them with illusions and violently seizing every opening in their defense.
254* Rokudo Mukuro from ''Manga/Reborn2004'' He pretty much uses 90% of the techniques listed in the ThisIndexFightsDirty index. It might be a contributing reason (other than being a {{Bishonen}}) to why he's [[DracoInLeatherPants so popular]].
255* Jack the Ripper from ''Manga/RecordOfRagnarok'' is this, ''in spades''. It's the only thing that allows him to compete with [[spoiler: and eventually defeat]] his opponent, the matchless [[WorldsStrongestMan Hercules]]. Jack attacks [[TalkingisaFreeAction in the middle of introductions]], lies ''multiple'' times about what his powers do, has pre-set traps in the area, uses every bit of the surrounding environment to his advantage and tries every psychological trick he can think of.
256* In ''Manga/TheRedRangerBecomesAnAdventurerInAnotherWorld'', Lurguat never fights fair, sending his constantly respawning supply of monsters after the heroes and having them teleport into their blind spots rather than letting them fight back. When Rosie's skill and powers make him impervious to these tricks, Lurguat instead sends the monsters after Teltina, forcing Rosie to shield her with his own body.
257* Natsuki Subaru of ''Literature/ReZero'' exploits every minor advantage he can to try to get the upper hand in a fight. In addition to [[SaveScumming his Return from Zero]] ability, he's not afraid to throw sand in his opponent's face or [[CastingAShadow black out the area with magic]] to gain an advantage. [[DeconstructedTrope More often than not,]] this fails to sufficiently undermine trained opponents. Subaru tends to triumph when he applies the trope ''strategically'', gathering friends and allies who ''can'' take on the enemy together.
258* Many, many, ''many'' characters in ''Literature/RokkaBravesOfTheSixFlowers'', especially Adlet who uses all kind of tricks and gadget to get an upper hand in ANY fight. This might be because only a women can be a saint, leaving most of the guy to rely on [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower training...]], still, compared to Goldov, or even Hans who also personify this trope to a huge degree, being an assassin and all, Adlet uses of his bombs and poison darts takes this to eleven. Its also worth noting that in this show, those with actual powers, like Nashetania still fights dirty.
259* Saito Hajime in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'', who explains this to an idealistic youngster by stating that in a ''real'' fight, there is no such thing as ''fair''.
260** In the Jinchu arc flashback, Kenshin relates how Tatsumi, the leader of a group sent to kill Himura Battosai, lured him into a forest that smothered his sixth sense, and then threw his minions at him to deprive him of his other senses. All so he could finish Kenshin off in a weakened state.
261-->'''Tatsumi:''' Do you think I'm a coward? There's nothing wrong with that. This is the strongest weapon of a seasoned warrior...it is called "cunning."
262* ''Anime/SailorMoon'':
263** In Eudial's battles against the Sailor Senshi, she discards magic or complicated plans and uses guns that can extract an Heart Crystal faster than the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Daimons]] that she brings with herself only to provide cover for her escape, flamethrowers capable to overpower Sailor Moon's attacks, and even ''[[MundaneSolution a few dozens machine guns]]!'' The latter serve to show why no-one should just shoot the Sailor Senshi: the machine guns shoot and hit Neptune until they ran out of ammo, and, while battered, ''she isn't even bleeding.''
264** In the manga version, Minako. Some of her greatest hits are: throwing a PrecisionGuidedBoomerang from behind; FlashStep followed by a kick in the face (with the power apparently increased by the kinetic energy of the FlashStep); and using a cloud of ''sulphuric acid'' on an horde of enemies (and as a ''non-lethal option'' to boot: it was diluted enough it only stunk horribly). And of course, if it's to protect Usagi, whom she shows UndyingLoyalty towards, she'll kick her own fellow Senshi across the room like she did to a brainwashed Makoto, having no problem with potentially seriously injuring her.
265** Zoisite in the '90s anime is a mix of this and DirtyCoward. He never fights fair, but he employs a number of tricky methods in order to get the Seven Rainbow Crystals, like using the crystal detector he got from Nephrite to turn the holders into demons. And it ''works'': He manages to walk away with four on his own, steal one from Sailor Moon and finally nab the other two from Mamoru. He very nearly succeeds, [[spoiler: until he makes the mistake of seriously wounding Mamoru aka Tuxedo Kamen. Sailor Moon cries over him, her tear becomes the Silver Crystal and everything falls apart for Zoisite from there]].
266** Part of what made the DD Girls so deadly is that they never fight fair. Not only one of their members has illusion-based powers, but they also avert MookChivalry and attack all at once to overwhelm their targeted Sailor Guardian. Unlike other villains that fight as a team, the DD Girls aren't affected by a loss of their teammate or fight amongst themselves for personal glory. They are completely focused on their objective. Because of this, they almost succeeded their goal in killing the entirety of the Sailor Guardians ''themselves''.
267* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' has every single one of Athena's Saints... Because, after all, [[JustifiedTrope they serve the goddess of fighting smart]]. A few notable examples:
268** When Seiya is about to fight Cassios for the right to become a Saint, Cassios suddenly slugs him before the duel starts... And the only complaint, coming from Seiya's teacher, is promptly ignored. Seiya then ''hacked Cassios' ear off'' and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beat the crap out of him]]. [[EstablishingSeriesMoment This is the very first episode]].
269** During their battle with Ikki, Seiya and the others realize their enemy is too powerful to take on him one-on-one... So they just gang up on him. Or at least they try, because Ikki [[IAmNotLeftHanded had kept his most powerful technique in reserve]] just in case he couldn't take them down one by one, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hmx10J4WiLw can still kick their collective asses]].
270** During the battle with Lizard Misty, Seiya is apparently killed, so Misty ''strips naked'' and goes in the sea to wash off Seiya's blood... And when Seiya comes back and is too weirded out to attack, Misty ''not'' attacking him while he was distracted clues Seiya on Misty's techniques being ineffective in the water, something he proceeds to take advantage of.
271** [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Cancer Deathmask]] has the ability to ''send his opponents' souls to the mouth of hell''. He also takes full advantage of his opponents' fear and disgust when they realize [[CardCarryingVillain what kind of monster they're dealing with]].
272** When Seiya and the others went by the Capricorn Temple they found it unguarded, passed it... And ''then'' Capricorn Shura popped out from where he was hiding and attacked, cutting a chasm in the terrain... And congratulated Shiryuu for realizing it was actually a ploy to kill everyone with an attack from behind while they were jumping over the chasm and foiling him by [[HeroicSacrifice staying behind to die in combat with a Gold Saint]].
273** Pisces Aphrodite can become invisible and his attacks are either a OneHitKill or make you ''wish'' they were. Also, he has boobytrapped the path out of his temple with [[DeadlyGas roses with poisonous smell]]... So he didn't actually ''need'' to fight Seiya and Shun, he did it just because otherwise they could have suspected the trick... And smugly admits so to Shun when the latter had remained behind to allow Seiya to pass, using this little tidbit to make Shun more nervous about trying to help the friend that was now dying poisoned, [[spoiler:at which point Shun threw a ''hurricane'' at him to pass himself and try to save Seiya]].
274** In ''Anime/SaintSeiyaSoulOfGold'', in the final battle of the Gold Saints versus [[spoiler:Loki]] the first ones to attack are Milo and Aphrodite, whose techniques are relatively weak in terms of immediate damage... But are also terrifyingly poisonous and cause excruciating pain, softening their enemy for the coming beatdown from ''every other Gold Saint''.
275*** Also, the fact the Gold Saints are blatantly ganging up on the enemy. Normally they prefer chivalrous one-on-one fights, but this time the enemy is [[spoiler:a god]] and they just gang up on him with everything they have, paced in such a way to inflict as much damage as possible.
276* An unusual example is found in ''Literature/ScrappedPrincess'' [[spoiler: The main character has a power that severely weakens nearby agents of the BigBad if she is directly attacked. An ally concludes, correctly, that it doesn't matter ''who'' attacks her.]]
277* Ryo Narushima of ''Manga/{{Shamo}}'' has this as his signature. This is part of him being TheUnfettered.
278** And it isn't limited to combat per se. In an early TournamentArc he proceeds to gather as much dirt as possible on his opponents' private lives, then blackmails them into throwing the match. A solid case could be made for ''Shamo'' being a {{Deconstruction}} of such character type as Ryo is reviled both by other characters and majority of readers.
279* ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'' has Xelloss. Gaav states that Xelloss's specialty is to attack someone in the physical plane from the astral plane, which would best be characterized as a sneak attack (as Gaav demonstrates). Also, in Xelloss's battle against Valgaav he uses some very dirty tricks, one of the most notable being when a stray blast put a team mate in danger (Filia), he rescues her then immediately drops her on Valgaav.
280** And then there was his cheap shot on Lina to get his hands on Galvayra...a pressure point shot to put her out? Practical.
281** Lina's fond of this herself. Just watch her first three "[[CurbStompBattle fights]]" in Mipross Island in the first movie.
282* Episode 6 of ''Anime/SmilePrettyCure'' has a funny one, boiling down to Majorina's Akanbe attacking the Cures ''as they're pulling off their first SuperSentaiStance''.
283* ''Manga/SnowWhiteWithTheRedHair'': Obi is a master at hand to hand combat who uses throwing kunai and a pair of daggers for whom this way of fighting was ingrained at an early age as the only way to survive. It comes in handy when he is fighting an assassin who fights similarly to himself as he uses a necklace to draw his opponent out of hiding by making it appear one of his knives was catching the light and then attacking him from behind.
284* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': Loid uses his tactical insight and cunning nature to apply everything in his advantage. His fighting style generally employs anything and everything in his environment to gain an edge, as he's usually outnumbered or fending off combat specialists. He's used ambushes, improvised weapons and traps to even the odds.
285* ''Manga/{{Strider}}'':
286** Matic is unrepentantly evil and has no qualms over using underhanded tactics and manipulation to get what he wants, in spite of the fact that, as the Striders' second-in-command, he'd be a certified OneManArmy. This is best demonstrated in the final chapter, when he corners an exhausted Hiryu with two armed {{mook}}s, and gloats he's in no shape to avoid the bullets this time. When forced into a one-on-one confrontation with him, however, he finds himself ''intimidated'' by Hiryu's determination to win, and so after noticing a large crowd of lesser Striders has gathered (which he believes are all loyal to him), wastes no time in ordering them all to kill Hiryu on the spot.
287** The two Striders under his charge, Arana and Kubira, are also not above using ambushes or setting up traps to kill him. Kubira actually justifies it as, having been in training school with Hiryu, he's well aware of his monstrous strength and skills and knows very well that, in a direct confrontation, he'd have no chance of victory.
288* ''Anime/SwordOfTheStranger'':
289** Nanashi gives a lesson on combat pragmatism during his first fight sequence. He uses his sheathed [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] to toss a cooking pot filled with boiling water at the aggressor, and then ends up killing another guy without even having to DRAW HIS SWORD.
290** He doesn't have a monopoly on the trope though, as pretty much everyone but Luo-Lang qualifies to some degree or another. Luo-Lang is exempt because he's like a foot taller than everyone else, and hops around like [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]] on crack.
291* ''Manga/TalesOfWeddingRings'': In the early volumes, Satou is perfectly willing to sneak up on distracted enemies to attack them from behind if the opportunity presents itself. Said opportunities become less frequent as the series goes on, and he generally sticks to head-on fighting after a certain point.
292* ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'': Tenchi's grandfather trains him in swordsmanship, so they spar. Tenchi manages to disarm him and celebrates, but his grandfather draws a dagger and holds it to his throat, then lectures him that he should anticipate his opponent fighting dirty in a real fight.
293* In ''Manga/TigerMask'' we have ''everyone''. Being a manga on wrestling, it's to be expected, because, as pointed by a number of characters (including a RealLife champion and the resident ''[[TheCape Cape]]''), pulling an illegal move and interrupting it before the referee ends the count is ''not'' illegal. In fact, Mil Mascaras' and El Sicodelico (the afore-mentioned cape) complaint with this is not that the world champions aren't too shy to use dirty tricks to win, but that it took them so long to realize they ''didn't'' have to not use them they are too set to learn them.
294** That said, Tiger's Cave wrestlers have so dirty that, for them, dealing with being set on fire is ''part of the training'' (for another thing, but it came handy when one of their pupils actually got himself doused with gasoline and his cape set on fire, as he knew ''exactly'' what to do to prevent the fire from spreading to him wounds and [[InfernalRetaliation use the burning cape as weapon]]) and using pepper to blind their foes is ''holding back'': when they get serious they'll do such things as injecting paralytic poisons on you mid-fight and power-up an headbutt with a ''cannonball''. That said, the protagonist Tiger Mask, being a former Tiger's Cave wrestler and their best pupil in history, is, when pissed, [[EvenEvilHasStandards so dirty other Tiger's Cave wrestlers are disgusted and scared]], and his whole story is not about him becoming stronger but becoming capable to become a ''legal'' Combat Pragmatist: before actually learning this he would force himself to fight fairly, until some opponent would piss him off so much he'd relapse into Tiger's Cave all-out brutality.
295* ''Manga/TimeStopHero'':
296** Kuzuno Sekai's main power is to [[TimeStandsStill stop time]]. He takes advantage of this as many times as needed and never fights fair. When facing monsters, he'll just freeze time and kill them while they are helpless. Though [[WouldntHitAGirl he refuses to harm women]], he uses other tactics like using his time freeze to tie them up and/or strip them naked so [[DefeatByModesty they'll be embarrassed and retreat or surrender]]. He's also defeated mages by gagging them so they couldn't chant spells.
297** When Swordmaster Leafa Colby deduces that Sekai was the one who stripped and stole from her, she immediately draws her sword and tries to strike him down without any warning instead of challenging him to a duel.
298** Lovisa temporarily defeated Leafa by dropping her down a TrapDoor into the sewers. She gloated that sometimes the smartest one wins, not the strongest.
299** When three witch sisters challenge Sekai to a fight, they attack him without any warning as soon as he accepts. If he didn't have a HealingFactor, the first attack would have killed him.
300* Discussed in ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', where humans are generally WeakButSkilled in comparison to their ghoul opponents. During a difficult battle against the [[SiblingTeam Bin Brothers]], Amon recalls an important lesson from his late partner and mentor. Kureo Mado had explained to him that a human can never hope to compare to a ghoul in physical ability, and so their ''only'' hope of winning is to use whatever methods are available to them.....no matter how sneaky, cowardly, or vile. As such, Investigators are trained to be this trope out of necessity.
301* ''Manga/TokyoRevengers'' has Takemichi become this during his fight with Kiyomasa, where he resorts to biting and putting him on a chokehold in order to knock him out. Considering Kiyomasa is bigger, heavier and tougher than Takemichi, and that [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior Kiyomasa has no compulsion against murdering him]], anything less than ruthless pragmatism would've gotten Takemichi killed.
302* In ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', this is Vash the Stampede's main gimmick apart from ObfuscatingStupidity, in most fights he’ll: duck and roll, make the villains waste their ammo, use a garbage lid, throw a gun at another person to knock them out, use chewing gum to wedge enemies’s barrels up, trick foes into getting hit with their own weapons, make use of a bank vault door and some explosives to get the jump on his foe and use his ImprobableAimingSkills to win battles with zero casualties. Then again it turns out Vash doesn't even ''need'' to be this crafty, when he could just as easily kill anyone with his hidden machine gun arm, as seen when he destroyed a bunch of robots in seconds. It's becuase Vash [[ActualPacifist extreme pacifism]] that he refuses to use lethal force and will do anything to ensure he can stop evildoers without killing, though doing so [[CoveredWithScars takes a toll on his body]].
303* ''Manga/UndeadUnluck'':
304** Fuuko TookALevelInBadass when it comes to opponents in hand-to-hand combat, as she'll use Unluck to give her opponent small bouts of misfortune to skew things in her favor, especially against opponents that outclass her in terms of raw technique and power. She even explains to Mei that bad luck is a skill on its own.
305** While Andy already had little compunctions in using whatever tactics or means to win battles from the moment he's introduced, he has even less qualms using whatever he needs to win as time goes on. Whether exploiting [[spoiler:Billy]]'s less potent copy of Undead to get him to release his Unchange barrier lest he drown, interfering with the final round against Spring by enabling the others to attack him, or destroying the parts of Nico's lab which helps him remember his late wife to interfere with his concentration.
306* ''Manga/{{Vagabond}}'' has UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi who ironically embodies this trope more so than ''merely'' being a swordsman; more specifically he is described as "flexible and unfettered", taking the opportunity as it comes. Notably demonstrated in fighting the Yoshioka at Ichijouji, as [[spoiler:he takes the opportunity of showing up an hour early and from the mountains instead of the road, allowing him to severely wound their leader right at the beginning]]. He may have defeated Inshun, Shishido Baiken (his DualWielding was to overcome the different mechanics involved in the chain and sickle), and the Yoshioka brothers (defeating the second brother's attempt to clinch and set up a killing blow by gutting him with his own wakizashi ''on instinct''), but this is ''the'' defining fight for him. It's also a defining fight for the Yoshioka as they ''try'' and almost succeed at this, but can't quite "reach that far" and he mostly succeeds at fending off their attempts. (The closest they ever come to actually killing Musashi is when [[spoiler:Nanpo Yoichibe tackles him to the ground and holds him down]], but it fails since [[spoiler:his cohorts hesitate to simply stab Musashi to death ''through'' Yoichibe]].)
307** In general the Yoshioka leadership failed to prepare themselves and their followers for the essential fact that instead of dueling it was kill-or-be-killed.
308* ''Manga/VinlandSaga'': Askeladd is more than willing to just have his men stick an opponent full of arrows than fight him one on one. Thorgrimm as well.
309* ''Literature/TheWorldsFinestAssassin'': Lugh is a highly trained assassin who prefers to kill opponents as efficiently as possible, so any tactic like poison, ambushes, and sniping is fair game. His crowning moment may be the time he was challenged to a duel by Setanta, a warrior whom Lugh wouldn't stand a chance against in a fair fight. So Lugh uses a spell to basically call a KillSat strike on Setanta's position, vaporizing him as soon as the match started.
310* ''Manga/{{Yaiba}}'': The title character firmly believes in this trope. Well, his mentor is UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi after all... that explains a lot of things...
311* As opposed to the anime, [[DoesNotLikeGuns where he tosses the gun away for whatever reason]], the ''Manga/YuGiOh'' manga has Kaiba disarm Pegasus' henchmen in a helicopter, holds onto one of the guns and threatens to blow their brains out if they don't jump into the ocean, and proceeds to go Rambo with it and taking hostages when he arrives in Duelist Kingdom.
312* In ''Anime/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsters'', La Jinn fights dirty, and even attacks Yugi directly instead of his monster.
313* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': Yusuke Urameshi is one due to his street brawling background. During his battle with Sensui [[spoiler:(or his Minoru personality at the time)]], Yusuke uses his wet T-shirt to wrap Sensui's arm and pull Sensui closer to him. Not only does this restrict Sensui's attacks, but it makes it easier for Yusuke to [[RapidFireFisticuffs pummel the living hell out of him]].
314-->'''Sensui:''' What is this mockery? This isn't martial arts!\
315'''Yusuke:''' No, it's called street fighting. I guess you didn't see it coming!

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