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7->'''Baron Vengeous:''' ...only a heathen would bring a gun to a swordfight.\
8'''Skulduggery:''' And only a moron would bring a sword to a gun fight.
9-->-- ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant: Playing with Fire''
10
11----
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13* In Creator/OrsonScottCard's {{novelization}} of ''Film/TheAbyss'' the SEAL team leader, Coffey, is mentioned as having taken down a neighborhood bully eight years his senior not in a straight-up street fight but rather by lying in wait for the guy and caving his head in with a cinder block when his back was turned. Coffey then tidies up, goes home, and never seeks any recognition of his act. On the other hand, Coffey is characterized as somewhere between a SociopathicHero and a monster.
14* ''Literature/TheActsOfCaine'':
15** Caine/Hari from is widely considered the best infighter alive, even after being rendered partially paraplegic. He does not fight fair, ever, and it allows him to win fights where he really should have had no chance. Illustration: right after [[DarkestHour his lowest point]] in ''Blade of Tyshalle'', he escapes a dungeon cell by luring a guard in and provoking him to attack, apparently giving up the element of surprise. To recap, this is a naked and malnourished Caine, covered in his own filth, chained to the wall with his legs currently not working. The guard on the other hand is armored in chainmail, upright and well fed, and has the [[CounterAttack "chance"]] to draw his club and attack Caine first. After a few minutes the situation changes to that of a naked and unconscious guard in Caine's shackles while a now armed and armored Caine crawls up the dungeon steps.
16** In the flashbacks of ''Caine Black Knife'', Caine describes how most armchair tacticians give advice like "Other things being equal, the advantage lies with the longer weapon" or "Other things being equal, the fighter who strikes first wins" or "Other things being equal, a big man beats a small man." He then proceeds to kill an opponent twice his size, him using a knife and the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent ogrillo]] using a spear, after the 'grill strikes first.
17--->'''Caine:''' Get it? "Other things" are ''never'' equal.
18** Creator/MattStover ''loves'' this trope. It even pops up in his Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse novels; one of the best examples is a character getting into a fight ''he knew he would lose so hard his ancestors would feel it'' just to be able to track someone, so it'd be easier to anticipate the inevitably fatal fight later. The novel is [[spoiler:''Literature/{{Shatterpoint}}'', BTW.]] This even extends to situations that ''aren't'' combat, merely minor conflicts. Such as arguments.
19** In the third ''Acts of Caine'' book, Caine is captured and tortured by knights of Khryl. He breaks free and mortally wounds a number of them. Later, they're healing him ([[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership Khryl is a war god, so Caine has proven his worth]]), but Khryl's healing only works on wounds suffered in battle. Most of the knights' wounds can't be healed, but ''all'' of Caine's can, because from his perspective the fight started the minute he saw them, while they didn't understand what was happening until half of them were dead.
20* The ''Literature/AlexCross'' novel ''Kiss the Girls'' has a woman who takes self-defense classes, with the GroinAttack recommended. [[spoiler:When Casanova abducts her, she kicks him in the nuts. Unfortunately, Casanova was wearing protection... because he had been watching her go to her self-defense classes.]]
21* ''Literature/AlexisCarew'': Alexis fights dirty because, being a young woman barely a meter and a half tall, there's no other way for her to brawl effectively (demonstrated by her hurting nothing but her hand when she punches a SpaceMarine in the gut during practice). She was taught by her grandfather's foremen from a young age that if a man laid his hands on her with ill intent, she was to hurt him however possible until she could get away. She does things like striking eyes, stamping feet, and breaking fingers.
22* The only magical ability Literature/AlexVerus has is the ability to see the future, while most other mages have dozens of ways to make someone dead. As such, he generally uses this ability to run away, avoid fights entirely or, if he has to, sneak up and kill enemies before they know what's happened. He states outright in the second book that killing people is often safer than trying to disable them as half the time they come back to try again.
23* Creator/PoulAnderson is fond of these characters.
24** In his ''Wing Alek'' series of short stories the main character is forbidden from ever using killing to win a conflict (luckily the villains don't know that) so he uses underhanded methods to get the villains to defeat themselves.
25** Nicholas van Rijn from the ''Literature/PolesotechnicLeague'' series frequently uses sneaky methods. On one occasion, he taunts an alien prince into biting his behind; the alien prince realizes too late that human biochemistry is toxic to his people.
26* ''Literature/BazilBroketail'': Smilgax resorts to dirty tactics in his duel with Bazil in attempt to gain the advantage. For some reason, not only is he never disqualified, but later even gets a rematch.
27* ''Literature/AnitaBlake'': Anita isn't at all averse to this, especially considering that she's usually up against vampires, shapechangers or worse but she pales compared to Edward, famous for using a ''flamethrower'' against some vamps.
28* Valentinian from the ''Literature/BelisariusSeries'' is a vicious bastard who compensates for his (relative) lack of height and bulk compared to some of the other badasses in the series by taking advantage of his lightning-fast reflexes to help him pull off every dirty trick in the book. He's so good at it that late in the series he trains a twelve-year-old boy well enough that the kid can take out multiple professional soldiers on his own. He loses one fight in the series, against the legendary Rana Sanga, specifically because he steps away from this trope for once (he had Sanga wounded and could have picked away at him and bled him to death while staying out of reach but chose to try to finish the fight honorably and had his sword (and skull) broken as a result). He survives and avoids doing anything that stupid ever again.
29** On a larger scale, Belisarius himself. Facing an army too large to fight head-on? Give 'em a good swift kick in the logistics.
30* In Creator/RobertEHoward's "Literature/BeyondTheBlackRiver", Literature/ConanTheBarbarian, with no shame, [[FriendOrFoe deceives a Pict into coming close enough to be killed]].
31* ''Literature/TheBlackCompany'', a mercenary force in the series of the same name by Creator/GlenCook, make a living, and survive in the face of enormous odds, by fighting dirty and using every resource available to them in order to make themselves look like the baddest motherfuckers around. When it works, things look good for the Company. When it doesn't, that's when the fun begins.
32* Sadrao, an [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic dog]] in Ursula Vernon's ''Literature/BlackDogs'', uses a weapon that a lot of FunnyAnimal protagonists forget about: teeth. He bites off a bandits ''face''.
33* ''Literature/TheBridgeKingdomArchives'': Lara and her sisters can use anything as a weapon and playing fair is not something that bothers them, only winning (or at least surviving) counts. Subterfuge, disguise, poisons -- anything is allowed. That's how they were [[TrainingFromHell taught]].
34* ''Literature/CaptivePrince'': Veretian royalty apply this philosophy to war, pulling stunts like {{False Flag Operation}}s and staging surprise attacks during parlay. This works against them just as much: their ProudWarriorRaceGuy enemies despise underhanded tactics and assume that any Veretian offer of peace is being made in bad faith.
35* In ''Literature/CastleHangnail'', combat pragmatism is said to be the characteristic approach of witches in {{Wizard Duel}}s. A sorceress will rely on raw power, but a witch will improvise with whatever she has to hand.
36* The Dorsai in Creator/GordonRDickson's ''Literature/ChildeCycle'' believe in thinking outside the box. However, they would never, ever, violate the "Mercenaries Code" (which is something like [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar the Geneva Conventions]]). When one person asked one of the Dorsai commanders if he had ever shot prisoners, the commander got quite threatening about the idea that he would ever do such a thing.
37* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'':
38** Corwin is big on this. For example, in his climactic duel with a master swordsman who'd been foreshadowed a book earlier, Corwin runs away, rounds a corner, throws his cloak into the other man's face as he follows, then stabs him while he's blind. The guy then proceeds to whine about being killed by cheating.
39--->'''Corwin:''' ''[to Borel's dying body]'' This isn't exactly the Olympic Games.
40** His son Merlin later mocks the guy's ghost for fighting fair after defeating him again by [[spoiler:accidentally throwing a sword at him.]]
41--->'''Merlin:''' ''[to Borel's [[ItMakesSenseInContext dying ghost]]]'' This isn't the Winter Games, either.
42** This is essentially Corwin's biggest personality trait. He takes over a swords-and-sorcery kingdom with a small force [[spoiler:carrying assault rifles.]] At one point he wants his son to follow him; his son declines, and so Corwin [[spoiler:attacks him with a sword, feints around him, punches him unconscious and carries him away.]]
43* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfDorsa'': Akella is a pirate captain whose combat style involves using anything necessary to beat her opponents. She tries to cripple them, throw dirt or anything else in their eyes which blinds them or whatever else possible. Linna picks this up from sparring with Akella. She uses it later in bouts against Joslyn, who approvingly says Linna should do anything necessary in defense of herself or Tasia (whom they protect as guards).
44* The super powered training cadre of [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/literature/Citadel Citadel]] fit. The students' first lesson has half of them stripped naked, tied up and beaten by the other half. At least they get to take turns.
45* ''Literature/{{City of Bones|1995}}'' by Creator/MarthaWells: Khat is used to surviving on the fringes of society and can't afford not to fight dirty -- staging ambushes, pulling a knife on an unarmed opponent, and distracting them whenever possible. He usually fights in self-defense, and the rest of the time, makes sure that his opponents have it coming -- and never see him coming.
46* In Creator/TomClancy's stories, the good guys subscribe to this line of thinking, particularly the military, who are paraphrased at one point as believing ''If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn't plan it very well.''
47--> '''Admiral Mancuso:''' Sir, a fair fight means all my guys get to go home. Fuck the other guys.
48* Both [[Literature/ClockpunkAndTheVitalizer Clockpunk and The Vitalizer]] are pragmatists, though the former is essentially forced to be one because of her non-physical powers. Thanks to her quick thinking, she manages pretty well.
49* From the same author as ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' below, ''Literature/CodexAlera'' is set in a land where everyone has access to what are basically elemental Franchise/{{Pokemon}}, and the main character is the one kid who doesn't. As a result, he's had to rely on his wits where most people use brute force. For example, salt dispels wind "furies", wild or tame. So he specifically carries around rock salt should he encounter some wild ones, and gives his uncle the idea to use rock-salt arrowheads, which are very useful against aerial attackers using wind furies to fly. By the fifth book, he's pretty well known for winning apparently hopeless fights.
50** The Vord Queen, the BigBad of the series and leader of a HordeOfAlienLocusts, is even more of a pragmatist than Tavi. She expresses her disappointment over the fact that she can't kill refugees because soldiers are covering their escape. When it's pointed out that every able man is already fighting, the Queen points out that the elderly civilians can bring experience, the women can bear young, and the children will grow up to be her enemies. If it's not clear, the Vord view this, and every war, as a GuiltFreeExterminationWar rather than something more conventional.
51* ''Literature/CradleSeries'':
52** Most [[SupernaturalMartialArts sacred artists]] are not shy about using whatever they have at their disposal, but special mention goes to Lindon. He will happily set up traps, gadgets, and whatever else he needs to survive when fighting above his weight class (which happens a ''lot''). Other sacred artists, who don't like having trouble with someone lower than them, call this cheating.
53** Eithan says that Lindon's greatest strength is that he spent most of his life as the weakest around by a large margin, and therefore is very good at planning ahead and scrambling for any advantage he can. On the other hand, Lindon often forgets that he is not weak any more, and has occasionally tried to spend hours planning for an encounter that he could blast through in seconds.
54* Don "Mad Dog" Slade from Creator/DavidDrake's ''Cross the Stars'' observes that you should only hit someone with your bare hands when you're naked and your feet are nailed to the floor.
55* Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/TheCurseOfChalion'' has Cazaril, an experienced soldier who is a decent swordsman but notes on many occasions that swordfighting is not nearly as useful as dirty fighting, which he is also good at.
56**
57--->Cazaril had to admit, the battlefields he'd been on had more resemblance to the butcher's yard than the dueling ring. But if Dy Sanda knew the desperate brutal tricks that kept a man alive on the battlefield, he'd not taught them to Teidez.
58**
59--->"I don't duel, boy. I kill as a soldier kills, which is as a butcher kills, as quickly, efficiently, and with as little risk to myself as I can arrange. If I decide you die, you will die when I choose, Where I choose, by what means I choose, and you will never see the blow coming."
60* ''Literature/TheDarkswordTrilogy'' features an unusual example. Prince Garald is emphatically not one of these, but when he takes the time to teach Joram how to fence, he makes it very clear that he doesn't have time to teach him how to reliably win a fair fight.
61-->'''Garald:''' Honour is a fine thing, but the dead have little use of it.
62* Cannath in ''Literature/TheDawnhounds'' advocates putting a cigarette out in your opponent's eye if it means winning a fight.
63* Kirth Gersen from Creator/JackVance's ''Literature/TheDemonPrinces'' cycle. At one point during a BloodSport, he and one other player face off against TheDragon. Gersen has a number of cheating options available. What does he do? Make a deal with the other player to split the prize, and team up.
64* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
65** Sam Vimes is a great believer in dirty fighting. His fighting style consists of using everything you have to hit anything you can. He calls it "artful". About the only time he's ever been delicate about the subject was when he was mentioning Nobby's "favorite kick" in front of ''Lady'' Sybil Ramkin. His most iconic move is probably the "Vimes Elbow". Vimes' pragmatism can be pretty well summed up by this quote:
66--->'''Vimes:''' And for close-up fighting, as your senior sergeant [[CouldSayItBut I explicitly forbid you]] to investigate the range of coshes, blackjacks, and brass knuckles sold by Mrs. Goodbody at No. 8 Easy Street at a range of prices and sizes to suit all pockets, and should any of you approach me privately I absolutely will not [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial demonstrate a variety of specialist blows suitable for these useful yet tricky instruments]].
67** Vimes' pragmatism is based entirely on one very clearly-stated principle, and it's one that serves in RealLife as well: the object isn't to score points, it's to stop the other guy hitting you as quickly as possible.
68** At one point he and an Assassins Guild member end up in a standoff with knives being pointed at portions of each other's anatomy that are generally considered unsporting to target. The assassin's comment that Vimes is "no gentleman" is both given and taken as a compliment.
69--->'''Vimes:''' [[FreudianThreat Make a wrong move, and neither are you]].
70** Vimes notes at one point that he learned a lot of his fighting skills while taking down a criminal named Gussie Two Grins, who never actually appears in the books but from Vimes' description was the living embodiment of this trope.
71--->'' Two Grins was the dirtiest fighter Vimes had ever met. Anything was a weapon, anywhere was a target. Two Grins was a kind of genius in that limited area. [[ImprovisedWeapon He could see the weapon in anything]] -- a wall, a cloth, a piece of fruit. . . He wasn't even a big man. [[PintSizedPowerhouse He was small and wiry]]. But he liked fighting big men, [[ManBitesMan on the basis that there was more of them to bite.]] ''
72** Also applies to Vimes' [[BattleButler butler]] Willikins, who in his youth was a member of a particularly tough street gang. He is arguably Vimes' equal -- less artful, but less constrained in his choices of weapons and methods. Translation: Vimes tries to avoid killing; Willikins does not.
73** This is a view carried (whether they learned it from him or not) by many of the watch. It's implied in the City Watch novels, that in the street fights of Ankh-Morpork being able to use your hands is already considered posh.
74** And even in the Watch, Corporal Nobby Nobbs is considered one of the more notable practitioners. Physically speaking, Nobby is an approximately human shape roughly assembled not just from twigs, but from the twigs that were left over after someone got to the good ones first. From a young age, when he was a street urchin in Ankh-Morpork, he wanted to be a soldier [[RobbingTheDead primarily to loot the bodies]]. When he can't get, say, [[KillItWithFire a Klatchian fire engine]] to use in battle, he tends to default to steel-toed boots and a notable unwillingness to accept the premise that enemies on the ground should be allowed to get back up again.
75--->''Nobby had long ago been told about fighting fair and not striking a fallen opponent, and had then given some creative thought to how these rules applied to someone four feet tall with the muscle tone of an elastic band.''
76** Vimes' fighting style is contrasted with that of the Marquis of Fantailler, a send-up of the Marquis de Queensbury who "wrote a set of rules for what he termed 'the noble art of fisticuffs,' which mostly consisted of a list of places where people weren't allowed to hit him. Many people were impressed with his work and later stood with noble chest out-thrust and fists balled in a spirit of manly aggression against people who hadn't read the Marquis's book but did know how to knock people senseless with a chair." A surprising number of those people's last words were something along the lines of "Stuff the bloody Marquis of Fantail--". Vimes' opinion on Fantailler seems to have softened slightly by the time of ''Literature/{{Snuff}}'', at least to the extent where he's prepared to offer the use of the rules when challenged to a duel. But this is simply one of many ploys used to try and scare his challenger, treating the challenge as a deadly serious endeavour, which means offering the man the chance to choose the rules of the duel.
77** Carrot, however, seems to be able to make said fighting fair work, insofar as it can be considered fighting fair for Carrot to be getting involved to begin with. In Carrot's case fighting fair might actually be considered pragmatic, what with TheoryOfNarrativeCausality and all. Fighting fair, and generally ''playing'' fair, seem to be Carrot's form of RefugeInAudacity. Plus, who needs dirty tricks when they can cold-cock a troll with a right cross?
78*** It didn't work in ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'', where Carrot gets his ass handed to him in a fistfight by a werewolf who is just as strong and fast (if not stronger and faster) as he is. Although another character cynically notes that this ultimately got his romantic competition killed off...
79*** But ''Literature/MenAtArms'' shows that if Carrot needs you dead, there will be a foot of cold steel through you before you realize there is even to be a fight. Sometimes a sword ''is'' enough to win a gun (or gonne) fight.
80** Vimes' antagonist in ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'' is Carcer, whom Vimes describes as a "bottle covey". The guy who'll take every possible way to kill you, just because he likes it, and takes advantage of the system whenever he can. [[{{Foil}} In some ways Carcer is "evil Vimes"]], which is hinted at several times in the book.
81** Vimes describes the idea of "bottle covey" to Sybil in one of the earlier books and she remarks that it [[SarcasmMode in no way, shape, or form]] describes a [[NotSoDifferentRemark certain someone she knows intimately.]]
82** Cohen the Barbarian has heard of fighting fair, and long ago decided he wanted no part of it. Cohen is over 90-years-old, and has been a BarbarianHero for a ''very'' long time. He didn't get that way by being nice and fancy. He got that way by slaughtering his foes while they were busy being fancy with swift sword to the face.
83** Cohen is also the leader of the Silver Horde, six other equally ancient, equally pragmatic barbarians. ''Literature/InterestingTimes'' had one of them squaring off against a ninja. After pretending he was getting ready to break a block of wood barehanded and making sure the ninja was watching his hands, he [[GroinAttack kicked the ninja in the treasury]] and whacked him over the head with said block. Should've watched the leg, indeed. Later on in the same book, one of the local lords shows off his Samurai by having him throw a handkerchief into the air, and slice it cleanly in half. Cohen then throws ''his'' handkerchief into the air... and then chops off the Samurai's head as he's watching the handkerchief. The Horde don't even need Cohen to give them instructions and are already slaughtering their foes.
84** Although he's not a viewpoint character, it's very clear that General Tacticus was a big proponent of this style of warfare; his method of command tended to not only conquer lots of territory but do it with most of his men still alive at the end, which more traditional military historians felt was somehow cheating. Vimes is, rather unsurprisingly, a fan. It should be noted that the regular style of warfare from Tacticus's time till the time the novels take place, was basically to inflict as many "heroic casualties" on each other's army as possible. Which means to allow as many of your men to be killed by the enemy as possible. If you have more men at the end than the enemy it was a nice bonus. Tacticus described one of the good strategies for assaulting an near-impenetrable fortress with a good supply of water and food available to the defenders: "See (that the occupants) stay there." He considers the other good strategy to be "Endeavor to be the ones inside."
85** Lavaeolus (Discworld's Odysseus analog) counts as well, though for different reasons, he dislikes slaughter, and so looks for every method of winning that doesn't result in it.
86** Rincewind will openly admit he's a coward and a rat -- they ''survive'', after all -- but when cornered, his strategy is to hit his opponent with everything he can before they can realize that he doesn't know how to fight.
87*** Rincewind actually defeated a vulnerable EldritchAbomination that was attacking him by tackling it in a mad frenzy and targeting anything that might look like a weak point and flailing, squishing, biting, or otherwise traumatizing it.
88*** He also ended a battle with an all-powerful reality-warping [[Literature/{{Sourcery}} Sourcerer]] not with magic, but with a half-brick inna sock. Granted, it was a highly ineffective weapon, but it ''did'' end the battle.
89*** [[spoiler:The titular sourcerer has to be defeated and Rincewind is the only one capable of following the sourcerer through a portal. The sourcerer is just a kid that has faced lots of wizards by following orders from his father, contained in his staff, but he only does it because they are dangerous. Cue Rincewind, inept wizzard and incapable of hurting a fly (not for lack of trying, mind you), attempting to attack the staff with half a brick in a sock. After asking if it's a magic sock or if this is a trick, the boy is so convinced that Rincewind is completely harmless that he refuses to follow his father's orders for the first time in his life. Technically, fighting dirty '''did''' save Rincewind's life, just not as somebody would expect it to work.]]
90*** Rincewind also takes this approach on a tactical level, possibly inherited from his distant ancestor Lavaeolus. When faced with impossible odds in ''Literature/InterestingTimes'', with an entire army vs. Cohen's tiny group of barbarians, plus a group of rebels containing exactly one actual combatant, he immediately goes after the opposing army's morale by having the non-combatant rebels use every GuileHero trick in the book to convince the soldiers that the night is full of invisible vampire ghosts that are both larger and angrier than usual.
91** As well, Ridcully and the Librarian are comparatively prone to this, although in both cases they also have the muscle to carry it off. In the Librarian's case, he's an Orang-Utan who can unscrew your head off with his toes. In Ridcully's case, he's just someone that knows anything he can't beat into submission with his (six foot long, solid oak) staff is probably gonna shrug off fireballs too, and acts accordingly.
92** The Witches, Nanny Ogg in particular, have very powerful magics at their disposal, but if danger comes around they'd rather use the aforementioned half-brick inna sock to subdue their foes.
93** Another witch, Magrat Garlick, loses a lot of her soppy streak when she [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] in ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'', which includes a certain willingness to fight dirty. At one point, an elf peeks through a keyhole and she puts a crossbow bolt straight into its eye. She hands another one a box containing a furious Greebo, a cat with a reputation for bringing home dead wolves, who "[goes] off like a claymore mine" when the elf opens the lid.
94** The Nac Mac Feegles are this to a tee, partly because they're fairies (of the Scottish type, i.e. neglectfully dangerous at best, ranging on down to pure evil) by origin, and partly because when you're six inches high, fighting "fair" is actually rather difficult all around. [[UnderestimatingBadassery For their enemies]]. Feegle may be tiny, but they have the strength and durability of a large and angry man. If you think you can kill them by stepping on them, be prepared for a six-inch man climbing up your pant leg and breaking your kneecap, [[GroinAttack punching you in the balls]], or grabbing you by the eyelids and [[UseYourHead headbutting you into next week]]. The fact that they view the Disc as a sort of heaven (i.e. having been good in the past life they can let themselves go in this one) probably helps as well.
95** 71 Hour Ahmed from ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'' is a MirrorCharacter counterpart to Samuel Vimes, e.g. they're both coppers. Vimes' beat is Ankh-Morpork. Ahmed's beat is all of the desert of Klatchistan, which he often has to venture into to chase desperate criminals by himself. That [[MeaningfulName nickname]] of his should tell you how pragmatic he is. [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Klatchians]] have to [[SacredHospitality shelter a guest in the desert for three days]], regardless of their relationship, and the guest should return the favor. Ahmed found a particularly bad sort of criminal who committed a heinous crime, and who also gave him shelter, and... Well, you can extrapolate the rest.
96** Sergeant Jackram and Lieutenant Blouse from ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'' both have aspects of this, namely Jackram is prepared to go to any method to win a hand-to-hand fight, while Blouse is quite capable of using every advantage to further his strategic aims. To a lesser degree this also applies respectively to Tonker and Polly, and a little to Maladict too.
97* ''Literature/DoomValleyPrepSchool'': Being in a school of villainy where bullying is encouraged, Petra who is terrible at magic, weak and untrained at fighting, relies on fighting dirty to survive. Sucker punches, tricking people into letting their guard down followed by a hard knee to a soft place, sudden attacks with a lunch tray, calling in help from an insane half fairy-demon, she's used them all.
98* ''Literature/DonQuixote'': Alonso Quixano admires famous Knight Bernardo del Carpio because he defeated Roldan (in an alternative legend to the Song of Roland) because, instead of attacking Roldan the Enchanted with a sword, Bernardo just strangled him. Part I, Chapter 1:
99-->''"He thought more of Bernardo del Carpio because at [[Literature/TheSongOfRoland Roncesvalles]] he slew [[NighInvulnerable Roland]] in spite of [[AWizardDidIt enchantments]], availing himself of the artifice of Hercules when he strangled Antaeus the son of Terra in his arms. "''
100* ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'': Vlad grew up in a bad part of town as a victim of FantasticRacism before clawing his way up to a mid-level position in [[TheSyndicate the Jhereg]] as an assassin. This, along with the fact that most of the people he's fighting are [[SuperiorSpecies bigger and stronger than him]], has led him to become the kind of guy whose standard tactics involve having his poisonous-miniature-dragon familiar fly into people's faces to distract them.
101** Backfires on him once, as well. On their way into the Paths of the Dead, Vlad Taltos and Morrolan are forced to face a group of Dragonlords, one at a time, in single combat. Vlad throws a knife at his opponent while the latter is waiting for him to draw his sword, which makes the Dragons angry enough to attack them ''all at once'' instead.
102* Orson Gregory from ''Literature/TheDreamsideRoad'' sees nothing wrong with unconventional tactics and finds humor in clever verbal put-downs.
103* ''Literature/{{Drenai}}'' characters, by and large, tend to favour the policy that the best opponent is a dead one, and that rules that get in the way are best ignored. It's even a plot point in ''Hero in the Shadows'' when Waylander chooses to fight in a semi-honourable but still brutal duel rather than just nailing the guy with a crossbow bolt.
104* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
105** Kincaid is a PsychoForHire mercenary and all-around Combat Pragmatist. He actually gets mopey when Harry tells him he can't just level the vampires' hideout with explosives because it would kill the hostages. For a short time anyway, before he goes back to gruff and grumbling about how poor the plan is.
106** Harry Dresden himself. He doesn't like it, but he WILL do what it takes. He's also a fan of punching people in the face before they realize they're in a fight. A brief, and by no means comprehensive list of examples:
107*** In ''Literature/SummerKnight'', up against a deranged Fae Queen, Harry, the wizard, [[spoiler:instead of slinging his baddest spells, decides to ZergRush her instead. Using pixies. Armed with steel box-cutters. After which he physically pins her until she dies of a combo of blood loss and ColdIron poisoning.]]
108*** In other fights with magic-immune fae in the same book, he deals with an ogre by having a friend sneak up from behind and chainsaw through its knee, then setting it alight with ''non''magical fire, and with charging Sidhe cavalry by tripping their horses.
109*** When being chased by a giant magic-proof fae in ''Literature/ProvenGuilty'', he throws a pack of bottled water out the back of the car, blows it up, then pulls heat out of the area to turn the whole road behind them into an ice slick. It falls flat on its face and they get away.
110*** When fighting fallen angel host Nicodemus, [[spoiler:he realizes the only thing Nick is vulnerable to is the artifact which grants him invulnerability. So Harry strangles Nicodemus with it (it's conveniently in the shape of a noose).]]
111*** Harry has specifically ordered his superpowered guard dog Mouse to kill more than one enemy.
112*** ''Literature/DeadBeat'''s climax involves him creating [[spoiler:a horrendously powerful [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot zombie]] ''[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome T. rex]]'']] to fight zombies.
113*** After seeing Kincaid using incendiary shotgun rounds on vampires, he specifically starts researching the fun stuff you can do with custom shotgun ammo. Knowledge which he later puts to good use.
114*** His standard procedure for dealing with ambushes: Run away. Fast. Anything knowingly attacking a wizard has probably come prepared. To this end, he seriously takes up exercise and martial arts to improve his stamina and melee skills.
115*** Standard procedure when his staff is taken away or runs out of magic? Blast whatever he's fighting with any firearm he can get his hands on until it stops moving.
116*** When taking on Cowl at the end of ''Dead Beat'', Harry doesn't even ''try'' to fight him fairly, because he knows Cowl is a badass who'd smash him in a straight confrontation. [[spoiler:Instead, he waits until Cowl is at the most delicately explosive point of the GodhoodSeeker spell, and then brains him over the head with his staff. Kaboom.]]
117*** In "Day Off", when Darth Wannabe and company attempt to challenge him to a magical duel, Harry just pulls a gun on them. Incidentally, he keeps upgrading said sidearm through the series. This is also a special case, since killing a mortal with magic is strictly against the rules laid down by the White Council of wizards, and doing so means you can expect a visit from a surly enforcer with an enchanted sword. Harry killed his spellcasting mentor (in self-defense), which made his life hell for decades; thus, whenever he engages a mortal foe, he ''has'' to use conventional means.
118---->'''Darth Wannabe:''' Defend yourself! ''[draws out a wand]''\
119'''Harry:''' Okay. ''[draws out a gun]''\
120'''Darth Wannabe:''' What are you doing?\
121'''Harry:''' I'm-a fixin' to defend myself.
122*** And because it's [[BornUnlucky Harry Dresden]], this comes back to bite him later when Darth Wannabe and his groupies take a page out of Harry's book and throw a Molotov cocktail in his apartment. [[spoiler:Fortunately, it doesn't do much. They're really incompetent.]]
123** Harry has also found out, and demonstrated, that {{Groin Attack}}s work just as well on trolls and grendelkin as they do on humans. The fact that he does it using ColdIron on the former -- resulting in said troll's bits ''bursting into flame'' -- lets him hold off a whole bunch of them, who wisely do not try to press their luck after seeing what happened to the first one.
124** In ''Literature/GhostStory'' Harry interrupts the BigBad in the middle of a villainous monologue with a blast of fire. When she voices her outrage, he does it again. When she still doesn't get the idea he hits her with a ''third'' blast. [[spoiler:Turns out she's a bit of a pragmatist herself, luring Harry into wasting precious memories casting spells, and nearly reducing him to a mindless wraith. She can afford to take the hits better than he can afford to throw them.]]
125** In ''Literature/{{Storm Front|DresdenFiles}}'', he gains the advantage against [[spoiler:Victor Sells]] with [[spoiler:a ''cleaning spell''.]]
126** Ebenezer [=McCoy=] [[spoiler:[[ColonyDrop drops a satellite]]]] on a difficult-to-kill vampire's remote fortress which is immune to magic. As it turns out, satellites are not magic.
127** Wizards aren't the only ones who can be utterly pragmatic. The Billy Goats Gruff, while being fairytale... um, fairies, have absolutely no compunctions against using such mortal inventions as submachine guns.
128** Nicodemus is a MasterSwordsman with 2000 years of experience, but he has no compunctions against using his shadows to control people or pulling guns in a swordfight. He's also a ManipulativeBastard who likes to get the advantage with mind games, most memorably when he [[spoiler:pulls an ISurrenderSuckers in ''Literature/SkinGame'' in a bid to break one of the Swords of the Cross. ''It works'']].
129** Winter Lady Maeve is one. When she rides into battle, with what is also a BigDamnHeroes moment, she comments she would helped sooner but "[i]f I had, it'd have been a fair fight. And I try to avoid those."
130** Molly isn't a magical brawler who can throw around [[PlayingWithFire massive amounts of fire]] the way Harry is, so she instead uses every horrible sneaky trick you could expect from a MasterOfIllusion. As she reminds Harry in ''Cold Days,'' "if I'm in a fair fight, someone's doing it wrong." [[DoppelgangerSpin Appearing in about twelve places at once]], blinding enemies, tricking them into shooting each other, creating fake obstacles to corral them into where she wants them to go, the whole bit. And if you pair her with a wizard who has ''actually'' deadly magic at his/her disposal, well, the opposition needs to be more careful, lest an "illusory" wall of flames proves to be the real deal....
131** The vampire Mavra knows she would at the very least have trouble taking on Harry in a magical slugfest, so instead she uses hostages, land mines, and minions with flamethrowers. [[spoiler:This last almost kills him. She figured out his shield only blocks physical force, not heat, so she pins him in place and keeps up with the fire until his hand is charred black. The only reason he regains the use of that hand is the wizard HealingFactor, and even then it takes years.]]
132* Feyd-Rautha of ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' hides a needle with a paralyzing agent on his waist in his knife-fight with Paul. On top of that, he also pretends to be "shield-conditioned" (slower than he is) and leaves his right hip undefended a little too much, leading Paul to guess there's a poison needle hidden there. However, when locked in close, Paul tries to keep himself to Feyd's left only to discovers the needle is actually on his left hip and he was playing Paul very, very well. Feyd took this approach to the Gladiatorial arena as well. [[spoiler:When Thufir's ''undrugged'' gladiator gave Feyd and the crowd the match of a lifetime, it turned out that Feyd had put the ceremonial poison for his bout on the ''wrong blade'', allowing him to show his cunning in front of the entire population of Harko.]]
133* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
134** The Justicar, the main character from the three novels ''White Plume Mountain'', ''Descent into the Depths of the Earth'', and '''Queen of the Demonweb Pits'' lives by this trope. He attacks from ambush whenever possible, [[GroinAttack hits below the belt]], and his (often repeated) personal view on combat is "if they hit back you did something wrong".
135** While he prides himself on his pure combat skill, the assassin Artemis Entreri of the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' novels is not above using blackmail, dirty tactics and overwhelming odds to win fights when necessary. It isn't often necessary. There is one particularly memorable scene in ''Literature/TheIcewindDaleTrilogy'' where he spits a mouthful of sewer water into Drizzt's face to gain the upper hand. Drizzt had just a few minutes earlier been wondering why Entreri was a little less talkative. From the same series, Entreri's Drow sometimes-ally Jarlaxle is not beyond using some tricks or magic items to gain the upper hand in a fight, often to the surprise of his enemies.
136** In ''Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt'', Drizzt meets a dwarven Battlerager, a group of combat pragmatists who fly into a rage and attack like a spazzed ball of spikes, in this case their leader, Thibbledorf Pwent cops to this off the bat, citing that he's not above kicking an enemy when they're down. Usually subverted in Drizzt's case though, as he prefers to fight with a bit more honour, but it's generally well understood that he'd kick an opponent's ass either way.
137* ''Literature/EightWorlds'': In ''The Golden Globe'', the narration states: "If you must shoot somebody, aim for a spot right between the shoulder blades." As the villain didn't turn her back to Sparky, he shoots her through the door, looking through the peephole.
138* ''Literature/EndersGame'':
139** Ender explains to an enemy that real soldiers don't play fair; they do whatever it takes to keep themselves alive. Ender doesn't just win; he annihilates. If he's kicking someone's ass, they won't have an ass left to be kicked when he's done. This is true from the time he's six years old and fighting ([[spoiler:aka Murdering]]) bullies in the schoolyard. This is a sentiment for every military figure in the books. Mazer Rackham tells Ender "This is war. There are no rules except what you can do to the enemy and what you can stop him from doing to you."
140** Bean makes a similar point to Achilles in ''Literature/EndersShadow'' about how real soldiers do whatever it takes to win.
141--->'''Bean:''' We don't give a [[PrecisionFStrike shit]] about fairness here. We're [[ItsWhatIDo soldiers]]. Soldiers shoot [[InTheBack in the back]], lay traps and ambushes, [[DidYouActuallyBelieve lie to the enemy]], and outnumber the other bastard every chance they get. Your kind of murder only works among civilians. And you were too stupid, too ''insane,'' to realize that.
142* In the Creator/DaleBrown novel ''Executive Intent'', the Chinese are this in their attack on Mogadishu. Some guy firing on their troops from a building? Most forces would try to storm the building and get into risky room clearing. Screw that. They level the whole damn building. Doesn't matter if you're a militiaman/pirate/gangster or really just a civilian -- you make the mistake of gathering in a group that could be remotely construed as a regrouping squad, they'll mow you all down and let Chairman Mao sort out the dead.
143* Garren in the ''Literature/FarsalaTrilogy'' fits this trope, despite being the villain. In a duel meant to decide the fate of Farsala, he calls in his entire army when the odds turn against him. Of all the characters, he's one of the few who really understands how to get the job done. That doesn't mean we have to like him.
144** He does this twice. In the first book, when the king challenges him to a one-on-one duel on the battlefield to end the war quickly, what does he do? [[spoiler:He simply orders several archers to shoot him ''while he stood there without attacking''.]]
145** The second time is the one mentioned above. [[spoiler:When he has yet another duel to determine the kingdom's fate, he actually begins to lose...and so he orders the exact same thing on the teenager who was beating him. This was going a bit too far, however, because the main female protagonist completely destroys him with a bolt of lightning afterwards.]]
146** On a larger scale, Garren's combat pragmatism causes him to win the battles but lose the war -- while tactics like using hostages as shields, disregarding the challenge circle, using peasant conscripts as cannon fodder, and torturing a prisoner make life a lot harder for the protagonists, they also undermine the support of his subordinates and secure popular support for [[LaResistance the resistance]].
147** Drizzt's weapons instructor [[spoiler:and father]] Zaknafein is just as skilled as Drizzt, if not more so considering he's the one who taught Drizzt swordsmanship, but he's also very pragmatic. He uses the magical equivalent of flashbangs to temporarily blind Drow opponents and he doesn't hesitate to [[GroinAttack kick people where it hurts]]. He urges Drizzt to become pragmatic as well, since losing a fight means death.
148* ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'': Considering that the main characters (The Tanith 1st and Only) are all stealth experts fighting a war against an enemy [[TheUnfettered that feels no fear, pity or remorse and has no morals or qualms whatsoever]] and considers most atrocities [[ReligionOfEvil as a form of worship to their Gods]], this trope comes into play a lot from both sides. It is explicitly mentioned, however, in ''His Last Command'', in which [[DrillSergeantNasty Major Rawne]] is shown fighting with no restraint whatsoever against the Archenemy. It frightens some of the men beside him -- men who've probably seen the worst the Galaxy has to offer. Justified in that the Major had spent a long time as an infiltrator on a Chaos-held World named Gereon, which [[IDidWhatIHadToDo necessitated him learning how to fight dirty]]. Not that Rawne is a paragon of chivalry to begin with...
149* Locke Lamora from ''Literature/GentlemanBastard'' is most definitely one of these. He once escapes a difficult situation because it simply doesn't occur to anyone that Locke would have no problem punching an 80-year-old woman in the face.
150* Marshal Atkins from ''Literature/TheGoldenOecumene'' kills an alien saboteur by a) accelerating the spaceship they're on to fifty gees, immobilizing him, b) bathing the command deck with hard radiation, c) infecting it with nanobot poison, d) severing its spinal cord with a katana.
151* In ''Spellbound'', the second book of ''Literature/TheGrimnoirChronicles'', Sharpes (a heavyweight boxer) decides to have fun beating up Heinrich (a currently depowered wizard). Unfortunately for him, Heinreich had grown up in a zombie-filled city and is used to fighting above his weight class. Heinrich opens with a series of groin shots and builds from there.
152* ''Literature/TheHammer2022'': Although she's considered one of the Ten Knights, Luna, the Reaper was an assassin by trade prior to the arrival of the Demon Lord's army. She prefers indirect tactics that exploit the weaknesses of her foes, laying out RazorFloss to bisect anyone riding mounts at great speeds, striking when her foes are already exhausted, and restricting their movements with paralytic poison.
153* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
154** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Professor Slughorn and the Slytherin students leave the school before the start of the Battle of Hogwarts. However, [[spoiler:Slughorn and several Slytherins return later to join the fight, after having gathered reinforcements from the families of those who stayed to defend the castle.]]
155** Harry himself is this as well, initially trying to curse Voldemort from under his invisibility cloak. The rest of the school fights in a similar manner, using any tricks they can to overwhelm their superiorly trained opponents. Highlights include animating all the suits of armor in the school, blowing up the bridge, and throwing crystal balls down on enemy wizard's heads.
156** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', Neville, temporarily unable to verbalize spells, stabs a Death Eater in the eye with a wand.
157* In ''Literature/AHarvestOfWar'', all fighting characters are this, with clear nods to HEMA.
158* Nobody actually fights cleanly in ''Literature/HereticalEdge'', but protagonist Felicity Chambers sticks out for just how dirty she'll fight despite a relative lack of experience. One of her most common moves is throwing telekinetically controlled sand in her opponent's face, and she's utterly ruthless about confirming kills. Stun a regenerating werewolf? Shove a knife into his brain and twist to make sure he stays down. [[spoiler: Evil angel commando Charmeine]] gets launched out a window and the multi-story drop isn't a sure kill? Jump after her, impale her through the chest on the way down, and then split her head in half vertically to make absolutely sure the enemy dies.
159* Will and Lyra from ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' have no problems fighting dirty if this gives them an advantage. Being children going up against adults who are very willing to kill them, it's just about their only chance to win anyhow. It's mentioned that Will learned at a relatively young age that the point of fighting is to hurt the other person more than they can hurt you, not to show off; he broke a boy's arm in school, and he can and has killed. He's ''twelve''. Mention should also go to Lyra's ability to inspire other people to follow her example, leading a rabble of confused children to pack rock-hard slushballs and "aim for the eyes".
160* Everyone but Wing in the ''Literature/HIVESeries''. When Wing alludes to fighting fairly, the rest of the team is genuinely confused as to why he would bother.
161* Almost every moral message to be gleaned from ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' is about the excessiveness of combat pragmatism, including the brutality of pragmatism absent any morality. The unarmed combat style, ''coup de vitesse'' ("blow of speed", in the same sense as ''coup d'etat''), is about maximal damage and lethality in minimal time. One of many moments is the method by which a regime protects itself by strafing rioting civilians with miniguns that fire hundreds of rounds per second, dropping "snowflake" cluster bombs, and conducting precision orbit-to-surface kinetic strikes against buildings filled with sympathizers in the most populous city on the planet's surface. Even the main protagonist for the first twelve novels is well trained as a methodical military killer, impersonally as a starship commander as well as personally with sidearms or bare-handed brutality, saving any feelings of dread, guilt, and regret for afterward.
162* ''Literature/HorusHeresy'':
163** In ''Horus Rising'', Loken defeats Lucius in a practice sword fight by [[TalkToTheFist punching him]]; Lucius's still smarting over it in Creator/GrahamMcNeill's ''Fulgrim''.
164** In ''Galaxy in Flames'', Tarvitz, who watched, commented that he had learned from it, to do whatever was needed to win. [[spoiler:So, Lucius being a TurnCoat who had betrayed them to Horus and having gotten into a fight with Tarvitz, Tarvitz has [[TheCavalry the Emperor's Children coming to make a flanking attack]] shoot at Lucius and end their fight.]]
165** Possibly the best example of this trope in the ''Franchise/Warhammer40000ExpandedUniverse'' is that of Alpharius and the (Pre-Heresy) Alpha Legion. Whilst other legions had very specific ways of doing things (one legion would specialize in assault, another in defense, seigecraft etc.), Alpharius decreed that his marines should master all aspects of warfare. He went even further by doing away with "inefficient" things like honour and chivalry, and often conquered entire planets through stealth and treachery.
166** While Alpharius did indeed preach pragmatism, he rarely practiced it. Alpharius wanted to prove himself to his elder brothers, so his tactics were usually incredibly convoluted and elaborate purely so he could show how great his men were when they pulled it off -- in one case, he held off attacking a poorly defended planet so the defenders could bolster the defenses to a huge level. He won and told his fellow primarchs that "it would be too easy" to just attack at once. A better example would be Guilliman, who favoured efficiency (he concentrated on the boring stuff like logistics and supply, knowing it would help more towards victory than cool weapons etc.) or Night Haunter, who was a completely ruthless vigilante, who led a Legion of rapists and murderers and nuked his own homeworld.
167* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': Katniss Everdeen increasingly becomes this as the novels progress, though moreso during the games.
168* ''Literature/JoesWorld:'' Swordsman/artist Benvenuti Sfondrati-Piccolomini has been rigoriously trained by his professional-mercenary uncles to be one of these: if you can, stab 'em at night, InTheBack, and/or while they are asleep. If you can't, go straight to the [[GroinAttack Low Blow]]! The first time the reader sees him fight, Benny uses the spiked legs of his easel-tripod to backstab three opponents at once.
169* In ''Literature/TheIronTeeth'', Blacknail the goblin has absolutely no sense of fair play whatsoever. He is constantly ambushing his opponents or attacking them from behind. He also attacks unarmed men with a sword several times as well. It never even occurs to him to fight fair. During one fight, he faces off against a rival assassin who urges him to fight with honor. Blacknail decides that's a fine weakness to exploit. [[spoiler:It turns out that the rival didn't mean a word, and he says he wouldn't be a good assassin if he played fair.]]
170* Kris, the ActionGirl star of ''Literature/KrisLongknife''. Shepherd mentioned that while most marines had to be trained out of notions of fighting fair, she took to dirty fighting like a duck to water.
171* The Third Rule of the bodyguard school called Matador Villa in the ''Literature/MatadorSeries'' is: "There are no rules in a fight involving death."
172* Creator/MercedesLackey's works:
173** In the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' novels, fighting instructors, as opposed to fencing masters, constantly emphasise to their students that there's no such thing as "unfair" or "dishonourable" tactics in a real fight. Fencing matches and the like are a different thing entirely.
174** Other examples appear in her ''Literature/TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms'', where a bit of ruthlessness in the right cause goes a long way. (It helps that these are based on fairytales, where the protagonists almost never have the odds on their side).
175* In the ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' series:
176-->''Every Lensman has a completely detailed knowledge of all the lethal tricks of foul combat known to all the dirty fighters of ten thousand planets for twice ten thousand years.''
177* Arthur Dent has a moment of ''Pacifist'' Pragmatism in ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything''. He finds Trillian and Thor canoodling at a party and challenges the later to step outside for a fight. The party was taking place in an ''airborne building''. This version of Thor can't fly. Of course, there might've been a porch outside, but Arthur locks the door when he leaves and suggests everyone nip out the back. It later turned out he survived.
178* ''Literature/LightAndDarkTheAwakeningOfTheMageKnight'': There ain't no rule about bringing a dagger to a sword fight and hiding it on your person until the time is right. [[spoiler:Danny wins the squire duel against Rigil this way.]]
179* ''Literature/AMagesPower'': Mercenaries don't fight with "honor". They use GroinAttack and evil eye whenever it suits them. This is part of Eric's advantage in a tournament populated by high-society student mages.
180* Smilla Jaspersen from ''Literature/MissSmillasFeelingForSnow'' by Peter Hoeg has a history of winning against people much bigger and stronger than her. She stabs a man in the neck with a screwdriver when he tries to kidnap her, and topples a shelf onto a person she thinks is following her in the filing room of an office building. She also forces her stepmother to listen to her demands by pinching her in the crotch and bending her pinky finger all the way back. Apparently she's been this way all her life. She beat up a racist school bully much larger than her by finding out where he lived and ambushing him early in the morning, sending him to the hospital. When her father, a noted surgeon, tried to grab her and drag her home after she ran away at the age of twelve, she cut him with a scalpel she stole from the hospital she escaped from. When she is trapped on a ship with the vaguely psychopathic character Jakkelsen, she [[ImprovisedWeapon makes a weapon from a towel and a ball bearing]], and injures him badly enough that he needs medical attention. However, she is always described as a [[WaifFu petite and delicate woman]]. She is the narrator, by the way.
181* In the beginning of the first ''Literature/NightHuntress'' book, Cat complains that she would have killed Bones if he hadn't sucker-punched her, to which he laughs and lectures her that fighting dirty is the ''only'' way to fight. She takes the lesson to heart, and eventually teaches it to her subordinates in the military.
182* Standard [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]]-fighting practice in Creator/OlegDivov's ''Literature/NightWatcher'' is to inject them with a silver solution early in the morning (when the vampires are already [[HeavySleeper asleep]] and [[TheMasquerade most potential human witnesses are still asleep]]). Captain Kotov sometimes mixes this up by just hacking unconscious or stunned vampires into pieces with an axe before they can start fighting back.
183* Rob of ''Literature/AnOutcastInAnotherWorld'' fights enemies stronger than him for the majority of the series, and as a result, had adopted a willingness to do pretty much anything that will keep him alive. This includes sneak attacks, acting as a distraction so stronger people can sneak attack, acting aggressively evil to freak someone out, and throwing a bunch of magic grenades from a distance to end the fight before it begins.
184* ''Literature/{{Parker}}'': The titular character will do whatever it takes to win a fight. The idea of "fighting fair" would never cross his mind.
185* In the novel ''Party Line'' by A. Bates, the male protagonist goes to a self-defense class, the instructor emphatically tells the students to go for the eyes, ears, throat, etc. When the protagonist happens upon a kidnapper later, he does precisely that. [[spoiler:When he wakes up, he finds out that it didn't work because the kidnapper was ''the self-defense instructor''.]]
186* Penny's mother in ''Literature/PleaseDontTellMyParentsImASupervillain'', to the point that most criminals will surrender instead of fighting her, despite the fact that she has no actual powers. One villain, the Bull, tells a story of how she fought him. She stuffed sand in his eyes, nose, and ears, tricked him into punching a telephone pole and electrocuting himself, and then hit him with a bus.
187* Catherine from ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'' is taught by her mentor to "kill -- kill well and quickly, while giving as few openings as possible." She takes the advice to heart and later uses every advantage she can get in a fight: punching opponents in a sword fight, distraction, repositioning enemies so that they kill each other, or throwing the fantastic version of grenades. Naturally, her mentor, Black Knight Amadeus, is a master in combat pragmatism himself and has killed many a stronger hero with it.
188* Present in ''Literature/ThePyrates'' in the form of Colonel Thomas Blood, skilled swordsman and master shin-kicker. His dirty fighting is enough to let him keep up with classical master Long Ben Avery, despite being slower, weaker, and far less fit. Also averted by pirate swordmaster Black Bilbo:
189-->Avery, on t'other hand, is a genius, as we know, and younger and fitter -- but then again, Bilbo has the experience, and knows lots of tricks -- but curiously enough, black scoundrel though he is, the thought of using them [[WorthyOpponent never crosses his mind]].
190* In the ''Literature/{{Raffles}}'' stories, both Bunny and Raffles fight dirty: hitting people from behind, chloroforming them, using other people as distractions and just in general doing anything in their power to get one over their opponent.
191* ''{{Literature/Redwall}}'': Matthias has to be this, being a thirteen-year-old up against an experienced warlord. Cluny chases Matthias up into the belltower and demands he come down in exchange for the release of a hostage. Matthias does come down, [[spoiler:but first lets the ''bell'' down, directly on top of his opponent.]]
192* If Literature/RepairmanJack can't beat it, he'll shoot it. Heck, he'll probably shoot it even if he ''can'' beat it -- he'd rather err on the side of caution. Now, if shooting doesn't work (which is not unlikely, given some [[EldritchAbomination things]] he bumps into) things will get ''really'' funny.
193* The eponymous [[KidHero hero]] of ''Literature/TheSagaOfBilly'' often has to resort to this, as he is a lot less accomplished fighter than [[OlderSidekick his]] [[BarbarianHero friend]]. To make sure he is of any help, Billy is ready to [[InTheBack use sneak attacks]], [[AHandfulForAnEye throw sand in the eyes of his enemies]], to [[TamperingWithFoodAndDrink use]] [[PoisonedWeapon poison]], [[ThrowDownTheBomblet explosives]], [[HollywoodAcid acid]], [[ManOnFire flaming oil]], to use overwhelming numbers to outclass more skilled foes, to [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown kick his opponents when they are already down for the count]], or even [[ItMakesSenseInContext to take money as an hostage]].
194* ''Literature/{{Sandokan}}'':
195** The [[CharacterTitle eponymous protagonist]] of the series and his best friend Yanez are this. While most of the times this manifests in ambushes and the normal tricks of the middle 19th century pirate of the Indian Ocean, they have sometimes gone overboard, with Sandokan setting the record for the foulest act of CombatPragmatist in ''Yanez's Revenge'' by using ''[[ThePlague cholera]]'' against the enemy of the novel (a twenty thousands-strong army of Indian outcasts armed with muzzle-loading guns and antiquated artillery) and deploying [[MoreDakka a dozen early machine guns]] to give the cholera time to make the enemies literally shit themselves to death.
196** Sandokan is also at the receiving end of the first act of the series: in the first novel Sandokan and two ''prahos'' (small sailships) worth of pirates are fighting a British cruiser, and, knowing they're hopelessly outgunned, start paddling to board the enemy ship... That uses her steam propulsion to move away at the last moment, provoking the pirates into screaming insults and obscenities until the cruiser resumes firing.
197** The British forces in general are this, always using [[MoreDakka all the firepower they need and then some just to be safe]].
198* ''Literature/SchooledInMagic'': Emily's Martial Magic teachers teach her very early to cheat as thoroughly as possible in a real fight, a lesson she takes to heart.
199* Franchise/SherlockHolmes is a weird case. Holmes himself has a general Screw The Rules attitude, but he completely averts this trope as he usually prefers to fight fair in hand to hand combat. [[TheWatson Watson]], [[RetiredBadass the veteran of Afghanistan,]] is far more conventional, only breaking society's rules when there are lives at stake, but if you ever come down to Baker Street looking for a piece of him or his [[HeterosexualLifePartners homeboy]] he will grab a chair, or poker, or whatever and bust your head open with it before you even get to throw a punch.
200** Remember that above all Holmes loves a challenge -- he most likely approaches his fights the same way he approaches his mysteries. Besides, contrary to what some people seem to believe, [[SarcasmMode having actual fighting skill gives you an advantage in a fight]] and Holmes ''is'' a damned good boxer. Plus he's pretty big and ''incredibly'' strong. A "fair fight" against Holmes isn't going to be particularly fair for the average person.
201** Don't screw with [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Watson]]. After Evans shoots him ''in front'' of Holmes [[NotSoStoic which gets him to panic]] [[BigBrotherInstinct and show how genuinely protective he is towards him.]]
202* Partially because she's untrained but mostly because she's her, Sirantha Jax of ''Literature/TheSiranthaJaxSeries'' will use any means to win -- fighting dirty, crazy tactics, you name it.
203* Having no formal combat training, Skate and Twitch from ''Literature/SkateTheThief'' are willing to use any tactic at their disposal to end or get out of a fight, up to and including [[GroinAttack groin attacks]], biting, kicking -- whatever works. Perfectly understandable, given that they're children.
204* ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant'' has three usual weapons; his fists, a fire spell, and his revolver. Given the heavy ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' influence, a good portion of the magical community seems to have absolutely no problem using firearms and hand-to-hand whatsoever. One exchange came from the second book, however, between [[BigBad Baron Vengeous]] and Skulduggery:
205-->'''Baron Vengeous:''' ...only a heathen would bring a gun to a swordfight.\
206'''Skulduggery:''' And only a moron would bring a sword to a gun fight.
207* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
208** The mercenary, Bronn, regularly uses unchivalrous tactics to win fights. When championing Tyrion in a trial by combat, he uses light armor and evades his heavily armored knight adversary until the man is exhausted. The knights in attendance find these tactics in very poor taste.
209*** Though, as Bronn points out, he may not have fought with honor, but the dead man certainly did. And look where it got him.
210** When [[spoiler: Cersei]] orders [[spoiler: Bronn]] to be killed, Balman Byrch realises that he would be no match for such an experienced killer in a sword fight. Consequently he challenges [[spoiler: Bronn]] to a joust on horseback (thinking that the ex-sellsword would lose because he would have no experience of jousting,) and plans to kill him while he's lying stunned on the ground. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, Bronn proves himself to be a better Combat Pragmatist than Balman; Bronn aims for his horse rather than Balman himself both more quickly and accurately than the older knight could try pulling the same tactic, and kills him while he's lying stunned on the ground]].
211** Oberyn Martell uses light armor, a spear, and poison to fight the much larger, heavily-armoured Gregor Clegane. [[spoiler:He forgets to be pragmatic where it really counts, and loses in the end, though not before fatally poisoning his opponent.]]
212** In his first scene, Loras Tyrell faces down Gregor Clegane in a joust. Gregor favours large, bad-tempered stallions, so Loras comes to the joust riding a mare in heat. Gregor's stallion did all the work for him.
213** Despite being a WideEyedIdealist with more devotion to the ideals of chivalry than any other character in the series, Brienne of Tarth can also be very pragmatic; she defeats [[spoiler:Loras Tyrell]] in a mounted melee by tackling him off his horse. In her fight with [[spoiler:Jaime Lannister]] she knows that her endurance is superior, so she stays on the defensive and lets him chase her through a forest until he tires before attacking him. When he manages to disarm her, she pins him down and tries to drown him in a river -- it's only a third party interrupting the fight that saves him.
214** Ser Duncan the Tall from the ''Literature/TalesOfDunkAndEgg'' prequel novellas starts out as little more than an upstarted street urchin. He is a terrible jouster, and is handily defeated in a sword duel by a proper knight. However, when the battle descends into an unarmed brawl, Dunk easily pins his opponent and beats him senseless, partially using his opponent's own shield.
215** Tyrion Lannister ''has'' to be as pragmatic as humanly possible when any confrontation turns physical, simply because pretty much everybody has an enormous height, weight, and reach advantage over him.
216** Ser Barristan Selmy is a KnightInShiningArmor and one of the most honorable men in the world, but that doesn't mean he's going to do something as foolish as refuse to utilize an advantage in a fight, no matter how "unfair" it might be. When he confronts an unarmored fighter whose weapon is ineffective against armor and the man essentially challenges Selmy to remove his armor and fight the other man fairly, Selmy's response is to basically shrug, say "Tough luck, buddy" and kill the other guy. On a similar note, while observing a CombatByChampion, Barristan notes that one of the combatants, who is using a spear on horseback against a man on foot, should stop trying to catch his opponent with the spear and instead simply ride him down and trample him with the horse. That might sound unfair and unchivalrous, but to Barristan it's simply a tactic to get the most effectiveness out of fighting while mounted.
217--->'''Khrazz:''' ''[desperate, knowing he has virtually no chance due to Barristan having armor while he doesn't]'' Only cowards dress in iron!\
218'''Barristan:''' This coward is about to kill you, ser.
219* In Chris Roberson's ''Literature/SonsOfDorn'', Jean-Robur learns to fight like this in his first battle, stabbing a foe InTheBack.
220* In ''Literature/SonOfTheBlackSword'' by Creator/LarryCorreia, pragmatism is a way of life for [[ActionGirl Thera]]. She rather mischievously tells Ashok about the time she pretended to be a ScreamingWoman DamselInDistress ''just'' long enough to get a rapist off his guard. And then she [[GroinAttack unmanned him]] with a concealed knife.
221* In ''Literature/TheSpellsongCycle'', Ashtaar Ashtarr notes that Secca is one of the most dangerous people in Erde precisely because she is this, borne of her hatred of fighting and willingness to do anything to end a fight as expeditiously as possible. Her mentor Anna did that, too.
222* Similar Advice is passed along to the protagonist of ''Literature/StarDance'' by a Space Fleet Captain: "My Daddy also told me 'Only hit the soft parts with your hand. Hit the hard parts with a utensil.' "
223* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
224** In ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Starfighters of Adumar]]'', Wes Janson winds up in a duel using a blastsword, a weapon he has very little idea how to use. What Janson ends up doing is parrying his opponent's first strike, then knocking the sword out with his hands and [[GoodOldFisticuffs beating the crap out of him in unarmed combat]].
225** In the Literature/XWingSeries, both Rogue and Wraith Squadrons are completely happy to use any unfair and probably illegal methods they can think of, including pretending to be the enemy, flying false flags, and acts of piracy. Note that in RealLife, all three of those are HIGHLY illegal. Hell, Wraith Squadron was BUILT on this, using random misfits and Special Forces soldiers as pilots specifically so they wouldn't fly and fight like pilots.
226*** In Real Life pretending to be the enemy and flying false flags is illegal IF you open fire while pretending to be the enemy or flying false flags. Change to your own colors, flags, uniforms and IFF beacons before shooting and you are clear of problems (legal ones). Piracy is solved by letters of marque that names a enemy; acts of piracy against ENEMY (with whom you are at war) shipping is legal. Wraith Squadron was given permission from Command to carry out acts of piracy against Empire forces and governments that support the Empire.
227** In ''Yoda: Literature/DarkRendezvous'', this is how WeakButSkilled Padawan Scout wins an Initiate tournament. She takes advantage of a lot of things: that some of her opponents are unwilling to seriously hurt her, that she can throw things in people's faces, that [[LoopholeAbuse There Ain't No Rule]] against leaving the ring or ''ducking behind the referee'', and especially the fact that in the tournament, lightsabers are turned down and won't cut through her if she grabs the blade. Notably, she never outright ''breaks'' a written rule, just unsaid ones.
228** Mara Jade is particularly fond of this, especially before she firmly joins the good guys.
229** The novelization of ''Literature/RevengeOfTheSith'' offers a better explanation (that is to say, ''an'' explanation) of how Palpatine kills three of the best swordsmen in the galaxy without breaking a sweat. When the Jedi Masters come to arrest him, he pretends to be a helpless politician, terrified of four armed men threatening him for no reason. The moment their certainty falters, he's across the room and one's head is bouncing off the floor, while another staggers away with a hole drilled through his forehead. He may be old, but he's a Master of the Dark Side.
230** Despite being a {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}}, the Mandalorians pride themselves on pragmatism and flexibility in a combat situation. There are certain protocols in place for honor duels, competitions, and disputes between ''Mando'ade'', but when it's an actual battle, they fight to ''win.'' It's one of the reasons they praise [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Revan]] so highly as a WorthyOpponent. Revan was one of the few Jedi who was just as ruthlessly pragmatic as they were and beat them with their own tactics.
231* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': Kaladin is very firm that it is a soldier's job to kill the enemy however possible and makes no apologies for it. However, he does muse that he has been known to leave weakened enemies alive, avoids attacking the unarmed, and does tend to feel bad about some of his more underhanded tricks. He decides he's just [[HypocriticalHumor not good at following his own advice]].
232* ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'':
233** Kahlan learns about how the Mud People once slaughtered a vastly larger tribe simply by killing them everywhere except on the battlefields. In their homes, in their privies, in their beds, everywhere. Later, when confronting an army of D'Haran rebels who have sided with the Imperial Order, she puts these lessons to work. To start with, she poisons a cart of liquor and leaves it to be found by the enemy officers. Later, she leads a night raid into the enemy camp... [[MemeticMutation naked, like the Celts]], and butchers several of the officers remaining. This trend continues as she has her army made particular emphasis on killing physicians and other non-combatants, as killing one of them is as good as killing dozens of other soldiers who could no longer be healed by them. By the end, she has led an army of recruits to victory against a battle-hardened veteran force ten times its size.
234** Later, during the fighting retreat as the Imperial Order [[MillionMookMarch in its millions]] finally invades the New World, Kahlan increases her pragmatism by an order of magnitude. After the D'Haran army is handily defeated in a stand-up fight, she takes charge and spends the better part of a year using hit-and-run guerilla tactics to grind down the Order's army by hundreds of thousands. In her most impressive feat, she she uses a barrel of powdered glass and scatters it in front of an advancing enemy force, killing thousands from lung infections and causing tens of thousands to go blind.
235* ''Literature/TalesOfAnMazingGirl'': Though Sarah does to a point humor people who take the time to build elaborate death traps which have no chance of actually catching her, when she has to take someone out in a hurry, she will do whatever it takes to end it quickly.
236* Lazarus Long in ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove'' is one of these. Generally, all of Creator/RobertAHeinlein's "good" characters are.
237* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'':
238** Alanna/Alan from ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'' is being abused by a bully. What does she do? She goes into the city and has her friend [[GentlemanThief George]] and his men teach her street fighting. Alanna and the bully fight, and Alanna wins. Of course, everything that she does goes against the code of conduct for the boys, but...
239** Keladry from ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' is an adherent of this too. When she's faced with uneven odds in the first pages of the first book, she grabs a big stick as an "equalizer" and hits all the boys in their muscles and belly. When punched in the stomach by Joren's gang, she deliberately aims the resulting barf at one of her opponents.
240* In ''Literature/{{Trainspotting}}'', the feared barroom brawler Francis Begbie is known to carry a variety of home-made weapons about him, such as sharpened knitting needles. Renton suspects that he's actually not a very good fighter in a "square go."
241* ''Literature/TrappedOnDraconica'': RuleNumberOne of Leondian training states "victory is the only thing that matters". Rule number two states "honor is for the weak'.
242* In ''Literature/{{Valhalla}}'', Violet finds herself about to be hazed by her fellow military recruits. She doesn't understand that she's supposed to lay back and take the abuse, and instead fights the entire barracks with all she's got. After she's punished the instructors have her apologize to her former mates. She fails to apologize and says simply, "You were uncoordinated and weak. I should have killed you all."
243* ''Literature/{{Voidskipper}}'': Most characters in ''In Pursuit of Bark's Finest'' adopt this attitude for serious fights, but the Red Star Union's navy provides a stunning collective example. [[spoiler:The instant they work out where Bark's Finest has gone, they drop a fleet outnumbering it ten thousand to one on its location via HyperspeedAmbush.]]
244* ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'':
245** Simon Illyan, Miles's 50-something boss, is a fairly uptight but ReasonableAuthorityFigure. He doesn't actually get his hands dirty; he has underlings for that. However, when his artificial memory chip is sabotaged in ''Memory'', and his underlings have to get him into medical treatment, he fights back... and he fights ''dirty''. No one knew, because no one had ever seen him fight before.
246** In ''Ethan of Athos'', Miles' protege, Elli Quinn, has to rescue a hostage, with inadequate forces and without collateral damage -- so she files a false report of a new infectious disease.
247--->''She paced back and forth like a frenzied tigress. "I'm being stampeded. I know I am. ... Q.E.D. -- Quinn Eats Dirt. Gods. Don't panic, Quinn. What would Admiral Naismith do in the same situation?" She stood still, facing the wall.\
248Ethan envisioned diving Dendarii starfighters, waves of space-armored assault troops, ominous lumbering high-energy weapons platforms jockeying for position.\
249"Never do yourself," muttered Quinn, "what you can con an expert into doing for you. That's what he'd say. Tactical judo from the space magician himself."''
250* ''Literature/WarformedStormweaver'': Rey is known for being a very tricky and annoying fighter to deal with. In his first fight with Aria, he blinds her with a thrown hat and then tricks her with a discarded cloak. Notably, ''this'' is the reason Logan Grant hates him (rather than his low stats like everyone else), believing he's just a coward who will get people killed on the front line.
251* In ''Literature/WarOfTheDreaming'', we have the HandicappedBadass Peter Waylock, who is very much the Unfettered when it comes to fighting:
252-->'''Peter:''' Kind of hard to kill a man when you've looked in his eyes, ain't it... ''[his opponent keels over with a knife in his eye]'' 'course, it gets easier once you've done it a couple times.
253* ''Literature/TheWitchOfKnightcharm'':
254** Emily’s main magical skill at first seems to be summoning defensive spells, like shields, with the aid of a magical amulet she crafted. But even though she (unlike most of her teammates and many Scholomance witches) doesn't have magic which is explicitly for attacking, she quickly learns how to use her shields offensively (by slamming them into people so they are thrown into dangerous positions) and for maneuverability (by knocking them into herself to give her an extra push when she can’t quite jump somewhere). Lauren claims to be impressed by this and says that her cleverness and versatility are reasons why she thinks Emily will do well at the Scholomance.
255** Lauren advocates for this. When Emily asks why the Scholomance doesn’t even lock the front door (since anyone who tries to use it will get instantly killed by the monster outside), Lauren cheerfully responds that she sees the front door as a convenient way for weaker students to get rid of stronger ones who are targeting them: if the weaker student can lure the stronger one outside somehow, the monster will obliterate the stronger one and the weaker one will be victorious!
256* ''Franchise/TheWitcher'': This is practically the M.O. of the Witchers. In addition to genetic enhancements and TrainingFromHell they use simple spells designed for quick use in combat and potions that improve their senses and capabilities, including making specific potions to help against whatever they expect to fight. During training one of the witchers states that there is no such thing as "fair fight" and every advantage is to be used to win. Considering their occupation is fighting a wide range of incredibly dangerous monsters, taking every advantage is required just to stay alive.
257* In the ''Literature/YoungBond'' series, there is a character called "Red" Kelly (introduced in ''Literature/SilverFin''), who teaches Literature/JamesBond (yes, the very same, only... well, younger) that fights don't have rules. He says that "No such thing as fighting dirty, really, Jimmy. There's just fighting to win. Use whatever you like, you can forget about rules..."
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