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1[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/AllNewWolverine https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kneecapping.jpg]]]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:Don't worry, Laura.\
3[[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay He'll live.]]]]
4
5->''"Sometimes even the Buddha had to kick a little ass."''
6-->-- '''Flynn''', ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany2''
7
8If you live in an action-adventure universe, violence is one of those things that you just can't escape. (After all, you cannot spell '''pacifist''' without a ''fist''.) This can be a real problem if you want your lead character to be a new-agey tree-hugging intellectual, because after Creator/HunterSThompson died in 2005, how many gun-toting [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippies]] do you know?
9
10So you end up with the Technical Paci''fist.'' The Technical Pacifist is willing to beat people up as much as they want. They may even get a few fatalities through the {{fridge|Logic}}. However, once it comes down to [[SwordOverHead a choice]] between killing the villain and not, the Technical Pacifist will [[SaveTheVillain not kill]] the villain.
11
12Unlike the principle of ThouShaltNotKill, the Technical Pacifist is certainly capable of making the killing strike if there was no other way, but they don't ever treat it lightly. In a certain variation they may be perfectly fine with the SelfDisposingVillain who is TooDumbToLive being defeated because of their own VillainBall or being [[HoistByHisOwnPetard hoist by their own petard]]; so long as they don't personally pull the trigger or push them off the building, everything is fine. A MurderByInaction may also be fine. It's all fine as long as they don't do the killing themselves.
13
14Sometimes, a Technical Pacifist may have an aversion to certain weapons due to their lethality ([[DoesntLikeGuns most often guns]]), preferring to fight [[GoodOldFisticuffs with their fists]] and other [[CarryABigStick blunt weapons]] that are less likely to kill someone. Other times, they employ [[ImplausibleFencingPowers swords]] or even [[ImprobableAimingSkills bullets]] in ways designed to subdue their opponents in a non-lethal manner. Not only that but most other rules regarding ThouShaltNotKill are usually thrown out the window in the case of dealing with [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman aliens, robots, zombies and/or monsters]]. Just as BewareTheNiceOnes is for the ActualPacifist, GoodIsNotSoft is not an unusual trait for this character.
15
16There is a villainous variant of the Technical Pacifist, often seen with the CorruptCorporateExecutive and the WorthyOpponent. In the former case, this is a villain who has no qualms about killing people, but doesn't like to get their hands dirty (or at least to [[SlaveToPR be seen getting their hands dirty]]). So they have someone else do it instead. This invariably leads to the hero being locked in an Easily Escapable {{Deathtrap}} so that the villain won't get bloodstains on their suit. This tends to drop away when they're backed into a corner. In the latter case, the WorthyOpponent just refuses to use a gun because it's "not fair".
17
18The WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief can be stretched in certain cases. Blunt weapons can still kill people, after all.
19
20See also FamilyFriendlyFirearms and ImprobableWeaponUser. See also MartialPacifist, for the martial arts expert who follows ''The Path of Peace''.
21
22Contrast ActualPacifist for somebody who genuinely doesn't hurt people, instead of hurting them ''less,'' and RecklessPacifist for someone who refuses to kill, ever, but comes frighteningly close to doing so. Also contrast WhatMeasureIsAMook, for the surprisingly common situation where the hero has qualms about killing the main villain at the end of the story after spending most of the plot casually blowing away the villain's minions. Compare ReluctantWarrior, who despite not wanting to fight, does fight and kills, much to their own regret. Compare ''and'' contrast BadassPacifist, who is capable of completely defeating their opponents using only nonviolent tactics.
23----
24!!Example subpages:
25
26[[index]]
27* TechnicalPacifist/AnimeAndManga
28* TechnicalPacifist/ComicBooks
29* [[TechnicalPacifist/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]]
30* TechnicalPacifist/{{Literature}}
31* TechnicalPacifist/LiveActionTV
32* TechnicalPacifist/VideoGames
33* TechnicalPacifist/WesternAnimation
34* TechnicalPacifist/RealLife
35[[/index]]
36
37!!Other examples:
38[[foldercontrol]]
39
40[[folder:Fan Works]]
41* ''Fanfic/AllAssortedAnimorphsAUs'': In the final battle of "What if they were telepathic throughout the series?", [[spoiler:Rachel knocks many of the morph-controllers on the Blade Ship unconscious instead of killing them, including Tom. This results in the Blade Ship not getting away like in canon, and both of them being SparedByTheAdaptation.]]
42* ''Fanfic/ArcCorp'': How the Containments Branch of ARC Corp (consisting of Jaune and Blake) operates. As their name implies, their modus operandi is containing and monitoring anomalies, only resorting to usual killing and destruction that the rest of the organization partakes in if a particular anomaly's very existence is dangerous. This softer approach makes the Containments Branch subject to a lot of derision and suspicion from other branches, which isn't entirely unjustified seeing as how Jaune and Blake's operations do occasionally extend to hiding some of their activities and findings in order to protect the lives of more peaceful (sometimes sapient) anomalies from the wider company's notice, not the least of which includes hiding the existence of Vale's entire anomalous population.
43* ''Fanfic/{{Eleutherophobia}}'': Whenever Tom fights morph-capable opponents, his main plan of attack is to bite them in king cobra morph and hope they demorph before the venom kills them.
44* In ''ComicBook/PowerGirl'' fanfic ''Fanfic/AForceOfFour'', the heroes have managed to subdue the four villains. An [[Franchise/WonderWoman Amazon]] suggests to kill them off, but Queen Hippolyta wants to exhaust all other options first.
45* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''/''Franchise/{{Stargate|Verse}}'' crossover series ''Fanfic/TokraApocalypse'', Dean encourages the Nox to take a more active role against demons by arguing that they can use wards and exorcisms to protect themselves, thus preventing the Nox from violating their rules against violence as they aren't actually killing anyone.
46* In fanfic ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes actually try to imprison [[EvilTwin Satan Girl]]... then she is released, makes clear she won't stop until seeing Kara dead, and Supergirl is forced to fight to the death.
47* In the ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' fic ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'', Jackie, like his canon counterpart, counts as this. Also, when Jade is fighting Brother Light, he repeatedly throws her through the walls and down the hill (and at one point, through the roof), and when Jade complains during this he says he is a pacifist:
48--> "I am a pacifist," White objected.\
49"Wha? Tell that to my bruises!" Jade shouted, pulling up her shirt to show her blue belly.\
50"Okay, they don't show up well since I'm blue, but trust me they're forming," Jade explained.\
51"I harm nothing, it is the objects you collide with that harm you," White enlightened her before flinging her away again.
52* In the VisualNovel/FateStayNight ''Fanfic/PathOfTheKing'', Shirou is this as The Archer.
53* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''/''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' crossover ''Fanfic/TheVampireOfSteel'', the Girl of Steel provides assistance to the Scooby Gang to deal with a Kryptonian vampire. Kara doesn't want to kill him, but at the end she is forced to agree Zol-Am's too dangerous to live and lends anti-Kryptonian tools to her friends. Prior to that adventure, she stepped aside when Buffy slew several vampires.
54* Adam Jensen in ''Fanfic/MassEffectHumanRevolution'' wants to be this and stick to non-lethal, but don't push him. Go far enough and he will take the kid gloves off. Go even further than that and he won't even [[DirtyBusiness feel bad]] about ending you.
55* After rejecting his Winter Soldier programming, Bucky Barnes in ''Fanfic/InfiniteCoffeeAndProtectionDetail'' embraces a "good-guy nonlethal" approach to dealing with villains, but his newfound ethics do not forbid KneeCapping an entire HYDRA base if necessary.
56* ''Fanfic/StoryShuffle2DoubleMasters'': As discussed in [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/469652/6/story-shuffle-2-double-masters/vivace "Vivace"]], the Royal Assassinorum of Equestria does not, as a rule, take any being’s life. After all, actually ''killing'' is simply a waste when you can instead excise those portions of your target's psyche which you do not find useful, leaving behind not a corpse but a new asset for Equestria's prosperity.
57[[/folder]]
58
59[[folder:Films — Animated]]
60* ''Franchise/{{Aladdin}}'': Genies are forbidden to kill, but [[IronicEcho you'd be surprised what you can live through]]. They also are allowed to, for instance, [[ForcedTransformation turn someone into a cockroach]] to make it easier for their master to kill them.
61[[/folder]]
62
63[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]
64* UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} generally preached pacifism and tolerance ("Turn the other cheek," "Love thy neighbour," etc) and is typically portrayed as one. Of course, [[BewareTheNiceOnes pacifists usually don't]] scatter crowds of merchants with whips on [[GoodIsNotSoft account of their greedy ways]]. Or, to quote from Matthew 10:16, "Be as innocent as doves and as cunning as snakes."
65* In Jewish law, there are very specific cases in which capital punishment could be used. When something didn't fall into these cases, but the court felt that the defendant needed to die, they would [[https://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/103370/4504 use]] a sort of [[BuriedAlive immurement]], which technically wasn't execution, but resulted in the convicted's death.
66* [[UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} Buddha]] was a preacher of compassion and non-violence, but messing with him was not necessarily safe either. A story tells how his traitorous disciple Devadatta tried to kill him by scratching his legs with poisonous nails, to which Buddha answered by turning his legs into rock crystal so the baddie broke his nails and got his own poison in the wounds, killing him and sending him to hell.
67[[/folder]]
68
69[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
70* Wrestling/YoshiakiFujiwara is a great wrestler. He gave pro wrestling the Fujiwara arm bar and was a notorious ankle lock fisherman. But as good as he is at wrestling he doesn't like ''striking'' too much and hates being struck even more. He'd even let go of submissions if it meant a strike free wrestling match, unfortunately he has close ties to Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki, who likes slapping him around, leading to Fujiwara having to tap him at Wrestling/GenichiroTenryu's retirement show.
71* Wrestling/DanSevern's problem in pro wrestling, and mixed martial arts. He's certainly not above hurting people with joint locks or ligament snapping. Even basic controling holds can hurt by moving people in directions they are adamant against going in. But there's some part of his psyche that says hitting people is wrong, so it takes him a while to work up the will to JustHitHim.
72* Silver Potato's girlfriend in Wrestling/KaijuBigBattel, Anna Dramina, never starts fights and only fights if first attacked.
73* Being a hippie, Wrestling/DaizeeHaze abhorred violence but loved physical competition. So she took up wrestling, figuring she wouldn't have to hit anyone while sating her competitive side. Of course, if you're familiar with professional wrestling in her country you can guess how successful she was at maintaining this approach to matches, but it's okay. If opponent insists on striking they'll quickly learn a heart punch nicely transitions into most of her finishing moves.
74* The Blossom Twins were peace loving siblings who happened to enjoy amateur wrestling. They quickly found out pro wrestling was much more violent, [[RickyMorton especially]] {{tag team}} wrestling.
75[[/folder]]
76
77[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
78* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', the standard rule for generic clerics has long been "no edged weapons", in a FantasyGunControl version of this trope. The idea was originally to reconcile the presumably "peaceful" nature of priests with the vagaries of an adventuring life, though it's worth pointing out that nobody has ever requested a "humane" bludgeoning over execution by guillotine or axe.
79** This conception was actually inspired by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mace_%28club%29#The_European_Middle_Ages_and_Beyond a real world example]] and simply popularized by said roleplaying game.
80*** Although to be fair, Odo of Bayeux's use of the mace wasn't quite a "technical pacifist" position, but more of a cynical attempt to get in on the glory of the English Conquest yet still be considered a "holy servant of god." Basically, Odo was a RulesLawyer.
81** In 3rd edition, since increased customization allowed for followers of different gods (including gods of war) to specialize in different areas, this was dropped and it was made so that the average cleric only has proficiency in simple weapons--the kind anyone could pick up with basic training: clubs, staves, maces, and so on, but including edged weapons like daggers and spears, and ranged weapons like crossbows (as opposed to just slings as in previous editions). This reflects a relative lack of combat training (compared to fighters, barbarians, and so on). They can, however, use advancement opportunities to learn more advanced use of weapons, and priests of the aforementioned gods of war can even start play with significant skill in their god's favored weapon if they pick the right powers.
82*** This has been around since Second Edition AD&D at the least. While clerics were limited in their weapon choice to non-edged weaponry (in as much as one can call a morningstar a bludgeoning weapon), the various gods in the multiverse all had what were called "specialty priests," who had their own restrictions for armor, weapons, and magical items. A specialty priest of Lathander, for example, was restricted to a cleric's weapons and no armor heavier than plate, while priests of Eilistraee could use '''any''' weapon they liked.
83** The Vow of Peace feat from the ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' essentially states "feel free to massacre undead, they don't count" and "nonlethal damage (read: beating people up) is acceptable". Also, if an enemy [[ISurrenderSuckers surrenders, agrees not to fight you again, and breaks his word]], you are not required to interfere if your allies kill him.
84** 4th Edition's Shielding Cleric counts as well. You're not actually harming the enemies yourself--the Technical part comes in when you're leaving them stunned and with vulnerability 20 next to Shanky McRogue...
85*** Taking it one step further is the feat "Pacifist Healer" which significantly increases the power of the Cleric's 'go to' healing class feature, but in return, permanently disallows them from damaging bloodied opponents, or wind up stunned themselves. Aforementioned non-damaging attacks are fair game.
86* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' has the Reluctant Killer disadvantage, which keeps a character from lethally attacking a recognizable person. The character can still use deadly force on: [[FacelessGoons people wearing masks]], people he can't see, occupied vehicles, [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman anything that looks like a monster]], and [[BombersOnTheScreen blips on a radar screen]]. Along with a number of other Pacifism variants, ranging from Cannot Kill to [[ActualPacifist Total Nonviolence]]. Even beyond that, the highest level of pacifism requires you to stop other people from doing anything that might hurt another person for any reason.
87* Jadeclaw (and presumably other Sanguine Productions games) has the Pacifist flaw at three levels: "Cannot take a life," where the player cannot do anything that they 'think' will kill someone. If they "mortally wound" an opponent, they may not leave them untreated. "May only fight in self defense," which includes the previous caveats, as well as an inability to attack anyone until you, personally, are attacked. And last, "Total non-violence," where the most you can do is block, dodge, or parry.
88* Whenever pacifism is an option, MinMaxing does this. As [[http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/File:MPost3354-motivator5e43cd84210c42a9c48ef72a85%2Ejpg one poster]] puts it -- "Pacifism. A commonly taken character trait. Confers +200 [[http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/File:MPost12561-gunslingerni8%2Ejpg to revolvers]]."
89* Even the ludicrously deadly ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' has provisions for the occasional bring-them-in-alive scenario, such as tanglers (which fire sticky constricting cords, merely immobilizing the target unless they hit the neck) and [[StaticStunGun stun guns]].
90* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': The Sun Empire in the Ixalan block holds that the greatest warriors don't kill. Feeding people to dinosaurs, on the other hand, is outright encouraged. And since some of them can magically command dinosaurs, this is little more than killing with a living weapon.
91* There was an RPG with a merchant in the Middle Ages, who was the most technical of pacifists. He would say, "I'm a pacifist! I won't hurt you, but my friends will." (I.e., if the person he was talking to didn't do what he wanted.)
92[[/folder]]
93
94[[folder:Toys]]
95* Franchise/{{LEGO}} claims to never produce war toys. This is only true in a certain point of view, because they still have lot of toys featuring conflict like ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' and ''Franchise/StarWars'' and produce a wide array of guns. LEGO probably stretched this statement to a critical point by releasing the "Green Army Men" set. It is part of the ''Franchise/ToyStory'' line and includes four "plastic soldiers" with additional weapons and a jeep. The guns certainly aren't fitting (wild west rifles) and the figures are all-around green, but you only need to swap hands and head with yellow or flesh ones and you have a Vietnam-war era colored soldier, who you can pit against period accurate Soviet soldiers obtained from the above Indiana Jones set. There is also some kind of undergroundmarket around military LEGO. Sites like Brickarms and Brickforge sell custom-made LEGO-compatible elements, resembling authentic guns and rifles like AK-47s and bazookas to arm your figures. They are in no way affiliated with LEGO other than that their products are compatible with each other, but it's entirely possible to substitute the custom-made elements with similar official parts and build Cold War dioramas. The "Exo Force" sets were ''entirely about'' a war between [[AIIsACrapshoot anime-styled humans and robots]].
96[[/folder]]
97
98[[folder:Webcomics]]
99* Nailbat in ''Webcomic/AntiBunny'' has no qualms with crippling people, and is even implied to use torture once, but always insists on leaving them still breathing.
100* Dr. Staph of ''Webcomic/AwfulHospital'' is the type who'll have the idea to turn her bottle of alcoholic antiseptic into a Molotov cocktail. But she'll then hand the bottle over to her friend, Maggie, to ignite and throw.
101* ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'': The GiantMook Mongo [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/17p60 becomes this]] -- a really short flashback vaguely explains that he won't kill any more as a HandWave for why his boss has him capture the hero instead of kill him.
102* Celia from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' is probably a fantasy version of this. [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0615.html She won't compromise her anti-killing principles to save a friend's life, but she has no issues cheering on her teammate in battle,]] or blasting a guy with lightning for screwing with her.
103* Webcomic/{{Lightbringer}} starts off as an ActualPacifist due to his parents' belief, but becomes this trope when he realizes that true pacifism won't help anyone in the crime filled Pharos City.
104%%* Thomil of ''Webcomic/{{Juathuur}}''. His dead girlfriend, Neilli, was an ActualPacifist.
105%%* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'': X. Or so we are told.
106* [[BewareTheNiceOnes Larima]] [[MakingASplash Torbern]] of ''Webcomic/{{Pacificators}}'' tries very hard to be an ActualPacifist, but sometimes the situation forces her to become this. Either way, it annoys her sister Taffe.
107--> '''Taffe:''' You don’t need to fight. All you need to do is just end the fight.\
108'''Larima:''' Oui, I can do that.
109* Decoy Octopus from ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFoxHound'' has never actually killed a single person, and doesn't even know how to use a gun. It's discussed when he's forced to "face the souls of every man he's killed" by The Sorrow and, upon finding themselves in an empty limbo, points out that being a master of disguise means subtlety and ''avoiding'' confrontation are his thing. However, he has acknowledged that just by associating with the likes of Psycho Mantis and Revolver Ocelot, he is technically complicit in mass murder.
110* ''Webcomic/RustyAndCo'' has Dorylis, a Cleric who can invoke DisasterDominoes to subdue undesirables and generally cause a lot of hurt without actually being involved in a fight.
111* ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'' often makes fun of how the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series keeps track of kill counts. To avoid penalizing the player for [[FailureToSaveMurder not rescuing every enemy soldier]], the game only counts direct kills. So in [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/awkward-zombie/better-off-tread-part2 this strip]], Big Boss exploits this loophole by [[MurderByInaction dropping an unconscious soldier in front of a moving tank]], and in [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/gravity-is-not-a-pacifist this strip]], wonders if a nonlethal takedown that accidentally kills his victim (tasering someone who then falls down a cliff) still counts as nonlethal. Taking the cake is [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/out-of-sight-out-of-hind this strip]], where shooting down a helicopter with a rocket launcher ''still'' counts as nonlethal because [[NeverFoundTheBody since the pilot's body never appears, it's possible that they escaped]].
112[[/folder]]
113
114[[folder:Web Original]]
115* ''Series/TheCallOfWarr'': Gravesite's not absolutely opposed to killing, but refuses to let his unit kill unless he deems it absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, Prince doesn't quite agree with this viewpoint.
116* The titular protagonist of ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'' shows a strong aversion to violence and lethal force throughout the movie, with his laser weaponry being more non-lethal. Even when he finally has to carry through with his order to commit murder, he hesitates heavily. This ends badly. Averted with [[DesignatedHero so-called superhero]] Captain Hammer, who has no problem using more than excessive force when the situation completely fails to warrant it.
117* In Season 8 of the ''WebVideo/{{Hermitcraft}}'', Mumbo attempts to be this. After having garnered a reputation for killing a lot (to the point he says his middle name is [[UnfortunateNames Killsalot]]), he wishes to get through the season without killing any mobs. This only means he can't kill them directly. He even manages to find out a way to make a Blaze Farm without killing any of the Blazes himself. At the end of the day, his only prerequisite is for his statistics to be clean of murders, [[BestOutOfInfinity which very easily may change in his advantage at any moment]].
118* ''LetsPlay/{{Mahu}}'': In "Second Chance", the Galactic Commonwealth is a state which seeks to explore and keep good relationships with other galactic nations. Still, it is quite ready to go to war against any power which might put its citizens and territories into danger.
119* ''WebVideo/NewLifeSMP'': The Fungal Mage origin is intended to be this, as they are considered to have "betrayed the trust of Gaia" if they kill any entities, ''including hostile mobs'', and will lose Fungus Mana (which they are highly dependent on) if they do so. Scott, holding the origin in his second life, ''explicitly'' averts it by bringing around a mycelium block with him so he can kill mobs, regain Fungus Mana by standing on it, and kill again. It's not convenient by any means and the mod tells him off every time he does damage to anything.
120* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'': After [[spoiler:Locus]] pulls his HeelFaceTurn, he decides on this philosophy to do some good in the galaxy. Not that this makes the Reds and Blues less wary of him, or several goons kneecaps less shattered.
121* In ''Webcomic/TheStoryOfAnima'', [[http://tapastic.com/episode/49771 this is how Kit, Hayden and Ada operate]].
122* ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'': Interestingly, its heavily implied that [[spoiler:[[TheBrute Ace]]]] of all people is something like this. [[spoiler:Prior to being corrupted by the CJOPAZE, he was just an orderly and was not to harm any of the patients or staff. Even after he was corrupted, [[LawfulEvil he still strictly follows those rules]]; while he has intimidating looks and will restrain anybody he's ordered to, he ''never'' seriously harms or kills the people he "attacks". Even as the protagonists are escaping the Metal Glen, he still refuses to hurt them and only tries to detain or slow them.]]
123[[/folder]]

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