History CombatPragmatist / AnimeAndManga

** Lelouch gladly exploits every possible advantage to win his battles, including causing a devastating landslide at one point to bury a sizable portion of the enemy force (and the town below). His idea of a fair duel is to bring in allies and drop the terrain out from under his enemies.

!! The following have their own page:

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!! Other Examples:

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The following series have their own page:

Following manga has its own page.

** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'': Jolyne Cujoh's Stand main ability being to turn her body into string. However, it's Jolyne's cleverness in how she uses this string that makes her such a serious threat to the villains. Most notably, she rejects the idea that PowersDoTheFighting: unlike most Stand users, who only attack with their Stands, Jolyne herself likes to jump into the fray and double-team her enemies alongside Stone Free. Also, having spent much of her youth as a juvenile delinquent, she's shown to already be used to fighting dirty. Her battle with Vivian Westwood is a major example of just how ''brutal and savage'' Jolyne can be in combat.

* Just about everyone in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' counts as this (especially from [[Manga/BattleTendency Part 2]] onwards, where fights become less about brute force and more about outsmarting the opponent). However, a few characters stand out:
** While Bruford from ''Manga/PhantomBlood'' may be an honorable NobleDemon who prefers to fight his opponents one on one, his fight with Jonathan shows that he still has few tricks up his sleeve, such as using his PrehensileHair in combat and trapping Jonathan underwater to hinder his [[PowerOfTheSun Hamon]].
** Joseph Joestar gleefully declares himself to be "a master at cheating". His EstablishingCharacterMoment in his introductory episode involves him pulling a [[MoreDakka Tommy gun]] out of his pocket and riddling his martial artist foe full of holes, before using sleight of hand to cover him in grenades. In fact, his "Joestar family secret technique" [[KnowWhenToFoldEm is just to run away and buy time to think of a new strategy]]. His grandson and son inherit some of his skill and cleverness.
** ''Manga/BattleTendency'':

** ''Manga/StardustCrusaders'':

** Jolyne Cujoh from ''Manga/StoneOcean'' has one of the weaker Stands when it comes to [=JoJos=], with its main ability being to turn Jolyne's body into string. However, it's Jolyne's cleverness in how she uses this string that makes her such a serious threat to the villains. Most notably, she rejects the idea that PowersDoTheFighting: unlike most Stand users, who only attack with their Stands, Jolyne herself likes to jump into the fray and double-team her enemies alongside Stone Free. Also, having spent much of her youth as a juvenile delinquent, she's shown to already be used to fighting dirty. Her battle with Vivian Westwood is a major example of just how ''brutal and savage'' Jolyne can be in combat.
** Satoru Akefu from ''Manga/{{JoJolion}}'' already has a [[TheJinx rather powerful Stand ability]], so his willingness to use sneak attacks and hidden weapons just makes him even more dangerous.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** When not participating in sanctioned matches, the protagonists of ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' have demonstrated pragmatic strategies like attacking the opposing trainer directly or even [[http://www.onemanga.com/Pokemon_Special/81/04/ destroying their opponent's Pokeballs.]] Villains do it too, though sometimes more in the KickTheDog territory...
** Often done in ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' as a strategy against villains such as Team Rocket. While they themselves often play dirty, the heroes aren't against using larger numbers or trickery that doesn't abide by battle rules. As they lampshade at times, why should they fight fair against the bad guys?

* In ''Anime/{{Trigun}}'' this is Vash the Stampede's main gimmick apart from ObfuscatingStupidity, in most fights he’ll: duck and roll, make the villains waste their ammo, use a garbage lid, throw a gun at another person to knock them out, use chewing gum to wedge enemies’s barrels up, trick foes into getting hit with their own weapons, make use of a bank vault door and some explosives to get the jump on his foe and use his ImprobableAimingSkills to win battles with zero casualties. Then again it turns out Vash doesn't even ''need'' to be this crafty, when he could just as easily kill anyone with his hidden machine gun arm, as seen when he destroyed a bunch of robots in seconds. It's becuase Vash [[ActualPacifist extreme pacifism]] that he refuses to use lethal force and will do anything to ensure he can stop evildoers without killing, though doing so [[CoveredWithScars takes a toll on his body]].

* ''Manga/TimeStopBrave'':

** Ichigo is very much a straightforward fighter, but even he knows the value of using this trope where he can get it- he enters the Battle of Karakura Town with a strike to the back of Aizen's neck, which only failed because Aizen was CrazyPrepared and had a kidou barrier to block him.
** [[TheDragon Gin's]] philosophy is to strike like a snake in battle. As a result, he'll use his haori to hide his blade so that he can ambush-strike someone through his clothing. In the anime, he is even willing to throw dust into Hitsugaya's eyes when they fight. Additionally, in a series where characters are often [[ExplainingYourPowersToTheEnemy describing the mechanics of their powers,]] [[spoiler: Gin is willing to leave out details or even outright lie about his abilities to catch his targets off guard. This allows Gin to blindside ''Aizen'' and nearly ''kill him...''and he ''would've,'' if Aizen weren't already fused with the Hogyoku by that point.]]

** Mayuri Kurotsuchi is practically thrives on this trope. In his case, it's {{Justified}} because Mayuri isn't very effective at fighting traditionally like most other Captains, something he admits outright. His Zanpakuto's Shikai works by paralyzing the opponent's limbs. His Bankai's ''main'' ability is to disperse a powerful virulent poison. To make things worse, Mayuri is able to change the composition of his Bankai's poison, which he admits he does after ''every single time'' he uses it, just in case someone survives it the first time and may have developed antibodies.

** Ichigo does this twice against Yhwach in their final fight. First, he attacks the Quincy King [[InTheBack from behind]] after [[spoiler:Aizen grants him an opening by [[ImmortalLifeIsCheap using himself as a decoy]]]]. It doesn't stick, but then [[spoiler:Uryu shoots Yhwach with a Still Silver arrow that temporarily [[PowerNullifier erases his powers]]; Ichigo seizes the opportunity and kills Yhwach while he's unable to resurrect himself]].

** Kyoraku lives by this philosophy. He even lectures his allies to remember that [[WarIsHell when people go into war both sides are evil so there's no point in trying to be honorable about it.]] He will ambush opponents that are fighting other shinigami, he'll attack from unexpected angles such as behind... or through shadows. He describes his attitude towards battle as ConfusionFu when Starrk finally realises they're not the same type of ReasonBeforeHonor personalities that he thought they were.

** [[TheDragon Gin's]] philosophy is to strike like a snake in battle. As a result, he'll use his haori to hide his blade so that he can ambush-strike someone through his clothing. In the anime, he is even willing to throw dust into Hitsugaya's eyes when they fight.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': With the main cast being HighVisibleNinja, this attitude is encouraged early in the series, but rarely utilized afterwards. Some ninja are more successful in battle ''because'' they apply this trope.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has Uchiha Itachi, who uses his tactical insight and cunning nature to apply everything in his favour. This becomes most obvious after his resurrection, where he allows a resurrected [[spoiler: Nagato]] To [[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]] Naruto and B simultaneously, so he can set up an ambush that grants them the advantage against [[spoiler: Nagato]]. Similarly, he uses Sasuke's presence to allow him some leeway for sacrificial attacks and strategies. He allows stalagmites/tites to impale him and later is cut in half, knowing that his Edo Tensei body can overcome this and Sasuke is there to back him up. He later on readily sacrifices one of his eyes, knowing that his goal will send him back to the afterlife anyway.

** Fourth Hokage [[spoiler: Minato Namikaze]], wasn't born with any inherited strengths, unlike his predecessors (and Tsunade). Instead he invented most of his techniques, improving on what was already achieved to the point of becoming nigh-unstoppable. His power may come from an [[FragileSpeedster overwhelming level of speed]], but if the Raikage couldn't stand against him? Then you can bet Minato isn't easy to break, let alone catch.