History Main / RecklessPacifist

* {{Champions}} characters with a Code Against Killing have this problem. Often, the solution for them is to pummel the HP out of their enemies and then trust TheMedic to keep them alive.
* You can do this with no penalty as a BareFistedMonk in DungeonsAndDragons, making all your damage subdual rather than lethal.

** [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope Note:]] Not all enemies are susceptible to subdual damage. Depending on the D&D ruleset used, dealing more subdual damage than the target's HP may deal lethal damage.

* VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum has plenty of this, mostly because Batman's instant takedown moves include strangling mooks, breaking mook bones, or dropping mooks down a few floors. Don't forget the [[ExplosionPropulsion explosive gel]]!

** Knock people out of boats into freezing oceans (sometimes actually destroying the boat)

** Merge with a spirit creature to become a Kaiju, then attack the people who ticked off the spirit enough to do the fusion.

* In WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries, Batman has:

--> '''Luke:''' Let's just...try not to fight any more than we have to. I don't want to die, either.

* Actually PlayedForDrama in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', when early on the ShelteredAristocrat Luke (justifiably) freaks out about the violence of the battles going on around them and (less justifiably) tries to refuse to fight if it means killing human beings. The problem is, they're a small party stranded between enemy lines and really need his sword skills if they're going to escape: his refusal to fight all-out could very well doom them all.

* DeusExHumanRevolution has an achievement called "Pacifist" -- it comes from delivering concussions, broken limbs, and chemical damage to foes instead of outright murder.

** In ''AstroCity'', the Street Angel is called out on this point by [[{{Antihero}} Black Velvet]], who undercuts his claim to the moral high ground by pointing out that while he [[ThouShaltNotKill won't directly kill his opponents]], he often leaves them injured in situations where they might easily die before help arrives.

** And even then, we see that Vash himself pays for this when he removes his coat and the audience sees that he's [[CoveredInScars covered in horrific wounds]].

** And even then, we see that Vash himself pays for this when he removes his coat and the audience sees that he's covered in horrific wounds.

* Pretty much all superheroes with a ThouShaltNotKill policy deal with this. Some of the more {{egregious}} examples include:
** {{Batman}}. The DarkerAndEdgier the continuity you're viewing, the deeper he gets into this trope and the more reckless he gets. Excluding Bat-incarnations that actually did kill people, the deep end for the Bat is around the point where he just barely manages ''not'' to run over people with the Batmobile and smash every other mook's skull to bits.

* BatmanArkhamAsylum has plenty of this, mostly because Batman's instant takedown moves include strangling mooks, breaking mook bones, or dropping mooks down a few floors. Don't forget the [[ExplosionPropulsion explosive gel]]!

* In BatmanTheAnimatedSeries, Batman has:

* In ''AstroCity'', the Street Angel is called out on this point by [[{{Antihero}} Black Velvet]], who undercuts his claim to the moral high ground by pointing out that while he [[ThouShaltNotKill won't directly kill his opponents]], he often leaves them injured in situations where they might easily die before help arrives.

* Eliot on {{Leverage}} causes an incredible amount of havoc for a supposed "hero."

Only rarely is Reckless Pacifism PlayedForDrama, which usually means that it [[ItGotWorse doesn't work out]].

* Aang from AvatarTheLastAirbender fits this trope well, as he's the one person specifically committed to not killing, even if it's [[BigBad the Fire Lord]]. That said, he does cause his share of collateral damage. Aang has been known to:

* Shinji from BattleRoyale wants no part in the killing that's going on around him, and so fires multiple warning shots to scare someone off. Unfortunately, he noticeably lacks the ImprobableAimingSkills required to avoid shooting this person in the head by mistake, causing a minor HeroicBSOD.

* When Kira Yamato becomes a MartialPacifist, he disables enemy mobile suits. However, doing so in the middle of a battlefield will probably result in their deaths. He does, however, ''cleave battleships in half'' which will invariably cause many, many more deaths.

** {{Spiderman}}. His penchant for kicking people off of heights and hanging them upside down with his webs doesn't lend itself well to nonlethal vigilantism.

** You are on a time limit.

* In CowboyBebop, it's explicitly stated that bounties must be turned over to the cops alive and unharmed, but that sure doesn't stop the crew from using a variety of highly lethal equipment from handguns to spaceship mounted machine guns and missiles and display a total disregard for collateral damage.

** {{Spiderman}}. His penchant for kicking people off of heights and hanging them upside down with his webs doesn't lend itself well to nonlethal vigilanteism.