History ThouShaltNotKill / AnimeAndManga

* ''Manga/BungouStrayDogs'': Oda refuses to kill, as he believes that a novelist should create lifes instead of destroying them, which earns him the lowest position in the mafia despite his skills. [[spoiler: He gives up this belief after Mimic kills all the orphans he takes in, and ultimately dies after shooting someone.]]

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', bizarrely enough, has a ''villain'' (well, AntiVillain) with a Thou Shalt Not Kill code, though he was willing to break it if his opponent was dangerous enough.

* Manga/YamiNoAegis:

* [[ActionGirl Balsa]] from ''Anime/MoribitoGuardianOfTheSpirit'' refuses to take a life, no matter the circumstances.

* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' plays with this trope when Yusuke fights Doctor Kamiya, a follower of Shinobu Sensui. Kamiya brings up that Yusuke has never killed humans before, only demons, and thus believes that Yusuke is going to hesitate before trying to kill him. [[spoiler:He doesn't, and is only stopped when Kamiya takes a passing nurse as a hostage. Turns out the "nurse" is really Yana in disguise, and Murota informing Yusuke that the Doc was lying about a cure and really planned to finish him off, prompts Yusuke to cross the line. Killing Kamiya breaks his psychic territory and saves everyone in the hospital, and Yusuke's conscience is eased when Genkai quickly revives Kamiya with a chest compression.

* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': The original manga plays with it. In one chapter, three [[{{Mook}} Iron Masks]] sneak in Kouji's home to try murdering him (it must be stated in the manga they were WAY more competent than in the anime, where Law of ConservationOfNinjutsu held true). Kouji hesitates about killing them even after finding out [[spoiler:they are corpses reanimated with a mechanical brain.]] When he finally gets forced to kill one of them in self-defense he suffers a HeroicBSOD (he remains kneeled, shaking and trembling), and later he is wondering if he is a murderer now. However another character reassures him it was self-defense, lampshading this trope as "the defense of a manga protaganist".

* Haru in ''Anime/TheMillionaireDetectiveBalanceUNLIMITED'' seems to take this approach to his police and detective work. He has killed before - [[spoiler:an unexpected suspect pointed a gun at him and he panicked]], but even that was an accident and he's shown to be deeply affected by it. At every opportunity, Haru chooses to spare (and sometimes even [[SavetheVillain save]]) any criminals he's chasing.

* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' plays with this trope when Yusuke fights Doctor Kamiya, a follower of Shinobu Sensui. Kamiya brings up that Yusuke has never killed humans before, only demons, and thus believes that Yusuke is going to hesitate before trying to kill him. [[spoiler:He doesn't, and is only stopped when Kamiya takes a passing nurse as a hostage. Turns out the "nurse" is really Yana in disguise, and Murota informing Yusuke that the Doc was lying about a cure and really planned to finish him off, prompts Yusuke to cross the line. Killing Kamiya breaks his psychic territory and saves everyone in the hospital, and Yusuke's conscience is eased when Genkai quickly revives Kamiya with a chest compression.]]

* The ''Manga/RaveMaster'' and his [[TrueCompanions allies]] hold to this as a central philosophy. While they don't shy away from doing it when it's necessary, they will generally do all in their power to resolve their battles without killing.

* Vash's quest to live without killing is essentially the main subject of ''Manga/{{Trigun}}''. Not only does he strive to live without killing, he also attempts to spread this philosophy to others, including villains, even at the cost of his own health and safety. Other times, he begs characters who have a just cause for vengeance to forgo it and let things lie. However, he IS forced to take a life at one point to save others. This does not cause him to renounce his goal to save as many people as possible however. That said, with how heavily the series points out how this has ''cost'' Vash, physically and emotionally, and the numerous dismissive or critical actions of other characters, and the question the series raises itself that Vash and Knives may essentially be following childish philosophies without any mental maturity, it's not too hard to argue that the series is a deconstruction of this trope.

* In ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', the Digidestined are afraid of killing Digimon, and avoid it whenever possible (unlike in the first one, when fighting the forces of Etemon, Myotismon, and the Dark Masters). The only exceptions are Control Spire Digimon (as they are not considered "alive"), Kimeramon (who was created by the Digimon Emperor), [=MaloMyotismon=] (as he is pure evil and the main villain behind everything in Season 2), and Airdramon (for unknown reasons). They are forced to kill [=SkullSatamon=], [=LadyDevimon=], and [=MarineDevimon=], and Yolei and Cody are shocked when this happens (though Cody knew they'd have to destroy [=MarineDevimon=]), though TK and Kari reassure them it was the right thing to do.

* ''Manga/BungouStrayDogs'': Oda refuses to kill, as he believes that a novelist should create lifes instead of destroying them, which earns him the lowest position in the mafia despite his skills. [[spoiler: He give up this belief after Mimic kills the orphans he takes in, and ultimately dies after shooting someone.]]

* ''Manga/BungouStrayDogs'': Oda refuses to kill, as he believes that a novelist should create lives instead of destroying them, which earns him the lowest position in the mafia despite his skills. [[spoiler: He give up this belief after Mimic kills the orphans he takes in, and ultimately dies after shooting someone.]]

* ''Manga/BungouStrayDogs'': Oda refuses to kill as he believes that a novelist should create lives instead of destroying them, earning him the lowest position in the mafia despite his skills. [[spoiler: He give up this belief after Mimic kills the orphans he takes in.]]

* ''Manga/BungouStrayDogs'': Oda refuses to kill, as he believes that a novelist should create lives instead of destroying them, earning him the lowest position in the mafia despite his skills. [[spoiler: He give up this belief after Mimic kills the orphans he takes in.]]

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'':
** Goku strongly personifies this trope when he's an adult (so much so that is almost considered a RunningGag) as he refuses to kill even the most evil opponents. He lets Piccolo Jr., a character who was at that time considered a demon who also just tried to kill him live, he tries to let his brother to live after threatening his son and rest of the population of the planet, and he even tries to let Frieza, a genocidal alien [[ForTheEvulz who destroys planets for fun]] and just killed his life long best friend, live. This particularly moral code developed after Goku trained under Kami. Before then, he was ''far'' less mercifully, ruthlessly killing or causing grave harm to anyone he saw as a threat to himself or his friends. Eventually he becomes more willing to kill evil opponents like Cell and Buu, but for a long period of time he insisted on giving everyone a second chance. At the same time one of the reasons he did not kill Piccolo Jr is because if he did Kami would also die along with the Dragon Balls. Frieza was also more of a case of CruelMercy, since he saw letting him live as a punishment. He also tried to kill Frieza without hesitation when he tried to attack him from the back. but Frieza was just so incredibly tough that he survived it.
*** This actually tends to be a case of CharacterExaggeration in the English dubs. While Goku will try to spare his opponents (especially Mooks), it's usually less out of moral righteousness and more because [[BloodKnight he]] [[WorthyOpponent wants a rematch]]. In fact, this tendency is presented as a character flaw in ''Resurrection F''. [[spoiler: It got the Earth blown up.]]

* In regards to humans and fellow {{Magical Girl}}s, Homura Akemi from Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica generally follows this way of thinking, with two very specific exceptions: [[spoiler:imminent "witch out" (Sayaka in episode 8 and Madoka in episode 10) or directly threatening Madoka's life (Oriko)]]. Ironic given [[SuperheroPackingHeat her choice of weaponry]].

* Homura Akemi from PuellaMagiMadokaMagica generally follows this way of thinking, with two very specific exceptions: [[spoiler: imminent "witch out" (Sayaka in episode 8 and Madoka in episode 10) or directly threatening Madoka's life (Oriko)]]. Ironic given her choice of weaponry.

** This actually tends to be a case of CharacterExaggeration in the English dubs. While Goku will try to spare his opponents (especially Mooks), it's usually less out of moral righteousness and more because [[BloodKnight he]] [[WorthyOpponent wants a rematch]]. In fact, this tendency is presented as a character flaw in ''Resurrection F''. [[spoiler: It got the Earth blown up.]]

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' plays with this trope; the main character, Luffy, will not kill anyone, but it's not out of niceness or altruism. [[CruelMercy He just believes that a better punishment would be to let them live, only to let them see their dreams and ambitions shattered and shot down in flames by Luffy and his allies]].
** Other members of the crew, namely Zoro and Robin, are willing to kill off their foes. They never actually ''do'' end up killing anyone except [[WhatMeasureIsAMook some incredibly marginal characters]], but they're definitely not holding anything back.
** ''4Kids'' forces this on their ''Manga/OnePiece'' dub. One example was how Lucky Roo shoots a bandit in the head, but the dub has Shanks saying that "And when he wakes up, tell him it's a cap gun!"
** Fishman pirate Fisher Tiger held this as a strict rule among his Pirates of the Sun. It wasn't out of altruism. Instead he felt HumansAreBastards and didn't want his crew falling to that level. He also hoped to avert encouraging a CycleOfRevenge.
* Vash's quest to live without killing is essentially the main subject of ''Manga/{{Trigun}}''. Not only does he strive to live without killing, he also attempts to spread this philosophy to others, including villains, even at the cost of his own health and safety. Other times, he begs characters who have a just cause for vengeance to forgo it and let things lie. However, he IS forced to take a life at one point to save others. This does not cause him to renounce his goal to save as many people as possible however. That said, with how heavily the series points out how this has ''cost'' Vash, physically and emotionally, and the numerous dismissive or critical actions of other characters, and the question the series raises itself that Vash and Knives may essentially be following childish philosophies without any mental maturity, it's not too hard to argue that the series is a deconstruction of this trope.
** [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] with Wolfwood.
-->'''Vash''': "Thou shalt not kill, remember? What kind of churchman are you?"

* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': The original manga plays with it. In one chapter, three [[{{Mook}} Iron Masks]] sneak in Kouji's home to try murdering him (it must be stated in the manga they were WAY more competent than in the anime, where Law of ConservationOfNinjutsu held true). Kouji hesitates about killing them even after finding out [[spoiler:they are corpses reanimated with a mechanical brain.]] When he finally gets forced to kill one of them in self-defense he suffers a HeroicBSOD (he remains kneeled, shaking and trembling), and later he is wondering if he is a murderer now. However another character reassures him it was self-defense, lampshading this trope as "the defense of a manga protaganist".
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' has a similar plot, where the main character (a former assassin) has sworn to never kill again, and uses a specially designed sword that faces the wrong way, so opponents won't get cut by it, normally (he keeps an edge so as to be able to cut inanimate objects by flipping the blade). Get him to unleash his SuperpoweredEvilSide, and you may have a problem.
* In ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'', the Claymores are forbidden from killing humans, even if it's an accident or is done to protect another human. The punishment is immediate execution. However, there have been Claymores who are perfectly willing to kill humans. For example, [[spoiler: Teresa]] slaughtered a group of bandits to protect [[spoiler: Clare]] then went rogue and there was Ophelia who took sadistic pleasure in torturing and killing humans and fellow Claymores, but was just sure to kill all the witnesses so no one would find out.

* In ''[[Manga/DetectiveConan Detective Conan/Case Closed]]'', Conan/Shinichi always refuse to let a suspect end up dead, even the suspect tries to kill him. He would even try to save the suspect's life even if it risks his own life.
* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', bizarrely enough, has a ''villain'' (well, AntiVillain) with a Thou Shalt Not Kill code, though he was willing to break it if his opponent was dangerous enough.

* In ''Literature/FromTheNewWorld'', this is built into the DNA of all humans - if a human kills another human, they will immediately die themselves due to an autonomic reaction. Those who ''don't'' have this reaction are called Fiends, and are normally inherently psychotic. ''However'', [[spoiler: humans are now a TechnicalPacifist race; they use the Trickster Cats/Impure Cats to [[OffingTheOffspring kill their children who don't measure up to the needs of their society]].]] Furthermore, [[spoiler: WhatMeasureIsANonHuman is in play in that only people who the killer sees as human trigger the Death of Shame. The ramifications of this drive the majority of the plot points of the second half.]]
* The ''Manga/RaveMaster'' and his [[TrueCompanions allies]] hold to this as a central philosophy. While they don't shy away from doing it when it's necessary, they will generally do all in their power to resolve their battles without killing.
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', most of the main cast members [[{{Shinigami}} who aren't dead]] at least ''try'' to follow this, save for when fighting run-of-the-mill [[TheHeartless Hollows]]. [[TheMedic Inoue Orihime]] not only hasn't harmed anyone seriously since her powers first emerged, but ''can't'' due to her personality. Unfortunately, she tends to believe that this makes her a burden on her friends, despite that [[spoiler:she can ''[[RealityWarper reject reality]]'' to the point where she can heal a corpse with half of their brains blown out. The fact that it was someone who had shown up simply to try and ''torture'' her for no reason other than spite is just icing on the cake]].
** Oddly enough, Ichigo didn't kill a single Arrancar in his invasion of Hueco Mundo, at least not consciously; he let [[BloodKnight Grimmjow]] live, his SuperpoweredEvilSide took out [[NobleDemon Ulquiorra]], and the mooks he cut down were revealed to be fakes generated by another arrancar. This is somewhat jarring when compared with Fake Karakura Town, where both of the Espada's {{Token Good Teammate}}s are cut down without anybody batting an eye.
*** It's debateable whether Ichigo avoids killing because he's following a code, or because he just doesn't feel like it. In one arc the villain is revealed to have altered the past of Ichigo's friends and family, making them believe him to be their friend and turning on Ichigo when he attacks him. Once Ichigo hears the details, the first thing he asks if if they'll change back if he kills the person who did it. He looks quite scary when he says it.
*** Ichigo himself has issues with this. He has no will to kill anyone, and it's even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Urahara. During his fight with Renji, he gets over it. Renji still lives, but Ichigo was able to put the thoughts behind him and kill him if necessary.

* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' plays with this trope when Yusuke fights Doctor Kamiya, a follower of Shinobu Sensui. Kamiya brings up that Yusuke has never killed humans before, only demons, and thus believes that Yusuke is going to hesitate before trying to kill him. [[spoiler:He doesn't, and is only stopped when Kamiya takes a passing nurse as a hostage. Turns out the "nurse" is really Yana in disguise, and Murota informing Yusuke that the Doc was lying about a cure and really planned to finish him off, prompts Yusuke to cross the line. Killing Kamiya breaks his psychic territory and saves everyone in the hospital, and Yusuke's conscience is eased when Genkai quickly revives Kamiya with a chest compression.]]
* [[spoiler:Abel]] from ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood''.
* The titular character of the horror-comedy ''Manga/FrankenFran'' is absolutely married to this trope. She '''will''' prevent any patient that's under her character from dying by any way possible... ''[[FateWorseThanDeath and that's what makes her terrifying]]''.
* In ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', the Digidestined are afraid of killing Digimon, and avoid it whenever possible (unlike in the first one, when fighting the forces of Etemon, Myotismon, and the Dark Masters). The only exceptions are Control Spire Digimon (as they are not considered "alive"), Kimeramon (who was created by the Digimon Emperor), [=MaloMyotismon=] (as he is pure evil and the main villain behind everything in Season 2), and Airdramon (for unknown reasons). They are forced to kill [=SkullSatamon=], [=LadyDevimon=], and [=MarineDevimon=], and Yolei and Cody are shocked when this happens (though Cody knew they'd have to destroy [=MarineDevimon=]), though TK and Kari reassure them it was the right thing to do.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': Main character Edward Elric refuses to kill to achieve his goals, even Homunculi. Still doesn't make him any less badass by any stretch of the imagination. [[spoiler:Just look what he did to Pride. In fact, the closest he comes to killing anyone is when he punches through Father's chest after regaining his arm, and even then, he didn't actually die...instead, what happened to him was [[FateWorseThanDeath far worse]]]].
** In the final story arc [[spoiler:Mustang and crew also subscribe to this policy, at least in regard to human enemies. However, their allies, the Briggs soldiers, do not.]]

* Roger Smith in ''Anime/TheBigO'' lives by a self-imposed code of ethics. It appears to trend towards not killing people as he is very reluctant to use any form of firearm, and when pushed to use one will shoot at objects rather than people.

* Juvia of ''Manga/FairyTail'' admits to live by this philosophy when she fights Meredy, and she states that the other Fairy Tail members do the same. Ironically, Juvia was a former member of the rival guild Phantom Lord which members (at least most of them) didn't seem to hesitate killing their opponents. It's unknown if Juvia also had her no-killing moral code when she was a Phantom Lord member, of if she undertook it after her HeelFaceTurn. Interestingly, another Fairy Tail member, Gajeel, also pulled a HeelFaceTurn from being a Phantom Lord member, and when he was a villain he didn't shy away from trying to kill the heroine Lucy. He has still shown to be quite AxCrazy even after turning good, so it's definitely not sure that he refuses to kill his opponents even though he might not do it in cold blood.
* In ''Anime/GingaDensetsuWeed'', Weed (the [[KidHero Pup Hero]]) strongly believes in releasing enemies after they had enough. Doesn't stop him from killing a wild boar that threatens his pack, though.
* Despite him beating his enemies to a pulp, Issei the protagonist of ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDxD'' hasn't killed anybody at all. Not even {{Mooks}}!
* ''Manga/CodeBreaker'' has the main character [[ActionGirl Sakura]] who goes to great lengths to prevent Rei and others from killing, as she believes all life is precious. However after the Re:Code arc, expect her personality to [[{{Flanderization}} be centered around this]].
* This is the key point of contention between [[HeroesRUs Ryozanpaku]] and [[NebulousEvilOrganization Yami]] in ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple''. Yami's followers believe in upholding the "Satsu-jinken" (killing fist) philosophy, which they feel is the most original (and therefore most authentic) interpretation of all martial arts. On the other hand, Ryozanpaku's martial artists uphold the "Katsu-jinken" (merciful fist) philosophy, as they believe there is no longer any need for killing-based martial art techniques in the modern world.
* In ''Anime/EurekaSeven'', both Renton and Eureka have to stop killing humans after Renton realizes what he has been doing to the KLF pilots, and when Eureka realizes the value of human life.
** In the TV sequel ''Anime/EurekaSevenAO'', Eureka did not attack the Scub Coral despite her antagonizing it, to honor her husband Renton's wish not to kill her own kin.
* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Touma Kamijou is noted for his ability to defeat bad guys and solve problems without killing anybody, and he'll even save his enemies' lives. In the light novel version, he came close to crossing the line when Aureolus Dummy turned a girl into a gold statue and then melted her. In a rage, Touma beat him half to death, then was horrified and allowed him to leave.
* Dr. Orson from ''Manga/ACruelGodReigns'' stresses this to Jeremy while he is counseling him before his death. He tells him that killing will only succeed in harming his own soul in the end. Subverted when Jeremy, while still considering this, commits VehicularSabotage.
* ''Franchise/LupinIII'' [[ZigzaggedTrope zig-zags this trope.]]
** In the early comics, Lupin didn't have a problem killing. Even the early Anime has it happening in cruel or horrifying ways. Most adaptations, however, are LighterAndSofter, so Lupin and gang distance themselves from their enemies with this view.
** This trope is especially noted towards Zenigata; both characters have mentioned that they have an understood "gentlemen's agreement" that neither will attempt to kill the other, and have saved each other's life (several times, in fact).
* [[ActionGirl Balsa]] from ''Anime/MoribitoGuardianOfTheSpirit'' refuses to take a life, no matter the circumstances.
* Akane Tsunemori in ''Anime/PsychoPass'' refuses to kill criminals, unlike [[AntiHero the rest of her team]]. This is made especially clear in the second season premiere, when the MadBomber they are chasing has a Crime Coefficient of 302, which just barely puts him in the 300+ threshold of being [[LudicrousGibs vaporized]] by the Dominator's Eliminator Mode, but she opts not to shoot him and uses her negotiation skills to talk him down to 299 and bring him in nonlethally. Something similar happened in the first season premiere, but the big difference is in that case it was a victim she was talking to, not the instigator of the crime. However, she has limits to her compassion: when that same bomber committed another crime and this time killed over a dozen people with a bomb, she outright told him any sympathetic words she'd told him were now meaningless and she was ready to give the order to execute him had Inspector Aoyanagi not shot him first.
** She also refused to kill the respective BigBad of each season, but in those cases, she also had practical reasons to do so besides her own morals: [[spoiler: in Makishima's case, she had a chance to kill him at Nona Tower, but was under very clear orders from Sibyl to bring him in alive, and her sense of justice prevailed. Later, she cut a deal with Sibyl to bring Makishima in alive in exchange for Sibyl agreeing to let Kougami go free, which failed when Kougami killed him. In the second season, she becomes suspicious of the fact that the Sibyl System really, ''really'' [[RevealingCoverup wants Kamui dead at all costs]] without an explanation, and prioritizes bringing him in alive to find out why he's such a threat to the System. Even when Sibyl frames Kamui for the murder of her grandmother, she's perceptive enough to realize he couldn't have killed her and won't take the bait.]]
* Homura Akemi from PuellaMagiMadokaMagica generally follows this way of thinking, with two very specific exceptions: [[spoiler: imminent "witch out" (Sayaka in episode 8 and Madoka in episode 10) or directly threatening Madoka's life (Oriko)]]. Ironic given her choice of weaponry.
* Manga/{{Toriko}} is perfectly willing to kill.... but only if he plans to eat the victim afterwards. Otherwise he attacks to incapacitate. The only time he ever set the rule aside was when he decided killing complete bastard Tommyrod was the only proper option.
* Exa of ''Manga/{{Superior}}'' adheres to a strict no kill rule and holds all his party members to the same standard. He even wields a MorphWeapon that he keeps in the form of a dulled blade to avoid lethal blows. Ironically, his goal is to kill the demon queen.

* Somehow, holding to this trope makes Manga/FrankenFran ''[[FateWorseThanDeath even scarier]]''.

** This actually tends to be a case of CharacterExaggeration in the English dubs. While Goku will try to spare his opponents, it's usually less out of moral righteousness and more because [[BloodKnight he]] [[WorthyOpponent wants a rematch]]. In fact, this tendency is presented as a character flaw in ''Resurrection F''. [[spoiler: It got the Earth blown up.]]

* In [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/answerman/2012-12-28 one of his Answerman columns]], Website/AnimeNewsNetwork contributor Brian Hanson deals with this trope as it applies to fiction in general, and {{Shonen}} anime in particular:
-->"In the case of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', the reason you don't see any of the main characters take a life is pretty much the same reason most of the villains in Creator/{{Disney}} movies [[DisneyVillainDeath fall to their death offscreen]], rather than killed triumphantly by the heroes. It's because we want our protagonists to remain pure. Even if it were justified, we'd rather not have blood on the hands of our favorite, pure-hearted characters. Given that Goku and Naruto themselves function as, essentially, the moral compass of their respective worlds, it makes narrative and thematic sense for them to avoid any sort of bloodshed, no matter how dicey things get."

** All of the Earth's fighters and Jaco adhered to this code in ''Resurrection 'F'''. They all did their best not to kill any of Frieza's men, even people like Piccolo and Tien who had no problem killing their opponents in the past. This ended in vain, [[YouHaveFailedMe since Frieza kills all his soldiers for failing]].

* In ''Literature/FromTheNewWorld'', this is built into the DNA of all humans - if a human kills another human, they will immediately die themselves due to an autonomic reaction. Those who ''don't'' have this reaction are called Fiends, and are normally inherently psychotic. ''However'', [[spoiler: humans are now a TechnicalPacifist race; they use the Trickster Cats/Impure Cats to [[OffingTheOffspring kill their children who don't measure up to the needs of their society]].]] Furthermore, [[spoiler: WhatMeasureIsANonhuman is in play in that only people who the killer sees as human trigger the Death of Shame. The ramifications of this drive the majority of the plot points of the second half.]]

* Exa of ''Manga/{{Superior}}'' adheres to a strict no kill rule and holds all his party members to the same standard. He even wields a MorphWeapon that he keeps in the form of a dulled blade to avoid lethal blows. Ironically, his goal is to kill the demon king.