History ThouShaltNotKill / AnimeAndManga

** Averted in ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'', where the titular Legendary Super Saiyan [[UnstoppableRage has become enraged beyond all reason]] and Goku and Vegeta are forced to [[FusionDance fuse]] in order to stand a chance of winning. Throughout their fight, it becomes clear that Broly won't stop fighting no matter what, and Gogeta eventually [[TheGlovesComeOff decides to stop playing and goes for the kill]]. The ensuing CurbStompBattle scares Broly back into sanity just as Gogeta prepares to finish him off; the only reason he survives is because Cheelai uses the Dragon Balls at that exact moment to wish for Shenron to send him back to Vampa.

* In ''Manga/IkkiTousen'', Sonsaku Hakufu refuses to kill her rivals, saying that [[BloodKnight she only wants]] [[BoisterousBruiser to fight them]] but not take their lives.

** Goku strongly personifies this trope when he's an adult[[labelnote:*]] as a kid in ''Manga/DragonBall'' Goku actually killed a lot villains like Buyon, Tambourine, Officer Black and King Piccolo [[/labelnote]] (so much so that is almost considered a RunningGag) as he refuses to kill even the most evil opponents. In the original ''Manga/DragonBall'', he spares Piccolo Jr., at that time considered a demon who also just tried to kill him. In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', he chooses to let his brother 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.

** Goku strongly personifies this trope when he's an adult[[labelnote:*]] as a kid in ''Manga/DragonBall'' Goku actually killed a lot villains like Buyon, Tambourine, Officer Black and King Piccolo [[/labelnote]] (so much so that is almost considered a RunningGag) as he refuses to kill even the most evil opponents. In the original ''Manga/DragonBall'', he lets Piccolo Jr., a character who was at that time considered a demon who also just tried to kill him live. In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', he chooses to let his brother 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.

** 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/[[spoiler:Ken]]), [=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.

** Averted in ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'', where the titular Legendary Super Saiyan [[UnstoppableRage has become enraged beyond all reason]] and Goku and Vegeta are forced to [[FusionDance fuse]] in order to stand a chance of winning. Throughout their fight, it becomes clear that Broly won't stop fighting no matter what, and Gogeta eventually decides to stop playing and goes for the kill. The ensuing CurbStompBattle scares Broly back into sanity just as Gogeta prepares to finish him off; the only reason he survives is because Cheelai uses the Dragon Balls at that exact moment to wish for Shenron to send him back to Vampa.

*** It's debateable whether Ichigo avoids killing because he's following a code, or because he just doesn't feel like it. 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. 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.

* ''Manga/DungeonNoOsananajimi'': Ryuuka enforces a strict "no killing" rule on her minions. It is for this reason that her dungeon, Wyrm Hell, maintains a record of zero fatalities on both the human and monster sides while also being a very famous dungeon.

** Averted in ''Anime/OnePieceFilmStrongWorld'' where the entire crew minus Nami rock up in BigBad Shiki's headquarters [[GunsAkimbo armed to the teeth]] (despite the likes of Luffy and Sanji usually [[BareFistedMonk never]] carrying weapons) and shoot everyone in sight until they run out of ammunition and do it the old fashioned way.
** 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.
** Sanji in Totto Land arc refuses to let Capone Bege poison the wedding cake that will halt Big Mom’s rampage even if it had the chance ([[SuperToughness unlikely as it was]]) of killing her. In this case it was less to do with the morality of killing and more due to the fact as a SupremeChef Sanji considers sullying food no matter who is eating it, a crime against nature.

-->'''Vash''': "Thou shalt not kill, remember? What kind of churchman are you?"

* 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.

* Despite him beating his enemies to a pulp, Issei the protagonist of ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDxD'' hasn't killed anybody at all. Not even {{Mooks}}!

* [[spoiler:Abel]] from ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood''.

* Rushuna of ''Anime/{{Grenadier}}'' does more or less the same thing (with more {{Gainaxing}}).

** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'', Kira develops this attitude following his devastating fight with Athrun. Thanks to the Freedom Gundam's highly advanced weaponry, it can disable Mobile Suits with ease.

** 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.

** Other members of the crew, namely Zoro and Robin, are willing to kill off their foes. They never actually ''do'' end up explictly killing anyone except [[WhatMeasureIsAMook some incredibly marginal characters]], but they're definitely not holding anything back. There's also occasions where Zoro and Sanji send their Devil Fruit-powered opponents flying/let them fall into the ocean (such as [[CoDragons King and Queen]] in Wano) where they will most ''assuredly'' [[SuperDrowningSkills drown]], although the narrative labels it as "defeating them" rather than "murdering them".

*** AvertedTrope in the ''Dragon Ball Z'' [[NonSerialMovie films]] where Goku has a truly massive body count when it comes to the villains and [[MookHorrorShow their henchman]] having killed or assited in killing: [[Anime/DragonBallZTheWorldsStrongest Dr Wheelo]], [[Anime/DragonBallZTheTreeOfMight Turles]], [[Anime/DragonBallZLordSlug Lord Slug]], [[Anime/DragonBallZCoolersRevenge Cooler]], [[Anime/DragonBallZBrolyTheLegendarySuperSaiyan Broly]] (twice), [[Anime/DragonBallZFusionReborn Janemba]] and [[Anime/DragonBallZWrathOfTheDragon Hirudegarn]].

** Gohan a generally non-violent person believes in this, which became a problem when tasked with killing Perfect Cell in the Cell Games. While he is more than willingly to use force to protect, having previously punched Freiza mook Sūi into the ocean after he shot at Bulma and destroyed their spaceship, Gohan admantedly refused to kill Cell in their one-on-one despite the whole world being at risk. It ironically took the aforementioned Android 16 to convince Gohan that lethal force in this case was necessary to safeguard lives.

** Averted in ''Anime/OnePieceFilmStrongWorld'' where the entire crew minus Nami rock up in BigBad Shiki's headquarters armed to the teeth (despite the likes of Luffy and Sanji usually [[BareFistedMonk never]] carrying weapons) and shoot everyone in sight until they run out of ammunition and do it the old fashioned way.

** 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. In the original ''Manga/DragonBall'', he lets Piccolo Jr., a character who was at that time considered a demon who also just tried to kill him live. In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', he chooses to let his brother 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.

** 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.

* Nanoha Takamachi of ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''. Very skilled at using [[StunGuns Magical Damage]], which lets her create a lot of flashy explosions without ever killing anyone, even sentient non-humans. By contrast, the Wolkenritter have no personal qualms about using lethal force when needed, but they also followed this code when they were [[HeroAntagonist antagonists]] in the second season since they didn't want Hayate's name to be defiled with blood.

** The characters in ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'' also follow this rule.

* 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/[[spoiler:Ken]]), [=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.

* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'', [[TheHero Josuke Higashikata]] will not kill, period. This makes him stand out among [=JoJo=] protagonists, who are usually very willing to kill those who deserve it. Not even when dealing with [[spoiler:the vicious serial killer who murdered his grandfather]]. He is however perfectly willing to do [[AndIMustScream much]] [[FateWorseThanDeath worse]], and [[HarmfulHealing his Stand has powers that are perfect for this]].

* 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/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 ''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.

* In ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}} Gaiden'' the heavens have to abide by this rule and do so to varying degrees. Konzen is vegetarian, however Kenren thinks it's fine to eat fish but has to fight in the army with a stun gun...yet Tenpou has a katana but presumably still obeys the rule. Of course [[spoiler: all of that goes out the window in the end]]. Averted entirely in the main series; the main characters kill many, many, ''many'' youkai on their divinely-ordered trip to India.

* 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.