History ThouShaltNotKill / AnimeAndManga

*** 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 ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF''. [[spoiler: It got the Earth blown up.]] With that said, he has shown multiple times that he isn't particularly ''fond'' of killing unless absolutely necessary, in stark contrast with [[TheRival Vegeta.]]

** 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 spare Frieza, a genocidal alien [[ForTheEvulz who destroys planets for fun]] and just killed his life long best friend. 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 ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF''. [[spoiler: It got the Earth blown up.]]

* 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 Dordoni and [[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 ([[spoiler:though one of these, [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the lone female]], she survives]]).

** Oddly enough, Ichigo didn't kill a single Arrancar in his invasion of Hueco Mundo, at least not consciously; he let Dordoni and [[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 ([[spoiler:though one of these, [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the lone female]], she survives).

** Oddly enough, Ichigo didn't kill a single Arrancar in his invasion of Hueco Mundo, at least not consciously; he let Dordoni and [[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.

** 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 (MadeOfEvil, destructive by default, and not considered "alive"), Kimeramon (created by the Digimon Emperor/[[spoiler:Ken]]), [=MaloMyotismon=] (pure evil and the main villain behind everything that season), and Airdramon (for [[PlotHole 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 ''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 (MadeOfEvil, destructive by default, and not considered "alive"), Kimeramon (created by the Digimon Emperor/[[spoiler:Ken]]), [=MaloMyotismon=] (pure evil and the main villain behind everything that season), 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.

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

* Tenma's motto, often tried in ''Manga/{{Monster}}''.

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

** Enforced in the TournamentArc[=s=], as one of the rules for the World Martial Arts Tournament is that killing one's opponent is grounds for disqualification. Everyone -- even villains like Piccolo Jr. late in the original ''Dragon Ball'' anime -- abides by this rule. The one time a potential death in the ring is shown, when Videl appears to break her opponent's neck, she is moments away from disqualification when said opponent -- a mook working for and empowered by the wizard Babidi -- un-broke his neck. Even during the Tournament of Power, "No Killing" is one of the rules enforced by the Zen-Ohs, who were otherwise known to bend the rules in favor of RuleOfCool, and who punished the defeated with ''the utter erasure of their universe''.

** Enforced in the TournamentArc[=s=], as one of the rules for the World Martial Arts Tournament is that killing one's opponent is grounds for disqualification. Everyone -- even villains like Piccolo Jr. late in the original ''Dragon Ball'' anime -- abides by this rule. The one time a potential death in the ring is shown, when Videl appears to break her opponent's neck, she is moments away from disqualification when said opponent -- a mook working for and empowered by the wizard Babidi -- un-broke his neck. Even during the Tournament of Power, "No Killing" is one of the rules enforced by the Zen-Ohs, who were otherwise known to bend the rules in favor of RuleOfCool.