History WouldHitAGirl / Literature

* ''Literature/GentlemanBastard'' Locke Lamora is willing to punch out an 80-year-old woman. [[spoiler:She's the head of the Duke's spy ring, who had stabbed Locke with a needle dipped in a slow-acting poison and was offering the antidote in exchange for selling out his friends. He didn't have time to trick his way out, so he went for the direct method.]] It's implied that the reason this worked is because he is known for his brains, not brawn, and it never occurred to her that she might not be safe alone in a room with him.

* ''Literature/OliverTwist'' by Charles Dickens has one of the characters –- the ruthless Bill Sikes, an infamous Londoner thug –- beat many people, including his prostitute girlfriend, Nancy. Despite his abusive behavior, Nancy stays with him, believing she is a stable force in his life. In the end, she sees what this lifestyle has turned them into and helps Oliver while trying to talk Bill to break up and turn over a new leaf. Bill, in one of the most heinous acts of 1800s English literature, barbarically kills Nancy. It isn't long before Bill is caught by his guilt first and then by the justice of his fellow men and joins her in the grave...

%%* ''Literature/GentlemanBastard'' Locke Lamora is willing to punch out an 80-year-old woman. [[spoiler:She's the MagnificentBitch head of the Duke's spy ring, who had stabbed Locke with a needle dipped in a slow-acting poison and was offering the antidote in exchange for selling out his friends. He didn't have time to trick his way out, so he went for the direct method.]] It's implied that the reason this worked is because he is known for his brains, not brawn, and it never occurred to her that she might not be safe alone in a room with him.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' -- in a series full of male characters who take WouldntHitAGirl to the point of [[GenreBlind pure]] [[HonorBeforeReason idiocy]], there are a few examples where men are willing to fight back:

%%* ''Literature/TheWordForWorldIsForest''. When the Athsheans revolt against the Terrans colonists, they massacre several hundred women brought to the planet as wives for the colonists. This is despite (or because of) the Athsheans being a matriarchal society. Instead the men are allowed to escape into the forest where they can be rounded up at leisure. As the Athsheans [[BlueAndOrangeMorality see it]], the women were brought to their planet to breed even more humans to overrun it.

* ''Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy'' has Lisbeth Salander (and a few other women) being repeatedly attacked by men who do not hold back at all. This is not all that surprising, as one of the main focuses of the books is the abuse of women by men. Holding back against [[CombatPragmatist Lisbeth]] would not be a good idea at all.
** The second book has the boxer Paolo Roberto as a character, and he is notable for being one of the few characters who is completely disgusted by men hitting women, and [[WifeBasherBasher relishes the thought of giving such a man a real fight]].

* In ''Literature/{{Ceremony}}'', Literature/{{Spenser}} and Hawk fight their way through an orgy. Hitting men and women alike, Spenser comments, "No sexist, I".
* ''Literature/ClockpunkAndTheVitalizer'': The Vitalizer is more than willing to hurt Clockpunk, almost breaking her back early in the story. [[spoiler:Clockpunk ends up "almost" returning the favor.]]

* Every male player in the ''Literature/EndgameTrilogy''

* ''Literature/TheFateOfPaulTwister'': when Paul discovers that Princess Ashley de Morgan [[spoiler:was actually not the princess, but an impostor,]] he doesn't actually hit her, but he does put her in a choke hold and threaten severe violence against her, because she was almost certainly putting him in serious danger.
* ''Literature/AFlyWentBy'': Subverted for the fox, who's suspected of wanting to kill the calf (who is probably a female, since she's described as "a little cow") but he turns out to not be interested in them; he's just running from a man he thinks will shoot him.
* Sort of, in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: The Brain Spiders''. Eventually Zak attacks his sister Tash, punching as hard as he can -- he's only twelve, but she's only thirteen. It's "sort of" because [[spoiler: this is only Tash's ''body'', which is being controlled by [[GenderBender a man]] who is still "he" in pronouns. "It was Tash's face he was hitting, but his blows were rattling Karka's brain."]]
* ''Literature/GentlemanBastard'' Locke Lamora is willing to punch out an 80-year-old woman. [[spoiler:She's the MagnificentBitch head of the Duke's spy ring, who had stabbed Locke with a needle dipped in a slow-acting poison and was offering the antidote in exchange for selling out his friends. He didn't have time to trick his way out, so he went for the direct method.]] It's implied that the reason this worked is because he is known for his brains, not brawn, and it never occurred to her that she might not be safe alone in a room with him.
* ''Literature/{{Gor}}'': Tarl Cabot starts out seeming unwilling to hit women, though he does threaten them with serious harm at various points. By the sixth book, ''Raiders of Gor'' this reluctance has vanished entirely and he doesn't hesitate again to strike a woman for defiance, or to have her beaten.
* ''Literature/GrimoiresSoul'': Rembrandt is not only willing to critically harm Ceyda in her fights with him, he also takes great pleasure in doing so.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** During a Quidditch match in the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban third book]], Oliver Wood tells Harry to stop being a gentleman and just knock Cho Chang off her broom already. Chivalry might not be his only problem there -- his crush on her is revealed in the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire next book]]. Similarly, the lack of chivalry doesn't seem to be Oliver's only problem.
** In the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix fifth book]] in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge Harry tries to torture Bellatrix with the same curse that she tortured so many others before. It doesn't have enough power behind it and only knocks her off her feet. Dumbledore also has no problems attacking and then incapacitating her by slamming a statue upon her.
** Harry disarms Narcissa Malfoy in the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows seventh book]] during the skirmish at Malfoy Manor.
** Voldemort kills several women throughout the series. Included but not limited to: Lily Potter, Amelia Bones, Bathilda Bagshot, and an unnamed German woman. He also tortures Narcissa Malfoy and Bellattix Lestrange in the last book. Amelia Bones seems to have been the only one who was really a challenge that required him to take care of personally instead of sending his lackeys to do the job instead.
* Given that the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' novels are set far in the future, gender equality is considered normal in most of the galaxy. Plenty of the people that are killed on all sides are female. Notably, the planet Grayson is a giant aversion to this trope under most circumstances.
* ''Literature/HorridHenry'': Henry himself has no qualms against attacking girls, especially Moody Margaret given how often he plays pranks on her and attacks her.
** ''[[InjectionPlot Horrid Henry's Injection]]'' has him kick Clever Claire when she calls him out for being frightened of an injection.
* There are just as many girls as boys in of ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', ensuring a lot of this. None of the boys show no mercy nor do they hesitate towards killing any of the girls. [[spoiler:Marvel kills Rue, and Thresh kills Clove.]]

** ''Literature/{{Misery}}'': Paul Sheldon slams Annie in the face with a typewriter. (She was trying to kill him at the time, so it's warranted).

* ''[[Literature/AMagesPower A Mage's Power]]'': When a female mage throws lightning at Eric, he responds in turn. Then he goes on to repeat the feat against his other female oponent in the New Scepter Competition's tournament.
* In ''Literature/MidnightTides'' Trull Sengar, a warrior, asks a healer, who in his culture are exclusively female, to heal a demon. She refuses on the grounds that it's not worth the effort as they can always conjure more and earns a nasty back-handed slap. Trull Sengar is made to apologise to her reasoning that he was stressed from the battle just past, but he insists that he feels no remorse, as for him anyone who fought should also be worthy of healing.

** The second book has the boxer Paolo Roberto as a character, and he is notable for being one of the few characters who is completely disgusted by men hitting women, and [[WifeBasherBasher relishes the thought of giving such a man a real fight.]]
* ''Literature/OliverTwist'' by Charles Dickens has one of the characters –- the ruthless Bill Sikes, an infamous Londoner thug –- beats many people, including his prostitute girlfriend, Nancy. Despite his abusive behavior, Nancy stays with him, believing she is a stable force in his life. In the end, she sees what this lifestyle has turned them into and helps Oliver while trying to talk Bill to break up and turn over a new leaf. Bill, in one of the most heinous acts of 1800s English literature, barbarically kills Nancy. It isn't long before Bill is caught by his guilt first and then by the justice of his fellow men and joins her in the grave...
* In ''Literature/{{Radiance}}'', it's implied that when the filming of the documentary at Adonis began to fall apart, one of the crew members attacked Severin. [[spoiler:It later turned out he did so to try to keep her from swimming with the callow whales, which was incredibly dangerous and led to her death.]] The transcript of her impromptu reporting on the Pluto food riots also have her beaten and bloody and end with her trampled nearly to death by a mob too enraged to even notice her.
* ''Literature/OnlyWalkSoFar'': Women fight against and alongside men in battles, and it is never commented on as being unusual, either by the characters or the narrator.

* In ''Literature/TheSecretsOfTheImmortalNicholasFlamel'':
** Scatty is a fearsome warrior of legend, so most enemies she meets have no problem attacking her.
** Nicholas and Josh show no qualms about attacking their female enemies.
** In the second book, Josh charges after three Valkyries.
** By the sixth Josh is willing to kill [[spoiler: the woman he thought was his mother]].
** Numerous monsters and Dark Elders are actively trying to kill Perenelle. Too bad for them, as [[BadassBoast she frequently reminds them]].
** Tsagaglalal is attacked by Spartoi warriors in the sixth book.

** Mitch Riley from ''Hide And Seek''.
*** Interestingly, one exception occurs in the book ''Hide and Seek''. Jack Emery was rescuing Lizzie Fox from the [[FBIAgent FBI]], and Lizzie wanted him to rescue Judge Easter from them, too. Jack tried to point out that they needed a plan to rescue her and that they could not just charge back out there. Lizzie, refusing to be amenable to reason, makes the ever-so-mature decision to pull a gun out on Jack to make him help her rescue Judge Easter ''now''. Jack managed to knock her out with a karate chop to the back of her neck. He did send a silent apology to her later on for that.
** John Chai from ''Vendetta''.
** Karl Woodley from ''The Jury''.
** Maxwell Zenowicz from ''Fast Track''.

** In ''Game of Thrones'', Viserys frequently threatens Daenerys, who lives in terror of 'waking the dragon'
** King Robert punches Cersei in the face in a drunken rage.

* In ''Literature/SplinterOfTheMindsEye'', pretty much anyone is willing to hit Leia. Grammael does it to get Luke to talk. [[spoiler:Vader cuts her in their duel -- yes, she fought him with a lightsaber, and though she came off worse it ''wasn't'' a CurbStompBattle.]] Even ''Luke'' hits her, slapping her when she's very agitated and about to blow their cover by leaving.

* In the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series, at various points Richard has pointed out that he's perfectly willing to fight women, as he knows they can be just as dangerous as men, [[TortureTechnician if not moreso]].

* Pretty much everybody in ''Literature/TheUltimateKillingGame'' by Asi Hart will hit a woman. Some go a few steps further.
* In ''Literature/VampireAcademy'', Strigoi apparently believe in beating people up equally. They don't mind attacking females physically. Goes with their lack of morality.

* Females in ''Literature/WarriorCats'' are functionally equal to males. You'll find females leading Clans, females leading patrol parties, and females suffering the same wounds. The only time they're given special mercy is if they're pregnant.
** Even the "mercy for the pregnant" has been averted once to give [[spoiler:Breezepelt]] a KickTheDog moment.

-->Perhaps once I would have hesitated [to kill a woman], but that would have been the wrong choice. Women are as fully capable of being evil as men. Why should one hesitate to kill one, but not the other? The Light does not judge one based on gender, but on the merit of the heart.
* ''Literature/TheWordForWorldIsForest''. When the Athsheans revolt against the Terrans colonists, they massacre several hundred women brought to the planet as wives for the colonists. This is despite (or because of) the Athsheans being a matriarchal society. Instead the men are allowed to escape into the forest where they can be rounded up at leisure. As the Athsheans [[BlueAndOrangeMorality see it]], the women were brought to their planet to breed even more humans to overrun it.

** In the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix fifth book]] in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge Harry tries to torture Bellatrix with the same curse that she tortured so many others before. It doesn't have enough power behind it and only knocks her off her feet.

** During a Quidditch match in the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban third book]], Oliver Wood tells Harry to stop being a gentleman and just knock Cho Chang off her broom already. Chivalry might not be his only problem there -- his crush on her is revealed in the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire next book]].
** In the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix fifth book]] in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge Harry tries to torture Bellatrix with a curse. It doesn't have enough power behind it and only knocks her off her feet.
** Harry disarms Narcissa Malfoy in the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows seventh book]].
** Voldemort kills several women throughout the series. Included but not limited to: Lily Potter, Amelia Bones, Bathilda Bagshot, and an unnamed German woman. He also tortures Narcissa Malfoy and Bellattix Lestrange in the last book.

* ''Literature/OliverTwist'' by Charles Dickens has one of the characters –- the ruthless Bill Sikes, the town bully –- beats many people, including his prostitute girlfriend, Nancy. Despite his abusive behavior, Nancy stays with him, believing she is a stable force in his life. In the end, she sees that he is nothing but a despicable person and leaves him to take care of Oliver. Bill, in one of the most heinous acts of 1800s English literature, barbarically kills Nancy. It isn't long before Bill is caught and put to death ... this despite his taking Oliver hostage.

%%
%%
%%
%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
%%
%%
%%
%%
%%
%%

* ''Literature/AlexisCarew'': Anybody who fights Alexis--Captain Grantham actually complains once about how often she ends up beat to hell--but special mention goes to the horribly sexist Captain Neals, who is only stopped from having her flogged on general principles by the fact that he legally can't flog an officer. [[spoiler:Then he disrates her for refusing to beg forgiveness on bended knee for not identifying a man who made a minor mistake due to fatigue, and promptly gives her two dozen lashes. This triggers a mutiny.]]
* Discussed in one of the ''Literature/BlackWidowers'' stories. During the course of their wide-ranging discussion, one of the Widowers (most of whom would regard themselves as gentlemen) asks--with some bafflement--what kind of man would hit a woman. Henry, their all-knowing waiter, replies in his usual calm fashion that in his experience, there are two kinds.

* Sort of, in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: The Brain Spiders''. Eventually Zak attacks his sister Tash, punching as hard as he can - he's only twelve, but she's only thirteen. It's "sort of" because [[spoiler: this is only Tash's ''body'', which is being controlled by [[GenderBender a man]] who is still "he" in pronouns. "It was Tash's face he was hitting, but his blows were rattling Karka's brain."]]
* ''Literature/GentlemanBastard'' Locke Lamora is willing to punch out an eighty-year-old woman. [[spoiler:She's the MagnificentBitch head of the Duke's spy ring, who had stabbed Locke with a needle dipped in a slow-acting poison and was offering the antidote in exchange for selling out his friends. He didn't have time to trick his way out, so he went for the direct method.]] It's implied that the reason this worked is because he is known for his brains, not brawn, and it never occurred to her that she might not be safe alone in a room with him.

* In ''[[Literature/EddieLaCrosse The Sword-Edged Blonde]]'', part of [[TheDragon Canino]]'s EstablishingCharacterMoment is to viciously assault his girlfriend Gretchen, who he apparently had a good relationship with (and who certainly didn't see it coming, or understand the reason for it). He did it just to make a point to Eddie — if he's willing to be that needlessly brutal to a girl he mostly likes, how much worse is Eddie going to have it?

** [[InjectionPlot ''Horrid Henry's Injection'']] has him kick Clever Claire when she calls him out for being frightened of an injection.

* ''Literature/HorridHenry: Henry himself has no qualms against attacking girls, especially Moody Margaret given how often he plays pranks on her and attacks her.