History Main / BareFistedMonk

* Pretty much sums up the fighting style of the Sparring Weapon line in ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}''; what sets this type of weapon apart from the Fist Weapon line is that the Fists are simply PowerFists and will turn your 'frame into a BoxingBattler. Sparring Weapons on the other hand are not just a pair of brass knuckles, they also add a set of steel toes to your Warframe's feet, which enables kicks.

* The Monk job in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV''. Monks can't wield any weapons, but have the Brawl ability, which allows you to do as much damage as an armed fighter with your bare hands (without this ability, the damage you inflict is usually a single digit).
** The Black Belt/Master of the original ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' (known as Monk/Super Monk in the original Japanese version). His first playthrough, he killed Kraken in the second encounter in ''one attack''.
*** A maximum level (50, in this case) Master in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' will, in one attack, do enough damage to kill Chaos, the final boss, twice over. Cast Fast on him, and he'll double that.
** Most of the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games have Monk-type characters (Sabin from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', Yang from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', Tifa from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', and Prishe from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'', for example). Of course, most of these don't go without weapons, per se: they are typically given claws or gloves to help them keep up with more traditionally-armed allies, though in some cases said claws or gloves offer no or very little attack power increase, instead giving other bonuses like elemental properties or a chance of inflicting status effects.

*** If you learn the "brawler" license ability, the game will calculate damage in line with how ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' did it. However, it's not the best approach to combat, since you can't equip a shield, bare-fisted fighting means no fancy weapon buffs/elements, and you have to sacrifice your accessory slot to keep up with everyone else.
** Monks in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' ditch the weak endgame trend of barefist fighters; they start off with naturally high vitality and hp, getting to the point where they have several hundred more hitpoints than "tank" jobs of their level, and with multiple passive traits and abilities are among the best damage dealing and pvp jobs in the game.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' monks return as one of the three melee DPS jobs as an evolution of the pugilist class. Their immediate damage output isn't quite as high as their rivals, but they get a stackable bonus which means the longer they fight, the faster and harder they hit, meaning that if they're played well they become a dancing tornado of destruction, and are perfectly suited for burning down bosses. This is counterbalanced by their lack of utility skills, to the point where despite having the highest damage output for any single class, because it doesn't buff the party's overall damage enough compared to one of its rivals, its considered suboptimal for high-level content.
*** With the addition of the "Emperor's New Fists" glamour weapon Monk's can now appear barefisted in battle.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' goes here as well. As with the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' Monks, the Monks in ''Tactics'' fight barehanded but can do just as much, if not more, damage as the armed characters. They also have the "Brawler" support ability which allows non-Monk characters to also fight barehanded and deal comparable damage. And this is a particularly good idea too, as barehanded attacks are potentially some of the most powerful attacks you can put out, with only some of the rare weapons being able to out-pace the damage done by a properly equipped (with mere store-bought items) Monk.
** ''Videogame/FinalFantasyII'' is a strange case. ''All'' characters can learn to tear enemies apart with their bare hands by attacking without weapons often enough and fists are one of the faster 'weapons' to {{Cap}} if the player focuses on them.

* ComicBook/LadyShiva is the [[WorldsBestWarrior best martial artist]] in the Franchise/TheDCU, no BadassNormal can take her in a straight fight and she can even give superpowered characters a hard time. Batman and co are forced to use pragmatism to defeat her rather than fruitlessly trying out-kung fu her.

* Some warriors and mecha in ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' (and its adaptation Power Rangers) are this.

** Among the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters in ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'', a few are 'unarmed' in the traditional sense. However, not many of them are actually martial artists. The unarmed (and, in two cases, nonhumanoid) fighters still use 'glove's though.

* ''Videogame/EarthBound'' has Poo, the [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething crown prince]] of [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Dalaam]]. He's said to have undergone special martial training, and unlike the other characters in the playable party, equipping him with most weapons actually ''lowers'' his physical attacking power. The only exception to this rule is equipping him with the special [[CoolSword Sword of Kings]].

** [[ChefOfIron Sanji]] is the only member of the Straw Hat Pirates who doesn't use any weapons or Devil Fruit powers. Hell, he doesn't even use his hands, [[ExtremityExtremist he only uses his legs and feet]] so when he's fighting he doesn't risk injuring his hands, a chef needs his hands to cook after all. He is perfectly capable of using [[KnifeNut knives]] to great effect, but refuses to do so because they are for cooking, not combat. He makes one exception when fighting an opponent who uses weaponized noodles (seriously!) in combat. It’s revealed later Sanji was actually trained in swordplay by his father, but he still refuses to use one in combat. Given Sanji can [[WreckedWeapon break]] steel swords with his feet, he probably doesn’t need weapons.

* ''Manga/SnowWhiteWithTheRedHair'': Obi surprises Zen and Shirayuki when he slips away from them at a festival and enters a fighting competition under a name which he created in the past specifically for earning winnings from martial arts events. He wins, and has thus far proven unmatched in unarmed combat, but unlike many others on this page isn't crazy enough to go up against armed opponents without weapons of his own if he can avoid it and is always [[KnifeNut covered in hidden throwing knives]] with at least two daggers hanging at his belt. He has however shown that he can very quickly disarm a single opponent with a sword without any weapons of his own, and that was accidentally in a fight he was trying to ''loose''.

* Thors from ''Manga/VinlandSaga'' is trained in using weapons, but in his main fight scene in Thorfinn's flashbacks he uses only his bare fists [[MartialPacifist because it keeps him from killing people]]. Even with this handicap, and being fifteen years out of practice, [[WorldsBestWarrior he still manages to beat up a dozen armed men purely barehanded]]. Similarly, [[spoiler:Thorfinn]] eventually adapts [[KnifeNut his fighting style]] to barehanded fighting, again because it allows him to keep to a vow of not killing.

* In general, anyone who masters a hand-to-hand Martial Art is one in Real Life.

* in ''VideoGame/PathOfExile'', regular unarmed attacks deal pathetic damage, can't CriticalHit, and are unable to use most attack skills. Unarmed attacks can be made viable with the Facebreaker gloves, which adds a massive unarmed physical damage multiplier, and Doryani's Touch gloves, which grants a massive amount out bonus lightning damage and an electrifying GroundPunch attack. There's also the Hollow Palm Technique, which is even stricter and also forbids wearing gloves and shields, but grants a gigantic bonus to attack speed and physical damage that scales with Dexterity.

* In ''Tabletopgame/BattleTech'', the ''Charger'' [[HumongousMecha battlemech]] becomes a potent punching mech courtesy of it being a [[SquareRaceRoundClass scout mech with the mass of an assault mech]]. It only carries the firepower of a mech a quarter of its weight, but it can throw around its weight and use its torpedo-shaped fist to pummel adversaries to death. Much maligned in-universe due to its schizophrenic design, it nevertheless received numerous upgrades because of how cheap and how many of them there are. A particularly fun upgrade gives it Triple Strength Myomer muscles, allowing it to rip mechs limb from limb [[LimitBreak once it reaches]] the [[OverHeating heat redline]].
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''

* In TabletopGame/D20Modern, there is an advanced class called Martial Artist. It is the most effective class for kicking ass unarmed, though it's also good for [[SpamAttack spamming]] [[ThrowDownTheBomblet grenades]].
* The entire point of the ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' shard Burn Legend. GunsAreUseless. Weapons are betrayals of a warrior's spirit. You fight bare-handed or not at all.
* ''Every'' player character from ''TabletopGame/HongKongActionTheatre''.
* Monks in ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'' that aren't fully devoted pacifists are frequently this, particularly the few sects of warrior-monks in the Brotherhood of Shinsei. They can often supplement their martial arts prowess with ''kiho'', which are a combination of SupernaturalMartialArts, ElementalPowers and EnlightenmentSuperpowers.
* The Jeskai Way in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'''s plane of Tarkir combine this with KungFuWizard, although some of them use weapons as well.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Mordheim}}'', a ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' GaidenGame, [[RatMen Skaven]] Heroes are able to learn the Art of Silent Death special skill, turning them into a master of unarmed combat. Heroes with this skill are able to fight unarmed with no penalty, always count as being armed with two close combat weapons and are more likely to cause a CriticalHit against their opponent in hand-to-hand combat.
* Along with the traditional Earthling martial arts like Kung Fu, Judo and Boxing, ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' also features others like Celestial Fist and Maduri Wrestling from such worlds as Mars, Metis and Jupiter, allowing heroes to either be weapon or unarmed experts.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': By controlling Akira's [[PoweredArmor augmented suit]], she can give him hand-to-hand combat lessons simulating what it's like to fight a real opponent. Even with the augmented suit's abilities, Akira handily gets his butt kicked and would have gotten his head smashed like a watermelon from an axe kick of hers had she been real. She can also use his suit to force him to perform complex CombatParkour and martial arts at the expense of severe strain on his body.

* [[Characters/SuicideSquadComics Bronze Tiger]] is another legendary bare fisted monk whose martial skill is confirmed to be superior to Batman who is MasterOfAll.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* More traditionally at Marvel, there's Shang-Chi, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Master of Kung Fu]], and [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]]. In fact, there was once a ''Comicbook/MoonKnight'' special where he teamed up with Shang-Chi. When preparing to go into battle, Moon Knight had his typical gadgets but Shang was notably empty handed. Moon Knight asked if he had any weapons and the martial artist replied that, while he had mastered various weapons in the past, he simply did not need them.

* By cross-training your dwarves in ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' with various tasks like mining, crafting professions and bookkeeping (yes) they can become legendarily strong, agile and tough. Then train them as wrestlers and they will literally scatter limbs and body parts of their enemies across the landscape with their bare hands. Or even better, go on Adventure mode, level up Striker as far as it goes, and see yourself killing bandits by way of punches to the face. Few things are more satisfying than seeing the description of your character punching someone so hard they drive bits of skull through their brains.

* In ''Manga/{{Gamaran}}'' there are two school of martial arts focused on unarmed fighting: the first is the Kyosen School of the Daimaru clan, which is focused on attacks aimed at severely damaging inner organs with only one blow. However, as the sword-wielding protagonist points out, if their attacks don't connect, they're done for. Much later we see the much more formidable Kiyomori Yamanoue of the Genkon School, nicknamed "[[RedBaron Lord of the Doom Fist]]" and capable of paralyzing peoples with his fingers by hitting the nerves and even ''rip the heart out of his opponents'' barehanded.

Subtrope of AnAdventurerIsYou and WeaponOfChoice. Supertrope to BoxingBattler. Much like you can't have a BadassNormal in a world without actual superpowers, this trope is not applicable in settings where ''everyone'' fights unarmed, of course -- there's nothing surprising about Franchise/{{Rocky}} fighting with bare fists, since... well... that's the ''point''.

Also not to be confused with GoodOldFisticuffs, which is when someone with a complete lack of both a polished fighting technique and a weapon on hand defeats people who have one or both.

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', a character build in line with the trope can be quite effective. Unencumbered for maximum maneuverability, with high speed no fatigue cost strikes, a monk build could render any opponent useless from fatigue loss in the first second, then take them down at leisure. Their weakness was finishing an opponent due to inability to deal health damage unless the opponent was unconscious, so at times it was a tedious exercise keeping an entire room knocked down while slowly chipping away at their life. Even the BigBad can be defeated this way. He really is a PhysicalGod with CompleteImmortality, so his constantly regenerating health in the final fight makes him impossible to kill. However, you can damage his fatigue with hand-to-hand strikes, rendering him less of a threat while you [[spoiler:perform the actions necessary to remove his immortality]].

** [[{{Animorphism}} Excluding his leopard form's]] [[NaturalWeapons claws and teeth]], Rob Lucci relies purely on unarmed combat.

** Averted when [[spoiler: his TYL self gets [[CoolPet Kangaryu]] to make him some [[PowerFist super healing boxing gloves]] for the occasion of fighting against a giant storm snake.]]

Also not to be confused with GoodOldFisticuffs, which is when someone with a complete lack of both a polished fighting technique and a usable weapon defeats people who have one or both.

Also not to be confused with GoodOldFisticuffs, which is when the ''lack'' of a fighting style and weapons defeats people who have both.