History Main / CombatPragmatist

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8icoCU2AGs This]] video of a Vale Tudo fight between Gary Goodridge and Pedro Otavio. [[{{Cracked}} Seanbaby]] best described it with this quote: "Gary Goodridge was finding more uses for a human dick than I did during two years of puberty. And I grew up on a farm."
** How's cheating in a sporting match with previously established rules and no immediate danger to one's life being pragmatic? That's just being A-grade asshole.
** Given that "Vale Tudo" is Portuguese for "Anything Goes", it seems likely no rules were broken in the previously mentioned incident.

* [[PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Homura Akemi]] is this [[JustifiedTrope with good reason]]. [[spoiler:Given the [[TimeMaster nature of her powers]], she doesn't have any real offensive capabilities and has to resort to stealing conventional weaponry from the local {{Yakuza}} and the military. She also makes her own bombs.]]

* ''{{Paranoia}}'': The main book includes a "Tips for Traitors" section with such advice as "Don't shoot at your [[SarcasmMode buddy]] the first excuse you get. This gives him a chance to shoot back. Dumb. [[strike:Wait till he's busy with something else]] Give him something else to keep him busy, ''then'' shoot at him."

* ''{{Paranoia}}'': The main book includes a "Tips for Traitors" section with such advice as "Don't shoot at your buddy the first excuse you get. This gives him a chance to shoot back. Dumb. [[strike:Wait till he's busy with something else]] Give him something else to keep him busy, ''then'' shoot at him."

** It should be noted that he not only doesn't wait but [[CrowningMomentofAwesome kills them all before the can hits the ground.]]

* [[http://jkdtalk.com/showpost.php?p=12683&postcount=10 This poster]] on the Jeet Kune Do Talk forum used one of the [[{Squick} grossest]] but [[HumiliationConga embarrassing]] ImprovisedWeapon ever when he was attacked while using the urinal: his own piss.

--->'''Vimes:'''''"And for close-up fighting, as your senior sergeant I explicitly forbid you to investigate the range of coshes, blackjacks, and brass knuckles sold by Mrs. Goodbody at No. 8 Easy Street at a range of prices to suit all pockets, and should any of you approach me privately I absolutely will not demonstrate a variety of specialist blows suitable for these useful yet tricky instruments." ''

*** This happened just once - at Crecy 1346. The reason why the English prevailed was that they just had better discipline and better generals. The French eventually learned this, abolished the feudal army and set up a professional army consisting of competent professionals - knights, infantry and artillery.

The CombatPragmatist is the character who is defined by his willingness to do anything in a fight to win. These guys are characterized both by extensive knowledge of [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty tactics others consider "dirty" fighting]] - they know that [[GroinAttack kneeing a guy in the crotch]] works - and by a willingness to use whatever tactics they need to achieve their goal. They have [[WouldntHitAGirl no compunctions]] against [[WouldHitAGirl punching a girl]] in a real fight. Or shooting someone InTheBack. Or [[AHandfulForAnEye throwing sand in their eyes]]. Or [[DefeatByModesty pulling down their pants]] (or flipping up their skirts if dealing with women). Or the HeyYouHaymaker. Or [[TakeABiteOutOfCrime biting them]] [[OverlyLongGag or...]]

These characters frequently turn out to be {{Badass}}es, {{Antihero}}es, and {{Rebellious Spirit}}s. {{Ninja}} are almost invariably these, with most exceptions belonging to the [[HighlyVisibleNinja highly visible variety]]. Definitely not the KnightInShiningArmor. They never suffer from HonorBeforeReason or DeathByPragmatism. And they ''never'' assume that the other guy will [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen fight like a "gentleman"]]. Sometimes WeakButSkilled or TooCleverByHalf, though the truly pragmatic former will constantly seek to increase his power level and hence advantage over his enemies. Likely to practice SchrodingerFu. If TheUnfettered fights, then he'll be one of these.

** In fact, the standard attack taught for cleansing Hollows is inherently friendly to this type of individual. Specifically, the appropriate technique is to slice the Hollow's head in half from behind.
** Primera Espada Coyote Starrk is normally BrilliantButLazy, but when he releases his zanpakutou, he gets serious. He blasts a Cero into Kyoraku's back at the first opportunity. Considering Starrk is Captain Kyoraku's EvilCounterpart, it shouldn't be so surprising that [[spoiler: ol' Shunsui is just as bad when he's not being lazy. He actually repays the favor, stabbing Starrk in the back right as he's about to finish off Rose and Love.]]
*** If we're going to list Starrk, then it would be proper to list Shunsui first. He spent the ENTIRE first half of their fight trying to backstab Starrk, and failed every time. Of course, since he's a shinigami, the designated good guys of the series, the fans seem to ignore this fact, or rationalize it as a good thing, [[DoubleStandard while at the same time condemning Starrk for doing it.]]
**** And if he wasn't trying to stab Starrk in the back, he was trying to distract him, obscure his vision, or abruptly strike much faster than he had been (which Starrk mistakes for desperation). Can't call Shunsui anything other than underhanded, but ''damn'' if it's not fun to see such dubious tactics in a shounen good guy. Then you recall that for all Starrk's being not very bad, he still works willingly for the evilest man in the world, which destroyed any sympathy This Troper had for him. Besides, Shunsui killing Starrk with his swords would have been a mercy to him, curing his loneliness quite neatly.
** Mayuri Kurotsuchi qualifies as well, mixing Batman-like levels of Preparation with all sorts of cheaty biological warfare techniques.

* Runge in ''Anime/{{Monster}}'', while fighting Tenma and, later, [[spoiler:Roberto]].

* In ''[=~Avatar: The Last Airbender~=]'', the protagonists, while not going deliberately for dirty tactics, are certainly [[GenreSavvy pragmatic enough]] to know not to announce their presence to their enemies before attacking them in the back. One episode has [[BadassNormal Sokka]] be praised by his temporary swordfighting teacher for his resourcefulness (e.g. taking advantage of his greater agility, attacking from higher ground, pulling bamboo shoots so they'll fly back and distract his opponent, throwing sand in his eyes).
** As for the antagonists... AntiVillain Prince Zuko considers fighting to be a matter of honor. [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bitch]] Princess Azula gleefully pulls the ISurrenderSuckers, ambushes, traps, and in one truly magnificent example actually shot the Avatar in the back ''during his TransformationSequence'', violating all known anime etiquette. Bonus points for still being a formidable enough fighter that she actually ''can'' defeat her opponents straight-up, she just doesn't always ''bother''.
** Since the story takes place during a war, this philosophy is prevalent throughout the Avatarverse. Those who ignore it do not generally fare well.
* Megatron gave a perfect example of this in the ''{{Transformers Generation 1}}'' episode "Heavy Metal War" during an "honorable" [[CombatByChampion one-on-one match with Optimus]] to decide the end of their war. Not only did he create a machine that allows him to take on the abilities of all his soldiers (despite rules that prevent him from doing so for the match, which Starscream ironically points out), but he also sends some of his troops out to trash the Autobots' base computer Teletraan 1 to prevent it from warning the Autobots of Megatron's duplicity.

** [[FridgeLogic How the hell does sand in the eyes affect a robot?]]
*** Ever gotten grit on your camera?
*** Yeah. Wanna make something out of it?
*** He also [[GroinAttack knees Waspinator square in the gearbox.]]

* Sadrao, an [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic dog]] in Ursula Vernon's BlackDogs, uses a weapon that a lot of FunnyAnimal protagonists forget about, teeth. He bites off a bandits ''face''.

The CombatPragmatist is the character who is defined by his willingness to do anything in a fight to win. These guys are characterized both by extensive knowledge of [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty tactics others consider "dirty" fighting]] - they know that [[GroinAttack kneeing a girl in the crotch]] works - and by a willingness to use whatever tactics they need to achieve their goal. They have [[WouldntHitAGirl no compunctions]] against [[WouldHitAGirl kneeing a girl]] in a real fight. Or shooting someone InTheBack. Or [[AHandfulForAnEye throwing sand in their eyes]]. Or [[DefeatByModesty pulling down their pants]] (or flipping up their skirts if dealing with women). Or the HeyYouHaymaker. Or [[TakeABiteOutOfCrime biting them]] [[OverlyLongGag or...]]

** KODACHI. KUNO. She is, without a doubt, the dirtiest fighter of the series. She has weapons that can instantly turn lethal at will, as well as use her ribbon to grab and immobolize her opponent or throw objects to him/her. She bends the rules like mad and uses cheap tricks such as about to shake Ranma's hand with tacks between her fingers and paralysis gas and pills in food and flowers, trying to put her opponents at a disadvantage even before a match. She will do anything it takes to win and sink lower than the titanic to achieve victory.

* Yaiba from the [[{{Yaiba}} eponimous manga]] firmly believes in this trope. Well, his mentor is MiyamotoMusashi after all... that explains a lot of things...

* ''{{Slayers}}'' has Xelloss. Gaav states that Xelloss' specialty is to attack someone in the physical plane from the astral plane, which would best be characterized as a sneak attack (as Gaav demonstrates). Also, in Xelloss' battle against Valgaav he uses some very dirty tricks, one of the most notable being when a stray blast put a team mate in danger (Filia), he rescues her then immediately drops her on Valgaav.

* ''KyouKaraOreWa!!'': being a manga about school delinquents pretty much every character tried something dirty at least once. That said, the protagonist Takashi Mitsuhashi outclassed everyone: when fighting a supposed yakuza and a street gang, he feigned being stabbed to beat the enemy scared by his willingness to fight even when dying, and then convinced his best friend to cancel his debt; when facing a bear (it was actually a man in a suit, but Mitsuhashi didn't know), he suddendly kicked it in the crotch with all his might; when facing a huge American wrestler who could shrug his every punch or kick, Mitsuhashi got him in a chase until he was tired before slugging him (OlderThanDirt but still good); he routinely uses people as weapons and baits, especially if he's supposed to help them. In fact, when he stormed a delinquent-filled school, his allies fully expected him to use them as expendable baits to get at the enemy leader (they were OK with that, as long as he got at the enemy leaders. He slugged him in front of his henchmen). And don't even try martial arts or knives: he's still stronger and faster than any martial artist he faced but one he outsmarted, and when a guy tried throwing knives at him he caught all weapons with a ping-pong racket.

* Liam Neeson from ''{{Film/Taken}}''. He only fights "fair" if he needs you alive for questioning. [[GroinAttack Attacking other peoples nuts]]? Check. [[TortureAlwaysWorks Torturing someone for information]]? Check. [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption Killing him AFTER receiving the information]]? Check. [[KilledMidSentence Shooting someone in mid-sentence]] [[BeyondTheImpossible while the guy tried to negotiate]]? Check. [[AssholeVictim And]] [[KickTheSonOfABitch it's]] [[CompleteMonster hilarious]]. The movie propably should have been named "Combat Pragmatism - The Movie".

* I may be remembering this differently from when I read Card's "The Abyss" novelization, but what I remembered happened is that the bully and his gang had been run off by the owner of a small store. The bully conspecuously was in public view all day when the store owner's daughter was brutally beaten and facially scarred by "unknown people". So what Coffey did was to sneak up on the bully one night and bashed hard him across the back of his head with a pipe, leaving the bully permanently brain damaged and breaking the gang up.

* Smilla Jaspersen from ''Smilla's Sense of Snow'' by Peter Hoeg has a history of winning against people much bigger and stronger than her. She stabs a man in the neck with a screwdriver when her tries to kidnap her, and topples a shelf onto a person she thinks is following her in the filing room of an office building. She also forces her stepmother to listen to her demands by pinching her in the crotch and bending her pinky finger all the way back. Apparently she's been this way all her life. She beat up a racist school bully much larger than her by finding out where he lived and ambushing him early in the morning, sending him to the hospital. When her father, a noted surgeon, tried to grab her and drag her home after she ran away at the age of twelve, she cut him with a scalpel she stole from the hospital she escaped from. When she is trapped on a ship with the vaguely psychopathic character Jakkelsen, she [[ImprovisedWeapon makes a weapon from a towel and a ball bearing]], and injures him badly enough that he needs medical attention. However, she is always described as a [[WaifFu petite and delicate woman]]. She is the narrator, by the way.

*** When fighting fallen angel host Nicodemus, he realizes the only thing Nick is vulnerable to is the artifact which grants him invulnerability. So Harry strangles Nicodemus with it (its conveniently in the shape of a noose).

* Almost everyone in {{Claymores}} have no hesitation to fight four on one, strike without warning or play dirty. The only exception are sadistic who want to play with their victim and a young claymore who is berated for being TooDumbToLive.

* Lazarus Long in ''Time Enough For Love'' is one of these. Generally all RobertAHeinlein's "good" characters are.

** The Drunken Master, a drunken-boxing prestige class for the (martial artist) monk, gains proficiency with [[ImprobableWeaponUser improvised weapons]]. Depending on how good you are at getting crap past the DM, a Drunken Master can use [[SpamAttack Flurry of Blows]] with ''anything he damn well feels like.'' "Want to see what else I can do with furniture?"

* A commercial for Geico tested the question of whether the pen is mightier than the sword. A skilled ninja shows off his sword skills, and his opponent uses a pen to sign for a package containing a taser, which he immediately uses on the ninja.

TheCombatPragmatist is the character who is defined by his willingness to do anything in a fight to win. These guys are characterized both by extensive knowledge of [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty tactics others consider "dirty" fighting]] - they know that [[GroinAttack kneeing a girl in the crotch]] works - and by a willingness to use whatever tactics they need to achieve their goal. They have [[WouldntHitAGirl no compunctions]] against [[WouldHitAGirl kneeing a girl]] in a real fight. Or shooting someone InTheBack. Or [[AHandfulForAnEye throwing sand in their eyes]]. Or [[DefeatByModesty pulling down their pants]] (or flipping up their skirts if dealing with women). Or the HeyYouHaymaker. Or [[TakeABiteOutOfCrime biting them]] [[OverlyLongGag or...]]

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_E._Fairbairn Major William E. Fairbairn]]. Taught, among other things, sentry elimination to comandos. See [[Quotes/TheCombatPragmatist the quotes page]].

[[redirect:TheCombatPragmatist]]