History Main / FightsLikeANormal

** Yuji primarily fights [[HeroesFightBarehanded barehanded]] and just uses his [[KiManipulation control of cursed energy]] [[EnhancedPunch to make his attacks more damaging]].
** Maki was born with a Heavenly Restriction making her a MuggleBornOfMages, [[MagicallyIneptFighter unable to use cursed energy]] at all [[InvisibleToNormals or see curses unassisted]], but granting incredible physical ability. She uses [[MultiMeleeMaster a wide variety]] of enchanted weapons to exorcise curses instead. Her cousin Toji was born with an even more restrictive condition that ''removed'' all cursed energy from his body, which somehow wraps around to giving him SuperSenses that can notice cursed spirits anyway.
** Like Yuji, Todo always fights physically, usually unarmed. It's only against the strongest opponents that he uses his actual cursed technique, [[SwapTeleportation Boogie-Woogie]], and even that's purely to [[ConfusionFu disorient]] them and move himself around.

* In early books of ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', Rand al'Thor has sufficient latent power in Channeling to be a PersonOfMassDestruction, but defaults to [[SpontaneousWeaponCreation creating swords of Fire]] and fighting normally with them. Several people {{lampshade|Hanging}} what a laughably inefficient use of his abilities it is.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':

* ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'': Ainz is a ridiculously powerful lich, and has a bad case of NormalFishInATinyPond (that is, while he considers himself in the middle of the upper tier of level 100 YGGDRASSIL players, the strongest in the new world are maybe level 30). Thus even as a SquishyWizard, his physical strength and damage resistance is enormous, which is why he can masquerade as a giant warrior DualWielding {{One Handed Zweihander}}s. He later asks for a duel between him (in his lich form) and the Empire's resident GladiatorGames champion, agreeing to use no magic (and even disables his damage resistance). He still trounces the champion with ease, [[spoiler:and the Emperor, seeing that there really is no hope of beating Ainz in melee either, surrenders the Empire to him]].

* ''LightNovel/FateZero'': Kiritsugu definitely has the capacity to be a magus, but instead on relies a lot more on [[BoringYetPractical good ol' human technology]] like firearms and explosives, treating his magecraft abilities as simply yet another tool to be used, which he usually only uses to ''support'' his mundane abilities and devices in a largely indirect manner, unless they prove to be more efficient than mundane methods (e.g. giving himself InnateNightVision) or capable of doing something useful to his purposes that mundane alternatives cannot (e.g. Bounded Fields). This serves him well, since almost all Magi despise the idea of depending on {{muggle|s}}[=-made=] technology, making it a blind spot to them whose true potential they consistently underestimate. A prime example is at the start of Volume 2 (Episode 6 in the AnimatedAdaptation), which sees Kayneth being way too prideful, thinking that nothing would be able to invade his multi-layered magic fortress. In response, Kiritsugu has his colleague Maiya [[DungeonBypass rig the building itself with explosives, thus rendering all of Kayneth's careful preparations useless]].

* In ''Fanfic/LiveAHero'', Izuku fights almost exclusively with the plethora of knives he has at his disposal due to how uncontrollable his Quirk is and the [[HeroicRROD debilitating side effects it has on him]].

*** In Book 3, [[spoiler:[[EmpoweredBadassNormal Harmonic Convergence-empowered]] Bumi]] plays with the trope: He ''does'' use his [[spoiler:air]]bending in combat; however, he seems to only know how to do so ''defensively''. As far as offense goes, he seems to favor grappling -- for example, when fighting [[spoiler:Red Lotus earthbender [[MagmaMan Ghazan]]]], he actually [[CombatPragmatist resorts to]] [[ByTheHair hair-pulling]] and ''[[ManBitesMan biting]]''.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Yoruichi Shihoin relies almost exclusively on hand-to-hand combat, but she was a captain of Gotei 13 back in the day, meaning she must have achieved shikai and bankai as any other captains have. Flashbacks to a century ago reveal that she used to carry a zanpakuto, but it is nowhere to be seen in the present day. She and Hachigen Ushoda (whose skill lies in kido) are the only exiled Shinigami to have never used their zanpakuto in anyway.

* Justified on ''{{Series/Supernatural}}'' -- Sam Winchester has the ability to kill Final Boss level demons ''with his mind,'' keeping the human host alive to boot, but the powers aren't worth the price of unlocking them.

* The powers ''do'' apply to combat, but only by enhancing existing natural fighting abilities, without enabling anything fantastic such as flight. The powers may enhance the character's physical attacks, like moderate SuperStrength or an ElementalPunch, or their weapon, like a SpellBlade. They have an advantage against the {{mooks}}, but only if they can stay on their toes and fight smart.

* The powers don't directly apply to combat, such as {{Telepathy}}, SpeaksFluentAnimal, and XRayVision. However, they may have indirect uses for assisting. Or they do upgrade their natural fighting abilities, but only moderately beyond normal human limits, without anything fantastic such as flight. They have an advantage against the {{mooks}}, but only if they can stay on their toes and fight smart.

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': While fighting a Stand user without [[TakesOneToKillOne your own Stand is exceedingly impractical]] (since you can neither [[InvisibleToNormals see]] nor damage the Stand itself), many characters have Stands with non-combative abilities and fight with their own physical strength. Kenzou of ''Manga/StoneOcean'' in particular is already a skilled martial artist; all his Stand does is point him in the right direction. In a non-combative example, D'Arby the Elder's only power is that [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame he gets your soul if he manages to beat you in a game.]] He still has to beat you at the game first, relying entirely on his own skill as a gambler and an inveterate cheat.

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': In Mahri Nui, Kongu's air powers were severely weakened, limiting their use[[note]]he used his powers to force Defilak out of his air bubble, but that's about it[[/note]] and had a mask power that's [[BlessedWithSuck unpredictable to the point of doing more harm than help]], so he relied mainly on his twin [[GatlingGood Cordak Blasters]] in combat.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Yoruichi Shihoin relies almost exclusively on hand-to-hand combat, but she was a captain of Gotei 13 back in the day, meaning she must have achieved a shikai and bankai as any other captains do. Flashbacks to a century ago reveal that she used to carry a zanpakuto, but it is nowhere to be seen in the present day. She and Hachigen Ushoda (whose skill lies in kido) are the only exiled Shinigami to have never used their zanpakuto in anyway.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Yoruichi Shihoin relies almost exclusively on hand-to-hand combat, but she was a captain of Gotei 13 back in the day, meaning she must have achieved a shikai and bankai as any other captains do. Flashbacks to a century ago reveal that she used to carry a zanpakuto, but it is nowhere to be seen in the present day. She and Hachigen Ushoda (whose skill lies in kido) are the only exiled captains/vice-captains to have never used their zanpakuto in anyway.

* Although combining magic with swordplay is common in ''LightNovel/TheReincarnatedSwordSaintWantsToTakeItEasy'', the protagonist prefers to fight purely by skill and weaponry alone... [[spoiler:because his sword drains all magic in its area of effect, enforcing the trope, and none has fought him and survived the encounter to tell of its secret.]]

* ComicBook/MisterTerrific and Dr. Midnite from ''Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' both have powers that, while not entirely useless, are deeply unimpressive: the former can't be detected by machinery, while the latter can see in the dark. However, both of them are extremely intelligent and well-trained and use both facts to good advantage. ComicBook/{{Wildcat}} is also an example of this -- thanks to a magic spell he has nine lives. This offers no offensive use and he simply gets by on his martial arts and boxing prowess.
* ''Comicbook/{{Preacher}}'': as the series goes on, Jesse relies less and less on his CompellingVoice and simply fights his enemies with fists and guns. Jesse explains that he doesn't want to exploit his voice too much for fear that karma will come back around on him. In one instance he even admits that he ForgotAboutHisPowers. Writer Garth Ennis admitted that he'd written himself into a corner with Jesse's powers and began ignoring them to preserve the drama.
* In ''Comicbook/{{PS238}},'' Ambriel/Guardian Angel's power is a sort of sentient force that protects her from harm. She eventually got a baseball bat [[StuffBlowingUp that explodes things]], giving her a more combat-ready ability.

* Comicbook/{{Spawn}} has superpowers but prefers not to use them, since they're granted by hell and each use further damns his soul. Instead, he prefers to [[SuperheroPackingHeat pack some major heat]] to deal with his foes.

* WebComic/AxeCop owns a tornado gun and knows a move that hits his opponent with the adjacent state or province, [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands and who knows what else,]] but his favourite move? "I'll chop your head off!"

** Ruby's a demon, and while shown she does possessed abilities like other demons, for most of her appearances she's hardly shown, if at all, using them. Throughout season three she's a skilled martial art fighter, and as well in season four uses witchcraft, and kills other demons with her demon-killing knife in the vein of any human hunter. Until the end, demonic super strength is the only power she appeared to used blantantly.

* ''Film/MortalKombat'' and ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation'': Characters mostly fight with martial arts, either rarely using their special abilities from the games or not at all. In some fights, special moves would only be used as a finisher or when one is on the verge of losing and needs to regain the advantage. This isn't even getting into characters like Sonya, Kitana and Kano who seem to lack the powers of their game counterparts.

* In ''Fanfic/{{Juxtapose}}'', none of Izuku's three friends have a damaging component to their Quirks, leading them to take up martial arts and [[SimpleStaff a staff]] to defend themselves. Izuku is also this to an extent since he uses a staff as well because [[spoiler:his Quirk is too lethal to use against people haphazardly]].

* Happy Chaos from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear -STRIVE-'' is [[spoiler:the Original, the one who first discovered the Backyard, the source of all magic in the universe, and is the first and greatest magic user known to man.]] In stark contrast to his background, his main method of fighting is shooting with his [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolvers]], though he does use a bit of magic to help shoot things better.

* Combat training is standard for the ComicBook/XMen since many of them have powers that are either not specifically combat-oriented or too dangerous to utilize except as a last resort. Most of them mainly rely on their mutant powers, but exceptions include Characters/{{Cable|NathanSummers}} and [[Characters/XMen90sMembers Bishop]], two time-displaced soldiers with vast but hard-to-control powers who normally just use [[MoreDakka guns]].

* ComicBook/BlackCanary from the DCU may be the single best example. Her only superpower ([[MakeMeWannaShout sonic scream]]) is rarely used, and she's probably gone on 15-20 issue streaks of not using it at all, but she's a martial artist good enough to give [[Characters/BatmanLadyShiva Lady Shiva]] pause. Not surprising, as the character was strictly a [[BadassNormal martial artist]] for twenty years before she got her powers.

** Jessica Midnight possesses magical powers but relies on her armed and unarmed combat training. This is justified; Jessica having powers is in violation of Checkmate's Rule of Two that each super-powered or otherwise enhanced member in the “Royal Family” must have an un-powered counterpart in a corresponding position of power. Since there are already two bishops in Checkmate with superpowers (Thinker and August General In Iron), Jessica makes a third. Bea da Costa is the only one aware that Jessica has powers since she used them to defeat ComicBook/{{Deadshot}}.

* ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} has no powers except supernaturally heightened senses to make up for his blindness. He combines these with top notch martial arts training. ''Series/Daredevil2015'' further grounds this by showing Murdock regularly ending up winded or even on the verge of collapse from his fights against multiple people, being unable to take down many enemies in one blow, and often getting hit when ganged up on.
* [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]] possesses matter manipulation, telepathy, mind control, erosion blasts, chronokinesis, and teleportation. However, whenever he battles Franchise/{{Superman}}, he tends to just fight the Man of Steel with his bare hands while ignoring those other abilities (save for some occasional Omega Beams). Admittedly, a chunk of this is likely due to writers not really understanding Darkseid's powers.
* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'s sole superhuman power (HealingFactor) has no offensive use, so he tends to fight relying only on his skills, katanas, and guns. Granted, his power still allows him [[ExploitedImmunity to use self-destructive tactics that would get anyone else killed]].

* ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} adversary [[Characters/WolverineRoguesGallery Kenchiro Harada, aka the Silver Samurai]], possesses the {{mutant|s}} power to surround his sword with an energy field, effectively transforming it into a lightsaber. That's the extent of his powers, and in order to actually use it effectively, he's reliant on his martial arts training and mastery of swordsmanship.
* Combat training is standard for the ComicBook/XMen since many of them have powers that are either not specifically combat-oriented or too dangerous to utilize except as a last resort. Most of them mainly rely on their mutant powers, but exceptions include Comicbook/{{Cable}} and [[Characters/XMen90sMembers Bishop]], two time-displaced soldiers with vast but hard-to-control powers who normally just use [[MoreDakka guns]].

** Jessica Midnight possesses magical powers but relies on her armed and unarmed combat training. This is justified; Jessica having powers is in violation of Checkmate's Rule of Two that each super-powered or otherwise enhanced member in the “Royal Family” must have an un-powered counterpart in a corresponding position of power. Since there are already two bishops in Checkmate with superpowers (Thinker and August General In Iron), Jessica makes a third. Bea da Costa is the only one aware that Jessica has powers since she used them to defeat Characters/{{Deadshot}}.

** Stain is a formidable hand-to-hand fighter and KnifeNut. However, his combat ability is unrelated to his Quirk, which involves ingesting an opponent's blood to paralyze them. Either one alone is potentially dangerous. Combined they make Stain a dangerous enough supervillain to merit the nickname "Hero Killer."