History Main / NonLethalWarfare

* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E21OverABarrel Over A Barrel]]'' features a battle between the buffalo natives and settler ponies... fought entirely with ''[[EdibleAmmunition pies]]''. Complete with a LockAndLoadMontage featuring bakeries militarizing.

*** Not that Michigan has ever forgiven Ohio. To this day, the long-running rivalry betwixt the [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootballPower5Conferences University of Michigan and the Ohio State University]] is as bitter as it is entirely because it directly stems from origins in the Toledo War. Even residents of Toledo and its suburbs aren't in full agreement. Although part of Ohio, Toledo is geographically closer to Ann Arbor than to the Buckeyes' campus in Columbus, so loyalty is divided evenly among those two schools and their own [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootballConferences University of Toledo]].

*** Not that Michigan has ever forgiven Ohio. To this day, the long-running rivalry betwixt the UsefulNotes/UniversityOfMichigan and UsefulNotes/TheOhioStateUniversity is as bitter as it is entirely because it directly stems from origins in the Toledo War. Even residents of Toledo and its suburbs aren't in full agreement. Although part of Ohio, Toledo is geographically closer, to the UsefulNotes/UniversityOfMichigan than to the Buckeyes' campus, so loyalty is divided evenly among those two schools and their own University of Toledo.

* Similarly, ''G.I. Joe's'' sister show ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' showcased a brutal ForeverWar between two groups of [[NinjaZombiePirateRobot giant alien invader robots]], which - despite many firefights - had surpsingly little casualties[[note]]Characters were [[OutOfFocus simply forgotten about]] when [[MerchandiseDriven new "cooler" toys came along]][[/note]] on ''any'' side, human or robot... [[SubvertedTrope Until 1986]] and ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', which begins with a ''genocide'' before it starts using [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath a surprising amount of brutality]] in the almost systematic killing of fan-favourite characters [[DyingToBeReplaced whom Hasbro wanted to replace with new ones]]. Needless to say, the MoodWhiplash from this trope to a [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome frighteningly realistic]] WarIsHell one was enough to traumatize a lot of the intended target audience!

In RealLife, [[WarIsHell warfare is hardly an entertaining and carefree experience]], and [[HarmfulToMinors can seriously mess with kids' heads]]… [[ChildSoldier not to mention their bodies]]. However, warfare and fighting can easily make for good, clean fun in entertainment media, and is often marketed to children. Most parents and [[MoralGuardians Media Watchdogs]] are okay with media portraying Non-Lethal Warfare, regardless of the nature of the combat, its origins, the FridgeLogic or the UnfortunateImplications it may engender. No matter how lethal the weapons are, how dangerous the environment is, what the attitudes to enemy combatants and civilians are, no one dies or gets severely hurt. At least, not on-screen.

* [[https://dilbert.com/strip/1992-11-16 lampshaded]] in a 1992 arc of ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'', in which a civil war breaks out in the dim-witted fictional nation of Elbonia

* ''LightNovel/LibraryWar''. All the belligerents wear military-grade body armour. With few exceptions, their guns appear chambered for handgun bullets. Result: People get shot, people fall down with nasty bruises and possibly some cuts and are out of the fight. Few, if anyone, actually dies. This system seems to have been implemented on purpose since the Media Betterment Committee and the libraries are, essentially, involved in an institutionalized CivilWar under state supervision.

* ''LightNovel/InvadersOfTheRokujyouma'': The Blue Knight, the [[MessianicArchetype Messiah figure]] of the Holy Galactic Empire of Forthorthe, earned his fame not only for leading the royal family to triumph in an ancient civil war, but for being an IdealHero MartialPacifist who did so without a single casualty on either side. [[spoiler:He continues to act this way after his SecondComing in the present day, only breaking his vows in order to MercyKill villains who had [[OneWingedAngel transformed into demons incapable of reason]].]]

* In ''LightNovel/DateALive'', AST vs. Spirits. This is because the Spirits are NighInvulnerable and possess enough power to [[CurbStompBattle annihilate the AST]] [[ThisMeansWar should they ever decide to get serious]]. The AST's aim in these battles is mostly to be an annoyance and convince the girls to go away rather than defeat them outright. The AST's medical technology means casualties aren't serious.

* The Toledo War was an armed conflict in the 1830s, lasting one and a half years, between the state of Ohio and the then-territory of Michigan, over a piece of territory known as the Toledo Strip. The war caused a total of one serious injury, on Michigan's side, which was not life-threatening.
** While the Toledo Strip, which the war was fought over, is today part of Ohio, Michigan got the Upper Peninsula. At the time, the prevailing opinion was that Michigan got shortchanged, but that was before the generous mineral wealth underneath the Upper Peninsula's forested land was discovered. Today it's clear: the '''real''' loser of the Toledo War was ''Wisconsin''.
*** Not that Michigan has ever forgiven Ohio. To this day, the long-running rivalry betwixt the UsefulNotes/UniversityOfMichigan and UsefulNotes/OhioStateUniversity is as bitter as it is entirely because it directly stems from origins in the Toledo War. Even residents of Toledo and its suburbs aren't in full agreement. Although part of Ohio, Toledo is geographically closer, to the UsefulNotes/UniversityOfMichigan than to the Buckeyes' campus, so loyalty is divided evenly among those two schools and their own University of Toledo.

** The British Lions' 1974 tour of UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica became effectively [[UsefulNotes/TheSecondBoerWar the third Boer War]], played out on the [[RugbyIsSlaughter rugby fields]]. The anomosity between the two teams reached a peak where the Lions' captain, fed up with the over-robust play of the Springboeks, devised the ''Call Ninety-Nine''. This meant "forget the game. Run at the nearest [[AmoralAfrikaner South African]] player, and punch him." The reeasoning for this was that if all thirty players started a fist-fight at once, the referee would not know who to send off and would lose control of the game for just long enough for the Lions to make a point about dirty play by the Boers. The Battle of Ellis Park has gone down in rugby history.

* In ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'', Turf Wars and all of their derived events are entirely non-lethal, as being [[NonLethalKO splatted]] after sustained enemy ink fire is barely a slap in the wrist for Inklings and Octolings, who can easily go and restore themselves as long as they've been synced to a respawner. This is played with by the single-player campaigns; the player characters and enemy Octolings are usually synced to a respawner (which may have also been the case for [[GreatOffscreenWar the Great Turf War]] between Inklings and Octarians 100 years prior to the events of [[VideoGame/Splatoon1 the first game]]), but splatting the more basic Octarian troops seems to outright kill them.

* In ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'', Turf Wars and all of their derived events are entirely non-lethal, as being [[NonLethalKO splatted]] after sustained enemy ink fire is barely a slap in the wrist for Inklings and Octolings, who can easily go and restore themselves. This also extends to the events of the single-player campaign, since the Octarian soldiers can also restore themselves easily, and it's to be assumed it was also the case for [[GreatOffscreenWar the Great Turf War]] between Inklings and Octarians 100 years prior to the events of the first game.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'', Turf Wars and all of their derived events are entirely non-lethal, as being [[NonLethalKO splatted]] after sustained enemy ink fire is barely a slap in the wrist for the Inklings, who can easily go and restore themselves. This also extends to the events of the single-player campaign, since the Octarians can also restore themselves easily, and it's to be assumed it was also the case for [[GreatOffscreenWar the Great Turf War]] between Inklings and Octarians 100 years prior.

Compare with BloodlessCarnage and AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe. Contrast with how {{Snowball Fight}}s and [[PaintballEpisode Paintball Matches]] are PlayedForLaughs with exceedingly "gory" acting from the participants, especially when those involved act excessively militarily. Compare and contrast NobodyCanDie, where death is a narrative impossibility even when dealing with explicitly deadly weapons and situations.

Compare with BloodlessCarnage and AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe. Contrast with how {{Snowball Fight}}s and [[PaintballEpisode Paintball Matches]] are PlayedForLaughs with exceedingly 'gory' acting from the participants, especially when those involved act excessively militarily. Compare ''and'' contrast NobodyCanDie, where death is a narrative impossibility even when dealing with explicitly deadly weapons and situations.

See also TheParalyzer, FamilyFriendlyFirearms.

This trope isn't an indicator of the quality of the on-screen fighting though, which doesn't need to be lethal or [[ScarsAreForever scarring]] to be entertaining. If it were to be considered [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools "bad"]] it's only when it fails to carry WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief.

In RealLife, [[WarIsHell warfare is hardly an entertaining and carefree experience]], and [[HarmfulToMinors can seriously mess with kids' heads]]… [[ChildSoldier not to mention their bodies]]. However, warfare and fighting can easily make for good, clean fun in entertainment media, and is often marketed to children. Most parents and [[MoralGuardians Media Watchdogs]] are okay with media portraying Non-Lethal Warfare, regardless of the nature of the combat, its origins, the FridgeLogic or the UnfortunateImplications it may engender. No matter how lethal the weapons are, how dangerous the environment is, what the attitudes to enemy combatants and civilians are, [[BloodlessCarnage no one gets hurt]] and no-one dies. At least, not on-screen.

* In ''The Hormone Jungle'' by Creator/RobertReed, dozens of [[SpaceAmish technologically backwards]] micro-nations exist within America that practice ritualized warfare with non-lethal (but ''extremely'' painful) weaponry. The protagonist -- from the Yellowknife nation -- carries a wide assortment of stun guns, poisonous gasses, and knows martial arts.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', the Mechanist's people fight the Fire Nation with smoke, fire, and stink bombs. They also use presumably deadly fire bombs, though any death they might cause is obscured by the smoke and flash of the explosion. The fate of people "non-lethally" thrown off the cliffside of their mountain fortress is never questioned. This becomes a standard for fighting on Avatar as a whole: people get flung around and bruised on screen all the time, but death is only ever implied and done off-screen.

See also StunGuns, FamilyFriendlyFirearms.

** [[StunGuns "Set phasers to stun."]] Though they also have a "kill" setting, the good guys rarely ever used it. This meant some of the rare fights with good guys opposing good guys ended with only minor scrapes and bruises.

* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'': The Passive Weapons introduced in version 1.7 are designed not to kill [[note]]hitting an explosive crate is a separate issue[[/note]]. Instead, Tasen passive weapons are either StunGuns or impact weapons that throw their targets around harmlessly, while Komato passives either dissipate projectiles or do weirder things: farming XP, or cracking targets instantly at a distance. [[note]]The latter weapon is highly useful in ''lethal'' combat with Annihilators, too.[[/note]]

* Whenever a major battle breaks out in ''Anime/FutureBoyConan'', [[ATeamFiring despite both sides being armed with guns]] there are no casualties, even for unnamed characters. The only exceptions are Conan’s grandpa (killed by a bomb) and Lepka and his crew on the Gigan (who die when the airship crashes into the ocean).

* In Anime/FutureBoyConan whenever a major battle breaks out, despite both sides being armed with guns there are no casualties, even when a character appears to have been killed during a battle they always showed up alive later, save for Conan’s grandfather and the villain Lepka and his men in the finale.