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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"My favorite three questions are, 'What do I want?', 'What do I have?', and 'How can I best use the latter to get the former?'"''
|'''[[Character Tags|rationalist]]![[Alternate Universe Fic|Bella]]''', ''[[Luminosity]]''}}
Completing a triangle with the [[Action Hero]] and the [[Science Hero]], the Guile Hero is a hero who operates by [[The Chessmaster|playing politics]] and [[Manipulative Bastard|manipulating the bad guys]]. The Guile Hero trades swords and guns (or science and technology) for charm, wit, political and/or financial acumen, and an in-depth knowledge of human nature. The [[Chain of Deals]], along with the [[Social Engineering]] and [[Gambit Index]] tropes are all at the Guile Hero's fingertips. Often, a Guile Hero will manipulate the other good guys and a whole bunch of innocent bystanders as part of their scheme to bring down the [[Big Bad]], though they'll take care to ensure the other characters aren't truly harmed in the process (and if they fail, they'll be ''very'' sorry). The Guile Hero is likely to be a politician or a businessman, and engage in [[Battles of Wits]].
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{{examples}}
== Anime
* The Dollars from ''[[Durarara!!]]'' as a collective whole are a decentralized version of this. This partially stems from their decentralized nature (they have no concrete organization, mostly relying on cellphones and the Internet for communications, not to mention their lack of concrete vertical or horizontial chains of command), and it's partially because, while they do have muscle on the team, the vast majority of Dollars members are rank and file civilians of all ages, so many have to help using whatever means they have at hand, even if it's not in a direct fighting capacity, which Episode 22 of the anime shows in great detail.
* Kisuke Urahara in ''[[Bleach]]'' combines this with [[Action Hero]]. He can kick ass when he needs to, but he prefers to use the protagonists to act as his surrogates in his conflict with {{spoiler|Sosuke Aizen.}} Scary thing is, he's also a [[Science Hero]]. He's a [[Power Trio]] all in one.
* Rock in ''[[Black Lagoon]]''.
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* Chief Aramaki from ''[[Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex]]'' is shrewd and cunning, manipulating the inter-departmental bureaucracy of the Japanese government to ensure that his people can do their jobs.
* ''[[Legend of the Galactic Heroes]]'' give us Yang Wen-Li, a textbook example: he has all the skills of the [[Magnificent Bastard]] yet remains one of the nicest persons you could ever meet.
* Mamoru Takamura of ''[[Hajime no Ippo]]''. [[Jerkass|Arrogant, loudmouthed and mean]], he never stops [[Trickster Mentor|humiliating his fellow boxers]] or [[Kick Them While They Are Down|rubbing the defeat in their face]]. And yet, everyone in the gym looks up to him, especially Aoki, Kimura and Ippo, because not only he's a
* [[Sociopathic Hero]] version: Hiruma Youichi, Deimon Devilbats quarterback in ''[[Eyeshield 21]]''. How did he get his players? Blackmail, manipulation, or the ultimate fallback, guns. Lots of guns. What does he do with his players? Gives them all nicknames that start with "Fucking," and puts them through [[Training
* L from ''[[Death Note]]'', heroic counterpart to Light, who is pretty much the poster boy for [[Magnificent Bastard
** Also Near, though to a lesser extent as he spends most of his time as a good guy [[The Chessmaster|Chessmaster]]. Near makes a lot of inspiring speeches (when his assistants moan about how well Kira, Mello and the mafia seem to be doing), some that are clearly insincere.
* [[Colonel Badass|Colonel]] [[The Chessmaster|Roy]] [[Playing with Fire|Mustang]] from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. This is a noble guy who makes his "[[Urban Legend Love Life|lecherous behavior]]" a ''[[Jerkass Facade|disguise]]''. And there's how he deals with the [[Kill It with Fire|Maria]] [[Faking the Dead|Ross]] [[It Was His Sled|Incident]].
* Kyouya Ohtori from ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]''. Considering that Tamaki Suoh is an [[Idiot Hero]], and he's a [[Hypercompetent Sidekick]], he ''has'' to be one of these.
* It's a constant debate, both in-universe and amongst the fans, whether [[Irresponsible Captain Tylor|Justy Ueki Tylor]] is [[The Fool]], a [[Genius Ditz]], or a
* Pretty much every main character in a [[Meitantei]] series is this, in different degrees. Among them we have Hajime Kindaichi (''[[The Kindaichi Case Files]]''); Shinichi Kudo/Conan Edogawa (''[[Detective Conan]]''/''[[Case Closed]]''); Kyuu Renjou, his [[Five-Man Band]] and his mentor Morihiko Dan (''[[Tantei Gakuen Q]]''); Ryouko Yakushiji (''[[The Case Files of Yakushiji Ryoko]]''), etc.
** In the case of ''[[Detective Conan]]'', Conan is later joined by Heiji Hattori and Shiho Miyano/Sherry/Ai Haibara.
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* Virgo Shaka from ''[[Saint Seiya]]'', who also is an [[Action Hero]] (as a Gold Saint), a [[Combat Pragmatist]] ''and'' [[Psychic Powers|a powerful psychic]]. The combination of all of these traits makes him an terrifying opponent. Also Aries Mu, Libra Dohko and Phoenix Ikki {{spoiler|who actually ''defeats'' Shaka by manipulating and [[Out-Gambitted|out-gambitting]] him. }}.
* Although he's more of a [[Magical Girl Warrior|Magical Boy Warrior]], [[Mahou Sensei Negima|Negi Springfield]] has some inklings of this too, specially with how he out-gambitted {{spoiler|[[Magnificent Bastard|Kurt Godel]].}}
** Negi might be an example of all three types of Heroes. He uses what materials and abilities he has to become the
* [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|Aeolia Scheinberg.]] Who has pretty much staged ''the whole plot'' of the series {{spoiler|and still does this ''after his death''.}} Also Sumeragi Lee Noriega, who is [[The Strategist]] of Celestial Being... the groupo that Aeolia himself founded.
* [[Badass Pacifist|Lacus]] [[Silk Hiding Steel|Clyne]] of ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' and ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'' combines this with [[The Messiah]] in order to set herself up as a political and ideological counterpoint to first [[General Ripper|Patrick Zala]], and [[Complete Monster|Murata Azrael]], and later [[Dark Messiah|Gilbert]] [[Manipulative Bastard|Durandal]]. Playing on [[Idol Singer|her own fame]], and that of her martyred father Siegel Clyne, she talks people into switching sides, steals a battleship, launches a propaganda campaign that completely undermines both sides of the moronic war that's being fought, and ultimately gathers an army that's able to take them down and end the fighting. She also funnels her money into a private [[Humongous Mecha|Mobile Suit]] factory, so that when the next war breaks out, her side has up to date technology.
* Also [[Sugar and Ice Personality|Audrey]] [[Woman in White|Burne]] from ''[[Gundam Unicorn]]'', a young woman who easily relies on her wit and persuasion as a means to fulfill her goals. Banagher calls her out on it in the second episode twice, first when she attempts to get him to escape with her from the Nahael Argama, and then when she is persuading Daguza to shoot her when her true identity as {{spoiler|Princess Mineva Lao Zabi}} is revealed.
* Relena Peacecraft from ''[[Gundam Wing]]'', as the precursor to the two aforementioned ''[[Gundam]]'' heroines, also exhibits this. Being an [[Actual Pacifist]] means she may not do a lot overtly, especially when her allies are all [[One-Man Army|One-Man Armies]], but she makes exceptional use of her charisma, empathy, and speaking skills to oppose the globe-spanning military-industrial complex which has been manipulating the planet into war for generations. Her real [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] comes when {{spoiler|said complex convinces her to become their figurehead leader, and she parlays that into '''complete control of the organization''' merely by convincing its members to work for peace rather than war}}. All this from a [[Improbable Age|15-year-old]] girl whose only credentials are being a diplomat's adopted daughter and the princess of a destroyed country (which she only learns about five episodes into the series, and spends seven months mostly off-camera rebuilding and acclimating herself to the role).
* [[Byronic Hero]] Lelouch Lamperouge from ''[[Code Geass]]''. He prefers to play politics to sideline his opponents most of the time. For instance, at one point after losing his most important fighter and being attacked by the two most powerful armies in that universe - the Chinese and the Brittanian - he manages to [[Engineered Public Confession|manipulate the Eunuch Generals into announcing their evil plans to their entire country]], inciting riots and getting them to lose their Brittanian support. This plan went very smoothly because he managed to steal it from a third bad guy without that third opponent ever telling something about it, who had no choice but to support Lelouch after this fight. Using politics he managed to sideline one bad empire, destroy a second one and get the support of the third one.
* Homeron in the ''[[Blue Dragon]]'' anime.
* Clow Reed {{spoiler|and his reincarnation Eriol Hiiragizawa}} in ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura]]''.
* Toru from ''[[Iris Zero]]''.
* When Carol Reed from ''[[Oke no Monshou]]'' is exploring some Egyptian ruins, she's the victim of a curse and ends up thrown into [[Ancient Egypt]]. Luckily for Carol, she is a [[Cute Bookworm]] who's more or less familiar with old Egyptian culture, thus she uses said knowledge as well as her quick wits to protect herself and survive while helping out those who need her.
* ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'': All of the protagonists. Battles in this series are more about tactics and mind-games than power levels and the heroes are ''very'' good at this.
* Leonhardt "Leon" Aschenbach from ''[[Honoo no Alpen Rose]]'', who manages to {{spoiler|use his own concert to escape from Vienna alongside his childhood friend Lundi.}}
* Meta Knight in ''[[Kirby Right Back At Ya]]'' leans further towards this than in the games - especially since he's definitely on Kirby's side in the anime. Nevertheless, he's so charismatic that he's very popular with the Cappies, and they even made a mini-figure of him. At the end of the series, {{spoiler|he reveals that he had been building his [[Cool Airship|Battleship Halberd]] in King Dedede's basement ever since he came to Dreamland to everybody can battle Nightmare from inside it during their final assault on his fortress}}.
* Nami, Chopper, and Usopp in ''[[One Piece]]''. While all members of the crew (even Luffy) can lean into this at times, the "Weak Trio" are on a far lower tier regarding [[Action Hero]] skills. That does ''not'' make them less dangerous, of course, as most would agree the others would be lost without them.
== Comic Books ==
* [[Batman]]. Also very much an [[Action Hero]]. And a [[Science Hero]].
** Following Batman's footstep, [[Batman|Tim Drake]] Red Robin seems to be adopting this facet of crime fighting.
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* Charles Xavier of the ''[[X-Men]]''. Aside from being a telepath, he keeps secrets even from his own team, has faked his own death as a ruse, and has employed secret operatives for when [[Shoot the Dog|dogs need to be shot]].
* John Constantine from ''[[Hellblazer]]''.
* [[Squirrel Girl]] is clearly this ''and'' an [[Action Girl]]. Originally, her victories over Marvel's titans were assumed to have been done the old-fashioned way, and quite a few of them were. However, in her own title, she has often achieved victory by outsmarting, distracting, or even befriending the enemy.
* [[Affectionate Parody]] of John Constantine, John Konstantin from the
* Mason from ''[[The Invisibles]]''.
* Dwight from the ''[[Sin City]]'' story "A Dame To Kill For". While healing from severe gunshot wounds and on the run from the cops, he had to convince the girls of Old Town to help him out. In a later story called "Family Values", he politely manipulates a crime family into ruin.
** Wallace also manage to gain the cooperation of Sin City cops in ''Hell and Back'' while getting his friends to supply him with enough guns to take out the [[Big Bad]].
* While most characters in the ''[[Asterix]]'' books tend to default to [[Action Hero|violence]] (hey, [[When All You Have Is a Hammer|when all you have is a magic potion that gives you super strength]]...), Asterix himself switches to
* In [[The Eighties]], [[DC Comics]] gave us two of what remain their best Guile Hero (and Guile Hero''[[Gender Flip|ine]]''): Vril Dox and [[Suicide Squad|Amanda Waller]].
* [[Depending on the Writer]], Dr. Midnite III qualifies. Like his predecessors, he's a licensed medical doctor and a vigilante, but he keeps his Hippocratic Oath.
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* ''[[Erstwhile]]'' has the title character of "The Farmer's Clever Daughter", who earns her happy ending by predicting what the king will do and [[Engagement Challenge|solving a riddle he sets before her]].
* Zita from ''[[Zita the Spacegirl]]'' while she has few [[Action Hero]] moments, usually goes this route for most of the graphic novel.
* [[Superman]] is no slouch with guile. While his life embodies [[Brains Evil, Brawn Good]], he will often have to resort to having to outsmart his opponent when his brawn doesn't do him any good. This is most apparent against Mr. Mxyzptlk, as Supes has to trick him into saying his last name backwards because he is a nigh-
* Ihto Kata from ''[[Spirou]]'', a [[Actual Pacifist|purely non-violent]] but extremely skilled and intelligent stage magician who knows how to drive people insane with his [[Impossible Thief|impossible feats of thievery]] and [[Escape Artist|escape artistry]] or subtly manipulate them into giving him what he wants.
== Fairy Tales ==
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brave_Little_Tailor "The Brave Little Tailor"] is a Guile Hero because he fools people into ''thinking'' he's a powerful [[Action Hero]].
== Fan Works ==
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''I want to live. I have the power of speech. How can I get what I want?''
And then I spoke the words. '' }}
* Raonar Aeducan in ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6072033/1/Dragon_Age_The_Crown_of_Thorns Dragon Age: The Crown of Thorns
* ''[[Harry Potter and
* The four do their damnedest to be Guile Heroes in ''[[With Strings Attached]]'', since they're [[Actual Pacifist
* [[Sixth Ranger|Trixie]] in the ''[[Pony POV Series]]'' becomes one of these after her [[Heel Face Turn]]. She uses her cunning and ability to lie flawlessly to aid the group in their goals. A great example is {{spoiler|faking a hostage situation to distract Princess Gaia's [[Dragon]] so the others can take her down.}}
** {{spoiler|Orangejack, Applejack's one of [[Alternate Universe]] selves, proves to be this, using her brain to help her and Applejack defeat Nightmare Mirror with a [[Fake Defector]] gambit.}}
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* Fraizer from ''[[Inside Man]]''. [[Magnificent Bastard]] Russel even lampshades this by saying that Fraizer is "too smart to be a cop".
* Coca-Cola manager MacNamara from ''[[One, Two, Three]]''.
* Caesar from ''[[Rise of the Planet of the Apes]]''.
* Harvey Dent from ''[[The Dark Knight]]''.
* Pretty much any character played by [[The Marx Brothers|Groucho Marx]]. To give some idea, he was at least a partial influence on Sheriff Bart, mentioned above, and the main inspiration for Bugs Bunny, mentioned below. Of course, in [[Real Life]], Groucho himself had a tendency toward being a
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* Miles Vorkosigan of the ''[[Vorkosigan Saga]]''. Actually, [[Big Badass Family|the whole Vorkosigan family]] qualifies, each with their own signature brand of guile:
** Miles is the manic king of [[Xanatos Speed Chess]] and the [[Indy Ploy]].
** In ''[[Shards of Honor]]'' and as Regent, Aral marshals his legitimate power and deeper-laid plans to play the [[The Chessmaster]]. (But [[I Did What I Had to Do|only out of harsh necessity]].)
** The [[Batman Gambit]] could have been called the Cordelia Gambit.
** Mark can use his native intelligence and Jacksonian [[Planet of Hats|hat]] as a businessman to run a [[Get Rich Quick Scheme]] scheme that actually works, followed by unabashed [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money]].
** Even cousin Ivan, [[Butt Monkey]] that he may be, can be a distressingly effective example of [[The Charmer]] when he needs to.
*** It should be remembered that Ivan is ''[[Obfuscating Stupidity|willingly]]'' a [[Butt Monkey]], in order not to attract too much political attention on him. He's third (or fourth, after [[Mirror Dance]]) in line for the throne, after all.
* [[Kim]] in the novel by that name by [[Rudyard Kipling]].
* Francis Crawford of Lymond. My God, [[Lymond Chronicles|Francis Crawford of Lymond]]. Also, by the same author, Nicholas de Fleury in the ''House of Niccolo'' series.
* Kelsier of ''[[Mistborn]]'' straddles the line between this and [[Magnificent Bastard]]. He's unambiguously on the good guys' ''side'', but often comes perilously close towards [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|slipping]] into [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] or even [[Knight Templar]] territory. He's also a brilliant revolutionary who takes down an [[The Empire|Empire]] ruled by a [[Physical God]]... {{spoiler|and he does it ''[[My Death Is Just the Beginning|posthumously]]''.}}
** Elend [[Character Development|becomes one]] during the Well of Ascension.
** Sanderson loves this trope. Wax, the protagonist of ''[[The Alloy of Law]]'' is also a bit of a
** Also from works by [[Brandon Sanderson]], ''[[Elantris]]'' features Princess Sarene (a very skilled political [[Chessmaster]]), and her betrothed, Prince Raoden (not as sneaky, but ''boy'' does he have charisma and knows how to use it). Vasher from ''[[Warbreaker]]'' is this as well, to a degree, as is Kaladin from [[The Stormlight Archive]]. Really, if it says [[Brandon Sanderson]] on the cover, chances are at least one character is a
* Most heroic characters in ''[[Discworld]]'' qualify. [[Boxed Crook]] [[Con Man]] Moist von Lipwig is a great example.
** Granny Weatherwax has her Headology, and Vimes has a certain amount of this. He knows how to be a good copper and how to play people and situations to come out on top. Vetinari is the morally-grey version. It says a lot about him that he is listed both here and on the [[Magnificent Bastard]] page.
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** They also make far more interesting, more likable, and more all-round awesome characters, hence 'most'. Also, hence '[[Ensemble Darkhorse|everyone loves]] [[Magnificent Bastard|Vetinari]]'.
* Lyra from ''[[His Dark Materials]]''. She is so good at this she earns the title "Lyra Silvertongue".
* ''[[Artemis Fowl]]''
* [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] - ''The Thrawn Series''
** ''[[The Thrawn Trilogy]]'' - As a Grand Admiral, Thrawn is unquestionably a [[Magnificent Bastard]] and a bad guy who [[I Lied|lies]] and [[You Have Failed Me...|executes incompetent suboordinates]], albeit one [[Affably Evil|who is]] [[A Lighter Shade of Grey|less evil than most]]. Interestingly, the younger he is, or the longer it's been since his death, the more morally ambiguous he is. In a novella called "Side Trip", he disguises himself as the Mandalorian bounty hunter/Boba Fett's [[Palette Swap]], Jodo Kast, and helps undercover cop [[X Wing Series|Corran Horn]] while taking down someone as a favor for Darth Vader. In ''[[Outbound Flight]]'' he's... again, ambiguous, but he's at his most heroic. And he pulls more than one ''epic'' game of [[Xanatos Speed Chess]] in his efforts to, ultimately, wipe out a force of nomadic slavers and safeguard his [[Martial Pacifist]] people
::One of those is how he took out a [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Special_Task_Force_One Trade Federation taskforce] that attacked him, which had two battleships, six armored transports, seven escort cruisers, and three thousand vulture droid starfighters. He had three small cruisers and nine heavy starfighters. He wiped it out, capturing the flagship. Without taking any casualties. Having never seen or heard of the Trade Federation before they turned up.
** ''[[Hand of Thrawn]]'' - The mains find that he set up the Empire of the Hand, which looks like the Empire, is arranged like the Empire, and has Imperials in it, but is a good government. Well, more or less. They're still pretty ruthless.
** In ''[[Survivors Quest]]'', thirteen years after he died, Mara finds reason to believe that he's back. She decides not to inquire too closely about that. If he is back, he's not their enemy anymore.
** ''[[Star Wars/Choices of One|Choices of One]]'' and the novella ''Crisis of Faith'' have no viewpoint characters opposing him. Consequently he comes off as a flat-out Guile Hero in both of them; there is a quiet and minimized undercurrent of threat to him in Choices of One and he explicitly states, when asked, that he has no love for the Rebel Alliance. But in Crisis he seems almost fond of his forces, and clearly wants to avoid civilian casualties.
* In ''[[Dragaera|The Phoenix Guards]]'', [[Camp Straight|Pel]] gets his [[True Companions]] and himself out of prison by tricking a guard into propositioning his (Pel's) lover, who then almost kills the guard in a duel. Then she asks the poor guy who put him up to it, he tells her, and she pulls some strings to get Pel and the others out.
** Vlad Taltos also invokes this trope a lot; he has to be smart and sneaky to last as long as he has, first in [[Career Killers|an extremely dangerous profession]] and later {{spoiler|on the run from ''the entire Jhereg''.}}
* Alaric from the ''[[Warhammer
* Tavi from the ''[[Codex Alera]]''. This, coupled with a hefty dose of [[Badass Normal]], is really the only way to survive as the ''one Muggle'' in a world where everyone has [[Elemental Powers]]. Ehren, too. Lampshaded by Max, who calls the two of them "sneaky little gits."
* Although ''The [[Dresden Files]]'' Harry Dresden is best known as a magical brawler with [[Running Gag|a tendency to]] [[Destructive Savior|burn down buildings]], it's only because very few realize that he achieves his most impressive victories with wits alone (and [[The Dreaded|he is not exactly eager to enlighten them]]). For instance, in ''Blood Rites'', he manages to manipulate Lara Raith into doing what he wanted, and political intrigue is her lifestyle.
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* El-ahrairah, star of the ''[[Watership Down]]'' [[Mythopoeia]]. He's like a cross between [[Bugs Bunny]] and [[Beowulf]]. Or even Odysseus: they are even linked in the book, where the human is accused of stealing tricks from the rabbit.
* Poison, the heroine of the [[The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray|Chris Wooding]] book of the same name, would count as this, as she uses strategy, trickery and intellect to fight rather than brute force. This is also true for many other characters in the story, including villains.
* [[Sherlock Holmes]]. His rival Alan Alda... er Irene Adler is a
* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'': Tyrion Lannister, if you consider him [[Black and Grey Morality|a hero]].
** Arya Stark has had to rely on her wits to survive just as
** Also, {{spoiler|Arya's older sister Sansa}} is falling between either this or a [[Magnificent Bitch]] (likely due to [[Trickster Mentor|being taken in and "trained"]] by {{spoiler|Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish}}). Really, you ''can't'' be an important player in this story ''and'' survive if you aren't smarter than the average fantasy hero. {{spoiler|Eddard Stark was ''killed'' because of his straightforward sense of honour - and ''he'' was a protagonist in Book One}}.
* Dirk Pitt from the ''[[NUMA Series]]''.
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** Skeeve, his former apprentice and current partner, has learned a lot from Aahz, and at times is even better than him at this.
* Scheherazade from ''[[Arabian Nights]]''. To save her own life and stop the Sultan from killing more concubines, she worms her way into his heart with her beauty, her smarts, and her breath-taking stories.
** Most heroes of the Arabian Nights are a combination of
* In the [[Tamora Pierce]] ''[[Tortall Universe]]'', Alianne of Pirates Swoop. She's a spy, chosen by a [[Trickster Archetype|trickster god]], and she can't even let her allies know her true identity. She lives entirely off her wits.
* Thom Merrilin from ''[[The Wheel of Time]]''. He's handy with knives when he has to be, but what he really brings to the table is an intuitive knack for politics that lets him play the protagonists' opponents off against each other without anyone suspecting that he's responsible, and a gift for sifting through rumour and gossip to see larger patterns.
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* [[Badass Grandpa|Harald]] in ''[[Harald]]''.
* Most [[The Brothers Grimm (creator)|The Brothers Grimm]] characters are this. Most notably in "[[The Brave Little Tailor]]".
* Jim from ''[[Mogworld]]'' leans this way sometimes.
* [[Time Scout
* Jig the Golin, eponymous hero of the series by [[Jim C. Hines]] combines this with [[Cowardly Lion]].
* Shukhov from ''[[One Day in
* [[Horatio Hornblower]] and the titular characters of the ''[[Aubrey-Maturin]] series'' have absolutely no problems lying as much as they can without breaking the law and provoking internation incidents. Aubrey himself will lie like a rug in his personal life, and Maturin is a full time spy.
** The [[RCN Series]] series is based on the latter, and since the heroes are often out at the tip of the spear, so to speak, they will lie like crazy in order to complete their mission. It helps that they face a lot of idiots.
** ''[[Honor Harrington]]'', the counterpart to the former, is very straightforward. She can be deceptive militarily, but isn't a very good liar otherwise.
* Peeta Mellark from ''[[The Hunger Games]].'' He's the [[Non-Action Guy]] to Katniss' [[Action Girl]], but knows how to manipulate the Capitol audience and knows the right lies to use (like when he claims {{spoiler|that Katniss is pregnant}}).
* Psmith, of P.G. Wodehouse's ''[[Psmith]]'' books.
* Ruth from ''[[Someone Else's
* Morgiana from ''[[Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves]]'', although she manages to combine this Trope with [[Action Girl]] in the climax, killing the leader of the Forty Thieves as he watches her perform a sword-dance.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* Patrick Jane from ''[[The Mentalist]]'' turned into this after using his "powers" as a psychic got his family murdered. New CBI boss Molly Hightower demonstrates impressive signs in her introductory episode, [[Manipulative Bastard|identifying a threat that will actually make Jane think before he acts too outrageously]], then setting up a situation giving Jane the opportunity to pull off one of his stunts when normal police methods aren't working, and finally engaging in a bit of [[I Know You Know I Know]] with Jane to make him aware she let him get away with it. Jane is impressed with the new boss.
* Mr. Chapel, ''[[Vengeance Unlimited]]''. His gambits use the services of previous clients.
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* Ed Deline, from ''[[Las Vegas]]''.
* Michael Westen in ''[[Burn Notice]]'' is this ''and'' an [[Action Hero]], and [[MacGyvering|sometimes]] a [[Science Hero]] too.
* The Doctor from ''[[Doctor Who]]''. [[Bavarian Fire Drill
** The Seventh Doctor. ''Remembrance of the Daleks'' is one of the best examples of this, when {{spoiler|[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|he tricks Davros into destroying Skaro and convinces a Dalek to commit suicide]]}}.
** "I'm the Doctor and you're in the Universe's biggest library! Look me up!", after which the ''Flesh-Eating Shadow'' backs off.
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* The title character of ''[[Veronica Mars]]''.
* Dr. James Wilson of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' is the only person in the series who has successfully manipulated the title character multiple times. Not only that, but he's less of an [[Anti-Hero]] than almost the entire rest of the cast. The title character is additionally a Guile [[Anti-Hero]] [[Manipulative Bastard]].
* Benjamin Sisko on ''[[Star Trek:
* Jean-Luc Picard on ''[[Star Trek: The
* Neal Caffrey, con artist-turned-FBI consultant from ''[[White Collar]]''.
* Adelle DeWitt in ''[[Dollhouse]]'' is an expert in playing the politics (and just plain manipulating everyone) in order to protect her House.
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* Londo Mollari and John Sheridan from ''[[Babylon 5]]'' are both clear examples of this, albeit in Mollari's case an ambiguously good one.
* In ''[[Farscape]]'', Rygel, Noranti and John Crichton are all good examples of this trope.
* [[Chronic Hero Syndrome|Michael Scofield]] of '
* [[Maverick (TV series)|Brett and Bart Maverick]] move through the
* Hannibal Hayes comes up with the plans for his partner in ''[[Alias Smith and Jones]]''.
* Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith usually tries to squeeze his enemies before he and his [[A-Team]] destroy them.
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** Many characters (particularly Rothstein, Jimmy, Margaret, Meyer Lansky and Chalky) would actually fit this trope quite well, but all of them (with the exception of Margaret and arguably Jimmy) are less scrupulous than Nucky, and none of them are as clever, and both Jimmy and Chalky have actiony moments. The Commodore is more of an out and out [[Magnificent Bastard]].
* Robert Goren from ''[[Law and Order: Criminal Intent]]''. He knows exactly how to push people's buttons, and has manipulated many a criminal into a confession through his understanding of their psychology.
* [[Mission: Impossible|The Impossible Missions Force]] is ''made'' of this trope.
* [[Hogan's Heroes]] kept an espionage/sabotage operation going in a Luftstalag for three years.
* Jarod from ''[[The Pretender]]''.
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* Director of Operations Neil Burnside in ''[[The Sandbaggers]]''.
* Henry from ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV series)|Once Upon a Time]]'' is all of ten years old, but employs all kinds of tricks (stolen credit cards, the [[Living Lie Detector]] ability he appears to have inherited from Emma, taking advantage of his adopted mother's absences) in order to try and fight off the curse he's realized is affecting the town.
* Artemus Gordon from ''[[The Wild Wild West (TV series)|The Wild Wild West]]'', especially in the first (black-and-white) season. His forte was disguises, patter, and misdirection. In one episode late in the first season, he complained that he "cheated" when taking out two opponents because he had to use force.
== Myths & Religion ==
* [[Greek Mythology|Odysseus]] must surely be the patron saint of the
** Let's be clear about something: Odysseus may be more mortal than say Achilles or Hercules but he's still carrying the blood of Hermes, one of the greatest tricksters in myth; and Autolycus, the Prince of Thieves, by way of his mother Anticlea so he's starting with a leg up on most others in ways of trickery.
** He's also a big enough bastard that he's condemned to the lowest level of Hell in ''[[The Divine Comedy]]''.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* In tabletop RPGs, while storytelling-oriented Game Masters tend to leave these things to players, there often are [[Class and Level System|classes]] or [[Point Build System|character builds]] which are oriented towards smarts and talk. The bard could be a ''[[
* In ''[[
* The idea of the Face build in ''[[Shadowrun]]''.
** Also the Face class in Spycraft.
* ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]'': The Scorpion Clan is infamously a clan of assassins, blackmailers, and spies, who view honor as contemptible and enlightenment as a lie. Their leaders have a private book of advice passed down to their heirs, a passage of which explains the depth of the clan's deceptions: {{spoiler|"How easy it is to corrupt a man, and how difficult to make him just." The Scorpion Clan prey upon the vices of the other clans as part of a massive [[Batman Gambit]] to make the other clans remember their own duties.}}
* ''[[Exalted]]'': while anyone with a high Manipulation would qualify, Changing Moon Lunars (especially Tamuz), the less malevolent Fiend caste Infernals, and Starmetal caste Alchemicals are engaged in a three-way proxy war to see who gets the crown...with the Sidereals sitting back to see who wins and working on strategies to manipulate any one of them.
* The Player Characters in ''[[The Call of Cthulhu]]'' RPG. While there are rules for combat in this game, they're rarely used, and PCs do not get physically tougher as they gain levels; if a player starts with 12 hit points, that will ''always'' be his maximum. The game puts far more emphasis on role playing and investigating, and a PCs' [[Sanity Meter]] (which does indeed increase with experience) is more important than hit points. In fact, should the PCs actually encounter the demonic servants of the Great Old Ones, the best option is simply to run away - ''fast''.
== Theatre ==
* [[Sophocles]] treats Odysseus, the quintessential
== Video Games ==
*
* In ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'', monsters and goons will often force physical confrontations, but it is very, very rare to have an actual story objective that can only be achieved with violence. Usually, smooth talking, quick thinking, or outright deceit can carry the day every bit as easily as barreling in and breaking things.
* This is also true in the ''[[Fallout]]'' games, where you gain extra XP and other rewards for succeeding at speech challenges. There are also perks that open extra dialog options with various characters.
** [[Fallout: New Vegas]]
* Styled after the previous games, ''[[Arcanum]]: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura'' also fits: with a high enough intelligence and charisma, the player character can effectively avoid almost every fight in the game, and look good while doing it.
** A purely diplomatic character, missing out on the experience from combat, will finish the game at a lower level, but have a much more powerful overall party. The maximum number of NPC followers can wield every [[Infinity+1 Sword|endgame weapon]], all at higher levels due to earning the combat experience themselves. Even if your character doesn't [[Talking the Monster to Death|talk their way out]] of the [[Final Battle]], they can still breeze through it.
* Every protagonist in ''[[Five Nights at Freddy's]]'' is one. There's no fighting option (that would contradict the point of [[Strategy Game| the genre]]) so you have to outsmart the bad guys to survive.
* [[Nippon Ichi]] loves this trope. Seraph Lamington from ''[[Disgaea]]'' basically manipulated the entire plot of the first game. Virtuous from ''[[Soul Nomad]]'' designed a plan to solve the real problem with the world. Mr. Champloo was part of a [[Batman Gambit]] orchestrated by his boss to counter the scheme of the [[Big Bad]] of the [[Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice|third
* Lillet Blan in ''[[Grim Grimoire]]'' out foxes the devil in a display of cunning that even impresses her demon teacher.
* The Warden of ''[[Dragon Age]]'' is a hybrid of this and [[Action Hero]] if played as a good-aligned character. If played as a [[Villain Protagonist]], the Warden becomes a [[Magnificent Bastard]], instead.
* Commander Shepard of ''[[Mass Effect]]''. Shepard will be a
** [[Badass Bookworm|Liara T'Soni]] [[Character Development|evolves]] into one of these by ''[[Mass Effect 2]]''.
* In any ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' Shu mode, especially in 5 and 6, [[The Chessmaster|Zhuge Liang]] will willingly become this in order to keep any Shu citizen's ire off [[The Hero|Liu Bei]] or any other officer with a reputation as a good man. At some points it skirts towards [[Magnificent Bastard]] for the same reasons, namely, ensuring Shu's success while making himself out to be a cold-hearted bastard so Liu Bei seems all the more virtuous for it.
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* Naoto Shirogane from ''[[Persona 4]]'', especially seen when {{spoiler|she intentionally gets herself kidnapped in hopes of figuring out who the kidnapper was while at the same time completely expecting the "Investigation Team" to come rescue her. That being said, Kanji ''does'' chew her out for putting herself in danger.}}
** Also the Main Character, who saves almost everyone around him with words and simple emotional guidance.
*** Both of the protagonists from ''3'' and ''4''. Who knew you could weaponize
* ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' games require the player to develop some skills with this with the demon talk mechanic, too. In every game, you really have zero hope of advancing if you do not learn to interact with demons, learning to flatter, bribe and deceive them into serving you, helping you, or just leaving you alone.
* Elphin the Bard from ''[[Fire Emblem]] 6'', who is the brains of [[La Résistance|the West Isles resistence]] while Lalam is the heart and Echidna is the brawns and leader. {{spoiler|He is also Prince Mildain of Etruria, thought to have died in an accident, but no one is supposed to know that. At least not until the war is over and he can return home safely.}}
** Roy, the hero of the game, is this and an [[Action Hero]]. {{spoiler|He finds out about Elphin's identity almost on his own, after all.}}
** ''[[Fire Emblem:
*** OTOH, Ephraim's twin sister Princess Eirika aims to become a guile heroine, but she is more of [[The Messiah]] - using her kindness and charisma rather than deceit and tactics, alongside [[Heroes Prefer Swords|her swordmanship]].
* The ''[[Geneforge]]'' series of games allows the player with high Leadership to pass through diplomatically, an avoid picking a side amongst the factions, at least up until the endgame. A powerful shaper/lifecrafter can summon Mons and arrange them tactically enough to avoid all personal contact with battle.
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* {{spoiler|Elaine Marley-Threepwood}} in ''[[Tales of Monkey Island]]''. {{spoiler|She laid down an intricate master plan, used her charm back in Chapter 2 to make sure Guybrush would play his part in said plan, and repeatedly engaged in swordplay and (in one case) naval warfare to help move things along.}}
* [[Professor Layton]]. Helps that the games he's in revolve entirely around solving puzzles.
* {{spoiler|Battler Ushiromiya}} graduates to this in Episode 6 of ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]''. {{spoiler|And both he and Beatrice take it [[Up to Eleven]] in Episode 8.}}
** Similarly, in the earlier work ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'', {{spoiler|Rika Furude}} serves as the heroic analogue to [[Magnificent Bitch]] {{spoiler|Miyo Takano}}.
* {{spoiler|Kratos Aurion}} in ''[[Tales of Symphonia]].'' {{spoiler|His plan to let a human wield the Eternal Sword relies on him repeatedly betraying the party and playing both sides so that he can finally [[Death Seeker|die]]. It's [[Heel Face Revolving Door|never really clear what side he's on]] until the end,}} and although it is his sword skills that are commented on the most, his plotting does a lot more to drive the story forward.
* Rachel Alucard in ''[[
* In ''[[Little Nightmares]]'', Six cannot fight, and must avoid and/or outsmart enemies to survive and escape. Downplayed a little with the second game, as Six still cannot fight at all, and while there are ways for Mono to do so, it is still very much a [[Stealth-Based Mission]] type of game.
* ''[[Limbo]]'' is a lot like ''Little Nightmares'', as it's more of a [[Puzzle Game]] where the unnamed child has to either flee or outsmart enemies most of the time. Not that he can't dispose of enemies, and often does so in... graphic methods. [[Rasputinian Death| That poor spider...]]
== Web Comics ==
* {{spoiler|Petey}} from ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' isn't above manipulating others into doing work for him, although he has been willing to use direct force occasionally.
* The title hero of ''[[Dominic Deegan]]'' likes to think he's one of these, the occasional [[Xanatos Backfire]] and [[What the Hell, Hero?]] moment notwithstanding.
* Terezi of ''[[Homestuck]]'' is said to have killed or captured entire parties of F[[LARP
* Elator ( "Elly") of ''[[Dubious Company]]'' has managed to overthrow at least one mutiny and one riot due to his understanding of politics... and that people like to get [https://web.archive.org/web/20130607111839/http://dubiouscompany.com/comics/2011/05/31 drunk].
== Web Original ==
* The obligatory ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' example would be Ayla "Phase" Goodkind. (S)he is genuinely concerned for people and sincerely wants to help them, and at need is ready to fight toe-to-toe with demons, monsters and supervillains, but Phase is at heart a [[Chessmaster]] whose preferred realm is espionage, trickery, manipulation, bribery and financial pressure. As a ''friend'' puts it: "No one else quite has that ''when I rule the world I will not permit such behavior'' attitude".
* Cassidy Cain in ''[[Grandmaster of Theft]]'' is a
== Western Animation ==
* [[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]] is a roguish street rat who gets by via theft and
* Rattrap from ''[[Beast Wars]]'' is the quintessential Guile Hero. Uses his brains and cunning in every situation, will feign loyalty and pretend to switch sides an abandon his team to gain access to information that will really further his team's goals.
* Especially in ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'' (but other adaptations as well), [[Spider-Man]] is the entire
* Heloise on ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', whenever she decides to side with [[Morality Pet|Jimmy]].
* Sokka from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. He is the one who comes up with the majority of their battle strategies.
* [[The Heart|Sally]] from ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'' uses her brain to get out of tight spots. Justified as being a ragdoll doesn't lend you much strength.
* In an episode of ''[[My Little Pony:
** Princess Celestia counts as well: Equestria has been threatened by out-of-control [[God of Evil|malicious gods]] twice now, and both times Celestia has managed to bring about their defeat, not by using her considerable power, but by ''mailing letters.''
* While [[Bugs Bunny]]
{{quote|[[Rabbit Seasoning|"You keep out of this! He doesn't have to shoot you now!"]]}}
== [[Real Life]] ==
* King Juan Carlos I of Spain. When Francisco Franco agreed to change Spain from a different kind of dictatorship to an absolute monarchy, he started trying to groom the "Prince of Spain", Juan Carlos of the Borbón House, into a good successor who'd maintain the authoritarian state. The prince went along with this, publicly supporting Franco, enduring harsh criticism from reformists and moderates all over... Until Franco fell gravely ill in 1975 and handed him absolute authority as King. Only a couple of days after Franco's death, Juan Carlos began to institute reforms at an incredible pace, turning Spain from western Europe's strictest dictatorship into a functional parliamentary democracy in less than three years. Heck, [[Cincinnatus|he even refused to take power after the military executed a coup so he could be returned to full authority]], pretty much single-handedly saving a struggling democracy, and renounced almost all of the ancestral powers he once wielded.
* [[wikipedia:Nehru|Jawaharlal Nehru]], the first Prime Minister of India, was the
** Well, Gandhi had the help from [[World War II]], which weakened the Britons' strength. If it wasn't for the war, India might not been independent until the late 90s. That only means that he knew the best moment to strike. After all the best time to launch any type of attack against an enemy is when they have problems of their own. One of the 36 Stratagems is : Loot a burning house.
** Nehru's daughter and political
* Juan Pujol Garcia. After being turned down as an intelligence agent by the British, he decided to do the job without any government backing, getting himself hired as a Nazi spy and creating an entire army of fictional employees to feed false information back to his boss. Eventually he went to the British again, who quickly hired him after seeing what he was capable of on his own, and became even more effective.
* Mentioned in the Films section, but worth elaboration: [[wikipedia:Oskar Schindler|Oskar Schindler]], generally considered to be an opportunist turned [[The Atoner|Atoner]]. As written in [[The Other Wiki]]:
{{quote|He was a very persuasive individual, and after the raid, increasingly used all of his skills to protect his ''Schindlerjuden'' ("Schindler's Jews"), as they came to be called. Schindler went out of his way to take care of the Jews who worked at DEF, often calling on his legendary charm and ingratiating manner to help his workers get out of difficult situations. Once, says author Eric Silver in ''The Book of the Just'', "Two Gestapo men came to his office and demanded that he hand over a family of five who had bought forged Polish identity papers. 'Three hours after they walked in,' Schindler said, 'two drunk Gestapo men reeled out of my office without their prisoners and without the incriminating documents they had demanded.'"}}
** A lot of the people Schindler rescued had truly awesome, heart-warming,
*** No one will
* Raoul Wallenberg has the record of lives saved... All through guile.
* [[wikipedia:Manuel
* "Not By Strength, But By Guile" is the motto of the [https://web.archive.org/web/20080701101625/http://www.specialboatservice.co.uk/ Royal Marines Special Boat Service]
* [[Josip Broz Tito]], the leader of the Yugoslav partisans in [[WW 2]]. [[wikipedia:Battle of the Neretva|One of his ruses involved blowing up the bridge over the river Neretva to make it look like his troops would go elsewhere, but then crossing the river using an improvised bridge]]. At the beginning of the [[Cold War]] he broke off relations with the communist East Bloc, but also refused to join NATO. Instead, he became one of the most prominent members of the Non-Aligned Movement.
*
{{reflist}}
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