Guile Hero: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

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]].

{{examples}}

* 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]]''.

* 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.

* [[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 from Hell]] including running up Tokyo Tower and pushing a truck from Texas to Las Vegas. What does he do to his opponents? All out psychological warfare, showing his hand, taunting unmercifully and cackling madly (even through a freshly broken arm if he has to.) He keeps innumerable calculations going on in his head and strategizes on the fly, willing (and eager) to go for the insanest of insane trick plays. He's a complete terror, but he has the absolute loyalty of his players (even the ones he recruited at gunpoint) who are willing to push themselves to insane heights right along with him (although they would be happier if he left his guns at home).

* L from ''[[Death Note]]'', heroic counterpart to Light, who is pretty much the poster boy for [[Magnificent Bastard]]s. Slight subversion in that he sometimes comes across as somewhat amoral- the author admits that he is "a little bit evil"- and is interested in Light a little more for the challenge and a little less for moral reasons or the fact that Light very quickly becomes a [[Complete Monster]].

* [[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.

* 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]]''.

* 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.}}

* 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.

* 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]].

* 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.

* 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-omnipotent [[Reality Warper]].

== Fan Works ==

''I want to live. I have the power of speech. How can I get what I want?''

And then I spoke the words. '' }}

* ''[[Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality]]'': Harry James Potter-Evans-Verres. His ability to think more logically than most is both his biggest strength and weakness; there are times when one needs to act on intuition, and he has a near compulsive need to try and understand what he's dealing with before reacting.

* The four do their damnedest to be Guile Heroes in ''[[With Strings Attached]]'', since they're [[Actual Pacifist]]s with a huge amount of power who don't want to use it on anyone—at least, not lethally. In the Fourth Movement, their string of ploys to rescue one another and win back the Vasyn are things of legend.

* 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]]''.

* 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 Guile Hero. For one thing, he was not a master, but THE master at [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]. His method was [[Rapid-Fire Comedy|pure speed]]...he made jokes [[Breathless Non-Sequitur|so quickly that anybody who might try to stop him just couldn't keep pace.]]

* 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]].

** 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.

* 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]]''.}}

* [[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.

** ''[[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.

* 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''.}}

* [[Sherlock Holmes]]. His rival Alan Alda... er Irene Adler is a Guile Heroine, {{spoiler|and one of the few persons to ever [[Out Gambit]] him}}.

* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'': Tyrion Lannister, if you consider him [[Black and Grey Morality|a hero]].

** 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]]''.

* [[Badass Grandpa|Harald]] in ''[[Harald]]''.

* Most [[The Brothers Grimm (creator)|The Brothers Grimm]] characters are this. Most notably in "[[The Brave Little Tailor]]".

* [[Time Scout]]s are [[Badass]], but they ''prefer'' to be invisible. Skeeter takes clever [[Up to Eleven]].

* Jig the Golin, eponymous hero of the series by [[Jim C. Hines]] combines this with [[Cowardly Lion]].

* 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.

* 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.

* 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.

* 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.

== Myths & Religion ==

== 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 ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' example, due to high Charisma score.

* The idea of the Face build in ''[[Shadowrun]]''.

** Also the Face class in Spycraft.

** 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.

* 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.

* 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.

* ''[[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.}}

* {{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|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 ''[[BlazBlue]]'' leans even further towards this in ''Continuum Shift'' than in ''Calamity Trigger''. Her goal? To find the Master Unit Amaterasu and kill Terumi. Of course, {{spoiler|the Imperator destroys Amaterasu before she can find it, but naturally, Rachel doesn't lose her cool even when she learns her efforts to find it were for naught}}.

== 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.

* 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 [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".

* [[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]] is a roguish street rat who gets by via theft and charm—but we never doubt he's the good guy.

* 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.

* 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.

** 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.''

* [[Bugs Bunny]]. While not averse to pull out a [[Hyperspace Mallet]] on his foes, his main tactic is to trick them into taking their own fall, confusing them with witty patter and deceiving them with costumes and flattery.

* [[wikipedia:Nehru|Jawaharlal Nehru]], the first Prime Minister of India, was the Guile Hero to Mahatma Gandhi's [[Badass Pacifist]]. Gandhi himself, too: he fought against the British rule in India through totally nonviolent means. Whenever he and his protestors would march, he called up the local media so that when the rest of the world looked at the news and saw the British beating on unarmed protestors who refused to fight back, they got painted as the bad guys. You know you qualify as a Guile Hero when you can show up to every battle unarmed and still win the war.

** 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.

* 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, and—yes—hilarious stories to tell about him, but probably the most awesome, heart-warming, and hilarious of them all comes from Helen Hirsch, notorious Nazi Amon Goeth's Jewish maid. One night, while playing cards with Goeth, Schindler plied him with plenty of booze and got him very drunk, and persuaded him to gamble with Hirsch as a stake in the game. With—no doubt—a little help from the booze, Schindler [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|stacked the deck and cheated outrageously]] to make sure he had the winning hand. Then, when Goeth tried to welch on his bet, Schindler said something like [[Crowning Moment of Funny|"Now, now, Goeth,]] [[Hypocritical Humor|you play fair!"]] and that's how he [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|won her life in a card game]].

* Raoul Wallenberg has the record of lives saved... All through guile.

* "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}}