Some anime characters are defined by their combat abilities and their courage in battle, often shonen and seinen leads such as Izuku Midoriya, Guts, and Eren Yeager, and they wouldn’t get very far if they were pacifists. On the other hand, plenty of anime series also depict heroes who accomplish their goals with everything but violence.
There may be a few reasons for this. Most often, these anime heroes live in a setting where combat and violence are never the answer, such as a slice-of-life series, where a violent character would become a pariah. Sometimes these nonviolent anime heroes know that the pen is mightier than the sword, or they can take down their foes without using their fists, weapons, or offense-oriented magic.
10/10 Mei Hatsume Makes Hero Gadgets
My Hero Academia
Most students at U.A. high are encouraged to train their bodies and Quirks so they can defeat villains in combat, which often involves extreme force such as Bakugo’s explosions or a mighty Smash from Izuku’s knuckles. Meanwhile, U.A.’s support course is about inventions rather than throwing punches.
Mei Hatsume, for example, never intends to punch or kick any villain. Instead, she builds cool gloves, jetpacks, and armor suits so heroes like Izuku and Tenya Iida can deal more damage on her behalf. Mei is about creating, not destroying.
9/10 Gen Asagiri Fights With His Words
Dr. Stone
Gen Asagiri describes himself as a mentalist, a sharp-tongued trickster who uses verbal misdirection, manipulation, and clever bluffs to keep stronger foes such as Magma at bay. Gen is an opportunist here in the new Stone Age, but no matter how slippery he is, he won’t actually hurt anyone.
Gen, like Senku, favors brain over brawn, and he avoids even holding weapons, let alone using them. Instead, he can slow down or confuse foes much stronger than himself with his tricky words and save Senku’s kingdom from total annihilation.
8/10 Leorio Paradinight Is All About Healing
Hunter X Hunter
Unlike his younger companions Gon, Killua, and Kurapika, the suit-wearing Leorio Paradinight didn’t practice using Nen at all, and he has no intention of punching, stabbing, or shooting anyone for any reason. Much the opposite: he wishes to become a doctor.
Leorio might throw a punch in desperate self-defense or slap an evil person, but otherwise, he keeps his hands to himself and refuses to shed blood. Leorio is a naturally benevolent and altruistic person who measures his success not in battlefield victories, but lives saved.
7/10 Fuyumi Yanagi Shall Harm No One
Blood Lad
Most of the main characters in the Halloween-style anime Blood Lad have gotten rough at least once, even the portal-loving Hydra Bell, who doesn’t really identify as a dedicated fighter. While Staz, Wolf and the others are ready to throw down, Fuyumi Yanagi would rather stay out of it.
Fuyumi is an isekai heroine who is stuck in the demon world, and her goal is not to beat up her enemies, but to return to her mortal life somehow. She is a gentle, caring girl who would never harm anyone, though Staz did possess her body once to fight the final villain.
6/10 Soma Yukihira Fights With Ingredients
Food Wars!
In the culinary anime Food Wars!, physical violence is never the answer, even when one chef is furious at a rival for humiliating them in a cooking duel. It’s likely that any Totsuki student who punched or stabbed a classmate would get themselves expelled in a hurry.
Food is the weapon of choice for Soma and his many talented classmates, and exquisite flavors and textures define this bloodless combat system. Soma is a nice guy; even if someone bothered him, he would never strike them with force. He’d teach them a lesson in the kitchen instead.
5/10 Takemichi Hanagaki Isn’t A Fighter
Tokyo Revengers
It’s true that the time-traveling shonen lead Takemichi Hanagaki gets involved in numerous fights and beatings, but that doesn’t mean he is the one committing acts of violence. Takemichi’s mission is not to beat up all these punks, but to prevent them from creating a horrible future where Hinata loses her life.
Takemichi knows how to handle himself around tough delinquents like Mikey and Draken, since he’s familiar with that lifestyle. He’s also a borderline pacifist who will risk his life not to win a street fight, but to end it and bring everyone together as friends.
4/10 Blank Never Needs Violence To Win
No Game, No Life
Strictly speaking, the foster sibling duo Sora and Shiro are two people, but for all intents and purposes, they are two bodies with one identity known only as Blank, the master of online games. As Blank, Sora and Shiro are unbeatable, and now they’ve been isekai’d to a world where games mean everything.
In this world, war and violence are forbidden. Games are the only contest that may settle disputes, and that means that Blank can thrive without ever throwing a punch or shedding blood. This is Blank’s dream come true.
3/10 Raku Ichijo Turns The Other Cheek
Nisekoi
A rom-com anime title like Nisekoi is bound to not have very much action in it, since the focus is on relationships and life experiences, not mortal combat. That being said, a few characters such as the tsundere Chitoge Kirisaki and her friend Tsugumi have a bad habit of smacking Raku around sometimes.
This reflects badly on Chitoge and Tsugumi, showing that they struggle to, are unwilling to, express themselves in a healthier and more mature way. Raku, being the chivalrous and pacifistic person he is, would never strike these girls or anyone else in return.
2/10 Tohru Honda Wouldn’t Dare Hit Akito
Fruits Basket
There is a surprising amount of violence in the classic shojo title Fruits Basket, such as the kuudere Yuki Sohma fending off Kyo in short martial arts battles or Akito’s habit of slapping or even clawing at people who upset her. Perhaps Arisa Uotani would hit back, but Tohru Honda, the heroine, never would.
Tohru is all about empathy, healing, and friendship, and she would feel terrible if she hit anyone, even by accident. She’s the type to embrace someone who just smacked her because she knows that the other person is hurting on the inside. Tohru would rather address the reason people are getting violent in the first place.
1/10 Yumeko Jabami Fights With Dice & Poker Chips
Kakegurui
Just like Food Wars!, the gambling anime series Kakegurui takes place in a special high school where students are discouraged from fighting each other with fists or improvised weapons. Instead, the elite Hyakkou school pits students against one another in nonviolent, but highly competitive, games of chance.
Protagonist Yumeko Jabami would never slap, punch, or stab anyone even if they cheated her out of all her money, but she wouldn’t forgive them, either. Instead, Yumeko would provoke the other party into gambling with her once again, and she would ruin her enemy’s bank account, not their face.