Anime Characters Won Fights In Clever Ways

Some of the most satisfying fights in the anime world are won through intelligent means. Whether it's a character mapping out a strategy ahead of time or being quick to come up with new ideas, watching smart characters flex their brains can be just as satisfying as watching them flex their muscles. With that in mind, let's appreciate some anime characters who won fights in clever ways.

A well-known example of a character showing off their intellectual might is when Shikamaru Nara leads Hidan into a trap in Naruto. A lesser-known but equally intriguing example is when Saki Watanabe and her allies force Akki to destroy herself in From The New World. 

Shikamaru Nara Plans Ahead In 'Naruto'

Shikamaru Nara's showdown with Hidan was impressive not because of Shikamaru's strength, but because of his smarts. 

Using Shadow Jutsu, he led Hidan away from Kakuzu to an area in the Nara forest covered in traps and explosive tags. He tricks Hidan into consuming Kakuzu's blood, inadvertently destroying one of Kakuzu's hearts in an attempt to destroy Shikamaru's. Shikamaru then covers him in explosive tags, then activates a prepared trap that causes the ground beneath him to crumble. He throws Asuma's lighter at him, blowing up the tags and severely damaging Hidan's body. Because he's immortal, he'll be trapped, in pieces, underground for eternity. 

The amount of planning that went into executing that strategy is wild. Naruto could never.

Senku Ishigami Pretends To Have Weapons In 'Dr. Stone'

Senku Ishigami gets into a surprising number of physical conflicts for somebody who can't lift to save his life - so he deals with them using the skill he does have, his intelligence. This is best demonstrated when Tsukasa's Army invades Ishigami Village for the first time. He's able to scare them off by convincing them that the village has managed to invent guns. To accomplish this, Senku shoves gunpowder into an iron tube and ignites it to create a sound while Magma hurls a rock at top speed to create a projectile.

This is enough to temporarily end the conflict - though it won't be the last they see of Tsukasa's Army.

Watch Out For Shino Aburame's Kikaichu Bugs In 'Naruto' 

Shikamaru isn't the only character to pull off clever moves in Naruto - there's also Shino Aburame. During the Chuunin exams, he faces off against Zaku Abumi, a Sound Village Ninja who fitted his arms with hollow tubes that allow him to expel powerful bursts of air and sound. Shino unleashes his Kikaichu bugs but keeps Zaku sufficiently distracted through combat that he doesn't notice the bugs infiltrating the tubes. When he tries to use his signature attack, his arms burst, knocking him unconscious. It's hard not to feel sorry for the guy, but it's equally hard not to be impressed by Shino's out of the box thinking.

Uvogin Uses Screams To Fight In 'Hunter x Hunter'

Hunter x Hunter is a show that's filled with clever battle tactics, so, for now, we're going to focus on a slightly underrated moment from Uvogin of the Phantom Troupe. While being restrained by the Shadow Beast Porcupine, he realizes that any kind of projectile weapon will be useless since Porcupine's quill-like body hairs will just repel it. He isn't going to let that stop him.

Instead of attempting to hit Porcupine, he uses his voice as a weapon, screaming so loudly that the sonic vibrations knock his opponent out cold.

Armin Arlelt Risks Everything In 'Attack on Titan'

Up until the end of Season Three, Armin Arlelt never got the credit he deserved for his strategic mind. But when he's given the opportunity to lead a mission, he does it successfully. He decides to use himself as bait to distract the Colossal Titan, who blasts Armin with hot steam, burning him severely. Meanwhile, Eren hardens his Titan form and escapes through the nape of its neck. While the Colossal Titan is distracted by what he thinks is Eren, Eren sneaks up behind him and cuts Bertholdt out of the nape of the Titan's neck. This plan was not only clever, but it was also incredibly brave. 

Kenpachi Zaraki Doesn't Need His Senses In 'Bleach'

During Kenpachi Zaraki's fight with Tousen, he's plunged into darkness by Tousen's shifting vortexes. While most people would struggle to stay sharp after suddenly losing their senses, Kenpachi quickly adapts to the situation. In order to figure out where Tousen was and where his attacks were coming from, he relies on his fine-tuned sense of touch. Ultimately, he lets Tousen stab him in order to break the darkness. Risky, but clever as hell.

Sora & Shiro Take Jibril's Breath Away In 'No Game No Life'

Nearly every battle in No Game No Life is one that requires some serious smarts to win - and that's exactly what the sibling-duo Sora and Shiro excel at. 

During a battle of wits against the knowledge-loving Flügel Jibril, they play a game called Materialization Shiritori, in which players must say a word that ends with the final kana of the previous word, and whatever they say either materializes or disappears. First, the team tests whether Jibril is familiar with certain scientific words by creating a hydrogen bomb. When she seals the bomb to avoid ending the game, she also demonstrates that she isn't entirely sure what the bomb is. That allows them to do things like eliminate the Earth's crust and eliminate oxygen without her being able to put it back easily. To stay alive themselves, they basically perform mouth to mouth resuscitation on each other.

Everything goes back to normal when the battle is over, but one thing has changed - Jibril is so impressed with their intelligence that she no longer sees herself as superior to Sora and Shiro, and wants to help them instead of stand in their way.

Kyoka Jirou & Koji Koda Use Present Mic's Phobia Against Him In 'My Hero Academia'

In order to pass their final exam, the kids from Class 1-A are supposed to team up to defeat one of their teachers. Since their teachers are pros, it's difficult if not impossible for them to do this using raw strength alone, so most of these duos have to rely on some sort of clever plan. 

One of those plans is enacted by Kyoka Jirou and Koji Koda. Through her exceptional hearing abilities, Kyoka Jirou is able to find a nest of insects. Koji uses his Anivoice quirk to send said bugs after their teacher, Present Mic. The mic is terrified of bugs, so as soon as they start crawling up his legs, he passes out.

Kurama Summons Terrifying Plants In 'Yu Yu Hakusho'

Kurama is the only intelligent member of a team that's filled with lovable idiots, which he proves nearly every time he enters a battle arena. Let's take a look at one of his most noteworthy fights - the time when he takes down Elder Toguro for good. 

After discovering that Elder Toguro was living in Gourmet's body like a parasite, Kurama decides that the only solution is to permanently get rid of him. He does so by summoning the Tree of Depravity, which locks Elder Toguro in an endless hallucination while draining him of his life force. Because Elder Toguro is basically immortal at this point, this endless torment will continue forever. It was a smart - if cruel - way to deal with an otherwise unstoppable force. 

Cell Appeals To Vegeta's Pride In 'Dragon Ball Z'

Cell's primary goal is to achieve his 'perfect' form, something that's not easy to do with people like Vegeta interfering all the time. He decides to stop trying to force the issue and get Vegeta on his side through deception. He appeals to Vegeta's pride, claiming that if he achieves his Perfect Form, it'll be a real challenge for Vegeta. Driven solely by his fighting spirit, Vegeta fights with Trunks to allow Cell to absorb Android 18 and transform. 

Thanks to his transformation and the havoc he's able to wreak as a result, Cell wins this particular fight - by the end of it, Trunks has given up and is offering up his neck to Cell. 

Goku Uses His Feet In 'Dragon Ball'

While this isn't the move that decided Goku's match against Piccolo Jr. in the World Martial Arts Tournament, it did help him move the needle towards his ultimate victory - plus it was just really cool. Rather than using his arms to do his signature Kamehameha move, Goku uses his feet. This allows him to power up his whole body while leaving his hands free to punch Piccolo and knock him to the floor. 

Saki Watanabe Uses Akki's Biology Against Her In 'From The New World'

The biggest threat that the people of Kamisu 66 face at the end of the series is Akki, a human child who is exempt from the rest of humanity's biological restriction on taking lives. The reason she's exempt is that despite her biology, she doesn't see herself as human: she sees herself as a monster rat. But because she is human, anyone who tried to fight back would perish soon afterwards. 

That, plus her psychic abilities, makes her the most powerful ally the monster rats have against humanity. 

In order to defeat Akki, Saki Watanabe and her allies come up with a clever but horrifying plan - have her destroy a monster rat, triggering her own biological restrictions and ending her life. Kidomaru, a monster rat on humanity's side, acts as a sacrifice to pull off this plan. It works, but it's hard for Saki to feel good about their victory.

Near Owned Light Yagami In 'Death Note'

Near is L's successor, so it goes without saying that he's ridiculously smart. Already suspecting that Light is Kira and that Mikami might be one of his accomplices, he has Gevanni tail, Mikami. When Mikami makes the mistake of going to the bank at an unusual time, Giovanni is able to find what he thinks is the Death Note, allowing Near to swap out some of the pages. This turns out to be a replica, but Near is able to figure that out when Mikami takes out Mello using the real thing. Near gets ahold of said real thing without Team Kira's knowledge. When Mikami tries to write down the names of everyone in the room except for Light and fails because he's using a fake notebook, Near has the proof he needs that Light is Kira.

It's a complicated ending to a long, drawn-out battle - one that proves Near to be a worthy successor. 

Hanabi Kawai Aims For The Jaw In 'Keijo!!!!!!!!'

Just because an anime is totally ridiculous doesn't mean that it doesn't have some clever moments. When Setouchi Keijo Training School Hanabi Kawai is up against a group of other Keijo players, she uses an unexpected strategy to disable her opponents. By hitting them in the jaw - with her butt, because it's this show - she shakes their brains enough to knock them out before they know what happened. 

Because Nozomi figures out what she's doing, she can't get away with this technique indefinitely, but she tosses quite a few opponents into the water before that happens.