Check the below two solutions to draw a triangle without using any loop in SQL Server.

Require Output:

Triangle
----------
*
**
***
****
*****

Solution 1:

declare @star varchar(10) = '*';
declare @num int = 5;
 
; with StarCTE as
(
	select cast(@star as varchar(10)) as Triangle, 1 as cnt
	union all
	select cast((Triangle+@star) as varchar(10)) as Triangle, cnt+1 as cnt
	from StarCTE
	where cnt < @num
)
select Triangle from StarCTE

Solution 2: Fetch number value from the MASTER..SPT_VALUES table of SQL Server.

SELECT REPLICATE(Star,number) Triangle FROM ( SELECT '*' Star ) b
CROSS APPLY
(
	SELECT DISTINCT number
	FROM
	   MASTER..SPT_VALUES
	WHERE number > 0 and number < 6
) as T

Please try the different solution for this puzzle and share it via comment...