Just Following Orders: Difference between revisions

[[Just Following Orders]] is a justification for morally questionable actions that a character may invoke when questioned about the rightness or necessity of such actions. This justification holds that the (bulk of the) responsibility for such actions falls upon those who make such decisions and give such orders within a (military) hierarchy; by extension, those who obey and act upon such orders cannot be held (entirely) accountable for their actions. Often invoked with the [[Stock Phrase|exact phrase]] "I was [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Just Following Orders]]." Also known as the [[Nuremberg Defense]], this is the [[Stock Phrase]] motto/mantra/defense of the [[Punch Clock Villain]], as well as most bureaucrats ([[Obstructive Bureaucrat|obstructive]] or otherwise), [[Mooks]], and just about any of us during failures of nerve, nous, job security, heroic fortitude...

 

 

Of course, this trope is by now usually not played straight but instead ironically, sarcastically or self-hatingly. Still, it's one of the tropes that [[Cyclic Trope|cycles]] between [[Dead Horse Trope]] and [[Undead Horse Trope]], because it always sneaks its way back somewhere, even if you did not mean to invoke it...And even if everyone should know by now that playing this straight (even when fully sincere, which is not always the case) is likely to meet with skepticism and ridicule.

 

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Now and Then, Here and There]]'' ([[Necessarily Evil|played]] [[Shell-Shocked Veteran|for]] [[Child Soldiers|drama]])

{{quote|'''Shu''': You can't do this! This is not right!

'''Nabuca''': Never mind right or wrong! An order is an order! }}

* ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'' began with this trope. Tenma was ordered to save a man of importance as he was about to perform surgery on an immigrant and did so, and only later found out that the immigrant had died and left a widow who angrily confronted him about it. Tenma is later presented a similar situation, and opts instead to save the young boy he was about to operate on over another man of importance. [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished|And oh, what a mistake that was.]]

* In the beginning of the anime version of ''[[Black Cat (manga)|Black Cat]]'' this is the defense Train gives to justify attempting to murder Eve.

 

* Invoking this backfires spectacularly for one [[Mooks]] in ''[[Lucifer (comics)|Lucifer]]'', where Lucifer must somehow find the red stone at the bottom of a cauldron of molten lead guarded by a Big Nameless Shinto Monster:

{{quote|'''[[Mook|Big Nameless Shinto Monster]]''': "You must choose, and I must enact your fate."

'''Big Nameless Shinto Monster''': Nuuuh! It burns! It BURNS!

'''Lucifer''': Well, that's what happens when you play with fire. Here we are. The red stone, I think you said." }}

 

* The ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]''/''[[BattleTech]]'' crossover ''[[Hunted Tribes]]'' gives one of the most epic treatments of this trope ever. Clan Wolverine soldiers refuse to associate with crewmembers from the Pegasus, considering the ship and all who served under Admiral Cain disgraced for abandoning civilians to the Cylons. When someone tries to claim they were just following orders, the Wolverines state that people's conscience should have stopped them, and that they should have killed Admiral Cain for issuing the order in the first place. Roslin tries the [[I Did What I Had to Do]]-Defense, only to be told that the Wolverines have been in similar situations without ever compromising their morals, and that that excuse would have been good enough for any number of people, but NOT for them.

 

* ''[[Better Than Chocolate]]'':

{{quote|'''Mr. Marcus''': We're here in Customs and I have a job to do.

*** At least that would have been a redeemable [[Shout-Out]].

* ''[[X-Men: First Class]]'': When Erik is seconds away from {{spoiler|throwing dozens of missiles back at the humans who fired them}}, Charles makes the mistake of using this argument on a ''Holocaust survivor''. He's also unknowingly echoing some Nazi fugitives who tried to use the same excuse when Erik is killing them.

{{quote|'''SPC Devon Dixon''': [feeling bad about killing] I'm not doin' the wrong thing, I'm Just Following Orders, so I'd rather it not be me. So, I had to, you know, I [[It Gets Easier|learned to live with it]].}}

 

* Given the [[Playing with a Trope|usual workout]] in ''[[Discworld]]'', not just with the predictable [[Mooks]], [[Punch Clock Villain]]s and [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]s, but also with a number of notable subversions, mainly courtesy of the increasingly morally ambiguous and complex police Captain Carrot, who frequently subverts Just Following Orders by (seemingly) [[Exact Words|playing]] [[Bothering by the Book|it]] [[Loophole Abuse|straight]].

* From ''[[Good Omens]]'', the {{spoiler|mostly}} [[Lawful Good]] angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley discuss [[Not So Different|their bad feelings]] about the coming [[The End of the World as We Know It|end of the world]]:

{{quote|'It's not that I disagree with you,' said the angel, as they plodded across the grass. 'It's just that I'm not allowed to disobey. You know that.'

* Referenced in ''[[World War Z]]''. A unit of the German army has been ordered to retreat to a more defensible location and abandon the civilians they have been defending to the zombies. Despite the fact that he understands the awful necessity of it -their position was in imminent danger of being overrun and to stay would be a futile gesture- the officer being interviewed is appalled that the theatre commander was capable of giving this order, for everyone who enlists in the German military has it impressed on them that their first and most important duty is to their conscience.

* A variation occurs in the "Dragon" play by [[Eugeny Shwartz]].

'''[[The Hero|Lancelot]]:'''"They've taught everyone. But why did you have to the top student, you scum?!" }}

* Said by Marcello Clerici, the [[Villain Protagonist]] of the novel "[[The Confomist]]" which is set in [[Fascist Italy]] and ends {{spoiler|on the night of Mussolini's fall from power}}, when his colleague Orlando wonders how they'll explain their role in the government.

 

* From the ''[[Blake's 7]]'' episode "Headhunter":

{{quote|'''Orac:''' I am obliged to do as you tell me, even though I know it to be wrong.

{{quote|'''Data''': Captain, I wish to submit myself for disciplinary action. I have disobeyed a direct order from a superior officer. Although the result of my actions proved positive, the ends cannot justify the means.

'''Captain Picard''': No, they can't. However, the claim "I was only following orders" has been used to justify too many tragedies in our history. Starfleet doesn't want officers who will blindly follow orders without analyzing the situation. Your actions were appropriate for the circumstances. }}

{{quote|'''Commander Riker''': I wasn't a hero, and [[Broken Pedestal|neither were you]]! What you did was wrong. And I was wrong to support you, but I was too young and too stupid to realize it! You were the captain, I was the ensign. I was Just Following Orders. }}

* More or less the theme of the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "Duet", where it is doubly subverted, first when a [[A Nazi by Any Other Name|Cardassian]] officer gleefully refuses to claim it, and then at the end when {{spoiler|it turns out that he's actually just a common soldier who is still tortured by his acquiescence in the atrocities ordered by his superiors, and has been impersonating a dead superior in hopes of shaming his fellow Cardassians}}.

'''Hugh''': Oh thanks. So you won't make me feel bad, except by comparing me to a concentration camp guard.

'''Glenn''': No, that's right. }}

{{quote|"I'm Just Following Orders! Like a Nazi guard, [[Dude, Not Funny|only less gassy]]! [sheepish pause] You're not Jewish are you?"}}

* Averted at least once in ''[[Babylon 5]]''. Dr. Franklin is ordered to turn over his notes on Minbari anatomy so that the military can create a biological weapon. He refuses, stating that under military law he has no duty to obey an order if it would violate his conscience.

'''Female Programmer''': That's not our fault. We're just doing our jobs.

'''The Doctor''': And with that sentence, you just lost the right to even talk to me. Now back off! }}

* Used in ''[[V (TV series)|V]]'', by humans to justify working for the visitors. One woman is called out on this, being told that the same excuse was used at the Nuremberg Trials.

* Used in ''[[Rome]]'', in a situation which actually turns out to be for the better.

{{quote|'''Centurion [[The Stoic|Lucius Vorenus]]:''' Pullo, report to Princess Cleopatra and do whatever she tells you.

'''Vorenus:''' I don't want to hear about it. If you're wise, [[Let Us Never Speak of This Again|you'll never speak of this again]].

'''Pullo:''' Why? I was only obeying orders. Bloody good orders, too. }}

* Invoked in Episode 6 of ''[[Torchwood: Miracle Day]]'' when Gwen confronts Dr Patel about the {{spoiler|incineration of 'Category One' patients}}. Dr Patel begins to protest, and Gwen interrupts her.

{{quote|'''Gwen:''' Don't you dare. Don't you ''dare'' look at me and tell me you're obeying orders. Don't you bloody dare.}}

{{quote|'''Rex:''' They {{spoiler|built ovens}}! And you're the director, so you know that.

'''Maloney:''' Look, I'm not in charge of policy...we had instructions that got sent out nationwide, worldwide, and we had orders from above not to say anything. I just did as I was told. }}

 

* In one episode of ''[[Old Harry's Game]]'' the Professor is interviewing various historical figures for a history book, this includes a Nazi who claims he was only following orders. The Nazi in question was actually [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]].

 

* A subversion in the ''[[Traveller]]'' volume ''Alien Races 4''. The Bwaps are a race whose hat is being [[Badass Bureaucrat|Badass Bureaucrats]]. In one side story a Bwap starport official is processing incoming passengers. The Bwap stopped a mother and her baby, claiming a petty technicality and caused the whole line behind her to become indignant at his supposed stupidity. But as it turned out the passengers behind were terrorists and the Bwap was pretending to be Just Following Orders as a [[Batman Gambit]] to delay them so that SWAT could get into place—using stereotypes to divert suspicion. After the incident the Bwap insisted that the mother he was delaying share in the reward.

 

* Heinrich von Kleist's play ''The Prince of Homburg'' is about a cavalry general put on trial and condemned to death for disobeying an order not to charge in a battle.

* Franz Liebkind (author of "Springtime for Hitler") in ''[[The Producers]]'':

* The constable in ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]''. It may be worth noting that he tries to keep the violence he is tasked with to the minimum necessary to satisfy his superiors and knows that he could be replaced with someone that would cause more harm if he lost his post.

 

* In ''[[The Punisher]]'' video game, one mook yells out "I was just following orders!" when you torture him to his breaking point.

{{quote|'''Punisher''': (Kill) Orders are no excuse.

'''Punisher''': (Mercy) Think for yourself next time. }}

{{quote|'''The Punisher''': (Kill) That's no excuse.

'''The Punisher''': (Mercy) You're in the wrong army. }}

* ''Beat Down'':

{{quote|'''Jason G''': I don't forgive and forget so easily.

* In ''[[Alpha Protocol]]'', {{spoiler|Parker and Westridge}} uses this as their defense for their complicity in the whole Halbech fiasco and for {{spoiler|sending Mike to Saudi Arabia with the intention of [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|having him killed once he'd completed his mission]].}}

* The classic arcade shooter ''[[Sunset Riders]]'' does this after one of the boss fights. After the beaten but still alive boss falls to the ground, his sister suddenly runs up and says "please don't shoot my brother. He was just following orders." Ever the chivalrous gentleman cowboy, your character can't turn down a request from a lady and agrees to spare him. Note that this is the only time you spare a boss; every other one gets a bullet between the eyes, even if he was just following orders.

* ''[[Mega Man 8]]'' features Sword Man, the one robot master who doesn't seem to have any problem with Mega Man; in fact, he seems to respect him quite a bit. He invokes this trope (along with [[Nothing Personal]]) right before you fight him.

* ''[[Assassin Blue]]'' uses this as an excuse for killing {{spoiler|at least initially.}}

'''Shepard''': Stop this. For your own sake.

'''Guard''': Yeah, you're right. (''To the other guard'') Call it off. At least for now. }}

{{quote|'''Shepard:''' Just doing my job, Admiral.

'''Admiral Hackett:''' I wish all my men had your definition of "just doing your job }}

 

* In ''[[Juathuur]]'', this is the main source of conflict between Sojueilo (who follows orders) and Thomil (who doesn't).

* Gen. William Howe of ''[[The Dreamer]]''.

* In ''[[Escape from Terra]]'' a UW gunner who incinerated a defenseless Cerean homestead tried to use this excuse, though to be fair his superior who ordered the attack had assurred him he'd be taking full responsibility. The court did not see it that way, he and the ordering officer were both executed.

 

* After being defeated in a water balloon war, one of Nelson's goons says this in ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' episode "Bart the General." Bart spares them and pelts Nelson with the extra balloons instead.

* In one episode of ''[[Johnny Test]]'', Johnny, his friends and [[Go-Karting with Bowser|enemies]] start to have a drag race but are stopped by the sheriff. The General tries to fast-talk their way through before yelling, "GO around him! the general rules!" The two secret agents call this trope as they do just that.

 

** At the Nuremberg trials, it was established that "just following orders" is a valid defense, but only below the rank of lieutenant, and only if the orders in question are not clearly illegal. Many times the accused said that they followed orders because it was either work in the camps or the front line.

** The US Military specifically states that following an order you know to be illegal (such as shooting civilians) denies you the use of this defense: you knew it was wrong and failed to refuse the order.

* The New York City Police Department (NYPD) marched to protest a few of their fellow cops being charged with sweeping crimes under the rug. The slogan on their sign was the name of this very trope. Analogues to [[Godwin's Law|Nazi Germany]] were [http://gawker.com/5854503/dear-nypd-just-following-orders-is-not-a-good-slogan not far behind].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Stock Phrases]]

[[Category:Loyalty Tropes]]