Obstructive Code of Conduct: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

This trope involves any code of conduct that artificially constrains the choices available to the protagonist. Often (as with Star Trek's Prime Directive), it [[Holding Back the Phlebotinum|restricts or prevents his use of phlebotinum]] that would wrap up the plot in two seconds otherwise. Conveniently forgotten (or [[Hand Wave|hand waved]]) when the plot requires it, but some shows do try to use this as a point of plot drama as the protagonists try to find a way to twist the rules to fit the situation.

 

{{examples}}

 

*** While many Jedi seem able to more or less come to terms with anger and hatred, they always seem to be having trouble tackling the matter of not falling in love... In the end it becomes rather clear in the EU that later Jedi consider the "no love" thing a rather dysfunctional rule. Even the movies hint at this as it's the "no love" nonsense that really drives Anakin toward the dark side and it's Luke's love for his father (that the older Jedi consider a weakness) that saved him. It's little surprise then that when Luke goes on to found his own order the no love rule is more or less totally abandoned with large numbers of Jedi marrying and producing children whom they clearly deeply care for without anyone saying this is bad.

*** [[Fridge Brilliance]]: Would ''you'' want to be telling [[The Lancer|Han Solo]] "No, you can't marry my sister?"

* In the ''[[Toy Story]]'' [[The Verse|universe]], toys seem to have a [[Obstructive Code of Conduct]]. Toys must not allow themselves to be seen by humans while animate. This is never said explicitly, but judging from the fact that toys will either hide or "play dead" whenever a human comes by, it's probably safe to assume this.

** Woody makes a vague mention of this in the first movie, when he and the reassembled toys confront Sid.

{{quote| '''Woody:''' We're going to have to break a few rules.}}

** [[Word of God]] is that involuntary instinct also plays a role (which explains why it's never made explicit).

 

 

* In the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books, the wizarding world has hidden from the Muggle (non-magic) world since 1689, and the International Statute of Secrecy is one of their most important laws. The reasons given are "everyone'd want magical solutions to their problems" and "they'd persecute us"<ref>[[Word of God]] says it's actually because the wizards are afraid of muggles</ref>. There are strict rules about performing magic in front of [[Muggles]] and, if you're underage, anywhere outside of school. In essence, they amount to it having to be a life-or-death situation.

* ''[[Sector General]]'': The Monitor Corps have a [[Alien Non-Intervention Clause]] similar to that of Star Trek, meaning no contact before the discovery of FTL, but seemed to be much more reasonable with it, as they violated it four times during the series. Once was because a pandemic (although, through no fault of the person in charge, the cure resulted in a genocide), once was because of an environmental disaster, once was because the civilization was killing off another intelligent being on the planet (as well as itself), and once because the species involved were physically incapable of spaceflight, due to an inherent psychological problem.

** The Ellimist claims that, as a rule, he never interferes with mortal races, but in actual practice he finds many excuses to interfere.

** The Ellimist's rules are generally based on the game he plays with Crayak. Because both of them are so powerful that they could wreck the entire galaxy if they felt like it (their battles were at the stage where they were hurling planets and suns and even solar systems at each other, destroying what might have been an entire arm of the galaxy' and this was ''before'' they got their God-power upgrades), they have a rule that each time one interferes directly, the other is allowed a single action to balance it out. As a result, they fight their wars through proxies for the vast majority of the time.

* In the ''[[Heralds of Valdemar]]'' series, the Companions are [[Spirit Advisor|spirit advisors]] in corporeal form for the eponymous Heralds, taking the shape of [[Cool Horse|cool horses]]. Most of the time, they're under strict divine orders not to interfere with the course of events, supplying advice and intervention only when asked. This is strongly [[Justified Trope]], as the gods want the Heralds to solve problems on their own rather than rely on the Companions as a personal source of [[Deus Ex Machina|Deus Ex Machinas]], and because the Companions themselves are fallible and risk falling into the [[Omniscient Morality License]] trap. Sometimes, however, the Companions are seen to subtly (or not so subtly) influence things behind the scenes, and they [[Calling the Old Man Out|get called out]] on this rather severely by Elspeth in ''Mage Winds''.

* [[The Federation]] in ''[[Enchantress From the Stars]]'' has a very strict non-interference policy on developing civilizations. Field agents to Youngling planets often die rather than reveal their true nature.

* The ''[[Wheel of Time]]'''s Aes Sedai are magically bound by three prohibitions: they can't lie, they can't make weapons, and they can't use magic as a weapon except against Shadowspawn or as a last resort in self-defense. They are so well known for [[Exact Words|circumventing the prohibition against lying]] that they're invariably met with suspicion. The last prohibition, however, causes the Aes Sedai no end of trouble as they encounter groups bent on their annihilation that are not, technically, allied with the Shadow. They generally circumvent the problem by deliberately placing themselves in mortal danger until they feel that they have no alternatives to letting loose.

* ''[[The War Gods]]'' series has Wencit of Rûm, a wizard who's sworn to enforce the Strictures of Ottovar, that strictly forbid using magic against non-wizards except in direct and non-lethal self defense, and contain a strict dueling code for wizard to wizard action. Both instances of him joining combat include him enlisting the aid of non-wizards to work around the rules. For a dark wizard, fulfilling the requirements for Wencit to attack them means instant death.

** In ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S21 E3 Frontios|Frontios]]'', the Doctor does his very best to keep out of it -- until he sees there are injured. Then, at the end, he asks them not to spread the news.

** In the new series, the Doctor also has a rule against using time travel to change events that he's personally involved in. It's implied that this would be really, really bad for nonspecific reasons. [[Hand Wave|This is usually used to keep him from using the TARDIS to get out of trouble.]]

** ''[[Highlander Endgame]]'' had the villain violate the holy ground rule. This caused [[Fan Backlash]] so bad the bit mentioning holy ground was cut from the DVD release, leading to a plot hole instead. Fans took it badly than many a worst villains abided by that rule, and several material like [[Highlander the Series]] inferred near-apocalyptic consequences to violating it (It was said the last time someone did it, Vesuvius happened to Pompeii". Yet when the villain of ''Endgame'' did it, nothing happened.

* Also, in ''[[Sliders]]'', the Professor originally insisted on employing a similar [[Alien Non-Intervention Clause|Prime Directive]] to that of ''[[Star Trek]]'' -- namely, not getting involved in the world's culture and politics. Obviously, they always violated this directive, even when it was unnecessary for their survival (for example, the Professor winning the mayoral election in a female dominated society).

** The [[Human Aliens|Tollan]] also qualify. Despite being a younger civilization, they have advanced centuries beyond Earthlings (possibly, due to the lack of anti-science movements in their culture). They refuse to give any of their technology to less advanced races. This is [[Justified Trope]] in their case, as their previous experience with giving technology to a less advanced civilization ended in an [[Earthshattering Kaboom]]. Later, however, after the untimely death ({{spoiler|read: murder}}) of one of their leaders, the Tollan offer to trade their powerful ion cannons to Earth in exchange for [[Unobtainium]]. {{spoiler|This turns out to be a ruse, and the Tollan are wiped out as a result}}. It should be noted, though, that it would still have taken Earth scientists decades, if not centuries, to reverse-engineer and understand the workings of Tollan technology, which would explain why one of the Tollan broke their rule and gave a device to Carter.

*** [[P Lus]] the Goa'uld had just developed motherships with shields that could resist the ion cannons, making them just an ordinary weapon.

{{quote| '''Dick:''' We can make little differences, we just can't make global differences.<br />

'''Harry:''' Can we blow up the Earth?<br />

 

== Tabletop Games ==

{{quote| '''1- [[Masquerade]]''': Vampires must not reveal their existence to mortals.<br />

'''2- Diablerie''': Vampires must not devour the souls of other Vampires. Doing so gives them power, but [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|drives them insane]].<br />

'''3- Progeny''': Vampires shall not create more of their own kind. When they do, the Childe's actions are the Sire's burden. }}

** In short, rule one and three are barely considered loose guidelines. Rule 2 is obviously considered a bad thing, mostly because Vampires expect it to be done to them next. They're usually right.

{{quote| '''1- Masquerade:''' Pretty much the same deal as in Requiem.<br />

'''2- Domain:''' When a vampire has a domain, all others must owe that vampire respect when in it, and none may challenge their word. This is primarily used for princes.<br />

'''6- Destruction:''' Vampires are forbidden to kill each other. The right of destruction belongs only to your elder (read: the prince), and only the eldest among vampires of a given city can call a Blood Hunt. }}

** As you might expect, many of these rules get bent or outright broken with some degree of regularity. The Camarilla is especially hard on those who break the Masquerade.

** Paladins could become anti-paladins, depending on alternate rulesets.

** The 1st and 2nd Edition paladin had several additional restrictions as well, such as not being able to own more than a few magic items. The 1E ranger was likewise limited in how many possessions could be owned, and had to be Good-aligned.

 

== Western Animation ==

{{quote| 1. A genie can't make anyone simply fall in love (though they're allowed to play cupid mundanely).<br />

2. A genie can't kill anyone (implicitly, even indirectly or nonmagically -- however, as is repeatedly warned, "you'd be surprised what you can live through ...")<br />

'''Pinchhard:''' Belay that popping!<br />

'''Piker:''' I see -- it's my choice only if I choose what ''you'' want! }}

** Another unwritten rule seems to be that the Avatar should learn the elements 'in order', starting with their natural element, air, water, earth and fire. Aang tries to learn Firebending second, but that doesn't really work out, he also learns several elements at the same time, otherwise the rule is followed by Aang.