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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.
 
See also [[Restraining Bolt]], [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right]]. Can result in [[Reed Richards Is Useless]]. If the party with the [[Obstructive Code of Conduct]] is substantially more powerful than the others involved, it can result in [[Awakening the Sleeping Giant]]. See [[Alien Non Interference Clause]] for a common version of this.
{{examples|Examples:}}
 
== Anime & Manga ==
* The eponymous [[Half -Human Hybrid|demihuman]] warriors of ''[[Claymore]]'' are sworn never to kill a human under any circumstances on pain of being hunted down by their colleagues (presumably to keep the [[All of the Other Reindeer|general populace]] at least a little less frightened of them than the creatures they hunt). In practice their behaviors range from refusing to raise a hand against any human to avoiding deathblows and making sure nobody bleeds out to slaughtering any witnesses to prevent accusations from being made.
* ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]'''s forbidding of relationships between mermaids and humans. Legend even stated that if a mermaid revealed her identity to a human, she would die, {{spoiler|although the manga, at least, seems to show that this is not in fact true by introducing Hamasaki, a human with a known mermaid ancestor.}}
* In ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', Sailor Pluto had three taboos: she was forbidden to leave the Space-Time Door, to bring others through it, and to stop time (it was said that using her power to stop time would result in her death). Nevertheless, she broke all three directives in both the anime and the manga and got away with it, although she stopped time under different circumstances (in different [[Story Arc|Story arcs]], even) and seemed to die immediately afterward, then came back with little explanation.
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