Protocol Peril: Difference between revisions

When visiting alien or foreign cultures, some amount of [[Culture Clash]] is inevitable. In fiction, writers are able to take this to almost ridiculous extremes and milk the resulting dramatic tension.

Here's the basic formula: take a society. Give them, as one of their [[Planet of Hats|hats]], a [[Japan|rigid]] and/or [[Britain|complex]] code of manners or tradition they adhere to. Make the consequence of breaking that code dire: death, slavery, imprisonment, declaration of war, loss of a desperately needed supply or alliance they have. Insert the protagonists, usually well meaning but likely to have difficulty complying. If they can get away with asking why the punishment is so severe, the response will often be "[[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?]]" Or if the custom is particularly lacking in good sense from the outside point of view, well, "[[Nobody Ever Complained Before]]." Shake well and watch your protagonists squirm.

If the members of the culture in question are hip to the fact that outsiders are prone to stumbling on the rules, they may be nice enough to give a warning or two before bringing the hammer down. Probable good ending: both cultures learn to understand each other better and [[An Aesop]] is learned about respecting other's differences. Probable bad ending: the crew has to rescue one of their own and make a break for it with the angry mob on their heels.

A [[Sub-Trope]] of [[Culture Clash]]. [[Super-Trope]] to [[Fumbling the Gauntlet]], where the character's innocent action is taken as a challenge to fight. See also: [[Planet of Hats]], [[Sacred Hospitality]]. Likely to involve invoking the [[Alien Non-Interference Clause]].

* The Cascadians of ''[[Vatta's War]]'' put a huge emphasis on politeness over much else and the list of things that are considered impolite is vast. Visitors to the spaceport are given a sizable booklet explaining the rules and expected to learn them. The third book has Cpt. Kylara Vatta in a courtroom defending her identity against another Vatta starship captain claiming she is an imposter; being found in contempt of court is an offense that carries the death penalty. {{spoiler|When DNA tests show the other captain was lying, he gets aggressive and insulting and having already been warned, is found in contempt. This does not sit well with Ky, even though he's been shown to be in league with the organization that murdered her family.}}

* ''[[Arabian Nights]]'': In Arabian cultures it is taboo to eat with your left hand; one man who tries it gets it cut off by his dinner guest. In another tale this becomes an issue for a man who lost his right hand...

* Isaac Asimov's short story ''Strikebreaker'' features a little colony in an asteroid. Being so small everything must be recycled, even water, from feces. Naturally someone has to do the job and the asteroid's inhabitants try to make him as comfortable as possible. However, it's stigmatized by everybody, who due to social prejudice avoid interacting with him and feel physical disgust by him. The trouble appears when an outsider arrives at the colony to make social studies.

* ''[[Star Trek]]'' thrives on this trope:

** In [[The Next Generation]] 1st season episode "Justice", the crew beams down onto a seemingly pleasurable planet inhabited by the friendly Edo, where it is explained that no one breaks the rules because of random inspections and [[All Crimes Are Equal|only one punishment: execution]]. Then Wesley, who was playing with other kids, accidentally breaks a greenhouse window and it just so happens that's where the moderators check at that moment...

** "The Big Goodbye" has Picard practicing the language of an alien race on the holodeck to prepare for upcoming delegations, because the slightest mispronunciation will be taken as a grave offense.

** There's an episode of ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' where B'Elanna (part [[Proud Warrior Race|Klingon]]) gets arrested for having violent thoughts on a planet of telepaths.

** Janeway once nearly ruined relations with a species called the Tak Tak. Apparently to them, putting one's hands on one's hips is the greatest insult possible.

** The crew of ''[[Enterprise]]'' once managed to anger alien dignitaries by having a dinner in their honor. This was highly offensive to the visitors (whose [[Planet of Hats|hat]] was already "easily offended") because on their planet you eat alone. "You eat like you mate!"

* ''The [[Traveller]] Adventure'', segment "Pysadian Escapade". While their [[PC]]'s are on the planet Pysadi, the players are railroaded by the referee into having the [[PC]]'s take on a group of anolas (alien animals) as pets. When the Pysadians find out about this violation of their religious laws, they imprison one of the [[PC]]'s as a companion for the anolas and expel the other [[PC]]'s from the planet.

* This trope was the cause of the Terran-Vasudan War in ''[[Free Space]]''.