Screw the Money, I Have Rules: Difference between revisions

[[File:schlock20070606.png|link=Schlock Mercenary|frame|Toldja [[Only in It For the Money|Tagon]] had a soul.]]

 

 

For some people, money isn't an issue. Maybe a hero's morals and convictions are so strong that he can never be bought out, not even for all the money and riches in the world. Maybe someone is so committed to a goal he'll spend all the money he has to in order to reach it. Or perhaps there are some people who just don't need the money; the [[Good Feels Good|warm fuzzy feeling after doing a good deed is reward enough]]. Whatever the reason, wealth comes second to personal values.

 

{{examples}}

* Despite being ridiculously poverty-stricken, Makino Tsukushi, the heroine of ''[[Hana Yori Dango]]'' refuses to take a bribe from Domyoji (either to hang out with him or to take back her challenge to him depending on the continuity), and is unimpressed by the [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|fat stacks of cash he throws around to get his way]]. This is a large part of [[Love At First Punch|what endears her to him]] in the first place, being among the two or three people who openly defy him.

* Mugen of ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' is a nastier version of this trope- which is why he's [[Chaotic Neutral]]. Mugen's too much of a free spirit and lover of violence to be loyal to either the law or the [[Yakuza]], and so if the [[Villain of the Week]] tries to hire him, Mugen won't stay loyal for very long.

* Hideo Ozu of ''[[Hand Maid Mai]]'' provides an infuriating example when he turns down 10 million yen in exchange for old videos he shot of his aspiring-actress childhood friend, Mai. But rather than keeping the videos, he simply gives them away for free to Mai's producer, who had told him that the videos<ref>(which as far as we know, are not pornographic or scandalous in any way)</ref> could get in the way of Mai's acting career. And when it turns out that {{spoiler|the producer and director intend to profit from the videos by integrating them into their new movie}}, he gets indignant about the videos that were "taken" from him.

 

* In [[Ultimate Marvel]] Silver Sable fails to capture Spider-Man. She refuses to admit failure, drop the job, and go away. "My reputation is everything to me. We'll finish the job for you. Comped. No charge."

** This trope appears quite often in ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man]].'' Probably played straightest when Spider-Man intervenes to save Boomarang, a C-grade bank robber from being terminated with extreme prejudice by [[The Punisher]] and the villain gratefully offers him $20,000 to get him away from the cops. Poor student Peter is clearly tempted for a moment before webbing the villain up beside the Punisher for the cops to collect.

* Papa Smurf in ''[[The Smurfs]]'' comic book story "The Finance Smurf" refuses to go along with the title character's suggestion of charging his little Smurfs for his services, even as impoverished as he became when he has to pay off his little Smurfs for taking care of him when he was sick during the time the Smurf Village monetary system was in place. Eventually every Smurf decides to go Screw The Money to Finance Smurf when they realize that their old ways of cooperation and sharing were better.

* Do not try to bribe [[Tintin]] into working with you. Even if you have him in a prison cell, sentenced to die the next day, he ''will'' kick you through the door just to show you what he thinks of you and your offers.

 

{{quote|'''Kaiba:''' Screw the money, I have rules! (beat) Wait, let me try that again.}}

 

* In ''[[Flubber]]'', the [[Big Bad]] offers to make [[Robin Williams]]' [[Absent-Minded Professor]] character and his fiancee, the college president, very rich if they would sell him the formula to the titular substance. The reply: "If we were interested in being rich, we wouldn't have become teachers."

** Even earlier, the reason why the [[Big Bad]] was interested in him in the first place is because Robin's character was flunking the Bad's spoiled son who was otherwise [[Bribing Your Way to Victory|paying off the teachers to pass him without actually attending class.]] Naturally our professor wasn't having any of that.

* How Jonathan Shields practically bankrupted his studio in ''[[The Bad and The Beautiful]]''. He wouldn't even release a picture that could save it because he thought it wasn't good enough.

* In the 1987 film [[The Untouchables]], a public official working for Al Capone tries to bribe Eliot Ness to put a stop to his liquor raids. Ness literally throws the money back in the man's face.

* In ''[[Titanic]]'', Cal tries to bribe one of the officers to let him on a lifeboat. The officer's response: "Your money won't save you any more than it would me."

* Set up to look this way in ''[[Tropic Thunder]]'' when Les Grossman {{spoiler|attempts to bribe Rick Peck into abandoning his friend and client}}, but it seems that in the nick of time {{spoiler|Rick [[Take a Third Option|took a third option]] and saved the day ''using'' the bribe money}}.

* Charles Simms in ''[[Scent of a Woman]]'' turns down a scholarship to Harvard rather than rat out his friends. Doubly impressive in that the boys he's covering for are grade A assholes, and there's no way he can afford college without the scholarship. As [[Colonel Badass|Lt.Col. Slade]] puts it, "that's character."

* Chazz Darvey in ''[[Airheads]]''. In spite of all the effort he went through to get a record contract for him and his band, when Chazz learns that [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Jimmy Wing]] is signing them without hearing their music, he promptly [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|wipes his ass with the contract]]. Later, the entire band gets one after Wing talks Chazz into the contract when they learn that {{spoiler|the contract is contingent on lip-syncing in public}}. They proceed to smash up the place and incite a riot.

* In ''[[The Dark Knight]]'', [[The Joker]] seeks to create [[Chaotic Evil|chaos]] and doesn't respect people who commit crimes only for money. As such, he burns a pyramid of money {{spoiler|with a money-seeking crook on top of it}}. A sort of Screw The Money They're Just Another Kind Of Rules, one might say.

* Played with by Angel Eyes of ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly]]'' who takes everyone's money, while sticking to his own personal code. Oddly that just makes him seem ''more'' [[Complete Monster|inhuman]].

 

* In ''[[Fleet of Worlds]]'', we have Sigmund. He is extremely wealthy and hence cannot be bribed. As a mere accountant, he undertook an investigation into a Space Mafia gang which nearly costs him his life. After this, he joins the ARM (Earth's military) and goes after the enemies of Earth with such zealousness (due to his natural extreme intelligence and paranoia) that the Puppeteers (a species of [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]]) consider him a significant threat to their plans. Ironically {{spoiler|A Puppeteer, Nessus, saves his life, seeing in him a potent ally}}

{{quote|Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve." ~ Matthew 4:9-10 NKJV}}

** And in Acts of the Apostles, Simon Magus offers Peter a fortune in exchange for an ordination. Peter's reply? "May your money perish with you, for you have thought that the gift of God can be bought with money!"

{{quote|"I won't say I can't be bought, but I certainly can't be bought by the likes of ''you''."}}

 

{{quote|'''Josiah''': I'm afflicted with an enemy. A vile and base creature pitted against me. It's waiting for me now. [He holds out a bank draft.] I believe that you can assist me in defeating it.

'''The Doctor''': I'm not interested in money. [Beat] How much?

* In ''Red Band Society'', upon learning about her daughter's status regarding a transplant, Kara's mother tried to convince a medical assistant to the board to place Kara higher on the list, even offering to pay out of pocket like asking if they accept credit cards. However, the assistant explains that such discussion isn't that easy since the only way it would work if Kara is put in some program to get her clean. In other words, even if they were often a mansion, it still wouldn't convince since they got rules of their own.

 

* Back in the '80s, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase offered [[Hulk Hogan]] an obscene amount of money to simply hand over the WWF Championship instead of defending it against him. Hulk refused, naturally (otherwise, this wouldn't be an example), so DiBiase instead used the money to hire [[Andre the Giant]] to get it for him. After Andre won the belt (thanks to referee Dave Hebner's [[Evil Twin]], Earl), he tried to hand it over to DiBiase, only for WWF President Jack Tunney to make an appearance and declare that, not only would the WWF title ''not'' change hands that way, but for his deplorable conduct in even trying, Andre would be stripped of the title on the spot. In this case, Screw The Money, The WWF Has Rules.

* [[Stephanie McMahon]] tried to make an offer to [[John Cena]] in exchange of joining the Authority, he'll be given protection and wealth he could he. Cena rejected the offer considering how the Authority treats those who rebel against them.

 

 

 

* Many games cause the player to invoke this (even if your character has a different view on the matter), by simply showering you with money. It gets worse in that any time you're asked to give away a substantial amount (for "charity" or otherwise), you'll typically end up with a more valuable reward. Frequently, you have no use for the cash in the first place; there's no penalty for losing it, because there's nothing to buy, or because [[Money Spider|it's easy enough to get more]].

* Subverted in ''[[Dragon Age]]'' wherein you can almost always demand/request a reward for your services without repercussion. Meanwhile, giving charitable donations doesn't get you any kind of reward whatsoever, it just means you lose money. On the other hand, even when you are offered the chance to make a questionable moral decision, money isn't usually part of the reward.

* Steven Heck in ''[[Alpha Protocol]]'' with Mike Thorton, in spite of being violent and psychotic, he is honorable, if you get him to like you then he tells you about how he turned down a 5 ''million'' dollar bribe(and cut off the guy's fingers and set him on fire) he only takes the bribe if you piss him off.

 

* They explore the concept with Haley of ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' in this [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0121.html comic]. They agree that it doesn't quite suit the character.

* The page image comes from ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' when Tagon turns down an offer for an extract and rescue mission, even after his employer is willing to multiply his standard salary by 20 to get the job done. It's subverted after the company psych officer asks Tagon if this means he's grown a conscience, only to discover that Tagon said no because he hated the guy he was hired to rescue.

'''Reverend Theo:''' False alarm, everybody. If anyone needs me, I'll be praying for our immortal souls in my cabin. }}

** That said, he'd probably have a company-wide revolt on his hands if he'd taken the job. While Tagon enjoys earning lots of money, his first priority for the company has always been "live to spend said money".

* In ''[[Dumbing of Age]]'', [[Jerkass|Mike]] volunteers as a chaperone for a date [[It Amused Me|for the privilege to punch anyone stepping over the line in the face]]. The boy attempts to bribe him with $50 to get lost. [http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/03-men-are-from-beck-women-are-from-clark/fifty/ The results are predictable].

 

* Played with in the ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' episode "The Terrible Trio," which features a group of rich punks who have turned to crime out of boredom. When Batman takes down their leader, Warren, he tries to offer Batman a hefty bribe to let him go. Of course, Batman doesn't even listen, since besides the fact that he would never let a criminal buy his way out of justice, he is already plenty rich in his own right in his secret identity as Bruce Wayne. Though Bruce Timm, producer and creator of the DCAU, has listed "The Terrible Trio" as one of the worst episodes of the series, the final scene is quite memorable: after Batman has refused his bribe, the criminal claims it won't matter since has every judge in Gotham "in [his] pocket" and will get "the best justice money can buy." There is then a quick cut to the thief being escorted into his jail cell, meeting his "roommate," and staring stupefied at the squalor around him. The episode might not be "Over the Edge," but that closing shot gets me every time.

* On ''[[The Simpsons]]'', Mr. Burns enlists Lisa to help him regain his lost wealth. She inspires him to build a recycling plant, but on discovering that he uses it to kill vast amounts of sea life, she rejects her share of the money. Which is ''twelve million dollars''.

* In ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]],'' Tombstone offers Spidey a lot of money to do some of his dirty work and, mostly, to look the other way when instructed. Spider-Man refuses, of course... {{spoiler|until a certain black suit gets on him}}.

* Stinky on ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'' turns down a million dollars because the company wants him to look stupid on television.

 

** Though Ness had almost nothing to do with the actual case that convicted Capone.

** Radio host [[Neal Boortz]] tells a similar story from his legal days, where a man came into his practice hoping to [[Frivolous Lawsuit|sue someone over a mislabeled soft drink can]]. Boortz's response? "Get the hell out of my office."

* News anchor [[The Young Turks|Cenk Uygur]] was offered by MSNBC as part of his part time show, a smaller role in the news network, with double pay even after he beat [[Fox News]] ratings in the young demographic category. In no certain words did he tell MSNBC that he was not going to shut up about his anti-establishment message and left.

* Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield offered $300,000 to Occupy Wall Street. Linnea Palmer Paton's response was “Right now we have a system where the wealthy design, create, build and have control over what happens. And I think it’s very important that the wealthy do not have that power.” [http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/01/ben-jerry-raise-cool-occupy-cash-get-activists-cold-shoulder/ Read more].

* This sometimes poignantly comes into play during end-of-life care in hospitals. People have been known to beg, plead, and offer large sums of cash to hospital workers if they will save them or their dying relative, not completely realizing that when a doctor says "There's nothing that can be done" it literally means just that. Even more tragically is the steady parade of really sleazy people (spiritualists, faith healers, unethical medical providers) who will gladly take as much money as you are willing to give to offer up some false hope or reassurances. This is usually especially true with people who have been very wealthy for their entire lives; if all your life you have never been denied anything, it can be hard to comprehend that there is something in life that money just can't buy.

* This Minnesota [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/dairy-queen-worker-confronts-woman-blind-man-money-article-1.1460961 man], who works at a Dairy Queen, refused to take the payment from a customer after he caught her pocketing a 20 dollar bill that a blind customer accidently dropped. He gave the would-be thief a choice: give the blind man his money back or leave. When the woman still refused, the employee gave a portion of his money to the blind man.

 

----

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Knight in Shining Tropes]]

[[Category:Money Tropes]]

[[Category:Just for Pun]]

[[Category:Screw This Index, I Have Tropes]]