Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|'''Picard:''' What I am about to do is a direct violation of our orders. If anyone objects, please do so now. It will be noted in my log.<br />

So the [[Big Damn Heroes]] are about to set off to [[Save the World]]. Not so fast, [[Lawful Stupid|red tape and bureaucracy]] are standing in the way of the world's last hope. Well, there's only one thing to do. Ignore the orders of the [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]] and/or [[Corrupt Bureaucrat]] then go [[Save the World]] anyway. This is, after all, a [[Matter of Life and Death]].

Other less dramatic examples are usually helping someone out when the rules say that you shouldn't.

Applying this trope does ''not'' mean that the [[I Did What I Had to Do|ends justify the means]], but rather that the person acts compassionate and follows his conscience even when the rules would forbid it (or to put it another way, they ''do'' justify the means, but the means usually aren't very terrible). When a [[Knight Templar]] attempts this, they are likely to [[Jump Off the Slippery Slope]] [[I Did What I Had to Do|Doing What They Had To Do]] instead.

** Rukia gives Ichigo her powers despite knowing that it's against the law to do so, setting off the entire story.

** Ukitake and Kyoraku destroy the device meant for Rukia's execution, and do so knowing that their commander - and mentor - Yamamoto would kill them for the treasonous act. {{spoiler|Aizen}}'s far greater treachery stops the ensuing fight between teacher and students.

* ''[[Dai-Guard]]'': In the series finale {{spoiler|Shirou Shirota disobeys orders to stop a [[Nuclear Weapons Taboo|Over Explosion Bomb]] from being dropped on Tokyo to stop the [[Monster of the Week]] from covering the world. His plan works, but the bomb might not have.}}

* ''[[Vandread]]'': At the end of the Second Stage, Hibiki launches into an epic speech in defiance of the planetary governments to rally the people of Tarak and Mejale into standing up and stopping the Harvest fleet.

* ''[[Captain Harlock]]'' turns to space piracy because of the corruption of Earth's government, but still fights for what he believes in and is willing to defend the Earth if need be.

* ''[[Code Geass]]'' has Suzaku, the pilot of a [[Humongous Mecha]], punch the mech's designer in the face when he didn't let him go out and fight. Now whether you consider his actions justice-driven or revenge-driven decides whether this belongs here. Particularly interesting in that Suzaku is usually the inverse of this trope, fighting for [[The Empire]] even though he knows it's corrupt and wicked.

** I wouldn't exactly say "legally". More like "because we need you", as the Ark Dai-Gurren didn't have any defensive capabilities at all.

* ''[[Trinity Blood]]'': In the episode ''Overcount I. The Belfry of Downfall'' Cardinal Caterina Sforza breaks Vatican protocol in seeking to stop a weapon that could destroy all of Rome. As a result she placed under house arrest and is hinted that that she might have been executed. However, she is cleared when the weapon is used.

** Also Hatake Kakashi and his father Sakumo, who became an outcast after choosing his comrades' lives over his mission and committed suicide afterwards. Kakashi himself took on this approach to the rules after his best friend's death.

{{quote| '''Kakashi''': Those who break laws are scum. And those who abandon their friends to follow the law... ''they're lower than scum!''}}

* Prince Wilfred of [[Private Prince]] invokes this ''many'' times, specially when {{spoiler|he plans to renounce to his royalty status and marry into his girlfriend Miyako's Japanese family, if that's the only way for him to stay with her and escape the Royal Family.}}

* Pulled by {{spoiler|Renzaburo}} in ''[[Wicked City]]'', who goes {{spoiler|rescue his partner Makie}} despite his boss's orders.

* In recent ''[[One Piece]]'' chapters, Jinbe breaks Fishman Island's laws to {{spoiler|[[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|give blood to Luffy]].}}

** And before that, Jinbe {{spoiler|refused to answer the World Government's call to fight against the Whitebeard Pirates, because his homeland owed a great debt to Whitebeard}}. This led directly to {{spoiler|his meeting and befriending both Luffy and his older brother Ace, and defecting to aid Luffy and the Whitebeard in their attempt to save Ace from execution}}. Really, this is what Jinbe's all about. He'll do what's right, regardless of the cost to himself.

** Actually, this is [[Chaotic Good|Takuto's attitude towards rules most of the time]]. [[I Will Protect Her|Especially if said rules may hurt Mitsuki]].

{{quote| ''Doesn't matter what the press says. Doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world -- [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|"No, YOU move."]]''}}

* Most of the anti-registration superheroes in ''[[Marvel Civil War|Civil War]].''

** Hell, you could even argue that this is Sinestro's motivation too; he's doing what he feels is right to protect the universe, sacrificing everything that's precious to him - his status as a GL, his family life, his reputation - all because he disagreed with the Guardians over the application of the GL code. Some of the things he did [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|clearly went too far]], but [[Straw Man Has a Point|the man's got a point]].

* [[Fantastic Four|Uatu, the Watcher]] is an observer sworn not to interfere in the affairs of Earth but [[Humans Are Special|there's just something about humans--]]

{{quote| '''Sulu:''' The word, sir?<br />

'''Kirk:''' The word is "No". I am therefore going anyway. }}

{{quote| '''Picard:''' What I am about to do is a direct violation of our orders. If anyone objects, please do so now. It will be noted in my log.<br />

'''[[The Spock|Data]]:''' Captain, I believe I speak for everyone here, sir, when I say... [[Sophisticated As Hell|"to]] ''[[Sophisticated As Hell|hell]]'' [[Sophisticated As Hell|with our orders"]]. }}

** The thing which sets the plot off is Data, who was assigned on what he thought was a survey mission, and attacked to keep the truth hidden when he discovered what was really going on. This damage kicked him into a kind of basic mode of functioning, probably designed to keep him from being used as a weapon, wherein his program directed him to do the right thing, regardless of whatever else was going on. Essentially he was ''programmed'' with a Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right default mode.

* ''Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country''

'''Spock:''' If I were human, I believe my response would be "go to hell". }}

* ''[[Dirty Harry]]'' lives this trope. So do some other [[Clint Eastwood]] characters.

* In ''[[The Matrix Reloaded]]'' {{spoiler|Neo realises Trinity will be killed by an Agent, and insists she stays out of the matrix; however, despite his pleading, Trinity states "[She refuses] to sit and watch [Neo] die", and does so anyway.}}

** Don't forget Jayne's "If you can't do something smart, do something right."

*** [[Badass Preacher|Shepherd Book]] said it, [[Anti-Hero|Jayne]] was just quoting it. Which makes rather more sense.

* ''[[Crimson Tide]]'' is all about this. Lt. Commander Hunter (played by [[Denzel Washington]]) actually commits mutiny and seizes control of the ''USS Alabama'' in the name of preventing nuclear war.

** Though Hunter insists throughout that it was ''not'' a mutiny, he did everything "by the book". It was the Captain who disobeyed proper procedure, by not holding the launch countdown pending retrieval of the message, and attempting to relieve Hunter for fulfilling his role, the very reason why there's two sets of keys. As far as Hunter sees it, his actions were all Lawful as well as Good.

* In ''[[Hellboy|Hellboy II]]'', Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien go against orders to take a dying Hellboy to Prince Nuada's realm in order to save his life. Johann Kraus intercepts them, seemingly intending to either reason with them or arrest them for disobeying orders, but instead joins them.

{{quote| "Screw this. I didn't sign up for this shit!"}}

** And the end of movie shows that Zim did end up busting himself down to private, though that's probably a subversion, since he was actually following the rules in that case.

* The primary reason Jason keeps the evidence from the police in ''[[Mystery Team]]''.

* In '"[[Tears of the Sun]]'', the SEAL Team engages the Nigerian rebels after watching the rebels massacre a village, not to mention trying to extract as many indigenous refugees from the conflict zone as possible, against direct orders from their command center.

** Also Agent Peggy Carter decides to help Steve to get into the HYDRA base, at the risk of her career. Likewise with Howard Stark who flew the plane into enemy lines.

{{quote| "Well, there's the law and there's what's right. I'm gonna do what's right."}}

== Literature ==

{{quote| "If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or [[Foreshadowing|turn it into a school for the Dark Arts]]! Losing points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the House Cup?"}}

** During the whole saga, Harry often breaks the rules to do what's right, to the extreme of {{spoiler|robbing a bank, as well as using Unforgiveable Curses,}} in ''[[Deathly Hallows]]''.

** ''Starfighters of Adumar'' has a similar but vastly more personal version. Wedge and his pilots have been sent on a diplomatic mission to Adumar, whose [[Planet of Hats|hat]] is pilot-worship and [[Blood Sport]], in order to get them to join the New Republic. The Imperials have also sent some pilots. Both groups fly against native Adumari pilots and win handily, since as [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]s the Adumari never get very skilled. The Imperial pilots fly with full-strength lasers and shoot to kill; the New Republic ones do not, and Wedge's diplomatic liaison says that in not following standard native practice they are disrespecting their traditions, which means that the Imperial pilots look better. Wedge tells himself that if it was a matter of flying against some champion, some enemy, he'd do it without a qualm, but the Adumari aren't his enemies. He stalls by pulling a [[Sure Why Not]] and telling the liaison that he's waiting for his immediate superior to order him to fly lethally. But he knows that if ordered, he will refuse and end up getting kicked out at the least - which is a big deal for him, since Wedge has been part of the New Republic since he was in his teens, and literally all of his friends are involved in the military.

** There's also Thrawn in ''[[Outbound Flight]]'', who ''really'' wants to protect the Chiss, but often clashes with his culture's views on preemptive attacks, which is what eventually leads to his exile. It's morally ambiguous, and Thrawn does [[The Thrawn Trilogy|become a full-fledged villain later on]], but it's hard to argue that the [[Complete Monster|Vagaari]] didn't deserve everything they got.

{{quote| Death knew that to tinker with the fate of one individual could destroy the whole world. He knew this. The knowledge was built into him.<br />

To Bill Door, he realized, it was so much horse elbows.<br />

{{smallcaps| Oh, damn}}, he said. And walked into the fire. }}

*** There was a loophole for the match girl; he was acting as the Hogfather, who's allowed to do things like that.

**** It was still [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|awesome]]:

* This is a major part of Joey Bettany's character in the early ''[[Chalet School]]'' books. She's more than happy to break rules in order to save people (or dogs, in ''Jo of the Chalet School'').

* Siuan Sanche from ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' does this all the time, although in her case it's more like seeing the rules [[From a Certain Point of View]].

* At the end of the fourth [[Temeraire]] book, Laurence {{spoiler|commits treason by stealing the cure for the dragons' illness and taking it to France, because the alternative is to let the illness spread across the world killing dragons who aren't even involved in the war. Then he goes back to England and turns himself in, fully expecting to be hanged.}}

* In an odd villainous example, Saint Dane of [[The Pendragon Adventure]] {{spoiler|started out as a good guy, who lived as a spirit in Solara and after a while couldn't stand seeing people make bad decisions over and over. His job was to just show every aspect of a situation, but instead he began to point people in a specific direction, which was technically breaking the rules. (Compare with the story of Lucifer in [[The Bible]] to get a better understanding)}} Then he went mad with power and decided to become a god who controlled everything and everyone. Even though the original intent fit this trope (That of pointing man in a positive direction with his hand), at the end of the series he's just gotten plain selfish.

** In fact, the entire series starts with Jack having to explain his use of this trope in Stargate The Movie. Not only did he lie about nuking the Stargate when there turned out to be a threat, which would have wiped out the indigenous civilization (he took the threat itself out with the bomb instead), he lied about Daniel Jackson being dead so Daniel could stay with the wife he'd fallen in love with. General Hammond was not terribly pleased with the two of them when he found out the deception, but he got over it quickly enough.

*** Hell, this is the signature trope of both SG-1 '''and''' their ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' equivalents. They always get away with it. In one episode of SG-1 (''Upgrades''), the titular team disobeys direct orders to neutralize a serious threat. When they return to Stargate Command, Jack explicitly apologizes, mentioning that he hopes the court-martial will be fair. General Hammond then invokes this trope, coming up with a (arguably solid) excuse for why they're not in trouble. ''This is basically what happens all the time''.

** Episode "Amok Time". Kirk violates Starfleet orders by returning Spock to Vulcan to save his life.

** Episode "Balance of Terror". Kirk violates "inviolable" Starfleet orders not to enter the Romulan Neutral Zone because he feels the invading ship must be destroyed to avert a war.

** Episode "The Menagerie", Spock risks the death penalty to return Captain Pike to Talos IV.

** Averted in "Wolf In the Fold", when Kirk explicitly refuses the suggestion that he help Scotty escape the planet on which he had been charged with murder. While he does his best to, and eventually does, get Scotty cleared of murder, Kirk says that he'll allow Scotty to be jailed and executed if he's found guilty even if Kirk believes him innocent. Why? Because the planet is a strategically vital port, and [[Realpolitik|helping Scotty escape its justice would sour them against the Federation]].

** Episode "Suspicions" does this ''twice'' for Dr. Crusher. The first time, against the wishes of the family, she performs an autopsy on a scientist who she believes died due to foul play. In a subversion, the autopsy turns up nothing suspect and she's relieved of her position. Played straight the second time, when she steals a shuttlecraft and flies into a star to confirm her suspicions.

** "The Wounded" features a [[Knight Templar]] version: Captain Maxwell believes the Cardassians are preparing for war, but Starfleet won't listen, so he goes rogue and starts destroying ostensibly peaceful (and [[Curb Stomp Battle|definitely defenseless]]) Cardassian ships and outposts. Turns out he wasn't completely bonkers, but he was definitely jumping the gun and gets hit hard for it.

** Partial subversion: Another episode finds Data in temporary command of another starship as part of a scratch fleet seeking evidence that the Romulans are violating the Neutral Zone, and goes against Captain Picard's orders in order to achieve the mission objective. When subsequently debriefed he offers his apologies, whereupon Captain Picard points out that a Starfleet captain is not only authorised but ''expected'' to countermand orders if they have reason to believe the safety of their ship demands it, though presumably they would need a ''very'' compelling explanation when they got back to port, which Data had in spades. (Actually [[Truth in Television]] for many navies.)

** In "The Pegasus", Picard mentions he picked Riker as his first officer because of an incident where Riker didn't allow one of his previous captains to beam down. Picard was impressed by Riker challenging a captain's authority for the safety of the captain and the ship's crew.

** In "Time's Orphan", security guards stop Miles and Keiko O'Brien from stealing a Runabout in a desperate bid to save their daughter Molly. Odo waves the guards aside, comments that O'Brien should have done a better job of sneaking onto the hanger, and allows them to take the Runabout.

** In "Cogenitor," Trip disobeys the Captain and befriends an alien belonging to that race's mistreated minority, a third gender. He shows her things she's never seen before, but eventually the Enterprise has to leave, and [[Deconstructed Trope|the alien commits suicide.]]

* Neal does this frequently on [[White Collar]]. If doing what he knows is right means breaking a few rules, he's all for it.

** This is basically Mal's world view. He doesn't care if it's going to get him killed or if it's against the law, he does what he feels is right.

{{quote| '''Mrs. Burgess:''' My husband makes a distinction between legality and morality.<br />

'''Mal Reynolds:''' You know, I've said that myself, on occasion. }}

* Pretty much any cop show will have characters deciding this, going against their own bosses, other agencies, ignoring diplomatic rules, etc. so convinced are they that trying to solve a murder justifies doing ''anything'' they want. ''[[Bones]]'' averted it pretty surprisingly when Booth told the team he would ''not'' screw the rules to bust a suspect with diplomatic immunity because of the consequences far beyond their murder investigation.

** Jack Bauer ended up spending several years in a Chinese camp being tortured, so... He's probably paid for it.

*** And pretty much anyone he ever cares about dies a violent death or turns out to be a traitor. He also gets fired, arrested, and otherwise punished repeatedly. While he may not always suffer long-term punishments, he surely doesn't gain much.

** Slightly subverted after Foreman breaks protocols at a different hospital to save a patient. The patient lives, but Foreman gets fired almost immediately and is blacklisted by pretty much every other hospital apart from Princeton-Plainsboro, to where he's forced to return.

* ''[[Boston Legal]]'' has one instance that stands out, though it's slightly less this trope and a little more of a threat to invoke the trope: Alan Shore {{spoiler|is defending an old acquaintance accused of murdering her fiancé literally moments before their courthouse wedding. But when it's revealed that the bride switched identities with a close friend years back, and claims that said friend is the real murderer, Alan finds proof that said friend came the bride a year ago and wanted to go back to her real identity. The bride then killed her, and later murdered her fiancé as well.}} Alan followed up with this: "The only reason you're not sprawled on the floor under a bailiff with handcuffs is because of attorney-client privilege, and, frankly, I don't need this (case) that much. I've done a lot of talking over the years. I'm tired. I'm rich. Take the (plea bargain, 12 years for manslaughter) or I'll walk through that door. I'll get disbarred. And I'll put you away for life. Double first-degree. It'll be life. Until the end of your life."

** Alan Shore does this a lot. When he considers a client to be morally in the right, he has gone so far as to blackmail the opposing party into settlements. He even once pointedly did ''not'' [[Could Say It, But...|advise a client to flee the country]] when the case was hopeless, but the cause just.

** Another episode has Doogie giving his 16-year-old girlfriend Wanda a pelvic examination and performing an emergency appendectomy on her his despite the rule that she needed parental consent. Doogie states that because it was a life-threatening situation, “under the same circumstances I’d do it again.”

* Every episode of ''[[Leverage]]'' is about the team breaking hundreds of laws to help someone who's been screwed over by the (usually [[Loophole Abuse|loophole abusing]] [[Lawful Evil|law-abiding]]) rich and powerful.

** Said parents find out about the surgery and kill their child, believing that the soul has left the body.

** Delenn breaking the Grey Council with a [[God Save Us From the Queen|royal]] display of [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Awesomeness]].

** As was Sheridan's speech (in the same episode) declaring the station's secession from the Earth Alliance because of Earth's recent atrocities. He basically lays the cards on the table and tells anyone who doesn't want to go along would be free to leave but that Babylon 5 was not playing by Earth's rules anymore.

** It's hard to name a character on the show who doesn't do this at least once. Full credit must go to Garibaldi, however. Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right is practically his personal mantra.

* The fourth season finale of ''[[Chuck]]'' has our eponymous hero going against the CIA {{spoiler|in order to get a chance to [[Find the Cure|find a cure]] for a poisoned Sarah, who was struck down with a virus inflicted on her by the [[Big Bad]].}}

* One of the defining characteristics of Jimmy [[Mc Nulty]] of ''[[The Wire]]''. Also shown with Bunny Colvin and Lester Freamon. {{spoiler|They all pay for it.}}

** In one memorable case, he disobeyed his commanding officers to prevent genocide... of a race of androids bent on annihilating the human race. YMMV whether this crosses into [[Honor Before Reason]] territory.

* The [[Body of the Week]] on one episode of ''[[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]]'' was a [[Asshole Victim|Serbian war criminal]] who was spotted by two of his former victims, who murdered him. {{spoiler|Benson and Stabler arrange things so that the killers get away with a light prison term. The boss chews them out; Benson explains it as "I think we did the only thing that's going to allow me to sleep tonight."}}

* This line is used almost exactly in [[Criminal Minds]] episode "Amplification".

{{quote| '''Emily''': Screw protocol; Reid's in trouble.}}

** It comes up again in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'' with the salarian STG. If Kirrahe is alive, he'll promise the unwavering support of the STG regardless of politics, {{spoiler|even if the Dalatrass calls off salarian support for helping cure the genophage.}}

* ''[[Army of Two]]''. Overlaps with [[Screw the Money, I Have Rules|Screw The Money]], their [[Mission Control]] asks them if they want to let the authorities handle it legally, but they decline as they know the [[Big Bad]] is currently in the process of killing witnesses and destroying evidence inside the HQ.

* Another one of their subversions was in [[Jade Empire]]. The Brothers Sun were violating the laws of heaven in their assault on Dirge, committing genocide on the monks, and crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]] in too many ways to count. Still, they thought it was the only way to stop the drought that was killing thousands and left the empire on the verge of collapse.

* ''[[Ace Attorney]] Investigations'' has this with {{spoiler|the Yatagarasu, two attorneys and a detective who resorted to finding evidence of crime through theft when the law wouldn't reach far enough for them.}} This becomes a mirrored dilemma for Edgeworth late in the game, when {{spoiler|he must decide whether to use Badd's stolen evidence against Alba, since legally it can't be used at all.}}

* ''[[Star Trek Elite Force]]''. Munro, ignoring Tuvok's orders to return.

* In [[Fallout]], the Brotherhood of steel are rather strict about who they let join, and who they let keep technology more advanced than a flashlight. However, in ''Fallout3'', we have Elder Lyons, who, when he and his chapter arrived in the Capitol Wasteland, looked around at how bad things are and basically said "Screw the Codex!" Now the DC Chapter of the Brotherhood goes around as something like a post-apocalyptic [[The Order|Chivalric Knighthood]], dedicating to helping the downtrodden of the area, and working with them to make things better.

* In ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'', Donald and Goofy reluctantly follow Riku when he wrests control of the Keyblade from Sora, since they were told to stay with the Keyblade holder. They quickly changed their minds and stood beside Sora when Riku, a\at this time posessed by Ansem ( {{spoiler|or rather Xehonort claiming to be Ansem}}) attempted to kill Sora.

== Web Comics ==

** Miko actually said the phrase "The laws have no meaning... Only honor and the will of the gods matter now". Granted, it turned out that she was doing the wrong, incredibly stupid thing, but she [[Knight Templar|was convinced]] that {{spoiler|killing Lord Shojo}} was the right and necessary thing to do.

* [[Domain Tnemrot]] has [http://www.tnemrot.com/?p=74 Angel helping Dae] after his fight, even though she's not allowed in the ring and is [http://www.tnemrot.com/?p=74 almost killed for it].

== Western Animation ==

** Pretty much Pepper's reason for every plan of hers, despite some plans including destroying the enemy's entire company.

{{quote| '''Phoebus:''' [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Consider it my highest honor.]]}}

* In one episode of ''Popeye And Son'', [[Popeye]] and his son are in a father/son contest, and one of the rules forbids the use of spinach. They end up breaking this rule when they have to save Wimpy and his nephew.