Screw the Rules, I Have Connections: Difference between revisions

* Used by both the heroes and the villains in the various iterations of the ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]'' franchise. Quite memorably, in the ''[[Stand Alone Complex]]'' TV series a perp managed to avoid conviction partially thanks to this trope, and in response [[Guile Hero|Chief Aramaki]] quietly arranged his "accidental" death in a car accident and hushed up any investigation that might follow, neatly demonstrating that the trope goes both ways. In another incident, some college kids were running an amateur organ black market, under the impression that their influential parents would get them out of any trouble. The Major [[Bring My Brown Pants|literally scares the piss out of them instead]], though her motivations were more personal than getting around their connections.

* [[The Five Star Stories|Dr. Chrome Ballanche]] was able to dabble [[Dangerous Forbidden Technique|in the forbidden arts]] only because he was a lifetime friend of the [[God-Emperor]] of the most powerful nation around, even if [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right|his intentions were noble]].

 

== Comic Books ==

* In the ''[[She Hulk]]'' graphic novel, Jessica is captured by SHIELD and forced to be strip-searched in public in front of male personnel and in violation of all established procedure. Dum-Dum Dugan, acting director, comes in and is furious at this abuse and orders the agent responsible confined to quarters pending a formal reprimand. The agent threatens to use his connections and Dugan gets a harsh phone call by those connections ordering to let the agent go.

* Subverted in a [[Donald Duck]] comic where Donald works at a theatre. The son of a mob boss basically threatens his way to being the leading man, despite being an incredibly bad actor. The subversion occurs when Donald breaks and becomes as angry as only Donald Duck can be, telling the guy just how bad he is. The offended young man calls upon his father... who turns up and thanks Donald for ''finally'' standing up to his obnoxious son, who is always using his connections to get away with stupid stuff.

 

== Film ==

* With nearly all public officials in the pocket of Carmine Falcone, this is the main reason why [[Batman Begins|Bruce Wayne]] became Batman to fight crime.

* I don't think my father, [[Mean Girls|the inventor of Toaster Struedel]], would like that I'm not on this list.

* [[Boondock Saints|Yackavetta]]. Not that it helped him.

* A rare positive example: his membership of the Nazi party and friendship with senior Nazi officials are the reason [[Schindler's List|Oskar Schindler]] can save the lives of his eponymous List. (Well, that and a certain amount of outright bribery.)

{{quote|'''Kyle:''' Are you crazy? Do you have any idea what my father is capable of?

'''Jessica:''' Oh yeah? [[Insult Backfire|Well, maybe I'm fuckin' the wrong guy!]] }}

 

== Literature ==

* In ''[[Are You In The House Alone]]'', Phil Lawver is the son of a very wealthy and/or influential man. When he {{spoiler|rapes the narrator}}, the police chief refuses to even open an investigation on him due to his family connections.

* This ''used'' to be the case in [[Discworld]]'s Ankh-Morpork; an ongoing theme is the way [[Da Chief|Sam Vimes]] and [[Magnificent Bastard|Lord Vetinari]] have made it harder and harder to pull this off, providing an almost endless source of plot conflict as the city's [[Blue Blood]] population fight for their privilege.

* Falcone, closest thing to a [[Big Bad]] in the ''[[Warchild Series|Warchild]]'' series, has been arrested once before and sent to prison. His connections either broke him out or saw fit to release him early (the books are rather vague on that). When he gets arrested a second time, he tells our heroes it's a waste of time and brags about how he'll be out again. Indeed, he doesn't even make it to the prison when a group of his loyalists arrive to free him from the custody of the [[Space Marine]]s. But in a fitting turn {{spoiler|he is murdered on the docks because one of our [[Black and Grey Morality|gray heroes]] can't bear to see him get away unpunished.}}

* This is the stock in trade of the "looters" in ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', who essentially make themselves into an "Aristocracy of Pull".

* This is the main reason why the Office of Disruptive Services team on ''Chaos'' is able to operate the way they do. They have connections going all the way to the White House. Their [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]] boss wants them fired but as long as they do not screw up in a major way, their everyday misdeeds will go unpunished.

* One of the major themes on ''[[The Wire]]''. Clay Davis and Irving Burrell are two of the biggest offenders

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

* [[Professional Wrestling|The McMahon kids]] don't fall into this too well...Shane's a fan favorite (the inversion of Vince in many ways, but he has broken out into one of his [[Catch Phrase|catchphrases]] once. Not the one you're thinking of though.), and while Stephanie is a bit of a bitch as well as a [[Daddy's Girl]], she was a face in her General Manager days (and ironically her reign came to an end when Vince beat her in an I Quit match).

 

== Radio ==

* The early ''[[Adventures in Odyssey]]'' episode "Camp What-A-Nut" features a low-key version of this. Chas Wentworth, son of a wealthy businessman who (among other things) partially owns the camp itself, has a well-earned reputation as a troublemaker who figures his money will cover any trouble he might get into. For once, among other things, this doesn't come hand in hand with being popular. In fact, it eventually comes out that he is caught in a cycle of being a jerk to everyone because most people don't like him because he keeps flaunting his cash on the flawed assumption that people universally respect money.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** Cultivating and using a lot of connections for personal benefit, or on commission, is a legitimate full-time job in the Shadowrun setting -- it's called 'being a fixer', a well-established profession.

 

* Roy Cohn in ''[[Angels in America]]''.

* ''[[Cyrano De Bergerac]]'': At Act II Scene VII, De Guiche wants to [[Buy Them Off]] Cyrano offering to say to his uncle, Cardinal Richelieu, whom Cyrano has already impressed, '' I'll gladly say a word to him for you''. And at Act III Scene II, he lampshades how he will occult in a monastery:

{{quote|'''De Guiche''' ...Hard by, in the Rue d'Orleans, is a convent founded by Father Athanasius, the syndic of the Capuchins. True that no layman may enter—but—I can settle that with the good Fathers! Their habit sleeves are wide enough to hide me in. 'Tis they who serve Richelieu's private chapel: and from respect to the uncle, fear the nephew. All will deem me gone... }}

 

* In ''[[Ace Attorney]]'', these are the exact people the Yatagarasu tries to combat. {{spoiler|It's also pulled by Alba in the final case. If he committed the murder on Allebahstian soil, then he only gets a trial in Allebahst, where he will surely get off lightly due to his war hero status}}.

* Some of the bystanders in ''[[Grand Theft Auto Vice City]]'' claim that they "know people".

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Morality Tropes]]

[[Category:Might Makes Right]]

[[Category:Truth in Television]]

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