Screw the Rules, I Make Them: Difference between revisions

* Maximillion Pegasus of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh]]'' is an interesting example. He doesn't technically break the rules (nowhere in the rule book does it forbid using an enchanted piece of Egyptian bling to read your opponent's mind), but he certainly abuses his position as creator of Duel Monsters, stacking his deck with rare and dangerous cards, several of which were never released to the public because Pegasus himself felt they were [[Game Breaker|too powerful]] for general circulation. Given that he constantly calls people like Keith on their own cheating, it's pretty hypocritical.

* Madam Mim in ''[[The Sword in The Stone]]''. She makes the rules for the Wizard's Duel just so she can break them. [[Loophole Abuse|And break them she does.]]

* Bruce Willis' general character in ''[[The Siege (Film)|The Siege]]'' plays it straight, bellowing "I ''AM'' the law! Right here, right now, I am the law!" at Denzel Washington when he tries to arrest him for murder, which was not covered under the martial law he had been tasked with.

* The entire point of ''[[Lakeview Terrace (Film)|Lakeview Terrace]]'' is that the deranged neighbor that cruelly harasses the protagonists is a cop, and the other cops are more likely to back him up in a "my word against his" situation.

* Given the name of the movie, it should come as no surprise that Steven Seagal's debut film, ''[[Above the Law (Film)|Above the Law]]'', is about government officials with this exact mindset. The beginning shows the past of Seagal's character ([[Author Avatar|which looks very similar to Seagal's own past at some points...]]), which culminates in a scene in Vietnam where high-ranking officials torture a POW far more than the Geneva Convention could possibly allow. The movie then shifts to the main plot, a tale about top dogs in [[CIA Evil, FBI Good|the CIA]] smuggling drugs and {{spoiler|plotting to assassinate a Senator}} [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|just to make sure their operations in Central America go just as planned.]]

* The main character in ''[[Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans (Film)|Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans]]''. You'd be amazed at what one dope fiend can get away with just by flashing a badge.

* [[Jerkass|Dolores Umbridge]] in ''[[Harry Potter (Literature)|Harry Potter]]''. When a student calls her out for violating her own arbitrary rules, she simply gives the student detention - which in her case involves [[Cold-Blooded Torture]].

* In ''[[Brave New World (Literature)|Brave New World]]'' World Controller Mustopha Mond, responding to Bernard's shock that he owns banned books, explains that "As I make the rules, I can also break them. With impunity, Mr. Marx, which I'm afraid you cannot do."

* A more benign version occurs in the fifth ''[[Safehold (Literature)|Safehold]]'' book, ''How Firm a Foundation.'' Empress Sharleyan has arrived in Corisande to pronounce sentencing on the traitors of the Northern Conspiracy. However, while the law is clear on their guilt and their punishment, Sharleyan uses her royal perogative to pardon those where blackmailed, threatened, duped, or just too angry or foolish to realize what they were getting into.

* Averted in [[Babylon Five]] ''Atonement'', when Delenn goes to her clan council to hear the verdict on her marriage even though she is the most powerful woman in Minbar. On the other hand she seemed to be willing to make Minbari policy practically by herself earlier. [[Your Mileage May Vary|Perhaps]] the discrepancy can be [[Justified Trope|Justified]] by saying the one was an unusual security crisis and the other was just a personal matter. Also these were her [[Thicker Than Water|kin]] after all.

* King Uther on ''[[Merlin (TV)|Merlin]]'' in The Crystal Cave. He has magic banned, yet orders Gaius to use it to save Morgana.

* ''[[Horrible Histories (TV)|Horrible Histories]]''' English Civil War song:

* The reason why and how [[King Arthur]] marries Guinevere in ''[[Merlin (TV)|Merlin]]''. The fact that she's a servant girl in this version is only brought up a couple times, and poses virtually no obstacle for Arthur. He wants to marry this woman, so he does. No arguments.

* Scotty gets a great one in the [[Star Trek the Next Generation]] episode, ''Relics''. He and [[La Forge]] are attempting to repair a beat up old rustbucket of a ship and tells Geordi to shunt some fuel to an auxilliary tank, and he protests that the system specs say doing so will blow everything up. Scotty of course was the one who originally wrote the system specs and admits that "a good engineer is always a wee bit conservative, at least on paper" and that the procedure will work.

* The player characters have this role in ''[[Dogs in The Vineyard]]''—as they are commanded to represent the word of the Book of Life, they basically interpret what it means and enforce it as they see fit. Usually with guns.

* The Golden Rule of ''[[Magic the Gathering]]'' is "Sometimes a card contradicts the rules; if this occurs, the card text takes precedence."

* Creon makes this argument to Haemon in Sophocles' ''[[Antigone (Theatre)|Antigone]]''. Naturally it all ends in tears, what with him forgetting that the Gods are more important than kings.

* ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3]]'' has Colonel Volgin. His response to Ocelot after he killed Granin in a torture session speaks for itself.

* In ''[[Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'', Miko Miyazaki comes to believe that this would happen if they were to bring {{spoiler|Lord Shojo}} to court. {{spoiler|So she executes him instead.}}

* ''[[Tales From the Pit (Webcomic)|Tales From the Pit]]'' deals with the daily exploits of the creators of ''[[Magic the Gathering]]'', so it's not surprising that we'd see them [http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/5808236243 abusing their power a little].

* Stavros Garkos and his brother Spiro Garkos in ''[[Hurricanes (Animation)|Hurricanes]]''.

* Cad Bane in ''[[Star Wars the Clone Wars (Animation)|Star Wars the Clone Wars]]'': "I'm in control. I make the rules now."

* [[Batman the Animated Series|Batman]] almost always averts this in terms of the rules he sets for himself, but when he captured the Sewer King (who had been using children as slave labor), he said, "This time, I'm ''sorely'' tempted [to break my own rules]!"