"Get Out of Jail Free" Card: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
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[[Heel Face Turn|Heel face turners]] and [[Anti-Hero|Anti Heroes]] are often fascinating characters. They can add a level of grey, be someone who understands villain motivations, or provide a [[The Atoner|good source of angst]]. In a series with [[Cardboard Prison]] tendencies, it's a lot more of an effective way of ending a threat.
However, the writers eventually have to explain, at least on a [[Hand Wave]] level, why this person isn't in jail or otherwise punished. The [[Morality Pet]] is a type of
The underlying logic to this trope is probably twofold: one, a character in prison isn't a potential cast member, and two, if the only reward for turning away from the path of evil and towards good is to be sent to prison and punished, then why would anyone ever abandon evil if they're going to be punished either way? In other words, being allowed to remain free- tormented or not- is almost like a karmic reward for the new hero's redemption, a second chance. That doesn't mean they necessarily feel good about it.
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* In ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', Kotaro has what amounts to a get out of jail free card after his second appearance. {{spoiler|He helps Negi [[Distress Ball|save the girls]] from [[Anti-Villain|Wilhelm]], is granted his freedom, and proceeds to transfer to [[Elaborate University High|Mahora]].}} Ironically, he had ''escaped'' from jail before he did this, so it was more of a ''Stay'' Out Of Jail Free Card.
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', it is specifically stated when {{spoiler|Scar}} has his [[Heel Face Turn]] that he will ''not'' get one of these; they make him [[Even Evil Has Standards|swear]] that he will turn himself in and face judgment after everything is over. [[Honor Before Reason|He agrees]], [[I Gave My Word|swearing]] on the only thing they know is truly [[Thicker Than Water|important to him.]] {{spoiler|It ends up being played straight as he is declared legally dead during the climax and returns to rebuild Ishval.}}
* The ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' manga has Chrono,
* Masao Kirishima, resident [[Ax Crazy|violent sociopath]] of ''[[Mars (manga)|Mars]]'', can't be locked up for attempted murder in the end because he's still legally a minor and because he doesn't seem to have any [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|memory of his victim]].
* In the end of the second season of [[Ghost in the Shell]]:[[Stand Alone Complex]] {{spoiler|Gouda}} thinks that he has one. Unfortunately, Aramaki does not accept it. {{spoiler|And has the Major shoot him with a volley of exploding bullets from an assault rifle in the middle of a hallway.}}
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{{quote|'''Prisoner''': They never leave any survivors!
'''Jack''': No survivors, eh? [[Undead Author|Then where do the stories come from, I wonder]]? }}
** Also, let's not forget the the "heroes" don't have time, couldn't care less, see the bigger picture, -- as more important stuff is going on at any given
** And did we mention "pirate"? Bar Will and Elizabeth, there's no one on the good-guy-side who would care.
** Though it is rather odd the way that Will immediately forgives Barbossa for killing his father.
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== Literature ==
* In [[Tom Clancy]]'s novels, John Clark manages to get an actual
** It also helps when you have the National Security Advisor lobbying for you, on the grounds that you've spent 20+ years as America's top field agent under a false identity, doing things including helping save the world from nuclear war.
** The President can only pardon people for "Offenses against the United States"
*** The Get out of Jail Free card was just one part of Clark's escape. {{spoiler|He also used a fake death and a professionally made, taxpayer-funded false identity. Those ARE valid in Maryland.}}
*** {{spoiler|The fake death and false ID work.}} The pardon would have NO legal effect for non-federal crimes.
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== Live Action TV ==
* Anyone who tried to punish ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' of her past warlord crimes were such fanatical [[Inspector Javert
** Or she saved everyone who wanted to punish her and they let her off.
** For a literal example of this, one episode had her tried for murder and sent to prison...only for it to be revealed that the specific person she had been convicted of killing was alive and well and ''running the prison she was in''. Naturally, she was set free after all this was revealed.
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*** Clair gets a Get Out Of Concentration Camp Free card later in the series since {{spoiler|her (biological) daddy's the one running the operation.}}
* Jack Bauer from ''[[24]]'' commits so many felonies every season that his name became synonymous with the torture of terrorist suspects during the 2008 American presidential election. Bauer escapes from punishment with the occasional slap on the wrist; but given how many times he's saved the country it makes sense. This is ultimately subverted in ''24: Redemption'', where it's revealed Bauer is being hunted by the US government so he can tried for his use of torture. Season 7 begins with him on trial for it. He is of course released from this by the end of the season, {{spoiler|but the Senator who was prosecuting him is dead}}, and the new President has also come to appreciate everything Jack has done.
** Nina gets a
** As does Mandy in Season 4.
** Pretty much EVERYONE in the show has committed and been arrested for a crime only to be released an hour later, either because they have information or because they're one of the protagonists and the day can't be saved without them.
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* ''[[Max Payne (series)|Max Payne]]'' goes on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] in the first game of his series in which he guns down hundreds of assorted mafiosi and drug pushers. Not only does he not spend a single day in jail for any of this, but he's still on the NYPD payroll in the second game. It's implied that Alfred Woden and his [[The Omniscient Council of Vagueness|"Inner Circle"]] pulled strings to keep Max a free man. Since Woden stands for Odin in the game's Norse mythology theme, it's no surprise that he's got the power to pull off such a feat. In the second game, Max is actually haunted by the fact that he escaped punishment.
* Subverted in '''[[The Elder Scrolls Four|The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion]]. When the player character becomes {{spoiler|Sheogorath, prince of madness,}} it is impossible for him to be imprisoned within {{spoiler|the shivering isles}}; the guards will instead escort you outside the city limits and leave you to go off adventuring until you can pay the fine (or not). This sometimes leads to the less then amusing glitch of having a fine considered by the game to be too large to be payed off with no option to serve your sentence (that is, your crimes being so heinous the only option is immediate attempted execution by the arresting guard or jail.) making walking through most towns feel reminiscent of any given level from Splinter Cell.
* In the first [[Baldur's Gate]], having [[Daddy's Little Villain|Shar-Teel]] in your party guarantees you a
* In the second [[Mass Effect]] game, one method you can use to "solve" a hostage situation is {{spoiler|killing the hostage yourself}} in plain view of the local law enforcement. They don't react at all. Granted, you're a (possibly former) Spectre, basically a covert agent reporting directly to the highest level of government, but you're out of favor with them, and you'd expect security to at least react.
** As for the person who attempted to assassinate the hostage and took him hostage when that went south, you can convince the security leader to put him to work helping homeless kids on the Citadel rather than pressing charges which would almost certainly lead to jail time.
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