Just Following Orders: Difference between revisions
m
Fixed link
m (Mass update links) |
m (Fixed link) |
||
(35 intermediate revisions by 13 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
{{quote|Now that I look back, I realize that a life predicated on being obedient and taking orders is a very comfortable life indeed. Living in such a way reduces to a minimum one's own need to think.
|''[[Nazi Germany|Adolf Eichmann]]''}}
[[Just Following Orders]] is a justification for morally questionable actions that a character may invoke when questioned about the rightness or necessity of such actions. This justification holds that the (bulk of the) responsibility for such actions falls upon those who make such decisions and give such orders within a (military) hierarchy; by extension, those who obey and act upon such orders cannot be held (entirely) accountable for their actions. Often invoked with the [[Stock Phrase|exact phrase]] "I was [[Exactly What It Says
But we all expect everyone to be a saint. It ''seems'' justifiable if you put yourself in their shoes. If your life and/or your family's life was threatened if you disobeyed orders you knew to be morally reprehensible, what would you do? Are you sure you'll be so high-minded when on the wrong end of [[An Offer You Can't Refuse]]? For reference, the [[Nazi Germany|concentration camps]] also housed those convicted of treason. Many of those who used the Nuremberg Defense knew what was waiting for them whether they followed orders or not.
Of course, this trope is by now usually not played straight but instead ironically, sarcastically or self-hatingly. Still, it's one of the tropes that [[Cyclic Trope|cycles]] between [[Dead Horse Trope]] and [[Undead Horse Trope]], because it always sneaks its way back somewhere, even if you did not mean to invoke it...And even if everyone should know by now that playing this straight (even when fully sincere, which is not always the case) is likely to meet with skepticism and ridicule.
Often also turns up in or close to other guises: [[My Country, Right or Wrong]], people claiming they were [[Heroic Self-Deprecation|Just Doing My Job]] or "[[I Did What I Had to Do]]". Often prefixed by "[[Nothing Personal]]", usually said by an assassin.
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[Now and Then, Here and There]]'' ([[Necessarily Evil|played]] [[Shell-Shocked Veteran|for]] [[Child Soldiers|drama]])
{{quote|'''Shu''': You can't do this! This is not right!
'''Nabuca''': Never mind right or wrong! An order is an order! }}
* [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]- Ed tries to invoke this when Riza [[Whole-Episode Flashback|tells him]] what happened in Ishval, saying that the [[Our Homunculi Are Different|Homunculi]] were really the ones behind it. Riza replies that, yes, the Homunculi may have started it, but they were the ones who carried it out, and that is something they will never forget
* ''[[Monster (
* In the beginning of the anime version of ''[[Black Cat (
* ''[[
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Invoking this backfires spectacularly for one [[Mooks]] in ''[[Lucifer (comics)|Lucifer]]'', where Lucifer must somehow find the red stone at the bottom of a cauldron of molten lead guarded by a Big Nameless Shinto Monster:
{{quote|'''[[Mook|Big Nameless Shinto Monster]]''': "You must choose, and I must enact your fate."
'''Lucifer''': Fate's a ''slippery'' sort of concept, though, isn't it. I mean, most of the time it's just an excuse for doing what you ''want'' to do anyway." (Empties kettle of molten lead over Shinto Monster).
'''Big Nameless Shinto Monster''': Nuuuh! It burns! It BURNS!
'''Lucifer''': Well, that's what happens when you play with fire. Here we are. The red stone, I think you said." }}
* A sincere example of this, [[The Sandman|Death of the Endless]]. As she has told many of her charges, she has no say in what mortal gets to live and who has to die. Every mortal's fate is written in the Book of Destiny, and she has no choice but to abide by it.
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* The ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]''/''[[BattleTech]]'' crossover ''[[Hunted Tribes]]'' gives one of the most epic treatments of this trope ever. Clan Wolverine soldiers refuse to associate with crewmembers from the Pegasus, considering the ship and all who served under Admiral Cain disgraced for abandoning civilians to the Cylons. When someone tries to claim they were just following orders, the Wolverines state that people's conscience should have stopped them, and that they should have killed Admiral Cain for issuing the order in the first place. Roslin tries the [[I Did What I Had to Do]]-Defense, only to be told that the Wolverines have been in similar situations without ever compromising their morals, and that that excuse would have been good enough for any number of people, but NOT for them.
==
* ''[[Better Than Chocolate]]'':
{{quote|
'''Frances''': We're
* In ''[[Ever After (
{{quote|
* ''[[The Crazies]]'': The soldiers go on a killing spree against civilians because that's what they were told to do to contain the virus.
* ''[[Outbreak]]'':
{{quote|
* In ''[[
{{quote|
'''Bond''': [[Bond One-Liner|Me too]]. '''[[Boom! Headshot!|*BANG*]]''' }}
** Considering that by all accounts Kaufmann is a sadist who likes whipping out [[Cold-Blooded Torture]] without any justification, this comes off more as a futile attempt to say ''something'' that will spare his pathetic life.
* Used along with a healthy dose of
* A rather pathetic example appears in ''[[Aliens Vs Predator Requiem]]'' after {{spoiler|the military drop a nuclear bomb on the alien-infested town}}; a soldier says this after a survivor calls him out on it.
** He should just have said: [[It's the Only Way
*** At least that would have been a redeemable [[Shout-Out]].
* ''[[X
* ''[[Gunner Palace]]'':
{{quote|'''SPC Devon Dixon''': [feeling bad about killing] I'm not doin' the wrong thing, I'm Just Following Orders, so I'd rather it not be me. So, I had to, you know, I [[It Gets Easier|learned to live with it]].}}
== [[Literature]] ==
* Given the [[Playing with a Trope|usual workout]] in ''[[Discworld]]'', not just with the predictable [[Mooks]], [[Punch Clock Villain]]s and [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]s, but also with a number of notable subversions, mainly courtesy of the increasingly morally ambiguous and complex police Captain Carrot, who frequently subverts Just Following Orders by (seemingly) [[Exact Words|playing]] [[Bothering by the Book|it]] [[Loophole Abuse|straight]].
** Carrot's affinity for subversions of this trope may also explain how he is the first (and arguably only) character in ''[[Feet of Clay (novel)|Feet of Clay]]'' to notice that the [[Literal Genie|Golems]] rebel ''by'' following orders.
** Played straight with the local watchmen from Bonk in ''[[The Fifth Elephant]]'' where the captain thereof tries to justify the things he's done to VIMES using this. Needless to say this is a futile effort, leading to the invoked aversion of this trope, where Vimes orders Detritus to kill the man, and Detritus, knowing what's up, telling him to stuff it (with all due respect).
* From ''[[Good Omens]]'', the {{spoiler|mostly}} [[Lawful Good]] angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley discuss [[Not So Different|their bad feelings]] about the coming [[The End of the World as We Know It|end of the world]]:
{{quote|'It's not that I disagree with you,' said the angel, as they plodded across the grass. 'It's just that I'm not allowed to disobey. You know that.'
'Me too,' said Crowley.
Aziraphale gave him a sidelong glance. 'Oh, come now,' he said, 'you're a demon, after all.'
'Yeah. But my people are only in favour of disobedience in general terms. It's ''specific'' disobedience they come down on heavily.'
'Such as disobedience to themselves?'
'You've got it. You'd be amazed. Or perhaps you wouldn't be.' }}
** Three hours of [[Drowning My Sorrows|drowning their sorrows]] later, of course, Aziraphale puts it slightly more [[In Vino Veritas|bluntly]], if less coherently:
{{quote|
** Ironically, near the end of the book it's ''Aziraphale'' who points out, while trying to convince Crowley not to leave the mortals to confront Satan alone, "Lots of people in history have only done their jobs, and look at the trouble ''they'' caused."
* In the ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]'', Tenn Graneet
** He does, however, inadvertently save the Rebellion by not firing immediately after ordered. He says "Stand by" twice before Luke's torpedoes hit the reactor.
** Since the Empire [[Putting
* Non-military variation; ''[[
* Perhaps the most extreme version imaginable appears in [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' (the last book). One of the [[Mooks]] at the [[Evil Overlord]]'s multiverse-breaking facility blames the heroes for attacking him and his fellows, in reply to which she queries how exactly this compares to the moral status of their working to kill absolutely everyone everywhere. His answer? Go on, guess.
* In the third book of ''[[The Underland Chronicles]]'', {{spoiler|Doctor Neveeve}} says this line while being arrested.
* Ranga Sanga in the ''[[Belisarius Series]]'' both plays this straight and subverts it. He ''fights'' for the bad guys because of his [[I Gave My Word|feudal duties]] but doesn't commit atrocities for them and turns on them when they [[Berserk Button|go too far]].
** Belisarius himself, goes out of his way to order his men not to commit [[Rape, Pillage and Burn]] on random civilians and in fact harshly punishes those who do such things. Those are of course good orders.
* In [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]]'s play ''[[Judas Maccabeus]]'', Jason, King Antiochus' [[Les Collaborateurs|appointed]] High Priest, pleads that he was just following orders. Judah Maccabee basically tells him [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|no dice]], the King used him to do dirty work because he is a dirty person – and then orders him exiled from Israel. The whole conversation could have taken place at [[World War II|Nuremberg]].
* In Bernhard Schlink's ''[[The Reader]]'', Hanna is prosecuted as a war criminal when she is found to have been a concentration camp guard who oversaw a forced prisoner march. The guards were ordered not to lose any prisoners, and so locked them inside a church on an overnight stop. When the church caught fire, the guards chose to leave the doors chained rather than risk that any might escape, and all 300 prisoners died. When questioned about this, she points to her orders, and asks the judge naively, "What would you have done?"
* Referenced in ''[[World War Z]]''. A unit of the German army has been ordered to retreat to a more defensible location and abandon the civilians they have been defending to the zombies. Despite the fact that he understands the awful necessity of it -their position was in imminent danger of being overrun and to stay would be a futile gesture- the officer being interviewed is appalled that the theatre commander was capable of giving this order, for everyone who enlists in the German military has it impressed on them that their first and most important duty is to their conscience.
* A variation occurs in the "Dragon" play by [[Eugeny Shwartz]].
{{quote|'''[[The Quisling|Henrih]]:'''"It's not my fault. They've taught me this way!"
'''[[The Hero|Lancelot]]:'''"They've taught everyone. But why did you have to the top student, you scum?!" }}
* Said by Marcello Clerici, the [[Villain Protagonist]] of the novel "[[The Confomist]]" which is set in [[Fascist Italy]] and ends {{spoiler|on the night of Mussolini's fall from power}}, when his colleague Orlando wonders how they'll explain their role in the government.
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* In ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', Xander chloroforms Dawn and kidnaps her under Buffy's orders. However, it turns out Dawn carries a taser and doesn't care, so she tazes him and drives them back anyways.
* From the ''[[Blake's 7]]'' episode "Headhunter":
{{quote|'''Orac:''' I am obliged to do as you tell me, even though I know it to be wrong.
'''Kerr Avon:''' Only following orders? That's not very original, Orac. }}
* From ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' Chapter Nine: "It's Coming":
{{quote|
'''Sylar''': You were
* From the ''[[Holby City]]'' episode "A Clean Slate":
{{quote|
'''Joseph Byrne''': Mmm, they tried that in [[Nuremberg Defense|Nuremberg]], it didn't work. }}
* From the ''[[Prison Break]]'' episode "Bad Blood":
{{quote|
'''Paul Kellerman''': Just following orders. }}
* In the [[Docu Drama]] ''[[Nuremberg]]'', Field Marshal Keitel states this after reading the accounts on which he has been convicted.
{{quote|
* ''[[Star Trek:
** [[Inverted Trope]] in episode "Redemption II".
{{quote|
'''Captain Picard''': No, they can't. However, the claim "I was only following orders" has been used to justify too many tragedies in our history. Starfleet doesn't want officers who will blindly follow orders without analyzing the situation. Your actions were appropriate for the circumstances. }}
{{quote|
* More or less the theme of the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "Duet", where it is doubly subverted, first when a [[A Nazi
* In the ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' episode "Equinox: Part 1":
{{quote|
'''Captain Ransom''': Please, show them leniency. They were only following my orders.
'''Captain Kathryn Janeway''': Their mistake! }}
* In ''[[The Thick of It]]'', Hapless minister Hugh Abbot is about to introduce a new bill about special needs schooling, and gets uncomfortable around an aide who opposes it because he thinks the bill will fail his own child.
{{quote|
'''Glenn Cullen''': You know my views, you know inclusion is an illusion, it doesn't work.
'''Hugh''': But you don't mind if I go ahead with it.
'''Glenn''': Of course not, look - you're only following orders.
'''Hugh''': Oh thanks. So you won't make me feel bad, except by comparing me to a concentration camp guard.
'''Glenn''': No, that's right. }}
{{quote|
* Averted at least once in ''[[Babylon
** ''Not'' so averted. The military locks him up and tears his house and office apart looking for some remnant of those notes. He was just [[Genre Savvy]] enough to have destroyed them in advance, knowing in times of war, military law is "Do What We Say And '''Maybe''' We Won't Kill You."
** Delenn raised a whole fleet without the permission of the Grey Council. So much for orders.
** In the episode [http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/009.html "Deathwalker"], Sinclair uses this reason, but it is clear he is sickened by Earthdome's actions.
** Played straight in
** Sheridan beats this trope to death by actually seceding and later coming back to overthrow the regime-with the help of Minbari. His crew of course follows ''his'' orders presumably because he is a badass.
*** And then he resurrects it by not protesting a blanket pardon for the regime - in Season 5 there are numerous individuals flying starships who bombed civilian targets and slaughtered refugees.
*** And then it's twisted in a knot in "A Call To Arms": a whole ''crew'' of pardoned war criminals joins Sheridan out of guilt for their actions during the war, and ultimately makes a [[Heroic Sacrifice]].
* Word of advice, do ''not'' invoke this trope around the Doctor from ''[[Doctor Who]]''. It will only make him mad. For example, this exchange from "Bad Wolf":
{{quote|
'''The Doctor''': That's the same staff who executes hundreds of contestants every day?
'''Female Programmer''': That's not our fault. We're just doing our jobs.
'''The Doctor''': And with that sentence, you just lost the right to even talk to me. Now back off! }}
* An episode of ''[[JAG (TV series)|JAG]]'' (season 9) involves a Marine who disobeyed an order to "treat everyone as hostile" during the invasion of Iraq, freezing when confronted with a 10-year-old kid, who then exposed his squad's position, leading to the deaths of two Marines. He's accused of dereliction of duty and the "duty to obey unlawful orders" is discussed. {{spoiler|At a pre-trial hearing, the judge feels he isn't guilty of dereliction of duty, but there is a change for insubordination, which he pleads guilty to}}.
* Used in ''[[V (TV series)|V]]'', by humans to justify working for the visitors. One woman is called out on this, being told that the same excuse was used at the Nuremberg Trials.
* Invoked in an episode of ''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]'': during a murder investigation, Catherine uncovers that while their main suspect isn't guilty of the crime, he is hiding his past as a sex offender (turns out he's really a decent guy that made a stupid mistake, and is trying to start his life over). Although cleared of the murder charge, the man's life is effectively ruined by the revelation. At the end of the episode he confronts Catherine angrily, and she replies "I was just doing my job." He denounces her as a "Blonde Nazi Bitch" and leaves.
* Used in ''[[Rome]]'', in a situation which actually turns out to be for the better.
{{quote|
*Cue a prolonged bout of vigorous and noisy sex.*
'''Legionary [[Boisterous Bruiser|Titus Pullo]]:''' Gods, that was something, let me tell you.
'''Vorenus:''' I don't want to hear about it. If you're wise, [[Let Us Never Speak of This Again|you'll never speak of this again]].
'''Pullo:''' Why? I was only obeying orders. Bloody good orders, too. }}
* Nancy Cartwright in ''[[Life
* Invoked in Episode 6 of ''[[Torchwood
{{quote|
{{quote|
'''Maloney:''' Look, I'm not in charge of policy...we had instructions that got sent out nationwide, worldwide, and we had orders from above not to say anything. I just did as I was told. }}
== [[Oral Tradition|Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends]] ==
* According to one tale, a sick [[Nepali With Nasty Knives|Gurkha]] was lying on a hospital bed, dying, so a British officer walked up to him and sternly told him 'don't die'. At that, the Gurkha recovered. After all, Gurhkas follow orders.
== [[Radio]] ==
* In one episode of ''[[Old Harry's
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* A subversion in the ''[[Traveller]]'' volume ''Alien Races 4''. The Bwaps are a race whose hat is being [[Badass Bureaucrat|
== [[Theatre]] ==
* Heinrich von Kleist's play ''The Prince of Homburg'' is about a cavalry general put on trial and condemned to death for disobeying an order not to charge in a battle.
* Franz Liebkind (author of "Springtime for Hitler") in ''[[The Producers]]'':
{{quote|
* Krupp, the policeman in ''The Time of Your Life'': "All I do is carry out orders, carry out orders." His orders: "To keep the peace down here on the waterfront." His friend, McCarthy the longshoreman, asks him if that means hitting him over the head with a club if he's on duty and standing on the opposite side.
* The constable in ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]''. It may be worth noting that he tries to keep the violence he is tasked with to the minimum necessary to satisfy his superiors and knows that he could be replaced with someone that would cause more harm if he lost his post.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* In ''[[The Punisher]]'' video game, one mook yells out "I was just following orders!" when you torture him to his breaking point.
{{quote|
'''Punisher''': (Mercy) Think for yourself next time. }}
{{quote|
'''The Punisher''': (Mercy) You're in the wrong army. }}
:* [[Fridge Logic]] sets in here when you remember that Frank himself used to be a Marine.
* ''Beat Down'':
{{quote|'''Jason G''': I don't forgive and forget so easily.
'''Ignacy''': No! No! I'm sorry! Forgive me! Please...I was only...following...orders... }}
* Parodied in ''[[Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Complete|Lunar: Eternal Blue]]'':
{{quote|
'''Ruby''': Ronfar! Get your hands out of your pants!
'''Ronfar''': Well... well... well, she said! Just following the lady's orders... }}
* ''[[Syphon Filter]] 2''
{{quote|
'''Lian Xing''': Yeah? Well, we were all
* ''[[Ninety
* In ''[[Alpha Protocol]]'', {{spoiler|Parker and Westridge}} uses this as their defense for their complicity in the whole Halbech fiasco and for {{spoiler|sending Mike to Saudi Arabia with the intention of [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|having him killed once he'd completed his mission]].}}
* The classic arcade shooter ''[[Sunset Riders]]'' does this after one of the boss fights. After the beaten but still alive boss falls to the ground, his sister suddenly runs up and says "please don't shoot my brother. He was just following orders." Ever the chivalrous gentleman cowboy, your character can't turn down a request from a lady and agrees to spare him. Note that this is the only time you spare a boss; every other one gets a bullet between the eyes, even if he was just following orders.
** It's rather odd that she would specifically ask you not to shoot him considering that, in order to beat the guy, you have to shoot him about a hundred times. What's one more bullet? [[Critical Existence Failure]], clearly.
* ''[[Mega Man 8]]'' features Sword Man, the one robot master who doesn't seem to have any problem with Mega Man; in fact, he seems to respect him quite a bit. He invokes this trope (along with [[Nothing Personal]]) right before you fight him.
* ''[[Assassin Blue]]'' uses this as an excuse for killing {{spoiler|at least initially.}}
* If you take [[The Paragon]] option, Commander Shepard in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' can get two prison guards to avert this trope when beating up a prisoner.
{{quote|
'''Guard''': We have orders.
'''Shepard''': You're not important enough to make your own decisions?
'''Guard''': I admit... I sometimes get tired of this. Does this really get us anything useful?
'''Shepard''': Stop this. For your own sake.
'''Guard''': Yeah, you're right. (''To the other guard'') Call it off. At least for now. }}
{{quote|
'''Admiral Hackett:''' I wish all my men had your definition of "just doing your job }}
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[Juathuur]]'', this is the main source of conflict between Sojueilo (who follows orders) and Thomil (who doesn't).
* Gen. William Howe of ''[[The Dreamer]]''.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* In ''[[Escape
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* After being defeated in a water balloon war, one of Nelson's goons says this in ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' episode "Bart the General." Bart spares them and pelts Nelson with the extra balloons instead.
* In one episode of ''[[Johnny Test]]'', Johnny, his friends and [[Go-Karting with Bowser|enemies]] start to have a drag race but are stopped by the sheriff. The General tries to fast-talk their way through before yelling, "GO around him! the general rules!" The two secret agents call this trope as they do just that.
* From ''[[Celebrity Deathmatch]]''; when Nick Diamond asks [[The Devil]] why [[NSYNC]] and [[The Backstreet Boys]] are in Hell, Old Scratch replies, [[Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor|"Hey, I don't pick 'em, I just ''stick'' 'em."]]
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Famously used by Nazi defendants during the post [[World War
** At the Nuremberg trials, it was established that "just following orders" is a valid defense, but only below the rank of lieutenant, and only if the orders in question are not clearly illegal. Many times the accused said that they followed orders because it was either work in the camps or the front line.
*** One interesting [[Zig-Zagging Trope|Zig-Zag]] of this was [[Special Operations Executive]] agent [[w:F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas|Forest Frederick Edward Yeo-Thomas]]. He appeared at Nuremberg as a witness for the defense of Otto Skorzeny from the charge of [[The Laws and Customs of War|perfidy]]. He pointed out that he had done it for the British, too: [[Captain Obvious|he was a spy.]] He also appeared for the prosecution to identify the staff of Buchenwald (for some reason the Nazis had a habit of dumping [[What an Idiot!| trained insurgency experts]] among desperate prisoners). Apparently he thought Skorzeny did not quite deserve to be called a war criminal even if he was definitely a Nazi, but the staff of Buchanwald kind of ''were''.
** The US Military specifically states that following an order you know to be illegal (such as shooting civilians) denies you the use of this defense: you knew it was wrong and failed to refuse the order.
* The New York City Police Department (NYPD) marched to protest a few of their fellow cops being charged with sweeping crimes under the rug. The slogan on their sign was
* Stanley Milgram's infamous psychological experiment in obedience, which tested whether people would willingly administer what they thought were painful, or even harmful, electrical shocks to another person if ordered to do so by an apparently knowledgeable authority. Over and over again, the majority of subjects were seen to follow the experimenter's instructions through to the end, although the "victim" voiced their protests, and even claimed to have a heart condition that could ''kill them'' if the shocks got too strong. This means that we are psychologically programmed to submit to authority. To be fair, many of the subjects started showing signs of psychological distress when pressed to keep going. Of course, when you hear the pre-Adler style acting in the recordings played after each shock, you probably wouldn't think of it was a real person either.
* Another famous experiment, [[w:Stanford prison experiment|the Stanford Prison Experiment]], showed that even ordinary people given authority over their peers will invariably become drunk on power, ''[[Punch Clock Villain|even when they go back to normal lives outside of the prison]]''. More recent experiments have shown that one is more likely to abuse authority if the position involves power without respect and/or prestige (e.g. traffic cops, the DMV, staff managers). This means they won't get in trouble if caught and are unlikely to lose much even if they do. Or they hate the job so much they just don't care.
* The Watergate burglars used the
** The fallout from this is a law referred to as Martinez-Baker, and is still on the books. The precedent is that while you are responsible for refusing illegal orders, you must actually ''know'' that the order was illegal before you can be faulted for it. And while any reasonable person knows that (for example) murdering innocent bystanders in cold blood is not kosher, fewer can be expected to telepathically divine that their chain of command is lying to them when they say that there is a valid surveillance warrant to plant this bug and it turns that nope, there wasn't.
* Jiang Qing, wife of Chairman [[Mao
{{quote|
* The entire Romanian political police got away with everything they did after '89, because they were just following orders. Interestingly the people who's orders they followed suddenly turned out to be [[Good All Along]], and promptly executed the Ceausescu couple as an act of justice. It worked. Nobody else was brought to trial for their atrocities.
* Many of the torturers in the Hanoi Hotel were brainwashed teenage boys whose families were being held hostage by Pol Pot. They were told to either follow orders or they and their whole families would have the same fate as the prisoners. In later interviews, this trope is their justification, saying that they too were prisoners. It falls apart when one of the few survivors confronts his captor.
* James Fred Blake was only a bus driver [[Deep South|in Alabama]]. [[Foreshadowing|One day in 1943, a black woman called Parks boarded the bus and paid the fare. She then moved to her seat but Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door]]. [[Kick the Dog|Parks exited the bus, but before she could re-board at the rear door, Blake drove off, leaving her to walk home in the rain.]]
{{quote|
* There was at least one incident of an employee cutting off some branches from a couple of trees, damaging the cars parked underneath them in the process. The employee claimed he was ordered to cut the branches and had no other choice bot to follow the orders, and his boss is responsible for everything.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Stock Phrases]]
[[Category:
|