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{{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? 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.
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== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Now and Then Here
{{quote| '''Shu''': You can't do this! This is not right!<br />
'''Nabuca''': Never mind right or wrong! An order is an order! }}
* [[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 (
* ''[[
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{{quote| '''Mr. Marcus''': We're here in Customs and I have a job to do. <br />
'''Frances''': We're [[Just Following Orders]], are we? Asshole. }}
* In ''[[Ever After (
{{quote| '''Cargomaster''': I'm following orders here. It's my job to take these criminals and thieves to the coast.}}
* ''[[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| '''Sam Daniels''': If you think I'm lying, drop the bomb. If you think I'm crazy, drop the bomb. But don't drop the bomb just because you're following orders! }}
* In ''[[
{{quote| '''Dr. Kaufmann''': Wait! I'm just a [[Punch Clock Villain|professional doing a job!]]<br />
'''Bond''': [[Bond One-Liner|Me too]]. '''[[Boom! Headshot!|*BANG*]]''' }}
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* Used along with a healthy dose of ~Godwin's Law~ in ''[[Clerks]]''. A man berates Dante in front of customers for selling cigarettes, accusing him of being just like the Nazis since he's "only following orders," and tells customers that they should buy Chewlies Gum instead (because selling a dangerous product to a willing consumer is just like gassing innocent people). The man is later revealed as a Chewlies Gum salesman.
* 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
== Fanfic ==
* The ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]''/''[[
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== Literature ==
* Given the [[Playing
** Carrot's affinity for subversions of this trope may also explain how he is the first (and arguably only) character in ''[[Discworld
** Played straight with the local watchmen from Bonk in ''[[Discworld
* From ''[[
{{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.'<br />
'Me too,' said Crowley.<br />
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* In the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]], Tenn Graneet, the head gunner on the [[Death Star]], while gripped by the [[Being Evil Sucks|enormity]] of [[My God, What Have I Done?|what he did]], can't justify it in any way, even if justifications flick through his mind. Following orders to [[Earthshattering Kaboom|destroy an inhabited planet]], even if refusing just would have meant they killed him and got a new gunner to do his job, is [[Moral Event Horizon|unforgivable]] to the rest of the galaxy. And to him.
** 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 Bernhard Schlink's ''[[
* 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 occures in the "Dragon" play by Eugeny Shwartz.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* In ''[[
* From the ''~Blake's Seven~'' episode "Headhunter":
{{quote| '''Orac:''' I am obliged to do as you tell me, even though I know it to be wrong.<br />
'''Kerr Avon:''' Only following orders? That's not very original, Orac. }}
* From ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' Chapter Nine: "It's Coming":
{{quote| '''Elle Bishop''': I only saved you so we could use you, like a lab rat. <br />
'''Sylar''': You were [[Just Following Orders]]... But I forgive you. Now you need to forgive yourself. }}
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* In the [[Docu Drama]] ''[[Nuremberg]]'', Field Marshal Keitel states this after reading the accounts on which he has been convicted.
{{quote| '''Wilhelm Keitel''': We were just following orders!}}
* ''[[Star Trek:
** [[Inverted Trope]] in episode "Redemption II".
{{quote| '''Data''': Captain, I wish to submit myself for disciplinary action. I have disobeyed a direct order from a superior officer. Although the result of my actions proved positive, the ends cannot justify the means. <br />
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** "The Pegasus":
{{quote| '''Commander Riker''': I wasn't a hero, and [[Broken Pedestal|neither were you]]! What you did was wrong. And I was wrong to support you, but I was too young and too stupid to realize it! You were the captain, I was the ensign. I was [[Just Following Orders]]. }}
* 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 Janeway''': I'm putting an end to your experiments, and you are hereby relieved of your command. You and your crew will be confined to quarters. <br />
'''Captain Ransom''': Please, show them leniency. They were only following my orders. <br />
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** It continues in Series 3 with incompetent new press officer John Duggan:
{{quote| "I'm [[Just Following Orders]]! Like a Nazi guard, [[Dude, Not Funny|only less gassy]]! [sheepish pause] You're not Jewish are you?"}}
* 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.
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'''Pullo:''' Why? I was only obeying orders. Bloody good orders, too. }}
* Nancy Cartwright in ''[[Life On Mars]]'' uses this defence - not necessarily as an excuse but as an admission of complicity in the death of Billy Kemble - in this way in the penultimate episode of series 1.
* Invoked in Episode 6 of ''[[Torchwood
{{quote| '''Gwen:''' Don't you dare. Don't you ''dare'' look at me and tell me you're obeying orders. Don't you bloody dare.}}
** And again with Colin Maloney, director of the San Pedro camp.
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== Radio ==
* In one episode of ''[[Old Harry's Game
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{{quote| '''Thomas Holman''': I was [[Just Following Orders]]. <br />
'''Lian Xing''': Yeah? Well, we were all [[Just Following Orders]]. }}
* ''[[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.
* ''[[
* [[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.
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* 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 (
* In one episode of [[Johnny Test]], Johnny, his friends and [[Go-Karting
|