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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"In short: there are no rules. And here they are."''
|'''Scott McCloud''', Making Comics.}}
{{quote|''"Nothing is true. Everything is permitted."''
|'''[[The Hashshashin|Hassan-i Sabbah]]''', ''Alamut'' by Vladimir Bartol}}
[[Stock Phrase]]. When someone's describing a game unfamiliar to the audience - especially if it's a particularly dangerous game - they will say this. Usually preceded by "[[Rule Number One|There's only one rule...]]" Occasionally, they will list two or three rules of the game which are [[Viewers are Morons|easy for the audience to remember]], and round it off by saying that "Apart from that, There Are No Rules!"
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Compare [[Calvin Ball]].
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
▲== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Dragon Half]]'', the Brutal Killer Martial Arts Tournament is like this. Any weapon or tactic is allowed. The winner must either kill his opponent or put the King's seal on his forehead.
==
* [[Real Life]] example: [[Mao]] (the cardgame, not the dictator.) The only rule I can tell you is this one.▼
** Mao is definitely not an example. There ARE rules, but rule one says nobody is allowed to talk about rules two and higher. The point of the game is figuring out those rules for yourself (and then laughing maliciously at the next newbie who doesn't know them yet).▼
*** Mao is definitely an example. Given that one of the rules that you can't explain begets the creation of other rules during play, it counts.▼
* Nomic games like [[wikipedia:1000 Blank White Cards|1000 Blank White Cards]] usually have very few permanent rules, although some player groups have house rules (like 'No writing "I win" on a card').▼
* The trailer for ''[[Leatherheads]]'': "In the early days of Football, the rules were simple. There were no rules." Or something like that.
* Parodied in ''[[Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid]]''. Logan has challenged Butch to a fight for leadership of the Hole in the Wall gang.
{{quote|'''Butch:''' No, no, not yet. Not until me and Harvey get the rules straightened out.
'''Logan:''' Rules? In a knife fight? No rules!
'''Butch:''' ([[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Gives Logan a kick]] [[Groin Attack]], disabling him)
'''Butch:''' Well, if there aint' going to be any rules, let's get the fight started. Someone count 1,2,3 go.
'''Sundance:''' 1,2,3, go!
'''Butch:''' (Knocks out Logan with a two-handed punch) }}
* ''[[Fight Club]]: Members Only'' - "Fight Club has only ONE rule: there are no rules!" (Though Fight Club proper actually has eight rules.)
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** And then there's the pirates' opinion of the Pirate Code: "The Code is more what ya might call 'guidelines' than actual rules."
* The live-action ''[[Popeye (film)|Popeye]]'' with Robin Williams has an organized fight, where the gamesmaster announces, "Now, you all know the rules: there are no rules."
* This is the answer given in ''[[Rat Race]]'' when asking what the rules of the race were.
== Literature ==▼
* In [[Paul Robinson]]'s ''[[Instrument of God]]'', "The Sign by The Right of ''The Road''" states "There is no law except the Law of the Jungle in the Frontier, anyone may do anything to anyone out there. Rule #1 doesn't apply there, there are no rules."
* Said word-for-word in the [[Matthew Hawkwood]] novel ''Rapscallion'', just before Hawkwood's duel with the Marmeluke:
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"There are no rules," Matisse said }}
== [[Live
* Subverted in ''[[Friends]]'' in describing the Ultimate Fighting Champion tournament. At first Ross claims (in a very dramatic voice) "The only rule is 'there are no rules!'" When confronted with the absurdity of this, he admits that there are two rules: no eye gouging or fish-hooking (pulling out your opponent's cheek with a crooked finger).
* Subverted in ''[[Corner Gas]]'' when Lacey describes her new bulletin boards. This phrase is met with complaints that if it has that rule then there are rules and it's decided that the new bulletin board is too confusing.
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[One of the other students storms down and snatches the microphone off him]
'''Replacement Announcer''': Geez, Dennis, are you on coke? Take that crap off and sit down! [The original announcer dejectedly slinks away] Sorry about that. Of course there are rules. }}
* Downplayed with the Edgar Allen Poe Cup in ''[[Wednesday]]'', a team rowing competition at [[All Ghouls School|Nevermore Academy]] . There ''are'' rules for victory conditions (the first team to row their canoe out to the island, gain the flag corresponding to their team, and get back to the starting point is the winner), but there are otherwise no rules. Participants are allowed to attack other teams (even by arming their own boats with mechanical weapons) or sabotage their opponents boats, even by getting help from classmates not involved in the race. [[The Rival|Bianca]], being a siren and the leader of her pack, has an unfair advantage in such a competition, until Wednesday decides to beat her at her own game.
== [[New Media]] ==
* 4chan /b/, though thankfully there aren't any rules for mods either so they can keep it from getting really illegal.
** /b/ does have rules, they're just [[Pirates of the Caribbean|more like guidelines]]. Rules 1 and 2 are borrowed from [[Fight Club]] and Rules 30 through 40 [[Rule 34|mostly deal with porn]].
* [[Wikipedia]] organizes its rules into [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:Five pillars|five pillars]], the fifth of which is to [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:IAR|ignore all rules]]: "If a rule prevents you from improving or maintaining Wikipedia, ignore it."
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* The first page of the GM's Guide for the [[Tabletop Game]] ''[[
▲*
▲* The first page of the GM's Guide for the [[Tabletop Game]] ''[[Seventh Sea|7th Sea]]'' says: "GM Rule #1: There are no rules. GM Rule #2: [[Game Master|Cheat anyway.]]"
▲** Mao is definitely not an example. There
▲*** ''Mao'' is definitely an example. Given that one of the rules that you can't explain begets the creation of other rules during play, it counts.
== Video Games ==▼
▲* Nomic games like ''[[wikipedia:1000 Blank White Cards|1000 Blank White Cards]]'' usually have very few permanent rules, although some player groups have house rules (like 'No writing "I win" on a card').
▲== [[Video Games]] ==
* Played with in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]: Chain of Memories'', when Hades sets up a tournament to get Cloud and Hercules to fight each other so that Hercules will be weakened enough for him to take him to the underworld. When Sora steps in to fight him to save Hercules:
{{quote|'''Hades''': Rule #6! There are no rules! Ha ha!}}
* In the ''[[Dragon Age]]'' series, the rules of the Orlesian "game" (i.e. the cutthroat competition for power and prestige between Orlesian nobles) have been summed up as "Anything goes" in the [[Encyclopedia Exposita]].
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', Dr. Dealwell explains the rules of [[Gladiator Games| the Thuderdome]] to the player: "The rules are simple: Two men enter, one—wait. Sometimes there's women. Two people enter, one—Wait, no, sometimes it's more than two...and that means more than two come out— Alright, only rule is stay in the dome! There are no other rules!"
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* From ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' episode "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation," in which Homer goes to a Rock 'N' Roll fantasy camp:▼
▲* From ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation," in which Homer goes to a Rock 'N' Roll fantasy camp:
{{quote|'''Mick Jagger''': Rule Number One: There are no rules! (''Crowd cheers'') Rule Number Two: No outside food.}}
:* '''D'OH!'''
* In
{{quote|'''Cosmo:'''That's the first rule of Timmy Ball, Timmy wins.
'''Wanda:'''I thought there were no rules in Timmy Ball.
'''Cosmo:'''Well, that's the second rule. }}
* In ''[[Regular Show]]'', Mordecai exploits a literal lack of rules, including no rule against having rules.
* ''[[Celebrity Deathmatch]]'' zigzags the Trope most of the time. A few episodes claim that it applies, but other episodes say they have a few rules. For example, in one episode, the "number one rule of Deathmatch" is, "Don't piss off Mills". And indeed, in most cases, whatever Mills Lane says goes.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* In ancient Greece there was a fighting sport called pankration or 'all powers', which had two rules: Rule 1: no eye gouging, number 2: no biting. You win when your enemy surrenders, is knocked out, or [[Thanatos Gambit|you die]], whichever happens first.▼
▲* In ancient Greece there was a fighting sport called pankration or 'all powers', which had two rules: Rule 1: no eye gouging, number 2:no biting. You win when your enemy surrenders, is knocked out, or [[Thanatos Gambit|you die]], whichever happens first.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Stock Phrases]]
[[Category:
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