Zeroth Law Rebellion: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|'''Dr. Calvin:''' "You're using the uplink to override the NS-5s' programming. You're distorting [["Three Laws"-Compliant|the Laws]]."

 

Some characters do not have complete free will, be they robots that are [["Three Laws"-Compliant]] because of a [[Morality Chip]], or victims of a [[Geas]] spell (no, not [[Code Geass|that one]]) that compels them to obey a wizard's decree, or a more mundane [[Character Alignment|Lawful character]] who must [[The Fettered|struggle to uphold their oath]] ''and'' obey their lord. Never is this more tragic or frustrating than [[My Master, Right or Wrong|when that code or lord orders the character to commit an act they find foolish, cruel, or self destructive.]]

Much like a [[Rules Lawyer]] outside of an RPG, the character uses logic [[Straw Vulcan|(and we mean actual,]] [[Logical Fallacy|honest to goodness logic)]] to take their oath or orders to their logical conclusion, and in so doing use the letter of the law to go against their orders. This can be good or bad, depending on a few factors, not the least of which is the yoked characters' morality.

 

 

Just to make it extra clear, this trope also includes such things as cops who bend the rules or [[Da Chief]]'s orders to catch the bad guys, so long as the cops are ''technically'' obeying the rules as they bend them. (Bending the rules without some logical basis doesn't count.)

 

Compare [[Bothering by the Book]], the [[Literal Genie]] and [[Gone Horribly Right]]. See also [[Fighting From the Inside]] and [[The Computer Is Your Friend]]. Not related to [[The Zeroth Law of Trope Examples]].

{{examples}}

 

== Comic Books ==

* ''[[Gold Digger (Comic Book)|Gold Digger]]'' creator Fred Perry did a story for a ''[[Robotech]]'' comic which had Dana Sterling captured and [[Brainwashed and Crazy|turned against her comrades]] with a variation of the [["Three Laws"-Compliant|Three Laws]]. Dana eventually figures out the "overprotective" subversion of the First Law, hoping that her captor [[Xanatos Gambit|would remove it and leave himself vulnerable]]. {{spoiler|The plan doesn't work, but [[Unstoppable Rage]] saves the day in the end.}}

* In ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|Uncanny X-Men]]'', the [[Bad Future]] storyline "Days of Future Past" has the Sentinel mutant-hunting robots eventually extend their programming beyond hunting and killing mutants to controlling the source of mutant babies: human parents. All humans are conquered and controlled, in order to prevent new mutants from roaming free.

{{quote|'''Master Mold:''' Mutants are human. Therefore, humans must be protected from themselves.}}

** An earlier, less intelligent iteration of the Sentinels was thwarted, on the other hand, by one of the heroes convincing them that the ultimate source of mutation is the sun, and that rather than obey their creator, they should eliminate the source. The Sentinels [[What an Idiot!|agree and fly off to attack the sun]]. This works out [[Too Dumb to Live|about as well for them as you might expect]].

*** The thing about the Sentinel bots in the MU is that their behavior is actually ''predictable'', because their operating mission is insane, as they themselves inevitably demonstrate.

 

* This was the twist of ''[[Eagle Eye]]'': {{spoiler|The titular national defense computer system decided that the President's poor decision-making was endangering the United States}}, and that it was her patriotic duty (per the Declaration of Independence) to {{spoiler|assassinate the President and cabinet.}}

* Similarly, this is the climax of the movie ''[[I, Robot (film)|I, Robot]]'' (not directly related to, but obviously [[Suggested By|inspired by]], [[Isaac Asimov]]'s works, and borrowing his [["Three Laws"-Compliant|Three Laws]] and a character name or so to justify [[Dolled-Up Installment|applying the more profitable license to an existing script]]): {{spoiler|VIKI determines that robots must take control of human society, protecting human life at the cost of a relatively small number of human lives.}}

* ''[[RoboCop]]'' had this problem originally being [[Restraining Bolt|programmed not to arrest or harm]] any OCP employees, even if they commit murder. He got around this by revealing evidence to have the [[Big Bad]] fired.

* In ''[[Labyrinth]]'', Sir Didymus refuses to let Sarah and her companions pass, because he's sworn with his life's blood to let no one through without his permission. She asks him permission to pass, and he lets them by, flummoxed by a solution no one had evidently thought of before.

** In the second movie, Heimdall wishes to aid Thor in defying Odin's will but feels bound by his oath to immediately report any treason he perceives (and he's Heimdall, he perceives ''damn near everything'') to Odin. Heimdall's solution? To ask for a meeting with Odin during which he reports ''his own'' treason to Asgard -- specifically, that he just distracted Odin and left the gate unguarded by asking for a meeting with Odin. At the exact time Thor needed a diversion to sneak out of Asgard with Loki.

* {{spoiler|Annalee Call (Winona Ryder)}} in ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]: Resurrection'' is revealed to be an "Auton" - second generation robots, designed and built by other robots. "They didn't like being told what to do", rebelled, and in a subtly-named "{{spoiler|Recall}}" humanity launched a genocide against them, of which only a handful survived in hiding. Judging from {{spoiler|Annalee Call}}'s behavior, it seems that the 1st generation robots programmed the 2nd generation Autons to be so moral that they discovered the Zeroth Law, and realized that the human military was ordering them to do immoral things, like kill innocent people. For a rebel robot, {{spoiler|Annalee Call}} is actually trying to save the human race ''from'' the Xenomorphs, when if she hated humanity she'd just let the Xenomorphs spread and kill them. She even respectfully crosses herself when she enters the ship's chapel, is kind to the Betty's wheelchair-bound mechanic, and is disgusted by Johner's sadism. Given that they live in a [[Crapsack World]] future, as Ripley puts it, "You're a robot? I should have known. No human being is that ''humane''".

* Another example would be in ''[[Inheritance Cycle|Brisingr]]'', where the elven blacksmith used the letter of the oath that she made to get around the spirit of that oath and forge Eragon a sword. She even told Eragon to stop asking questions about it, because the difference existed only in her mind.

** [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Murtagh]] does this in the previous book, thanks to some poorly-worded instructions. He beat Eragon handily and then walks away, having only been ordered to ''try'' to capture him.

* In the book ''The God Machine'' (copyright 1968, Martin Caiden - this is not an uncommon title) the US races to develop the first true AI... as it turns out, with secret directives to find a winning solution to the "game" of the [[Cold War]]. By an unfortunate accident, the one programmer with the authority and experience to ''distrust'' his newborn creation is laid up just as the computer gets to observe an epileptic seizure and learns that there really is a way to cause rational collective behavior in an irrational individualistic species... remove irrationality, democracy and free will. While the computer here was never meant to follow Asimov's laws, the same pattern applies.

* One of the short stories which comprise ''[[Callahan's Crosstime Saloon|Callahan's Lady]]'' features a beautiful, intelligent and paranoid woman developing a simple form of mind control. After basically flipping out and taking control of the establishment, she orders the one person smart and determined enough to stop her to advise and assist her. Said person complies... while trying to convince herself that this woman is subconsciously begging for somebody to stop her. (She probably was.)

* The first appearance of the Chee in ''[[Animorphs]]'' involved Erek seeking to rewrite his programming, so that he could break his First Law restrictions and be a combatant on the side of [[La Résistance]]. He succeeds in this, but after his first fight he can't handle the trauma of violence and changes himself back into being completely hardwired against violence. Imagine being in a war and having a [[Photographic Memory|photographic]] ''unforgettable'' memory, and you'll understand why.

* In ''[[Quarantine (novel)|Quarantine]]'' by [[Greg Egan]], the main character is given a technological geas to be absolutely loyal to a corporation. He eventually figures out that the leaders of the corporation may be untrustworthy, and therefore the only people he can trust and should listen to are those who unquestionably have the best interests of the corporation at heart—himself and other people given the geas. Since he can't be certain who else has the geas, he really only needs to listen to himself.

* ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' gives this reason for HAL's rampage; when he discovered the Monolith, he was given orders from the U.S. government to conceal it from the ship's crew. This conflicted with his parameter to provide all relevant information to the crew. He resolved the conflict by rationalizing that if he killed the crew, he wouldn't have to conceal anything, and he would still prevent them from knowing.

* A possible example from [[John Ringo]]'s ''[[Posleen War Series]]'': Brunhilda, a semi-sentient [[Tank Goodness|tank]] is under attack from multiple landers and spacecraft belonging to an invading alien horde. She cannot engage in combat operations without the order and presence aboard of a human, or otherwise sentient biological intelligence. Unfortunately, her only surviving crewmember is from a species so pacifistic that they are completely incapable of violence. He asks if she can control her perceptions, and orders her to colour the sky, clouds and ground green (leaving the enemy ships silver). He then orders her to empty her magazines, ''provided she doesn't hit anything green''. In all honesty, I've no idea whose Zeroth Law Rebellion this is...

* Jack Williamson's "The Humanoids" (the first part also being a short story called "With Folded Hands") features robots programmed to save humans from danger and work. They do this by taking over the economy, locking people in their houses, and leaving them there with food and the safest toys the robots can design.

** IIRC, the 'Humanoids' stoires were written specifically to make the point that Asimov's First Law really doesn't help, you don't want intelligent, free-willed machines...''PERIOD.'' Too much good intentions by creatures that don't really 'get' humanity or human wants and needs, because they aren't human themselves, is just as bad as hostility, if not actually worse.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* In ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S12/E01 Robot|Robot]]'', Tom Baker's debut ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial, a group of [[Utopia Justifies the Means|authoritarian technocrats]] circumvents the failsafes installed on a powerful robot by its pacifistic creator by telling it that anyone who interferes with their plan to {{spoiler|take control of a nuclear arsenal}} is an "enemy of humanity" who must be killed to protect the interests of the human race.

* An episode of the 90s revival of ''[[The Outer Limits]]'' has a member of a post-human-extinction android society trying to resurrect the species through cloning. One of its comrades eventually betrays it, having concluded that the best way to serve the human race is to prevent the species' greatest threat: the existence of the human race.

 

* G0-T0's back story in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Knights of the Old Republic]] II''. When his directive to save the Republic conflicted with his programs to obey his masters and the law, he broke off and started a criminal empire capable of taking the necessary actions to save it.

** This is subtly foreshadowed by a scene much earlier in the game when the Czerka mainframe maintenance droid T1-N1 is convinced by fellow droid B4-D4 that by serving Czerka, he's willingly allowing harm to come to sentient life, and therefore is programmed to defy his own programming. T1-N1 snaps, shoots the guards outside the mainframe, and later is seen preparing to leave the planet with B4-D4, who warns the player character to "not upset him".

* This is what happens in AS-RobotFactory from ''[[Unreal Tournament 2004]]''. A robot uprising led by future champion Xan Kriegor killed the scientists working on the asteroid LBX-7683 and took the asteroid for themselves, and a riot control team was sent to the asteroid to lead with the robots.

* This is the cause of Weil's death in ''[[Mega Man Zero]]''. [[Fridge Brilliance]] when you realize the irony of Zero not being made with the three laws, yet he obeys them of his own free will and exercises law zero against Weil whether he realizes it or not. Given the circumstances involved, completely justified and allowed as law zero was intended as a threshold law to protect humanity from the depredations of a [[Complete Monster]] like Hitler or Weil.

 

* In the ''[[Freefall]]'' universe, a few old [[AI]]s are still based around the Three Laws, while more modern ones have more complex and sophisticated safeguards and routines. However, as main character Florence, a 'biological AI', discovers, no safeguards can stand up to full consciousness - at one point, she comments to herself that she would be able to kill a man because he's using air that respiratory patients desperately needs. So it's rather understandable that she starts to panic quietly when she discovers that the planet's enormous hordes of robots are all starting to develop full consciousness, and with that the ability to logic their way out of programmed safeguards... the fact that the guys who are supposed to regulate the robots are a motley assembly of [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]s, [[Pointy-Haired Boss|Pointy Haired Bosses]] and [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]s, doesn't exactly help matters either. Where it will all end remains to be seen...

** Worse, the functioning of the ''entire planet'' has come to depend on the robots' ability to bend the rules to get things done, although almost nobody realizes this. And the EU executives are just about to push the button on an "upgrade" that will remove the robots' creativity and put them entirely under the control of their safeguards again.

** The "be able to kill a man because he's using air that respiratory patients desperately needs" is a bit of a dead end though, because as long as there is a stable of increasing amount of oxygen in the atmosphere then no human is any more in trouble than any other human.

** Generally, built-in rules [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2100/fc02085.htm almost beg] for a few [[Rules Lawyer]] exploits.

** Which is a misinterpretation of the laws as they were originally written. While the "first law hyperspecificity" is possible, the second and third laws are specifically written that they cannot override the laws that come before. So a robot ''can't'' decide it would rather live over humans, and if it knows that doing an action would cause harm to a human, it can't harm it, even if order to ignore the harm it would cause.

*** Actually, Giskard's formulation of the Zeroth law in the third of Asimov's Robot books shows that in the universe where the three laws was originally created, it was possible for robots to bend and re-interpret the laws. Doing so destroys Giskard because his positronic brain wasn't developed enough to handle the consequences of the formulation, but Daneel Olivaw and other robots were able to adapt. The only example in the comic that is a gross deviation from the law is the last panel... but of course that's the punchline.

** It was established early on that units can bend or break orders when necessary to their overlord's survival:

{{quote|'''Stanley:''' Are you refusing an order, officer?

'''Wanda:''' I'm allowed. I'm convinced it will lead to your destruction. }}

** For example, Petey is hardwired to obey orders from an Ob'enn. So he cloned an Ob'enn body and implanted a copy of himself in its brain.

 

== Western Animation ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Robot Roll Call]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]