History Main / BrokenSystemDogmatist

* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'', similar to ''Dark Souls'' above (which were earlier games from the same designer), has some antagonists who wish to prevent you from reforging the titular Elden Ring because doing so would require a cardinal sin against the Golden Order... even though the Elden Ring being shattered is pretty much an apocalypse in slow motion, and nothing will improve without it returning. Not that things were necessarily good even with the Elden Ring and the Golden Order intact, as though they purport to define the laws of nature, they were imposed on the world by an outside force, and are used as justification to persecute "unnatural" beings such as the Omens and the Misbegotten. Special mention goes to Morgott, the Omen King, who is both a [[BoomerangBigot proponent of the system that reviles and exploits his kind]] ''and'' fights you as two separate bosses (himself and his projection Margit, the Fell Omen) to stop you from completing your quest, despite ''knowing full well'' that [[spoiler:the source of the Golden Order has forsaken them, the Erdtree is preventing anyone from becoming Elden Lord, and stopping you from burning the Erdtree is just going to lead the Lands Between to a slow death.]]

* ''Film/JudgeDredd'': Although an effective officer in curbing crime and doling out proper justice, Judge Joseph Dredd is an ardent dogmatist of The Law of the Megacities, claiming it is the only thing that matters to a Street Judge (even presenting it with a subtext as if it was a Bible), even though it does not recognize extenuating circumstances or evidence, leading to false arrests. However, Dredd gets a metaphorical slap-in-the-face about this when the very supposedly airtight system he sought to defend and praise has him arrested for the presumed murder of a news critic and his wife since the DNA imprint on the weapon matched his. ([[spoiler:It was actually Dredd's brother, Rico, who fired the weapon]].) Herman "Fergie" Ferguson, a harmless repeat offender that Dredd arrested earlier in the film[[note]][[AllCrimesAreEqual for hacking a public service droid and hiding in its casing to protect himself during a gang shootout]][[/note]], temporarily wakes him up to the problems inherent in The Law, as they travel to the prison:
-->'''Fergie:''' ''[after noticing Dredd is sitting next to him]'' What are you doing here?\\

'''Fergie:''' ''[laughs, sarcastically]'' Really? That's kinda weird! What are the odds? Two wrongly convicted guys sitting right next to each other?\\

''[Dredd turns away stoically, trying to think of a reason]''\\
'''Fergie:''' You can't, can you? Great. ''[mockingly mimics Dredd's voice and accent]'' Mister "'''[=I Am ThE LAw=]'''" can't. ''[normal voice]'' So maybe this is some kind of typo. Maybe it's a glitch. Or maybe it's poetic justice!

* ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'': The vampires will hold to their traditional ways, rejecting vampires who can't fend for themselves, and expecting the elderly and those with injuries to go out in the wild and chase death rather than let themselves be taken care of. The old ways go unchallenged even if it means pushing a (physically) 12-year-old half-vampire through Trials of Initiation that could get him killed, and the law is that if he fails and survives, he'll still be executed. Prince-elect [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch Kurda Smahlt]] does stand for change, and 54% of Generals did vote for him, but [[spoiler:he is executed as a traitor for trying to force a union of the two enemy vampire clans before they destroy themselves with war]]. Darren fails his Trials, and faces execution, but he's considered a hero for exposing said plot -- so do the vampires change their laws? [[spoiler:Of course not-- they just give him the throne that was meant for Kurda.]]

-->'''Hade:''' Fortunately, as the Gatherer, I have certain powers. [[BadNewsInAGoodWay I will encourage your supervisor to allow you increased output.]]\\

'''[beat]'''\\
'''Hade:''' Citizen Cordo, [[QuitYourWhining you complain too much]].]] [[AppealToWorseProblems Thank the Company you're warm and fed.]]\\
'''Cordo:''' ''[exasperated and downtrodden]'' Praise the Company.\\
'''Hade:''' [[ThatWasntARequest You may go.]]

-->'''Cordo:''' ''[constantly nervous]'' I'm a foundry work unit, your honour. Always respectable. All my life I've met the production quotas, paid my dues and taxes, praise the Company.\\

'''Mandrell:''' [[EvilDebtCollector It's always more than they tell you.]] I've heard the story a thousand times. You stay with us, you'll have to earn your keep.

** [[BlatantLies Amy angrily claims that she is a good cook and makes "good food".]] Sometime in the episode, she intentionally over-spices a pizza, that was sent back, with intent to harm the customer back. Again, this is ''[[TamperingWithFoodAndDrink illegal]]''.

'''Liko:''' Well, then I beg you! ''Bring her back to me!'' ''[kneels in front of Picard]'' I will... give you ''my'' life in exchange! '''Please!''' Take back what you gave me! ''Give it to her! Let'' '''''her''''' ''live!''\\
'''Picard:''' ''[exasperated]'' It is beyond my power!\\
'''Liko:''' '''Nothing is beyond your power!''' '''''You are the Overseer! I WILL PROVE IT!''''' ''[goes to prepare his bow and arrow]''

* ''{{VideoGame/Arcanum}}'': Cumbria has a strict ban on technology even though its EliteArmy of knights was decimated by Tarantian conscripts with guns decades ago. Its capital Dernholm has fallen into ruin, but still the king hangs on to the advice of its mages while the town of Black Root (nominally part of Cumbria) is considering putting itself under Tarant's protection.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'': Eleanor wholeheartedly believes in the Abbey of Innominat's ambitions to improve life for the common people. She clings to these views even once she joins Velvet (under protest) and sees just how ineffective their methods are. Notably, her adherence to the mission statement puts her in direct conflict with [[spoiler:the Abbey's leadership, who are planning to take their central creed of TheNeedsOfTheMany to [[WorldOfSilence insane, hyperbolic lengths]] and consider her too soft-hearted for considering literally anyone else's feelings on the matter. In the ending, she takes over as Shepherd, and promptly starts a massive reformation to fix the system, even if that [[VillainWithGoodPublicity buries the Abbey's past atrocities and sees those responsible venerated by history]].]]

* In ''Fanfic/FarceOfTheThreeKingdoms,'' Jiang Wei repeatedly invades Wei despite the fact that a) every mission ends in disaster and b) no one else in Shu, least of all the emperor Liu Shan, really supports this. If he stopped, that would mean admitting either that Shu wasn't the rightful successor of the Han, or that Zhuge Liang's domination plans were unrealistic, and Jiang Wei finds both of these unthinkable.

''[One of the mutants in an outside hallway rams the door]]''\\
'''Connie:''' Now is the perfect time, Mom! ''[jumps at Dr. Maheswaran, attempting to grab the sword]''\\
'''Dr. Maheswaran:''' Connie! What has gotten into you?! ''[holds her bag, with the sword in it, out of Connie's reach]'' You know I never go back on a rule, young lady!\\

** The Gem Empire, for thousands of years, lived under the oppressive rule of the Great Diamond Authority; self-expression, self-change, and individuality were harshly punished. Even worse, it wasn't just the denizens of the empire that were oppressed, but also Blue and Yellow Diamond, two of the empire's leaders, as well. (And by extension, ''Pink'' Diamond, who [[spoiler:started a war and played both sides to free herself and her expressive bretheren]]!)
---> '''Yellow Diamond:''' ''[to White Diamond]'' We... W- We... We need to talk!... About us. I've conquered so many worlds for the sake of the empire. I do everything you ask, and I do it all perfectly. But your very high standards put us all under a lot of pressure. A Gem could crack under so much... pressure. We Diamonds may be hard, but we're also... brittle.

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': The original comic book version of Dredd is somewhat Downplayed compared to the first movie version mentioned below, as Dredd acknowledges the flaws in the system, especially after the ''Democracy'' arc [[spoiler:that eventually results in him outright resigning and heading into the Cursed Earth, leading to the ''Dead Man'' and ''Necropolis'' disasters]]. However, as shown in ''Origins'', even after being outright told by Eustace Fargo, his clone father and the creator of the Judge system, that the whole thing was an emergency measure that wasn't meant to last forever, Dredd ''still'' supports it, considering the Judges NecessarilyEvil, and the alternative is mass chaos. It's also shown as a good deal of hypocrisy on Dredd's part, as he knows reforms are desperately needed, but constantly refuses promotions that would allow him to institute these changes, just because he hates bureaucracy and wants to [[BloodKnight remain on the streets]], making change even more unlikely.

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': The original comic book version of Dredd is somewhat Downplayed compared to the first movie version mentioned below, as Dredd acknowledges the flaws in the system, especially after the ''Democracy'' arc [[spoiler:that eventually results in him outright resigning and heading into the Cursed Earth, leading to the ''Dead Man'' and ''Necropolis'' disasters]]. However, as shown in ''Origins'', even after being outright told by Eustace Fargo, his clone father and the creator of the Judge system, that the whole thing was an emergency measure that wasn't meant to last forever, Dredd ''still'' supports it, considering the Judges NecessarilyEvil, and the alternative is mass chaos. It's also shown as a good deal of hypocrisy on Dredd's part, as he knows reforms are desperatly needed, but constantly refuses promotions that would allow him to institute these changes, just because he hates buerocracy and wants to [[BloodKnight remain on the streets]], making change even more unlikely.

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': The original comic book version of Dredd is somewhat Downplayed compared to the first movie version mentioned below (to be fair, this is a result of CharacterDevelopment that happened after the movie was released), as Dredd acknowledges the flaws in the system, especially after the ''Democracy'' arc [[spoiler:that eventually results in him outright resigning and heading into the Cursed Earth, leading to the ''Dead Man'' and ''Necropolis'' disasters]]. However, as shown in ''Origins'', even after being outright told by Eustace Fargo, his clone father and the creator of the Judge system, that the whole thing was an emergency measure that wasn't meant to last forever, Dredd ''still'' supports it, considering the Judges NecessarilyEvil, and the alternative is mass chaos. It's also shown as a good deal of hypocrisy on Dredd's part, as he knows reforms are desperatly needed, but constantly refuses promotions that would allow him to institute these changes, just because he hates buerocracy and wants to [[BloodKnight remain on the streets]], making change even more unlikely.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'', "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E4TheSunMakers The Sun Makers]]": The [[KnowNothingKnowItAll snooty]], [[FauxAffablyEvil arrogant]], [[CampGay foppish]], [[TheQuisling boot-licking]], and [[EvilDebtCollector completely]] [[CorruptCorporateExecutive disconnected]] [[RulesLawyer character]] of Gatherer Hade to a tee. Pluto is Humanity's last resort, as both Earth and Mars are uninhabitable. The entire human populace, each day, [[NightmarishFactory is worked ever so much more harder by a galactic Company, to extreme exhaustion.]] (One character, Cordo, at the beginning of the serial even admitting that he already works double shifts!) Taxes are placed abound on anything from medical care, to basic living, to ''even breathing the air''; heavy fines for ostensible offenses (such as being out in the light of the artificially-generated suns, or what is considered an airspace violation -- the Doctor harmlessly landing his TARDIS on top of one of the city buildings) and workers are penalized, even with legitimate time off given by the Company, [[MovingTheGoalPosts plus these fees and taxes are increased often, leaving them constantly in-debt and unable to pay these exorbitant amounts.]] When the Doctor and Leela, along with disillusioned citizens, form a rebellion, the mysterious [[MorallyBankruptBanker Collector]][[note]]who seems to be a MoneyFetish[=ist=], is obsessed with work, finances, profit, transactions, entrepreneurship, and everything coldly involved with business; and also plans to poison-gas the factory should a rebellion actually erupt[[/note]] running the whole operation sets a reward of 5000 talmars for their capture, which Gatherer Hade praises as an excellent strategy, only for the Collector to metaphorically backstab Hade by taking the reward money out of ''his'' income! He exclaims in protest at this, but doesn't outright reject the system either; to keep his pocketbook safe, he goes off to try capturing the Doctor instead. Hade, being an accessory to the oppression, later gets LaserGuidedKarma, when trying to stop the rebelling workers from loitering in the sun, who then throw him off of one of the kilometer-high buildings of the city.

'''Hade:''' [[QuitYourWhining Citizen Cordo, you complain too much.]] [[AppealToWorseProblems Thank the Company you're warm and fed.]]\\

** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''; One criticism of the series, and later incarnations of the ''Star Trek'' Universe, was that the Prime Directive had become dogma, as if even well-intentioned assistance was interfering in some cosmic plan, allowing the Federation to become a callous entity and watch as helpless people died from easily-preventable disasters or oppression (although not all the examples below are about this), rather than a law of safety to prevent civilizations from destroying themselves with technology they were not yet mature-enough to have and use responsibly:

*** "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E4WhoWatchesTheWatchers Who Watches The Watchers?]]": Subverted in that this belief system already had no real legitimate basis before it even hit the ground: a Federation "duck blind" on a Bronze-Age planet, Mintaka III, experiences a major malfunction that threatens to affect the cultural development of the inhabitants. One of the Mintakans, Liko, is injured when he is electrocuted by an electrified wall and is further seriously injured and knocked unconscious by falling off a ledge from the shock. Dr. Crusher instinctively leaves the duck blind to treat him and brings him aboard the Enterprise to save his life. Picard does not take well to this. While being treated in sickbay, Liko awakens in a daze, automatically assuming from the lighting and sleek aesthetic that he has been taken to the afterlife, and he sees Picard as a god. Crusher attempts to erase his memory, but it is unsuccessful, and the roots of a new religious movement begin to sprout in the village where Liko lives. [[TakeAThirdOption Picard, with no other moral options left in the Prime Directive, brings one of the other inhabitants, Nuria, on-board,]] [[ClarkesThirdLaw to show that he and the Federation are simply travelers with advanced knowledge and tools that the Mintakans do not yet have]], and that he is just as mortal as they are, nothing more. When Liko becomes fanatical during a strong freak thunderstorm on the planet's surface[[note]]interpreting the storm as a sign of anger from "The Picard" for not keeping one of the Federation scientists captive earlier in the episode[[/note]], the trope is invoked when he is unconvinced about Picard's lack of godly power. When Picard beams down, Liko tries to genuflect before Picard, claiming that he ''can'' bring back the dead[[note]]wanting his wife, who drowned in a flood the previous year, to be resurrected[[/note]]. A diverted arrow to Picard's shoulder, and Nuria showing his blood on her fingers, is what finally snaps him out of it.

*** Deconstructed again, along with a healthy dose of InformedWrongness in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E12Homeward Homeward]]": A planet containing a primitive nomadic-age culture is set to lose its atmosphere within two days. Worf's adoptive brother, Nikolai Rozhenko, a cultural observer on the planet, has already integrated himself into the culture of one of the nomad groups, which is against the Prime Directive. Due to this violation, Nikolai is forced to leave the inhabitants on the planet, and the Enterprise crew watches (even standing in "honor") as the atmosphere dissolves away. [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Fortunately, Nikolai covertly beamed a tribe up into the holodeck]], where a simulated environment has been created for them, such that they cannot tell they're not on their planet anymore.

*** "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E15Paradise Paradise]]": [[SpaceAmish A colony of humans have been stranded on a planet for years, without technology]], and yet they eschew all forms of it. Furthermore, their justice system has been strict and ruthless (not to the point of killing, but still psychologically damaging). With their rejection of technology, they rely on natural medicine rather than the more-reliable technological advancements of the Federation; not that it would do any good, as the planet seems to have mineral deposits that cause any tricorders, communication devices, or technological tools to not work. Thus, all technology previously used has been discarded by the colonists. Unfortunately, a girl in the colony has been stung by one of the planet's native insects, and even with their "best" ideas about natural herbal medicine (similar to faith-healing), the girl dies. Furthermore, their leader and her son are adamant, brusquely rejecting all talk of advanced technology. Any offenders who disrespect their way of life, [[AllCrimesAreEqual even for simple crimes]], are placed in a dark metal box that is cramped and left out in the sun. O'Brien is considered an offender when he tries to contact their Runabout in-orbit [[note]]presumably to get medical supplies from the Runabout[[/note]] when the time "wasted" trying to get supplies could have been put to "more productive use", but she does not punish him, instead opting to [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure punish Sisko instead, as he is O'Brien's commanding officer]]. She later tries to bribe a hot and weakened Sisko with water and food if he forgets his old life and becomes one of their people. [[DefiantToTheEnd He rejects her offer]] [[WouldRatherSuffer by climbing back into the box himself]]. Eventually, O'Brien discovers that the technology-disabling effect is caused by a large projection device, and that the leader of the colony as well as her son have betrayed the colonists by stranding them there in the first place. They both arrest the leader and the son, but what makes this episode so cringe-inducing is that the colonists actually decide to stay and happily continue their way of life, possibly even their way of justice too, rather than leave and find more freedom to live off-planet, despite the fact that their living system was based on a lie, has many flaws, and their leader is actually an EvilLuddite, with a major dose of AlphaBitch, to boot.

** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': Deconstructed again in "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS5E9ThirtyDays Thirty Days]]", with another case of InformedWrongness: Lt. Tom Paris is imprisoned in the brig for violating the Prime Directive, after they meet with representatives of a planet made entirely out of water. Their problem is that their planet is losing its mass from water being ejected into space. It's discovered that their oxygen-mining operations are causing it. When they legitimately ask for help from the Voyager crew, Janeway rejects their pleas, citing the Prime Directive (although the directive has allowed exemptions from people explicitly asking for help). Paris, on the other hand, is less cold-hearted and decides to help by assisting in destroying one of the mining facilities. Unfortunately, Voyager intercepts the torpedo, whereby Janeway demotes Paris and sentences him to 30 days of incarceration in the brig.

*** Deconstructed one last time in "[[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS01E13DearDoctor Dear Doctor]]": Archer cites the Prime Directive, due to evolution causing one race of a pair of sapient species on a planet to die off, yet they have the technology and ability to save this species. What makes this cringe-inducing is that the directive '''''hasn't even been made yet in this point in the series' timeline,''''' so Archer is taking philosophy and morals into his own hands.
*** "[[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS04E18InAMirrorDarkly In a Mirror, Darkly]]": Happens with Mirror!Archer, when he reads the future logs of the flung-through-time Constitution-Class U.S.S. ''Defiant'' (from "The Tholian Web"), realizing that we here in the Prime!Universe have it pretty good compared to the Mirror!Universe. He shuts the monitor off, which he's reading from, in spiteful disgust.

** The Imperium is famously in agonizingly slow decline (even [[spoiler:Roboute Guilliman]] thinks it might have been better if Horus had won outright), but they view people who willingly join the Tau as among the worst traitors. Never mind that in some cases the Tau offered their aid to worlds the Imperial Guard had abandoned or that their society holds egalitarian views (DependingOnTheWriter this is either true or the Tau sterilize their human members to keeps their numbers under control).
** There are movements trying to organize social reforms for the betterment of the Imperium's lower classes. Unfortunately, most of them get infiltrated and turned into Chaos cults, ''are'' Chaos cults to begin with, or Genestealer cults preparing the planet for Tyranid invasion.

----->'''Radue:''' Rashella, they're just protecting their own interests.

----->'''Rashella:''' Instead of the children being our hope, what if we're just condemning them to our fate?

----->'''Rashella:''' As are we. But hear them out. The Captain and Doctor Crusher are saying that the very thing which has given us this wonderful world is what has caused this tragedy.
----->'''Picard:''' That's it. Exactly. [[EasilySwayedPopulation Your Custodian has controlled you so completely you've lost even the desire to even question it.]]
----->'''Radue:''' ''Lies! And the discussion is'' '''over!'''

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': The original comic book version of Dredd is somewhat Downplayed compared to the first movie version mentioned below (to be fair, this is a result of CharacterDevelopment that happened after the movie was released), as Dredd acknowledges the flaws in the system, especially after the ''Democracy'' arc [[spoiler: that eventually results in him outright resigning and heading into the Cursed Earth, leading to the ''Dead Man'' and ''Necropolis'' disasters]]. However, as shown in ''Origins'', even after being outright told by Eustace Fargo, his clone father and the creator of the Judge system, that the whole thing was an emergency measure that wasn't meant to last forever, Dredd ''still'' supports it, considering the Judges NecessarilyEvil, and the alternative is mass chaos. It's also shown as a good deal of hypocrisy on Dredd's part, as he knows reforms are desperatly needed, but constantly refuses promotions that would allow him to institute these changes, just because he hates buerocracy and wants to [[BloodKnight remain on the streets]], making change even more unlikely.

* ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'': The vampires will hold to their traditional ways, rejecting vampires who can't fend for themselves, and expecting the elderly and those with injuries to go out in the wild and chase death rather than let themselves be taken care of. The old ways go unchallenged even if it means pushing a (physically) 12-year-old half-vampire through Trials of Initiation that could get him killed, and the law is that if he fails and survives, he'll still be executed. Prince-elect [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch Kurda Smahlt]] does stand for change, and 54% of Generals did vote for him, but [[spoiler: he is executed as a traitor for trying to force a union of the two enemy vampire clans before they destroy themselves with war]]. Darren fails his Trials, and faces execution, but he's considered a hero for exposing said plot -- so do the vampires change their laws? [[spoiler: Of course not-- they just give him the throne that was meant for Kurda.]]

* ''Series/BabylonFive'' - Psi Cop Alfred Bester keeps extolling the virtues of [[MutantDraftBoard Psi Corps]] ''even after helping the heroes expose a plot within the Corps''. Several Minbari hold to the traditions of the Grey Council until it's broken by Delenn due to its inaction during the Shadow War. [[spoiler: The Vorlons and the Shadows continue to ask the same {{Armor Piercing Question}}s to the younger races, even though they can no longer answer them.]]

'''Hade:'''Twenty-one hours a week. [[InsaneTrollLogic You must manage without sleep time until the debt is paid.]]\\

* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'', similar to ''Dark Souls'' above (which were earlier games from the same designer), has some antagonists who wish to prevent you from reforging the titular Elden Ring because doing so would require a cardinal sin against the Golden Order... even though the Elden Ring being shattered is pretty much an apocalypse in slow motion, and nothing will improve without it returning. Not that things were necessarily good even with the Elden Ring and the Golden Order intact, as though they purport to define the laws of nature, they were imposed on the world by an outside force, and are used as justification to persecute "unnatural" beings such as the Omens and the Misbegotten. Special mention goes to Morgott, the Omen King, who is both a [[BoomerangBigot proponent of the system that reviles and exploits his kind]] ''and'' fights you as two separate bosses (himself and his projection Margit, the Fell Omen) to stop you from completing your quest, despite ''knowing full well'' that [[spoiler: the source of the Golden Order has forsaken them, the Erdtree is preventing anyone from becoming Elden Lord, and stopping you from burning the Erdtree is just going to lead the Lands Between to a slow death.]]

* ''Podcast/StellarFirma'': [[InsufferableImbecile Trexel Geistman]] is this to a tee in regards to [[MegaCorp Stellar Firma Ltd]]. In spite of the company being a hyper-capitalist, [[IncompetenceInc barely holding]] together TechnoDystopia that has forced all of humanity into becoming its permanent "citizen-employees" with numerous draconian laws that regularly painfully kills numerous people, it being made repeatedly clear that, even with him abusing the company's inheritance based management system, he's barely above [[SlaveRace the clones]] in the company's standing and him otherwise possessing an absolute disregard for anything remotely resembling law or work ethic. Whilst this is partially down to Steller Firma punishing any hint of dissidence with "gun walls", it's made clear several times that Trexel honestly sees the company's brutal abuses and exploitive nature as not only as a good thing but the only correct way to do business. Multiple times throughout the series David manages to temporarily make him realise how bad the system is (entirely by making him realise it also hurts him) it never sticks. [[spoiler: Even after joining David and Hartro's resistance against Stellar Firma he still regularly expresses shock at them questioning company procedure]]. It's implied Trexel is simply too stupid, insecure, lazy, and intoxicated to ever question the company propaganda.

** The Gem Empire, for thousands of years, lived under the oppressive rule of the Great Diamond Authority; self-expression, self-change, and individuality were harshly punished. Even worse, it wasn't just the denizens of the empire that were oppressed, but also Blue and Yellow Diamond, two of the empire's leaders, as well. (And by extension, ''Pink'' Diamond, who [[spoiler: started a war and played both sides to free herself and her expressive bretheren]]!)

*** "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E11TheHunted The Hunted]]": On the planet Angosia III, the planetary government, which is trying to apply for Federation Membership, turns out to be abusing its war veterans. [[SuperSoldier Simply put, they are trained, medicated, and essentially programmed to be the perfect soldier]]. However, their government effectively shunned them after they returned, because they could not readjust to a previously normal life. [[DamnYouMuscleMemory A trigger from an argument or a perceived danger could activate their deadly guerrilla tactics]], [[AntiVillain especially when not intended]]. Thus the government placed them in facilities with all the amenities one could ever want.[[note]]read: a GildedCage[[/note]] When the Enterprise gets involved, they are forced (as the Prime Minister of Angosia claims "This is a matter of internal security [so don't poke your nose around where it doesn't belong]") to help bring one of the soldiers, Roga Danar, back to the complex, but through tactical trickery, Danar escapes and commandeers a transport, freeing more of his brethren. An away team of Picard, Troi, Worf, and Data all beam down and confront the government officials, who never intended to seriously cure the soldiers. The trope is invoked when, no matter what, the officials keep throwing the argument "It was the will of the people", back in their face as if it means something.[[note]]a slight implication being that it was actually the government's will, not the people[[/note]] At that point the soldiers arrive, demanding to be reintegrated into society and brought back home to their families. The Prime Minister says [[OutOfSightOutOfMind they will consider it if they return to the complex]]. They reject his offer, already distrusting because of their previous treatment. In a brazen act of hypocrisy, the Minister asks Picard for help.[[note]]presumably for armed security from the Enterprise[[/note]] Picard and the away team decides at that point that they've seen enough from the hypocritical Angosian government, telling them "[[IronicEcho In your own words, this is not our affair]]", [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere and they simply leave]], respecting the soldiers' freedom to choose their own future against the government.

*** Deconstructed again, along with a healthy dose of InformedWrongness in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E12Homeward Homeward]]": A planet containing a primitive nomadic-age culture is set to lose its atmosphere within two days. Worf's adoptive brother, Nikolai Rozhenko, a cultural observer on the planet, has already integrated himself into the culture of one of the nomad groups, which is against the Prime Directive. Due to this violation, Nikolai is forced to leave the inhabitants on the planet, and the Enterprise crew watches (even standing in "honor") as the atmosphere dissolves away. Fortunately, Nikolai covertly beamed a tribe up into the holodeck, where a simulated environment has been created for them, such that they cannot tell they're not on their planet anymore.

'''Nikolai:''' I find no honor in this whatsoever, captain.

** ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': One that reaches back to ''Deep Space Nine'' and ''Enterprise'' (and by implication, ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection''): The proponents who run or are agents of Section 31, a StateSec of the Federation, dogmatize the use of the authority, claiming that a [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans utopia such as the Federation could not exist without someone under the covers doing what others would consider immoral or "evil" in the name of said peace and prosperity.]] Unfortunately, this comes back to bite the Federation in the ass when it's revealed that despite a peace being brokered with the Changelings who spearheaded the Dominion War in ''[=DS9=]'', a rogue faction of Changelings split off to infiltrate Starfleet. This was done in revenge for a "morphogenic virus" that Section 31 had released into the Changelings' Great Link, which would eventually cause them to lose their cohesion and die; graphically demonstrated when Odo started to lose his cohesion in "When It Rains...". Even worse, in ''Picard'', the Changelings were in collaboration with the ''Borg'', the Queen of which started to change her assimilation tactics, through revenge [[note]](because of Capt. Janeway's biological takedown of the Borg in "Endgame")[[/note]] by genetic infiltration, using the late biological-Captain-Picard's corpse to spread a receiver gene through Federation transporter use, which would activate and assimilate upon reception of a specific Borg signal.

** ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': One that reaches back to ''Deep Space Nine'' and ''Enterprise'' (and by implication, ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection''): The proponents who run or are agents of Section 31, a StateSec of the Federation, dogmatize the use of the authority, claiming that a [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans utopia such as the Federation could not exist without someone under the covers doing what others would consider immoral or "evil" in the name of said peace and prosperity.]] Unfortunately, this comes back to bite the Federation in the ass when it's revealed that despite a peace being brokered with the Changelings who spearheaded the Dominion War in ''[=DS9=]'', a rogue faction of Changelings split off to infiltrate Starfleet. This was done in revenge for a "morphogenic virus" that Section 31 had released into the Changelings' Great Link, which would eventually cause them to lose their cohesion and die; graphically demonstrated when Odo started to lose his cohesion in "When It Rains...". Even worse, the Changelings were in collaboration with the ''Borg'', who equally started to change their assimilation tactics by genetic infiltration, using the late biological-Captain-Picard's corpse to spread a receiver gene through Federation transporter use, which would activate and assimilate upon reception of a specific Borg signal.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Many proponents of the Republic, including both sympathetic politicians and Jedi, recognize that the Republic is badly in need of reforms, but believe it's still possible to fix it as {{Internal Reformist}}s -- despite the events of ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', where a MegaCorp made war on an actual member planet and the galactic government's response was HeadInTheSandManagement. One of those InternalReformist voices, Padmé Amidala, was even that planet's head of state at the time. Somewhat justified by the fact that the only available alternative to internal reform was to join the Separatists, [[EvilVsEvil who were led by that same]] MegaCorp; and the man secretly RunningBothSides "ensured" the Republic's lack of response.

*** "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E4WhoWatchesTheWatchers Who Watches The Watchers?]]": Subverted in that this belief system already had no real legitimate basis before it even hit the ground: A Federation "duck blind" on a Bronze-Age planet, Mintaka III, experiences a major malfunction that threatens to affect the cultural development of the inhabitants. One of the Mintakans, Liko, is injured when he is electrocuted by an electrified wall and is further seriously injured and knocked unconscious by falling off a ledge from the shock. Dr. Crusher instinctively leaves the duck blind to treat him and brings him aboard the Enterprise to save his life. Picard does not take well to this. While being treated in sickbay, Liko awakens in a daze, automatically assuming from the lighting and sleek aesthetic that he has been taken to the afterlife, and he sees Picard as a god. Crusher attempts to erase his memory, but it is unsuccessful, and the roots of a new religious movement begin to sprout in the village where Liko lives. [[TakeAThirdOption Picard, with no other moral options left in the Prime Directive, brings one of the other inhabitants, Nuria, on-board,]] [[ClarkesThirdLaw to show that he and the Federation are simply travelers with advanced knowledge and tools that the Mintakans do not yet have]], and that he is just as mortal as they are, nothing more. When Liko becomes fanatical during a strong freak thunderstorm on the planet's surface[[note]]interpreting the storm as a sign of anger from "The Picard" for not keeping one of the Federation scientists captive earlier in the episode[[/note]], the trope is invoked when he is unconvinced about Picard's lack of godly power. When Picard beams down, Liko tries to genuflect before Picard, claiming that he ''can'' bring back the dead[[note]]wanting his wife, who drowned in a flood the previous year, to be resurrected[[/note]]. A diverted arrow to Picard's shoulder, and Nuria showing his blood on her fingers, is what finally snaps him out of it.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'' - [=Psycop=] Alfred Bester keeps extolling the virtues of [[MutantDraftBoard PsyCorp]] ''even after helping the heroes expose a plot within the Corps''. Several Minbari hold to the traditions of the Grey Council until it's broken by Delenn due to its inaction during the Shadow War. [[spoiler: The Vorlons and the Shadows continue to ask the same {{Armor Piercing Question}}s to the younger races, even though they can no longer answer them.]]

* ''Series/BabylonFive'' - [=Psycop=] Alfred Bester keeps extolling the virtues of [[MutantDraftBoard PsyCorp]] ''even after helping the heroes expose a plot within the Corps''. Several Minbari hold to the traditions of the Grey Council until it's broken by Delenn due to its inaction during the Shadow War.

* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'', similar to ''Dark Souls'' above (which were earlier games from the same designer), has some antagonists who wish to prevent you from reforging the titular Elden Ring because doing so would require a cardinal sin against the Golden Order... even though the Elden Ring being shattered is pretty much an apocalypse in slow motion, and nothing will improve without it returning. Not that things were necessarily good even with the Elden Ring and the Golden Order intact, as though they purport to define the laws of nature, they were imposed on the world by an outside force, and are used as justification to persecute beings such as the Omens and the Misbegotten, whom from a fundamentalist perspective do not actually exist. Special mention goes to Morgott, the Omen King, who is both a [[BoomerangBigot proponent of the system that reviles and exploits his kind]] ''and'' fights you as two separate bosses (himself and his projection Margit, the Fell Omen) to stop you from completing your quest, despite ''knowing full well'' that [[spoiler: the source of the Golden Order has forsaken them, the Erdtree is preventing anyone from becoming Elden Lord, and stopping you from burning the Erdtree is just going to lead the Lands Between to a slow death.]]

** The Gem Empire, for thousands of years, lived under the oppressive rule of the Great Diamond Authority; self-expression, self-change, and individuality were harshly punished. Even worse, it wasn't just the denizens of the empire that were oppressed, but also Blue and Yellow Diamond as well. (And by extension, ''Pink'' Diamond, who [[spoiler: started a war and played both sides to free herself and her expressive bretheren]]!)

* In ''LightNovel/HeavyObject'' the existence of Objects has resulted in an era of "clean wars" where there need be no civilian casualties and only the Elites piloting Objects need to fight. However this has resulted in radicalization of the populace and the "clean wars" are actually devastating and often far uglier than claimed, not to mention the massive drain on global resources each Object represents. It's even revealed in lead-up to the finale that Object battles have released so much energy they've [[spoiler:disrupted the Earth's rotational axis and damaged the tectonic plates, potentially dooming all life on Earth]]. Despite this the powers behind all four supernations are united in their need to preserve the era of Objects and they are willing to kill anyone who questions this.

* When most characters in ''Anime/PsychoPass'' discover the AwfulTruth about the [[ BigBrotherIsWatching Sibyl System]], they either reject it completely or accept it begrudgingly. In season 2, when [[ByTheBookCop Mika Shimotsuki]] is told about how the system is really operated in a SecretTestOfCharacter, she claps and laughs and praises it, accepting it wholeheartedly without question and even sells out her partner to become the "ideal member of society."

---->'''Connie:''' Mom! I really, really, really need that sword!\\

---> '''Yellow Diamond:''' ''[[to White Diamond]]'' We... W- We... We need to talk!... About us. I've conquered so many worlds for the sake of the empire. I do everything you ask, and I do it all perfectly. But your very high standards put us all under a lot of pressure. A Gem could crack under so much... pressure. We Diamonds may be hard, but we're also... brittle.

'''Dr. Maheswaran:''' Connie! What has gotten into you?! ''[holds her bag, with the sword in it, out of Connie's reach]'' You know I never go back on a rule, young lady!
'''Connie:''' There has to be some exceptions! I'm not some... ''rule-driven robot!''\\

'''Connie:''' Now is the perfect time, Mom! *jumps at Dr. Maheswaran, attempting to grab the sword*
'''Dr. Maheswaran:''' Connie! What has gotten into you?! *holds her bag out of Connie's reach* You know I never go back on a rule, young lady!
'''Connie:''' There has to be some exceptions! I'm not some... ''rule-driven robot!''

* Parodied ''and'' played straight in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "Homer Vs. The Eighteenth Amendment": When a Prohibition law enacted 200 years ago is discovered in Springfield's Constitution, alcohol is outlawed. Unfortunately, this causes the same sociopolitical climate of the 1920s to return, with speakeasies and alcohol smuggling cropping up, including Homer, who is at the center of the crime ring, sneaking beer inside of hollow bowling balls through a complex system of pipes leading to Moe's Tavern. When Chief Wiggum is discovered, drunk, in the tavern, he's fired from the police force. When the police are unable to enforce the law, Rex Banner, a parody of Elliot Ness, with a no-nonsense humorless personality, from ''Series/TheUntouchables'', is brought in. When Homer's Duff supply runs out, he decides to make his own liquor, which starts failing after a while as well. Chief Wiggum, who was ousted from the police force, begs Homer to let him capture him. Homer agrees, but the punishment for breaking the prohibition law is by expulsion by catapult, out of town. When Marge steps up to try to defend Homer, [[StrawmanPolitical Banner starts to lecture the town about how the law should not be dictated by popularity]] (despite how the prohibition law actually caused ''more'' problems than it solved, much like the real-life Prohibition of the 1920s.), while not knowing that he's accidentally stepped into the bucket. When Wiggum has had enough, and decides that Banner has started talking out of his ass, he has the catapult launched, expelling Banner. The town clerk then finds that the law was repealed one year later, [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot meaning that all this strife and agony could have been avoided.]]

May cross over with TheQuisling, [[IFightForTheStrongestSide if they want to suck up to whatever ''the'' System is.]] Crosses over with CultureJustifiesAnything, EasilySwayedPopulation, MyCountryRightOrWrong, BlindObedience, DramaticallyMissingThePoint, BelievingYourOwnLies, GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity, TheNeidermeyer (if it involves a military or a command group), InherentInTheSystem, and TautologicalTemplar. May also result in a DeconstructedTrope or AnAesop if the medium is trying to make a point with this. If the work as a whole is dark and the story has no real way to bring the characters into any sort of satisfactory hopeful conclusion, then this trope can cross over into TooBleakStoppedCaring.