History Main / CantGetAwayWithNuthin

* In ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'', the students of Daten High School are taught by a teacher, "don't have sex EVER. [[Film/MeanGirls You will DIE! No matter what position!]]" Of course, this doesn't stop Panty from having sex with people.

* Essentially the whole reason behind Franchise/SpiderMan's existence. The one time he decided not to act and did something immoral instead, it came back to bite him [[MyGreatestFailure in the worst]] [[DeathByOriginStory way possible]].
** The movie messes around with this; in the original comic, Peter ignores the criminal because he's letting his newfound fame go to his head and thinks [[BystanderSyndrome it's not his problem]], so it does generally feel like he's being taught a karmic lesson in humility. In the movie, the crook robs the wrestling promoter who screwed Peter out of his prize money and Pete lets him go in order to spite the man, which lessens the impact somewhat because it's easy to sympathize with Peter's attitude in that scene. You could argue that it actually increases the impact, but changed the moral. Instead of being about humility, it was about responsibility (which the comic was also about. [[ComesGreatResponsibility After all...]]), which the movies are big on. Yes, the actions were understandable, but Spider-Man has to rise above that.
** The [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan reboot]] perhaps CrossesTheLineTwice to restore its efficacy; After storming out of the house, Peter tries to buy milk but is two cents short. Since the clerk won't spot him two pennies from the (overflowing!) take-a-penny tray, Peter leaves, only to watch a street thug grab a handful of money from the register while the clerk's back was turned. Peter's reward for doing nothing, the milk the clerk refused him. Naturally, Peter doesn't help track down that thug for the clerk. Of course, that same thug then kills Uncle Ben, who had been chasing after Peter trying to find him. He dies because of two cents.
* [[TheCape The Plutonian]] from ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}'' took a 10-minute break on the moon to get away from the constant calls for help that his [[SuperSenses superhuman hearing]] could pick up. In those 10 minutes, a sonic virus was released that turned hundreds of children into walking skeletal corpses. This, as much as anything, contributed to his going insane.
** For the double whammy, the virus was accidentally released by a scientist who had convinced the Plutonian to let him study a piece of alien tech instead of destroying it. The Plutonian took a chance that the guy could be trusted to do some good for the world with the potentially hazardous technology and it all just happened to go wrong at the very moment he took that break out of ear-shot.
* The law laid down by the Dundonian Presbeteryans who founded D.C. Thomson to the writers of ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' and ''Comicbook/TheDandy'' was simple: They could show the NaughtyIsGood characters getting up to all the mischief they liked, as long as they were punished in the last panel.

* One issue of Gladstone's ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' comic actually averts this -- a monster that runs on cowboy tropes can't be beaten by the other Rangers and can only be beaten by "an Indian" -- or in this case, a bow user. However, Kimberly (said bow user) got grounded and they need her to help. One of the Rangers suggests just teleporting her there and get it over with. Zordon shoots it down, saying that risking more punishment on Kimberly isn't worth facing the MonsterOfTheWeek. Tommy solves the problem by confronting her father and having the others help shoulder Kimberly's punishment over the weekend. It works.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', the team gets driven out of Los Angeles as a punishment for taking a neutral stance during ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', and as a consequence, reluctantly decide to try their hand at outright supervillainy, only because they desperately need money. Naturally, their one foray into robbing a safe gets them targeted by ''ComicBook/ThePunisher''.

'''Principal:''' ''[producing an overflowing folder]'' Oh yes, we've got quite a file on our friend Calvin...
* Parodied in one ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'' SundayStrip, where Opus is tempted to [[ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin sniff a dandelion]] and is transformed into a bloated, discolored {{Gonk}} who declaims:
-->'''Opus:''' Alert! The rumor regarding the effects of dandelion consumption is not, repeat, '''not''', just another reckless fabrication of an increasingly sensationalistic and liberal-leaning media establishment!

'''Charlie Brown:''' ''[banging his head on a tree]'' I can't stand it!

* Character-flipped in [[https://www.wattpad.com/story/197976919-cabin-fever-promises-to-keep Cabin Fever: Promises To Keep]]. In ''Film/CabinFever'', Paul and Marcy neglect to use a condom when they have sex, and it's implied that this decision doesn't work out well for Paul, who subsequently becomes infected with the deadly virus Marcy was unknowingly carrying. ''"Promises To Keep"'' branches off from the ''Cabin Fever'' continuity immediately after this exact same-sex scene. In this story, Marcy is the one who has to deal with the consequences of unsafe sex, namely [[OneNightStandPregnancy an unwanted pregnancy]].

%%* ''Film/Oceans11'', as well as ''Film/TheItalianJob1969''.

* In ''Film/{{Yellowbeard}}'', Betty (Madeline Kahn) tells her son Dan (Martin Hewitt): "The last time I read a book, I was raped--let ''that'' be a lesson to you."

* In ''Film/TheMexican'', Jerry (Creator/BradPitt's character) stops at a stoplight in the middle of nowhere. He waits for the light to turn for a while, noting that no cars seem to be coming in either direction for miles. He gives up waiting and starts to run the red when a semi-truck comes barrelling through the intersection out of nowhere and almost t-bones him. This is all ironic because it was a traffic accident that mixed Jerry up in the plot to begin with.
* ''Film/MaidInManhattan''. The titular character is shown to be an exemplary, beloved employee in line for a promotion. But when she lets a coworker talk her into trying on a guest's discarded clothes, it kicks off a chain of events that result in her being fired and publicly humiliated over her fling with a wealthy, well-known politician, despite the eventual happy ending.
* In ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'', Harold gets arrested for jaywalking when a cop car [[OffscreenTeleportation appears out of nowhere]] ''just'' when he puts one foot down on the road. He's completely aware this trope is in effect though, only stepping into the street against the "Don't Walk" sign to ''prove it''.
* In ''Film/LastActionHero'', this is how the film world works. When the villain enters the real world, he slowly realizes he can get away with anything because the rule no longer applies. He tests this by randomly killing someone and waiting for the police to show. In the film world, this would be instantaneous, while in the real world, nothing happens, and when the villain starts ''gloating'' about it, nearby people only yell at him to shut up.
* In ''Film/Ariel1988'', Kasurinen confronts the man who had robbed him, whereupon the man pulls a knife on him. Kasurinen disarms him and starts beating him, and is promptly arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for assault, attempted robbery, possession of a weapon, and resisting arrest.
* ''Film/GimmeShelter2014'': Apple narrates how every time she's attempted to escape from her mother has ended in disaster. One time she tries to escape in a taxi from her mother and she succeeded only to not have enough money for the taxi and be told to leave. She tries to steal the taxi to drive further away only to fail and have to walk. She then tries to escape in a car she carjacked only to almost die in a near-fatal car crash. Apple reveals she's only had sex once and she got pregnant because of that.

* A tragic but understandable conclusion in ''Film/{{Duwelo}}'', which has a "number one hit man" as its protagonist who develops some AntiHero qualities [[spoiler:then suddenly, [[CruelTwistEnding a random sniper shoots him dead]] [[HarmfulToMinors in front of a little girl]] he just rescued from certain death. Turns out, lording over how many men you've killed has [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome some consequences]].]]

* Kyon of ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' didn't do his summer homework and ended up [[spoiler:stuck in a GroundhogDayLoop for centuries, which led to Yuki developing errors and rewriting the universe]].
* Persistent trend in ''Literature/LittleWomen'' and its sequels.
** Amy borrows money from Meg to buy very trendy limes and [[InWithTheInCrowd look better in front of her school friends]], despite it being against school rules. Her SadistTeacher discovers her and humiliates her in front of the whole class. (This scene was edited out of the DVD of [[Film/LittleWomen1994 the 1994 film]].)
** Amy gets so angry with Jo for not taking her out that she burns the novel Jo was writing. Not only Marmee gets quite upset with her, but when the truth sinks and she asks Jo for forgiveness, she is roughly refused. [[spoiler:Often shown in the 1994 film.]]
** Jo refuses to forgive Amy for the aforementioned incident, despite Amy genuinely meaning it. The next day, Amy nearly drowns from falling through the ice on a river when skating with Laurie, and Jo is partially responsible since she knew the ice was very thin but didn't warn Amy out of spite. [[spoiler:This was also shown in the 1994 film.]]
** Meg visits her rich friend Annie; after humbly dressing in her own worn clothing all week, she lets Annie [[BeautifulAllAlong doll her up in her sister's party dress,]] and acts like an airhead to fit in better and [[StepfordSmiler hide her issues]]. This is the same night Laurie turns out to be her dancing partner, and he immediately [[WhatTheHellHero lays the verbal smackdown on Meg]].
** Amy acts like a ProperLady on a visit with their aunts, while Jo acts bitchy [[IdiotBall for no real reason.]] Turns out they were deciding during that very meeting which girl to invite on a trip to Europe, so Amy is chosen for her polite and levelheaded behavior.
** When Laurie attempts to [[DoggedNiceGuy push his feelings on Jo]], she rejects him twice and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere once even practically runs away]].
** Some of the boys in Little Men share a cigar and beer one night and set the room on fire. Another time, they try to enact a sort-of pagan ritual and end up burning a CreepyDoll for it, only to get shit scared of how it doesn't normally burn (it's one made of leather) and Jo ''severely'' scolds them for being stupid.
** Jack steals Tom's money and lets Nat take the blame, later running away out of guilt. When he returns, the others act very cold to him for more than a while.

* ''Literature/ThePrincessDiaries'' series by ''Creator/MegCabot'' (most recently ''Princess in the Spotlight'') is also subverted as Mia joins Lilly, causing them to make an eggplant (food item) fall out of the window and on the floor of a sidewalk just outside New York. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for Grandmere, the girls get caught, forcing them to take the blame as the eggplant was splattered all over the whole sidewalk.]] Mia Thermopolis, however, could never get away for being stupid (which wasn't a very trendy thing to be for a Disney Princess with a heart of gold).
* The comic book version of ''Funky Winterbean'' by ''Tom Batuk'' had him doing something dangerous such as burning down the entire office of a TV station. He didn't get fired, though, for being stupid.
* The Literature/{{Greyfriars}} series, and any other school story penned by Frank Richards. The message to the readership is clear: don't gamble, drink, smoke, lie, cheat, sneak, steal, go out of bounds, consort with ruffians, refuse to do your lines, mercilessly provoke the mentally feeble, gang up on people in fights, or steal other people's cakes. Just don't. Go outside and play cricket instead.
* In the book ''Literature/MalheursDeSophie'' by the Comtesse de Ségur, practically every innovative child's play idea Sophie gets causes some sort of trouble, from cutting her eyebrows off in hopes of them growing back thicker to getting her fingers bitten by a horse.
* In ''Literature/TheHyghcockChronicles'', Betsy never once gets pregnant during the years she spent entirely loyal to her husband, but after he dies and (through various circumstances) sleeps with both Protagonist Maynard the priest (and protagonist) and Archie the Sheriff in short order, she gets pregnant and can't determine the actual father. Subverted in that, once Maynard finds out, he outright says he doesn't care who the father is since he loves Betsy anyway.
* ''Literature/{{Forbidden}}'': In a story about incest, after [[spoiler:not having sex for a long time because they are terrified of being caught]], Maya and Lochan eventually decide that they're being paranoid and that no one is actually going around looking in windows to catch [[spoiler:siblings having sex. So they go ahead and have sex,]] and disaster rains down -- ''instantly''.
* In ''Literature/SweetValleyHigh'', a secondary character dies after doing ''one and a half lines'' of cocaine. Elizabeth Wakefield drives drunk on one occasion after her drink is spiked and gets in a car crash, which results in the death of her twin sister's boyfriend and her arrest.
** The latter is a DoubleAesop, too; while Elizabeth is in a car crash and arrested, her twin sister was the one who spiked the drink and is punished for her actions by a dead boyfriend.
* In ''Literature/ComfortWoman'', Beccah sneaks out to go on a school trip to the beach without telling her mother Aikiko, who is terrified of her being attacked by evil spirits. She gets a bit of coral lodged in her foot and gets a bad infection, which reveals the whole thing to Aikiko, who ends up keeping her daughter cooped up 24/7 for the next year.
* Literature/{{Fablehaven}} averts this with Seth, who does occasionally slip away and break rules whenever it's extremely beneficial. It's played straight with Kendra, though, whose ability to get away with anything is so bad that she even drags Seth down.
* Explicitly avoided by Creator/CoryDoctorow in his book ''Literature/LittleBrother'', as shown [[http://www.locusmag.com/Perspectives/2009/11/cory-doctorow-teen-sex.html here.]]
** As far as sex is concerned, yes. On the other hand, Marcus can't get out of that one time he stole a woman's phone (because it contained hard evidence that Homeland Security had imprisoned his friend illegally for most of a year) and ends up going to prison for it. The judge even mentions that it's a bit of an absurd edge case, but that ''is'' the law...

* In the ''Literature/WaysideSchool'' series, Todd is always getting in trouble. Notably, this isn't used to deliver AnAesop, but rather [[PlayedForLaughs played for]] ComedicSociopathy -- in several stories, he gets in trouble for a ''very'' minor offense while practically everyone else in the class is acting up much more.
* Played with a twist in ''Literature/BridgeToTerabithia'': Jess receives an invitation to a museum from his teacher. Having a crush on her, he doesn't think about inviting his best friend Leslie with him. [[spoiler: Leslie pays the price -- she dies. And Jess has lost his only friend]]. This is also a straight example for [[spoiler: Leslie. She tried to use the rope alone just once this time, even though they had a rule that they always go to Terabithia together. And the water was high, but hey, she was the best swimmer, WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong?]]
* It's easy to see why Michael never lies in the ''Literature/KnightAndRogueSeries''. The one time he lowers himself so much as to only tell part of the truth he's beaten up by four men as a result and needs help to even sit. Fisk, on the other hand, is something of a KarmaHoudini in this respect.
* In ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio'', our title character almost always faces some kind of punishment for his misdeeds, regardless of how minor it was. One time, he was punished even though he was the victim of the crime rather than the one who committed it. The punishments ranged from being sent to jail, to [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment having to act as a guard dog for the night.]]
* ''Literature/GoneWithTheWind'' -- after the numerous horrible things she's done, including several attempts at seducing the married Ashley, Scarlett and Ashley get caught in a genuinely innocent embrace -- she was crying and he was comforting her. Only the intervention of Melanie, Ashley's wife, saves her from total public humiliation -- a punishment Scarlett herself says she would have gladly borne had they been caught any of the times that they ''were'' doing something wrong.
* Sandry gets hit with this in ''[[Literature/CircleOfMagic The Will of the Empress]]''. On her eighteenth birthday, she puts off reading the accounts from her Namorn estate, and her uncle upbraids her for neglecting them. Not unreasonable, except that she hasn't been to Namorn since age ten, that she's been completely occupied acting as her uncle's NumberTwo since his heart attack, ''and'' her Namornese cousin, who's sending these reports, is far too prideful to do anything like ask for help in plain terms. Her friends also criticize her anytime her status comes up -- even getting on her case for "acting the countess" by using her position to ''save a woman from a lifetime of marital abuse'' by hiring her as a maid. (Of course, all four of them are pretty horrible to each other throughout.)
* A mild, PlayedForLaughs instance in the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower'' novel ''The Commodore''. Hornblower, irritated by an odd thumping noise on deck, comes up to find out what it is and tries to think of some excuse for being there. Then he decides that dammit, he's a commodore now, he can ask any silly question he likes without having to feel self-conscious, so he calls Bush over to do just that--and realizes that the noise was from Bush's wooden leg. So he has to come up with an excuse ''anyway''.

* In ''Literature/JesusOnThyFace'', practically everything Jesus does gets him in trouble with someone - the water into wine miracle, for example, results in him being prosecuted for producing alcohol without a licence.
* ''Literature/MelaniesMarvelousMeasles'' was written by an anti-vaxxer who wanted to communicate that vaccines sometimes have side effects and sometimes don't work, however, ''all'' the vaccinated kids either have side effects or get sick anyway.
* In ''Literature/TheInstitute'' Tim Jamieson was a decorated police officer who one day forgot to take off his uniform while he was off-duty and drank some beer. This resulted in him getting involved in a robbery attempt by a teen high off his ass on PCP, and, GenreSavvy enough to realize the gun the teen might be fake, fired a warning shot. This resulted in hanging lights being dislodged by said shot and landing on top of a bystander who stayed behind to film the altercation. Said bystander tries to sue the police, and Tim was kicked off the force.

Compare LaserGuidedKarma, FelonyMisdemeanor, KafkaKomedy, NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished, and JaywalkingWillRuinYourLife. See also CompressedVice and TheScourgeOfGod. Occasionally overlaps with DisproportionateRetribution.

** Amy borrows money from Meg to buy very trendy limes and [[InWithTheInCrowd look better in front of her school friends]], despite it being against school rules. Her SadistTeacher discovers her and humiliates her in front of the whole class. The scene with Amy borrowing money from Meg and buying very trendy limes was edited out of the 1994 film ''Literature/LittleWomen'' during Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's legal licensing rights to the DVD version of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel of the same name.

A common delivery method for Can't Get Away With Nuthin messages is ScareEmStraight media. A (usually) comedic variation, in which everyone else is getting away with worse misdeeds but one character Can't Get Away With Nuthin for a lesser crimes, is SelectiveEnforcement. Very often, this is paired with ChekhovsGun, as attention wouldn't be brought to the misdeed if it wasn't going to be relevant later on.

Compare LaserGuidedKarma, FelonyMisdemeanor, KafkaKomedy, NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished and JaywalkingWillRuinYourLife. See also CompressedVice and TheScourgeOfGod. Occasionally overlaps with DisproportionateRetribution.

* Despite ThouShaltNotKill being a general rule in Franchise/TheDCUniverse, a number of heroes have broken this rule. Some have faced consequences but others have more or less gotten off scot free. Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/{{Batman}} have both broken this rule [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman when the opponent wasn't human]] and the consequences of leaving them alive were clearly too dangerous to risk, Superman killing Kryptonian war criminals from another universe and Batman killing Darkseid in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' being good examples. By contrast, Franchise/WonderWoman's reputation was shot when she killed Max Lord to stop him from controlling Superman in order using him to massacre millions of people.

* Character-flipped in [[https://www.wattpad.com/story/197976919-cabin-fever-promises-to-keep Cabin Fever: Promises To Keep]]. In ''Film/CabinFever'', Paul and Marcy neglect to use a condom when they have sex, and it's implied that this decision doesn't work out well for Paul, who subsequently becomes infected with the deadly virus Marcy was unknowingly carrying. ''"Promises To Keep"'' branches off from the ''Cabin Fever'' continuity immediately after this exact same sex scene. In this story, Marcy is the one who has to deal with the consequences of unsafe sex, namely [[OneNightStandPregnancy an unwanted pregnancy]].

* In ''Film/Ariel1988'', Kasurinen confronts the man who had robbed him, whereupon the man pulls a knife on him. Kasurinen disarms him and starts beating him, and is promptly arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for assault, attempted robbery, possession of a weapon and resisting arrest.

* A tragic but understandable conclusion in ''Film/{{Duwelo}}'', which has a "number one hit man" as its protagonist who develops some AntiHero qualities [[spoiler:then suddenly, [[CruelTwistEnding a random sniper shoots him dead]] [[HarmfulToMinors in front of a little girl]] he just rescued from certain death. Turns out, lording over how much men you've killed has [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome some consequences]].]]

** Jack steals Tom's money and lets Nat take the blame, later running away out of guilt. When he returns, the others act very cold to him for more than awhile.

** In ''Literature/EightCousins'', Rose Campbell attempts to punish her cousin Jamie's playmate Pokey for petty theft (just some chestnuts and a rolled bandage), making the little girl cry. Jamie gets pissed off and reveals that Rose had her ears pierced by her friend Annabelle without permission of her guardian Uncle Alec, which upset Alec quite a bit.

** The latter is a DoubleAesop, too; while Elizabeth is in a car crash and arrest, her twin sister was the one who spiked the drink, and is punished for her actions by a dead boyfriend.

** In ''It's an Aardvark Eat Turtle World'', Rosie seems to spend most of her time being the diplomat and has had to make sacrifices to ensure her mother's relationship with her best friend's father is a success, such as giving up her pets because her kinda-stepfather is allergic. When she goes on holiday with her best friend/sister, Phoebe, she ends up feeling like a third wheel as Phoebe practically ignores her. Eventually, Rosie falls for Phoebe's cousin, Jason, and starts dating him, one of the few things she does for herself... whereupon Phoebe accuses her of being selfish and putting Jason first, resulting in Phoebe's ill-thought out decision to move back with her mother. Rosie spends much of the time afterwards feeling guilty about this turn of events.

* Played with a twist in ''Literature/BridgeToTerabithia'': Jess receives an invitation to a museum from his teacher. Having a crush on her, he doesn't think about inviting his best friend Leslie with him. [[spoiler: Leslie pays the price -- she dies. And Jess has lost his only friend]]. This is also a straight example for [[spoiler: Leslie. She tried to use the rope alone just one this time, even though they had a rule that they always go to Terabithia together. And the water was high, but hey, she was the best swimmer, WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong?]]

* ''Literature/EllenAndOtis'': Averted in ''Otis Spofford'', even though Otis does his best to get ''into'' trouble. Otis's class puts on a fake bullfight as part of a school performance, and Otis (as the front half of the bull) goes off script and causes the bull to win the fight. As the teacher is preparing to chew him out, several parents approach and tell her how hilarious the fight was and what a good idea it was to have the bull win. Otis doesn't get in trouble from the teacher, and outruns the two boys who played the toreador and the back half of the bull.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Bronn finally got a life on easy street set by Season 4 thanks to abandoning Tyrion. Come next season, he is back to being a grunt thanks to Jaime annulling his marriage, forcing him to work even messier and more dangerous jobs than when he was under Tyrion. It almost seems to make him regret not trying his chance against the Mountain. In the books, Jaime doesn't break his marriage and Bronn is more or less retired of the mercenary game, raising Lollys' bastard.

* The show ''Series/OurHouse'' loves this trope. It the kids do anything wrong, they ''will'' get caught, one way or another. There is one double subversion. On a dare, David takes Gus's car for a joy ride around the block. After returning to the driveway, he finds a small but noticeable dent. After going to extraordinary lengths to (successfully) get the car fixed, he seemingly pulls it off. [[spoiler:At the very end, however, Gus comments on how the dent that had been there for a couple of years was now mysteriously gone.]]
** A near aversion takes place in another episode, where David leaves some dirty rags lying about in the basement. A few days later, the house catches fire, but quick thinking and the timely action of the fire department ensures that there is no serious damage and no injuries. Afterward, Gus tells the family that he doesn't want to know whose fault it was, as it might be simply too big for him to forgive.

* The episode "Cold Turkey" of ''Series/TheBrothersGarcia'' took this to the extreme. Sonia caught the flu off Lorena so Lorena prayed to God and said she would give up watching her novellas for a whole month if it meant Sonia would get better. Sonia inexplicably recovered the next day though Lorena cracked after about a week and Sonia fell ill as soon as she switched the TV on. Then Larry and Lorena go to see a priest who says that they shouldn't make deals with God…

* Happens in pretty much every episode of ''Series/EverybodyHatesChris''. Chris screws up, tries to fix/hide the mistake, gets caught and pays for it. Though it's just as likely for him to get screwed over for doing the ''[[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished right thing]]''.

* ''Series/FamilyMatters'' sometimes used this trope where Laura was concerned; many plots revolved around Laura doing something/being pressured into doing something wrong, and then coincidence punishes her, either by having something catastrophic happen, or having her parents just happen to show up to catch her at it. In the VerySpecialEpisode on gun violence, Laura's friend is shot in the arm as soon as Laura attempts to buy a pistol; in another, Laura buys a fake ID to go to a male strip club with her friends. It just happens to be on the same night her aunt and grandmother drag her mother to see the revue.

* Vanessa from ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' gets hit with this big time in the episode, "Off to See the Wretched." She and her friends lie to their parents about going to a concert of their favorite band, the Wretched, in town and that they were going to stop at their friend Susan's house before heading over to the concert, when actually, they were going to the concert all the way in Baltimore. Cliff and Clair soon find out about this as they just so happened to be watching the news and they are talking about a fire at a paint factory that was spreading toxic fumes to a bunch of houses, and one of them happened to be Susan's house. The news-crew start interviewing people and one person they talk to happened to be Susan's grandmother, who says that nobody was in the house. Then when Clair mentions that Vanessa went to see the Wretched, Denise says that they can't be performing in New York because the last time they were there, they caused so much trouble that they were banned from performing in the state. Back on the news, Cliff and Clair see an interview with the lead singer of the Wretched, who was thanking the people of Baltimore for letting his band perform there. As soon as Vanessa gets home, after a few misadventures, Clair gives her one hell of a tongue lashing.

* Some of the games made by Mat Dickie/[=MDickie=], such as ''[=HARDtime...=]'' and ''VideoGame/TheYouTestament'' have this sort of thing. You can sit there and watch other characters beat the ever-loving crap out of each other, carry weapons, steal weapons, etc., but if ''you'' try to do this, you'll get caught. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

* The things in ''VideoGame/CultistSimulator'' that will result in Notoriety include, but are not limited to: almost all Cult Actions, talking to the wrong people, being at the club at the wrong time, incidents at work, using specific inspirations for paintings, locking your own cult members in the headquarter's cupboard or clearing empty ruins in another country. You need to take care of Notoriety before Suppression Bureau does, as just one card on a very bad roll can lead to you being sent to court, even if you haven't commited any crimes. It's implied that Suppression Bureau isn't above using supernatural means themselves to find potential threats.

** Played the straightest in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E4ItchyAndScratchyLand Itchy & Scratchy Land]]". He whips out his "Li'l Bastard Kit" and fires a smoke bomb at the hapless mascot. He laughs it up... and then ''seconds'' later, a security guard grabs him by the arm, ''handcuffs'' him and '''throws him in the holding cell''' (meeting Homer, who got arrested for fighting with a costumed staff member). It gets worse when, after things start going crazy in the park, the family tries to get on a rescue helicopter...in which is the previously-offended mascot, who tells them to enjoy Hell before ''kicking him and Homer away''.
** Also played straight in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E21MargeInChains Marge in Chains]]", where in Marge, having a bad day, ''forgets'' to pay for an item at the Kwik-E-Mart, ''after having paid for all of the rest of a big basket of items''. She is immediately arrested and sentenced to 30 days of imprisonment.
** When Apu starts to gloat after Marge's sentence that his store is now safe, we cut to Snake ''towing the entire Kwik-E-Mart to Mexico.''

-->'''Jimmy''': I can fix that! I hope.

** In "[[Recap/SouthParkS5E6Cartmanland Cartmanland]]", Kyle sickens and almost dies out of spiritual suffering over seeing Cartman get a totally undeserved windfall, until the episode's end plays the Aesop straight.
** Subverted in "[[Recap/SouthParkS6E16MyFutureSelfNMe My Future Self 'n Me]]", where Stan touches a joint to throw it away and his future self arrives to warn him that drugs have destroyed his life. It turns out that Stan's future self is just an actor that his parents have hired to scare him straight. The ruse does more harm than good, and ultimately Stan insists that his parents just give him the realistic picture. The show's creators were inspired to do the episode after seeing a poster which claimed that smoking marijuana supports terrorism.

* In one episode of the less-than-well-remembered cartoon ''WesternAnimation/LifeWithLouie'', the title character steals a single piece of candy from a store, and is informed that the following night's inventory check will make sure that the store owners know ''exactly'' how many were stolen and whose parents to call. Might have been a BS scare tactic, but it's still {{Anvilicious}} in its use of this trope.

* Plankton is the only character in ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' who can't seem to get away with anything. This is justifiable for when he's up to evil schemes, but sometimes it's just plain unfair, with the most jarring case being "One Coarse Meal". Even ''[[ButtMonkey Squidward]]'' has gotten off scot-free with some things.

* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' has Dib who, being the OnlySaneMan, sees it has his duty to constantly keep an eye on Zim and try to thwart his [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]] at every single turn.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE25TheClockKing The Clock King]]", when Temple Fugate, before becoming the Clock King, breaks his schedule so he can be more relaxed. Notice that when Fugate was at the park at 3:05, instead of in his office as he had planned, he was very nervous and waiting for certain doom. It's only ''when he dared to relax'' when the DisasterDominoes that would ruin his life started falling.

** ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun'': Johnny Joestar lets fame get to his head and cuts in line at a movie theater to impress a girl. The guy they cut shoots him in the spine, putting an end to his illustrious horse racing career and resulting in him being abandoned by everyone he knew, including his father--[[WellDoneSonGuy for the second time]].

* PlayedForLaughs in one group stream of WebAnimation/{{hololive}} playing ''TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}}'' involving, among others, serial flirt Ollie. [[https://youtu.be/P3P9icm_k40 On her first turn]] she rolls a seven, which everyone can see means she'll land on Chance -- Ollie takes the opportunity as her piece is being moved to propose marriage to Iofi, who immediately turns her down. At this moment the Chance card is revealed to be..."Go to Jail". The other players laugh at Ollie's misfortune while many "Go to Horny Jail" jokes were had in the chat.
--->'''Ollie:''' Is it illegal to propose to people?!

** Played totally straight in VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto IV, where the police will go ''batshit fucking insane'' trying to catch you for a fender bender. Also falls into SelectiveEnforcement, because Niko can get run over all day long and the cops won't care.

** Also from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'': all of Trevor Phillips's carefully planned heists end up amounting to a big old load of nothing, even when they succeed. [[spoiler:He manages to steal cargo from a heavily guarded freighter belonging to a private militia, only to relinquish the score because it was a bloody ''nuke'' and selling it would make him and his friends enemies of the state. He manages to hijack a plane carrying military hardware, only to have to ditch it when it gets shot down. He manages to wreck a train carrying valuable loot, only for his partner to steal one thing that he plans to give away to a man Trevor had wronged by attacking him and stealing his wife. Even in ''GTA Online'', he pulls off a massive theft of drugs, only for the person he planned to sell them to reveal he's with the DEA.]]

* Despite ThouShaltNotKill being a general rule in Franchise/TheDCUniverse, a number of heroes have broken this rule. Some have faced consequences but others have more or less gotten off scot free. Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/{{Batman}} have both broken this rule [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman when the opponent wasn't human]], Superman killing Kryptonian war criminals from another universe and Batman killing Darkseid in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' being good examples. By contrast, Franchise/WonderWoman's reputation was shot when she killed Max Lord to stop him from controlling Superman in order using him to massacre millions of people.

* Character-flipped in [[https://www.wattpad.com/story/197976919-cabin-fever-promises-to-keep Cabin Fever: Promises To Keep]]. In ''Film/CabinFever'', Paul and Marcy neglect to use a condom [[CoitusEnsues when they have sex]], and it's implied that this decision doesn't work out well for Paul, who subsequently becomes infected with the deadly virus Marcy was unknowingly carrying. ''"Promises To Keep"'' branches off from the ''Cabin Fever'' continuity immediately after this exact same sex scene. In this story, Marcy is the one who has to deal with the consequences of unsafe sex, namely [[OneNightStandPregnancy an unwanted pregnancy]].

There is a possibility that this trope is used simply because it's a good way to end a particular story, or an author's personal fantasy or something, and not as a deliberate way to get any message across. If fantasy was always like real life, then it would probably be completely boring. It's also a matter of basic story-telling economy: having a scene where a character does something with no consequences at all is just wasting a good scene.

** Which itself is an example of ArtisticLicenseLaw. Most countries can not revoke Citizenship for anything short of treason and even then.

* Kyon of ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', meanwhile, didn't do his homework and ended up [[spoiler:stuck in a GroundhogDayLoop for centuries, which led to Yuki developing errors and rewriting the universe]].

Okay folks, listen up: many of the dangerous behaviors in life are as insidious and widespread as they are because ''most of the time, nothing bad comes of doing them''. If you don't wear your seat belt, most of the time, you'll be fine. It's just that on the rare occasion that fate calls you on it, the results are usually catastrophic, but if you do something wrong/dangerous/stupid on a TV show and divine justice ''isn't'' carried out, sometimes {{Media Watchdog}}s and MoralGuardians will decry the show for "promoting high-risk behavior".

So on a lot of TV shows, ''especially'' those aimed at children, ''every time'' you do something bad, justifiable or not, you ''will'' get caught.

On a SitCom, this isn't usually all that big a deal, except during the VerySpecialEpisode. In a Teen Drama, it's a recipe for tragedy. Drive drunk ''even once'' and somebody is going to die. Have premarital sex ''even once'' and there's going to be an STD or an unwanted pregnancy [[note]](although logically speaking, there can't be an STD unless at least one of the people has had sex before, except in the less likely-to-be-used case of being given one non-sexually via birth, blood, or otherwise)[[/note]] and it's no use protesting, "ButWeUsedACondom!" And heaven help you if you even ''look'' at [[DrugsAreBad drugs]]. This may be accompanied by an {{Inver|tedTrope}}sion of ProtagonistCenteredMorality to illustrate the dangers of peer pressure, by introducing characters who have been getting away with the bad thing for a while - but once the main character tries it out, things will ''immediately'' go wrong.

This is sometimes called an "Institutional Lie" -- the deliberate exaggeration of the dangers of a certain behavior because the audience wouldn't be persuaded by the ''actual'' dangers in the time allowed.

The problem with this kind of lie is that it doesn't convince anyone. Rather than having the desired effect, the audience is liable to dismiss the morality play as obvious fiction, and their trust is lost.

A common delivery method for Can't Get Away With Nuthin messages is the ScareEmStraight. A (usually) comedic variation, in which everyone else is getting away with worse misdeeds but one character Can't Get Away With Nuthin for a lesser misdeed, is SelectiveEnforcement. Very often, this is paired with ChekhovsGun, as attention wouldn't be brought to the misdeed if it wasn't going to be relevant later on.

An EnforcedTrope during the UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood, where UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode prohibited any sort of KarmaHoudini. See RiseAndFallGangsterArc for a by-product of this restriction.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* [[WebVideo/{{Jimquisition}} Jim Sterling]] discusses and deconstructs this in their video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9mTOq6mP2I "Where's the Fair Use?"]]. Jim points out that Website/YouTube's terribly flawed copyright system, which allows people to make copyright claims on videos they don't have the right to claim (such as Creator/{{Nintendo}} taking down a video of theirs for a small bit of footage from ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon|1}}''), actually removes any incentive not to break copyright laws. What's the point of following the rule if you can be punished equally for not actually breaking it?
[[/folder]]

* Good luck doing something even morally ambiguous in the ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' world. Unless, of course, your name is Cyrus Bortel.
** Kim can ''never'' get away with lying.

On a SitCom, this isn't usually all that big a deal, except during the VerySpecialEpisode. In the Teen Drama, it's a recipe for tragedy. Drive drunk ''even once'' and somebody is going to die. Have premarital sex ''even once'' and there's going to be an STD or an unwanted pregnancy [[note]](although logically speaking, there can't be an STD unless at least one of the people has had sex before, except in the less likely-to-be-used case of being given one non-sexually via birth, blood, or otherwise)[[/note]] and it's no use protesting, "ButWeUsedACondom!" And heaven help you if you even ''look'' at [[DrugsAreBad drugs]]. This may be accompanied by an {{Inver|tedTrope}}sion of ProtagonistCenteredMorality to illustrate the dangers of peer pressure, by introducing characters who have been getting away with the bad thing for a while - but once the main character tries it out, things will ''immediately'' go wrong.

* [[WebVideo/{{Jimquisition}} Jim Sterling]] discusses and deconstructs this in his video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9mTOq6mP2I "Where's the Fair Use?"]]. Jim points out that Website/YouTube's terribly flawed copyright system, which allows people to make copyright claims on videos they don't have the right to claim (such as Creator/{{Nintendo}} taking down a video of his for a small bit of footage from ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon|1}}''), actually removes any incentive not to break copyright laws. What's the point of following the rule if you can be punished equally for not actually breaking it?

* ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'' is often subverted, as Blythe Baxter (the teen protagonist) rescues the pets from a runaway truck (while driving) in which Roger grounded her and takes her cell phone away. Unfortunately, the LPS pets recovered her cell phone to film a reaction of the aforementioned incident and show it to her dad that it is a big mistake and forgives her for taking it away, thus joining him at the Downtown City picnic. This, however, made other people so pissed off and throw things out the window unless, of course, you're dumb enough to know that young girls (like Blythe Baxter) can't drive at the age of 13 until they turn 16 and get their driver's license. Creator/{{Hasbro}} thinks it is a major joke because they couldn't get away with nuthin' at all.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' has a notorious episode that teaches that violence is never okay, but it's only wrong if Arthur does it, apparently. D.W. is never disciplined for stealing and breaking Arthur's model airplane, and their parents decide it's okay for Binky to hit Arthur because it teaches Arthur that hitting people is wrong. [[BrokenAesop Somehow.]]

* In ''Film/{{Ariel}}'', Kasurinen confronts the man who had robbed him, whereupon the man pulls a knife on him. Kasurinen disarms him and starts beating him, and is promptly arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for assault, attempted robbery, possession of a weapon and resisting arrest.

* [[WebVideo/{{Jimquisition}} Jim Sterling]] discusses and deconstructs this in his video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9mTOq6mP2I "Where's the Fair Use?"]]. Jim points out that Website/YouTube's terribly flawed copyright system, which allows people to make copyright claims on videos they don't have the right to claim (such as Creator/{{Nintendo}} taking down a video of his for a small bit of footage from ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}''), actually removes any incentive not to break copyright laws. What's the point of following the rule if you can be punished equally for not actually breaking it?

Compare LaserGuidedKarma, FelonyMisdemeanor, KafkaKomedy, and JaywalkingWillRuinYourLife. See also CompressedVice and TheScourgeOfGod. Occasionally overlaps with DisproportionateRetribution.

** In “Too Much Candy, Roys Bedoys”, Roys eats two extra candies when he was supposed to only eat one and immediately gets a toothache.
** In “That Website’s Not Safe, Roys Bedoys!”, Roys clicks on one link without checking it first and it turns out to contain a virus.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE25TheClockKing The Clock King]]", when Temple Fugate, before becoming the Clock King, breaks his schedule so he can be more relaxed. Notice that when Fugate was at the park at 3:05, instead of in his office as he had planned, he was very nervous and waiting for certain doom. It’s only ''when he dared to relax'' when the DisasterDominoes that would ruin his life started falling.

* On ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow, this was one of George's catchphrases. "I can't do [[FunetikAksent NUTH-EEN]]!"

* Essentially the whole reason behind Franchise/SpiderMan's existence. The one time he decided not to act and did something immoral instead, it came back to bite him [[MyGreatestFailure in the worst way possible]].

** The [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan reboot]] takes it UpToEleven, and perhaps CrossesTheLineTwice to restore its efficacy; After storming out of the house, Peter tries to buy milk but is two cents short. Since the clerk won't spot him two pennies from the (overflowing!) take-a-penny tray, Peter leaves, only to watch a street thug grab a handful of money from the register while the clerk's back was turned. Peter's reward for doing nothing, the milk the clerk refused him. Naturally, Peter doesn't help track down that thug for the clerk. Of course, that same thug then kills Uncle Ben, who had been chasing after Peter trying to find him. He dies because of two cents.

* ''Film/GimmeShelter'': Apple narrates how every time she's attempted to escape from her mother has ended in disaster. One time she tries to escape in a taxi from her mother and she succeeded only to not have enough money for the taxi and be told to leave. She tries to steal the taxi to drive further away only to fail and have to walk. She then tries to escape in a car she carjacked only to almost die in a near-fatal car crash. Apple reveals she's only had sex once and she got pregnant because of that.

** To be fair, it's when you get CAUGHT attacking someone. If you stealth kill someone while invisible or snipe them from a dark alley or use untraceable disciplines to make them commit suicide, there won't be any trouble. Many other games can take this to a "Dude WTF?" level, with small crimes NO ONE EVEN NOTICES getting you in serious trouble. In Fable, you can be attacked by guards by accidentally taking one step inside the house of SOMEONE WHO LOVES YOU a few seconds after shops close. Although since they just stop if you apologize, it's kinda subverted.

** [[MemeticMutation STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM!]]

* Many VideoGame/NancyDrew games include some really stupid, {{anvilicious}} examples of this, particularly in regards to safety tips. Forget to turn the iron off after using it, and you'll ''immediately'' burn down the hotel. Forget to click on your helmet every time you ride a bike, and you'll ''immediately'' wipe out and get a concussion. Better wear your life jacket when you get into that boat, or else you're ''immediately'' a spinning headline about a tragic drowning. And so on.

* Similar to the ''Elder Scrolls'' example above, ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' has plenty of this. Not only will you have Regulators hunting you down if you do bad things, but all of the [=NPCs=] are [[ClairvoyantSecurityForce psychic]] enough to know it too, even if they don't immediately turn hostile. For example, if you kill everyone in Arefu, Lucy West in Megaton will still say something to the effect of "I heard about your little killing spree in Arefu. Get away from me!", even if there was no one around to witness it. Speaking of Megaton, decide to nuke it and ''everyone'', [[spoiler:including James]], will somehow know it was you. And of course, there's Three Dog, who [[WhatTheHellHero always manages to find out]] whenever you take the evil option in a quest. You can't get away with being good either, as the Talon Company mercs will be hired to hunt you.

* The things in ''VideoGame/CultistSimulator'' that will result in Notoriety include, but not limited to: almost all Cult Actions, talking to the wrong people, being at the club at the wrong time, incidents at work, using specific inspirations for paintings, locking your own cult members in the headquarter's cupboard or clearing empty ruins in another country. You need to take care of Notoriety before Suppression Bureau does, as just one card on a very bad roll can lead to you being sent to court, even if you haven't commited any crimes. It's implied that Suppression Bureau isn't above using supernatural means themselves to find potential threats.

* Many of the trouble-making kids in the infamous "[[YouAreGrounded Grounded]]" videos made on Website/GoAnimate fall under this. It doesn't matter if there is no possible way for the kid to be caught in the act, or if they have gone to many measures to ensure they won't be caught afterward. Someway or somehow someone will find out what they did and tell their parents, who will then ground them ground them ground them for a long time.

** Invoked in the episode "Sagwa's Good Deed". Sagwa gives away her portion of dinner to Fam and his family, who don't have anything to eat. But since she misses dinner because of it, Mama Miao [[KickTheDog is pissed at her]]. While she does forgive Sagwa when she learns, she still overreacted and makes sure Sagwa knows the importance of keeping a promise.

-->'''Mama Miao:'''"But she also did something she shouldn't have!"