History Main / MyMasterRightOrWrong

** Season 1 Zuko actually ''was'' like this, not so much out of an understanding of honor that stated he had to obey even if his father was evil and wrong, as from conditioning against believing that it was ''possible'' for his father to be wrong, no matter how cruel he might be. He was just at the age to start really defining himself ethically after already thirteen years of propagandistic brainwashing and persuasive evidence that he was considered expendable by his family when he spoke up against a really coldblooded battle tactic and ''his father burned half his face off and told him it was his own fault,'' so he's spent the last three years policing himself for [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour thoughtcrime]]. This is actually more psychologically plausible than this trope pure, not that the trope hasn't turned up plenty in reality.

* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', it seemed like Shining Knight was once ordered to destroy a village, but it turned out to be a [[SecretTestOfCharacter test of his judgment, and he did the right thing by refusing]], thus being an inversion of this trope.
** However the General he told this to did not agree, claiming he was a failure for not immediately agreeing to an order from his commander.

** Uchiha Itachi turned out to be an interesting variation on this. He was one of Danzo's, but (as the heir to a great house and all) he didn't have as heavy an indoctrination as ROOT members, and it wasn't his loyalty to Danzo specifically that was played on, but to his village; he was also laboring under the expectations of his clan and a split sense of duty along with apparently a kind heart, and got used into to ground. In this case, though, he actively chose one loyalty over another when 'both'' were demanding this of him, though since our information is largely third-hand it's unclear whether the deciding factor was that he felt the Uchiha were more wrong than the village or that siding with the Uchiha would just cause more casualties.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': In the Bount arc, BigBad Kariya has Maki Ichinose (who is a shinigami) working for him. Ichinose in question embodies this trope so well that [[BloodKnight Kenpachi]] compares him to a vine that can't grow without something to cling to.

* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', this is the default morality of the Heterodyne family's creations

** The Kingsguard are supposed to be this, defending the king and executing his orders no matter what they are. Most of Mad King Aerys' Kingsguard died defending him against Robert Baratheon's rebellion. [[NeverLiveItDown Famously]] [[DefiedTrope defied]] by the youngest member, Jaime Lannister, who got fed up with the insanity and murdered Aerys shortly before Robert took King's Landing. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that he did it because Aerys had made plans to burn down the entire city and everyone in it.]]

* Quintus in ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' is in charge of the Praetorian Guard and obeys Caesar's order to have Maximus, his friend and respected General, killed along with his family. In his words, "I'm a soldier. I obey." Maximus (a career soldier in his own right) understands but later manages to talk Quintus into a HeelFaceTurn for the final battle.

** Notice [[ExactWords how it's phrased]]. The Sith apprentice must ''obey'' his master... but it's also expected that he will constantly try to betray and supplant him. The trick is how to do that without ever actually disobeying him.

* There are shades of this in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand''. Wolverine becomes angry at Xavier after learning about the psychic blocks in Jean's mind, yet despite his disgust, he still reassures her that the Professor can help and fix her mental instability. Instead of going on his own, Logan accompanies Charles to Jean's childhood home, and he's devastated when [[spoiler:Xavier is murdered]]. It's on a subconscious level, but Wolverine was beginning to develop UndyingLoyalty towards Professor X.

* [[Literature/HarryPotter Percy Weasley]] was loyal to the Ministry over his own family thanks to his [[AmbitionIsEvil personal ambition]] and [[LawfulNeutral sense of order]]. This is corrected by the end of the last book when he [[ChangedMyMindKid rejoins the forces of good]].

Especially tragic when the [[HypercompetentSidekick vassal is also more competent than the liege]]. Very similar to MyCountryRightOrWrong, only more personal. A common characterization of TheDragon, particularly the NobleTopEnforcer. Contrast RebelliousRebel, MookFaceTurn, MistreatmentInducedBetrayal, SecretTestOfCharacter. Compare BlindObedience, where the character follows their liege because of a belief they ''can't'' be wrong and shouldn't be questioned, and LoyalToThePosition, where someone loyally does his job no matter who the boss is. See also PunchClockVillain, whose willingness to obey an evil boss lasts as long as they're on the clock.

Especially tragic when the [[HypercompetentSidekick vassal is also more competent than the liege]]. Very similar to MyCountryRightOrWrong, only more personal. A common characterization of TheDragon, particularly the NobleTopEnforcer. Contrast RebelliousRebel, MookFaceTurn, MistreatmentInducedBetrayal, SecretTestOfCharacter. Compare BlindObedience, where the character follows their liege because of a belief they ''can't'' be wrong and shouldn't be questioned, and LoyalToThePosition, where someone loyally does his job no matter who the boss is.

** The Kingsguard are supposed to be this, defending the king and executing his orders no matter what they are. Most of Mad King Aerys' Kingsguard died defending him against Robert Baratheon's rebellion. [[NeverLiveItDown Famously]] {{averted}} by the youngest member, Jaime Lannister, who got fed up with the insanity and murdered Aerys shortly before Robert took King's Landing. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that he did it because Aerys had made plans to burn down the entire city and everyone in it.]]

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', Goro Takemura is the NobleTopEnforcer of CorruptCorporateExecutive Saburo Arasaka, and has an extreme case of MoralMyopia. His code of honor and affection for the family he's sworn to protect would be a lot more admirable if [[EvilInc they and the corporation they run weren't amongst the biggest blights on the planet]], and if he were capable of acknowledging that most of the population of Night City (and the world at large) has excellent reasons for hating Arasaka. Instead, he's a walking demonstration of the yawning void between honor and morality.

* Olivier of the ''Literature/BrotherCadfael'' books by Creator/EllisPeters is a paragon of knightly virtue who sees all the faults of Empress Maud. She isn't evil, but she and King Stephen are locked in a stalemate of a civil war that is devastating the country. For a good part of ''Brother Cadfael's Penance'', Olivier deeply despises a former friend who switched sides to Stephen in the hope of the war finally being decided. (It doesn't work.) Olivier wishes for peace but clearly values staying true to one's merciless liege higher than ending the war.
* This is one of the main themes in P.C. Hodgell's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'' series. Among the Kencyr people, obedience to one's Lord is considered a foundation of honor; if one's Lord orders one to do something dishonorable, the feeling goes, the dishonor rests on his head, not one's own. However, the whole system is set up with the expectation that such occasions will be few, minor, and moderated by the priests and the judges. Then a situation comes up that wasn't expected; the Highlord of the Kencyrath, the highest authority in the Kencyr people, decides to betray his people to their ancient enemy in return for personal immortality, but he needs the co-operation of others, particularly those close to him in his own House, to pull this betrayal off. Do the rules of honor still apply? When the order is not simply mildly dishonorable but utter betrayal, does honor still compel obedience? Some decide that it does, and, with a heavy heart, commit atrocity. Some decide that it does not, and struggle against him. Others decide that suicide is the only honorable option, while yet others don't know the full extent of what they're asked to do until it's too late. However, honor only requires obedience to the Lord's ExactWords; some decide to obey their orders in as unhelpful a way as they can possibly get away with.
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Literature/ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/AWitchShallBeBorn", Valerius, despite Tamaris' sudden transformation into TheCaligula, is deeply troubled by the thought of revolt.

!Examples

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[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]

* It's implied that Teal'c was like this before his HeelFaceTurn in the first episode of ''Series/StargateSG1''. He did terrible things and hated himself for them, but he was ordered to by, well, his god. When O'Neill gives him the chance of freedom from Apophis, he jumps at the chance.

* ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'' storyline ''ComicBook/PlanetHulk'' has Caiera. It's revealed in a flashback in ''Skaar: Son of Hulk'' that her obedience disk was removed when she was still a child; her oath to be the tyrannical Red King's shadow was all that bound her to his service.

* Charon, a potential companion in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', is brainwashed to obey anyone who owns his contract, regardless of alignment (although he refuses certain actions and turns hostile if you attack him). If you purchase the contract, he will pointedly take a moment to have a "private conversation" with his former owner...
** Note however that this can apply to you too, if the player happens to be an evil bastard and you decide to release him from your duty.

*** This pretty much flies out the window in later seasons though, where many wild Pokémon have been introduced who do asshole things because they're jerks and some of them being outright evil.

* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel'': In the UK story "State Games" both subverts and plays this trope straight; the last Autobot Overlord, an old and enfeebled robot, and his compatriots are pinned down by a battalion of mechs that he had personally pissed off by trying to curb their civil war with a neighboring city with [[WhatAnIdiot gladiatorial bloodsport]]. His comrades' only chance of survival is to ditch him and make a run for it since his geriatric skidplate would only slow them down. One of the Overlord's two bodyguards sacrifices himself in a kamikaze run against the battalion instead of breaking his pact to protect the guy to the end. The other bodyguard, though, leaves the Overlord to rust, allying himself with a then little-known soldier accompanying them as a better choice of leadership of the planet. The latter bodyguard would go on to pull his own version of this trope during a ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' storyline. His name? ''Ravage''.

* The UK ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformers Transformers]]'' comic story "State Games" both subverts and plays this trope straight; the last Autobot Overlord, an old and enfeebled robot, and his compatriots are pinned down by a battalion of mechs that he had personally pissed off by trying to curb their civil war with a neighboring city with [[WhatAnIdiot gladiatorial bloodsport]]. His comrades' only chance of survival is to ditch him and make a run for it since his geriatric skidplate would only slow them down. One of the Overlord's two bodyguards sacrifices himself in a kamikaze run against the battalion instead of breaking his pact to protect the guy to the end. The other bodyguard, though, leaves the Overlord to rust, allying himself with a then little-known soldier accompanying them as a better choice of leadership of the planet. The latter bodyguard would go on to pull his own version of this trope during a ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' storyline. His name? ''Ravage''.

** Oshu, First Prime to Lord Yu, is a more extreme example. Not only does he know that Yu is not a god, but he knows that he's going senile. Despite this, he remains loyal to Yu until both are killed by [[FanNickname Replicarter]].