History Main / MyMasterRightOrWrong

* ''Webcomic/BetweenKingsAndQueens'': Taken to horrifying extremes with Captain Follard, who is mindlessly loyal to the Royal family to the point that he worships them like gods and treats them like his true family - while completely neglecting, abusing, and even disposing of his ''actual'' families and typically treating everyone around him (even himself) as subhuman garbage that only exists to obey royalty.[[note]]The implication is that he was outright brainwashed through torture, as ''his entire back is scar tissue''.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Insanity}}'': Played with in Yanase's case. He remained a loyal butler to Shigeki for years even though his actions horrified him, although some of this was partly from fear than just loyalty. However, when Yanase learned Shigeki was intending to [[spoiler:kill a group of innocent teenagers out of a deluded belief they would steal his research]], Yanase couldn't stand by any longer and announced he was going to the police. [[HeKnowsTooMuch This didn't end too well for him]].

* Two Amazons in ''ComicBook/AmazonsAttack'' spent a lot of time discussing Hippolyta's insane actions and how they should stop her. They ended up doing nothing.
* Franchise/{{Batman}} has never liked fighting his enemies' animal minions since they're only as evil as their masters.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'', it turns out that [[spoiler:Faithful John]]'s master is working for the BigBad and, since his fable is all about loyalty, he has no choice but to be TheMole.

* ''{{ComicBook/Laika}}'': The scientists who have worked closely with Laika, and especially Yelena, don't want to put her in ''Sputnik 2'', knowing it wasn't built to be able to return to Earth and she will die in there. Still, they cannot disobey direct orders from the Soviet government.
* There have been a couple of times where ComicBook/ThePunisher has said that he dislikes killing animals because animals can't truly be guilty.
* In the ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' comics Spio's obediently followed orders ever since the Iron Queen took control of his clan, even though he doesn't seem to want to since he has to attack his former friends.

* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' stories:

* Captain Torame in ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'' [[LawfulNeutral lives this axiom]]. In "The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy", Usagi infiltrates the army of a lord planning a coup against the Shogun, who has Torame as an honorable second in command. In the climax of the story, when Usagi reveals his hand and fights to stop the lord, he confronts Torame who refuses to switch sides. Usagi admits that he understands when the two [[MeaningfulEcho recall something they talked about earlier]].

* ''Franchise/XMen'': The Shi'Ar Empire has had some real prizes on the Imperial Throne...[[AGodAmI D'Ken]], [[TheUnfavorite Deathbird]], and [[TheCaligula Vulcan]], among others. Through it all, Gladiator, Praetor of the Imperial Guard, remained loyal to whomever was in charge...[[HeelFaceTurn until he wasn't]]. This is something of a recurring theme in Shi'Ar storylines.

** The faerie retainers of the Summer and Winter Courts are bound to obey the orders of their Queens, whether they agree with them or not. They must serve the Court and Queen. This becomes important in ''Literature/SmallFavor'', where Harry is being hunted by the gruffs, powerful retainers of Summer. When confronted by Eldest Brother Gruff, the faerie turns out to be a jovial, friendly fellow who is disturbed by his orders and dislikes having to carry them out. Fortunately, Harry is able to [[spoiler:use a favor he'd earned with Summer Court (though not strong enough to countermand this task)]] to request that Eldest Gruff [[spoiler:depart to get him a "real, Chicago doughnut." This is because the Court comes first and to kill Harry when Harry is owed a strong debt would be equal to reneging on their promise. So to avert the problem, the]] Eldest Gruff is happy to oblige.

* Gray Fox in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'' was loyal to Big Boss even with the latter's BloodKnight tendencies and dreams of a WarriorHeaven. Justified in that Big Boss had saved him twice (three to four times counting the events of ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps Portable Ops]]'' and depending on whether Big Boss was still involved in saving Gray Fox's hide in Vietnam). It also had something to do with the fact that he needs the battlefield.

Of course, in many [[RealityIsUnrealistic real]] feudal systems, trying to force a vassal to act dishonorably--or making him jeopardize the value of the land-grant that secured his service in the first place, e.g. by overworking his serfs -- could jeopardize his vassalage itself. In "High" Medieval Western Europe, also, a vassal could hardly be said to have a "master"; vassals were obligated to ''show up'' with troops when their liege asked, and stay for a term (usually 90 days or so). After that term, they could leave, and while they were obligated to generally assist their liege they were ([[JustTheFirstCitizen in theory]]) their liege's equals -- hence why nobles are called "peers" -- and thus ''didn't'' have to take orders, so battle-planning involved negotiations over who would do what. Therefore this trope applied primarily to personal retainers who had sworn homage and *not* to noble vassals.

Of course, in many [[RealityIsUnrealistic real]] feudal systems, trying to force a vassal to act dishonorably--or making him jeopardize the value of the land-grant that secured his service in the first place, e.g. by overworking his serfs -- could jeopardize his vassalage itself. In "High" Medieval Western Europe, also, a vassal could hardly be said to have a "master"; vassals were obligated to ''show up'' with troops when their liege asked, and stay for a term (usually 90 days or so). After that term, they could leave, and while they were obligated to generally assist their liege they were ([[JustTheFirstCitizen in theory]]) their liege's equals -- hence why nobles are called "peers" -- and thus ''didn't'' have to take orders, so battle-planning involved negotiations over who would do what.

This deals with such questions as: What is an oath worth? What are wrong and right, personal mercy or abstract principles? What is honor? The liege is evil, how evil is the vassal?

Liege and vassal are great {{foil}}s for each other and for the relationship of a leading hero and his followers.

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 master lasts as long as they're on the clock.

* In ''[[Fanfic/ANewChanceSeries A New Chance at Life]]'', [[spoiler:[[WellIntentionedExtremist Lance]]'s Dragonite sees the shortsightedness in trying to attack and take Latios but goes with his trainer's plan anyway. He even apologizes to Latios before attacking him.]]

* ''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]].

* In ''Fanfic/APrizeForThreeEmpires'', the [[Franchise/XMen Shi'ar Imperial Guard]] captures ComicBook/CarolDanvers in order to bring her to Deathbird. When Carol points out that Deathbird will kill her out of revenge, they reply Deathbird's presently the Queen and they're loyal to the Shi'ar's throne, regardless of the morality of the ruler.

* Dakota Bob in ''Series/TheBoys'' is a PuppetKing for the EvilInc Vought who allows them to bankroll his presidential campaign and toes the line, but quietly disagrees with their more extreme actions like trying to put superheroes in the military or spreading BlatantLies. Whilst supportive of Vought to the public, he seems to be very uncomfortable around [[ScaryBlackMan Stan Edgar]] and [[BigBad Homelander]] ([[BewareTheSuperman for very good reason]]) and as a result makes no real effort to defy them.

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Literature/ConanTheBarbarian'' story "Literature/AWitchShallBeBorn", Valerius, despite Tamaris' sudden transformation into TheCaligula, is deeply troubled by the thought of revolt.
-->''"We hardly knew what we were fighting for, but it was against Constantius and his devils -- not against Taramis, I swear it! Constantius shouted to cut the traitors down. We were not traitors!"''

* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Oreg is forced by ancient magic to do anything his master orders him to do. As his current master is Ward, the protagonist, we don't see him do something he hates to do on-screen, but it is heavily implied that he was used as an assassin by Ward's ancestors.
** There is also Haverness of Callis, a nobleman who takes the oaths he swore to the high king Jakoven very seriously ... tragically, he is the only one to do so, the king himself would betray him in a heartbeat. [[spoiler:When Jakoven does betray him, this doesn't end well, as Haverness can now justify his actions with the fact that Jakoven broke the oath first ...]]

* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'': in the twilight of the People's Republic of Haven, this was a common issue amongst many in the Havenite military, then many, many more when the Pierre regime took control.

** {{Subverted}} by [[AntiVillain The Hound]]. At first, he's set up as being unquestioningly obedient to the Lannisters, but it's implied later on that, even if Joffrey told him to, he [[BodyguardCrush won't hit Sansa]]. Also, [[spoiler:he later abandons his post and leaves King's Landing, and asks Sansa to go with him.]]

** Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'': In the episode ''Island of the Giant Pokémon'', Jessie's Ekans and James's Koffing explain to Meowth that they're not necessarily bad Pokémon, and go so far as to assert that no Pokémon is truly bad; Ekans and Koffing, for example, just do what Jessie and James tell them to do. Granted, trained Pokémon in general seem to follow this trope, since the point of capturing a Pokémon is to gain a faithful companion. Meowth, however, is baffled by this logic because he's a Pokémon as well and yet [[CardCarryingVillain does evil things out of his free volition]].

* Entei to Molly in the movie, ''Anime/{{Pokemon 3}}: Spell of the Unown''. He actually says, "Whether it is right or wrong, I will do as she wishes!"
** In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' episode ''Island of the Giant Pokémon'', Jessie's Ekans and James's Koffing explain to Meowth that they're not necessarily bad Pokémon, and go so far as to assert that no Pokémon is truly bad; Ekans and Koffing, for example, just do what Jessie and James tell them to do. Granted, trained Pokémon in general seem to follow this trope, since the point of capturing a Pokémon is to gain a faithful companion.
*** [[CardCarryingVillain Meowth, however...]]
*** This pretty much flies out the window in later seasons though, where many wild Pokémon have been introduced who do bad things because they're jerks and some of them being outright evil, like the Spiritomb in "The Keystone Pops!" and the recurring Malamar in ''XY''.
** In the episode "Sweet Baby James", Cacnea follows James's orders as he acts against Jessie to protect Nanny and Pop-Pop, who were trying to heal Chimecho.
** In an episode of the Battle Frontier saga, Ash gets possessed by an ancient spirit right before battling Pyramid King Brandon. He orders Sceptile to use some [[CombatPragmatist questionable tactics]] during the fight, and while Sceptile is clearly shocked by each command, he still follows them.

** The Saber serving under [[WellIntentionedExtremist Leo Harwey]], [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Sir Gawain]] in [[VideoGame/FateExtra Fate Extra]] is an interesting examination of this. He is completely devoted to his lord and Master, even though he knows Leo lacks something necessary to be a good king: failure, and the ability to learn from it. He is grateful the protagonist is able to help Leo realize this, though it comes just before Leo and Gawain’s deaths…
*** Gawain follows this trope yet again in [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Fate/Grand Order]], where he serves the Lion King loyally even though this means slaughtering the vast majority of those inhabiting the Holy Land. He clarifies during the climax that his loyalty is virtually all he has left [[MoralEventHorizon after helping to kill the members of the Round Table who refused to support the Lion King]], so [[MortonsFork he’s damned either way]].

*** Gawain follows this trope yet again in [[VideoGame/FateGrandOrder]], where he serves the Lion King loyally even though this means slaughtering the vast majority of those inhabiting the Holy Land. He clarifies during the climax that his loyalty is virtually all he has left [[MoralEventHorizon after helping to kill the members of the Round Table who refused to support the Lion King]], so [[MortonsFork he’s damned either way]].

** The Saber serving under [[WellIntentionedExtremist Leo]] [[MythArthurianLegend Sir Gawain]] in [[VideoGame/FateExtra]] is an interesting examination of this. He is completely devoted to his lord and Master, even though he knows Leo lacks something necessary to be a good king: failure, and the ability to learn from it. He is grateful the protagonist is able to help Leo realize this, though it comes just before Leo and Gawain’s deaths…

** 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 Carter.

* In ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'', Ray (the guy we've been led to believe is TheDragon to this point) has just witnessed first hand his leader and adopted father Habaraku (who is the real Dragon) publicly and brutally murder a helpless prisoner (and the man who tried to save her). And he brainwashed a church full of witnesses into watching the whole thing and cheering. Yet immediately afterwards, he makes a LastStand to keep the protagonists away from Habaraku out of a sense of both duty (to [[MyCountryRightOrWrong his church]]) and loyalty (to the man who raised and trained him). [[SenselessSacrifice It doesn't end well for him]].

* ''LightNovel/MayoChiki'': Subaru regreted abducting Jiro in Episode 13 but, as a butler, she'd never disobey her master.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': When Tsubaki tries to talk Akira into abandoning his VirtualSidekick Alpha, trying to tell him all about her, Akira responds by interrupting and saying a list of [[ManipulativeBitch extremely manipulative and deceitful]] things he knows Alpha has done to him. And then he makes an argument based on IOweYouMyLife and IGaveMyWord for why he won’t abandon her. Akira earns Tsubaki’s VillainRespect for this.

* Lancer in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' and Lancer in ''LightNovel/FateZero''. It doesn't end well either time, but in at least one case, it ends in a spectacularly awesome fashion.

** Saber also had a case of this [[spoiler:back when she served under Kiritsugu in ''LightNovel/FateZero'']], although this was TeethClenchedTeamwork ''at best'' due to their clashing ideologies [[spoiler:and in part due to [[MoralityPet Irisviel]]]].