History Main / MyRuleFuIsStrongerThanYours

# The people who enforce the rules don't necessarily follow them. They may imagine themselves to be a higher class or more noble or pious or whatever, but in the end it's all because of the badge they wear or the title they hold: they're just as fallible as anyone else, and if these people insist that there's not a single rule they've ever broken, they can be sent screaming into a VillainousBSOD if someone finds that one obscure rule they ''did'' break, or points out a rule that they would ''never'' want to follow. (The more sociopathic might instead be compelled to dispose of whoever pointed out this fact, all to maintain their perfect record. Never mind that there are rules against ''murder'' in every culture on the face of the globe.) Again, this can have a dark side, as a paragon figure can be transformed into a BrokenPedestal if someone brings to light some transgression in his or her past.

* In the ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back", Hermes defeats ObstructiveBureaucrat Morgan Proctor by uncovering an old "notification of romantic entanglement" form she had filed. The file wasn't used as proof of sexual impropriety, however: it was the fact that she had stamped it ''four'' times instead of the requisite five that got her demoted. However Hermes also got demoted for organizing the Central Bureaucracy ''too'' fast

* In David Brin's ''{{Uplift}}'' universe, the rules laid down by billions of years of galactic beauracracy are extremely important. Even the most ruthless races are terrified of violating the "Standards for Acceptable Warfare."

* In David Brin's ''{{Uplift}}'' universe, the rules laid down by billions of years of galactic beauracracy are extremely important. Even the most ruthless races are terrified of violated the "Standards for Acceptable Warfare."

* Partway through ''HarryPotter and the Order of the Phoenix'', one of the students points out that Umbridge is in violation of one of her own arbitrary rules. Subverted in that all that happens is that the student gets a detention.

* Jesus verses Pharisees in ''TheBible'', calling them out for violating other rules when they over-analyze laws (not helping people in need on the Sabath going against why it exists in the first place).

** A really awesome instance was Delenn demanding that the whole Minbari Civil War(which the warrior caste had theoretically won} be hazarded in a SelfImmolation contest because [[GoodOldWays "It is the tradition of our people."]].

* In the ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back", Hermes defeats ObstructiveBureaucrat Morgan Proctor by uncovering an old "notification of romantic entanglement" form she had filed. The file wasn't used as proof of sexual impropriety, however: it was the fact that she had stamped it ''four'' times instead of the requisite five that got her demoted.

Rules have power, and their ability to level the playing field can also be used to ''unbalance'' it favor of [[LawfulEvil whoever makes the rules in the first place.]] So what can you do? You can always [[ChaoticGood break the law]], but the more clever will figure out [[HoistByHisOwnPetard how to beat them at their own game.]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* [[http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/cakesale.asp Urban legend:]] A modern student at Oxford or Cambridge points to a four-hundred year-old rule stating that the university must provide "cakes and ale" to him as he takes his exam. The university complies (with the modern equivalent, a burger and a Pepsi), and then promptly fines him for not wearing his sword to the examination. (This may be an inversion, since the it's the authorities who have the stronger rule-fu.)
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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Done once by Tristan from ''AngelMoxie'', when accused for wearing socks in breach of school's statutes on dress. She retorted that they were stockings and quoted a point that saying that if the student didn't want to wear the prescribed socks, she has to wear stockings; to the shock of the teacher, the statute didn't say anything about what those stockings should look like.
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* Done once in ''PigCity'': the SadistTeacher becomes the new Director; only to lose his job when students prove he doesn't know Latin, which is required to perform this function.

* Done once by Tristan from ''AngelMoxie'', when accused for wearing socks in breach of school's statutes on dress. She retorted that they were stockings and quoted a point that saying that if the student didn't want to wear the prescribed socks, she has to wear stockings; to the shock of the teacher, the statute didn't say anything about what those stockings should look like.

** Loopholes... to loopholes. Squareblocks? Straightfillers? What do you call a hole that lets you slip through a hole?
*** A noose, because what it's actually doing is tightening the hole around you.

* Used in ''{{Dexta}}'' when Gloria (professional bureaucrat that she is) pulls out every rule in the book to trip up the corrupt Imperial Governor. This gets her promoted to Acting Imperial Governor with deliberately impossible orders ("enforce a cease-fire between two alien factions without using Imperial troops to defend aliens"), so she takes advantage of a militia that the Emperor didn't know about to solve the problem.

* The ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The Ensigns of Command" revolved around a human colony on a world claimed by the Sheliak Corporate. The Sheliak demanded the removal of the human colonists before their own colonists arrived in four days; unfortunately, the colony has grown to the point that it would take three ''weeks'' to evacuate everyone. Picard tries to negotiate with the Sheliak only to be rebuffed as they [[RulesLawyer cite various terms of the ridiculously complicated Treaty of Armens]] which rule in their favor. Finally, Picard looks through the Treaty himself and discovers a clause he can use against the Sheliak: he invokes the right to have a neutral third party arbitrate, and chooses the Grizzelas, who won't come out of hibernation for another six months. This time, it's the Sheliak's turn to balk (and finally, acquiesce).
* ''KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'' the gaming community of Muncie is made of this trope, but especially Brian Vanhoose who never met a rule he couldn't exploit. For example, a frustrated [[GameMaster B.A.]] invoked obscure "overbearing" rules in his game (a target is automatically overbeared by an angry mob, consisting of at least ten people) over Brian's objections and delivered a HumiliationConga to his group. Brian responded by having each party member hire 10 beggars to act as a mob and started mercilessly overbearing monsters.
* Just about every villain on ''{{Leverage}}'' can't be caught by the authorities because they haven't technically broken the law - that's where Nate and his team come in.

* In the ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back", Hermes defeats ObstructiveBureaucrat Morgan Proctor by uncovering an old "notification of romantic entanglement" form she had filed. The file wasn't used as proof of sexual impropriety, however: it was the fact that she had stamped it ''four'' times instead of the requisite five that got her demoted.
* [[http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/cakesale.asp Urban legend:]] A modern student at Oxford or Cambridge points to a four-hundred year-old rule stating that the university must provide "cakes and ale" to him as he takes his exam. The university complies (with the modern equivalent, a burger and a Pepsi), and then promptly fines him for not wearing his sword to the examination. (This may be an inversion, since the description of Type 2 describes an authority figure being brought down by the rules, when in this case it is the authorities who have the stronger rule-fu.)

* Subverted in ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'': Jackrum pretends to pull this by citing a non-existent rule; Blouse later catches Jackrum out when checking the rulebook.

* One episode of Star Trek TNG revolved around an insanely complicated treaty that gave a certain world to an alien race, when neither side knew it had a colony formed from human shipwreck victims. The aliens gave them time to evacuate the people before their own colonists arrived (and torched the place), but it wasn't enough to get everyone off. Picard won by finding a clause that allowed for either side to ask a neutral party to arbitrate a dispute about the interpretation of the treaty, and then naming a race that would not awaken from their annual hibernation until long after the required time.

* In IsaacAsimov's story "Blind Alley", a bureaucrat sets up a chain of events that allows a dying race of aliens to steal a spaceship and escape human space; the bureaucrat makes sure that there is an extensive (and legitimate) paper trail proving that he had nothing to do with it.