History Main / RulesLawyer

* In the novel ''Literature/{{Barrayar}}'', the only person who has the authority to countermand an order given to a Count's Armsman is the Emperor. So when Cordelia needs to leave Tanery Base to rescue her son from Vordarian, the fact that Bothari, the Armsman seconded to her, is under orders to stay there is a problem. Then Bothari explains that when the Count's heir seconded him to her, he said to obey her orders as if they were his own. And since that heir, Aral Vorkosigan, was ''the Imperial Regent'' (even if he wasn't thinking of himself in that position when giving the order), that meant Cordelia has the legal authority of the Emperor as far as Bothari is concerned.

* In volume 6 of ''LightNovel/CookingWithWildGame'', the villains attempt to do this when they're brought to justice. The idea is that sleep-drugging a crowd of guests ''technically'' did not harm them, and was therefore kosher under the law of SacredHospitality. Also that it was okay to kidnap and rape some of those guests because, due to the TheCavalry's unexpected arrival on the scene, no rape actually occurred. The rest of the village- being NobleSavage[=s=] to the core- are not convinced.

* [[UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories American tax protesters]] often attempt this trope with <ahem> ''[[InsaneTrollLogic non-standard]]'' readings of many laws, such as claiming that their salary is not "income" since it is only paper money and not gold or silver, or that the tax bill is for JOHN DOE, who is a totally different person from John Doe. The most famous being that paying income taxes is optional because the U.S. code uses the word "voluntary" to refer to the system. In this case, though, "voluntary" does not mean "optional"; it means "You are going to volunteer (i.e. provide) your information to us. The IRS is not going to compute your taxes for you and send you a bill. You have to do your own paperwork."

* In ''LARP/ModelUnitedNations'', rules lawyering is called "parliamentary maneuvering" and is considered to be a valuable skill in some circles. Additionally, since Model UN is supposed to be a simulation of real parliamentary-style debate, in which the rules are everything, RuleZero gets twisted around. Many chairs will ignore "parliamentary maneuvering" and force the debate forwards via force of personality. Indeed, it is widely considered to be irritating and spiteful to make incessant points of order, parliamentary procedure, etc, because it slows the debate to a crawl and generally makes everyone bored. It is also frequently exploited by WAAC (win at all costs) [=MUNers=]/Gavelhunters in order to give themselves the maximum amount of speech-time. Of course, this can often lead to MyRuleFuIsStrongerThanYours--if the Chair tries to fight back against a delegate making these maneuvers, that delegate may appeal to the rulebook--and since the Chair typically has an Undersecretary-General and Secretary-General above him/her as arbiters of the rules, they may not get their way.

* Sora from ''Anime/NoGameNoLife'', often using the Ten Pledges to his advantage.

* Several of the protagonists in ''Series/BabylonFive'', but the biggest was undoubtedly Commander Sinclair, the character who got the most focus in the first season. (The most notable example was a case where he was ordered to use "any military means necessary" to force striking workers to return to work, which he then does by going into the station's military budget and giving the workers the concessions they were asking for). Captain Sheridan and Captain Lochley both had their moments as well, and all of the ambassadors were known to twist [[BlatantLies reality]] and [[InsistentTerminology language]] as far as the rules and circumstances would let them for their own nations' political gain.
** Sinclair's example from the first season is a bit special, though, since we are outright told that the only reason Sinclair got away with bending the spirit of his orders like he did was that the voting public approved of his actions, so much so that the fascist political faction on Earth who desperately wanted a crackdown on the striking workers in order to MakeAnExampleOfThem didn't dare censure him or they'd risk losing popularity.

* Expect any sporting referee/umpire/judge to behave this way. Ideally the Helpful, [[LawfulGood Lawful Good]] variant.

* The Tetris Company, current IP holders of the ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' puzzle game franchise, only issue licenses to ''Tetris'' games that abide by [[https://tetris.wiki/Tetris_Guideline these standards]]. This is especially problematic because there is also no GrandfatherClause: any ''Tetris'' game made before these went into effect are ''also'' bound by them. If a game cannot meet this criteria and it was released under the ''Tetris'' name can never be legally rereleased. This includes the UsefulNotes/GameBoy version, the one where the iconic "Type A" music comes from that everyone and their grandmother is familiar with.

* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''/''Series/DoctorWho'' crossover "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/12381018/chapters/28165425 Persistence of Memory]]", the Year of Hell when the Master conquered Earth takes place during the time when Dean's deal to save Sam would have 'expired', with Martha meeting the Winchesters during her travels around the world. As a result, after Martha is able to restore their memories of the Year, Sam is able to literally negotiate with Hell to argue that Dean has ''already'' gone to Hell, he can't be sent back as he hasn't actually done anything to merit going there aside from make the deal, and he's agreed that he won't make new deals for Sam's life as he has to accept that Sam will die some day.

* [[http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/the-ballsiest-living-cheater-who-never-broke-rule/ Barney Curley]] was apparently so good at abusing the rules of horse race betting, he made over ten million dollars off it. The article's writer specifically calls him a MagnificentBastard.

* In ''FanFic/LongRoadToFriendship'', StudentCouncilPresident Lyra serves this role. After Sunset Shimmer is tasked with putting on the Winter Ball, Lyra says that if it doesn't make enough money, Sunset will be banned from all other school events. At the Ball, despite managing to bring everyone together and being named Princess, Sunset still gets banned by Lyra, because the ball didn't turn a big enough profit. [[spoiler:At least, Lyra tries to ban Sunset, until Principal Celestia outs Lyra as an ObstructiveBureaucrat. Turns out Lyra was lying, since the rule that would have let Lyra ban Sunset was revoked over ten years ago, and Lyra just did it out of a personal vendetta. When Twilight finds out, she promptly gives Lyra an ArmorPiercingSlap to the face.]]

* Arbitrary code excecution is taking this to the extreme. Instead of playing the game normally, the player takes incredibly specific actions at very precise times to execute their own code, using only valid game inputs. You read that right, instead of bending the rules, [[RealityWarper you're bending the very fabric of the game itself]], allowing you to skip to the credits or even [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPcV9uIY5i4 reprogram the entire game!]] Suffice to say, tool-assisted speedruns [[note]]playing back very precise inputs instead of playing in real time[[/note]] are the most viable way to do this.

** A meta-example is [[http://tasvideos.org/2027M.html this]] ToolAssistedSpeedrun of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest''. Unlike its predecessor, this run's main trick is using a debug sequence to acquire all the bonus coins early. This allows the speedrunner to get the last DK coin and see the TrueEnding ''[[SequenceBreaking first]]'', then get the normal ending. This does save a bit of backtracking but ultimately would take longer to reach the end of the credits. Since [=TASVideos=] rules (as interpreted for this game in particular) state the clock stops at the ''start'' of the end credits, and this run starts the end credits earlier, it's ''technically'' faster.

* Pete from ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' is usually more of a conventional Munchkin in trying to stack his stats to his own advantage, but isn't above trying this now and again. [[spoiler: Towards the end of the ''Return of the Jedi'' arc it turns out he's an ''actual'' lawyer.]] He does it just as agressively when the rules are against him, most dramatically with his ''Rougue One'' character.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': In ''Literature/TalesOfTheSlayer: The Rule of Silence'' knows the regulations of the Inquisition and tries on multiple occasions after being arrested to invoke what passes for due process at the time. Unfortunately, the Inquisitors are believers in ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem* In the Creator/RobertAHeinlein novel ''Literature/SpaceCadet'', one of the heroes early in the story attempts to exploit military regulations to make it too inconvenient for his superiors to give him orders he does not like. He is soon warned about what happens to "space lawyers".

* In the Creator/RobertAHeinlein novel ''Literature/SpaceCadet'', one of the heroes early in the story attempts to exploit military regulations to make it too inconvenient for his superiors to give him orders he does not like. He is soon warned about what happens to "space lawyers".

* In ''Website/SCPFoundation'' [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-738 SCP-738]] is a supernatural entity that can grant [[DealWithTheDevil wishes in exchange for suffering]], naturally granted [[LiteralGenie to the letter]]. Eventually they send the installation's legal counsel to bargain with it, and they engage in an extended bout of MyRuleFuIsStrongerThanYours, ending only when the legal counsel, having human limitations the entity doesn't possess, collapses from exhaustion. The last thing he remembers is that they were discussing the technical definition of the word "shall", and the document had reached 900 pages. He received a letter from SCP-738 inviting him to [[WorthyOpponent come back any time, as he hasn't had that much fun in ages]].

* Some rather impressive rules lawyering is used during the Frieza saga in ''Manga/DragonBallZ''. Two sets of Dragon Balls exist; the Earth set grants one wish and only works while Piccolo is alive, and the Namek set grants three wishes and only works while Guru is alive. At the start, Piccolo is dead on Earth and all other characters are alive on Namek. The characters gather the Namek dragon balls and use their first two wishes to revive Piccolo and transport him to Namek, but before they can make a third wish, Guru dies. But with Piccolo's revival, the Earth dragon balls are back, so ''they'' are gathered and used to revive everyone killed by Frieza or anyone working for him. This brings back Guru, which brings back the Namek set with one wish remaining, which is then used to transport everyone on Namek, save Frieza and Goku (at his request), to Earth. End result: good guys get everything they wanted, villain utterly thwarted. For bonus points, Frieza got to the Namek dragon in time to steal the third wish for himself, only to be ignored... because Porunga only accepts wishes spoken in Namekian, and Frieza doesn't speak it (not to mention killed off most of the species).

* In ''Fanfic/DaphneGreengrassAndTheBoyWhoLived'', Snape demonstrates this approach to convince Daphne to be honest with him on certain occasions after she becomes close friends with Harry, Ron and Hermione. While Daphne is concerned about getting Harry in trouble if she explains details such as how Harry led them to the petrified Mrs Norris, Snape observes that he would have no evidence against Harry for committing certain actions (such as Snape not believing that Harry could petrify the cat in the first place) even if Daphne told him the truth, so he would like to be sure why she’s defending Harry in the first place.

::: And this means ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, though there are several classifications and specifications, and they're actually found exactly where the cars indicates that can be.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' Dumbledore acts as Harry's lawyer ... er, Witness for the Defense, during Harry's hearing. In a rather unusual take on this trope, Dumbledore is forced to play Rules Lawyer because the Wizengamot [[KangarooCourt are deliberately ignoring their own laws]].

...unless you are the RulesLawyer. Every gaming group seems to have one -- that one player who memorized the entire rulebook cover-to-cover and is more interested in the rules than in the actual game being played with them.

* Parodied (naturally) in the card game ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}'' with the card ''Invoke Obscure Rules''. This card has been translated as ''Regelneuker'' in the Dutch version, which is actually the Dutch word for a RulesLawyer and literally translates as "rule fucker."

* Ever played the TabletopGame/StarWarsCustomizableCardGame? You ''need'' to be a RulesLawyer basically. Make sure to have a calculator ready if someone plays Brainiac.

* The ultimate RulesLawyer is Brian Van Hoose of ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'', who is constantly digging up obscure rules to frustrate [[GameMaster B.A.]]'s best-laid plans. Note that this trope works ''both'' ways for Brian: He will ''immediately'' call out anyone who outright cheats, and when the rules speak against him, he will abide by them to the hilt.

* Heimdall in ''Film/{{Thor}}'' is Asgard's resident badass RulesLawyer. While he is bound by oath to serve whoever sits on the throne, he's very good at finding excuses to ignore orders he doesn't like.

** The Supernatural Community is rife with this kind of thing. Being a proficient RulesLawyer is considered a necessary skill when it comes to keeping your head on your shoulders.

* Do you want your ''TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}}'' game to last under six hours? You ''must'' become a RulesLawyer (and not use any HouseRules).

* ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'' is what happens when a RulesLawyer gets summoned by the denizens of an RPGMechanicsVerse. Most of the natives instinctively know and follow the Rules as Intended, but Parson and the few natives creative enough to experiment have figured out that the Rules as Written aren't all that well thought out...

* ''Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG'': Mr. Welch seems to be a [[TheLoonie loonie]] RulesLawyer. Many of the things he has tried are legal within the rules, which are indicated when he says he can't do something "even if the rules allow it." For example, making a pistol belt fed.

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/17242514/ Pokemon vs. Digimon: When World Collide]]'', Misty invokes this when she speculates that the reason Ash had so much trouble getting Charizard to obey him is because he technically only won his Kanto Gym battle against Lieutenant Surge without any issues; his battle against Koga was interrupted which may have had an impact on Ash's final win, Blaine's battle took place outside the usual Gym, technically Ash never finished his battles against Brock, Misty and Erika and got those badges for other reasons, he didn't outright ''defeat'' Sabrina but just won by default, and for the eighth badge he defeated Team Rocket rather than the true gym leader.

* In ''FanFic/BrokenBow'', [[spoiler: Hippolytus]] pulls this off on ''Athena, Goddess of Wisdom.'' While she is castigating the heroes for getting involved in historical events when they promised her they wouldn't, he points out that the promise was made just a few days before, while the events occurred centuries or millennia ago, ergo their interference technically ''predated'' the promise.

* On ''Series/{{Community}}'', Asian!Annie tries to win by default, rejecting an offer of peace from her opponent. The moderator reminds her that the real UN appreciates impractical gestures, handing the victory to the study group.
* In the Bubble Boy episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', George and the Bubble Boy are playing Trivial Pursuit, when George draws a card with a misprint. The question is "Who invaded Spain in the 8th century?" The misprinted card reads "The Moops". George, eager to see his opponent miss for a change, insists that the Bubble Boy's answer of "Moors" is incorrect, leading to [[HilarityEnsues hilarity ensuing]].
* In ''Series/ThePhilSilversShow'', Sgt. Bilko is a master of the obscure rule. He's apparently memorized all the army regulations, dating back to the Spanish-American war. He has no interest in ''keeping'' the rules but finds it useful to be able to use them against his opponents.
* Captain Sharon Raydor of ''Series/MajorCrimes'' has this as one of the main weapons in her arsenal. Nobody has managed to outmaneuver her yet.

* In ''Series/NeverWipeTearsWithoutGloves'' [[CampGay Paul]] told the tale of him getting a blow-job by an Orthodox Jew. When he pointed out the paradox of this the man said -- in complete seriousness -- that he had indeed "Never laid with a man as one lies with a woman" -- he had been on his knees the whole time.

* Will on ''Series/SonsOfGuns'' occasionally has to work around some legal issues for clients. Such as, you can't own a spring-loaded knife that shoots out. But you ''can'' own a knife-shooting gun that uses gunpowder as a propellant.
* Sheldon on ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' takes this trope to its fullest extent, not only in games but in the "rules" he expects in his everyday life. He even required Leonard to sign an extensive Roommate Agreement (and later Amy to sign a Relationship Agreement) which he sees as the final word on any conflict. He is also clearly an Obnoxious Rules Lawyer - when the rules go against him, he has told both outright that they are missing the point: that the agreements exist for ''his'' benefit.
* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': In the episode "Chardee Macdennis", Frank becomes a Rules Lawyer for the episode's eponymous game after being trapped in a dog kennel with the rule book. He later uses it to catch Dennis and Dee cheating, giving Mac and Charlie their best-ever chance of winning the game. [[spoiler:In a cruel twist of fate, Dennis and Dee win anyway]].
* In the last season of ''Series/BlackAdder'' Captain Blackadder ignores a direct order to charge a German position on the grounds that the order is addressed to "Catpain Blackudder".
* ''Series/BigSky'': Cassie and [[spoiler:Legarski]] briefly engage in a dialogue over who would be legally in the right to shoot when she tracks him to the bar where he's keeping the captives. [[spoiler:She wins and shoots him when he tries to draw his gun.]]

** In the specific subdiscipline of policy debate, this is so highly developed, several of these arguments are taught as standard. The most common is Topicality: The Affirmative (the guys proposing a solution to the official problem, called the resolution) are actually off-topic. This usually rests on [[YouKeepUsingThatWord abuse of the dictionary]], but if the Negative (the guys trying to shoot the Affirmative down) can prove it and convince the judge that it's worthwhile to consider, they win: if the Affirmative is off-topic, then they haven't "Affirmed" the resolution, and thus failed. Weird enough for ya? Other rules-lawyer arguments (called "Theory" in the jargon) are ''weirder''. Somebody once nearly ''won'' by arguing they should ''lose'' and then backing it up with cogent arguments on theory; they only lost because [[SpringtimeForHitler they actually were trying to throw the round]], and brought in a different argument to ensure defeat.