History Main / TheCommandments

* The movie ''Film/TheTenCommandments'', both 1923 and 1956, tell the story of Moses, featuring and focusing on (what Hollywood thinks are) the ten commandments of Judaism. The 1923 version shifts to the then-modern day where two brothers go on different moral paths to question if The Ten Commandments are still relevant.

When rules are played for annoyance, that's RuleNumberOne. When rules are played for alienation, that's ApeShallNeverKillApe. When a long series of {{Noodle Incident}}s result in somebody having a long list of commandments that just for them, it is ThingsYouAreNotAllowedToDo. Commandments specifically for robots fall under [[ThreeLawsCompliant The Laws of Robotics]].

## [[TheLancer Each side gets a close friend as your second.]]

* Creator/MichaelMoorcock's book ''The Warhound and the World's Pain'' had the main character go through a valley in which the only law was steal nothing. Not as easy as it sounds, as it's then explained that pretty much any crime can be defined in terms of stealing: murder is the theft of life, lying is the theft of choice, etc.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has the Da Rules, which are the rules fairies godparents and the children they are assigned to must follow. Da Rules are not always enforced consistently and often run on NewRulesAsThePlotDemands. In a few episodes Timmy manages to mess up so badly that a new rules is added to keep anybody from doing it again. Some of the more commonly cited rules include: a godchild must keep the existence of their fairies a secret, fairies godparents can only be assigned to miserable children and must move to another child when they become an adult or stop being miserable or breaks the previous rule, fairy magic cannot be used to win a nonmagical competition, fairy magic cannot be used to intentionally kill or cause harm to a human, fairy magic cannot create or interfere with true love, and a godchild cannot wish away another child's fairies.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheTenCommandments https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/moses_commandments.png]]]]

* The movie ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' tells the story of Moses, featuring and focusing on (what Hollywood thinks are) the ten commandments of Judaism.

## [[TenPacesAndTurn Ten paces, fire.]]

1: That the [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys Prophet Most Simian]] demonstrated that monothought begets [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Proper-Life]].\\

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/RobotSeries'': Created through the help of Creator/JohnWCampbell, Dr Asimov wrote the ThreeLawsOfRobotics, which became imitated by many other SF writers in works about {{AI}}. Note that unlike other sets of commandments, these laws are hard-coded into the robots' artificial brains. Robots are designed with utilitarian values, deontology being incorporated at the second law level. This means that if a robot is near a runaway trolley which will run into and kill five people, but it can stop it by shoving a large person in the way, then it will kill one human to save five humans (but would much rather sacrifice itself to save those five people). Many simpler models will then break down because they were put into a position where they broke the first law. The most highly-advanced AI in Dr. Asimov's stories actually deduced a ''[[ZerothLawRebellion Zeroth]]'' law due to the details of the first law: A robot may not injure ''humanity'', or, through inaction, allow ''humanity'' to come to harm. Still, robots capable of understanding this level of abstraction are rare, and even thinking about a method of circumventing the first law is liable to cause them to break down.

It is worth noting that over the course of the series, almost all of the rules get broken, and rule 11 is never enforced. Ultimately, they seem to be ideals which have been rapidly modified in the face of reality.

## Demand an apology from the other party for the grievances inflicted.
## Each side gets a close friend as your second.
## Have your seconds negotiate either a settlement or a time and place for a duel.
## Procure pistols and get a doctor on site, but make sure he doesn't actually witness the duel itself.

## Leave a note for loved ones before going.
## Confess your sins and prepare for the duel itself; leave no unfinished business.
## Seconds have one last chance to arrange a peaceful settlement.
## Prepare yourself with the necessary courage
## [[DuelToTheDeath Ten paces, fire.]]

* In ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryIII'', the city-state of Tarna was ruled by this simple code of law:
-->''Thou shalt harm none\\
Thou shalt not use magic upon the streets of Tarna\\
Thou shalt not take that which is not thine.\\
Thou shalt behave with honor.''

** The disc's gods all have their own. It's mentioned that the gods who endure longest tend to be the ones with the easiest commandments to follow - Offler the Crocodile God, oldest god on the Disc, only has a tiny handful of them and they're mostly about not eating broccoli. Sweevo, god of cut timber, banned the practice of "panupunitoplasty" (a word he made up) just to mess with people. Meanwhile Nuggan, principle deity of Borogravia and also the god of Things In Correct Places On Desks, ''started'' with a simple list of commandments, but constantly adds to his list of Abominations so that his holy book is a three-ring binder. They got so extreme and nonsensical (crop rotation, shirts with six buttons, cheese, babies, the colour blue, jigsaw puzzles, etc.) that Borogravians began praying to their Duchess for succor, [[spoiler:elevating her to quasi-deity status and [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly effectively killing Nuggan]], so that his last Abominations are likened to the echoes of a lunatic.]]

** Rule 1: Always have an escape plan. (She admits to the irony of this rule since she's still trapped in the Maw itself, if not a prisoner.)
** Rule 2: Keep a low profile. Don't draw the Jailer's attention to yourself.
** Rule 3: Trust is earned. If you want her trust and support, you have to work for it.
** Rule 4: Always keep a list of potential threats to your safety. Prioritize who or what is the larger threat, and plan to eliminate it.
** Rule 5: [[RefugeInAudacity Be audacious]], when the situation demands it.
** Rule 6: Implement new concealment measures regularly.

** Rule 5: [[RefugeInAudacity Be audacious], when the situation demands it.

1: That the protean substrate that informs all denial of (1) is the [[OurElvesAreBetter Aldmeri]] Taint.\\

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/RobotSeries'': Created through the help of Creator/JohnWCampbell, Dr Asimov wrote the ThreeLawsOfRobotics, which became imitated by many other SF writers in works about {{AI}}. Note that unlike other sets of commandments, these laws are hard-coded into the robots' artificial brains. Robots are designed with utilitarian values, deontology being incorporated at the second law level. This means that if a robot is near a runaway trolley which will run into and kill five people, but it can stop it by shoving a large person in the way, then it will kill one human to save five humans (but would much rather sacrifice itself to save those five people). Many simpler models will then break down because they were put into a position where they broke the first law. The most highly-advanced AI in Dr. Asimov's stories actually deduced a ''[[ZerothLawRebellion Zeroth]]'' law due to the details of the first law: A robot may not injure ''humanity'', or, through inaction, allow ''humanity'' to come to harm. Still, robots capable of understanding this level of abstraction are rare, and even thinking about a method of circumventing the first law is liable to cause them to break down.
## A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
## A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
## A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
* Creator/MichaelMoorcock's book ''The Warhound and the World's Pain'' had the main character go through a valley in which the only law was steal nothing. Not as easy as it sounds, as it's then explained that pretty much any crime can be defined in terms of stealing: murder is the theft of life, lying is the theft of choice, etc.
* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': The Ideals of the [[TheOrder Knights Radiant]]. The First Ideal was common to all orders, but the others varied.
* The three rules of the Librarians of Time and Space in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' are:
## Silence.
## Books must be returned no later than the last date shown.
## Do not interfere with [[TimeyWimeyBall the nature of causality]].
** The gods of the Literature/{{Discworld}} also all have their own. It's mentioned that the gods who endure longest tend to be the ones with the easiest commandments to follow - Offler the Crocodile God, oldest god on the Disc, only has a tiny handful of them and they're mostly about not eating broccoli. By contrast, Nuggan - the principle deity of Borogravia and also the god of Things In Correct Places On Desks - ''started'' with a simple list of commandments, and kept adding to it (mostly to the list of Abominations) until eventually he fell out of favour and faded away, with nothing remaining but the divine equivalent of an echoing voice still listing nonsensical Abominations (the current list of things Nugganites are commanded to avoid is mentioned to include shirts with six buttons, cheese, babies, the colour blue and jigsaw puzzles). Sweevo, god of cut timber, banned the practice of "panupunitoplasty" (a word he made up) just to mess with people.
* ''Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau'':
** Not to go on all-fours; that is the Law. Are we not Men?
** Not to suck up Drink; that is the Law. Are we not Men?
** Not to eat Fish or Flesh; that is the Law. Are we not Men?
** Not to claw the Bark of Trees; that is the Law. Are we not Men?
** Not to chase other Men; that is the Law. Are we not Men?

* ''Literature/{{Dinotopia}}'': The Code of Dinotopia has ten commandments (plus one that was lost to time and natural erosion).

## [[spoiler:Follow the Light]] (At least in the mini-series.)
* ''Literature/TheGospelOfTheFlyingSpaghettiMonster'': Eight of those. Well, 10 actually, but Mosey the pirate captain dropped two of the stone tablets as he walked down Mount Salsa.

* ''Literature/ChristianNation'' has the Fifty Blessings, which President Steve Jordan had put into law that supersedes the American Constitution -- many of which are vague and unenforceable.
* The badgers in ''Literature/TheColdMoons'' have ancient laws known as "the Adamus". What these laws are is [[CrypticBackgroundReference never properly discussed,]] but it's likely similar to the Ten Commandments.

-->-- '''Moses''', ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI''

## Demand an apology from the other party.

* "Ten Crack Commandments" by Music/TheNotoriousBIG

* ''Literature/Dinotopia'': The Code of Dinotopia has ten commandments (plus one that was lost to time and natural erosion).

## [[spoiler:Follow the Light]] (At least in the TV adaption.)

* ''Literature/Dinotopia'': The Code of Dinotopia has ten commandements (and one that was lost).
** Survival of all or none
** One raindrop raises the sea
** Weapons are enemies, even to their owners
** Give more, take less
** Others first, self last
** Observe, listen, and learn
** Do one thing at a time
** Sing every day
** Exercise imagination
** Eat to live, don't live to eat
** [[spoiler]]Follow the Light[[/spoiler]] (At least in the TV adaption.)

** And an homage to that, the "Ten Duel Commandments", from ''{{Theatre/Hamilton}}''.

* ''Film/Highlander}}'' ,and the series as well, rules that the immortals follow.