Zippy: You know boss, there is another advantage to being the only blue-bottomed booby.
Bird Brain: Keep talking, I'm on hold with the taser store.
Zippy: If you're the only booby, then you're an endangered species!
Bird Brain: Not as endangered as those two if my credit card's approved.
Zippy: No boss, I mean you're protected. You can be as evil as you want and no one can do a thing to stop you!
Bird Brain: Wait a minute... Hold the phone!
Zippy: Are you getting an idea?
Bird Brain: No, I want you to hold the phone. [proceeds to give Zippy the phone, causing her to fall to the floor because of its weight] This is wonderful! I'm above the law! I llllove being the only booby!
Bird Brain: Keep talking, I'm on hold with the taser store.
Zippy: If you're the only booby, then you're an endangered species!
Bird Brain: Not as endangered as those two if my credit card's approved.
Zippy: No boss, I mean you're protected. You can be as evil as you want and no one can do a thing to stop you!
Bird Brain: Wait a minute... Hold the phone!
Zippy: Are you getting an idea?
Bird Brain: No, I want you to hold the phone. [proceeds to give Zippy the phone, causing her to fall to the floor because of its weight] This is wonderful! I'm above the law! I llllove being the only booby!
— T.U.F.F. Puppy, "Booby Trap"
Everybody knows about the importance of endangered species, creatures that were once relatively safe in the wild but are currently in danger of going extinct. For this reason, endangered species are generally given some privileges their safe counterparts don't have, chief among them being enhanced protection.
However, some characters take this too far and start abusing this protection for their benefit, which is where this trope comes in. This is when a character discovers their species is endangered, so they're granted special rights and protection. If they are villains or self-centered Jerkasses, they tend to exploit and abuse their status for all it's worth, knowing that the law will protect them instead. A Dirty Coward can naturally exploit this by Playing the Victim Card if the people they antagonize try to retaliate, leading them to get arrested instead.
See also Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!, Screw the Rules, I Have Money!, Screw the Rules, I Make Them!. Compare with Diplomatic Impunity for the mundane, human, political variety.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Beastars: Mizuchi is a Harlequin rabbit that is very defensive of her boyfriend (the only other Harlequin at her school). She bullies Haru for getting her boyfriend to cheat with her, for which she accuses her of trying to sabotage their relationship and make Harlequins go extinct.
- Doraemon: Nobita tries to invoke this by using a gadget to turn himself into an endangered species so that he will be protected by everyone instead of being scolded and bullied as usual. However, this backfires spectacularly that not only he is now protected as he wished, his house has also been modified into a zoo-like structure where everyone can enter to see his 'ecology', and he himself is later brought to a lab for study. While no such thing as cutting him up occurs, the experience is still unpleasant for Nobita as he is treated like a Chimpanzee, complete with a fruit-only diet and a playroom that consists of only a tire swing.
Fan Works
- Brought up in Alice (The Non-Return) in the space pirates' dossiers. While it's allowed to kill Jolly U if he resists arrest, the same isn't permitted in the case of Rat, since the latter is likely The Last of His Kind. Rat should only be paralyzed to be given a brain correction later.
- In this post
, tumblr user transxfiles details the plot of a Phineas and Ferb episode where the b-plot is Dr. Doofenshmirtz attempting to use him being raised by ocelots to declare himself critically endangered so Perry can no longer thwart his schemes, and even takes him to court over it. The a-plot is, coincidentally, Phineas and Ferb cloning ocelots to help Isabella earn a merit badge. The cloned ocelots are taken to Texas to be introduced into the ecosystem, and the amount is just enough that the species is no longer considered critically endangered, meaning Doof loses the court case by default.
Film — Animation
- Superman: Man of Tomorrow: Lobo calls Superman and Martain Manhunter the Last Kyptonian and Last Martian, respectively. However, at the end of the film he tells them that his whole Last of Their Kind bit was actually an act on his part to let him charge more money to trophy collectors, hinting that there are actually other Kryptonians and Martians in this setting.
- The Transformers: The Movie: After being sentenced to death by the Quintessons by being thrown to the Sharkticon pit, Kranix tries to invoke this by begging for his life as he is the last survivor of his planet Lithone. Subverted, as it doesn't work.
Literature
- Pale: Discussed when the Kennet trio are planning to audit the Alabaster Doe on her behavior as a Judge, an action they're aware has the possibility of killing her when Alabasters are already rare Others to begin with as a result of people killing and skinning them. Avery is somewhat reticent, but Lucy compares the act to killing an endangered species that just so happens to be trying to shoot you, making it self-defense. In the end, they choose to go through with their plan and the resulting audit ends with the Doe dead and the Alabaster Assembly taking her place as Judge.
Western Animation
- Angry Beavers: The episode "Endangered Species" has Daggett mistaken for an extinct species of beaver, which he exploits in order to gain control of the dam. He soon comes to regret it when he realizes that the two scientists assigned to "protect" him keep him cooped up in the dam and under constant study.
- Fugget About It: The episode "Effin' Neighbors, Eh?" has Jimmy running into conflict with a trio of Canadian hosers squatting in the vacant house next door who are able to annoy him as much as they want without consequence while also receiving an unlimited supply of beer, cigarettes, and coffee from the government due to the Heritage Protection Council of Canada labelling them an endangered culture. That is until they're exposed as frauds after getting caught drinking non-Canadian beer, which real hosers are biologically incapable of, causing their protection status to be revoked and giving Jimmy free rein to do whatever he wants with them.
- George of the Jungle (2015): The episode "Valley of the Magnolias" has Magnolia tricking the World Animal Council into classifying her as an endangered species to obtain priority rescue status (as George is legally required to provide protection to endangered species first and foremost) to make life in the jungle easier for herself, only to end up abusing said status to turn George into her personal manservant. Ape, who points out the absurdity of the situation, especially since there are actual endangered animals out there that George should be protecting, decides to put a stop to it by convincing the W.A.C to put Magnolia in a glass cage where she's forced to eat disgusting nutritional kibble and run on a giant hamster wheel for exercise while being shocked with electric prods.
- My Gym Partner's a Monkey: In "Bad News Bear", Adam is given the task of guiding and protecting an endangered panda named Ding Pang around the school by Principal Pixiefrog as punishment for unlawfully using the fish tube. Ding Pang gets into all sorts of trouble and uses his status to protect him from the wrath of the other students, with Adam taking the brunt of the punishment. It's revealed Ding Bang is actually the delinquent Larry the Raccoon in disguise, and once he's exposed, he loses all of his protection. Adam wastes no time in throwing a dodgeball at Larry for what he's put him through, and all of the students chase after the delinquent in revenge for all the trouble he's caused them.
- The Powerpuff Girls (1998): "Save Mojo" has Mojo Jojo protected by an animal activists group from the Powerpuff Girls, with the girls being accused of animal cruelty against an endangered animal when they try to stop Mojo's schemes. Mojo happily exploits this by Playing the Victim Card whenever the girls try to stop him, up until the girls come up with the idea to appeal to the animal activists to let them take Mojo into the wild, leaving Mojo at the mercy of the wild primates.
- Squirrel Boy: Rodney receives a letter in "The Endangered Species Twist" that tells him that he's an endangered species and thus must be treated with utmost care and attention. Rodney naturally exploits his status to make his family cater to his every whim, and Mr. J is unable to refuse or retaliate without getting into trouble with Ranger Stu. It's subverted when Mr. J finds Leon's letter and concludes that it's Leon who's actually endangered, and Leon never abuses his status at all, with Mr. J exploiting a law that no other squirrel habitat can be allowed within 500 feet of Leon's home to kick Rodney out of the house. Then it's double subverted when Rodney tears up the letter so he can be allowed back in the house, but it turns out to be his after all. However, since the letter is no longer intact, his protected status is rendered null and voidnote .
- Super Secret Secret Squirrel: The panda criminal One Ton from the titular episode rampaged pretty much at his heart's content because he knew no law enforcement could touch him, with his endangered status. Secret is tasked with getting him back to jail without harming even one hair on his body, and after a number of unsuccessful strategies manages to turn this status against him: he starts acting like an unhelpful bodyguard and using Deadly Dodging when One Ton inevitably retaliates until the panda knocks himself out... and then he arrests him for endangering himself.
- Tiny Toon Adventures: One episode had Plucky try to get into a celebrity party by saying he's an endangered species. He tells them he's a "Bush Quail" He comes up with this Line-of-Sight Name from seeing a magazine with an article about George Bush and Dan Quayle (POTUS and Veep and the time).
- T.U.F.F. Puppy: In "Booby Trap", Professor Birdbrain discovers that his species, the blue-bottomed booby, is an endangered species and this gives him legal protection. He uses his newly discovered status to go on a crime spree, with an eco-police officer even arresting Dudley and Kitty when they assault Birdbrain the moment he shreds their stuff. Birdbrain ends up foiling himself when he clones a monster booby bird, thus making him no longer endangered and revoking his statusnote .
