History Main / ScoundrelCode

* The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', which range from harsh ("A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.") to pragmatic ("Never begin a business negotiation on an empty stomach", "You can't make a deal if you're dead.") to Sexist ("Wives serve, brothers inherit.") to PetTheDog ("Good customers are as rare as latinum. Treasure them.") to economic ("Opportunity + Instinct = Profit.") and "[[HonestJohnsDealership economic]]" ("Never be afraid to mislabel a product"). It also includes contradictory ones (#34: "War is good for business" is immediately followed by #35: "Peace is good for business"), probably as a combination of being written by multiple people over a long time and a reminder to Ferengi that there isn't always one best way to get money.

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* In ''Manga/YuGiOh'' story ''Fanfic/AGameOfMasques'', Yugi is an incubus who doesn't have much use for others' rules (for instance, he's on the run for seducing a Lord of Hell's consort). However, he has his own set of rules that he abides by, including that he will never break up an established couple (unless they are already on the rocks or established on false pretences) and he doesn't use his actual powers for seduction, because that would be "cheating".

* The Phantom Thieves in ''VideoGame/Persona5'' have two guiding rules regarding whom they target for HeelFaceBrainwashing: the target must be unanimously agreed on and they must never kill.

* In the Franchise/StarWarsLegends game ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', you learn on [[WretchedHive Nar Shaddaa]] there's a bounty on all Jedi - you count for this - and it's a big one. Thing is the bounty hunter rule that they can't hunt each other is in effect, and Nar Shaddaa has gone horribly quiet. This should be an indicator of just how many bounty hunters are after you.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]]:

** {{Bounty Hunter}}s in that universe ''also'' have [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Bounty_Hunters%27_Creed an accepted code of conduct.]] No Bounty Is Worth Dying For; People Don't Have Bounties, Only Acquisitions Have Bounties (meaning that anyone you are being paid to shoot is just a target, not a sentient being); Capture By Design, Kill By Necessity; [[ApeShallNeverKillApe No Hunter Shall Slay Another Hunter]]; [[EnemyMine No Hunter Shall Refuse Aid to Another Hunter]]; No Hunter Shall Interfere With Another's Hunt (the rules of not sabotaging/killing other Hunters rule are not in play with the [[Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic Great Hunt]], where the goal is to ''compete'' with other hunters, however); and In the Hunt One Captures or Kills, Never Both (meaning you don't kill an unarmed target who has surrendered. If they try to escape is another story).
** Hondo Ohnaka mentions "pirate's honor" in the young readers book ''Pirate's Price''. According to him, it is highly malleable.
-->'''Hondo''': That is the wonderful thing about a pirate's honor. Conveniently, it turns on and off as needed. Turn on, turn off. Turn on, turn off.

* In the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse game ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', you learn on [[WretchedHive Nar Shaddaa]] there's a bounty on all Jedi - you count for this - and it's a big one. Thing is the bounty hunter rule that they can't hunt each other is in effect, and Nar Shaddaa has gone horribly quiet. This should be an indicator of just how many bounty hunters are after you.

* The many variations of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_code Pirate's Code]]. Contrary to popular belief, they tended to be quite draconian.

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

* In the ''Dusk to Dawn'' series, ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} will sometimes reference a thief's code, which she may or may not have made up herself. Some rules include "Murder is strictly last resort," "Don't steal from anyone with less than you," and "[[BreadMilkEggsSquick Robbing graves is off the table, but stiffs on the street are fair game]]."

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''Film/{{Casino}}'', Ace Rothstein talks about his soon-to-be wife Ginger following "the Hustlers' Code" -- basically, making sure that she pays off everyone who is in a position to help her carry out her profession as a high-class prostitute, so they have an incentive to do so.
* ''Film/LowTide'': The kids only rob the houses of wealthy out-of-town tourists and are reluctant to break into a dead local's house at first.

* The "Secret Peace" of the ''{{Literature/Gentleman Bastard}}s'' books describes the terms under which organized crime can exist in Camorr without encountering vastly more organized resistance, most significantly that the noble families and the city watch are not to be targeted. This is cheerfully ignored by [[ChurchgoingVillain the few who worship]] the Crooked Warden, god of thieves and tricksters, who teaches that the wealthy should remember that their fortunes are never entirely safe.

* The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', which range from harsh ("A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.") to pragmatic ("Never begin a business negotiation on an empty stomach", "You can't make a deal if you're dead.") to Sexist ("Wives serve, brothers inherit.") to PetTheDog ("Good customers are as rare as latinum. Treasure them.") to economic ("Opportunity + Instinct = Profit.") and "[[HonestJohnsDealership economic]]" ("Never be afraid to mislabel a product"). It also includes contradictory ones (#34: "War is good for business" is immediately followed by #35: "Peace is good for business"), probably as a combination of being written by multiple people over a long time and a reminder to Ferengi that there isn't always one best way to get money.
* ''Series/{{Hustle}}'' often refers to 'the Grifter's Code'.

* In the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse game ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', you learn on [[WretchedHive Nar Shaddaa]] there's a bounty on all Jedi - you count for this - and it's a big one. Thing is the bounty hunter rule that they can't hunt each other is in effect, and Nar Shaddaa has gone horribly quiet. This should be an indicator of just how many bounty hunters are after you.

** Ignoring the Bounty Hunters Creed was what led to the death of Jodo Kast. Kast, wearing a suit of Mandalorian armour resembling Boba Fett's, had been presenting himself as Fett in order to get higher paying jobs. As Fett was presumed dead at the time (and it benefitted him for people to think that), it wasn't a big deal... until Kast began failing at hunts while using Fett's name, thus causing people to wonder if Fett had lost his edge. Worse, he held Dengar, a fellow Hunter (and one Fett was on good terms with...[[TheStoic for Fett]], at blasterpoint in order to steal Dengar's prey. Dengar let Fett know of this last insult and Fett set out to [[ConfrontingYourImposter deal with the upstart Kast]], leaving him to die in an explosion after delivering a ReasonYouSuckSpeech.

* The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', which range from harsh ("A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.") to pragmatic ("It's always good business to know about new customers ''before'' they walk in your door", "You can't make a deal if you're dead.") to Sexist ("Wives serve, brothers inherit") to PetTheDog ("Good customers are as rare as latinum. Treasure them.") and "[[HonestJohnsDealership economic]]" ("Never be afraid to mislabel a product"). It also includes contradictory ones (#34 is "War is good for business", which is immediately followed by #35 "Peace is good for business"), probably as a combination of being written by multiple people over a long time and a reminder to Ferengi that there isn't always one best way to get money.

* The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', which range from harsh ("A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.") to pragmatic ("You can't make a deal if you're dead.") to PetTheDog ("Good customers are as rare as latinum. Treasure them."). It also includes contradictory ones ("War is good for business" is immediately followed by "Peace is good for business"), probably as a combination of being written by multiple people over a long time and a reminder to Ferengi that there isn't always one best way to get money.

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16729635370.09952700 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

* The ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' d20 System Reference Documents have variant rules for an [[http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/campaigns/honor.htm "honour" system]] which can include this sort of moral code as guidelines for characters to follow. In said SRD are included the Thieves' Code and the Mafia's Omerta -- both of which mix HonorAmongThieves and ScoundrelCode.

* The Phantom Thieves in ''VideoGame/Persona5'' have two guiding rules regarding whom they target for HeelFaceBrainwashing. The target must be unanimously agreed on and they must never kill.

* The many variations of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_code Pirate's Code]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' story arc in which the Guardians are hired to retrieve ... something ... by Howard the Duck, Rocket keeps insisting that Howard wouldn't double-cross them, because that would be against the Scoundrel Code. [[spoiler: It turns out the Scoundrel Code is very flexible on what you're allowed to do to save your own skin.]]

* ''[[TheJoyOfX The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries]]'', in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary''.