History Main / ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules

* This sometimes poignantly comes into play during end-of-life care in hospitals. People have been known to beg, plead, and offer large sums of cash to hospital workers if they will save them or their dying relative, not completely realizing that when a doctor says "There's nothing that can be done" it literally means just that. Even more tragically is the steady parade of really sleazy people (spiritualists, faith healers, unethical medical providers) who will gladly take as much money as you are willing to give to offer up some false hope or reassurances. This is usually especially true with people who have been very wealthy for their entire lives, if all your life you have never been denied anything, it can be hard to comprehend that there is something in life that money just can't buy.

''...[[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney Wait, let me try that again...]]''

-->'''Captain Tagon:''' Well... Petey wanted to hire us to rescue Xinchub. He offered me an awful lot of money, but I realized we'd all rather just kill the fat man, or maybe clone him, and kill him twice. I can't believe I let Petey talk me into it at first. I'll see Xinchub rot on a pike before I accept money to help him.\\

* Subverted in {{DragonAge}} wherein you can almost always demand/request a reward for your services without repercussion. Meanwhile, giving charitable donations doesn't get you any kind of reward whatsoever, it just means you lose money. On the other hand, even when you are offered the chance to make a questionable moral decision, money isn't usually part of the reward.

* In the [[Film/DickTracy film version]] of DickTracy BigBad Big Boy is [[GenreSavvy smart]] [[PragmaticVillainy enough]] to know killing Tracy would likely lead back to him, so he atempts to bribe Tracy with ''thousands'' of dollars. Tracy throws it in his face.

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* Dr. {{House}} cost the hospital ''one hundred million'' dollars because he refused to kiss the ass of a billionaire donor who wanted House to publicly praise a new drug produced by his company.

* In ''DumbingOfAge'', [[{{Jerkass}} Mike]] volunteers as a chaperone for a date for nothing more than permission to punch anyone stepping over the line in the face. The boy attempts to bribe him with $50 to get lost. [[http://www.dumbingofage.com/2011/comic/book-1/03-men-are-from-beck-women-are-from-clark/fifty/ The results are predictable]].

** Another episode featured Kelly being engaged to a rich man. It all ended when Al and Peg learned he's a polygamist. The man's sister was interersted in Bud but no money would make Bud overlook the fact she's ugly.

* Schzartzwald of ''TheBigO'' is a villainous example of this: when offered ridiculously generous severance pay from the Paradigm Corporation in exchange for his silence on the topic of the show's OntologicalMystery, he gleefully burns the cheque. [[spoiler: He then follows suit with the guests at his party.]]

* Do not try to bribe {{Tintin}} into working with you. Even if you have him in a prison cell, sentenced to die the next day, he ''will'' kick you through the door.

* ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series}}'' movie provides a good example:
-->'''Kaiba:''' SCREW THE MONEY, I HAVE RULES!! (beat) Wait, lemmie try that again.
** Averted by the fact that Kaiba is rich, he just had a random bout of dyslexia at the time.

Contrast [=~Screw The Rules, I Have Money!~=] and OnlyInItForTheMoney.

** Given that particular kind of "drug money" would have been considered unethical to have under those circumstances, you could also go "Screw the Money, I'm doing what's right!" At the least it's conflict of interests and at the most House could have been permanently unable to practice medicine for that.

** This is very ironic considering that on the surface, money is his sole motivation. And [[DependingOnTheWriter in many if not most comics]] it really is and this trope doesn't apply.

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