History Main / SuddenlySignificantRule

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', the Ironborn people have restored their old tradition of elective monarchy, when the kings are elected on a council called Kingsmoot. A Kingsmoot is assembled, and a tyrannical evil sorcerer wins the election. Said sorcerer's niece and rival Asha Greyjoy goes into exile to the North, and one of her followers suddenly reminds her of one rule of Kingsmoot about which everyone forgot: if a Kingsmoot was assembled and at least one candidate with a significant claim to the crown was absent, it is invalid. Thus Asha decides to rescue her brother Theon from captivity in order to invalidate the Kingsmoot through him.

* In ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'', one of the more absurd-seeming of the foot-the-ball rules is "The ball is the ball that shall be known as the ball". This comes in handy in the big match, when Trev Likely, who has never practiced with a spherical ball but is a master of kicking a tin can, uses it to say that, as long as the team ''treats'' the can as the ball, it's the ball.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''. Sam Vimes comes from a poor family, that had been noble until his ancestor became a regicide, and has nothing but contempt for titles as a result (technically he's a knight[[note]]Until the end of Jingo, where he's made a duke.[[/note]], due to the title coming with his rank of Commander, but only the very brave or stupid would actually call him that). So when Vimes is trapped in Ankh-Morpork during the events of Discworld/{{Jingo}}, Vetinari sends him a letter that only says "Samuel Vimes, Knight". Vimes doesn't get it... until he realizes that [[spoiler:it means he's entitled to form a regiment under his command, allowing him to sail to Klatch and prevent a war]].
* In ''By The Sword'' by Creator/MercedesLackey, there's an old rule that says that a mercenary company that has lost enough members can call the Captaincy to vote. The Captain of the Skybolts, Ardana, gets the boot after a disastrous campaign.

* Keith Olbermann makes a point that "Merkle's [[HaveAGayOldTime boner]]", a famous mistake by a rookie in 19008 that won the Cubs the Pennant and ultimately their last world series to date was this. See [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QVcGJwiO54 this video]]

* On July 24, 1983, Major League UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} slugger George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hit a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning, giving his team a 5-4 lead. Then, New York Yankees manager [[MagnificentBastard Billy Martin]] brought to the attention of the umpire that Brett's bat had too much pine tar on it. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Pine tar is used so the player can have a better grip on the bat. The rules of the time said you couldn't have more than 18 inches of pine tar on the bat, but Brett regularly used more than 24 inches. The rule was originally made to keep the home team from having to replace too many discolored balls, but as time progressed and balls became cheaper, the rule's reason wasn't valid any more.[[/labelnote]] Martin had known that Brett was using more pine tar than the rules allowed for quite some time, but nobody else noticed and Martin kept it to himself until it proved useful during a game. The umpire ruled Brett out on an illegally batted ball, which meant the Yankees won. After the game the Royals protested to the league, and the AL president upheld the protest, so the game was restarted on August 18th from the point of Brett's home run (the Royals won 5-4, but not before Martin tried to have Brett called out for not touching all the bases - his intent was frustrated when the umpire [[CrazyPrepared pulled out a signed affidavit from the umpires of the first game saying that Brett did in fact touch them all]]). The rule was later modified to say that if nobody complained before the batter hit a ball, the violation doesn't nullify the play. See the whole thing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbEHAsZxRYo here]] (Brett makes a particularly nice DynamicEntry at 2:40 when he's called out).

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''. Sam Vimes comes from a poor family, that had been noble until his ancestor became a regicide, and has nothing but contempt for titles as a result (technically he's a knight[[note]]Until the end of Jingo, where he's made a duke.[[/note]], due to the title coming with his rank of Commander, but only the very brave or stupid would actually call him that). So when Vimes is trapped in Ankh-Morpork during the events of Discworld/Jingo, Vetinari sends him a letter that only says "Samuel Vimes, Knight". Vimes doesn't get it... until he realizes that [[spoiler:it means he's entitled to form a regiment under his command, allowing him to sail to Klatch and prevent a war]].

* ''Fanfic/Embers'': No one has used the Shelter of Dragon's Wings rule for over 200 years, but it was still on the books. This allows Iroh to use a Fire Navy ship as shelter, despite several '''very''' good reasons they should burn him down where he stands.

* On July 24, 1983, Major League UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} slugger George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hit a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning, giving his team a 5-4 lead. Then, New York Yankees manager [[MagnificentBastard Billy Martin]] brought to the attention of the umpire that Brett's bat had too much pine tar on it. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Pine tar is used so the player can have a better grip on the bat. The rules of the time said you couldn't have more than 18 inches of pine tar on the bat, but Brett regularly used more than 24 inches. The rule was originally made to keep the home team from having to replace too many discolored balls, but as time progressed and balls became cheaper, the rule's reason wasn't valid any more.[[/labelnote]] Martin had known that Brett was using more pine tar than the rules allowed for quite some time, but nobody else noticed and Martin kept it to himself until it proved useful during a game. The umpire ruled Brett out on an illegally batted ball, which meant the Yankees won. After the game the Royals protested to the league, and the AL president upheld the protest, so the game was restarted on August 18th from the point of Brett's home run (the Royals won 5-4). The rule was later modified to say that if nobody complained before the batter hit a ball, the violation doesn't nullify the play. See the whole thing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbEHAsZxRYo here]] (Brett makes a particularly nice DynamicEntry at 2:40 when he's called out).

* On July 24, 1983, Major League UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} slugger George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hit a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning, giving his team a 5-4 lead. Then, New York Yankees manager [[MagnificentBastard Billy Martin]] brought to the attention of the umpire that Brett's bat had too much pine tar on it. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Pine tar is used so the player can have a better grip on the bat. The rules of the time said you couldn't have more than 18 inches of pine tar on the bat, but Brett regularly used more than 24 inches. The rule was originally made to keep the home team from having to replace too many discolored balls, but as time progressed and balls became cheaper, the rule's reason wasn't valid any more.[[/labelnote]] Martin had known that Brett was using more pine tar than the rules allowed for quite some time, but nobody else noticed and Martin kept it to himself until it proved useful during a game. The umpire ruled Brett out on an illegally batted ball, which cost the Royals the game. [[labelnote:Aftermath]]The Royals protested, and the American League president upheld the protest, so the game was restarted on August 18th from the point of Brett's home run (the Royals won 5-4). The rule was later modified to say that if nobody complained before the batter hit a ball, the violation doesn't nullify the play.[[/labelnote]] See the whole thing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbEHAsZxRYo here]] (Brett makes a particularly nice DynamicEntry at 2:40 when he's called out).

* On July 24, 1983, Major League UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} slugger George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hit a home run with two outs in the ninth inning, giving his team a 5-4 lead. Then, New York Yankees manager [[MagnificentBastard Billy Martin]] brought to the attention of the umpire that Brett's bat had too much pine tar on it. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Pine tar is used so the player can have a better grip on the bat. The rules of the time said you couldn't have more than 18 inches of pine tar on the bat, but Brett regularly used more than 24 inches. The rule was originally made to keep the home team from having to replace too many balls, but as time progressed and balls became cheaper, the rule's reason wasn't valid any more.[[/labelnote]] Martin had known that Brett was using more pine tar than the rules allowed for quite some time, but nobody else noticed and Martin kept it to himself until it proved useful during a game. The umpire ruled Brett out on an illegally batted ball, which cost the Royals the game. [[labelnote:Aftermath]]The Royals protested, and the American League president upheld the protest, so the game was restarted on August 18th from the point of Brett's home run (the Royals won 5-4). The rule was later modified to say that if nobody complained before the batter hit a ball, the violation doesn't nullify the play.[[/labelnote]] See the whole thing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbEHAsZxRYo here]] (Brett makes a particularly nice DynamicEntry at 2:40)

* On July 24, 1983, Major League UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} slugger George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hit a home run with two outs in the ninth inning, giving his team a 5-4 lead. Then, New York Yankees manager [[MagnificentBastard Billy Martin]] brought to the attention of the umpire that Brett's bat had too much pine tar on it. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Pine tar is used so the player can have a better grip on the bat. The rules of the time said you couldn't have more than 18 inches of pine tar on the bat, but Brett regularly used more than 24 inches. The rule was originally made to keep the home team from having to replace too many balls, but as time progressed and balls became cheaper, the rule's reason wasn't valid any more.[[/labelnote]] Martin had known that Brett was using more pine tar than the rules allowed for quite some time, but nobody else noticed and Martin kept it to himself until it proved useful during a game. The umpire ruled Brett out on an illegally batted ball, which cost the Royals the game. [[labelnote:Aftermath]]The Royals protested [[DynamicEntry Brett himself in a most energetic manner)]] and the American League president upheld the protest, so the game was restarted on August 18th from the point of Brett's home run (the Royals won 5-4). The rule was later modified to say that if nobody complained before the batter hit a ball, the violation doesn't nullify the play.[[/labelnote]]

* In 1983, Major League UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} slugger George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hit a home run with two outs in the ninth inning, but then New York Yankees manager Billy Martin brought to the attention of the umpire that Brett's bat had too much pine tar on it. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Pine tar is used so the player can have a better grip on the bat. The rules of the time said you couldn't have more than 18 inches of pine tar on the bat, but Brett regularly used more than 24 inches. The rule was originally made to keep the home team from having to replace too many balls, but as time progressed and balls became cheaper, the rule's reason wasn't valid any more.[[/labelnote]] Martin had known that Brett was using more pine tar than the rules allowed for quite some time, but nobody else noticed and Martin kept it to himself until it proved useful during a game. The umpire ruled Brett out on an illegally batted ball, which cost the Royals the game. [[labelnote:Aftermath]]The Royals protested and the commissioner upheld the protest, so the remainder of the game was played later in the season. The rule was later modified to say that if nobody complained before the batter hit a ball, the violation doesn't nullify the play.[[/labelnote]]

* A bit spoileriffic example from ''Anime/LawOfUeki'': The characters get special powers to participate in a tournament to decide who's gonna be the next God (since the current one wants to quit). There are two rules: If a participant attacks a normal person with his powers, the attacker loses one sai (talents, unique qualities of every person), and losing all your sais means you stop existing; but after a tournament fight, the winner gets a new sai. This becomes irrelevant after the first stage, since the rest of the tournament is held up in Heaven, there's not normal humans outside of contestants, and everyone who got that far already won a lot of sais. [softreturn] Cue to the climax, the BigBad gets cornered and [[spoiler: gets out of the tournament, meaning that every time the Hero attacks he loses one sai.]] Meanwhile, the Hero [[spoiler: ends up down to one sai, with another hit he will win the fight but also his existence will end. He attacks anyway but doesn't dissapear because in the middle of the fight he accidentally blasted away a poor ComicRelief, which gave him an additional sai]]

* A bit spoileriffic example from ''Anime/LawOfUeki'': The characters get special powers to participate in a tournament to decide who's gonna be the next God (since the current one wants to quit). There are two rules: if a participant attacks a normal person with his powers, he loses one sai (talents, unique qualities of every person), and losing all your sais means you stop existing; but after a tournament fight, the winner gets a new sai. This becomes irrelevant after the first stage, since the rest of the tournament is held up in Heaven, there's not normal humans outside of contestants, and everyone who got that far already won a lot of sais. [softreturn] Cue to the climax, the BigBad gets cornered and [[spoiler: gets out of the tournament, meaning that every time the Hero attacks he loses one sai.]] Meanwhile, the Hero [[spoiler: ends up down to one sai, with another hit he will win the fight but also his existence will end. He attacks anyway but doesn't dissapear because in the middle of the fight he accidentally blasted away a poor ComicRelief, which gave him an additional sai]]

* In ''Comics/{{Fables}}'', the position of Mayor of Fabletown is ''technically'' elected but no elections have been held since King Cole has been chosen Mayor at the town's founding centuries ago. Then Prince Charming calls for an election and runs for the position, thus throwing everything into turmoil. However, Charming then becomes a victim of this trope himself because he did not do enough research into what exactly the Mayor's powers were. Most importantly he did not realize that the witches' help is voluntary and cannot be compelled by the Mayor. They will help in emergencies but their magic is in limited supply and they refuse to use it to help Charming fulfill his campaign promises. King Cole only asked for their help in emergencies so they never had a reason to refuse before. Thus only a few Fables were aware of these restrictions and they chose not to warn Charming because they did not like him.
* In an ''ArchieComics'' scene at Veronica's backyard pool, Veronica is scheming to get rid of Betty so she can have Archie all to herself. When Betty pushes a fully-dressed Archie into the pool, Veronica promptly has her banned from the pool area for the day, citing a "No horseplay" rule. Betty agrees, but slyly points out that Archie has to leave ''with'' her, since he violated a rule against being in the pool with his clothes on!

* In ''Kaamelott'' King arthur who lusts after a knight's spouse, avoids a deathmatch with his knight by using an outdated law that allows him to swap his wife for the knight's spouse.

* In 1983 UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} slugger George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hit a home run with 2 outs in the 9th, but then New York Yankees manager Billy Martin brought to the attention of the umpire that Brett's bat had too much pine tar on it. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Pine tar is used so the player can have a better grip on the bat. The rules of the time said you couldn't have more than 18 inches of pine tar on the bat, but Brett regularly used upwards of 24 inches. The rule was originally made to keep the home team from having to replace too many balls, but as time progressed and balls became cheaper the rule's reason wasn't valid any more.[[/labelnote]] Martin had known that Brett was using more pine tar than the rules allowed for quite some time, but nobody else noticed and Martin kept it to himself until it proved useful during a game. The umpire ruled Brett out on an illegally batted ball, which cost the Royals the game. [[labelnote:Aftermath]] The Royals protested and the commissioner upheld the protest, so the remainder of the game was played later in the season. the rule was later modified to say that if nobody complained before the batter hit a ball, the violation doesn't nullify the play.[[/labelnote]]

* There was a student at an English university who invoked a law where the university was to provide tea (sometimes ale) and cakes to students during examinations. They provided the modern equivalent, a Coke and a burger... then fined him for not wearing his sword according to an equally-forgotten law.

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* The Soviet Union was ''technically'' a confederation. When UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev relaxed the restrictive policies of the USSR, the constituent republics remembered this and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere split off]].

* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', such a rule is part of the villains' plan. They hire someone else to [[spoiler: kidnap Jerin]], so that they can then steal [[spoiler: Jerin]] back from the criminals they hired, invoking a law that says that they're then allowed to keep [[spoiler: the man they rescued from his kidnappers]], as a reward for their victory over the villains. Of course, for this to work, the hired helpers have to be killed (as the rule wouldn't apply if it was known everything was planned by one and the same family) but the villains show no remorse about this.

* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', such a rule is part of the villains' plan. They hire someone else to [[spoiler: kidnap Jerin]], so that they can then steal [[spoiler: Jerin]] back from the criminals they hired, invoking a law that says that they're then allowed to keep [[spoiler: the man they rescued from his kidnappers.]] Of course, for this to work, the hired helpers have to be killed, but the villains show no remorse about this.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''. Sam Vimes comes from a poor family, that had been noble until his ancestor became a regicide, and has nothing but contempt for titles as a result (technically he's a duke due to marrying a duchess, but only the very brave or stupid would actually call him that). So when Vimes is trapped in Ankh-Morpork during the events of Discworld/Jingo, Vetinari sends him a letter that only says "Samuel Vimes, Knight". Vimes doesn't get it... until he realizes that [[spoiler:it means he's entitled to form a regiment under his command, allowing him to sail to Klatch and prevent a war]].