History Main / ThereIsNoRuleSix

[[folder:Print Media]]
* A RunningGag in ''Magazine/PrivateEye'':
-->'''Full list of things that fit a ridiculously narrow definition'''\\
1. The only example.\\
2. Er...\\
3. That's it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* An unusual non-(intentionally)-comedic example once appeared in TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering's comprehensive rulebook:
-->Rule 502.9d: Ignore this rule.
** It was originally a rule involving assigning trample damage that became obsolete, but kept to avoid renumbering the rest of the rules. It was finally removed when Eighth Edition was released.
* Page 128 of the [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons 3.5 Dungeon Masters Guide]] has a list of traits to flesh out [=NPCs=]. Number 26 is [[strike: blank]] ''missing entirely'', and Number 100 reads "No sense of humor (See #26)".
* The Creator/MontyPython [[ThemedStockBoardGame version]] of ''TabletopGame/{{Fluxx}}'' has a card called "MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels." Two people playing the game must each choose a number between one and four. One is subtracted from the sum of those two numbers, and a rule corresponding to that resulting number must be followed. ThereIsNoRuleSix.

[[folder:Theater]]
* A minor variation from ''Series/{{Bottom}}'' Live, when Richie contemplated the following “What have [I] got to live for? […] Everyone would prefer it if [I] were dead!”:
--> '''Richie''': What a ridiculous suggestion – first of all…\\
Ⓐ BOLLOCKS❗\\
& Ⓑ … Well I don't need a Ⓑ because the Ⓐ was so great!
* Dramatic example from ''Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof'', when Tevye is mulling over whether to accept Chava marrying a non-Jew: "On the other hand... there ''is'' no other hand!"

[[folder:Video Games]]
* The manual for ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}'' paid homage to Monty Python in the Hints and Tips section with "6. There is no tip number 6."
* The first track of the soundtrack for ''VideoGame/{{Bastion}}'' has the {{narrator}} saying this:
--> There's three things I'll always miss, though.\\
One: not havin' to watch my step all the time.\\
Two: ah... forget about two.\\
And three: I miss the songs.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* A [[http://web.archive.org/web/20080409184724/http://www.highbattalion.com/commandments.htm joke list]] of ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' Space Marine Commandments features a variation on this:
-->201. Thou shall not point out there is no 175 commandment.\\
193. By order of the Inquisition: There is no such thing as the Inquisition, questioning this will have thou deemed heretic by the Inquisition.
* The [[JustForFun/RulesOfAnime Laws of Anime]] include #43- Law of Triscaquadrodecophobia: There is no Law 43.
* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': SCP-048 is an article detailing that there is no SCP-048. In-universe, the explanation given is that any item given that designation was lost, stolen, destroyed, etc. In reality, several writers attempted to fill that slot with a wide variety of ideas, but they were all removed due to negative response.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* From the ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'' episode "Normadeus":
-->'''Freakazoid:''' One: Norm Abram is gone. Two:...\\
'''Cosgrove:''' "We don't have a two."
* From ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
-->Step 1: Collect Underpants.\\
Step 2: ???\\
[[MissingStepsPlan Step 3:]] [[MemeticMutation Profit!]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' episode "Night of the Ed!" has Cow reading about what to do when their pet jackal turns vicious. Step one is "Panic". Step two is "There is no step two".
* ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'': In "Demons Aren't Dull," DM saved him and Penfold from the Demon of the Fourth Dimension by invoking a clause in the by-laws of the Union of Devious, Diabolical and Dimensional Demons [[note]]Affiliated with Gremlins, Ghouls, Ghosts and Things That Go "Waaaaooooh!" In the Dark[[/note]] that states any victim not destroyed by the end of episode four has to be returned to their own dimension or have his powers revoked by the Boss Demon. Once returned, DM lets on that there isn't any such clause. He made it up. (Just as well...the Demon planted DM and Penfold thousands of feet in the air, causing them to plummet earthwards.)

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Very common in real life codes of law. Laws are generally always referred to by number, so labels always have to be kept consistent. Thus, whenever a law or section of a law is repealed, the text is replaced by something along the lines of "There is no section X."
** As a practical matter, sections within a title or chapter are often "reserved" so that entire chapters don't need to be re-numbered when a new section is added. Normally, the hundreds digits and up within a section number indicate the chapter, while the tens digit of a section indicates a particular topic within a chapter. Thus, §521 might deal with 1st degree murder, §522 with second degree murder, §523 with felony-murder, and then §524-530 are "reserved", with §531 being, say, voluntary manslaughter. If a new degree of murder is added (capital murder, perhaps), it would be §524, rather than having to renumber everything, having to make it §523A (which is ''really'' confusing), or having to put it at the end of the chapter, which may be several hundred sections later (which is just as bad). This does result in there being no §524....for the time being, at least. In this case, the missing sections are simply labeled as "§§524-530: Reserved"
** This is the same reason old BASIC programs would space line numbers by 10. If you had to add lines in between two existing lines, say 10 and 20, you'd just pick a number between the two, like 15, and so on. Otherwise, the line numbers would all have to be changed when you added a line between two others.
* Question 17 of the 2011 British Census: "This question is intentionally blank"[[note]]In England only. In the Scottish and Welsh Censuses, Question 17 asked about proficiency in Scots/Gaelic/Welsh languages.[[/note]]
* There's a joke that goes "Rule 1: I am always right. Rule 2: If I am ever wrong, see rule 1."
** A similar joke has been put up in German work-places at least since the 1960s: "Rule 1: The boss is always right. Rule 2: Should the boss not be right for once, then rule 1 comes into force."
* With live-cast showing of ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', this is often used by the stage manager when explaining the general "rules of behavior" in the theater.
* IBM manuals are infamous for pages stating "This page intentionally left blank". Similar to the other examples described here, this was done to keep page numbers consistent for cross-referencing even if information was added or removed.
** Military field manuals are also well known for this and the subject of much derision among service members. The truth is that chapters conventionally start on an odd-numbered page; therefore, if the preceding chapter happens to have an odd number of pages, a blank page is inserted at the end. Classified documents are also accounted for by the number of pages; this practice ensures that blank pages are not accidentally discarded.
* Common in IT. When automated, regular reports are generated and sent to distribution lists, a "No report was created / No data in the report" message is the best way to avoid users calling the helpdesk to say "they didn't receive the report".
* During one of the debates between candidates for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination, Governor Rick Perry declared, "And I will tell you, it is three agencies of government when I get there that are gone. Commerce, Education, and the... what's the third one there?" After an awkward pause (during which a few of the other candidates and the debate moderator tried to prompt him), he finally concluded, "I can't. The third one, I can't. Sorry. Oops."[[labelnote:*]]He was reaching for the Department of Energy.[[/labelnote]]
* Until 2019, highway exits in Massachusetts were numbered sequentially. After the Central Artery Tunnel (aka Big Dig) project was done, the new design removed some exits, and the remaining exits were not (then) renumbered. As a result, the state DOT added signs to the highway e.g. "There is no Exit 11. Next exit is 12" after exit 10.
** Starting in 2020 the state is changing all highway exits to milepost numbers, due to a federal mandate.

--->Rule 1: [[HeteronormativeCrusader No poofters.]]\\

*** And books with 18 or fewer chapters...

* The Traveling Wilbury's have two albums: "Vol. 1" and "Vol. 3".
* That's similar to Music/JohannSebastianBach's ''Third Brandenburg Concerto'', which has only First and Third Movements -- no Second Movement (though the Third Movement is sometimes wrongly called the "Second", even though it's definitely in the style of a Third Movement rather than a Second).

-->'''Henry:''' All I know is what they taught me in medical school. Rule one: Kids die. Rule two: Doctors can't change rule one.

* The book ''My Brother Was an Only Child'' by Jack Douglas has, as the entire contents of Chapter Nineteen: "To hell with Chapter 19. Every damn book you pick up has a Chapter 19."

* IBM manuals are infamous for pages stating "This page intentionally left blank".

* The Creator/MontyPython version of ''TabletopGame/{{Fluxx}}'' has a card called "MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels." Two people playing the game must each choose a number between one and four. One is subtracted from the sum of those two numbers, and a rule corresponding to that resulting number must be followed. ThereIsNoRuleSix.

[[folder: Board Games ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

-->'''Mr. Miyagi:''' Aha... here are the two rules of Miyagi-Ryu Karate.
---> Rule Number One: "Karate for defense only."
---> Rule Number Two: "First learn Rule Number One."

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

--> Bruce: I'll just remind you of the faculty rules:
---> Rule 1: [[HeteronormativeCrusader No poofters.]]\\

[[folder: Magazines ]]
* A RunningGag in ''PrivateEye'':
-->'''Full list of things that fit a ridiculously narrow definition'''
-->1. The only example.
-->2. Er...
-->3. That's it.

[[folder: Music ]]

** That's similar to Music/JohannSebastianBach's ''Third Brandenburg Concerto'', which has only First and Third Movements -- no Second Movement (though the Third Movement is sometimes wrongly called the "Second", even though it's definitely in the style of a Third Movement rather than a Second).

[[folder: Radio ]]
* [[SelfDemonstratingArticle There are no examples from radio shows.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Theatre ]]

& Ⓑ … Well I don’t need a Ⓑ because the Ⓐ was so great!

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]
* A [[http://web.archive.org/web/20080409184724/http://www.highbattalion.com/commandments.htm joke list]] of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' Space Marine Commandments features a variation on this:
-->201. Thou shall not point out there is no 175 commandment.
-->193. By order of the Inquisition: There is no such thing as the Inquisition, questioning this will have thou deemed heretic by the Inquisition.
* The [[RulesOfAnime Laws of Anime]] include #43- Law of Triscaquadrodecophobia: There is no Law 43.
* In the SCP-Wiki, SCP-048 is an article detailing that there is no SCP-048. In-universe, the explanation given is that any item given that designation was lost, stolen, destroyed, etc. In reality, several writers attempted to fill that slot with a wide variety of ideas, but they were all removed due to negative response.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* From the ''{{Freakazoid}}'' episode "Normadeus":
--> Freakazoid: "One: Norm Abram is gone. Two:..."
--> Cosgrove: "We don't have a two."

--> Step 1: Collect Underpants.
--> Step 2: ???
--> [[MissingStepsPlan Step 3:]] [[MemeticMutation Profit!]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Chapter 19 ("Miss Zarves") of ''Sideways Stories from WaysideSchool'':

** Except ''Sideways Stories from WaysideSchool''.

* Also in the "Monkee vs. Machine" episode of ''TheMonkees'' as Peter prepares for a job interview:
--> Mike: [[TwoWordsICantCount "Just remember these three little words: ''Don't. Argue.''"]]
--> Peter: "That's ''two'' words."
--> Mike: "See? You're doing it already!"

* Dramatic example from ''FiddlerOnTheRoof'', when Tevye is mulling over whether to accept Chava marrying a non-Jew: "On the other hand... there ''is'' no other hand!"

* ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': Implied in Vorkosigan's rules for space warfare:
-->Rule 1: Don't overrule the Tactical Computer unless you know something it doesn't.
-->Rule 2: The Tac Comp always knows more than you do.

* In ''EndersGame'', Rose tells Ender that there are only three rules, "Do what I tell you and don't piss in the bed." When Ender asks what the third rule is, as he was clearly meant to, Rose replies that that ''was'' three rules - "We don't do too good in math, here."
* Implied in [[VorkosiganSaga Vorkosigan]]'s rules for space warfare:

* ''DaveBarry In Cyberspace'' includes a parody of advertisements found in computer magazines purportedly offering great discounts on computers. One of the "''incredible'' prices" quoted is: "BAXTER Data[[InherentlyFunnyWords Weasel]] 95949847 -- There is no such computer! Ha ha!"

* With live-cast showing of TheRockyHorrorPictureShow, this is often used by the stage manager when explaining the general "rules of behavior" in the theater.

** That's similar to JohannSebastianBach's ''Third Brandenburg Concerto'', which has only First and Third Movements -- no Second Movement (though the Third Movement is sometimes wrongly called the "Second", even though it's definitely in the style of a Third Movement rather than a Second).

--> Mike: [[TwoWordsAddedEmphasis "Just remember these three little words: ''Don't. Argue.''"]]

--> Mike: [[TwoWordsObviousTrope "Just remember these three little words: ''Don't. Argue.''"]]

* A minor variation from ''{{Bottom}}'' Live, when Richie contemplated the following “What have [I] got to live for? […] Everyone would prefer it if [I] were dead!”:

Rule 7: [[OverlyLongGag No]] [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial poofters]].

Rule 6: There is '''no Rule 6'''!\\