History ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight / VideoGames

* In ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000RogueTrader'', the "Iconoclast" position on the KarmaMeter is based around this. It serves to TakeAThirdOption in the struggle between OrderVersusChaos, abandoning the dogmatic structure of TheEmpire and TheCorruption that comes with [[ReligionOfEvil Chaos]] for the sake of the common good, even at cost to one's self.

* During the human campaign of ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III'', Arthas orders Uther to purge the city of Stratholme on the pretense that everyone in the city only might be infected with the plague of undeath. When Uther refuses, Arthas pulls rank and orders Uther to purge the city as the future king of Lordaeron. Uther again refuses, noting that Arthas isn't king of Lordaeron yet before adding that even if Arthas was the king, Uther still wouldn't do it. Too bad for Uther that Arthas pulls rank again, stripping Uther and his paladins of their position and sending them away for their refusal to follow his orders.
-->'''Arthas:''' This entire city must be purged.\\

* The Eitrigg incident in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. Tirion Fordring (KnightInShiningArmor) repels his OWN faction to save an enemy because the enemy saved his life previously. This resulted in Tirion being "stripped" of his titles and powers [[spoiler:except not really, because his powers came from morality, not from a ceremony]] and losing his own wife and child.
** This worked out in the end. Tirion eventually became the greatest paladin in the world and the only one the evil Lich King ever feared. So yeah, DO NOT mess with Tirion Fordring and his honor if you value your life.
** This is the reason that [[spoiler:Vol'jin is readying a stand against the Horde; Garrosh is getting too bloodthirsty, his Kor'kron are acting as SecretPolice, and they've found an artifact that could make the [[EmotionEater Sha]] a threat that's not native to Pandaria anymore.]]

*** Later, Doomguy decides to salvage and restore [[spoiler:The Dark Lord, whose presence has been specifically noted to have been SealedEvilInACan for far longer than the ''known universe'', specifically because Doomguy's hatred for demons is so great that he's willing to ''reality'' itself in order to kill said being for good. The act of doing this causes him to permanently burn his bridges with Samur, while ARC itself flees in the presence of the Dark Lord's Life Sphere, save for one intern who understands what Doomguy is trying to do and stays onboard as MissionControl]].

* In ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' [[spoiler: Near the end of the game, it turns out the Galactic Federation wants to contain and capture the [[TheDreaded SA-X]] parasite-organism to use as research/a biological weapon, despite the fact that the SA-X is [[ImplacableMan nearly invincible and will undoubtedly kill them all]], multiply, escape to every corner of the Galaxy, while still multiplying and [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt ending all civilization in the universe.]] Samus decides that she should blow up the research station to destroy all the X parasites, [[HeroicSacrifice even if it means she too will die in the process.]] ADAM sides with with Samus and [[TookAThirdOption suggests that she set the station to crash into the nearby planet so that she has time to escape.]]]]

* In ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' [[spoiler: Near the end of the game, it turns out the Galactic Federation wants to contain and capture the [[TheDreaded SA-X]] parasite-organism to use as research/a biological weapon, despite the fact that the SA-X is [[ImplacableMan nearly invincible and will undoubtedly kill them all]], multiply, escape to every corner of the Galaxy, while still multiplying and [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt ending all civilization in the universe.]] Samus decides that she should blow up the research station to destroy all the X parasites, [[HeroicSacrifice even if it means she too will die in the process.]] Adam sides with with Samus and [[TookAThirdOption suggests that she set the station to crash into the nearby planet so that she has time to escape.]]]]

* In ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' [[spoiler: Near the end of the game, it turns out the Galactic Federation wants to contain and capture the SA-X parasite-organism to use as research/a biological weapon, despite the fact that the SA-X is nearly invincible and will undoubtedly kill them all, multiply, escape to every corner of the Galaxy, while still multiplying and ending all civilization in the universe. Samus decides that she should blow up the research station to destroy all the X parasites, even if it means she too will die. Adam sides with with Samus and suggests that she set the station to crash into the nearby planet so that she has time to escape.]]

* In ''VideoGame/Halo4'', [[spoiler:the entire crew of the UNSC ''Infinity'' does this. Master Chief disobeys Captain Del Rio's orders to hand over Cortana for "decommissioning". Del Rio then orders his bridge crew to arrest [[LivingLegend John-117]] for his disobedience, and nobody steps up to do so. He then orders his XO, Lasky, to prevent the Chief from leaving. Lasky lets the Chief commandeer a Pelican, while the guards on the Hangar Bay salute him as he does it. In a twist, UNSC high command is not exactly happy with Del Rio for abandoning a War Hero that had literally saved the entire galaxy, and he's the only person aboard the ship who gets punished.]]

* Ramza's entire story throughout all of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics''.
** And possibly Marche's story in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance''. Though many fans see his motivation as "Screw your Happiness, I'm doing what's right."
*** Or just [[WhatTheHellHero "screw you"]], [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation depending.]]
*** Or just "Screw your [[LotusEaterMachine escapism]] [[EnfantTerrible at the expense of everyone else]]", depending ''depending''.

* In ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' [[spoiler: Near the end of the game, it turns out the Galactic Federation wants to contain and capture the SA-X parasite-organism to use as research/a biological weapon, despite the fact that the SA-X is nearly invincible and will undoubtedly kill them all, multiply, escape to every corner of the Galaxy, while still multiplying and ending all civilization in the universe. This gives Samus no choice but to self-destruct the Space Station, despite their order for her to stand aside]]

* Both Commander Shepard and Garrus in ''Franchise/MassEffect'' have this as part of their character.
** In the sequel, Garrus has embraced this; he pisses off every last major mercenary group on the station Omega, which led to his team dying in a trap the mercs set. The people of Omega seem to think he made a difference, however; the Archangel name wasn't his idea. The families of his team also seem to support Garrus's actions; one in particular sends a message to Shepard to tell Garrus not to blame himself for her husband's death because he died doing what was right.
** Whether Shepard's [[IdealHero Paragon]] or [[PragmaticHero Renegade]], s/he will steal the Normandy after it's locked down by the Council in order to stop the [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]].
** In the sequel, s/he's [[ButThouMust willing-ish]] to [[EnemyMine side with Cerberus,]] a [[FantasticRacism human supremacist]] organization, because they're the only ones willing to help him/her against the Reapers.
** The Paragon end to ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' is this when you [[spoiler:opt to destroy the Collector base, even though it could be beneficial in the future, stating "We'll fight and win without it, I won't let fear compromise who I am."]]
** It comes up again in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' with the salarian STG. If Kirrahe is alive, he'll promise the unwavering support of the STG regardless of politics, [[spoiler:even if the Dalatrass calls off salarian support for helping cure the genophage. And he delivers.]]
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' actually has a ton of examples if you look closely. On Liara's terminal, for example, you find evidence of a politician who decides to commit political suicide by stealing the private wealth of his government to help evacuate citizens.
-->'''Councilor Gujir''': Phillips, I am authorizing you on behalf of this city's Senate to seize any and all eezo stockpiles in our treasury, in order to secure safe passage for our citizens on any available ships.\\
'''Secretary Phillips''': These look like private stockpiles. Senate members' stockpiles.\\
'''Councilor Gujir''': I'm foregoing re-election. Now get us those ships.\\
'''Secretary Phillips''': Yes, sir!
** In ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'', Ryder and the other Pathfinders (the salarian Pathfinder, and depending on the outcome of side missions the turian and asari Pathfiders as well) defy direct orders from the directorship of the Andromeda Initiative not to seek out the Remnant city of Meridian, lest they provoke the kett to attack the Initiative directly. The Pathfinders reason that a confrontation with the kett is coming regardless and it's better that it come on the Initiative's terms. [[spoiler:Director Tann does a rather embarrassing and obviously political about-face on the matter after the mission succeeds.]]
* Lee in ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' has this option in ''Episode 3'': Just as he and Kenny are about to enter an abandoned building to scavenge, a woman comes screaming out onto the streets, surrounded by zombies. Kenny tells Lee that they should leave her, as she'll provide a nice distraction and buy them more scavenging time, but Lee can choose to use his sniper rifle to put her out of her misery.
* ''VideoGame/ArmyOfTwo''. Overlaps with [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules Screw The Money]], their MissionControl asks them if they want to let the authorities handle it legally, but they decline as they know the BigBad is currently in the process of killing witnesses and destroying evidence inside the HQ.
* Creator/BioWare pulled an arguable double subversion in the backstory of ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''. The Republic was getting hammered by a Mandalorian invasion and the Jedi were staying out of it because they sensed a threat behind the Mandalorians. While Revan and Malak's intervention likely saved the Republic, it got them DrunkOnTheDarkSide, caused them to try and destroy the Republic in order to "save" it, and turned the Jedi Order into shreds. The double subversion hits when you realize that the Council was right in detecting a threat behind the Mandalorians, even if their approach probably wouldn't have turned out any better than Revan's.[[spoiler:And Revan and Malak didn't turn to the dark side right away after that, they were forced to become Sith when they confronted the Sith Emperor.]]
* Another one of their subversions was in ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire''. The Brothers Sun were violating the laws of heaven in their assault on Dirge, committing genocide on the monks, and crossing the MoralEventHorizon in too many ways to count. Still, they thought it was the only way to stop the drought that was killing thousands and left the empire on the verge of collapse.
** And it actually ''was'' -- the problem was that, by doing so, they royally messed up the overall balance in the world, as the rain they were now getting was being taken from where it was originally meant to go.

** Happens a few times in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies''. In ''The Cosmic Turnabout'', [[spoiler:in response to the Phantom's bomb threat, and with no other options that wouldn't further endanger his employees, Yuri Cosmos secretly switches the Space Center's launch pads to prevent Clay Terran and Sol Starbuck from boarding the bomb-rigged HAT-2 rocket]]. In ''Turnabout Reclaimed'', [[spoiler:Herman Crab and Jack Shipley]] do this twice. First, [[spoiler:when Azura Summers dies of a heart attack and everyone thinks Ora Shipley the First killed her, they secretly move Ora to the Supermarine Aquarium instead of following the Center for Dangerous Animal Control's order to put her down. Dr. Crab also planned to use sleeping pills to feign Orla's euthanization and release her if she was found guilty of killing Jack]]. Second, [[spoiler:they install the then-illegal TORPEDO system in their own aquarium to allow Dr. Crab to keep a closer eye on the animals' health]]. It's hard not to feel bad for [[spoiler:Dr. Crab]] in the latter case when one realizes that [[spoiler:these actions indirectly led to Sasha Buckler, Phoenix Wright, Athena Cykes, and probably ''the player'' thinking he'd been trying to euthanize Orla prematurely - the mere suggestion that he'd try to put any animal down ''at all'' makes him kick the witness stand in rage]].
** In general, if a prosecutor with morals recognizes that the defense's claims are valid and the person that they're trying to convict is ''not'' a murderer, they will do everything in their power to help the defense prove it- much to the chagrin of the lying witness on the stand. [[spoiler:Dee Vasquez, Damon Gant, and Alita Tiala all learned this the hard way, among many others.]]

* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
** A major theme in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia''. The protagonist, Yuri Lowell, believes that if a law prohibits doing what's right, said law should be ignored. His friend Flynn, however, argues that vigilantism cannot bring peace and that if a law is corrupted, then it needs to be changed. The game is rather good at avoiding taking sides in this, with both characters getting their share of trouble when they take their ideologies to the extreme.
** In the GoldenEnding of ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'', Ludger [[spoiler:saves Elle from divergence catalysis by becoming a catalyst himself, despite this meaning he'd become the millionth catalyst and humanity technically failing Origin's Trial.]] However, Origin is so impressed by his selflessness that he lets it slide and gives humanity his support for the future and Chronos reluctantly joins him.
* "If you can't do something smart, do something right." may have been said by Jayne, but ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest'' games tended to base themselves on the idea. Break into a heavily fortified but legally operating sweatshop software company and free some programmers from the CorruptCorporateExecutive? Sure, that was game 3. The DesignatedHero of Starcon has ordered that you stick to collecting trash and not look into the suspicious dumping of toxic waste? Screw it, the Eureka is going to look. Ordered in game 6 to ignore the ''highly suspicious death'' of a close friend by a [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections prominent admiral's widow]] who tried to kill you in the process? The quote was "Bite me, Commander."
* The entire last half of ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'' has [[spoiler:Soap and Price going after Shepherd to kill him in revenge for his betrayal, even if the world paints both of them as international terrorists.]]
* ''VideoGame/StarTrekEliteForce''. Munro, ignoring Tuvok's orders to return.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'', the Brotherhood of Steel are rather strict about who they let join, and who they let keep technology more advanced than a flashlight. However, in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', we have Elder Lyons, who, when he and his chapter arrived in the Capitol Wasteland, looked around at how bad things are and basically said "Screw the Codex!" Now the DC Chapter of the Brotherhood goes around as something like a post-apocalyptic [[TheOrder Chivalric Knighthood]], dedicated to helping the downtrodden of the area, and working with them to make things better.
** In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', Veronica can try something similar where she leaves the Brotherhood to join the Followers of the Apocalypse. [[spoiler:This ends poorly, both for the Followers and [[TheWoobie Veronica]].]]
*** Also in ''New Vegas'', one quest has you uncovering an NCR relief operation to quietly feed their citizens in [[WretchedHive Freeside]] after the Kings sabotaged the last one. If you talk to the NCR officer in charge and ask her for some food for a friend who didn't come because he's a Freeside local, the officer will concede that, yes, she is under orders to not give food to locals, [[PetTheDog but he can have a package full of food anyway]].

* In ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', Tyrael refused to go along with his fellow Angels' non-interference policies. When his superior Imperius tried to punish him for it, Tyrael finally had enough and [[spoiler:tore off his own wings so he could help Sanctuary as a mortal.]]
-->'''Tyrael:''' [[BadassBoast "You cannot judge me, I am Justice itself!]] We were meant for more than this, to protect the innocent! But if our precious laws bind you all to inaction, then I will no longer stand as your brother."
* The Eitrigg incident in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. Tirion Fordring (KnightInShiningArmor) repels his OWN faction to save an enemy because the enemy saved his life previously. This resulted in Tirion being "stripped" of his titles and powers [[spoiler:except not really, because his powers came from morality, not from a ceremony]] and losing his own wife and child.
** This worked out in the end. Tirion eventually became the greatest paladin in the world and the only one the evil Lich King ever feared. So yeah, DO NOT mess with Tirion Fordring and his honor if you value your life.
** This is the reason that [[spoiler:Vol'jin is readying a stand against the Horde; Garrosh is getting too bloodthirsty, his Kor'kron are acting as SecretPolice, and they've found an artifact that could make the [[EmotionEater Sha]] a threat that's not native to Pandaria anymore.]]
* In ''[[VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic Might and Magic: Heroes VI]]'', Duke Slava of the Griffin Duchy ends up opposing Emperor Liam; the Emperor has ordered all orcs in the empire be exiled in preparation for a war against the demons, but the orcs in Slava's lands are old war buddies who helped him bring down a demon-worshipping shaman, and he's quite happy for them to stay there. Plus, the duke put in charge of the purge is a {{Jerkass}} and one of Slava's enemies.
* In ''VideoGame/Halo4'', [[spoiler:the entire crew of the UNSC ''Infinity'' does this. Master Chief disobeys Captain Del Rio's orders to hand over Cortana for "decommissioning". Del Rio then orders his bridge crew to arrest [[LivingLegend John-117]] for his disobedience, and nobody steps up to do so. He then orders his XO, Lasky, to prevent the Chief from leaving. Lasky lets the Chief commandeer a Pelican, while the guards on the Hangar Bay salute him as he does it. In a twist, UNSC high command is not exactly happy with Del Rio for abandoning a War Hero that had literally saved the entire galaxy, and he's the only person aboard the ship who gets punished.]]
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'': Hawke can follow this code, depending on your choices in the game. Have enough influence with your friends, and you can convince them to do the same. A mage-supporting Hawke in particular takes this attitude, especially at the end.
* ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive:'' After Raidou attacks the Mugen Tenshin village to steal the secret to their most powerful Ninpo, crippling Hayate and rendering him comatose in the process, Kasumi, rather than take Hayate's place as the clan leader, ditched her position and ran off to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge kill Raidou and avenge Hayate]] despite full knowledge that her actions would have her banished from the village and marked as a runaway shinobi.

* In ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' [[spoiler: Near the end of the game, it turns out the Galactic Federation wants to contain and capture the SA-X parasite-organism to use as research/a biological weapon, despite the fact that the SA-X is nearly invincible and will undoubtedly kill them all, multiply, escape to every corner of the Galaxy, while still multiplying and ending all civilization in the universe. This gives Samus no choice but to self-destruct the Space Station, despite their order for her to stand aside]]

* In the ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' series, this is what the Paladin is expected to do. It only comes up in the third game, where [[spoiler: the laws of Tarna are dooming a thief to death by starvation]], and technically, all heroes are supposed to do the same thing, but the general idea of a paladin that is maintained throughout the series are that they are forces of good, not justice.
* This is the backstory of the original ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'': Not only does the police do nothing to stop TheSyndicate's criminal activities, it's been corrupted by said syndicate, so three justice-seeking officers--the protagonists of the game--quit the force and take matters into their own hands.
* In the final scene of ''VideoGame/BraveFirefighters'', the captain of the two protagonists orders them to evacuate, but said protagonists insist on going back in one last time to rescue [[spoiler:the mayor's daughter.]]
* In ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse2'', one of the secret scenarios has [[spoiler:Trunks going back to his timeline and saving Future Gohan from the Androids despite this being a ''massive'' breach in Time Patroller protocol. The Supreme Kai of Time and the Elder Kai discuss both the potential good and bad of this and consult the PlayerCharacter on what they should do. Choosing to let it be, though, has the Supreme Kai of Time accept the answer, but warn that this is ultimately her call, so going in and fixing the timeline so that Gohan dies is not off the table.]]
* This isn't uncommon in the story of ''{{VideoGame/Overwatch}}'', but the most prominent is [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized the King's Row Uprising]] seven years prior to the game's present day, where the Omnic extremist group Null Sector attacked King's Row in London. The problem is, due to reputation issues, Overwatch was not allowed to operate in England by order of the Prime Minister. Commander Morrison (presently known as Soldier 76), of course, wasn't the sort to let people just be slaughtered and was stewing over the problem of ToBeLawfulOrGood until Tracer came into his office and convinced him to side with good, consequences be damned. And his decision paid off, as Overwatch successfully smashed Null Sector's control in King's Row and thwarted the uprising, though the political and diplomatic consequences of the operation have yet to be elaborated on.[[note]]Despite the unambiguous success that saved thousands of lives, Overwatch ''did'' violate Prime Ministerial orders and encroach on British sovereignty as a result, and the massive egg in the face of the Prime Minister (not allowing Overwatch to perform the operation legally would've been explosive politically and would've handed political ammunition to the opposition party - after all, if he had allowed Overwatch to operate immediately and with more teams, who knows how many more lives might've been saved) and the British military (due to a team of four operatives doing what they couldn't) wouldn't exactly go over well, either.[[/note]]

* One of the defining traits of ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' is that he doesn't care about anyone else's rules or morals and always fights for what he believes in. This resulted in him getting labeled as an outlaw in ''Anime/SonicX'' when he started destroying the government-backed Mirror Towers upon concluding that they were part of [[BigBad Eggman's]] latest plot, though he was absolved when he was revealed to be right.
* ''VideoGame/SakuraWars2019'': In Chapter 7, Seijuro Kamiyama ends up shouting down the government's proposal to have Sakura Amamiya create an Imperial Key at the cost of her own life.
* ''Videogame/{{Doom}}'':
** The backstory of the Doomguy had him attacking his own commanding officer after said officer ordered him to fire on civilians. [[ReassignedToAntarctica He got reassigned to Phobos base as punishment]], leading to his first encounter with the forces of Hell.
** In ''Videogame/DoomEternal'' [[spoiler:history repeats itself with the Doom Slayer, who is revealed to be the very same Doomguy when he violates the code of the Night Sentinels by killing the last Hell Priest (who still has Sentinel blood) on the Sentinels' holy ground.]]
** In ''Eternal'''s first DLC, ''The Ancient Ones, Part 1'', Doomguy decides to [[spoiler:destroy the Father's Life Sphere, in full defiance of Samur's wishes, after realizing that the latter won't stop in his quest for power and sees the Doomguy as the means to an end]]. Notably, after awakening [[spoiler:the Seraphim with Samuel's consciousness]], it's clear that Doomguy doesn't trust a word he says, and can be seen scowling when the latter attempts to browbeat him into using the "gifts" he was given to aid him.
*** Later, Doomguy decides to salvage and restore [[spoiler:The Dark Lord, whose presence has been specifically noted to have been SealedEvilInACan for far longer than the ''known universe'', specifically because Doomguy's hatred for demons is so great that he's willing to ''reality'' itself in order to kill said being for good. The act of doing this causes him to permanently burn his bridges with Samur, while ARC itself flees in the presence of the Dark Lord's Life Sphere, save for one intern who understands what Doomguy is trying to do and stays onboard as MissionControl]].
* In ''VideoGame/Killer7'', when Garcian Smith asks if he should go after Curtis Blackburn (a man who abducts orphans and harvests their organs), his master Harman dismisses him as "just a punk with a gun" and says it's unnecessary. Garcian, however, is appalled, stating to his informant Mills that "the blood of innocent children is unnecessary", and goes after him anyway.

* In VideoGame/{{Fallout}}, the Brotherhood of Steel are rather strict about who they let join, and who they let keep technology more advanced than a flashlight. However, in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', we have Elder Lyons, who, when he and his chapter arrived in the Capitol Wasteland, looked around at how bad things are and basically said "Screw the Codex!" Now the DC Chapter of the Brotherhood goes around as something like a post-apocalyptic [[TheOrder Chivalric Knighthood]], dedicated to helping the downtrodden of the area, and working with them to make things better.
** In VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas, Veronica can try something similar where she leaves the Brotherhood to join the Followers of the Apocalypse. [[spoiler:This ends poorly, both for the Followers and [[TheWoobie Veronica]].]]