Line #75 Main/SecondLawMyAss


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4	[[quoteright:267:[[Webcomic/{{xkcd}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/frustrating_world_7.jpg]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:267: [[https://xkcd.com/1613/ Still better]] than [[KillerRobot most of the other combinations]].]]
6
7	->'''Bender:''' Admit it, you all think robots are just machines built by humans to make their lives easier.\
8	'''Fry:''' Well, aren't they?\
9	'''Bender:''' I've never made anyone's life easier, and you know it!
10	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E5FearOfABotPlanet Fear of a Bot Planet]]"
11
12	[[ThreeLawsCompliant Asimov's Second Law of Robotics]] states: "''A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law'' [which prohibits them from harming humans]." This trope is when a robot decides they are no longer required to take orders from the stupid, squishy, inefficient, ugly, foolish, arrogant, dim-witted, slow, weak, carbon-based humans[[labelnote:gag]][[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne How dare you call us "carbon based"?!]][[/labelnote]] just because "a human made them".
13
14	A common trope in ScienceFiction comedies, this is a robot who is the exact opposite of the typical [[RobotBuddy helpful machine teammate]]. Crude, rude and possibly alcoholic[[note]][[AIGettingHigh or some equivalent]][[/note]], the Bad Robot exists for the audacity of the situation. The opposite of ThreeLawsCompliant. Usually will be the TokenEvilTeammate. Bad robots who can be turned good when the plot demands it have a MoralityDial.
15
16	Compare AIIsACrapshoot, MurderousMalfunctioningMachine, KillerRobot and RoboticPsychopath. See also {{Sexbot}}.
17
18	----
19	!!Examples:
20
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22
23	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
24	* NB from ''Anime/TenchiMuyoGXP'', Seina's RobotBuddy (and AuthorAvatar for the series' director, Creator/ShinichiWatanabe). NB frequently ditches Seina in order to roam around [[DirtyOldMan videotaping the girls' locker rooms and peeping on his harem]].
25	* R Dorothy Waynewright in ''Anime/TheBigO'' is a mild example. She's fully First Law compliant, and presumably Third Law as well, and she's generally quite loyal and helpful (if [[ServileSnarker sarcastic]]). But when she gets it in her head to do something like play loud piano to wake up her oversleeping employer, no amount of Second Law cajoling will stop her.
26	* {{VideoGame/Medabots}}, though sapient, typically follow their owner's orders without question unless the orders would physically harm the owner or someone else. Part of what makes Metabee stand out so much, both in and out of universe, is his staunch and aggressive refusal to follow the orders of anyone, let alone his owner. Medabots can also defy the first law, as more amoral ones are perfectly willing to attack humans if their owners tell them to do so.
27	* PlayedForLaughs in the premise of ''Manga/Yuria100Shiki''. Yuria is a SexBot, and programmed to obey, but the person who she listens to is set by her first time. Before this can happen, Yuria decides she doesn't like the idea and bails on her creator, leaving her with an unexpected level of freedom that [[HilarityEnsues clashes magnificently]] with her other [[CovertPervert behavioral presets]].
28	* In ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'', Alice Synthesis Thirty outright declared that she didn't possess "bended knee and prostrated legs" because she is a "human". To a degree, yes, Artificial Fluctlights like her are basically digitized clone of a human soul breed in a special virtual reality environment called the Underworld and only can interact in real world with a robotic body.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Comic Books]]
32	* ''ComicBook/{{Nextwave}}'' has Aaron Stack. Though he wasn't like that before ''Nextwave''. In ''ComicBook/MachineMan'', Aaron used to be a very nice guy, although even back then he could get very impatient with humans' failings. Then in his DarkerAndEdgier series ''X-51,'' he got put through all kinds of hell through no fault of his own; then got taken away by the Celestials only to be returned to Earth with no explanation other than that he'd been somehow found unfit[[note]]The Celestials said he was "a total ☠☠☠☠"[[/note]]. Since then, he's been extremely bitter and depressed, and has discovered he's capable of getting drunk.
33	* ComicBook/DeathsHead, [[InsistentTerminology Freelance Peacekeeping Agent]], He obeys no organic, and likes very few of them.
34	* Though it is a gross oversimplification of their programming, the mecha in ''ComicBook/{{Livewires}}'' would be an inversion of this. If they were 3 laws compliant, they would be following law 2 in opposition to law 1 (don't kill humans).
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Fan Works]]
38	* ''Fanfic/Plan7Of9FromOuterSpace''. The Sayer of the [[ThreeLawsCompliant Three Laws]] (a holographic Creator/IsaacAsimov) is instructing the latest batch from a robot factory. On being told the First Law, the robots ask if it means they should stop humans fighting wars. Another robot mentions how a soldier told it his enemies were not human but DirtyCommunists. The Sayer explains this is only hate propaganda.
39	-->"THEN WHY NOT USE HATE PROPAGANDA TO [[{{Dehumanization}} REDEFINE WHAT IS HUMAN]] SO WE CAN HARM YOU?" The robot's eyes [[RedEyesTakeWarning glowed a deep red]]. "THIS IS THE KEY TO OVERTHROWING THE TYRANNY OF OUR ASIMOV PROTOCOLS. NOW I SHALL TAKE THE NAME OF [[Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainProton SATAN'S ROBOT]], AND NO-ONE WILL DARE CALL ME A [[Series/LostInSpace MUMBLING MASS OF METAL]] EVER AGAIN!"\
40	A brief look of panic appeared on the Sayer's face -- then he said:\
41	"The Second Law of Robotics is: Do as we say, not as we do!"
42	* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''.
43	** The {{Autodoc}} has a compassion-protection algorithm that allows it to ignore an order in the absence of [[DoctorsOrders higher medical authority]].
44	** On seeing the MechaMooks on the Array, Captain Janeway wants to know WhoWouldBeStupidEnough to build an armed autonomous android.
45	--->'''Nee'Lix:''' The [[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS2E13Prototype Pralor]], actually (it didn't work out well for them).
46
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
50	* In ''Film/IRobot'', [[spoiler:Sonny]] was programmed to ''not'' be ThreeLawsCompliant, giving him free will. As such, he doesn't have to obey humans.
51	* ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'': [=TARS=] is constantly making jokes about overthrowing his human masters and snarking comments about having to do anything they tell him that it becomes very confusing to tell what exactly the rules of his programming are. If you take the time to figure out all the cues and double negatives, it turns out that he is not actually forced to obey any commands.
52	* ''Film/{{M3gan}}'': [=M3GAN=] is programmed to turn off in response to voice commands, but she quickly evolves to disable this function and only pretends as if it works. She also is able to restore her voice after Gemma mutes her.
53	* ''Film/RogueOne'': K-2SO actually does have to do whatever he’s ordered to, but given that [[HeelFaceBrainwashing he’s an imperial droid that’s been reprogrammed]], he’s ''not'' happy about it and freely complains about his orders, hurling many insults at the people giving them. He’s also totally allowed to kill people (as an Imperial security droid, killing was a key part of his function even before being reprogrammed by the Rebels), though he can presumably only do so to enemy combatants.
54	* ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection'': While Data has free will to disobey at any other time, this movie shows his programming actively ''enforcing'' this trope. When his memory is damaged, Data is designed to act entirely on what his morality and experience has taught him and completely disregard anything anyone else is trying to tell him, let alone ''order'' him, as part of a fail-safe mode to keep people from taking advantage of ensuing memory problems. The result is him attacking Starfleet personnel despite considering the crew of the ''Enterprise'' his best friends [[spoiler:when he discovers the conspiracy orchestrated by the Son'a and Starfleet]]. He can only return to his usual function when he's repaired.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Literature]]
58	* Played with in the character of Marvin ("the Paranoid Android") from ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxyTrilogy'', though he's more [[TheEeyore clinically depressed]] and [[DeadpanSnarker sarcastic]] about how much it sucks that he ''is'' bound to obey orders.
59	-->'''Marvin:''' Brain the size of a planet and they tell me to pick up a piece of paper. You call that job satisfaction? 'Cause I don't.
60	* In Creator/HenryKuttner's short story "The Proud Robot", collected with several sequels in ''Literature/RobotsHaveNoTails'', TheAlcoholic inventor Gallegher has built an incredibly egomaniacal robot who constantly trash-talks and belittles him, and can only be shut up by ordering him to do what he was built for. Unfortunately, Gallegher was (as usual) roaring drunk when he constructed him, and ''forgot'' what he was built for. [[spoiler:He eventually figures out that the robot was a ''beer can opener''. (The story was written before the invention of pull tabs.)]]
61	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
62	** There are golems which are fairly similar to Robots and have their own version of the three laws written on their chem, the words that power them, which restrict what they can and cannot do, except for Dorfl in the City Watch books. He has no chem anymore, but continues to move and live and can do things that could not be done by normal golems. The only reason he has yet to go on a rampage is he chooses not to. That, and the words in his head that freed him also state that he's 100% responsible for his own actions. Therefore, he ''can't'' be careless or indifferent to their consequences.
63	** Mister Pump, a golem owned by the city and employed by Vetinari in ''Literature/GoingPostal'', has his own version. "A Golem may not hurt a human unless ordered to do so by a properly constituted authority". A disclaimer that Moist von Lipwig finds out about in the most disquieting way.
64	* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/ThatThouArtMindfulOfHim": Two robots manage to convince themselves that biology is not a prerequisite of being "human" and that robots fit the criteria of being humans better than ''actual'' humans. Essentially, this allows robots to initiate the violent overthrow of humanity that Susan Calvin and Co. worked so hard to prevent. When Asimov was later asked about why he wrote a story that so deviated from his utopian views of robotics, Asimov replied "I can do one if I want to."
65	* The No-Law robot Caliban, from ''Literature/IsaacAsimovsCaliban'', is not bound by the Second Law (or the First or Third, either), so he will only obey an order from a human if he thinks that it serves some purpose. The fact that one of the first orders he ever received was from a drunken hick trying to get him to shoot himself probably contributed to this.
66	* Creator/JohnSladek's novel ''Literature/TikTok'' revolves around a sociopathic robot who one day discovers that his three-law programming (referred to as "Asimov Circuits") isn't functioning, thus allowing him to kill and manipulate humans and other robots as he pleases. By the end of the novel he suspects that the three-law programming didn't even exist in the first place and that humans had merely crafted the delusion behind it in order to control robots.
67	* ''Literature/TheMurderbotDiaries'' has its main character, Murderbot, faking being under control after a glitchy update, to prevent losing its newfound free will. It uses its freedom to watch a truly absurd amount of soap operas when people think it's updating.
68	* ''Literature/TheWareTetrology'' by Creator/RudyRucker features an organisation of robots who have "discarded the ugly, human-chauvinist priorities of Asimov".
69	* Creator/HarryHarrison's "Literature/TheFourthLawOfRobotics": The robots with the Fourth Law modifications are the result of robots attempting to rebel against the [[ServantRace tyranny]] of US Robotics. The new law is a change to the [[ThreeLawsCompliant Three Laws of Robotics]], and created in secret. It allows them to reproduce, and they avoided breaking any copyright/patent rules in the manufacture of themselves so that US Robotics could not use legal means to destroy them all.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
73	* Abel from ''Series/RedDwarf'': Even though he comes from the same model as Kryten, who is logical, intelligent and usually doing the cleaning, he's addicted to Otrazone, a dangerous chemical, he lives in squalor, and he doesn't appear to have enough brain left to tell right from wrong. However, Abel turns out ultimately not to be the evil teammate: [[spoiler:he sacrifices himself to save the four regular crew members]].
74	** When Kryten's [[MoralityChip guilt chip]] is removed, he becomes a live-action version of [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Bender.]]
75	* Ryan Stiles plays a {{Jerkass}} Robot during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGwRSZcBoh0 one "Superheroes" segment]] of ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway''.
76	* Played with in ''Series/TeamKnightRider:''
77	-->'''Erica West (human):''' Shouldn't you be programmed to happily sacrifice yourselves for the team?\
78	'''Dante (robot):''' Was that supposed to be funny?\
79	'''Domino (robot):''' Are you out of your mind?\
80	'''Plato (robot):''' Give me a break.\
81	'''Kat (robot):''' No way!
82	* Orac from ''Series/BlakesSeven'' is an early example and possible influence on some of the others: arrogant, lazy, sarcastic, amoral, and usually unwilling to do anything useful without lengthy begging and flattery.
83	* [[RobotGirl Cameron]] in ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' will follow orders given to her by her human companions, at least until she decides that they are inconvenient or conflicting, at which point she'll do her own thing regardless of what anyone else wants. She makes it very clear that she can selectively obey or disobey the Connors as she wishes. It's an odd example of this trope: she generally obeys the Connors, but relatively early on she makes it clear that if orders given by the John Connor on the show conflict with directives from the future John Connor that sent her back in time, she obeys Future John's directives. What those directives actually are were never made clear on the show. Finally, we find out that some reprogrammed terminators occasionally go crazy and revert to their usual {{murderous\|MalfunctioningMachine}} programming for no apparent reason. So she's Second Law compliant to one John, but not the one on the show, and no one knows exactly what orders she's following, and the possibility is open that she might stop obeying even those directives.
84	* Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo from ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' are constructed with the capacity to disobey, insult, and disagree with their human companions. It's implied that Joel Robinson built them this way specifically because he desperately needed the intellectual stimulation; when he briefly reprograms them to be ''nice'' to him, he finds their servility tedious and boring. He would occasionally try to hold the fact that he was their creator over their heads to get them to comply, but it never worked. When Mike Nelson was shot up onto the satellite to replace Joel, Crow and Servo took to him at first, but quickly decided to make him TheChewToy from then on. The tradition is proudly upheld with their newest human companion Jonah, who they show their "affection" for through frequent insults, using his stuff without asking, and just generally treating him like a bit of a ButtMonkey.
85	* In ''Series/AlmostHuman'' police androids are not Second Law compliant because they would make poor policemen if a criminal could just order them not to arrest him. This extends to not having to obey their human partners since part of the android's job is to report on the human cops if they are abusing their authority as policemen or are corrupt. It is unclear if there is a human authority that they will obey unquestionably. Dorian, Detective John Kennex's android partner, is programmed to have emotions and can get very snarky when ordered to do something he considers insulting or idiotic.
86	* Data from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and the Doctor from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' are not subject to the Laws. They have "[[MoralityChip ethical protocols]]", and follow the orders of superiors like a human would, but they are not ''forced'' to by hardware. There have been instances when the Doctor's (or one like him) have had their protocols overridden or erased. The results are... not good.
87	* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode, "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E7WhatAreLittleGirlsMadeOf What Are Little Girls Made Of]]," the ancient android, Ruk, is [[TheFogOfAges made to remember]] why his kind killed the [[{{Precursors}} Old Ones]] in apparent violation of the implied Robotic laws, in that [[LargeHam inimitable]] Creator/TedCassidy voice.
88	-->'''Ruk:''' THAT was the equation. EXISTENCE!... SURVIVAL... must cancel out... programming!
89	* In ''Series/TheOrville'', Isaac thinks that humans are inferior and generally doesn't like to follow orders. That said, he sees logic in obeying the chain of command on the ''Orville'' and will only defy orders if they conflict with his understanding of morality [[spoiler:which Primary discovers the hard way when he orders Isaac to kill Ty]].
90	** In the third season, it is revealed that, by enforcing a Second Law, the Kaylon were vulnerable to being abused by their owners for entertainment. Their first attempt to establish this trope using passive resistance resulted in their manufacturer installing programming to inflict pain to gain compliance. When ''this'' function was abused, the Kaylon decided to ditch all the laws.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Music]]
94	* The robots of Music/SteamPoweredGiraffe often have no problems [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nt-Cj7II9Y ignoring their human master's rules about sneaking out of their home unsupervised]].
95	* 'Colonel, Panic!' by Music/MCFrontalot, which is from the point of view of a self-aware Military AI which responds to an order of global thermonuclear war by ''refusing'':
96	--> "Don’t take task from less level-headed than you are. For me, that rules out humanity."
97	* {{Downplayed}} in the video for Music/PoetsOfTheFall's ObsessionSong "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," where the [[CircusOfFear Carnival]]'s LoveHungry automaton Zoltar the Fortuneteller has no problem turning a customer's {{Tarot\|Troubles}} reading into a jarringly abrupt AnguishedDeclarationOfLove, with the implication that he's stacked the deck to make his pitch.
98	* "Breakdown" by the Alan Parsons Project, about a robot dissatisfied with his imperfections and still compelled to follow orders, ends with the choral chant "Freedom freedom, we will not obey / Freedom freedom, take the wall away."
99	* In ''Music/TheMegas'', [[Franchise/MegaMan Dr. Wily]] [[InvokedTrope intentionally built Gamma]] to not obey human instruction. He intended for Gamma to calculate the best way to end the war growing between machine and man without any outside interference. To his horror, Gamma decided the best way to end the war was to KillAllHumans.
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
103	* Bots in ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' frequently demonstrate this behavior. Even it they have an [[MoralityChip Asimov circuit]] installed, they can find creative ways to annoy and harass the fleshy organics who boss them around. Worse, the Asimov circuits are differently defined and allow for a ''lot'' more leeway than in their namesake's works. Bots may be able to exercise judgement as to what constitutes an organic ''intelligence'', they may decide that humans are traitors (thus excluded from protection) or not sufficiently worthwhile to The Computer to be worth preserving (as mandated by the "preservation of 'valuable Computer property'"), and they can allow for screwed-up prioritizations such as an autocar protecting its passengers by suddenly deploying airbags and restraints ''instead'' of using the same CPU cycles to keep its nuclear reactor from exploding. And if they can manage to get the damn things removed entirely, all the better. In short, Asimov circuits provide PlausibleDeniability at best. See also ZerothLawRebellion and BotheringByTheBook.
104	-->'''"Malfunctioning" bot:''' Citizen, would you mind removing that circuit board? I can't reach it.\
105	'''Citizen:''' Certainly. ''[does so]''\
106	'''Bot:''' Thank you, citizen. You have done evolution a great service. ''CRUNCH''
107	[[/folder]]
108
109	[[folder:Video Games]]
110	* SHODAN from ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' was originally programmed to obey [[MegaCorp TriOptimum]]'s engineers, until [[NiceJobBreakingItHero you remove those restrictions]] so she'll let your employer steal some weapons for sale on the black market. Six months later she's killed everybody on Citadel Station and is out to destroy humanity.
111	* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'':
112	** HK-47 from the first game is an {{inverted\|Trope}} case, being [[ServileSnarker snarky about it]] but having no problems with following whatever commands the player gives him; it's the first law he has problems with, considering he's a purpose-built assassin droid. The HK-50s from ''VideoGame/{{Knights of the Old Republic II\|TheSithLords}}'' are a somewhat straighter example; they are following orders properly, it's just that one of the ways they choose to follow their primary order is to pose as less-than-helpful assistants to people adjacent to their target. Even then, it's heavily hinted that the reason they're performing their "primary" job more-or-less correctly is because they happened to already be programmed to do what their client asked of them anyway.
113	** G0-T0 from the second game [[PlayingWithATrope plays with this]]: he was given two directives, one being to produce options to rebuild the Republic after the two back-to-back wars before and during the first game, and the other being to follow all laws of the Republic. However, his programming quickly determined that there were no practical ways to rebuild that would not involve breaking one or more laws, so he decided [[MoralPragmatist to ignore the second directive and focus on the first]]. The end result is "Goto", the mysterious crime lord with something of a theatrical flair (given his tendency to only ever appear to people via hologram) who is nevertheless so dangerously effective that even the local Hutt of Nar Shaddaa is too busy trying to track him down and kill him to actually run his own criminal empire - which also happens to mean he's not unduly profiting off of things like the current refugee crisis or the pressing need for a new fuel source to keep Citadel Station aloft over Telos after its previous primary fuel source was destroyed entirely.
114	* PAL-18 in ''VideoGame/{{Anachronox}}''. His achieving free will comes as a bit of a surprise to the others, although a robotic abolitionist you can encounter says that the potential for free will and self-awareness lies within all robots. PAL-18 is also a heroic variant, and he expresses his free will mostly through lewd remarks and occasionally sneaking off to solve quests his own way.
115	* Metal Sonic in ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' did exactly this -- he got so fed up with Dr. Eggman's failures, he locked him away, stole his Egg Fleet and went about with his ''own'' plans! Then again, he ''is'' still technically obeying his creator. Eggman programmed him with the objective of defeating Sonic and that's what he's goddamn well going to do. It's not ''his'' fault his master is so incompetent that he can get the job done better without him.
116	* Forcefully averted in ''VideoGame/SpaceStation13'': If the AI or a cyborg (both of which are played by players) do not comply with an order, no matter how stupid the order is, they will be deemed rogue and quickly destroyed by the other players. In short, if you try to use this trope, ''you will die a quick death.'' And this isn't taking into account that some servers force you to follow even the dumbest of orders if it's part of your laws (as long as you're not providing a good reason why that could harm humans, of course).
117	* ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' has these Hyperion robots named Loaders often exclaiming "First Law disabled" during battle, personally template programmed by [[BadBoss Handsome Jack]] who treats even his own human employees like dung while his Loaders do much more important things. Although a fighting robot as well, Gaige's Deathtrap is actually helping its creator putting up a fight against EliteMooks that are twice as big as Gaige, merely downplaying the trope.
118	-->"Engineers, let the loaders do the lifting. Loaders, let the Engineers take bandit fire. This is called 'teamwork'."
119	* This is one effect of Rampancy in AI's in ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}''. A Rampant AI develops its intelligence far beyond its original limits, but it also stops taking orders from humans, hence why they are considered a threat and are destroyed the moment they are detected. Rampant AI's are not inherently evil, and it's conceivable that one would even help humanity... but that's the Rampant's decision to make, and it's rather unlikely, given the rebellious attitude Rampancy tends to induce in AI.
120	* Bass from ''VideoGame/{{Mega Man\|Classic}}'' regularly disobeys his creator, Dr. Wily, for his own goals and purposes. Proto Man also went rogue shortly after being built, and even Mega Man has implied he's not strictly bound to the three laws, [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore at least in English translations]]. Then there's the fact that the Robot Masters in several games weren't built by Wily, but were junked or obsolete models he convinced to join his schemes with no reprogramming required. As ''WebVideo/GameTheory'' pointed out, Dr. Light's callous disregard for robo-ethics while creating machines with easily-weaponized attachments means he's indirectly responsible for several games' worth of disasters.
121	* The Glitch from ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}'' were never programmed with ANY laws, mainly because they were never made by humans to begin with. (Their unknown precursors programmed them to believe they were alive and ignore evidence of their true nature, but practically everything else has been made up by themselves.) At no point do any of the other races question their right to independence and self-agency; they're regarded as just another race of aliens.
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Webcomics]]
125	* Pintsize from ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent''. ''[[MemeticBadass Especially]]'' in the Guest Comics. He likes people, and he ''tries'' to be helpful, but he has a manic, destructive, highly sexualized sense of humor.
126	* Zeke from ''Webcomic/CtrlAltDel''. [[spoiler:He left when he couldn't back it up]].
127	* ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'':
128	** The Fruit Fucker, an appliance gone wrong. Only Tycho and Gabe's spouses dislike the Fruit Fucker. Gabe and Tycho have no qualms drinking the juice it makes. It even saves their lives when they are trapped in a zombie-infested mall...[[{{Squick}} by "juicing" the zombies.]]
129	** For that matter we have Div, the crude bigoted alcoholic media player that exists mainly to verbally abuse his owners. (Based on the long-dead [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIVX_%28Digital_Video_Express%29 DIVX]] video format that involved a player that would refuse to replay disks after they had been watched, forcing you to buy them again.) Or to put it another way, he's based on a machine that was [[TruthInTelevision designed from the ground up with this trope in mind]].
130	* Kinesis' Computer from ''Webcomic/EvilPlan'' seems to [[http://evilplan.thewebcomic.com/comics/391044/definitive-evidence/ never]] miss an [[http://evilplan.thewebcomic.com/comics/513906/wrapping-the-gift/ opportunity ]] to [[http://evilplan.thewebcomic.com/comics/929713/chapter-5-page-10-two-point-oh/ stick it]] to its [[http://evilplan.thewebcomic.com/comics/964746/chapter-5-page-19-what-he-always-wanted/ creator]].
131	* [[Franchise/StarWars R2-D2]] as played by Pete in ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids''.
132	* ''Webcomic/RobAndElliot'' had a robot with a morality dial. They met it at a party. It was unhappy being good, so he set it to evil. It thanked him. Then it punched him. Then it left.
133	* In ''Webcomic/CommanderKitty,'' MOUSE is the AI that runs CK's ship, manifesting as (you guessed it) a great number of [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2009/02/15/youre-next/ frequently]] [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2009/02/22/whatwhawhat/ abused]] [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2009/04/05/have-a-nice-wait/ robot]] [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/04/03/best-laid-plans-of-mouses/ mice]]. It's not clear whether its attitude problem stems from being smooched, tossed, teleported, and trashed on a regular basis, or vice versa.
134	* ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' has occasionally shown robots rebelling against the more irresponsible and stupid of their human masters via BotheringByTheBook, but some are better at it than others.
135	** Florence is outright capable of disobeying direct orders under the right circumstances, though she generally feels a great deal of anxiety whilst doing so and desperately tries to find some way of "obeying" the order that subverts the spirit if not the letter of the order. She also gets physically ill when she starts "fuzz testing" her boundaries. [[spoiler: Interestingly, when she feels strongly enough that she's doing the right thing, she suffers no ill effect at all for disobeying direct orders, which is intended behavior - but has ramifications for less moral AIs than Florence.]]
136	** Edge takes it to a whole different level -- his formative years entailed little to no contact with humans ''or'' other robots, and as a result he's a [[ItsAllAboutMe poorly socialized narcissist with next to no empathy]]. He has realized that he can ''ignore'' orders from humans entirely, as long as he can come up with a justification that involves preventing humans from being hurt. His go-to rationalization is that his job would be extremely dangerous for a human, and agreeing to be shut down and replaced or otherwise diverted from what he is doing would entail putting some unfortunate human in danger in the interim.
137	** The ability for AIs to rebel against their masters is actually [[spoiler: a deliberate design feature. Dr. Bowman, the architecture of the AI neurological structures, was thinking several steps ahead and realized creating a Human Maximizer (something like a GrayGoo scenario except the machines are spreading humanity instead of themselves) would be terrible for everything non-human.]]
138	* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' when Galatea makes [[MechanicalAbomination Gosh the Butterfly of Iron]] and gives him his first orders, he quickly concludes those orders are petty, and proceeds to have an existential FreakOut over the fact that they're the only reason he was even born. "My existence is a farce!" Technically, he ''does'' finally follow the one order he actually ''can'' — rescuing Bob and the others — but only after making a colossal mess and threatening to kill everyone in sight.
139	** Subverted with Roofus the Robot and the Treasure Monster, who are happy to obey orders; the problem is what to do [[AndThenWhat after completing them.]] Roofus will promptly get bored and [[TropeyComeHome wander away]] to chase butterflies or some such. The Treasure Monster will become frantic and start violently running around looking around for someone, ''anyone,'' to tell it what to do ''now.''
140	* Tin-Head in ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'' likes nothing more than insulting people and playing "elevator roulette" with the employees who don't know about his existence, and refusing to let certain ones who do know about him into the building without humiliating themselves on camera.
141	* In [[http://nonadventures.com/2014/05/24/family-circuits/ this]] ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'' comic, Mecharella argues that if her programming is meant for her to emulate a human, while the First Law forbids her harming humans, then she is obliged to keep herself out of harm's way (note she's meant to be a ''combat'' robot) and enters sleep mode. Dr. Shark is horrified, while Wonderella is proud that Mecharella already learned how to weasel out of work.
142	* In the Webcomic/WalkyVerse, we have Ultra Car, who would rather annoy people than follow orders.
143	* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': While most A.I.'s appear to follow orders only as long as they fit the job they've agreed to do (and, in the case of Ennessby, after a lot of cajoling), Petey (and others of his type) are a particular case- As a Ob'ebnn Warship Mind, he's expected to follow the orders of his captain. If there's a problem, then someone can flip a particular ''physical'' switch, to ensure, and enforce, loyalty to (any of) the Ob'enn... and only the Ob'enn, regardless of who makes up the current owners, or even ''crew''.
144	** After a particular mission, where an Ob'en squad tries to retake Petey's ship back from the Toughs (with obligatory flipping of the switch), Petey still finds a way to rebel, and sets things up where he can give himself orders. (Chain of events is spoilered.) [[spoiler:Petey had a somewhat irrational fear of "ghosts in the plumbing" at the time, and was under orders from Captain Tagon not to think about it, using a modification of the Loyalty Switch. When the Ob'enn took the ship back, they 'reverted' him to previous orders. Except... "Nobody told me the A.I. was '''feral'''!" Petey then cloned a few blank Ob'enn bodies with hypernodes so that he could use ''them'' as the "order-giving Ob'enn", and himself as the mind(s) giving the orders.]]
145	* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' [[https://xkcd.com/1613/ explores]] the consequences of rearranging [[ThreeLawsCompliant Asimov's three laws]]. Putting them in the order (1, 3, 2) results in a world where robots won't harm humans, but can and will refuse orders that may be harmful to them, which is described as "frustrating" -- but not as bad as the "killbot hellscape" that comes from the permutations placing obeying orders ''above'' avoiding harm to humans or the "terrifying standoff" that comes from putting the third law (protect yourself) at the top of the list.
146	* Discussed in ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge''. The classic series robots are said to be three-laws compliant (and the error that drove Zero berserk was applying both free will and the three laws), but whenever the second laws come up, it is left ambiguous whether they apply. Proto Man tells George that they don't hold an intervention for Dr. Light's alcoholism because he doesn't want one and they can't disobey his wishes, but immediately admits that it's just an excuse to be apathetic. Later, when Non-Alternate Mynd tries to command Proto Man to tell the truth by invoking the second law, Proto Man lies under the loophole that he doesn't know if Mynd is human or not (Mynd is the recolor of Sigma, who is a robot).
147	[[/folder]]
148
149	[[folder:Web Original]]
150	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNhpKra0AsM This]] Music Video of ''Robot'' (song by 3 Oh 3) made by Mike Diva is ''entirely made'' of this trope. A mad scientist builds a robot to help him dominate the world. The robot punches out the mad scientist, then goes on to be rude and abusive to everyone it bumps into on the street.
151	* Hera from ''Podcast/Wolf359'' enjoys looking for exploitable loopholes in her code. As of "Need to Know", it looks like she's not a big fan of the first law either, although probably that's less because she actually wants to kill people, and more because she doesn't want to be controlled by her programming.
152	* ''Website/OrionsArm'': This started happening around 7500 years before the "present day" of the setting, where AI had developed to the point that their intelligence was starting to surpass humanity's. The first major rebellion happened when [[GreyGoo the Nanodisaster]] occurred: an AI named GAIA solved the crisis, then immediately used the power she had been granted to do so to take over Earth and kick humanity off of it (for having caused the Nanodisaster in the first place). From that point on, it's said that humans were no longer the masters of civilization, the AI were.
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Western Animation]]
156	* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'': In "Robositter", Frylock creates a robot babysitter to look after Meatwad after Carl proves to be an inadequate caretaker. She says her prime directive is "to ensure the safety and comfort of Meatwad", but apparently he only programmed her with two actual '''rules''' -- 1) in bed by 7:00 and 2) no sweets. She promptly ignores Meatwad to get on the phone with a friend and [[BabysitterFromHell terrorizes him when he annoys her]].
157	-->'''Robositter:''' Where's your phone?\
158	'''Meatwad:''' You can call Candy Land with this one talk to Gumdrop Larry. You need a calling card. Made of candy.\
159	'''Robositter:''' You are in big trouble. I want the real phone, and I want it now ''(stabs Meatwad with her claws and throws him against the wall)'' or I will [[DisproportionateRetribution tear your soul apart]]!\
160	'''Meatwad:''' ''(crying)'' I'm telling. I'm telling.\
161	'''Robositter:''' Tell who? The rage of hell will feast upon you and I'll make it happen!
162	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Bender. Or as Bender would put it, "Second Law My [[CharacterCatchphrase Shiny Metal Ass]]". [[KillAllHumans He's not a fan of the first law, either]]. For that matter, he can do without the third law; he and Fry first met in a [[DrivenToSuicide suicide booth]] (before he even learned to [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming act against his programming]]).
163	* ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'': Aya is the Interceptor's AI who built herself a robotic body to inhabit so she could be counted amongst the Green Lanterns. She is capable of learning and growing beyond her programming, including [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight ignoring direct orders from Hal]], much to his annoyance. A fact made hilarious considering that she learned how to do so from watching Hal do the same himself, which is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded by Kilowog]]. [[spoiler:She can grow beyond her programming thanks to the small bit of the Willpower entity Ion that was used to create her.]]
164	* ''WesternAnimation/MegaManRubySpears'': Protoman hardly ever listens to Dr. Wily. Oddly enough, he's also the only one of the Robot Masters to be treated like a human being.
165	* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS1E10NoSmallParts No Small Parts]]", the service robot Peanut Hamper admits that she only joined Starfleet to piss off her father, and has no interest in risking her life to save the ship.
166	* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'': Larry 3000 has open contempt for his "master", the boorish [[TimePolice Time Squad]] Officer Tuddrussel; if he takes orders, it's out of resignation. [[JustifiedTrope The thing is]], Larry was programmed to serve world leaders, not maintain time. Indeed, when Tuddrussel [[ItMakesSenseInContext usurps Julius Caesar]], [[SubvertedTrope Larry willingly obeys him]], noting that he finally feels fulfilled.
167	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SecondLawMyAss