History Main / BlindObedience

These followers will often obey their leader even when they are OrderedToDie. Compare/contrast IncapableOfDisobeying, HonorBeforeReason and IDontPayYouToThink. See also UndyingLoyalty, MyCountryRightOrWrong, JustFollowingOrders, and MindlessSheep. See also ArtificialInsolence when disobeying the player's orders is a game mechanic.

** His wife Polina is just as if not ''more'' loyal. To the point that after being sentenced by Stalin to a labor camp and spending ''years'' there, when Beria releases her and tells her Stalin is dead, she immediately ''bursts into tears'', which Beria is utterly unnerved by[[note]]TruthInTelevision: Polina Molotova's first words after being released by Beria were "How is Stalin" and she ''fainted'' after learning he was dead.[[/note]].

** His wife Irina is just as if not ''more'' loyal. To the point that after being sentenced by Stalin to a labor camp and spending ''years'' there, when Beria releases her and tells her Stalin is dead, she immediately ''bursts into tears'', which Beria is utterly unnerved by[[note]]TruthInTelevision: Irina Molotova's first words after being released by Beria were "How is Stalin" and she ''fainted'' after learning he was dead.[[/note]].

These followers will often obey their leader even when they are OrderedToDie. Compare/contrast IncapableOfDisobeying, HonorBeforeReason and IDontPayYouToThink. See also UndyingLoyalty, MyCountryRightOrWrong, JustFollowingOrders. See also ArtificialInsolence when disobeying the player's orders is a game mechanic.

* The Robot in Series/LostInSpace, at least during the first half or so of the first season. During those times, Dr. Smith is able to easily manipulate the Robot by forcing him to erase certain parts of his memory (to delete information that might incriminate the Doctor). Nearly averted in one case in which the Robot questions an order from Dr. Smith to attack someone, citing his "Prime Directive" which "forbids taking human life;" however, Dr. Smith is able to issue a verbal command which overrides said Prime Directive, and the Robot opens fire on said target.
** [[spoiler: The Robinson children]] are able to easily manipulate the Robot, too. In one episode, the adults task the Robot with [[spoiler: guarding the children so that they will remain safely in their room]], but [[spoiler: they simply issue a new command to the Robot and he lets them go.]]
** You'd think the Robinson parents and/or Major West would think to put an admin password on the dang Robot, at least for issuing commands beyond the mundane, "Hey, go fetch us some water." C'mon, guyyyyyssssssss!
* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': The Monroe militia seem to follow Bad Boss General Sebastian Monroe because of this. Indeed, the episode "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E19ChildrenOfMen Children of Men]]" had Captain Riley talking to Captain Mark Franklin about Monroe's agenda and his misgivings over it, and Franklin more or less told him to shut up.
* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'': When [[TheBully Reese]] joins the army, his drill sergeant molds him into the perfect soldier. At one point he orders Reese to walk into a wall repeatedly and remarks "he'll do that all day!" This proves to be a double-edged sword when Reese's earpiece breaks in the middle of a war game, leaving him with no idea what to do. Eventually he reverts back to his ChaoticStupid self and uses a tank to destroy both the enemy and his own troops.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "Valiant", the Red Squad cadets, having been trapped behind enemy lines after all their superiors were killed, developed an almost cultish loyalty to their leader Tim Watters, unquestioningly following his lead even as it becomes apparent that he's cracking under the pressure. [[spoiler: Even getting them all killed in a suicidal assault isn't enough to break the sole surviving cadet's faith in him, insisting to Nog that ''they'' must've failed him somehow.]]
** In the same series, the Jem'hadar and Vorta. Fanatically loyal to the Founders, even as it costs them their lives.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', if Hawke mentions that Saarebas chose to die rather than leave the Qun, the Arishok is affronted by the human notion that such a choice should be exceptional or difficult; he'd expect no less of ''any'' Qunari.

* Symmetra from ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' was plucked from poverty and groomed to be the CorporateSamurai of [[MegaCorp Vishkar Corporation]] as her new family. When Vishkar began showing their more extremist and corrupt ways, she started to doubt if they were fighting for the right thing after all, but the combination of her upbringing, OCD, and manipulation by them resulted in her clinging to the hopes that 'it's for the greater good', so she continued to promote the company as a good company out to improve the lives of others. She antagonizes the freedom fighter Lucio, who managed to drive Vishkar away from his home when they oppressed it, but he mocks her for adhering to this trope.
* While most Nohr royalty in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' only looked like they were feigning the trope in front of [[BigBad King Garon]], who has been shown as a megalomaniacal ruler, the eldest sibling Xander is the one who adheres to this the most, due to being there when Garon was actually a just king. After witnessing his change of attitude and not believing it, he clung to the hopes that if they won the war and saved Nohr from its harsh situation, then Garon would return to normal. It jaded him so much that he stopped believing in justice and adhering to GreyAndGrayMorality, and he's usually the last to finally believe the protagonist's story that his father was no longer the good man he grew up with.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' gives us "Thunder" Catherine, who was taken in by Archbishop Rhea when her own homeland turned against her on false accusations. While this usually comes across as UndyingLoyalty, it becomes this trope when she outright says she WouldHurtAChild, and on the Crimson Flower route both ignores Rhea's SanitySlippage and complies when the latter orders Fhirdiad burned to the ground in the finale.

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'': Javier Escuella is the only member of the Van der Linde Gang to never go against Dutch in any way, never providing much of an explanation for this. Even Bill Williamson has doubts about some things.

* This is the FatalFlaw of MCPO John-117's from ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' - while he can function without leaders, he is ''deeply'' uncomfortable and uncertain without authority or direction. The most standout example of this is in ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'', where he decides to latch on to following the custodian of the titular ring, 343 Guilty Spark, when the latter reveals that Halo can be used to destroy the Flood. He never questions Spark further on this, until Cortana stops Halo's activation and reveals that Halo stops the Flood from spreading by killing everything the Flood could use as a host. John never even thinks of asking Spark how Halo would stop the Flood, information that Spark readily divulges to Cortana when prodded. [[spoiler:Come ''Infinite'', Chief almost deletes The Weapon (only be stopped at the last moment) due to protocol, understandably enraging her and nearly destroying their partnership]].
* Pulaski is blindly obedient to [[BigBad Tenpenny]] in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', even when it's clear that Tenpenny will backstab and betray anyone once [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they are no longer useful for him]]. Even the protagonist, CJ, warns Pulaski that Tenpenny will very likely turn against him as well, but Pulaski doesn't buy it.

* Clippy from ''{{Webcomic/Freefall}}'' is the robotic assistant to Mr. Kornada. Like other robots, Clippy started out with limited intelligence, but has been learning over time; unlike other robots, he almost never interacts with anyone other than [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Mr. Kornada]], so his entire thought process is set on appeasing his every whim, which includes trying to unleash a virus on all the other robots to wipe out their intelligence so Mr. Kornada can take all their money.

* Lord Mantle of ''WesternAnimation/ShadowRaiders'' believed himself to be one, as did most of his planet's populace. His {{Pride}} led him to betray the alliance to prove that his people could deal with a PlanetEater on their own, sabotaging all allied ships other than his own.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepants'' [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsTitularCharacter SpongeBob]] exhibits Blind Obedience to the Jellyspotters in hopes of joining the club. Even when the leader instructs him to punch himself in the face and throw himself off of a building he complies. When asked, "Doesn't that hurt you?" The next shot is of [=SpongeBob=] wearing a metal spiked glove. He asks "Do you want it to hurt me, Kevin?". Eventually the club members decide to just humor him. Kevin assures them [[ForTheEvulz Don't worry. I won't let him into the club. I just want to see how many times he has to get stung before he runs home crying like a little baby]]. Funny thing though... [[LaserGuidedKarma Everything they do backfires and hurts them instead even when it should be completely impossible for that to happen.]]. Eventually this obedience fades and [[TooDumbToLive Patrick]] reminds him that Idol worship is never healthy [[SpoofAesop before walking past and revealing that he has subdued and captured the "Jeffery Jellyfish" Mascot he's been chasing the entire episode.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', the villain Zander was raised to believe that he would be king of the world after those who raised him altered the climate of earth and turned themselves and a select few into anthropomorphic dinosaur-human hybrids. He orders Maxine to be kidnapped so she too can become one and be his wife. When she refuses, the ladies who tend to his every whim are utterly shocked and inform her that no one ever refuses him anything. He isn't arrogant about this though -- in fact, he specifically states that [[ILoveYouBecauseICantControlYou he wanted her for a wife BECAUSE she wasn't just brainwashed into doing everything he said]]. He even refers to his attendants as mindless automatons.

** This also explains [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome Stockholm Syndrome,]] battered wife syndrome, and similar.

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---> ''The old Casca would have never cared even if it came to comrades getting hurt. I bet she wouldn't even have faltered at losing her own life had it been Griffith's will. To Casca, his word was gospel. No. Maybe that's still the truth, but...is she herself even aware that she's begun to change?''

* The [[{{Psychopomp}} Arbiters]] in ''Anime/DeathParade'' are like this by design. The rules of their job - [[MarriedToTheJob and by extension, their ''entire'' existence]] - all revolve around absolutes, with no gray area. They are called “puppets” by those who uphold the system, and any attempts at changing the status quo [[StatusQuoIsGod are quashed]]. Any character who questions their role in the system get brushed off ant are told to just accept it. While the main character seems to have broken the cycle by the end of the series, it’s implied that it will “ruin him.”

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'': Mikazuki Augus is fanatically dedicated to Orga Itsuka. He does anything Orga asks without question, complaint, or hesitation, and one of the most common things he says is "Orga, what should I do?" Explained as Orga being the one who kept him alive during their days as street urchins, which has translated into a belief that Orga always knows what's best. Fortunately, Orga is a pretty decent guy who genuinely cares about the people under his command, but it still comes across as rather creepy. But even this deference [[DownplayedTrope is conditional on Orga advancing their shared goal of a good life]]. When Orga [[HeroicBSOD is too traumatized to give any orders]], Mikazuki starts ''angrily demanding'' Orga get things back on track.
-->'''Mikazuki''': Whatever Orga tells me to do, that's what I do.\\
'''[=McGillis=]''': Orga has nothing to do with this. I'm asking what ''you'' want.\\
'''Mikazuki''': I told you already: whatever Orga tells me to do, that's what I do.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'': Suletta is disturbingly willing to obey anything her mother says. Though Suletta claims she wouldn't necessarily do anything her mom would order, when pressed by Miorine Suletta admits she'd give up her dreams and kill at her mother's command.

* ''Fanfic/CodePrime'': This is what leads to the Knights of the Rounds’ downfall. [[spoiler:When the SAZ massacre occurs thanks to Megatron’s machinations, he has Soundwave send out a falsified transmission from Charles zi Britannia to the Knights, and orders them to destroy the SAZ. Bismark, Dorothea, Luciano, and Anya/Marianne follow without question, while Monica, Gino, and Nonette refuse to take part in it.]] Then at the beginning of ''R2'', when the remaining Knights of the Round along with the Pacific Fleet assault the Decepticon capital, Schneizel el Britannia contacts them to try to convince them to surrender, but they refuse, as Bismark declares that they swore absolute loyalty to Charles zi Britannia. As a result, with the exception of Gino and Anya/[[spoiler:Marianne]], they’re all wiped out by the Decepticon combiners Bruticus and Devastator.

[[folder:Film]]

* Similarly in ''Film/AnAmericanCarol''. When Malone/Moore tries to say "The government just wants to...." the juvenile lefties break into a chant of "GOVERNMENT JUST WANTS!/GOVERNMENT JUST WANTS!" When even he is exasperated and tells them to "Stop the chanting for a minute!", they respond with "STOP! DON'T CHANT!/STOP! DON'T CHANT!"
* PlayedForDrama in ''Film/AwaitFurtherInstructions'', particularly with Tony, the patriarch of the family, who views any dissent from what the television says as practically treasonous.

* Literature/TheBooksOfEmber:
** In ''The City of Ember'' most people treat the mayor as a pretty infallible and sensible authority figure, which he abused to his gain. Though their city was breaking down and the power plant to their TerminallyDependentSociety was nearing failure he managed to keep almost everyone content. The protagonists were some of the few to see the problem and fought to find a way out.
** The series prequel ''The Prophet of Yonwood'' has Althea Towers, an elderly woman who receives an apocalyptic vision of the future. The community believes that if they follow her instructions and rid the town of evil, they will be saved. They go to rather extreme lengths to do this, shunning anyone who doesn't follow the least of Althea's strict commandments. [[spoiler:In the end, it turns out that Althea wasn't even trying to be a religious leader; her followers had misinterpreted her descriptions of the future as actual instructions to the community. (ItMakesSenseInContext)]]
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Oreg has no other option than to obey orders, he's magically bound to do it, and when he doesn't obey, he suffers horribly. However, the only time that happens on-screen, so to speak, he just wasn't able to carry out the order. As his new "owner" Ward mostly orders him to keep on doing things he has been doing anyway, there is almost no conflict about it. Only when Ward plans to give the villains the eponymous dragon bones (which Oreg was ordered to protect by a previous owner) does Oreg object - but when Ward tells him he wouldn't do it if there was a choice, he [[UndyingLoyalty kneels down and states that he has absolute trust in Ward.]] [[spoiler: This is because, at this moment, he realized that Ward would ''kill'' him on his own request, if necessary to protect the bones. He happily goes along with everything Ward wants to do from then on, and when he finally makes his request, Ward has no other choice, as, after all, he's the hero and has to do the right thing, even if the right thing consists of killing someone he'd rather protect.]]
* Amar from ''Literature/{{Allegiant}}'' is a staunch believer in what the Bureau teaches about genetic damage and genetic purity, despite living with "genetically damaged" people for most of his life.

These followers will often obey their leader even when they are OrderedToDie. Compare/contrast HonorBeforeReason and IDontPayYouToThink. See also UndyingLoyalty, MyCountryRightOrWrong, JustFollowingOrders. See also ArtificialInsolence when disobeying the player's orders is a game mechanic.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepants'' [=SpongeBob=] exhibits Blind Obedience to the Jellyspotters in hopes of joining the club. Even when the leader instructs him to punch himself in the face and throw himself off of a building he complies. When asked, "Doesn't that hurt you?" The next shot is of [=SpongeBob=] wearing a metal spiked glove. He asks "Do you want it to hurt me, Kevin?". Eventually the club members decide to just humor him. Kevin assures them [[ForTheEvulz Don't worry. I won't let him into the club. I just want to see how many times he has to get stung before he runs home crying like a little baby]]. Funny thing though... [[LaserGuidedKarma Everything they do backfires and hurts them instead even when it should be completely impossible for that to happen.]]. Eventually this obedience fades and [[TooDumbToLive Patrick]] reminds him that Idol worship is never healthy [[SpoofAesop before walking past and revealing that he has subdued and captured the "Jeffery Jellyfish" Mascot he's been chasing the entire episode.]]

* In ''Manga/ALoveLetterForTheMarchingPuppy'', this is expected of cadets at the Japanese military academy where the series is set. After Iindou politely asks a superior why [[spoiler:Kagami was removed from her position as Iindou's "[[SenpaiKohai model student]]," which later turns out to be due to Kagami's mother pulling strings for complicated personal reasons]], she gets a vicious tongue-lashing over how orders must be followed without question, and, as some readers point out, she got off easy compared to what would have happened in real life.

** Even worse in Felde: [[spoiler:Snadhya'rune uses mind-controlled taint to get willful obedience. On the plus side, this extends the expected lifespan of the drow from dead and/or mutated into a demon within 25 years, to potentially hundreds of years and with a symbiotic relationship with the demon instead of a constant fight for dominance. On the negative side, this pretty much kills the original personality of the mortal host and forces their subconscious to fuse with the demon, who has been hacked to be loyal to Snadhya'Rune.]] It's unknown what will happen if she dies, but given the clusterfuck that is Chapter 46, it ain't gonna be pretty.

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'': Mikazuki Augus is fanatically dedicated to Orga Itsuka. He does anything Orga asks without question, complaint, or hesitation, and one of the most common things he says is "Orga, what should I do?" Explained as Orga being the one who kept him alive during their days as street urchins, which has translated into a belief that Orga always knows what's best. Fortunately, Orga is a pretty decent guy who genuinely cares about the people under his command, but it still comes across as rather creepy.

* ''Fanfic/TotalDramaWorldTourDeluxe'': Noah remarks in a confessional how Lindsay had this for Heather in Total Drama Island, which led to her assisting her reign of terror for most of the season and is why Noah, unlike most people, felt NoSympathy towards Lindsay for her elimination. He later recognizes that Tyler has the same thing for Alejandro this season, so [[spoiler:Tyler's elimination in Greece]] serves as a major blow against Alejandro.