History Main / FantasticLegalWeirdness

* ''Literature/{{Eva}}'': It's mentioned that despite being a chimp now, Eva is still legally human.

** In one storyline, the lawyer defending a mobster who had murdered someone in front of dozens of witnesses used a "superhero defense", pointing out known cases of crimes actually committed the accused's {{evil twin}} from [[AlternateUniverse another dimension]], supposedly dead people [[UnexplainedRecovery getting up and walking away]] none the worse for wear, etc. Between the [[RefugeInAudacity sheer audacity]] of the argument and a mood of public guilt over [[spoiler: the recent [[MiscarriageOfJustice wrongful execution]] of the hero Silver Agent]], it worked. The case also became a landmark in American legal praxis, and led to changes in how cases with metahuman involvement were handled. The lawyer, in his role as the narrator, states that there is no way that defense would fly in the comic's present.
** A subsequent storyline looks at legal services in Shadow Hill, the city's supernatural district. Ghosts can be called up to settle their disputed wills; when a magician discovers their spells are contracts with higher powers, they can get a lawyer to figure out the terms; and vampires and other quasi-immortals can hire professional Renfields to help with their financial holdings, transferring the holdings to the Renfield when they die (or appear to), and the Renfield transferring the holdings back to them (minus a commission for the service) when they show up with a new identity.
** In another story about an in-universe comic book, the heroine Nightingale angrily confronts the publisher for insinuating that she is in a lesbian relationship with her sidekick Sunbird. He blows off the complaint, noting that she can't sue him without revealing her SecretIdentity.

* In one episode of their podcast, the creators of ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' go into the legal questions that arise from a universe full of superheroes, including whether they can be sued without knowing their secret identities, whether property damage by the superhero Ra counts as an "Act of God," and whether destroying [[CloningBlues alchemically created "Fleshchildren"]] counts as murder or property damage.
** In-universe there was a comic issue where Baron Blade was tried for his crimes with the Freedom Five's lawyer as the prosecution. Predictably, he got off scot-free because, you know, he's in charge of his own country but not before some legal weirdness happens.

* Over at Marvel the ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' compared people having superpowers to people having firearms: registration and training was a must to prevent trouble (because of a penchant of mass destruction that followed), and so the SuperhumanRegistrationAct came to pass.[[note]]Apparently overlooked was the fact that neither registration nor training actually ''is'' required to own firearms in the United States and attempts to impose such laws on a national level have always failed. Perhaps because the lead writer was Creator/MarkMillar, who lives in Scotland where such restrictions are very much in place and apparently has very little knowledge of American politics.[[/note]] The situation became much more complicated when people in the government decided to use it as a reason to unleash the DayOfTheJackboot upon innocent Americans. [[ComicBook/CivilWarII Its continuation]] was mostly fueled by a discussion whether applying the PreCrimeArrest was unconstitutional or not (doubly so when the visions that led to said arrests were proven to be unreliable).

** Much of the series centers around the integration of spirit mediums (whose powers are legitimate, albeit as fallible as any other form of testimony) into otherwise mundane courts. The [=DL=]-6 case was especially infamous because it soured '''both''' sides: traditional lawyers were angry because the police secretly consulted mediums to decide whom to prosecute, and the mediums were angry because their involvement got leaked to the press and ruined their reputation. Spirit-channeling is eventually recognized as legally legitimate, but only after a lot of people work very hard to prove it so...particularly [[BigGood Mia Fey]], the first medium to ''become'' a lawyer. Notably, the next guy who tries to use channeling as evidence does it in the open, allowing people to judge for themselves whether channeling is inadmissible or not.

** In another story about in-universe comic book, the heroine Nightingale angrily confronts the publisher for insinuating that she is in a lesbian relationship with her sidekick Sunbird. He blows off the complaint, noting that she can't sue him without revealing her SecretIdentity.

** A subsequent storyline looks at legal services in Shadow Hill, the city's supernatural district. Ghosts can be called up to settle their disputed wills; when a magician discovers their spells are contracts with higher powers, they can get a lawyer to figure out the terms; and vampires and other quasi-immortals can hire professional Renfields to help with their financial holdings, transferring the holdings to the Renfield when they die (or appear to), and the Renfield transferring the holdings back to them when they show up with a new identity.

** Much of the series centers around the integration of spirit mediums (whose powers are legitimate, albeit as fallible as any other form of testimony) into otherwise mundane courts. The [=DL=]-6 case was especially infamous because it soured '''both''' sides: traditional lawyers were angry because the police secretly consulted mediums to decide who to prosecute, and the mediums were angry because their involvement got leaked to the press and ruined their reputation. Spirit-channeling is eventually recognized as legally legitimate, but only after a lot of people work very hard to prove it so...particularly [[BigGood Mia Fey]], the first medium to ''become'' a lawyer. Notably, the next guy who tries to use channeling as evidence does it in the open, allowing people to judge for themselves whether channeling is inadmissible or not.

** The rise of AI generators like DALL-E and [=StableDiffusion=] that can create art from a text prompt have caused some controversy, since these programs rely on pre-existing images to know what the requested image is supposed to look like. Defenders claim that this is no different from a human artist looking at other artists' works for inspiration, while detractors say that taking an artist's work without permission to train an AI should be considered copyright infringement. That's quite apart from the fact that US common law has established that only humans can hold copyrights, but also that only a work's creator can claim one--meaning it's possible that any AI-generated image has ''no'' creator from a legal standpoint and therefore is automatically in the public domain.

* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': Celty rides around on a jet-black motorcycle with no lights or plates, but she insists it's fine because he's actually a [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers magic]] [[MyHorseIsAMotorbike horse]]. In the second season, the cops decide that's not good enough and start chasing her down whenever she shows up. After arguing back and forth for a while, Celty points out that the law does have a specific exception written in for horses, so she doesn't need to have lights or plates. The cops counter that she still needs to obey the posted speed limit, which she doesn't.
* ''LightNovel/LogHorizon'': The Round Table Conference try to set up a legal code for the people now trapped in an RPGMechanicsVerse. It's mentioned, for instance, that since Adventurers will respawn with no permanent harm done when killed, murdering an Adventurer is a far less serious crime than in their original world, on about the same level as assault and battery. Theft of property and [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil enslavement]] are considered the more serious crimes in comparison.

** Data is an android and a member of Starfleet, which causes problems. In his backstory, a council had to be convened on whether he was eligible to join Starfleet as a person. In "Measure of a Man," a trial is held to determine whether Data could be considered a piece of Starfleet property rather than a person. In another episode, there's a question of whether Data would be allowed to "procreate" (create an android similar to himself) without Starfleet approval.

* Played straight or inverted in ''Series/BlackMirror'' depending on the episode. The plot of "White Christmas" revolves around [[spoiler:tricking a confession out of a [[BrainUploading digital mind]] upload of a man in interrogation]]. The legal ramifications of that are... shaky, at best. "White Bear" asks the viewers to determine what is or is not [[spoiler: MindRape via repeated torture and induced amnesia]]. Almost every episode has some facet of near future life which would make legal matters incredibly difficult.

* In a downplayed example in ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', mummies are night created within tombs of deceased rulers but lose their original titles. They thus are referred to by [[JustTheFirstCitizen their prior prime occupation]] such as Beekeeper.

SisterTrope to FantasticReligiousWeirdness, where religions and religious practices interact oddly with SpeculativeFiction elements. See also UndeadTaxExemption, where such problems are handwaved away, and LoonyLaws, where the law makes no sense even in the setting.

** The rise of AI generators like DALL-E and [=StableDiffusion=] that can create art from a text prompt have caused some controversy, since these programs rely on pre-existing images to know what the requested image is supposed to look like. Defenders claim that this is no different from a human artist looking at other artists' works for inspiration, while detractors say that taking an artist's work without permission to train an AI should be considered copyright infringement.

** Prothean artifacts are LostTechnology that form the backbone of the galaxy. The Mass Relays, in particular, are what make interstellar travel possible at all. Therefore, messing with them in ''any'' capacity is illegal unless you have specific and explicit permission from ''very'' high-ranking people. In the first game, a scientist can't even perform non-destructive scans on the Keepers who maintain the Citadel because everyone is just that scared of causing some sort of problem.

* ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'': Despite ghosts being relatively common in Rokugan, the legal system specifically outlaws the use of testimony from ghosts in court cases because they cannot be trusted. They have no consequences for lying, and even honorable ghosts can be manipulated with magic. A few adventures and stories involve the PCs getting told by a ghost who murdered them, and having to find physical evidence to confirm.

** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in a fight against Hench Wench, a henchwoman who gains the powers of her current employer, who [[EvilInc exploits corporation law]] to gain the powers of several supervillains at once, and when [[https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-895-fine-print-bitches/ they try to fire her]] (for refusing to surrender [[KnowWhenToFoldEm long after they did]]), they have to [[https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-915-queue-the-lengthy-exit-interview-scene/ gather a two-thirds vote of the supervillains]], but they didn't know they had to get it ratified by the manager ([[https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-916-bad-faith/ which they can't because it's]] ''[[RulesLawyer Hench Wrench]]''); ultimately, the heroes' lawyers have to [[https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-919-objection/ terminate the contract on ethical grounds]] to depower her.

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': Name-swearing creates a CantLiveWithoutYou situation of the name-sworn towards their master and is, in many ways, a voluntary form of magically-enforced slavery. It's mentioned in passing that by giving his name to Ferdinand, Eckhart gave up on being able to inherit his family house and any prospect of becoming the next commander of the Knight's Order.

* ''Fanfic/IntelligenceFactor'': Audino are sometimes put on trial for assisting Zoroark in Unova, even though they can't legally be persecuted because they're not considered people.

* ''Webcomic/MobPsycho100'': After Reigen's office is burned down by a [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinetic]] psychic, his insurance agency delay payment because they can't figure out what would cause a fire like that without fuel. This suddenly makes Reigen determined to fight Claw so he can take whoever did it to the agency and legitimize his claim.

* The central premise behind ''Series/SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw'' is the existence of a "Superhuman Law" division specifically created to deal with Fantastic Legal Weirdness. Typical cases include whether or not the Mystic Arts of Kamar-Taj can be bound by a non-disclosure agreement, whether superhero codenames can be trademarked, and the nuances of divorce proceedings when one party is immortal.