History Main / FictionalGenevaConventions

* ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'': After witnessing [[spoiler:how Diabolist turned the city of Liesse into a magic weapon and killed and zombified all the civilian population]], one of VillainProtagonist Catherine's major goals becomes the establishment of the "Liesse Accords" - rules binding nations in warfare to forbid RapePillageAndBurn, most superweapons (especially the summoning of Angels and Demons) and a few other egregiously destructive acts. It also puts limits on other types of conflict, such as the use of devils, or heroes and villains indiscriminately attacking each other or controlling/assassinating heads of state.

* ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'': After witnessing [[spoiler:how Diabolist turned the city of Liesse into a magic weapon and killed and zombified all the civilian population]], one of VillainProtagonist Catherine's major goals becomes the establishment of the "Liesse Accords" - rules binding nations in warfare to forbid RapePillageAndBurn-Tactics, the summoning of Angels and Demons and to at least limit the use of devils.

** The [[http://dresdenfiles.wikia.com/wiki/Unseelie_Accords Unseelie Accords]] regulate the relations between various magical factions of the world, including duels and armed conflicts. Many of the rules are different than many of those above; for example, faeries CannotTellALie (although they can [[FromACertainPointOfView bend the truth by allowing you to come to your own conclusions]]), [[MustBeInvited the threshold]] and the laws of SacredHospitality are ''very'' sacred, and especially, no fighting may be done on neutral territory.

Even in the [[WarIsHell chaos of war]] there are rules. You can't go around killing innocents, you can't kill medics, you probably can't rape or pillage, and you can't use certain weapons. Hollow point bullets, some types of gas, possibly barbed wire, and in general much of the methods that had been developed in war have been restricted or outlawed for decades, even before UsefulNotes/WorldWarI brought it to promise.. For more information on the weapons that can't be used, see UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_Certain_Conventional_Weapons the other Wiki.]]

Now, what happens when you have a fantastic speculative setting? Where magic spells or high tech weapons could wreak more damage than imaginable? In any war, there must be certain rules, or people would be doing unthinkable things in a battlefield with nothing to stop them.

Most SF settings tend to be based off modern warfare. As such, conventions tend to include rules regarding the proper treatment of Prisoners of War and Civilians. Overall, the story will focus on what technologies cannot be used.

* No [[SympatheticSentientWeapon turning people into death machines without their permission]]. And even with their permission it's a grey area.

* No usage of TheDarkArts, in general. This includes the more inhumane scientific things, in a sci-fi setting.

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' one military scientist tells one of the protagonists an alternate reason why messing with human alchemy is forbidden (besides it being creepy, generally tampering with life, and the fact the Homunculi are using it as energy for their own ritual). It's also forbidden by the military, because a person could create their own invincible army to use against the state.

* Briefly mentioned in ''[[LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove Haiyoru! Nyarani]]''. During a cooking segment, Nyarko mentions the difficulties of acquiring an "ingredient" due the "[[SpaceX Space Washington Treaty]]", then quickly realizes [[SayingTooMuch she said too much]].

* ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess'': [[LightEmUp Ginnungagap]] is the strongest known military grade offensive spell in their world and is so powerful that it not only requires numerous high-level clerics to simultaneously cast the spell, it must be sanctioned and unanimously agreed upon, by the High Council, for use.

** No Labour Caste may draw arms against the Soldier Caste, and any village must surrender, unless garrisoned by the Soldier Caste.

* The immortals of the ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}'' franchise have rules against fighting each other on holy ground, and using ranged weapons to incapacitate an opponent before closing in for the kill is considered "cheating".

* The Mercenaries Code in the ''Literature/ChildeCycle''. It works much like the Geneva convention, but also provides guarantees and responsibilities of Merc officers to their men. For example, if a Officer fails to do his duty or wantonly endangers his men, that officer could be court martialed and executed.

** The Aiel ProudWarriorRace's code of honour allows the victors to take only one fifth of the losing force's possessions, excluding food; and to take defeated enemies as servants for only AYearAndADay, during which they must be treated fairly. It's a mark of the Shaido clan's villainy that it starts [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil taking slaves]], targeting civilians, and pillaging everything it can.

** Mass drivers (weapons that bombard planets with large objects such as asteroids) are forbidden by treaty. In the instance where they are used in the show however, none of the other powers have the will to enforce this treaty. That said, it is seen as enough of an atrocity that the (ancient and powerful) Vorlon Empire, who typically take no interest whatsoever in the concerns of the younger races, files an official protest against the act, possibly their first participation in interstellar politics in the entire show. [[spoiler: This also acts as minor {{foreshadowing}} of their ''much'' more active foreign policy in the fourth season.]]

** The Federation-Cardassian Treaty establishes a Demilitarized Zone, in which no military forces could be deployed, nor bases established. It also redrew the map, which resulted in colonies landing in each other territories. The Cardassians begin to undermine the treaty, and begin to oppress former Federation citizens. The Federation, on the other hand, fear another war and end up doing little to nothing to resolve any issues. The result is the zone becoming the site of constant fighting between the two groups of colonists, with a number of Starfleet defectors forming the heart of the new Maquis rebellion. The Maquis have the Cardassians on the ropes (largely thanks to a popular uprising overthrowing the Cardassian military dictatorship, and a concurrent Klingon invasion distracting the Cardassian SpaceNavy) until the Dominion, who don't care about PR, come in and wipe them out.

* In ''Series/StargateSG1'' there is a treaty between the Goa'uld and Asgard protecting many planets from interference and invasion. However it turns out that the Protected Planets Treaty is a giant bluff by the Asgard and still quite one-sided in favor of the Goa'uld. By their own admission the Asgard would rather be rid of the Goa'uld entirely, but they're stretched so thin fighting the [[GreyGoo Replicators]] in their home galaxy that all they can afford to do is designate a few planets as off-limits while limiting the inhabitants' technological development to preindustrial levels. The Asgard ''do'' enforce the treaty if the Goa'uld attack a protected planet and the Asgard tech advantage is enough that most Goa'uld won't try their luck, but [[EvilerThanThou Anubis isn't most Goa'uld]].

* In ''Roleplay/EmbersInTheDusk'', the Ultramar region and the Tau are in a state of near constant war, but they did agree on a set of rules limiting damage. Both are aware, after all, that there is a good chance they will find themselves in an EnemyMine situation tomorrow.

* In ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' the backstory has one of these called the Ares Conventions, created by the Great Houses prior to the formation of the Star League. Said conventions were [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem rescinded just before the the Star League's ruler declared the Reunification War]]. After the Star League collapsed and the ''tremendously'' destructive [[GreatOffscreenWar First and Second Succession Wars]] caused several planets to be literally bombed back to the stone age, parts of the Conventions were resurrected as the "honours of war" system. The honours are an informal set of rules created in a cynical version of MyGodWhatHaveIDone, involving more the loss of technology than any guilt over the warfare, and their rules include things like no nukes in atmosphere, no orbital bombardments, no chemical or biological weapons, as well as respecting salvage rights for victors and ransoms for captive 'mechs and (noble) pilots.
** The Clans follow a more restrictive code of conduct, involving both the ritual ways to have a battle (either through direct CombatByChampion, or by a ''batchall''[[note]]"Battle Challenge"[[/note]] for larger battles) as well as a duelling code called ''zellbrigen'' during battles. During a ''batchall'', the attacker will issue a formal challenge for their target and reveal their total number of forces available, and the challenged will reveal their total forces, offer a place of battle and what they want from the attacker should they win. Then, each side and their respective subcommanders will 'bid' down the forces available to them (placing the surpluses in reserve) [[HonourBeforeReason to make the battle more honourable and to obtain rights during the battle such as a position in the order of battle]]. Finally, the battle is fought according to ''zellbrigen'' as the forces of each side seek out and fight a series of ritualistic duels or skirmishes in a so-called "Circle of Equals" (banning outside interference in the duels) until one side has lost enough skirmishes and withdraws. Needless to say, neither using the ''batchall'' nor the Clans' attempt at following ''zellbrigen'' during battle worked particularly well when invading the Inner Sphere, as the Inner Sphere's rules were far more permissive.
** The Word of Blake faction that appears following the dissolution of the Second Star League is notable for breaking the Honours of War left and right, committing any war crimes they please in the name of winning their "Jihad". Eventually the Successor States decide that if the Blakeists aren't going to respect the Conventions, then they aren't either, which leads to the Word of Blake (and a bunch of planets as collateral damage) being annihilated in nuclear fire by their numerologically superior foes. The devastation from this conflict was a major factor in the establishment of the Republic of the Sphere (which, incidentally, makes Geneva its capitol city) and one of the longest periods of peace in the ''Battletech'' universe.

* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'' uses this not just as a plot element, but as [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration an important game mechanic]]: The UN colonial charter prohibits the use of [=WMDs=], though it is possible for factions in game to use chemical and biological weapons and [[FantasticNuke planet busters]]. Using the former will impose trade sanctions on the offending faction while the latter will cause every other faction, including allies, to declare Vendetta.

* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles4'' mentions offhand that all the major powers in the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Second Europan War]] have signed and abide by some form of treaty. The only explicitly shown clause is medics being noncombatants, explaining their bright pink uniform and how they can safely medevac an injured solider isolated behind enemy lines. She has to get there first, though; injured and incapacitated soldiers are still valid targets. This is broken in one mission where your medic gets shot at if she's called upon, to the horror of your squad, requiring you to take out the offending sniper before she'll make another run for the wounded.

* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' allows the players to form the Galactic Community which are essentially this game's FictionalUnitedNations. The Galactic Community can pass resolutions, laws that apply advantages to the member nations, but at a cost. One set of Resolutions are the Rules of War. Rules of War tend to increase the morale of armies defending their worlds and reduce collateral damage to civilian populations from fighting, and allows wars to go on for longer, at the costy of banning [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide Purges]], [[EarthShatteringKaboom Weapons of]] [[DepopulationBomb mass destruction]], and increasing the upkeep cost of armies.

* In the previous Age in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', both sides stopped using Balefire - a weave that [[RetGone erased people from existence retroactively]] - after reality literally started unraveling from its overuse. Thousands of years later, the weave is still banned, and Aes Sedai generally have their panties in a bunch about Rand's liberal use of it.

* While not many details are provided regarding its specifics, it is mentioned on the backstory of ''Anime/MaiOtome'' that the titular super-powered action girls are considered PersonOfMassDestruction material and that there's a law called SOLT (standing for "Strategic Otome Limitation Talks/Treaty--a clear stand-in for the real SALT) in place to prevent the kingdoms from proliferating with them.

** On ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', 31st-century TimeCop Daniels is involved with enforcing the Temporal Accords (possibly a descendant of the Federation's Temporal Prime Directive), which permits time travel solely for non-intrusive historical research and forbids interference with historical events. ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' then reveals that after the Temporal Wars, a new agreement outlawed and destroyed all time-travel technology.

** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'', we have the Treaty of Junius, which was meant to do away with a lot of the problems that came up with [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED the first war]]. It's main caveat was that it was supposed to restrict the usage of nuclear weaponry and cut down the number of weapons both sides could have. However, since it did nothing to stop [[FantasticRacism Blue Cosmos]] and [[WarForFunAndProfit their Logos masters]], we got more war with all of the caveats ignored.

* The Grand Treaty in ''Fanfic/ForgedDestiny'' regulates what all Castes are allowed to do during a war for all 4 Kingdoms. It is meant to prevent needless bloodshed due to differences in levels, as well as an overwhelming amount of Grimm from spawning and overrunning whole areas. It's basic rules state:

** ''The Great Convention'', a set of laws enforced by the emperor's Sardaukar. It's main law is banning the use of [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo atomics]] on humans on pain of planetary annihilation.

** {{Deconstructed}} and played for horror in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E23ATasteOfArmageddon A Taste Of Armageddon]]"; On Eminiar VII, '''all''' weapons and tactics have been banned to preserve valuable infrastructure - everything is calculated via computers, and "fatalities" march voluntarily into disintegration chambers like mindless conscripts to be killed painlessly as an alternative to real war - meaning the war has lasted '''''[[ForeverWar five hundred years]].''''' Faced with the prospect of having his entire crew killed (because the ''Enterprise'' has unwittingly (and quite unwillingly) become a "casualty" of this "conflict", same as another Federation ship before it) Kirk blows up the computers to force them to actually face the consequences of war, telling them it's up to them to make peace or suffer the brutality for real.

* Briefly mentioned in ''[[LightNovel/HaiyoreNyarkoSan Haiyoru! Nyarani]]''. During a cooking segment, Nyarko mentions the difficulties of acquiring an "ingredient" due the "[[SpaceX Space Washington Treaty]]", then quickly realizes [[SayingTooMuch she said too much]].

* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': It's considered very wrong to attack [[TheMedic medicine cats]] or [[ChildrenAreInnocent kits]]. These are effectively mortal sins, for which the offender is likely to end up in the Clans' version of Hell (and will probably not even get a funeral). Killing in battle is (usually) frowned upon.[[note]]The goal is to send them home crying for their mamas, not to tear their throats out.[[/note]] Attacking elders is also usually ''verboten'', but as they are retired warriors, they may be combatants, especially during [[RapePillageAndBurn camp raids.]]

* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': It's considered very wrong to attack [[TheMedic medicine cats]] or [[ChildrenAreInnocent kits]] (to the point that those who have done so are likely to go to their version of Hell), and killing in battle is (usually) frowned upon.[[note]]The goal is to send them home crying for their mamas, not to tear their throats out.[[/note]] Attacking elders is also usually ''verboten'', but as they are retired warriors, they may be combatants, especially during [[RapePillageAndBurn camp raids.]]

* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': It's considered very wrong to attack [[TheMedic medicine cats]] or [[ChildrenAreInnocent kits]] (to the point that those who have done so may be denied proper funeral rites when they die), and killing in battle is (usually) frowned upon.[[note]]The goal is to send them home crying for their mamas, not to tear their throats out.[[/note]] Attacking elders is also usually ''verboten'', but as they are retired warriors, they may be combatants, especially during [[RapePillageAndBurn camp raids.]]

* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': It's considered very wrong to attack [[TheMedic medicine cats]] or [[ChildrenAreInnocent kits]] (to the point that those who have done so may be denied proper funeral rites when they die), and killing in battle is (usually) frowned upon. The goal is to send them home crying for their mamas, not to tear their throats out.

* Creator/SergeyLukyanenko's ''Literature/NightWatchSeries'' books have the Grand Treaty, which is meant to enforce the balance between Light and Dark, as the last time Great Light and Dark Others went at each other they nearly destroyed the world. Only the most basic spells are allowed to be used on a daily basis. Attempts to use higher-order spells, such as healing a human with cancer would result in the other side receiving permission for an equivalent spell (e.g. cursing someone with cancer) to keep the balance. Many young Light Others are disillusioned with this neutrality. The Light Others have organizations in major cities around the world called Night Watches (i.e. they watch those who mainly act at night), while the Dark Others have created the Day Watches (to keep an eye on the Light Others). There is also a third power called the Inquisition, usually involved in only the biggest issues involving the violation of the Treaty. The Inquisition is composed of Light and Dark Others who get sick of the constant {{Xanatos Gambit}}s done by both sides and say ScrewThisImOuttaHere. Maintaining the balance is even more important in modern times, as this also keeps up TheMasquerade. Not even the Others can survive if the {{Muggle}}s find out the truth and decide to destroy them.

* The Vatican Treaty of ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion''. The most plot-important part of the rules set on it is that they disallow any country from having more than three active Evangelion Units at any single time, no matter how many they have available. In order to appease this treaty, Unit-02 is put in cryogenic suspension for part of the film, [[spoiler:making Asuka the pilot of Unit-03 instead of Toji]] and setting up a ChekhovsGun that is fired [[spoiler:when Mari decides to GundamJack it and use it to battle Zeruel.]]

* Creator/SergeyLukyanenko's ''Literature/NightWatch'' books have the Grand Treaty, which is meant to enforce the balance between Light and Dark, as the last time Great Light and Dark Others went at each other they nearly destroyed the world. Only the most basic spells are allowed to be used on a daily basis. Attempts to use higher-order spells, such as healing a human with cancer would result in the other side receiving permission for an equivalent spell (e.g. cursing someone with cancer) to keep the balance. Many young Light Others are disillusioned with this neutrality. The Light Others have organizations in major cities around the world called Night Watches (i.e. they watch those who mainly act at night), while the Dark Others have created the Day Watches (to keep an eye on the Light Others). There is also a third power called the Inquisition, usually involved in only the biggest issues involving the violation of the Treaty. The Inquisition is composed of Light and Dark Others who get sick of the constant {{Xanatos Gambit}}s done by both sides and say ScrewThisImOuttaHere. Maintaining the balance is even more important in modern times, as this also keeps up TheMasquerade. Not even the Others can survive if the {{Muggle}}s find out the truth and decide to destroy them.

In ''Roleplay/EmbersInTheDusk'', the Ultramar region and the Tau are in a state of near constant war, but they did agree on a set of rules limiting damage. Both are aware, after all, that there is a good chance they will find themselves in an EnemyMine situation tomorrow.

* In ''Videogame/{{Freespace}} 2'' there is the Beta-Aquilae Convention, a general treaty that both establishes the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance, as well as establishing rules of warfare, including specific clauses that protect civilians during times of war. Because the provisions of the Convention form the alliance between the humans and the Vasudans, the anti-Vasudan Neo-Terran Front rejects the whole thing, including the provisions to protect civilians. Several missions in the game involve you protecting civilian ships from attack by the NTF, and midway through the game, while flying undercover as a member of the NTF, [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten suspicious NTF pilots will demand you shoot down a transport carrying civilians to prove your cover story.]] In another mission,, one of your fellow pilots wonders why he should play by the rules when the enemy won't.

** The Treaty of Farixen is the law that prevents races from constantly making dreadnoughts (ships with kilometer-length railguns) in order to prevent undue damage to the galaxy as a whole in times of war, but also the ratio of ships permitted by each military. The ratio that for every five ships build by the turians for their Peacekeeper forces, the other Council races the asari and salarians (plus humanity as of the end of the first game) are permitted three, while protectorate races such as hanar and volus are only allowed one. However, it says nothing about [[ExactWords non-dreadnought ships with equivalent firepower to dreadnoughts]]. Humanity [[LoopholeAbuse exploits this]] building carrier ships whose fighters add up to equivalent firepower to dreadnoughts (which apparently nobody had ever thought of); in the third game it's mentioned that the quarians were able to similarly get around the Treaty by equipping their civilian-use Liveships with dreadnought-scale weaponry (and they never signed it).

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

Oddly, any use of this trope tends to result in the FamilyUnfriendlyAesop that making war less destructive makes it more ''likely;'' without heinous consequences for conflict, people are more willing to enter it.