History Main / NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught

This sometimes takes the form of an admonishment not to cheat on an upcoming game/test/whatever, which comes so out-of-the-blue that it can only be interpreted as an ''encouragement'' to cheat. Compare CouldSayItBut. and SteppingOutForAQuickCupOfCoffee. Take it further and you realize RealLife history is WrittenByTheWinners.

* In ''Anime/{{Charlotte}}'', he got away with it for quite a while, but Yu eventually falls under the suspicion of cheating. To make matters worse for him, Nao has him on camera cheating. He runs off in a panic, but is caught by Joujirou, who has SuperSpeed.

** This is invoked in Part 4 when Josuke challenges Rohan to a dice game, while planning on cheating using a shapeshifting ([[AmbiguouslyHuman possible]]) alien disguised as a pair of dice. Unfortunately, said alien turns out to be terrible at being subtle about giving Josuke good rolls, and Rohan quickly catches on that he's cheating. Fortunately, he's more angry at himself for not being able to figure out ''how'' Josuke is cheating, and allows him to continue on the condition that if he does figure it out, Josuke [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame forfeits one of his fingers.]]

* ''Manga/SoulEater'': [[HighlyVisibleNinja Black*Star]] tries to peep on Tsubaki while she's bathing. He being who he is, yells, and gets a [[AmusingInjuries shuriken in the forehead.]] The thing is, Tsubaki wasn't mad at him spying on her, but at him not being able to conceal his presence. [[spoiler: This makes the discovery of Tsubaki being [[CovertPervert the most lustful out of the group]] a bit more sensible and a lot more amusing.]]

** According to the official rules, if a player lands on property owned by another player, the property owner has until the ''next'' player after that rolls the dice to demand rent. After that, the player gets away scot free. "[[AvertedTrope No sneaks]]" is a popular house rule that removes this clause; if the property owner suddenly remembers the oversight later, they are still owed rent.

** Heidenfeld - Kerins, Dublin 1973. White castled twice, even though this is flagrantly against the rules, which state that a player can only castle if neither the king nor the rook have moved before. Amazingly, Black let this stand, and Tim Krabbé has [[http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/records/ actually listed the match as a record]] (scroll down to "greatest number of castlings"), even though that move would never fly if both sides were paying attention.

* Steve Jackson Games' conspiracy-theory themed card game ''TabletopGame/{{Illuminati}}'' has a set of "cheating" rules in which almost anything goes (e.g. stealing money from the bank, misstating the powers of your cards, etc) as long as you don't get caught (if you ''do'' get caught, the only penalty is that you have to undo that specific cheating attempt). It is recommended that you play this version of the game only with "''very'' good friends or people you will never see again."

* In UNO!, you are not allowed to play a Wild Draw Four card unless you have no cards in your hand of the color ''OR THE NUMBER'' of the faceup card on the table. Attempt to do so, and you won't be penalized, unless another player calls you for it. (Which they sometimes do just to look at your hand.) Even better, the challenger can be penalized for an improper challenge.

* ''Coup'' uses this as a game mechanic, combined with bluffing. Each player has two cards, representing their abilities[[note]]the Assassin, for example, allows you to pay 3 credits to attack another player; the Contessa allows you to block an Assassination attempt; and so on[[/note]]. However, the cards are hidden from view, and as a result, you can ''claim'' that your two cards are any other card in the game. If, on the other hand, you ''claim'' to have a card and you're called out on it[[note]]"I'm going to pay 3 credits and assassinate you." "I don't believe you have an assassin, prove it."[[/note]], someone is going to be upset: if you can back up your claim, then the person that challenged you loses one of their cards (losing both cards means you lose the game), but if you ''can't'' back up your claim, ''you'' lose a card. This can result in standoffs, where one person initiates an action and another person blocks it by claiming they have a card: should the first person accept the block, or demand proof of the other person's claim? Good players can bluff and keep people guessing about their cards the whole game. ''Great'' players can claim they have ''all five cards'' in their two card hand and succeed on sheer audacity and grit.

* ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'': Official Hard 8 policy is that any rule in one of their games stands as written unless an official erratum regarding it has been issued. Playtesters sometimes insert deliberate errors into games to create broken rules for players to take advantage of, until Hard 8 catches on and issues an erratum. One storyline centres around Bob acquiring a marked copy of ''Cattlepunk'' that identifies all these 'special rules', and then badly overplaying his hand.
* ''ComicBook/StarWarsDarthVader''. Palpatine tells the competing rivals for Darth Vader's position to not kill each other...or if they do, to make sure he remains unaware of it. Vader however dumps the first rival he kills at the Emperor's feet, sending the not so subtle message that he will not be replaced. When someone finally tells the Emperor all about Vader's scheming, he's actually impressed because Vader has shown he's fully embraced the Dark Side.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'', the title character remarks about his stealing food from the marketplace, "you're only in trouble if you get caught!". Which segues into this little exchange:

* ''Perfect Harmony'': A group of BoardingSchool students sneak out after curfew and get spotted by the CoolTeacher who admonishes them ''not'' for breaking curfew, but on getting caught. Said teacher encourages them to experience what's out there, but warns "Next time... [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Don't. Get. Caught.]]" Unfortunately, on his next attempt, the main character does get caught by the [[BitchInSheepsClothing not-as-cool]] school principal.

* In ''Film/SkiSchool'', the "good guys" Ski team must beat the Big Bad and other innocent bystander competitors to stay on the slopes, so they pull shenanigans like pouring oil on the snow to make their competitors slip and fall, or have buxom ladies flash passing skiers to make their competitors slip and fall. High fives all around.

* In the movie ''Film/SpiesLikeUs'' one of the two "heroes" (to use the term loosely) managed to pressure the other into helping him cheat on their government promotion tests, through good, old-fashioned Chevy Chase-style chuztpah. When discovered, in order to cover themselves, they worked together by reflex to cover each other. The CIA test givers were so impressed that they gave them an immediate promotion to field agents. (Of course, this was a plot to throw expendable agents into the field as a diversion for more nefarious activities ... but the trope connection is solid.)

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' Assassins' Guild, student assassins are given a list of places which are out-of-bounds. This is defined ''not'' as places they can't go, but as places they can't be seen by a master, which gives them lots of practice at the stealth skills Guild members are required to have. Even better, the Assassin's Guild Diary states that any boy ''not'' caught being out of bounds at least once per year gets detention unless they can prove that they were there but were not caught. It's considered a pass on your final exam if you assassinate your examiner -- though, considering he's an experienced assassin himself, you're advised to be ''very sure'' that you will succeed before trying. Trying and failing will result in immediate exam failure and loss of privileges. Like breathing.

-->'''Moody:''' Cheating's a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and always has been....I've been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as high-minded as he likes, but you can bet old Karkaroff and Maxime won't be. They want to win. They want to beat Dumbledore. They'd like to prove he's only human.

** This was pretty much Miles Vorkosigan's ''modus operandi'' until ''Literature/{{Memory}}'', when he got caught and it blew up in his face. He tried it again when courting Ekaterin in ''Literature/ACivilCampaign'', and it blew up in his face again.

* The Drow (see Tabletop Games below) deserve a mention here as well, since R. A. Salvatore's [[Literature/TheDarkElfTrilogy Drizzt]] books did a lot to codify that picture of their society. A quote from ''Homeland'' sums things up quite nicely: "Only twenty-two of the original twenty-five in Drizzt's class remained. One had been dismissed -- and subsequently executed -- for a foiled assassination attempt on a higher-ranking student, a second had been killed in the practice arena, and a third had died in his bunk of natural causes -- for a dagger in the heart quite naturally ends one's life."
* A text by Brazilian author Creator/LuisFernandoVerissimo has a honeymoon couple playing paper ''Tabletopgame/{{Battleship}}''. Once the man fails to strike her aircraft carrier a second time, he finds out the wife ''split the carrier in five pieces and spread it across the board''. The result is a divorce...
* Sigurd makes this suggestion to Hal in ''Literature/{{Brotherband}}''. Hal is severely undermanned, and takes his advice to win the competition.
* In ''Literature/HonorHarrington'', it's mentioned that Saganami Island Naval Academy's computer network has a backdoor that allows enterprising students access to a restricted tactical database for study. Getting caught isn't punished (a student brings up a restricted battle report to Honor during one of her classes), but the instructors on the Island quietly keep track of the backdoor's access log, and look favorably on students who are sharp enough to find the backdoor and study the restricted materials.
* There's a warped version of the ''Literature/TheTortoiseAndTheHare'' where the tortoise goes up against a cocky deer who makes fun of him for being slow. So the tortoise challenges the deer to a race, and enlists the help of his ''many'' identical brothers who hide all along the way and make the deer believe the tortoise is constantly overtaking him.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]], the antagonist, Tzim-Sha, is participating in a ritual hunt in order for him to be named the next leader of his species. He's not supposed to have any weapons or equipment, but he smuggles in a data coil to help him locate his target, as well as a short-range teleporter.
* ''Series/TheHexer'': Vesimir decides to help Geralt survive the Trial of Mountains, precisely because there is no-one there to check if everything was set fairly.

* A subversion sometimes happens in the form of the "Dusty Finish", named after Wrestling/DustyRhodes who used to book this sort of finish ''all the time''. In this case, the trope is played straight until the match is finished and one wrestler (often the face) is declared the winner, only for a second referee to come out and inform the first referee that the face did something to cause a disqualfication (usually throwing the heel over the top rope, which was illegal at the time), causing that referee to reverse the decision. Because the ''face'' is usually on the losing end of the Dusty Finish, this practice is widely hated among wrestling fans. The most infamous example occurred in the Wrestling/{{A|mericanWrestlingAssociation}}WA, when Wrestling/HulkHogan apparently won the title from Nick Bockwinkel, only for AWA president Stanley Blackburn to personally reverse the decision because Hogan threw Bockwinkel over the top rope. The fans nearly rioted as a result, Hogan left the AWA for Wrestling/{{Vince McMahon}}'s WWF, and the rest is history.
* It can also happen taking away a title change without the win. In one Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA title match Dusty Rhodes had seemingly beat Wrestling/RicFlair for the title despite interference by Wrestling/ArnAnderson and a ref bump to Tommy Young. A second ref came out to count Rhodes' pinfall, but Young overturned it on the ''next'' week's show, saying he had been prepared to call for Flair's DQ as soon as Anderson entered the ring, but hadn't been able to.
* This also happens retroactively, usually when a title change or other "major" event happens around the time of a contract ending or injury/suspension or the like, and is explained as "going over the rules/results more closely." One of the most infamous involved the Rockers (Wrestling/ShawnMichaels and Marty Janetty) defeating the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) for the tag-team championships. Unfortunately, during the 2-out-of-3 contest, one of the ring ropes broke, which led to an ugly mess of a match that would be virtually impossible to clean up for television; between that and the then-WWF firing Neidhart shortly thereafter, the titles were given back with the explanation of an "obscure rule" involving broken ring equipment, and was ''never even referenced'' on TV as if the Foundation never lost them.[[note]]The match is on the ''Shawn Michaels: Heartbreak & Triumph'' DVD for those wondering what raw footage of a pretty bad match looks like, as they didn't even try to clean it up. At one point this was sort of a holy grail of wrestling video, as everyone assumed that the [=WWF/E=] had buried or destroyed the tape.[[/note]]
* Wrestling/BobbyHeenan basically made his whole career with this strategy. Most noteable would be him holding down the Wrestling/UltimateWarrior's leg during the IC match with Wrestling/RickRude at Wrestlemania 5.
* This is how Wrestling/TheRock managed to retain his Intercontinental title against Wrestling/KenShamrock at the 1998 Wrestling/RoyalRumble. The Rock had used a pair of brass knuckles on Shamrock when the ref's back was turned, then stuffed the knuckles into ''Shamrock's'' trunks. When the hit wasn't enough to keep Shamrock down, Shamrock hit Rock with a belly to belly suplex and won the title.... until Rock complained to the referee that Shamrock had hit ''him'' with the brass knuckles, and when the referee searched Shamrock, he found the knuckles and reversed the decision.

* In Formula 1 it is commonly acknowledged that everybody is at least trying to interpretate the rules creatively, so that even if they violate the spirit of the rules they stay within the letter. Teams will also commit outright cheating if they think they can get away with it, such as by making the violation either undetectable or too hard to prove. There are also violations where, even if they get caught, it may be possible to quibble their way out of being punished for it.
* A famous baseball player commenting, "If you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough". It certainly seems to be a time-honored tradition in sports.

* The Baltimore Orioles of the 1890's. They pretty much stretched the rules of baseball of time like taffy. A short list of the things they did: having the ground keeping crew alter the field in various ways to enable Baltimore's batters to play "small ball," hiding a ball within the outfield grass, grabbing onto the base runner's belt, putting dirt and pebbles in shoes, throwing equipment at base runners, tripping base runners, shoving base runners, and hip checks on base runners. As others have mentioned many times, this was not considered cheating, but playing smart baseball. Their manager at the time called it "playing baseball as she was meant to be played" though John [=McGraw=], their pugnacious 3rd baseman more truthfully called it "artful kicking." They inspired other baseball teams, even to this day.

** Bodybuilding is rife with performance enhancing drugs such as testosterone, anabolic androgenic steroids, human growth hormone, and insulin which allow competitors to pack on more muscle than would be possible through diet and exercise alone. Since bodybuilders are also graded on their conditioning—meaning the shedding of fat and water-weight before a show to better reveal the texture of and separations between their muscles—they will use diuretics to get strategically dehydrated for the much-desired hard and dry look. Drugs are bodybuilding's open secret. The official position of the International Federation of Bodybuilding is that they comply with the standards of the World Anti-Doping Agency, and they will sanction any bodybuilder who is caught using [=PEDs=]. Because of that, if a journalist or documentarian asks an active pro bodybuilder if they use such drugs, they have to deny it and claim that they got their physique from only diet and supplements. Despite this, many famous former and retired bodybuilders such as Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger and Dorian Yates have disclosed their own drug use, and the fact that the overwhelming majority of IFBB pro bodybuilders are "enhanced". The attitude throughout the "Golden Era" of the 60s, 70s, and 80s was, "don't ask, don't tell". The Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990 caused a scare because it established criminal penalties for coaches or promoters who provided steroids to athletes, no longer just the athletes themselves; for that reason, 1990 became the first and only year in which the Mr. Olympia and Arnold Classic competitions took a serious anti-drug stance and tested their contestants for anabolics. This proved very unpopular due to Shawn Ray being stripped of his 1st place Arnold Classic title when it turned out he’d failed a drug test[[note]]he'd recover from that setback by subsequently taking 3rd at the Olympia[[/note]], and all the physiques on the Mr. Olympia stage later that year being "off" because everyone jumped off their steroid cycles early in order to pass the testing. As it turned out, bodybuilding managed to fly under the government's radar compared to more mainstream sports such as Baseball and Professional Wrestling (The WBF, Wrestling/VinceMcMahon's short-lived attempt to start a new bodybuilding organization to rival the IFBB, failed partially due to the pressure Vince felt to enforce drug testing), and as soon as the IFBB realized that they weren’t under serious government scrutiny, they quietly stopped testing for anabolics. The rules on the books still say that they reserve the right to test athletes at any time for banned substances, but in practice they never do. If anything, the Mass Monster Era that we've been in since the 90s has gone in the direction of increasing drug use as the size game becomes more and more competitive.

** Natural bodybuilding shows are supposed to be [=PED=]-free, since they actually have mandatory drug testing and their standard of size and conditioning takes into account that these guys are not realistically going to look as huge or shredded as IFBB pros. Despite this there are still shenanigans, especially because anybody who uses doping and gets away with it will be going against guys who actually ''are'' all-natural. It is possible to fool a polygraph test, and the commonly used urine test is not the most sensitive or accurate method. There’s also the problem that testing is only right before the competition instead of year-round, which allows a cheater to spend most of the year getting bigger through doping, and then stop with enough time left until testing day for the traces to leave their stystem. So they may pass as drug-free on competition day, but a lot of them aren’t necessarily natural year-round. Unfortunately it would be very difficult to improve the quality or frequency of testing, since an IOC grade drug test costs about $1,000, and natural bodybuilding competitions simply don’t have the budget to pay for those. Some fans and commentators believe the "fake natty" problem is so widespread that it’s making a joke out of natural bodybuilding.

* This trope is bread and water for a certain kind of TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}. In the game of that name it's actually an explicit rule.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' officially prohibits players from even ''knowing'' the rules. In the game universe, there is a security-clearance scheme that uses the light spectrum, starting with infrared and going all the way up to ultraviolet. These clearances (most characters are red-cleared) govern everything -- and we do mean ''everything'' the character is allowed to access, read or tread upon. The very rules [[InterfaceScrew are available only at ultraviolet clearance]]. Being caught with or demonstrating knowledge of anything above the character's clearance is grounds for summary execution. Therefore, if a player metagames blatantly (such as "I'm going to hide behind a rock, because it will give a half-cover penalty to my attacker"), the proper response for a ''Paranoia'' GM is to ask in character as Friend Computer: "You are red clearance, Citizen. How did you come by this knowledge?" Then wait as the other characters fall over each other to execute the errant character for treason. It's that sort of game. With five backup clones, this in practice is more a [[DeathIsCheap warning to the player]] than a [[BoltOfDivineRetribution bolt of purple lightning]]. The player-facing (red-clearance) sections of the rulebook do cheerfully suggest to players that if they're going to read the ultraviolet rules (as it is universally assumed they will), at least keep their metagaming subtle, as in ''Paranoia'', part of the point of the game is trying to invoke NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught on pretty much everything. On the other hand, published adventure modules, though also given the ultraviolet-clearance conceit, often have much more sincere disclaimers to players begging them to not read the adventure so as to not have the surprises spoiled for them.

* ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest V'': At the very beginning of the game, you have to get a perfect score on a multiple choice exam of unusual questions. Luckily, you can look at another test-taker's answers as long as you don't let the resident anti-cheating robot see you.

* Aran Ryan in ''VideoGame/PunchOut (Wii)''. He's headbutted Mac, bounced off of the ring's ropes like a slingshot, used his elbows, used a pair of gloves like a flail, and hid horseshoes inside his gloves. All he needs to do is [[GroinAttack kick Mac in the groin]] and he'll have broken every rule in the book. And for some reason the referee ''still'' doesn't disqualify him for this.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'' episode 5 has a [[BlackComedy darkly comical]] version of this trope, with Millie complaning that she's not allowed to participate in the Wrath Circle's Pain Games any longer because, as her mother reminds her, the last time she did she become personally responsible for nine separate funerals. At this Millie reveals that she's actually less miffed about being banned than the fact that her sister, Sallie May, is still allowed to compete. Millie's mother tries to reason with Millie that Sallie doesn't have a neighborhood head count, to which Millie insists that she ''so'' does. Cue Sallie walking by in the background with a corpse, shouting out in a sing-song voice that "It doesn't count if they don't find the bodyyy~"

** Generally the Court uses visible and mediocre security measures which kids can and regularly ''do'' hack, jam or bypass on their inevitable forays into the Court. While quietly employing a very advanced, undetectable and unexpected in its work tracking system (of course, this ran smoothly only until one young MadScientist discovered it while hacking around their network) and/or beings that look innocuous, but are more than capable of stopping most troubles into which students could possibly get.

** Eric Cartman once posed as a teacher for a bunch of hooligan teens. Instead of teaching them all that normal stuff, he taught them to cheat at tests. [[ShoutOut While dressed as Edward James Olmos]] in ''Stand and Deliver''. [[BeamMeUpScotty "How do I reach these keeeds!?"]] And to top it off, he continually referenced [[TakeThat Bill Belichek and the 2007 Patriots]], claiming that the moral of that situation was ''not'' "Don't cheat" - but rather "If you got to where you were by cheating, ''keep cheating''!"
** In "Sexual Healing", Butters and Kyle attend a class to "cure" themselves of their sex addictions (as the WHO named it a disease after many reports of celebrities' infidelities hit the news), but the class doesn't aim to cure their addictions, but rather teaches them ways to prevent themselves from getting caught.

* Smuggling was notorious for this in the Early Modern era, to the point that the original "tea party" was in response a tariff ''cut'' putting American smugglers out of a job. The larger problem came from the tariff exemption granted to the East India Company, a corporation owned by the crown and nobility. Because their tea wasn't taxed, they could set up tea houses in the colonies that could undercut the Colonial tea houses and drive them out of business. While smugglers lost their jobs, they didn't generally live in the colonies full time... but the local business owners and their employees did, and their discontent led to the Boston Tea Party. It is nevertheless a historical irony that the tea dumped into the harbor was dumped because it was not taxed. Especially ironic that modern anti-tax activists named their movement after it.

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Naval_Conference Washington Naval Conference]] laid down strict limitations on the construction of warships, with the idea of preventing an out-and-out, ruinously expensive battleship arms race (similar to the one Britain and Germany engaged in prior to UsefulNotes/WorldWarI; the war had barely ended and Britain, the US and Japan were already in the opening stages of a new three-way arms race, with massive battleship programs planned out that none of them could actually afford[[note]]Japan's program in particular would've had a cost exceeding the entire economic output of the nation[[/note]]). Of course, the nations that didn't [[LoopholeAbuse wiggle through the loopholes]] (it's 10,000 tons and it carries 15 fast-firing main guns, but it's still classified as an innocent-sounding and unrestricted "light cruiser" just because the guns are six-inchers) decided "screw tonnage limitations!" and started laying down ships that exceeded the tonnage limitations by 25 to 40%. Special mention goes to the Japanese, who categorically denied Western rumors that they [[ExactWords were building forty- to fifty-thousand ton battleships]] (when the limit was 35,000 tons). The battleships in question turned out to be the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamato_class_battleship ''Yamato'' class]], which weighed in at ''65,000 tons''. Nobody outside Japan knew their exact weight until ''after'' UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. In fact very few people ''inside'' Japan knew either. Even in the Japanese Navy. In 1944, Admiral Takeo Kurita didn't actually know the specifications of ''Yamato'' even though it was ''his own flagship''. In postwar interviews he said that he'd figured the main guns (officially designated as "special type 40cm") were probably actually 45cm (17.7 inch) bore diameter. They were actually 46cm (18.1 inch).

** Japan also had to scrap some Kongo class battlecruisers to comply with the treaty. They instead demilitarized them, stripping them of their weapons and armor and used one as the Emperor's personal transport. Only, they had kept the armor and guns, and put them right back on before the war.
** Similarly, the Italians relied heavily on outright cheating to bypass the treaty, but turned out to just not be as good at it as the Japanese. Prior to UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, other nations' naval officials were astonished at how Italy managed to build cruisers that were a good 50% faster than comparable ships of other nations. It turned out the way Italy managed that was to send the ships on their shakedown cruises without carrying such minor items as gun turrets, thus making them come in (barely) below the 10,000 ton limit. In actual combat conditions, the added weight from actually carrying weapons meant that Italy's ships, far from the speed demons they seemed to be pre-war, were actually ''slower'' than their British and American counterparts.

** The British had argued that the treaty tonnage should not include things like boiler water, since this would be an advantage for navies that didn't need long range ships (such as the Italian navy, who had little interests outside the Medeteranian), while the British navy had to guard an empire that stretched across the globe. They were granted this consession... then introduced a heavy, water based torpedo defense on the Nelson-class battleships, with a little tap to the boilers so that its weight didn't have to count towards the displacement.
** Another possible British cheat are the County-class cruisers. Built up to the 10000 ton limit, these ships had very little armor. Most pre-war photos show the ships riding rather high in the water. When war broke out, these ships were given war-time emergency refits of armor. This didn't seem to hinder the ships much, and in fact they now seemed to ride normally deep, almost as if the ships had been designed with this extra armor in mind.
** The French found themselves needing more cruisers than the treaty allowed them. Enter the Surcouf, long ranged and with the 8 inch guns of a heavy cruiser... on a submarine, which was not limited by the treaty.

*** Though aircraft carriers were arguably the most ballsy example of cheating to begin with, the treaty also regulated the total tonnage of carriers each navy could have and it was intended most sides would only get two or three full-sized carriers. However, there was a loophole that if they modified carriers to improve seaworthiness, they could still post them at the original tonnage. Thus, it was tradition to launch carriers in a barely seaworthy state, then subsequently improved to actually be useful. When that failed, it was custom to outright lie about tonnage. The US was able to use this to eek out enough tonnage to construct ''five'' additional fleet carriers on top of their planned two while Japan was able to muster four on their own planned two. Japan also tried to build a fleet of light carries (which were completely unregulated) to get around this rule, but the loophole was patched after they built one.
* Some people actually believe that rules and laws in general are meaningless unless enforced, whereby breaking a rule, leaving no evidence that a rule was broken, and not getting caught in the act is as good as obeying that rule. (Unless, of course, the rule/law was put in place because of the long-term concequences of breaking it. [[TooDumbToLive Or for your own safety.]]). Examples are Third World countries where laws are often similar to those in developed nations, but since law enforcement tends to be weak/corrupt, only a minority of offenders are arrested, sometimes selectively.
* If crimes are viewed as "cheating" at life, this is basically the attitude of most criminals. Especially if their motive is profit rather than revenge or just sociopathy. Not only does a thief risk going to prison, they don't get to keep what they stole, either.[[note]]Not that they were ever going to in the first place.[[/note]] If they're caught stealing something (or afterward caught possessing the stolen property) it'll be AllForNothing. But there are always criminals who are undeterred by prison time and other punishment, because they expect to never get caught.

* The sport of speed walking is made of this. The entire concept of the sport is that the athletes must move as fast as possible while always keeping one foot on the ground, as moving where both feet are not touching the ground is running. However, there are as many, if not more rules limiting the actions of the refs (such as standing a certain distance away, must always be standing upright, cannot use cameras or playback the race to find cheaters). Due to this, speed walkers try to cheat as much as possible without being seen by the ref, as even normal speed cameras reveal that for your average speed walker their feet are not touching the ground 10% of the time.

* ''Literature/TheWitchOfKnightcharm'': The rookie witch Lily cheats during orientation at an evil WizardingSchool by taking magical equipment from older students and also by having her friend, the seer Brynne, look into the future to see where the orientation course's death traps will be and then tell Lily how to avoid them. The protagonist Emily realizes that Lauren, an older student serving as a proctor, knows at least knows about the equipment but refuses to do anything about it. Emily realizes that cheaters won't be disqualified unless they're really blatant about it, and she thus has to take on Lily despite her unfair advantages.

** Some HouseRules let the Banker help himself to as much free money as he can get away with ([[MorallyBankruptBanker for added realism]]), with various creative punishments if they're caught. In games that don't use such a rule, [[HumansAreBastards the Banker just has to be that much sneakier about it]].

** Several times, Yumeko catches on to how her opponent cheats, but instead of getting mad [[ThrillSeeker she simply thinks of it as a way to make the gamble more fun]]. In fact, Yumeko just as often uses that knowledge to turn her opponent's cheat against them.

** The AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil, and especially [[StudentCouncilPresident Kirari]], practically encourage the students to cheat without being caught. Even when students are caught cheating, they're often allowed to continue playing so long as they don't use the same cheat twice.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'' episode 5 has a darkly comical version of this trope, with Millie complaning that she's not allowed to participate in the Wrath Circle's Pain Games any longer because, as her mother reminds her, the last time she did she become personally responsible for nine separate funerals. At this Millie reveals that she's actually less miffed about being banned than the fact that her sister, Sallie May, is still allowed to compete. Millie's mother tries to reason with Millie that Sallie doesn't have a neighborhood head count, to which Millie insists that she ''so'' does. Cue Sallie walking by in the background with a corpse, shouting out in a sing-song voice that "It doesn't count if they don't find the bodyyy~"

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', during the Chunin exams, the ninjas-in-training are given a written test with the unusual rule that they cannot be caught cheating more than four times. So, needless to say, all of the skilled students discreetly use their ninja skills to do so without getting caught. Which is, of course, [[HiddenPurposeTest the entire point]], as the test is absurdly difficult (Sakura is the only one who actually knew any answers) and two planted fake students were given the answers ahead of time. Naruto himself, however, unwittingly engaged in LoopholeAbuse due to the aforementioned nature of the exam. [[spoiler:Since he never ''attempted'' to cheat, he was never caught, and thus passed the exam on those grounds -- even though he never even ''tried'' to answer one question. In addition, the rules had been laid out that an student loses points for wrong answers, ''not'' that they earn points for correct answers. So a blank sheet of paper counts for full credit. The whole thing was in fact a SecretTestOfCharacter: the examiners were testing the candidates' espionage skills, and then with the all-or-nothing last question, their willingness to take on a SuicideMission (accepting the opportunity to answer the question in the first place is a passing grade).]]

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', during the Chunin exams, the ninjas-in-training are given a written test with the unusual rule that they cannot be caught cheating more than four times. So, needless to say, all of the skilled students discreetly use their ninja skills to do so without getting caught. Which is, of course, [[HiddenPurposeTest the entire point]], as the test is absurdly difficult (Sakura is the only one who actually knew any answers) and two planted fake students were given the answers ahead of time. Naruto himself, however, unwittingly engaged in LoopholeAbuse due to the aforementioned nature of the exam. [[spoiler:Since he never ''attempted'' to cheat, he was never caught, and thus passed the exam on those grounds -- even though he never even ''tried'' to answer one question. In addition, the rules had been laid out that an student loses points for wrong answers, ''not'' that they earn points for correct answers. So a blank sheet of paper counts for full credit. The whole thing was in fact a SecretTestOfCharacter: the examiners were testing the candidates' espionage skills, and then with the all-or-nothing last question, their willingness to take on a SuicideMission (accepting the opportunity to answer the question in the first place is a passing grade).]]
* ''Manga/SoulEater'': [[HighlyVisibleNinja Black*Star]] tries to peep on Tsubaki while she's bathing. He being who he is, yells, and gets a [[AmusingInjuries shuriken in the forehead.]] The thing is, Tsubaki wasn't mad at him spying on her, but at him not being able to conceal his presence. [[spoiler: This makes the discovery of Tsubaki being [[CovertPervert the most lustful out of the group]] a bit more sensible and a lot more amusing.]]

* The first rule of the Games Club in ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': Win at all costs. Including using marked cards, bribing your opponents, pulling a TwinSwitch...

* ''Manga/{{Toriko}}''[='=]s Gourmet Casino arc lives and dies on this trope. Coco's future-seeing abilities allow him to effortlessly win practically all of the casino's games. Livebearer, the arc's BigBad, on the other hand, runs a game that is designed to give him every advantage he can think of.
* ''Manga/{{Kurosagi}}'': Kurosaki isn't afraid to waltz around telling potential clients he's a professional swindler because no one is able to prove it.
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', the Foxy Pirates take this one step further. It's only cheating if the ''referee'' catches you, and since the referee is a member of the Foxy Pirates...

* In ''Anime/{{Charlotte}}'', he got away with it for quite a while, but Yu eventually falls under the suspicion of cheating. To make matters worse for him, Nao has him on camera cheating. He runs off in a panic, but is caught by Joujirou, who has SuperSpeed.
* Used very darkly in ''Manga/{{Gals}}'': a [[PaedoHunt pedophile]] teacher is harassing one of Sayo's friends, using ImAManICantHelpIt as an excuse. When the girl calls him out on his immorality, the teacher smugly answers that in modern society, all that counts is keeping up a respectable appearance and if nobody has proof that he committed a crime, he didn't commit a crime. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for him, Sayo was hiding nearby [[CaughtOnTape with a recorder in her hands.]]]]
* ''Manga/KenganAshura'''s titular Kengan battles have one restriction for the competitors: you can't bring weapons. This is enforced by a security search and pat-down before the match. Thing is, the restriction also only really applies to that pat-down; if a weapon makes it through undetected, it can be used without breaking the rules, as openly as you'd like. Technically, it's still a violation, but reporting it would imply the opponent failed to notice a cheater in the patdown stage and is therefore a fool, and it would imply the Kengan organizer responsible for the pat-down failed to do their job right and therefore call the organization into question, so it's generally accepted to never call it out.
* Invoked in a chapter of ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'', where Fujiwara is found using marked cards. She calls out this trope by name as justification for her actually being very clever, while the others quietly point out that this doesn't really apply because she ''did'' get caught.

-->-- '''HK-47,''' ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''

* In ''LightNovel/NoGameNoLife'''s world, everything is settled by a game. Whether it's a business deal, or for the throne of a kingdom, you must win at a game. One of the divine laws of the land states that getting caught cheating is an instant loss. Protagonist Sora instantly realizes this means that cheating is fine if you don't get caught. Using magic is considered cheating, but human beings cannot detect magic, so members of magical races tend to win games against humans.

** This is openly averted in Part 6: the Marilyn Manson Stand allows its user to freely cheat in any bet, while it will immediately recognize the opponents's cheating and attack them - and it's completely invincible while doing so. The drawback is that, unlike the D'Arby brothers's Stands, defeating the user allows the victims to retake what was stolen.

* Aran Ryan in ''[[VideoGame/PunchOut Punch Out Wii]]''. He's headbutted Mac, bounced off of the ring's ropes like a slingshot, used his elbows, used a pair of gloves like a flail, and hid horseshoes inside his gloves. All he needs to do is [[GroinAttack kick Mac in the groin]] and he'll have broken every rule in the book. And for some reason the referee ''still'' doesn't disqualify him for this.

* In ''WesternAmination/WinxClub'', the Cloud Tower School for Witches allows its students to cause trouble for other schools as long as they are not caught out.

* ''Perfect Harmony'': When a group of BoardingSchool students sneak out after curfew, the CoolTeacher catches and admonishes them for getting caught, ''not'' for breaking curfew. Said teacher encourages them to experience what's out there, but warns "Next time... [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Don't. Get. Caught.]]" Unfortunately, on his next attempt, the main character does get caught by the [[BitchInSheepsClothing not-as-cool]] school principal.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "Driver's Dread", Leni decides to take a driving test while having the family van, Vanzilla, equipped with a self-driving device created by ChildProdigy Lisa. Somehow the proctor doesn't notice, and Leni passes with flying colors and gets her driver's license.

* ''Perfect Harmony'': When a group of boarding school students sneak out after curfew, the CoolTeacher catches and admonishes them for getting caught, ''not'' for breaking curfew. Said teacher warns them "Next time... [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Don't. Get. Caught.]]" Unfortunately, on his next attempt, the main character does get caught by the [[BitchInSheepsClothing not-as-cool]] school principal.

* In the movie ''Film/SpiesLikeUs'' one of the two "heroes" (to use the term loosely) managed to pressure the other into helping him cheat on their government promotion tests, through good, old-fashioned Chevy Chase-style chuztpah. When discovered, in order to cover themselves, they worked together by reflex to cover each other. The CIA test givers were so impressed that they gave them an immediate promotion to field agents. (Of course, this was a plot to throw expendable agents into the field as a diversion for more nefarious activities ... but the trope connection is solid.)
* In ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', Kirk reveals that he rigged [[UnwinnableTrainingSimulation the Kobayashi Maru]] test to make the scenario winnable... and got a commendation for "original thinking."
* In ''Film/StarTrek2009'', the alternate Kirk was court-martialed. But the plot interferes before Alternate-Kirk has a proper chance to defend himself, so it is never seen if he would have been able to talk his way out of the situation or gotten expelled. Presumably something similar happened to Kirk-Prime, but if he was being a bit less of an ass about the whole thing (and if he had some powerful friends), he might have gotten away with it. The difference may have been due to the manner in which they cheated. Alternate-Kirk simply disabled the shields of the enemy vessels and destroyed them, while Kirk-Prime (according to the ExpandedUniverse) reprogrammed the enemy's behavior to respect the reputation he intended to build as captain such that they would allow him to proceed unmolested. So while Alternate-Kirk cheated in a way that he could plausibly have hidden and gotten away with entirely if not for the fact that the game was UnwinnableByDesign, Kirk-Prime took RefugeInAudacity.

* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'': The Pirate Code is really more a set of "guidelines", or "suggestions". At least they are on the open seas; not so much when Captain Teague, Keeper of the Code is in the room with a loaded gun. Still some room for...liberal interpretation, of course.
** Notably Elizabeth gets burned by this twice. The first time is not only are the rules more like "guidelines" but even if they were strictly enforced, she's not a pirate and thus not eligible for any protections the rules grant her. But as demonstrated by Barbossa because the rules aren't binding, that doesn't mean he can't negotiate with Elizabeth as if the code applied to her, which he did, and [[LiteralGenie he proceeds to do exactly what she requests of him and nothing more.]] Later, when she tries to argue against leaving Jack Sparrow behind, she points out that the Code is a guideline and not rules. Unfortunately, [[HilarityEnsues she forgot that there's nothing in the code saying you can't treat the code as exact rules.]]

* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': Officially, even the Sith aren't allowed to murder other Sith. Unofficially, it really only counts if you get caught. The Sith Inquisitor PC's master, Lord Zash, is [[MeaningfulRename named Darth Zash]] after arranging the assassination of her rival, Darth Skotia (the Inquisitor themself does the actual deed): it's an OpenSecret she did it, but nobody can prove it. There's also a sidequest on Dromund Kaas where a group of Sith are murdering people on the street ForTheEvulz. The player can trick them into attacking Sith apprentices by mistake, which gets them caught and executed.

* ''Series/TheHexer'': Vesimir decided to help Geralt survive Trial of Mountains, precisely because there was no-one there to check if everything was set fair.

* This also happens retroactively, usually when a title change or other "major" event happens around the time of a contract ending or injury/suspension or the like, and is explained as "going over the rules/results more closely." One of the most infamous involved the Rockers (Wrestling/ShawnMichaels and Marty Janetty) defeating the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) for the tag-team championships. Unfortunately, during the 2-out-of-3 contest, one of the ring ropes broke, which led to an ugly mess of a match that would be virtually impossible to clean up for television; between that and the then-WWF firing Neidhart shortly thereafter, the titles were given back with the explanation of an "obscure rule" involving broken ring equipment, and was ''never even referenced'' on TV as if the Foundation never lost them.[[note]]The match is on the ''Shawn Michaels: Heartbreak & Triumph'' DVD for those wondering what raw footage of a pretty bad match looks like, as they didn't even try to clean it up.[[/note]]

* This also happens retroactively, usually when a title change or other "major" event happens around the time of a contract ending or injury/suspension or the like, and is explained as "going over the rules/results more closely." One of the most infamous involved the Rockers (Wrestling/ShawnMichaels and Marty Janetty) defeating the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) for the tag-team championships. Unfortunately, during the 2-out-of-3 contest, one of the ring ropes broke, which led to an ugly mess of a match that would be virtually impossible to clean up for television; between that and the then-WWF firing Neidhart shortly thereafter, the titles were given back with the explanation of an "obscure rule" involving broken ring equipment, and was ''never even referenced'' on TV as if the Foundation never lost them.

* In ''Literature/HonorHarrington'', it's mentioned that Saganami Island has a backdoor that allows enterprising students access to a restricted tactical database for study. Getting caught isn't punished (a student brings up one of the battles inside to Honor in one of her classes), but the instructors on the Islandlook favorably on students who are sharp enough to find the backdoor and study the database.

** Same goes for driving without auto insurance, which in most countries is required by law. If you don't get caught, nothing will happen. But if you get pulled over by the police and don't have proof of insurance, you'll get ticketed and have to pay a fine. Worse, if you get in a wreck without insurance, no only will you face fines you'll also be required to pay out of your own pocket for the other guy's repairs and medical bills. So ask yourself, is it really worth the risk?

* CX Debate has what are called "diet cards" or "Skinny arguments". Some arguments with the exact same evidence are used so commonly that people often don't "flow"[[note]]basically an extremely fast and compressed form of note taking[[/note]] and simply write an abbreviation when they are used, and often take the time prepare their own argument when they are being read. A diet card has the reader read off a card that is highlighted even less than a normal one, often to the point it doesn't make an actual argument. The hope is that the judge and opposition won't catch this (and they usually don't) and treat it as though they read the full argument. Since the OneStatToRuleThemAll in CX debate is the ability to make arguments and present evidence faster than your opponent can counter them, being able to shave a few seconds off an argument is a huge advantage.

** Notably Elizabeth gets burned by this twice. The first time is not only are the rules more like "guidelines" but even if they were strictly enforced, she's not a pirate and thus not eligible for any protections the rules grant her. But as demonstrated by Barbossa because the rules aren't binding, that doesn't mean he can't negotiate with Elizabeth as if the code applied to her, which he did, and to the [[LiteralGenie he proceeds to do exactly what she requests of him and nothing more.]] Later, when she tries to argue against leaving Jack Sparrow behind, she points out that the Code is a guideline and not rules. Unfortunately, [[HilarityEnsues she forgot that there's nothing in the code saying you can't treat the code as exact rules.]]

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'''s Triwizard Tournament, cheating is a more or less accepted tradition that every single side engages in. When Harry (who was entered into it against his will) tells Cedric that they're up against dragons in the first task, Moody doesn't bat an eye.