History Main / SavedByTheAwesome

[[folder:Animated Films]]
* Disney's ''Disney/{{Mulan}}''.
--> '''The Emperor of China''': I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan. You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated a soldier, deceived your commanding officer, dishonored the Chinese Army, ''destroyed my palace,'' and... [[ArsonMurderAndLifeSaving you have saved us all]].

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Audioplay/StrikersSoundStageX'', Teana is nearly put on trial for [[spoiler:unwittingly collaborating with the terrorist mastermind]] but is let off with a warning thanks to her efforts in containing the damage caused by the incident.

[[folder:Film]]

* Literature/HarryPotter
** In the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets second book]], Dumbledore ''tells him he broke about a hundred school rules'', then gives him an Award for Special Services to the School because saving Ginny and the rest of the school from Tom Riddle [[spoiler:(aka Voldemort)]] outweighed the rule breaking.
** It's even a plot point in the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix fifth book]], where a TyrantTakesTheHelm and begins banning things left and right to stop any attempt by the PowerTrio to teach their fellow students defense against the dark arts. Harry even notes at one point that now that Dumbledore has virtually no power, he can't count on this to save him. He eventually does so anyway, reasoning that even if he's expelled, the students he taught will be safer. [[spoiler: Then it sort of works, as Dumbledore manages to shift all blame on himself, letting the members and Harry get away scot-free.]]

* ''Literature/InDeath'' series: Eve Dallas is one of the best cops there is. She has broken a lot of rules and laws to achieve actual justice. While it seems that her superiors don't know about the methods she uses to achieve results, there are indications that they know she is working around the law, but as long as she succeeds, they have no problem with that.
* ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': Miles Vorkosigan manages this often in his career in [=ImpSec=]. Miles has a...problem with following orders, and those above constantly complain about his "excessive initiative" or curse him by wishing he one day commands someone "just like him". This trope is probably most notable in ''Literature/TheVorGame''. Miles is sent to a deadend position for just 6 months to prove he can follow orders, he comes home in 3 months [[spoiler:with a charge of treason]] but is forgiven because his refusal to keep his head down managed to [[spoiler:prevent a crazy near-homicidal commanding officer from allowing a group of techs that refused to obey his orders (to pointlessly risk themselves cleaning up a toxic spill) from freezing to death]]. He is put under the one man who could possible deal with him and sent on a simple intelligence gathering mission, by the end of which he manages to have 3 separate 'superior officers' locked in the brig so he can go about [[spoiler:leading a mercenary troop to defend a wormhole from an enemy invasion]] which no one ever asked him to do. But since he did manage to save everyone he ends up with a promotion and his dream job of [[spoiler:playing admiral for said military fleet]].
* Harry Dresden of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' is able to get away with some BlackMagic in ''Literature/DeadBeat'' through a combination of LoopholeAbuse, [[IDidWhatIHadToDo necessity]], and the fact that [[spoiler:reanimating a ''TyrannosaurusRex'']] was so unspeakably ''awesome'' that even some of the Wardens were impressed.
** They needed the firepower. As he'd pointed out, the Wardens had already ''drafted him''. Harry Dresden is one of the best examples of a cowboy PI in literature, and doesn't play well with ''rules'' or ''authority''.
** Some of the Summer Court's best hitmen have let him get away on the basis of personal respect and LoopholeAbuse.
** Unfortunately, Murphy repeatedly gets none of this.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* In the pilot of ''Series/{{Airwolf}}'', Stringfellow Hawke robs the United States Freakin' Government and withholds their prize titular helicopter (though he agrees to fly it on their behalf in the future). He wisely did this ''after'' stealing said helicopter from terrorist dictators and the MadScientist that invented it. He also killed said MadScientist, who'd pissed off the government by murdering a bunch of Feds during a test run.
* Several characters from ''{{Series/MASH}}'', most notably Hawkeye, get out of trouble this way on a regular basis.
* Subverted on ''{{Series/CSI}}'', when the team manage to solve the case despite all the evidence being stolen while they were having breakfast at a nearby diner. Ecklie says it won't be a case of "No harm, no foul" and that there will still be an internal investigation. Played straight in that he's implied to only be doing it to get at Grissom.
* Series/{{Merlin}} in the series finale [[spoiler:uses his magic, forbidden in Camelot, to curbstomp the troops at Camlann and save all of Camelot and by extension the United Kingdoms. Add one ReasonableAuthorityFigure and it's not hard to guess what happened afterwards.]]

* Used in [[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS3E7OriginalAirbenders Original Airbenders]], when Kai uses aggressive airbending to save Jinora. Tenzin comments on this.
--->'''Tenzin:''' An airbender ''never'' attacks a defenseless opponent. ''[beat]'' [[PapaWolf But that was very good technique]].

-->-- Audience reaction to the AwesomeMomentOfCrowning scene from the 2009 ''Film/StarTrek''.

** The granddaddy of these must be Captain James T. Kirk. He put this trope into action when he cheated on an Academy test, and rather than be kicked out, he was given a ''commendation''. For original thinking. It helped that the Academy test he 'cheated' on was an UnwinnableTrainingScenario designed specifically to find out what a cadet does when faced with a scenario where all their choices are bad ones; Kirk's response to a no-win scenario was to improvise, think out of the box and use a few dirty tricks so he could TakeAThirdOption, which is exactly the kind of qualities Starfleet want in their officers.
** The 2009 ''Film/StarTrek'' movie takes it farther, but first subverts it. Kirk is actually about to be kicked out for cheating on the test. But somehow he ends up on the Enterprise and tops his cheating with actually attempting a mutiny against Spock and disobeying the acting Captain's orders. Being that it was his disregard of orders that led to the defeat of the BigBad and the saving of (almost) every planet in the Federation, one can begin to see how he actually skips all the way to the Captain's chair at the end.

* Lt. Cmdr. Data in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' outright disobeys Capt. Picard (on a hunch, no less) and refuses to regroup with the fleet. He also manages to not only catch the disguised Romulan ships but also owns them magnificently, putting an end to their incursion. Picard smilingly tells Data afterward that rather than court-martial him, he's actually issuing him a commendation. This one isn't quite a straight example, however; Data was in command of another starship at the time, and TheCaptain of a ship has a measure of leeway with orders from on high.
** The Nitpicker's Guide observes that this was unnecessarily dramatic anyway: Data had only to say, "Please stand by, Captain, I may have another solution."
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': Admiral Kathryn Janeway violates nearly 154 rules by traveling back in time and swindling the Klingons. The fact that her actions get ''Voyager'' home nearly 15 years early and with added technology as a bonus results in her past self getting a promotion... to Admiral (it probably helps that her past self hadn't violated, or even had the intent to violate, most of those 154 rules yet).

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' - ''The Die is Cast'': "If you pull a stunt like that again, I'll courtmartial you. Or I'll promote you."

* In ''Audioplay/StrikerSSoundStageX'', Teana is nearly put on trial for [[spoiler:unwittingly collaborating with the terrorist mastermind]] but is let off with a warning thanks to her efforts in containing the damage caused by the incident.

See also HeroInsurance, GetOutOfJailFreeCard, and WrongfulAccusationInsurance. Likely to be referenced when discussing ArsonMurderAndLifeSaving.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40k}}'': The ''[[BigBookOfWar Tactica Imperialis]]'''s oft-quoted maxim, "[[CombatPragmatist Victory requires no explanation]]; [[YouHaveFailedMe defeat allows none]]" is half this, half NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught.

** Alanna kick-starts off the tradition by [[SweetPollyOliver disguising her gender]] to become a knight in ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness''. By the time it's revealed she's a girl, she runs off to avoid the political implications, although she gets a pardon for exposing Roger's trechery. Then she retrieves the Dominion Jewel and stops the BigBad, so instead of getting kicked out or killed, she actually becomes the realm's top knight by invoking VetinariJobSecurity.

In short, you've done something so Awesome; so undeniably badass; that it makes up for the hundreds of rules you broke along the way.

This trope applies to specific examples. In fiction, if the heroes are generally on the money but they disobey a high directive, they may still suffer some degree of recrimination, but still be allowed to continue on their way. In this trope, the awesome deed either cancels out punishment mostly or completely; ''and it is specifically stated as such''. In rare cases, this trope will show someone being '''[[{{Unishment}} rewarded]]''' [[{{Unishment}} for their disobedience]], usually with a [[PromotionNotPunishment promotion]] (check out the quote up top.) In this case, there's especially likely to be a MilhollandRelationshipMoment between the hero and the boss whom they expected punishment from.

* Literature/HarryPotter eats this trope for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Then goes back for seconds. And thirds.

** It's even a plot point in the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix fifth book]], where a TyrantTakesTheHelm and begins banning things left and right to stop any attempt by the PowerTrio to teach their fellow students defense against the dark arts. Harry even notes at one point that now that Dumbledore has virtually no power, he can't count on this to save him. He eventually does so anyway, reasoning that even if he's expelled, the students he taught will be safer. [[spoiler: And then it sort of works, as Dumbledore manages to shift all blame on himself, letting the members and Harry get away scot-free.]]

** The granddaddy of these must be Captain James T. Kirk. He put this trope into action when he cheated on an Academy test, and rather than be kicked out, he was given a ''commendation''. For original thinking.

In short, you've done something so Awesome; so undeniably BadAss; that it makes up for the hundreds of rules you broke along the way.

* Admiral Horatio Nelson, who could technically have been court-martialed at least once and probably several times, got away with it because he was too much of a {{Badass}} to throw away.

* ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': Miles Vorkosigan manages this often in his career in {{ImpSec}}. Miles has a...problem with following orders, and those above constantly complain about his "excessive initiative" or curse him by wishing he one day commands someone "just like him". This trope is probably most notable in ''Vor Games''. Miles is sent to a deadend position for just 6 months to prove he can follow orders, he comes home in 3 months [[spoiler:: with a charge of treason]] but is forgiven because his refusal to keep his head down managed to [[spoiler:: prevent a crazy near-homicidal commanding officer from allowing a group of techs that refused to obey his orders (to pointlessly risk themselves cleaning up a toxic spill) from freezing to death]]. He is put under the one man who could possible deal with him and sent on a simple intelligence gathering mission, by the end of which he manages to have 3 separate 'superior officers' locked in the brig so he can go about [[spoiler:: leading a mercenary troop to defend a wormhole from an enemy invasion]] which no one ever asked him to do. But since he did manage to save everyone he ends up with a promotion and his dream job of [[spoiler:: playing admiral for said military fleet]].

* Harry Dresden of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' is able to get away with some BlackMagic in ''Dead Beat'' through a combination of LoopholeAbuse, [[IDidWhatIHadToDo necessity]], and the fact that [[spoiler:reanimating a ''TyrannosaurusRex'']] was so unspeakably ''awesome'' that even some of the Wardens were impressed.

** Daine in the ''Literature/TheImmortals'' wrecks a foreign ruler's entire palace and his army using her gods-given powers to reanimate the dinosaurs in the museum (and before you cry foul, this book was written before TheDresdenFiles) and essentially destroys his seat of power. Okay, she gets away with this more because the ruler had been a horrible one and the gods themselves were going to destroy his land if he wasn't replaced, but seriously, would you really want to mess with her?

* [[Literature/VorkosiganSaga Miles Vorkosigan]] manages this often in his career in {{ImpSec}}. Miles has a...problem with following orders, and those above constantly complain about his "excessive initiative" or curse him by wishing he one day commands someone "just like him". This trope is probably most notable in ''Vor Games''. Miles is sent to a deadend position for just 6 months to prove he can follow orders, he comes home in 3 months [[spoiler:: with a charge of treason]] but is forgiven because his refusal to keep his head down managed to [[spoiler:: prevent a crazy near-homicidal commanding officer from allowing a group of techs that refused to obey his orders (to pointlessly risk themselves cleaning up a toxic spill) from freezing to death]]. He is put under the one man who could possible deal with him and sent on a simple intelligence gathering mission, by the end of which he manages to have 3 separate 'superior officers' locked in the brig so he can go about [[spoiler:: leading a mercenary troop to defend a wormhole from an enemy invasion]] which no one ever asked him to do. But since he did manage to save everyone he ends up with a promotion and his dream job of [[spoiler:: playing admiral for said military fleet]].

* Harry Dresden of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' is able to get away with some BlackMagic in ''Dead Beat'' through a combination of LoopholeAbuse, [[IDidWhatIHadToDo necessity]], and the fact that [[spoiler:reanimating a ''TyrannosaurusRex'']] was [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome so unspeakably]] ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome]]'' that even some of the Wardens were impressed.

* ''InDeath'' series: Eve Dallas is one of the best cops there is. She has broken a lot of rules and laws to achieve actual justice. While it seems that her superiors don't know about the methods she uses to achieve results, there are indications that they know she is working around the law, but as long as she succeeds, they have no problem with that.

[[folder: Animated Films ]]

* Disney's ''{{Disney/Mulan}}''.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* ''{{Oni}}'': In one level, you can find a computer terminal that reveals information on Terrance Griffin himself. It turns out that the Board he answers to are aware that he cares more for results than in following procedure. They turned a blind eye to it because he has done more to oppose TheSyndicate than any other agent in the Technological Crimes Task Force. Despite this, it says that they feel that they can't keep turning a blind eye to it for much longer.

* When Creator/JamesCameron directed ''Film/{{Titanic}}'', he ran almost a half-a-year over schedule, nearly doubled the allotted budget, drove nearly the entire cast and crew to revolt, and even assaulted a Fox executive. A bajillion dollars at the box office and 11 Academy Awards later, all is forgiven.

* DeepSpaceNine - ''The Die is Cast'': "If you pull a stunt like that again, I'll courtmartial you. Or I'll promote you."

* Several characters from ''{{Series/Mash}}'', most notably Hawkeye, get out of trouble this way on a regular basis.

* ''[[Franchise/MassEffect Commander Shepard]]'' made his/her Spectre career out of this. In the first game s/he [[spoiler: hijacks the grounded Normandy SR-1 in order to pursue Saren. This prevents Sovereign from capturing the Citadel and starting the Reaper invasion in full-force]].

** The Nitpicker's Guide observes that this was necessarily dramatic anyway: Data had only to say, "Please stand by, Captain, I may have another solution."

* The granddaddy of these must be Captain James T. Kirk. He put this trope into action when he cheated on an Academy test, and rather than be kicked out, he was given a ''commendation''. For original thinking.
** The new ''Film/StarTrek'' movie takes it farther, but first subverts it. Kirk is actually about to be kicked out for cheating on the test. But somehow he ends up on the Enterprise and tops his cheating with actually attempting a mutiny against Spock and disobeying the acting Captain's orders. Being that it was his disregard of orders that led to the defeat of the BigBad and the saving of (almost) every planet in the Federation, one can begin to see how he actually skips all the way to the Captain's chair at the end.
** At the end of ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'', Kirk and his bunch manage to nearly completely duck the surefire court-martialing and dismissal from Starfleet that was coming their way for [[Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock stealing the Enterprise and subsequently blowing it up]]. The Federation President states that it is specifically because Kirk avoided having the the mystery probe destroy the Earth by rescuing the humpbacked whales from extinction.
*** Of course, there has to be ''some'' kind of punishment, so Kirk gets demoted. [[{{Unishment}} From the desk job of Admiral he hated so much.]]
*** It probably didn't hurt that by putting Kirk back into circulation as a starfleet captain, TheFederation was able to soundly give [[TheEmpire the Klingon Empire]] the proverbial middle finger during their ongoing SpaceColdWar that would continue until the events of ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry''.

* Literature/HarryPotter eats this trope for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Then goes back for seconds. And thirds. In fact, in the second book, Dumbledore ''tells him he broke about a hundred school rules'', then gives him an Award for Special Services to the School because saving Ginny and the rest of the school from Tom Riddle [[spoiler:(aka Voldemort)]] outweighed the rule breaking.

** Admiral Kathryn Janeway violates nearly 154 rules by traveling back in time and swindling the Klingons. The fact that her actions get ''Voyager'' home nearly 15 years early and with added technology as a bonus results in her past self getting a promotion... to Admiral (it probably helps that her past self hadn't violated, or even had the intent to violate, most of those 154 rules yet).

* Invoked in the ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'' episode "The Price of Courage", when [[SpacePirate Simbacca]] encourages Marsh to bypass the chain of command and personally lead a vital massive counterattack against Neosapiens. True enough, Marsh wins and is not even reprimanded for bending the regulations.

->''...."The council calls [[TheCaptain Captain]] James Tiberius Kirk....."''\\

This trope applies to specific examples. In fiction, if the heroes are generally on the money but they disobey a high directive, they may still suffer some degree of recrimination, but still be allowed to continue on their way. In this trope, the awesome deed either cancels out punishment mostly or completely; ''and it is specifically stated as such''. In rare cases, this trope will show someone being '''[[{{Unishment}} rewarded]]''' [[{{Unishment}} for their disobedience]], usually with a [[PromotionNotPunishment promotion]] (check out the quote up top.)