History Main / ScrewTheRulesItsTheApocalypse

* Shea and Wilson's ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' is all about thwarting the eschatalogical intentions of the bad guys. If averting the end of the world means a hundred thousand people need to have their minds enhanced by being given an LSD trip without their knowledge or permission, then so be it... and (BilingualBonus) the bad guys even have the motto ''Der Zweck heiligt die Mittel''[[hottip:*:"the ends justify the means"]]. At one point there is a submarine battle in the ruins of Atlantis, where the nearest thing to a good guy, Hagbard Celine, has to reluctantly set aside his pacifism and sink the would be world-enders' submarine craft, called ''Der Zweck'' and ''Die Mittel''.

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': TriggerHappy [[AxCrazy lunatic]] Van Zant decides to go on a killing spree when Majin Buu goes on his rampage, apparently with the rationale that, since Buu was going to destroy the world either way, he wants to go out [[JustForPun with a bang]]. However, he soon drops this and decides to kill Majin Buu so he would be able to go on killing people himself, which [[AssholeVictim doesn't end well for him]].

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': AxCrazy, TriggerHappy gunman Van Zant decides to go on a killing spree when Majin Buu goes on his rampage, apparently with the rationale that, since Buu was going to destroy the world either way, he wants to go out [[JustForPun with a bang]]. However, he soon drops this and decides to kill Majin Buu so he would be able to go on killing people himself, which [[KickTheSonOfABitch doesn't end well for him]].

* ''CookingMasterBoy'': Mao and the others impersonate a deity and burn a palace down. [[spoiler: To be fair, the ruler in question was taking money from the citizens, and creating a health emergency, by keeping them malnourished on abalone soup.]]

* In the eighth season comics for ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Buffy reasons thusly. She has hundreds of slayers fighting evil as a global organization. She needs funding. [[spoiler:She robs a bank.]]

* ''LegendOfKorra'' has the title quote.

The main characters are no {{anti-hero}}es or {{villain protagonist}}s, but sometimes they simply can't be bothered to follow the rules. Why? Well, is it really that important that you stop at every stoplight and follow the speed limit, if in ten minutes if you don't get there in time, some evil demon will eat up the universe?

* Fire engines, ambulences, and other emergency vehicles are allowed to ignore a lot of traffic laws if their lights are flashing.

* Near the end of the first ''Franchise/MassEffect'' game, the Citadel Council [[spoiler:grounds the ''Normandy'']], preventing Shepard from [[spoiler:going to Ilos and stopping Saren]]. Since ''not'' breaking the law would result in [[ApocalypseHow all sentient life in the galaxy dying horrible deaths]], (s)he, with the help of [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Captain Anderson]], [[spoiler:steals the ship and her crew back for the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon]].

->'''Bolin''': ...but how are we gonna pay for all these parking tickets?
->'''Mako''': ''(after burning tickets)'' Relax, the city's under attack. The police have more important things to worry about.
-->--''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', "Turning the Tides"

* Shea and Wilson's ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' is all about thwarting the eschatalogical intentions of the bad guys. If a hundred thousand people need to have their minds enhanced by being given an LSD trip without their knowledge or permission, then if the goal is to avert the end of the world, so be it... and (BilingualBonus) the bad guys even have the motto ''Der Zweck heiligt die Mittel''. At one point there is a submarine battle in the ruins of Atlantis, where the nearest thing to a good guy, Hagbard Celine, has to reluctantly set aside his pacifism and sink the would be world-enders' submarine craft, called ''Der Zweck'' and ''Die Mittel''

* In ''{{Chew}}'' this drives the plot of the book "Flambe" in which strange writing made of fire appears in the sky. Its up to Tony to stop people doing this.

* [[{{Website/Cracked}} Cracked.com's]] [[http://www.cracked.com/video_18511_the-embarrassing-aftermath-mayan-apocalypse.html The Embarrassing Aftermath of the Mayan 'Apocalypse']]

--> ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', "Turning the Tides"

--> ''WesternAnimation/{{The Legend of Korra}}'', "Turning the Tides"

* Dean and especially Sam Winchester from {{Supernatural}} eventually adopt this philosophy at times due to increasingly escalating circumstances. At one point in season 4, Sam even explains to Dean that the normal rules don't necessarily apply to them, because they are not normal, and that Dean had better get used to that if they are going to do what is needed to stop the coming apocalypse. Somewhat ironic since Sam started out being the one who usually complained the most about doing iffy things.

* Shea and Wilson's ''Illuminatus!'' is all about thwarting the eschatalogical intentions of the bad guys. If a hundred thousand people need to have their minds enhanced by being given an LSD trip without their knowledge or permission, then if the goal is to avert the end of the world, so be it... and (BilingualBonus) the bad guys even have the motto ''Der Zweck heiligt die Mittel''. At one point there is a submarine battle in the ruins of Atlantis, where the nearest thing to a good guy, Hagbard Celine, has to reluctantly set aside his pacifism and sink the would be world-enders' submarine craft, called ''Der Zweck'' and ''Die Mittel''

* ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' features a photoplasty contest [[http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_96_if-everyone-knew-world-was-ending-tomorrow/ "If Everyone Knew the World was Ending Tomorrow"]].

* Star Trek Deep Space Nine: In the episode 'In the Pale Moonlight,' Benjamin Sisko lies, bribes criminals, covers up the crimes of other criminals, and was an accessory to murder in order to bring the Romulans into the Dominion War on the side of the Federation. He says 'I can live with it' because the Federation was losing and their way of life was in danger of being destroyed.

* In the eighth season comics for BuffyTheVampireSlayer, Buffy reasons thusly. She has hundreds of slayers fighting evil as a global organization. She needs funding. [[spoiler:She robs a bank.]]

->'''''Bolin''': ...but how are we gonna pay for all these parking tickets?''
->'''''Mako''': (after burning tickets) Relax, the city's under attack. The police have more important things to worry about.''
--> ''LegendOfKorra'', "Turning the Tides."

The main characters are no anti-heroes or villain antagonists, but sometimes they simply can't be bothered to follow the rules. Why? Well, is it really that important that you stop at every stoplight and follow the speed limit, if in ten minutes if you don't get there in time, some evil demon will eat up the universe?