History Main / SparseListOfRules

[[folder:Film]]

->'''Order 4:''' ''"In the event of the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) being incapacitated, overall GAR command shall fall to the vice chair of the Senate until a successor is appointed or alternative authority identified as outlined in Section 6 (iv)."''\\
'''Order 5:''' ''"In the event of the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) being declared unfit to issue orders, as defined in Section 6 (ii), the Chief of the Defense Staff shall assume GAR command and form a strategic cell of senior officers (see page 1173, para 4) until a successor is appointed or alternative authority identified."''\\
'''Order 37:''' ''"Capture of a single wanted individual through the mass arrest and threatened execution of a civilian population. Follow-up directives include scenarios for body disposal of civilian casualties and suppression of communications."''

* The ''Fanfic/{{Pokeumans}}'' community has one called "Things Not To Do In A Pokeumans Base", an AffectionateParody of SkippysList. This list is sparse in that as readers submit suggestions it builds with each successive update.

* ''Series/RedDwarf'' has the Space Core Directives that Kryten would often quote. Rimmer ended up quoting directives back but always being wrong. In one episode we see the book of directives and it's rather small despite the high numbers mentioned complete with multiple subcategories for each one, and rules for every situation including preforming oral sex in a zero-g environment.

* In the fifth ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'' book, the school reveals it has the Big Book O' Rules, with nearly 8000 rules. We only hear two: "Rule 411: Don't kick school property into space", and "Rule 7,734: Don't transform into big, flying robots during afternoon recess."
* The Assassin's Guild School in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series has quite a list of rules, as one might expect, but the only ones we hear about are the rules regarding boys and girls being restricted to their own dormitories (and [[ObviousRulePatch various patches]] to deal with {{Loophole Abuse}}rs and {{Rules Lawyer}}s) and Rule 16 and its subrules [[NoodleIncident forbidding keeping a crocodile in one's bedroom]]. [[ObviousRulePatch Or the basement.]]

* Subverted in ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'' where only a handful of rules ("Cardio, Cardio, Cardio") are brought up, but a whole lot more were presented via internet in short promotional clips leading up the the film's release.

* There are 700 ways to commit a foul in Quidditch in the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' universe, but the readers only learn a small selection of them and then mostly through the side book ''Literature/QuidditchThroughTheAges''. This is mainly because these are far and away the most common fouls: most of the rest are {{Obvious Rule Patch}}es such as, [[CaptainObvious "It is illegal to attack your opponent with an axe."]] And over half of the list is apparently rendered redundant by the general ban on using one's wand against other players. The full list, however, is not known in the universe except by the referees, on the grounds of not wanting to give people ideas.

* There are 700 ways to commit a foul in Quidditch in the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' franchise, but the readers only learn a small selection of them and then mostly through the side book ''Literature/QuidditchThroughTheAges''. This is mainly because these are far and away the most common fouls: most of the rest are {{Obvious Rule Patch}}es such as, [[CaptainObvious "It is illegal to attack your opponent with an axe."]] And over half of the list is apparently rendered redundant by the general ban on using one's wand against other players. The full list, however, is not known in the universe except by the referees, on the grounds of not wanting to give people ideas.

* The only sections of the [[FictionalGenevaConventions Deneb Accords]], the laws governing interstellar warfare in the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' series, that have been revealed in the series are the sections concerning prisoners of war, since they're plot points in ''In Enemy Hands''. [[spoiler:They're the sections StateSec head Cordelia Ransom [[RulesLawyer quite thoroughly subverts]] in order to try and have Honor executed.]]

** Apparently, Quidditch has many of these weird little rules that ''must'' be enforced, despite the extreme unlikeliness of those particular situations happening. For example, the game ''cannot'' end until the Golden Snitch is caught. Ever. One example given by Ron is the "world record for longest game of Quidditch", which was more than a month. They literally had to bring in several backup teams just so the players could get some time to eat and sleep.

* In ''Webcomic/UrbanUnderbrush'', [[http://www.lepusstudios.com/uu0110.html they play Magic the Gathering with a mixed up deck including a standard deck of cards and cards from Old Maid. Another character observes it's a form of Calvinball.]]

* There are 700 ways to commit a foul in Quidditch in the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' franchise, but the readers only learn a small selection of them and then mostly through the side book ''Literature/QuidditchThroughTheAges''. This is mainly because these are far and away the most common fouls: most of the rest are {{Obvious Rule Patch}}es such as, [[CaptainObvious "It is illegal to attack your opponent with an axe."]] And over half of the list is apparently rendered redundant by the general ban on using one's wand against other players.

* There are 700 ways to commit a foul in Quidditch in the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' franchise, but the readers only learn a small selection of them and then mostly through the side book ''Literature/QuidditchThroughTheAges''. This is mainly because these are far and away the most common fouls: most of the rest are {{Obvious Rule Patch}}es such as, [[CaptainObvious "It is illegal to attack your opponent with an axe."]]

May incorporate {{Obvious Rule Patch}}es and be counteracted through LoopholeAbuse. Characters may use these to [[BotheringByTheBook Bother by the Book]]. See also the GreatBigBookOfEverything, or its subtrope, the BigBookOfWar, either of which may be where the characters are quoting rules from.

* From ''VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando's'' {{loading screen}}s: "Rule number one: kill them before they kill you." "Rule seventeen: always make sure they're dead." "Rule thirty-nine: never say no to bacta." Several other rules are also quoted, but no actual strategies or tactics are mentioned.

* Like most families [[BarackObama the Obamas]] laid out some rules for their daughters. The public at large [[http://globalgrind.com/news/obama-family-rules-sasha-malia-strict-parents-details only knows some of them]], making a quasi-example of this trope.

* ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/RevengeOfTheSith'': Order 66, the order for Grand Army of the Republic to turn on its Jedi generals, comes from a list of [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Contingency_Orders_for_the_Grand_Army_of_the_Republic:_Order_Initiation,_Orders_1_Through_150 at least 150 contingency orders]]. Only four others are known, all of which come from the ''Literature/RepublicCommandoSeries'' by Karen Traviss.

* The Assassin's Guild School in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series has quite a list of rules, as one might expect, but the only ones we hear about are the rules regarding boys and girls being restricted to their own dormitories (and [[ObviousRulePatch various patches]] to deal with {{Loophole Abuse}}rs and {{Rules Lawyer}}s) and Rule 16 and its subrules [[NoodleIncident forbidding keeping a crocodile in one's bedroom]].

->''School Rule No.145 : "No boy is to enter the room of any girl."''\\
''School Rule No.146 : "No girl is to enter the room of any boy."''\\
''School Rule No.147 : (provisional) : "It has been pointed out that our injunction to 'read boys for girls, and vice versa', can, if taken together with the two previous rules by [[RulesLawyer someone with little to do but argue]], mean that no pupil is to be in any room at all. This was not the intention. No pupil is to be anywhere except where they should be. A girl is defined as a young person of the female persuasion."''\\
''School Rule No.148 : [[ObviousRulePatch "Regardless of how persuaded he feels, Jelks Minor in Form IV is a boy."]]''\\
''School Rule No.149 : Arguing over the wording of school rules is forbidden."''
--> -- '''rules of the Assassin's Guild School''', ''Literature/{{Discworld}}: Discworld/NightWatch''

* The Assassin's Guild School in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series has quite a list of rules, as one might expect, but the only ones we hear about are the rules regarding boys and girls being restricted to their own dormitories, seen in the page quote, and Rule 16 and its subrules [[NoodleIncident forbidding keeping a crocodile in one's bedroom]].

* Like most families [[BarackObama the Obamas]] laid out some rules for her daughters. The public at large [[http://globalgrind.com/news/obama-family-rules-sasha-malia-strict-parents-details only knows some of them]], making a quasi-example of this trope.

* Subverted in ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'' where only a handful or rules ("Cardio, Cardio, Cardio") are brought up, but a whole lot more were presented via internet in short promotional clips leading up the the film's release.

* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' brings us [["BigBookOfWar The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries,"]] of which only 35 are known so far. Maxim #1 is, "Pillage, ''then'' burn."