Disobeyed Orders, Not Punished

Data: Captain, I wish to submit myself for disciplinary action. I have disobeyed a direct order from a superior officer. Although the result of my actions proved positive, the ends cannot justify the means.
Picard: No, they can't. However, the claim "I was only following orders" has been used to justify too many tragedies in our history. Starfleet doesn't want officers who will blindly follow orders without analysing the situation. Your actions were appropriate for the circumstances, and I have noted that in your record.

— Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Redemption, Part II"

In this world, there are rules, regulations, and chains of command. People are assigned positions of authority based on experience or chosen for leadership roles by others in a democratic process. However they come by it, these people have authority over those beneath them.

Usually, breaking rank is a very bad thing. Doing so can result in some sort of punishment, ranging anywhere from the minor such as being written up (which could potentially cost the offender promotion and the like later on), to more severe punishments like loss of rank and command and/or imprisonment, and in extreme cases even death.

But sometimes, despite such potential punishments hanging over their head, someone will say Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!. Don't expect these people to adhere to My Master, Right or Wrong. They might choose to disobey orders (or at the very least "interpret" the orders very liberally). The cause of this disobedience could range from feeling the orders are unnecessarily cruel or petty, to believing that the orders are no longer possible or realistic due to quick-changing conditions on the battlefield, to something as simple as refusing to be a Senseless Sacrifice.

A commander might recognize that their subordinate was acting on moral principle, and/or had information they didn't have. Being a Reasonable Authority Figure, they will let this person off for their infractions, though often with a stern warning not to make a habit of it. More often than not, the person who disobeyed orders/broke regs will submit themselves to their superior for punishment immediately after the crisis has passed.

Unlike Promotion, Not Punishment, the character in question is not rewarded for their disobedience, but neither are they made to suffer for it. Savvy commanders may threaten to promote them if it happens again, effectively having them Kicked Upstairs (which for some would be a punishment). This is often associated with a Military Maverick (though they may be just as likely to get in serious trouble and sent to the brig).

On the less idealistic side of the trope, someone can get off without punishment when they engage in Screw the Rules, I Have Connections! when the offender is protected by who he or she knows, rather than their actions having some sort of merit recognised by the superior. Though some heroic characters might be protected by this, expect more than a few Smug Snakes to profit from this version.

Chronic Hero Syndrome is a possible explanation for why a hero might engage in this sort of behavior regularly, though it could just be because the writers feel that Cool People Rebel Against Authority (that said, repeated violation of orders without punishment can strain audience belief, especially where the military is involved). Status Quo Is God can also explain this trope's use from a writer's perspective, although there are real-life examples as well.

If a character is able to do this regularly, then they have Ultimate Job Security. However, in more realistic works, someone will eventually wear out their luck and then the full authority of their organization will come down on their heads.

Even one application of this trope can have negative consequences. The hero might Never Live It Down, and it might cause others to doubt them or cause a lack of trust further down the road.

Contrast Just Following Orders and Blind Obedience. Compare Karma Houdini for another trope about evading punishment. Compare Saved by the Awesome, where a hero's feats have spared them from punishment, whether they were concerned about ethical or moral dilemmas or not. May overlap with Unishment in cases where the authorities hand down a "punishment" that feels more like a reward.

Corrective Lecture may be a Justified Trope for why someone is not punished more severely.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Cross Ange: This is a major source of conflict between Ange and Salia after the former is chosen to pilot Vilkiss. Salia is the first squad's captain, but Ange more often than not refuses to follow her lead and just does whatever she wants, never suffering any consequences (other than earning the scorn from the other pilots who are upset because she constantly steals their kills and thus leaves them unable to earn money for themselves). It doesn't help that Jill, Arzenal's commander, does very little to support Salia when she complains about it because Ange is getting the job done, one way or another.
• Gundam:
  • Downplayed in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. Early in the series, Kira Yamato not only brings in a civilian lifepod from Heliopolis, but also the lifeboat containing Lacus Clyne against orders. When he decides to free Lacus and return her to ZAFT, he's brought in and told by Captain Murrue Ramius that the punishment for such a thing was death. However, since Kira is still a civilian technically, they can't impose that sort of punishment on him (besides, he's their only Mobile Suit pilot), so he's gotta scrub down part of the ship.
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, Shinn Asuka is totally and completely brash and headstrong, disobeying orders and doing what he wants, despite being told by Captain Talia Gladys and the reinstated and member of FAITH Athrun Zala. Ultimately, he brings aboard enemy pilot Stella Loussier after taking out the stolen Gaia Gundam then decides to return her to the Earth Alliance, he's put in the brig and, since he's part of the military, Captain Gladys is certain he'll be killed for treason and they'll be punished for not stopping him, only to learn to their shock that Chairman Gilbert Durandal is letting him off the hook completely because of his actions on the field. This just makes Shinn's ego worse.
• Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: In episode 9, when Fate rashly activates six jewel seeds all at once, Nanoha disobeys Admiral Harlaown's orders not to intervene and leaves the spaceship to help Fate seal the seeds. While this was risky since Fate was still technically an enemy in addition to the danger posed by the seeds themselves, the seeds are successfully sealed with Nanoha also collecting three of them. The Admiral gives her a lecture afterward, but Nanoha escapes punishment thanks to her "magnificent results."
• Space Battleship Yamato 2199:
  • Kodai disobeys Sanada, the ship's XO, after Okita tells him that sometimes you have to say Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!, and launches a Seagull recon-plane to place dimensional sonar buoys to determine if a dimensional submarine is still in the area. He's too late to stop the Yamato from releasing a dimensional sonar ping that gives away their location, but he is able to track the enemy's torpedos, making it possible to shoot them down before impact, and then cripple their periscope. He submits himself for punishment but is spared severe consequences for saving the ship.
  • During the Battle of the Rainbow Cluster, Domel discovers he's been tricked by Okita into putting his ship too close to a plasma stream. The ship is being destroyed, and can't break free. Domel orders his men to abandon ship, as he prepares to separate the command saucer and use it in a kamikaze attack on the Yamato. None of his men leave their posts, simply smiling at him. His XO lampshades it, smiling as he says, "Looks like we're all getting court-martialed."

Fan Works

• Arc Royale: General Ironwood commends Jaune for a competent display of leadership in not following Winter's orders to rush into a close-range fight against Magnis. After Winter's implication that they would be punished for disobeying her, as Ironwood gave her control over the operation, Team JNPR are caught off-guard by this. Ironwood explains that Jaune (as the leader of JNPR), not Winter (who has never even seen them in combat), is responsible for gauging his team's capabilities and limits. A true leader does not send his troops into an unwinnable battle without good reason. Ironwood applies this logic to his own forces as well, and as such tells Winter to expect a full reprimand for escalating the battle with her reckless behavior.
• Dungeon Keeper Ami: Due to events not going according to plan, Ami's minions take desperate measures, against her previous orders against such measures, to rescue her.
  In her current situation, she couldn't quite muster the will to feel anything but grateful about his insubordination.

Films — Live-Action

• Double Subverted in Battle of Britain. In a dramatization of a true story, a training flight of Polish emigres is ordered to return to base when their course takes them close to a German air raid. The Poles instead pretend they can't understand the instructor and attack the German bomber wing, scoring multiple kills. The next day the instructor chews them out for disobeying orders... and then reads off a cable from the Air Vice Marshal announcing that the squadron has been ordered operational.
• Inglourious Basterds: Lt. Aldo Raine anticipates this will be the response to him killing and scalping Col. Landa's driver. In fairness, he IS following orders in spirit, if not to the letter: he's still going to deliver Landa alive as he was told... he's just giving him a little something he can't take off.
  Lt. Aldo Raine: Nah, I'll probably get chewed out. I been chewed out before.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe: In Captain America: The First Avenger, during World War II, after a spy sabotages the Vita-Ray experiment, and Steve Rogers becomes the only Super-Soldier in the U.S. Army, as opposed to an entire unit. He tours America with the U.S.O., doing propaganda plays. When he goes to an army camp in Italy, he finds out that Bucky was captured, and is being held in a Hydra castle a few miles from the camp. He requests permission to rescue him and the other P.O.W.s, but he's ordered to stay put as he's just a propaganda tool. Steve decides to mount a one-man rescue operation, and when he breaks out the prisoners, he's reassigned from morale booster in the U.S.O. to the leader of his Howling Commandoes.
• In Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, Sgt. Hara violates the POW camp's protocol by releasing the title character and Jack Celliers from their cells without Cpt. Yonoi's approval after another POW confesses to smuggling the two-way radio that got the pair locked up in the first place. Yonoi reprimands Hara for overstepping his bounds when he finds out, but Hara gets let off without any actual punishment thanks in part to Yonoi's obsession with Celliers.
• Operation: Dumbo Drop: A Ragtag Bunch of Misfits in the US Army are sent to retrieve an Asian elephant, which is needed in a remote South Vietnamese village for a ceremony. Keeping the villagers happy means the Army can station a surveillance post there to spy on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Believing the mission is hopeless, Command aborts the mission, but the plucky squad put Honor Before Reason, and succeed in airlifting the elephant into the village. Disobeyed abort orders, succeeded gloriously, bawled out but not punished.
• Star Trek:
  • An interesting case between the events of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Kirk and co. violate orders, steal, and subsequently destroy the U.S.S. Enterprise, assault Starfleet officers, sabotage the U.S.S. Excelsior, all to get Spock back. The next film opens with them agreeing to return home to face the consequences of their actions, which probably would have been severe, had not an alien probe started messing with the Earth, prompting Kirk and co. to go back in time, retrieve a pair of humpback whales, and come forward in time with them, saving the planet. Subsequently, the only charge remaining, disobeying a superior officer, is directed solely at Admiral Kirk, whose "punishment" is to be busted down to Captain and returned to command of a Starship, the newly christened U.S.S. Enterprise-A. Kirk's expression on seeing the ship makes it clear that it's hardly a punishment.
  • Star Trek: First Contact: Picard has been ordered by Starfleet Command to stay away from Earth and the approaching Borg cube, fearing "an unstable element" due to his prior experience with being assimilated. Picard overhears the carnage befalling the fleet over subspace radio and then informs the crew that he's about to disobey a direct order from Starfleet, and if anyone has any objections, speak up and it will be noted in the ship's log. It turns out that Starfleet's concerns were NOT unfounded, but Picard managed to save the day and is not punished for it.
• Top Gun:
  • Played with in the original. Maverick is very much a Military Maverick, and as noted on the page for the film, someone with his initial attitude would have been busted down several times over, if he was ever allowed near a plane in the first place. It's even noted in the early part of the film that he's been held back from group leader three times. When he buzzes a tower without authorization, the worst he suffers is a severe ass-chewing. And most of it involved him and Goose standing outside the office at attention and listen to the tower commander shouting angrily at Viper.
    Viper: I think that just about covers the fly-by.
  • Zig-Zagged in Top Gun: Maverick. First, Mav launches in the SR-72 Darkstar prototype in defiance of a planned shutdown of the program to prove it really can exceed Mach 10 (the justification for the shutdown), only to miraculously survive when it disintegrates at Mach 10.3+. He gets chewed out and then sent to San Diego because the Navy needs an instructor for an Airstrike Impossible mission. After a series of ups and downs, Mav's Karma Houdini Warranty seemingly runs out when his protector Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky dies of cancer... and then he launches in his F/A-18E without authorization to prove to his team that the mission in fact can be done as described, and succeeds. Cyclone dearly wants to Court Martial him at this point, but instead appoints Maverick the mission leader on the grounds that he's probably their best chance to get everyone home alive. Maverick survives to the end of the film and honorably retires from the Navy.

Literature

• Protector of the Small: In Lady Knight, Keladry of Mindelan, commanding a refugee camp during the Scanran War, is ordered not to mount a rescue mission for her abducted refugees by her erstwhile training master and current district commander, Lord Wyldon of Cavall. Wyldon, well acquainted with Kel's dedication to her post and her charges, realizes within five minutes that it was quite possibly the single stupidest order he could have given her, and reflects that no good commander ought to give an order if he isn't sure it'll be obeyed. (In his defense, he was worrying about defending the entire northern border, and had a few other things on his mind at the time.) Kel returns after her successful mission convinced she'll end up executed on Traitor's Hill for disobeying orders and is utterly floored to be given no punishment whatsoever, a kiss to her forehead from Wyldon, and his admission that "You are a true knight, Keladry of Mindelan. I am honored to know you."
• Warrior Cats: There are a few times where cats are not punished for breaking the warrior code. One of the most notable is in A Dangerous Path when Fireheart goes behind his leader's back to speak to an enemy Clan in order to prevent an unjust battle. Fireheart is fully expecting to be punished, possibly exiled, but in Bluestar's deteriorating mental state she claims that the best punishment is to do nothing and let him lead their Clan of "traitors" one day. It's a stark contrast to the old Bluestar, who would be understanding of his actions.

Live-Action TV

• Criminal Minds: "Elephant's Memory", Reid violates protocol to try and talk down a Spree Killer whom he empathizes with, deliberately putting himself between the killer and a police sniper. Reid is successful, but Hotchner does read him the riot act for endangering others, though Reid ultimately isn't punished any further.
  Hotchner: You knowingly jeopardized your life and the lives of others! I should fire you! You're the smartest kid in the room, but you're not the only one in that room. You pull something like this again, you will be! Am I clear?
• CSI: NY: During her "Greek antiquities theft" arc, Stella goes against Mac's direct order to stand down because of a conflict of interest, saying he'll handle it himself. Later, he turns it over to a more appropriate department, but she keeps investigating behind his back anyway and goes so far as to involve another officer. In "Grounds for Deception", the two of them discover a dead body and Stella reports it anonymously via a 911 call from a pay phone, completely against NYPD/Crime Lab policy. Mac is furious and tells her that her actions are grounds for a desk assignment, if not a full-on suspension. She angrily slams her badge down on his desk and heads to Greece. He and the team find more evidence, he follows her there, helps her instead of chewing her out again, and gives her badge back when they return to NYC. Far-fetched to how a real-life situation would go, but then again this episode was written by Melina Kanakaredes, who plays Stella, so there you have it.
• Averted in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, with Isaiah Bradley, an African-American Super-Soldier deployed to Korea who snuck off his base to rescue two of his men whose prison was to be bombed to hide the evidence of more Super Soldiers. Soon after arriving back to base, the other men died from complications from the Super Serum, Bradley was court-martialed for insubordination and disobeying direct orders, and was locked up and experimented on for thirty years until a sympathetic nurse helped him fake his death and escape. This is important because it's a direct contrast to Captain America's earlier actions, where he was praised for doing pretty much the exact same thing.
• Forever: In "Look Before You Leap" Reece tells Jo to accept the "bridge jumper case" as a suicide and focus on other homicides. Based on Henry's deductions and info she uncovers, Jo pursues the case anyway, eventually catching the real killer. Reece pulls Jo aside, and sounds like she's going to chew her out for disobeying, but instead praises her for going with her gut, which she says is the best tool a cop has.
• In an episode of Malcolm in the Middle, the boys fix up an old mini-bike, but Lois at first prohibits them from using it because she deems it too dangerous. When Malcolm and Dewy manage to talk to her allowing them to do a couple of laps in the park, Reese tells them that he broke his leg when he secretly took it out for a ride. Also, Craig was allowed to live with the family until his was renovated, following Lois and Hal accidentally burning his house down, but his slovenly ways were driving the family crazy. The boys get rid of Craig by tricking him into thinking he ran over Reese, and at the very end, Lois tells the boys she found the destroyed mini-bike, and just as, Malcolm feared, she was going to ground them and prevent them from doing anything fun, she subtly tells them that their only punishment is not getting a reward for getting Craig out their house.
• M*A*S*H. This shows up from time to time:
  • In the very first episode, Hawk and Trapper are nearly busted for holding a party against orders. But then a surge of wounded soldiers are sent their way. General Hammond tells Henry that he was utterly impressed with their operating skills. Hawk and Trapper come out with a pair of handcuffs on, and Henry tells them that Hammond was too impressed to have them court-martialed.
  • In one episode, Hawkeye and BJ cause a minor mutiny by not returning to camp from Rosie's Bar. Potter tells them that he's pissed with them because he feels he deserves and has earned the respect that is his due. They apologize, telling him that they were revolting against a great many things, but they hadn't intended for Potter to be one of them. Ultimately, the stern lecture they get is their only punishment.
  • In another episode, after Potter informs the group that they've upped rotation points again ^note  This is actually an error as the points system was not in use in Korea Hawkeye grabs a Jeep and rushes off to the Peace Talks. He lies to the security forces guarding the road, and commits a few dozen offenses, then delivers his "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the delegation, then hightails it back to the 4077, where the camp is waiting to celebrate him. The MPs show up, and the head MP tells them that, officially, if Hawk is ever within twenty miles of the peace talks again, he's to be arrested. Unofficially, the General at the peace talks said that he wished he was a crazy doctor so he could get away with what Hawkeye did.
  • Father Mulchahy finds a soldier unwilling to open up to him because he doesn't have any frontline experience. Against Col. Potter's orders, he goes up to Battalion Aid with Radar. He ends up having to perform an emergency field tracheostomy with instructions over the radio from Hawkeye, while under enemy fire. When he gets back to the 4077, he tells Potter that even though he saved the young man's life, he knows he was wrong to disobey him. Potter feels the harrowing journey was punishment enough, especially in light of Mulchahy's apology.
• Stargate SG-1:
  • "Children of the Gods": Double Subverted. After the original Stargate movie, Jack O'Neill lied on his mission report, claiming that everyone on Abydos died when he detonated a nuclear warhead behind him to kill Ra, according to his mission orders. When General Hammond prepares to send a second, more powerful bomb through the gate, Jack confesses it was only half-true: he did blow up Ra, but Ra's ship was in orbit at the time. General Hammond throws Jack in the brig pending Court Martial, planning to send the bomb through anyway, but then has second thoughts about nuking potentially innocent people and orders Jack to lead a recon team through the gate to figure out what's going on.
  • "Within the Serpent's Grasp": Stargate Command is being shut down for political reasons, but Daniel believes based on an encounter with an Alternate Timeline two episodes ago that the Goa'uld are preparing to attack Earth from space. SG-1 steals weapons from the armory and dials Daniel's coordinates against orders, and are able to foil the attack in "The Serpent's Lair", making it pretty much impossible to punish them.
  • "Upgrades": While using physically enhancing alien armbands, SG-1 launches an unauthorized raid on a Goa'uld shipyard, narrowly escaping after the armbands fail on them mid-mission. Jack apologizes to General Hammond, expecting a Court Martial, but Hammond accurately chalks the defiance of orders up to the armbands affecting their judgement, saying "that's a hell of a defense."
• Star Trek:
  • Star Trek: The Original Series:
    • "Balance of Terror". Captain Kirk is under Starfleet orders to not enter the Romulan Neutral Zone under any circumstances. When a Romulan ship attacks Federation outposts and flees back into the Zone, he disobeys those orders and enters the Zone because he believes that not doing so will trigger a war. At the end of the episode, he gets a transmission from Starfleet saying they'll support whatever decision he makes, so he doesn't get court-martialed.
    • "Amok Time". Captain Kirk is ordered by Starfleet Command to take the Enterprise to the planet Altair Six to attend some inauguration ceremonies. When he learns that Commander Spock needs to be taken to the planet Vulcan or he'll die, Kirk disobeys orders and takes the Enterprise to Vulcan instead. At the end of the episode, a Vulcan government leader asks that the Enterprise be diverted to Vulcan and Star Fleet agrees and changes Kirk's orders, retroactively letting him off the hook.
    • "The Doomsday Machine". While Captain Kirk is off the ship, Commodore Decker takes command. Decker is so obsessed with destroying a giant robot warship that he risks the destruction of the Enterprise in futile suicide attacks against it. Commander Spock violates regulations by relieving Decker of duty. He isn't punished because Decker commits suicide by flying a shuttle down the robot warship's throat, so there's no one to file a complaint.
    • "The Menagerie Part I" and "The Menagerie Part II". Spock commits mutiny and tries to take his old captain to the planet Talos IV, which is a death penalty offense under General Order Seven. At the end of Part II, the Enterprise receives a message from a Starfleet commodore suspending General Order Seven and saying Spock wouldn't be punished (presumably including the mutiny).
    • Pretty much the entire crew of the Enterprise in "This Side of Paradise", though, in their defense, they were under the influence of alien spores, at the time. A standout example would be when Kirk provokes Spock into fighting him in a rage, effectively killing the spores. Spock points out that striking a fellow officer is a court-martial offense. Kirk reasons that if they're both in the brig, no one can build the device that would free the crew from the spores' influence.
    • "The Mark of Gideon". A Starfleet admiral denies Spock permission to beam down to the planet Gideon and look for Captain Kirk because doing so could provoke a war with Gideon. Spock disobeys this order, beams down to the planet, and rescues Captain Kirk. By the end of the episode, there is no mention of any punishment for Spock's violation of orders. Unlike several other TOS episodes, there is no Hand Wave to explain away the lack of punishment.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: In "The Die Is Cast", Ben Sisko defies orders not to intervene in the Romulan-Cardassian attack on the Founder homeworld and takes the Defiant out to rescue Odo and Garak. During the denouement, the admiral who issued his orders remarks:
    Toddman: You may be interested to know I've decided not to file charges against anyone aboard the Defiant.
    Sisko: Thank you, sir.
    Toddman: But if you pull a stunt like that again I'll court-martial you. Or I'll promote you. Either way, you'll be in a lot of trouble.
    Sisko: I'll keep that in mind, sir.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation: When the Romulans figure out a way to neutralize a tachyon web that a Federation fleet was generating in an effort to prove that the Romulans were fomenting a Klingon Civil War, Picard orders the fleet to regroup at a new location. Commander Data, however, who has been placed in command of a starship for this mission, orders his crew to look for two specific overlapping energy signatures, and then orders torpedo strikes on those locations of overlap. The torpedos reveal cloaked Romulan ships, proving their interference, and causing the Klingons backing the Duras sisters to withdraw their support. Data submits himself for punishment for breaking orders, but Picard dismisses the idea, saying that too often, tragedies have been caused by people saying "I was Just Following Orders." He does tell Data not to make a habit of breaking rank.
  • Star Trek: Discovery: Captain Gabriel Lorca will follow the rules only if they align with what he thinks is best. Otherwise, he has no problem aggressively circumventing the admiralty, reminding them that he was given carte blanche during the war effort because of his effectiveness. He gets an informal talking to several times but never sees any real consequences to his action because he's just too damned valuable. Throughout season one, Lorca:
    • Recruits Michael Burnham who has been stripped of all rank and sentenced to a life sentence as Starfleet's only mutineer. When told by the Admiralty that this is demoralizing to the rest of the fleet, he tells Admiral Cornwell that he doesn't care, he wants Burnham on his ship. Burnham is allowed to stay.
    • Recruits Ash Tyler as his Chief of Security. Cornwell points out that Tyler was just rescued after 227 days as a prisoner of war on a Klingon ship and is likely suffering from untreated PTSD at best and could possibly be a brainwashed sleeper agent.
    • Defies a direct order from Admiral Terral and rescues Ambassador Sarek after Sarek's ship is disabled by a logic extremist attack.
      Cornwell: What the hell do you think you're doing? I thought Terral was gonna throw a fit, and he's a damn Vulcan.
      Lorca: I did what I thought was best.
      Cornwell: You launched an unauthorized rescue mission using a convicted mutineer. Not to mention a POW who has barely had time to recover. Can you even trust this guy?
      Lorca: Yes, Admiral. I checked him out. Tyler graduated with honors from the Academy before he saved my life.
      Cornwell: You are Captain of the most advanced ship in the fleet, the cornerstone of our entire defense against the Klingons. You cannot treat Discovery like it's your own fiefdom. Is it true what I heard about Lieutenant Stamets? He engaged in eugenic manipulation?
      Lorca: He got the spore drive working again. Yeah, he saved the ship and the crew.
      Cornwell: I appreciate that, Gabriel, but there are rules.
      Lorca: Rules are for Admirals in back offices. I'm out there trying to win a war.
      Cornwell: Then don't make enemies on your own side.
  • In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode "The Broken Circle", Spock steals the Enterprise to rescue La'an and stop the reignition of the Federation/Klingon War. Despite the terrible trouble Spock should be in, Admiral April is thankful for what Spock did, so he decides the Klingon-sized hangover he got is punishment enough.

Video Games

• In the final SP Mission of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, the LRSSG is able to hunt down and critically damage the Alicorn. Matias Torres, the captain of the Alicorn, fakes a surrender, to bide him time to line up a shot towards Oured, the capital of Osea. David North, the analyst who was assisting the LRSSG hunt down Torres, sees through his ruse, and tries and fails to talk him out of it. In response, Trigger disobeys orders, and strikes the Alicorn right as soon as its rail cannon fires. After the mission is over, Trigger is not reprimanded for disobedience, and the LRSSG is told that their next mission is in 36 hours.
• Destiny:
  • In The Taken King expansion for Destiny, Cayde and the Young Wolf go behind Zavala's back and launch an infiltration mission onto Oryx?s Dreadnaught. Once Cayde reveals the mission to Zavala, he assume command at the end of the mission, but rather than punish Cayde due to not having authorization, he thanks him and the Young Wolf for setting up a transmat zone on the Dreadnaught.
  • In the Forsaken expansion for Destiny 2, when Cayde is killed by Uldren, Zavala refuses to send Guardians to the Reef to hunt him down. Despite that, Young Wolf decides to go after him anyway, though Zavala warns that he won't support them, but he won't oppose them either. At the end of the expansion, while Zavala doesn't reprimand the Young Wolf, he makes it clear that he?s not happy with what they've done, and that their actions will have consequences.
• In the Ancient Gods DLC for Doom Eternal, the Doom Marine is ordered to retrieve the core of the Father. But when the Doom Marine destroys the core of the Father and returns with the core of the Dark Lord, rather than punish him, everyone, with the exception of the Intern immediately gets the hell out of dodge.
• In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, when Byleth finds evidence of a plot to assassinate Rhea, they're ordered to patrol the perimeter of Garreg Mach Monastery to prevent any would-be assassins from getting through. However, their students suggest that the assassination attempt is a ruse and that their real objective is to steal from the Holy Mausoleum. Upon stopping the thieves in the Holy Mausoleum, Byleth and the students are not punished for disobeying orders, due to the fact that Byleth can unlock the power of the Sword of the Creator, which was hidden in the Holy Mausoleum.
• Guild Wars 2: One option in the Charr personal story involves letting your character's sire escape before his execution for treason. If you take this path, the chapter ends with your character turning himself in to Rytlock, who lets you off the hook.
  Rytlock: Emer's initial report omitted a lot of important details ... which means I sent you into a situation neither of us fully understood. But you adapted. You took the initiative and got results. Ultimately you were there and I wasn't, so I'm trusting your judgment was sound.
• In Halo 4, when Cortana shows signs of rampancy, the captain of the UNSC Infinity orders the Master Chief to hand her over. The Chief refuses, and when the captain orders his men to arrest the Chief, the crew of the Infinity chose to let the Chief leave the ship, and the captain is relieved of his post and replaced with his lieutenant.
• Knights of the Old Republic: Discussed in Canderous Ordo's companion quest, which deals with an incident during the Mandalorian Wars where he went off-plan during a battle and attacked early because he had spotted an opening. Because it worked, he wasn't punished at the time; however, during the game a former comrade whose unit had suffered significant casualties because Canderous's wasn't there to back them up challenges Canderous to a Duel to the Death. If you convince him Canderous made the right call, he commits suicide instead.
• Mass Effect: At the climax, the Council refuse to believe Shepard and with Udina's backstabbing ground the Normandy. Admiral Anderson comes up with the plan to steal the ship and stop Saren, but regardless of how they do that he's breaking a lot of rules. Fortunately, Shepard and Anderson's actions help save all known civilization, so regardless of how they got there, they're forgiven (one route has Anderson punching Udina out, and depending on what choices were made, Udina is actually okay with this).
• Played With in Suikoden IV. When Snowe wants to abandon their Escort Mission in a Moment of Weakness after being injured, the whole ship mutinies against him. Glen Cott refuses to punish any of the survivors, instead punching Snowe and berating him for his cowardice while praising Lazlo and the others. Snowe's takeaway from this is that Glen is fine with people defying orders so long as they're acting courageous, spurring him to pursue some pirates when they attack Razril... and nearly getting led into a trap, only being saved by Lazlo's quick thinking. He's very confused when Glen punishes him for this, not understanding the difference between both situations.
• In World of Warcraft and several of the Warcraft Expanded Universe novels, Baine Bloodhoof, a member of the Horde organization, disobeys orders from the supreme leader of the Horde without any punishment.
  • Tides of War: Baine Bloodhoof exiles all his Horde soldiers for fighting the Alliance soldiers in Horde lands. This was despite that Baine's direct superior, Warchief Garrosh, had ordered him and the other Horde commanders to send troops for the current war against the Alliance, with the game establishing that Horde members have a right retaliate against attackers. Baine later gives intel to the Alliance leadership about a Horde ambush. Baine suffers no punishment for this despite Garrosh being described as willing to invoke You Have Failed Me.
  • Before The Storm: Despite new Warchief, Sylvanas Windrunner, ordering Baine to stop exchanging letters with Alliance leader, Anduin Wyrnn, during wartime, Baine still manages to send one last letter. Even though Sylvanas is supposedly merciless, she doesn't punish him in any way.
  • Battle For Azeroth: During the funeral for King Rastakhan, a powerful leader of the Horde who was killed in his own city by the Alliance, Baine loudly announces that the Horde should surrender to the Alliance. Despite Warchief Sylvanas and Talanji the daughter and successor of Rastakhan being present along with countless soldiers of Rastakhan, Baine suffers not even a slap on the wrist. It takes Baine outright personally killing Horde soldiers and releasing a political prisoner, for him to be arrested for treason.

Western Animation

• Arcane: Deconstructed. Jinx regularly exposes her comrades to friendly fire and performs violent acts she was not ordered to do, such as killing several enforcers in a bomb trap, causing havoc for everyone. However, Silco never punishes Jinx for any of this despite him killing and maiming countless others for much, much less, and everyone he works with (except Jinx herself) is fully aware that the only reason is because he sees her as an adopted daughter.
• Bonkers: "Weather or Not" has Lucky and Bonkers continue chasing leads after Chief Kanifky orders them not to investigate the disappearances any longer. After the case is solved, Kanifky remarks that he doesn't know whether he should promote them for solving the case or suspend them for how they disobeyed orders. Ultimately, he decides to send him out without disciplining him at all so he can focus on finishing his sandwich.
• Justice League: In the episode "Patriot Act", Sir Justin, aka Shining Knight, relays a story about how King Arthur had once ordered him to lay waste to an entire village. He disobeyed, knowing his King's heart couldn't have been so cold. General Eiling tells him he's a bad soldier. Sir Justin counters that Arthur thanked him, and if he'd been wrong, he would have left his order in disgrace.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Zig-zagged in "Newbie Dash". After Rainbow accidentally earns a callsign of "Rainbow Crash", the same hurtful nickname she had in flight school, she comes up with a plan to perform a solo stunt to wow a crowd and earn a new nickname. Her actions cause a near disaster, endangering the team and the audience. When the commotion is over, Spitfire demands an explanation for why she broke formation, saying she's booted Ponies from the Wonderbolts for far less. Dash explains her history with the nickname, and the other Wonderbolts reveal they all have embarrassing callsigns (Truth in Television for those familiar with military history). Dash isn't booted from the Bolts, but she is assigned to cleaning duty probation for a month as a result.
• The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest: It would be easier to list the occasions where Jonny, Jessie, and Hadji actually followed instructions given to them by Dr. Quest and Race Bannon, if such examples existed. In the episode "Otherspace", Dr. Quest is taken to another dimension by hostile beings from that world, and it becomes clear that they intend to transform the very Earth. Race orders the kids out of the facility. He's Genre Savvy enough that when he finds Hadji at a computer station, he quickly and correctly guesses that instead of evacuating, Jonny and Jessie had gone into the alternate dimension to rescue Dr. Quest. He's not even mad.
• Star Trek: Lower Decks: In "Old Friends, New Planets", when Mariner is abducted by Nick Locarno, Captain Freeman is ordered not to try to rescue her because the fact Locarno gathered Nova Fleet through bloodless mutinies means Starfleet risks firing first and provoking a war with the other major powers if it intervenes. Freeman promptly defies that order when she sees Mariner denounce Locarno on a quadrant-wide subspace broadcast. Admiral Vassery confronts her after the crisis is over, but she escapes disciplinary action for two reasons: one, the Cerritos had to negotiate with D'Erika Tendi to obtain a ship capable of breaching the trynar shield, opening diplomatic ties with the Orions; two, Mariner didn't fire on Nova Fleet once while they were chasing her around the Detrion system, and the mutineers ditched Locarno for being a reckless Control Freak, averting the feared war.
• Transformers:
  • The Transformers: In the episode "The Master Builders", Autobot architect Grapple approaches Optimus Prime with plans for the solar tower, a highly efficient solar energy gathering system he believed would eliminate any sort of energy crisis (both for the Autobots and for humanity as a whole). Optimus is suitably impressed, but when Grapple asks permission to build it he points out that such a facility would almost assuredly be the target of the Decepticons and reluctantly turns Grapple down. When a depressed Grapple and his friend Hoist happen to run into the Constructicons, the latter are impressed enough with the design to offer to help build it. When, inevitably, things go wrong and the tower is destroyed in a battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, Grapple and Hoist offer themselves up to Optimus for punishment. Optimus simply tells them to clean up the wreckage of the tower, feeling that Grapple had been punished enough.
  • Transformers: Prime: During the season one finale, Megatron orders the Decepticons to remain in position while he allied with the Autobots and accompanies them to face Unicron. In his absence, Airachnid decides that with Megatron out of contact and possibly even dead, remaining would be foolish and orders the Nemesis off of Earth to flee to another system. Soundwave quickly puts a stop to it, and upon his return, Megatron makes no comment about the attempted desertion. However, several episodes later Megatron muses about whether or not Airachnid can be trusted and is reminded of her attempt at usurping his position. He decides to have her killed, but she manages to escape.
• In an episode of Young Justice, Batman is lecturing the team for breaking orders and taking unnecessary risks...and congratulates them for their results, saying that "No plan survives first contact with the enemy." He notes that they improvised based on information they had that others didn't and made a judgment call, and he's proud of them for taking that initiative.

Real Life

• Three Kingdoms – Shu, Wei, Wu: When Cao Cao led the bulk of his forces on a punitive attack on Xu Province and its ruler Tao Qian ^note  Cao held Tao responsible for the death of his father Cao Song, as he'd been travelling through Xu Province when he was ambushed and murdered , he left some of his loyal followers to guard his territory in Yan Province while he was away. However, dissatisfied officials under the leadership of Zhang Miao rebelled, inviting the wildcard Lu Bu to join them. Despite his orders to guard the city of Puyang, Xiahou Dun abandoned the city to secure Cao Cao's family (as they were living in a far less fortified city at the time) to bring them to safety, with Puyang falling to Lu Bu in his absence. While displeased with the loss of Puyang (along with its stockpiles of weapons and supplies), Cao acknowledged Dun had the right idea since his family would almost assuredly have been used as hostages otherwise, and other loyalists managed to hold other cities that gave him a chance to fight back anyway.
  • Towards the end of the Three Kingdoms period, Wei general Guo Huai was summoned to the capital by the Imperial court. On his way there he learned that his wife had been kidnapped by bandits, and so turned back to hunt the bandits down and slaughter them before escorting his wife to safety. Only then did he report as ordered, but despite ignoring an Imperial command he went unpunished, partially due to the fact that he was the single most decorated general in the Wei army, and so distinguished that there were literally no more promotions he could be given unless his boss Sima Yi gave him his.
• The American Civil War: During Confederate General Robert E Lee's second invasion of the North, he dispatched his cavalry under General J.E.B. Stuart to reconnoiter and gather information about the opposing Union forces (primarily the Army of the Potomac). Since Lee gave his subordinates much leeway, Stuart decided to interpret the orders as permission to perform another of his daring long-distance cavalry raids. ^note  During a previous campaign, Stuart had led his cavalry on a raid that circumnavigated the entire Army of the Potomac, inflicting damage while gathering priceless information that helped Lee make his preparations to face it. This time, however, the Army of the Potomac was under a more energetic and aggressive commander who pushed his troops much harder than expected. As a result, every time Stuart thought he was almost done with his circumnavigation, the Army of the Potomac had moved and his cavalrymen had more distance to travel. He only rejoined Lee during the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, his troops too exhausted to be of any use and the information he'd gathered practically useless. His only punishment was Lee simply observing, "Well, General, you're here at last.", with observers who were present noting that Stuart seemed well aware he'd let his beloved commander down.
• While soldiers are trained to follow orders, any soldier will tell you that the law comes first, thus you can get away with disobeying unlawful orders. For an extreme example, a superior officer cannot order you to break the Geneva Conventions and fire on innocent targets. However, a soldier must be absolutely correct about the application of the law in these instances.
• A story mentioned on the Star Trek Wiki and DVD extras: As a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Artillery, James Doohan was threatened with court martial for real for saying "No sir, I will not," to a visiting colonel when he realized a training exercise order would entail blowing the heads off some of his own men. Fortunately, his immediate superiors backed him up and, like his fictional character, he was eventually promoted to captain.

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