Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!

Friends are important.

"With daddy as the Pope, I could do as I pleased, was ace!
I'd kill a man who'd dare to, like, invade my personal space."

— Cesare Borgia, Horrible Histories ("The Borgia Family")

It's not what you know. It's who you know.

A character is able to Screw the Rules, simply because their friends or family are very influential, powerful or wealthy people. Can be Truth in Television, especially with The Mafia and similar criminal organizations.

A favored technique of the son of the villain and those who realize they are Not on the List. Also how the Obviously Unqualified get jobs they shouldn't have.

Wives of powerful men often do this, as do their children. And their brothers. And their nephews. And their sisters. And their mothers. And their...oh, you already get it by now.

Often phrased as: "Do you know who my dad is?" or "You Have No Idea Who You're Dealing With!"

Example subpages:

Other examples:

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Anime & Manga

In Akame ga Kill!, the depraved group Wild Hunt often excuse their actions by pointing out that they are sanctioned by the government, and their leader Syura is the son of Prime Minister Honest. After, Wild Hunt rapes and kills Bols's wife and daughter and then Syura attempts to rape Kurome, Wave says he doesn't care and kicks Syura's ass.
Every single target of Akumetsu, being filthy-rich megalomaniacs, Corrupt Corporate Executives, and/or Sleazy Politicians, in any combination. Not that this stops him.
In Asteroid in Love, when the rest of the Earth Sciences Club learn that Mira is the sister of the Student Council President, Monroe attempts to invoke this by asking Mira if she could lobby for more funding for their club. This is never followed through, so it's assumed to be averted.
Attack on Titan: Edward "Dimo" Reeves blocks off an emergency exit during a Titan attack with his merchandise, declaring that the Survey Corps exist solely to die so people like him can live. When Mikasa threatens him, he tries to pull this, stating that he's known her boss for a long time and can "decide [her] fate with a single word." Mikasa is undeterred, casually knocking out his bodyguards and retorting "how is a corpse going to talk?", after which Dimo gives in and gets out of the way.
A woman who gets into an altercation with Bamboo Blade's teacher, Toraji-sensei, uses her position as the superintendent's next-door neighbor to get him fired.
The Leagans in Candy♡Candy; when Candy is working at Joseph Hospital in New York City, Eliza frequently uses her family's connections to hospital to interfere with Candy's work life and Eliza's mother, Mrs. Leagan, gets Candy fired from her job by threatening to withdraw her family's funding if Candy remains employed there, simply because she disapproves of her son Neil having fallen in love with her.
Death Note: Though Light Yagami is one of the suspects of the Kira case from the very beginning, his father's status as the Chief of Police is what protects him from being seriously considered as such by the normal police and he knows it.
In Eyeshield 21, There's Donald "Mr. Don" Oberman who was able to expel a talented player in Notre Dame and have all his affiliations and achievements in the school erased simply because Mr. Don didn't feel said player was worthy of being Notre Dame's ace running back. How influential are his connections? He's just the son of the President of the United States.
Dr. Chrome Ballanche was able to dabble in the forbidden arts only because he was a lifetime friend of the God-Emperor of the most powerful nation around, even if his intentions were noble.
Fruits Basket: Akito's status as both God of the Zodiac and head of the Sohma family effectively makes her exempt from scorn or punishment for any of her actions; the Zodiac members are compelled to forgive and honor her no matter what due to the curse, and the maids just allow her to do whatever she wants on the grounds that a God can do as they please.
Used by both the heroes and the villains in the various iterations of the Ghost in the Shell franchise. Quite memorably, in the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series, a perp managed to avoid conviction partially thanks to this trope, and in response Chief Aramaki quietly arranged his "accidental" death in a car accident and hushed up any investigation that might follow, neatly demonstrating that the trope goes both ways. In another incident, some college kids were running an amateur organ black market, under the impression that their influential parents would get them out of any trouble. The Major literally scares the piss out of them instead, though her motivations were more personal than getting around their connections.
Haganai: During Season 2 of the anime and Volume 8 of the novels, there have been attempts to destroy the Neighbor's Club via RulesLawyering. The issue this time was that it turns out that Maria wasn't actually a teacher or a nun at the school, and Kate was just letting her think that to make her go to the school and behave. This means that the club didn't have a supervisor as is required in the school rules. Sena proceeds to get her daddy(the chairman) to fix the problem by having him appoint Maria as a temporary part-time instructor meaning she could now be their supervisor. Aoi (the Rules Lawyer in question) then tries to get them shut down for not having an instructor when the club was formed, meaning their club shouldn't exist in the first place but Sena then proceeds to tell her that if she does not cease and desist she will have her reputation ruined and expelled. Needless to say, Sena won that round.
High School D×D: Diodora Astaroth is a sadistic Hope Crusher who's favorite pastime is getting nuns branded as heretics and driving them to despair before raping and/or murdering them; as Issei himself realizes, the only reason anyone even puts up with Diodora, much less hasn't just killed him, is because he's related to Ajuka Beelzebub, one of the Four Great Satans, and doing so would risk provoking the Old Satan faction and triggering a civil war. Once he joins the Khaos Brigade and participates in a plot that would have killed a lot of high-ranking people, he loses that protection, and nobody gives a shit when Issei beats him senseless and Shalba offs him. Ultimately deconstructed, as the Astaroth clan soon finds its reputation in tatters as a direct result of Diodora's actions. Ajuka himself has this trope inverted being briefly Mistaken for Terrorist because of his relation to Diodora.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
- Stardust Crusaders: Polnareff is briefly arrested for being the prime suspect in Devo the Cursed's sudden murder (which he did indeed commit, but Devo was an Ax-Crazy Serial Killer that was trying to kill him, so it evens out), but luckily manages to avoid jail time thanks to lawyers from the Speedwagon Foundation.
- The JoJoLands: A Dirty Cop Jodio encounters doesn't follow any ethical practices needed of a police officer, but to him, it doesn't matter, since he has other cops to back him up while he's committing his heinous acts.
In Judge, the reason the drunk truck driver that ran over the protagonist's brother didn't get the full sentence he deserved was that he was well-acquainted with the judge, and had everyone on the jury being bribed.
Miyano from Maga-Tsuki is able to get so much stuff done via this method that it borders on Reality Warping.
Maria no Danzai: The main reason Okaya and his Gang of Bullies have consistently gotten away with their vile acts is because Okaya's mother, Shizuka, is the chief inspector of the local police precint, and she has made sure over many years that any and all forms of evidence linking her son to his crimes vanished without a trace — up to and including framing Kiritaka's death as a suicide.
One Piece:
- In the first few episodes, Helmeppo can do whatever he likes because his father, Axe-Hand Morgan, runs the town. Morgan actually hates his son but lets him use his name and authority as long as it doesn't put a dent in his ego.
- The World Nobles are an even more extreme example. If there's someone they can't shoot and is openly defying them, an Admiral gets involved immediately. Arguably, the only people in the world who could get away with defying the World Nobles are the Four Emperors — not even the Seven Warlords of the Sea (who have a notorious amount of Ultimate Job Security) can get away with that. Though this is because one of the Emperors alone is enough to challenge the World Government and the Marines with sheer manpower rather than any kind of strong influence beyond that of pirates. Another exception is another World Noble, such as when Saint Mjosgard strikes Saint Charlos with a spiked club. No admiral is summoned because it would create a paradox, with the admiral being unable to enforce the law without the admiral themselves harming a World Noble. Ultimately however, Mjosgard is judged and sentenced to death by Saint Figarland Garling — the only World Noble with the authority to judge the others — for using his privileges to do good.
- Caesar Clown attempts to invoke this trope at the tail end of the Punk Hazard arc, citing all of the people who rely on his factory, the weapons he makes from it, and even all the children who suffer under him. Luffy promptly responds that he doesn't care.
- Doflamingo is able to fake quitting the Seven Warlords because he is a former World Noble. According to him, he isn't considered one anymore by the others, but he still holds clout as a descendant of one of the World Government's founding families, and apparently knows something that allows him to blackmail the World Government.
- Orochi is only able to get away with his tyrannical rule of Wano Country because he has Kaido of the Four Emperors and the Beast Pirates backing him up. That is, until Kaido decides he doesn't need Orochi anymore.
Oz from PandoraHearts frequently exploits his connection to Jack, the "Hero of Sablier," as well as his own standing as a member of one of the four dukedoms. On one occasion, he threatens to use Jack's influence to turn Pandora against Duke Barma when the latter attempts to arrest Alice and Break. Another time, he pretends to have accessed his connection with Jack in order to deceive Isla Yura. Unfortunately for Oz, this connection backfires when it's revealed that Jack isn't the shining hero of Sablier everyone thought he was, but rather the villain who caused the whole tragedy in the first place. Oz does not take this revelation well at all.
ST☆R: Strike it Rich: Ichika used her position as a member of the gang unit to help Hana to fly under the radar. Naturally, her being reassigned put a stop to it.
Vampire Hunter D film. Greco, the mayor's son who sexually harasses Doris Rumm. This happens in the novel and is not the only example in the series.
Wandering Girl Nell: It's implied that Quilp's business transactions are far from legal. However, he's so wealthy he practically owns Britain's police force. In the original book it was also stated that he bribed cops to stalk and torment people he disliked.
In Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, Shingo Sawatari often name-drops his father, the Mayor, when things don't go his way. Played for Laughs later when he's in the Synchro Dimension and he doesn't seem to understand the concept that this won't work because nobody there has ever heard of him or his father.

Comic Books

Agent Graves in 100 Bullets. He spends the first half of the series giving out cases with a gun and well... you know. Graves is so connected that if a bullet from his cases is found at a crime scene, the investigation stops altogether. Any friend of Graves' is flat out allowed to get away with murder.
Subverted at the conclusion of Absolute Power (2024); when Amanda Waller is finally carted off to prison for her crimes, she claims she'll blackmail the heroes into breaking her out in due time due to her knowledge of their various secrets. Unfortunately for Waller, Dreamer has psychically altered Waller's brain so she will never be able to use any of the dirt she has the superhero community; she can still recall the facts, but she literally can't actually voice any of them.
In Batman #424 we have Felipe Garzonas; the son of a wealthy diplomat, he's an obnoxious jerk who is very abusive to his girlfriend and is also involved in a drug-smuggling ring. He is arrested twice for his crimes but quickly released and it is later arranged that he won't serve any jail time because of his father's diplomatic immunity. After his second release he harasses his girlfriend to the point where she commits suicide and Batman can't do anything about it. Jason Todd, the second Robin, is furious, so he takes manners into his own hands; when Batman arrives on the scene Felipe has fallen to his death from his apartment, although Jason claims that Felipe had slipped when Batman asks if Jason pushed him.
Disney Ducks Comic Universe: Subverted in a Donald Duck comic where Donald works at a theatre. The son of a mob boss basically threatens his way to being the leading man, despite being an incredibly bad actor. The subversion occurs when Donald breaks and becomes as angry as only Donald Duck can be, telling the guy just how bad he is. The offended young man calls upon his father... who turns up and thanks Donald for finally standing up to his obnoxious son, who is always using his connections to get away with stupid stuff.
In the She-Hulk graphic novel, Jennifer is captured by SHIELD and forced to be strip-searched in public in front of male personnel and in violation of all established procedure. Dum-Dum Dugan, acting director, comes in and is furious at this abuse, and orders the agent responsible confined to quarters pending a formal reprimand. The agent threatens to use his connections, and Dugan gets a harsh phone call by those connections ordering him to let the agent go. He didn't get away with it; he was the first casualty of a sentient swarm of cockroaches who invaded the craft, who used him as host. More than likely, his last few moments weren't pleasant. On top of that, this led to the Helicarrier being destroyed, one of SHIELD's biggest disasters; in all likelihood, those powerful connections he called didn't retain whatever authority they had much longer...
That Yellow Bastard and Kevin in Sin City have heavy ties to the O'Rourke family. Fortunately, Hartigan and Marv don't care.
Star Wars: Chewbacca: Jaum gets away with enslaving people because he bribed the local city council to ignore this.
Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra: Trey gets away with everything he does (from bullying to attempted murder) because his father is a powerful politician.

Films — Animation

The Lion King (2019): If Scar wasn't Mufasa's brother, he would have been exiled long ago for attempted murder. Even as he became audibly threatening and unrepentant, Mufasa allowed him to live in the same palace where two kids were, a decision that didn't end well for anyone involved.

Films — Live-Action

In The A-Team, Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck is able to turn his stay in prison for the last six months into a Luxury Prison Suite to the bafflement of one of the guards due to his top-notch people skills and extensive contacts both military and civilian. As Face puts it, "It isn't who you know, it's how you know them."
Batman Begins: Bruce Wayne became Batman because nearly all the public officials of Gotham were in the pocket of the crime lord Carmine Falcone, preventing Falcone from facing justice.
Jackie Treehorn from The Big Lebowski, according to the Malibu Police Chief.
Police Chief: Mr. Treehorn draws a lot of water in this town. You don't draw shit, Lebowski.
The Book of Henry: Glenn looks like a regular (if abusive) man and thus Henry tries to use the regular channels when dealing with the abuse (or worse) problem... and then it turns out that Glenn's brother is the man in charge of the town's Social Services department and Glenn is police commissioner. Reality still ensues in the third act, though, when Janice's call means the law is coming for Glenn, and the fact his own brother is asking him in a panic over the phone if what he's being charged for is true makes Glenn understand that his connections are not going to save him.
Averted in Burnt by the Sun. After being arrested by the NKVD, Colonel Kotov rattles off Joseph Stalin's personal phone number. The secret policemen squirm in their seats, but when he goes to leave the car they inflict a brutal beating. Kotov has no idea that Stalin is the one ordering his arrest in the first place.
Casino: Subverted. The cowboy who puts his feet on the table at Ace's casino protests that he has "important friends" when he's escorted off the premises kicking and screaming for being a jerkoff. He does turn out to be a friend of Nicky's- although unfortunately for the cowboy, so is Ace, and he's a much more valuable friend to Nicky. Nicky is ready to lay the smackdown on the cowboy himself and forces him to apologize.
The 1948 Soviet adaptation of Cinderella is most frequently remembered for the stepmother who boasted of having better connections than the king himself.
Fairy Godmother: I would have turned her [the stepmother] into a frog long ago... but, unfortunately, the old woman has lots of connections!
Death Note Series: In this incarnation, this is Light's primary motivation to become Kira; he holds the legal system on a Broken Pedestal because he's sick of those with connections abusing the law and getting off scot-free.
DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story: The Purple Cobras are able to enter the big Las Vegas dodgeball tournament without a regional qualifying match because the dodgeball chancellor is a friend of White's.
Dumb Money: Gabe Plotkin gets bailed out of the failing short by Ken Griffin's firm (for the moment), and the duo go to work on putting down the retail investor uprising: Reddit is made to lock r/Wallstreetbets, Robinhood is forced to turn off the "Buy" button on GME, and it's strongly implied they squeezed MassMutual to make them fire Keith Gill for accidentally starting the whole thing.
Another positive example in Hussar Ballad: while having a lower rank than Field Marshal Kutuzov, General Balmashov is a personal assistant to the Russian Tsar, and demonstrate willingness to throw all his weight to overrule Kutuzov's unjust decision.
Lord of War: When the Hero Antagonist captures the Arms Dealer Villain Protagonist Yuri, Yuri sympathetically explains that he'll be set free because he's a deniable middleman for the American military and government to supply weapons to the enemies of their enemies. He's released immediately afterwards.
Mean Girls: I don't think my father, the inventor of Toaster Struedel, would like that I'm not on this list.
In Nobody Hutch kills dozens of Russian mafiosos, burns down his house, steals a multi-million dollar piece of art, turns his construction company into a battlefield, and hotwires his neighbor's car. While sitting in an interrogation room, his two captors get a phone call each and he's let go as his connections have covered for him in exchange for future work.
When Willy Bank, the antagonist of Ocean's Thirteen, tries to use this as a threat against Danny Ocean, Danny replies he has all the same connections and they like him better.
In One Night in the Tropics, Lucky gets out of a hefty court fine by replying his employer has him insured for just about anything - then insures the judge for her upcoming promotion, to the frustration of a cop he'd punched.
Peppermint: The judge and lawyer of the murderers are in the pocket of the cartel, leading to the dismissal of the case against them.
In the Police Academy movies, a politician pulls this stunt on Hooks to get out of a parking ticket, thinking he can easily intimidate the squeaky-voiced policewoman. He discovers that Beware the Quiet Ones applies instead when she hits him with a bunch of additional charges.
Scavenger Hunt (1979): Bernstein the will executor is brothers-in-law with the police chief and brings this up to keep the police from arresting any of the scavenger hunters for borrowing items on the list without permission.
Schindler's List: A rare positive example: Oskar Schindler's membership of the Nazi party and friendship with senior Nazi officials are the reason he can save the lives of his eponymous List (well, that and a certain amount of outright bribery).
After the grotto is closed in The Song of Bernadette there’s a group arrested with a vial of water from the grotto. The woman with the vial is told it’s being seized but she tells them she got it for the Empress Eugenie who requested it for the young prince, who’s sick. She happens to be the boy’s governess. It’s enough to get her and the vial released.
Sorority Row:
Kyle: Are you crazy? Do you have any idea what my father is capable of?
Jessica: Oh yeah? Well, maybe I'm fuckin' the wrong guy!
Top Gun: Maverick: Apparently, Maverick has gotten away with decades of shenanigans, because of the protection he gets from his old buddy Iceman (or, as he is now known, Admiral Tom Kazansky).
Trapped: The Alex Cooper Story: The Simms repeatedly tell teenage lesbian Alex there's nothing that she can do to stop them from holding her in their brutal conversion therapy camp, as they're both connected with everybody in town and well-respected counselors. At first it's true, but thankfully she connects with a teacher, crisis counselor and lawyer to free herself.
Winter Kills: When Nick and Yvette are refused seating at the restaurant, and Yvette takes off her trousers (see Dress Code above), the maitre'd is ready to have them thrown out until Nick reveals his father owns the restaurant, at which point the maitre'd apologizes and lets Nick and Yvette sit where they want.

Literature

In Are You In The House Alone, Phil Lawver is the son of a very wealthy and/or influential man. When he rapes the narrator, the police chief refuses to even open an investigation on him due to his family connections.
This is the stock in trade of the "looters" in Atlas Shrugged, who essentially make themselves into an "Aristocracy of Pull".
- Interestingly, although Ayn Rand never seems to actually realise it, this is also true of her heroes in the same book; most notably when Dagny Taggart is able to put together the financing for her proposed John Galt Line by calling on all the rich, powerful industrialists she knows. Yes, they all insist that they're only backing her because — being capitalist super-geniuses — they instantly recognise a good investment when they see it, and will now proceed to milk it for all the profits it can be made to bear, but would they really react the same way if she was just some random stranger walking in off the street with the exact same plan? It is only her connections, and her inherited wealth, that permit her to even have a chance at succeeding, yet the novel insists that the looters are despicable for using theirs in the same way.
Subverted in Babylon Berlin. When the vice squad do a raid on a pornographic theatre quite a few of those arrested insist they have powerful friends, but it's mentioned that even if that were true, they'll likely accept whatever minor punishment they get rather than admit to their friends what they were arrested for.
This trope is directly responsible for the entire Archer Christifori arc in BattleTech. A Smug Snake of a junior officer with heavy political leanings towards the increasingly oppressive Archon Katherine Steiner-Davion killed Archer's sister when he was supposed to be picking her up for an interview then tried to weasel out of it with some Blatant Lies. When all he got was a slap on the wrist as punishment (he was demoted a couple ranks but spent no time in the brig and was never even charged with murder) thanks to his family's political connections, it was the final straw for Archer, who started a rebellion on his planet with his entire militia company before becoming one of the major players in the FedCom Civil War.
Carrie: Overlapping with Screw the Rules, I Have Money!, Chris Hargensen's father is a rich Amoral Attorney who regularly employs Loophole Abuse to ensure she never faces the consequences of her bullying actions. He got her into Oberlin despite her poor grades, and when she's banned from attending the prom for taunting Carrie over her first period in the shower, he threatens to sue the school unless they let Chris attend; he's forced to back off when the principal shows him Chris' long record of violations, declaring that they could easily have Chris locked up for them.
The Cat in the Stacks Mysteries: Book 2 features Hubert Morris, who feels entitled due to his bloodlines (his mother Daphne is from the very wealthy Delacorte family, and encouraged him to feel he deserved anything because of it). Reality ensues when his attitude doesn't endear him to anyone, and he's never been able to hold down a job for more than a year at a time because of it, but he still thinks he deserves anything he wants, including the bulk of his uncle James' estate, simply because he's the oldest male in the family after James dies.
In Chance And Choices Adventures this is the reason the Butterfield Gang are able to operate with impunity in northern Arkansas. Their leader Hank Butterfield is related to the local Circuit Judge, who can always be counted on to cut him some slack.
Subverted throughout the Codex Alera series. Several times, egotistical figures with connections attempt to invoke their connections or just pull rank on their own authority, only to be outmaneuvered or simply punched out. The one time saying "Screw the rules, I have connections" works in the series, it's a bluff. One Hilarious in Hindsight moment in the second book has a character saying "I have connections" to defuse a tense moment between some guards and an enemy nation's ambassador, but it's only a bluff because he's really just a page boy and student acting on no authority but his own. The Hilarious in Hindsight part is, he actually is the legitimate prince, but no one knows it except for the enemy he's trying to bluff.
Clive Cussler: Many of the villains have massive influence and wealth; the Vigilante Man only stops them.
Discworld:
- This used to be the case in Ankh-Morpork; an ongoing theme is the way Sam Vimes and Lord Vetinari have made it harder and harder to pull this off, providing an almost endless source of plot conflict as the city's Blue Blood population fight for their privilege.
- There's a beautiful moment in Feet of Clay where an Upper-Class Twit tries to pull the "I'm a friend of your Commander" line on some badly-shaved watchman in battered armour. This does not go well for him.
- Subverted in Snuff when the obnoxious Upper-Class Twit Gravid Rust escapes capital punishment for trafficking goblin slaves and troll drugs by accepting exile to Fourecks instead, since Ankh-Morpork nobility wouldn't accept one of their own being sentenced by non-humans. However, Vetinari also has connections, including a clerk in Fourecks with a singular interest in venomous spiders...
In Dora Wilk Series, one of Thorn Councilmen tries to force Dora to free his nephew from prison and rape charges, basing himself on this trope. She has none of this, though.
Forest Kingdom: In the Hawk & Fisher spinoff series, many, many criminals in Haven use or try to use this to get away with their crimes, including the villain of book 1, an influential person who got Hawk and Fisher pulled off a case involving a child prostitution ring he was a patron for. It's also why he killed William Blackstone, who'd also figured out his involvement and was building a case against him.
Percy Wetmore from The Green Mile. His catchphrase practically is "I KNOW people!!!" whenever anyone starts thinking of doing anything to him. He even got his job as a Death Row prison guard through his connections (his aunt is married to the state governor). Edgecombe couldn't figure out why he'd want a job like that, especially since there are far more prestigious government jobs that someone like Percy could get (including an offer for a high paying administration job at the Briar Ridge mental institution), but seeing how Percy treats the inmates like trash, it's pretty obvious he likes feeling he has power over someone and it's implied that he likes watching them be executed. Subverted when the others show that they too know people.
Judge Dee:
- At the end of The Chinese Bell Murders, some higher-ups in the government are discussing the case and the difficulties in getting a trial, and generally agree Dee did the right thing in both cases: a temple of corrupt Buddhist priests who rape the women staying there to pray for fertility (relying on the social stigma to keep them silent) who will be protected by the Buddhist clique in the capital; and a white-collar criminal who arranged for the murder of a rival family and bought off multiple politicians.
  - The false Buddhists are dealt with when the judge holds the trial in the temple and orders the guilty ones held in a stockade outside the yamen instead of in the cells. By the time the prisoners arrive, a furious mob has heard the news and tears the monks apart (the guards tried to send for help, but the local garrison was absent on maneuvers, as the judge knew full well).
  - The other is tricked into confessing that he smuggles salt (a lesser crime that will let him bring his connections to bear) and that he did trap the judge and his lieutenants under the titular bell as a "prank". The judge accepts this... then reveals the law states an attack on a magistrate is an attack on the State itself, meaning the criminal is going straight to the capital with none of his connections able or willing to intercede for him. His various crimes ensure he's torn apart by buffalo.
Harry Potter:
- Draco Malfoy is the biggest example. He uses the threat "When my father hears about this..." at least once a conversation, at least in the earlier books. It's not particularly effective.
  - In the first book, when he says he's going to tell his father about how he has to go into the Forbidden Forest for punishment, Hagrid dismisses the threat, saying that Lucius Malfoy would tell him that's how things are done at Hogwarts.
  - In Book 4, bringing up Lucius Malfoy practically makes Mad-Eye Moody née Barty Crouch Jr. salivate at the thought of an excuse to talk to a former Death Eater. Particularly one he hates for his lack of fealty to Voldemort.
  - In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Draco incites a new wave of panic in the students studying for their OWLs by loudly declaring that his father has history with Griselda Marchbanks (head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority). However, Neville says he's almost certainly bluffing, as his grandmother actually is friends with Marchbanks (and she's never mentioned the Malfoys) and he doubts he'll get a leg up because of this relationship.
- Similarly, Umbridge's connections in the Ministry allow her to literally get away with (attempted) murder in Book 5, as she's still around in Books 6 and 7.
- Snape's connection to Dumbledore allows him to get away with blatantly unprofessional conduct that would get him banned from teaching in a Muggle school.
Hive Mind (2016): Telepaths are rare and valuable enough to be effectively above the law. Many of them realize this and undergo 'distancing', where they do whatever they want. Most develop a moral code eventually; Keith is still distant. Amber is considered unlikely to become distant due to being The Empath.
Honor Harrington: Pavel Young lived and breathed this trope, abusing the heck out of the North Hollow family's position as one of the more powerful noble houses in the Star Kingdom to satisfy his basest desires and avoid any responsibility for his actions.
The Hunger Games: A different interpretation of the word "connections" in this case, but the reason Katniss hasn't been tossed in a cell for illegally hunting the District 12 wildlife isn't because of any particular skill at evading the Peacemakers. It's because the Peacemakers are also her customers.
The Hunt for Red October: A Soviet doctor who was drunk on duty botched what should have been a simple appendix removal. Being the son of a senior party official, he remained unpunished for the violation of the rules and the death resulting from it. This is part of what drove Ramius to defect, as the victim was his wife.
In the Christopher Anvil Interstellar Patrol-universe story Facts To Fit Theory, an officer's request to court-martial or at least file unflattering reports about The Neidermeyer is repeatedly denied because the man comes from an "old service family."
Judge Dee: A fact of life in Imperial China, and several of the judge's cases have him resort to Justice by Other Legal Means (or nowhere near legal, like leaving a rapist and murderer alone in a room with a temperamental bear as a Trial by Ordeal) to ensure the criminal doesn't get away with it.
Occurs in a brief exchange in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. A man trying to get Mannie to get the government to buy patriotic buttons for members of La Résistance gets the brush-off. The man takes umbrage, threatening to go directly to Party Chairman Adam Selene, a close friend of his. Mannie is unimpressed by this statement, since Adam Selene is an alter ego of Mike. Since only Mannie and two others know that Mike is secretly a sentient computer, it's pretty obvious that the man is bluffing.
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!:
- Played with in the second novel. At Wizarding School, Katarina has permission to come and go as she pleases from the student council room despite not being on it. However, it's because her friends on the council get the school faculty to agree to it by threatening to deny them the use of the room. Katarina herself didn't ask for it and has no clue as to why she's given the privilege of using the room.
- In the sixth novel, Katarina is surprised to see both Mary and Sophia in the Department of Magic's onboarding. It turns out both requested—in different ways—their fathers to pull strings to get a place so that they can stick close to Katarina.
Nightjohn: In Sarny, Miss Laura's prominent business interests and penchant for throwing grand society parties have given her many connections across the North and the South that she uses to help her friends. This includes getting a Union picket to let them pass by name-dropping a general or convincing the authorities to arrest a Klan member for killing a black man when they probably wouldn't have otherwise.
A rare good example in Oblomov. Tarantyev's buddy thinks he can pull off robbing Oblomov blind, but his friend Stolz happens to be on first-name base with the general, who gets Mukhoyarov (said buddy) fired.
Lightly used in Paladin of Shadows novel A Deeper Blue. When an admiral objects to Adams pulling a cigar, the former is asked to check whose authority is behind him.^noteThe US President's. The man quickly gives in.
In Pale, this applies even to magical Law, as magical practice in the setting is based heavily on precedent and inherited power. Abraham Musser, scion of the Musser family, displays the ability to casually argue down the enforcers of Law based not on any personal merit but purely on the weight of his name.
In the backstory of PartnerShip, several teens got into trouble that should have led to severe consequences, but as they were all Royal Brats from very powerful families they were instead assigned to positions in the remote Nyota system. Alpha, for testing Ganglicide on humans, was denied her impending doctorate but still assigned to work in a clinic, for example. On the trip there they all certainly carped as if they'd received real punishments, but each of them managed to exploit the situation to their own gain, and it took investigators who were themselves from powerful families to take them in after five years of free rein.
Deconstructed in The Phantom of the Opera: The original book by Gaston Leroux shows the consequences of a society that embraces this principle: The opera managers know how to play politics better than to manage, and who the opera singer knows is more important to being The Prima Donna than to sing better. This means that everyone is a Stupid Boss who doesn’t know how to do his job. Every employee knows that, so the bosses are Properly Paranoid about being pranked by them because nobody respects them. They also are the ideal victims for a BlackMailer, and that’s how Erik (the titular phantom) could convince them to let him do whatever he pleases.
In The Priory of the Orange Tree, Truyde ett Zeedeur is a high-ranking Mentish noblewoman serving in the Inysh court as a handmaid of Queen Sabran for diplomatic reasons. As such, she feels free to throw her weight around with Ead, and concocts a fake assassination in order to convince Sabran that she needs to do something about the world-ending dragon's imminent return. She is actually justified in thinking that harming her would have an enormous diplomatic fallout. Unfortunately, Igrain Crest decides it's a risk worth taking, turns the fake assassination into a real one, and has Truyde beheaded anyway.
In the fourth book of Protector of the Small, Neal puts a spell on an abusive innkeeper that will prevent him from beating his servants by reflecting the pain back on himself. When the innkeeper says that it's illegal to force a magic on a person, Neal says that nobody's going to believe the innkeeper over Duke Baird of Queenscove's son. (To be fair, the innkeeper himself implied that he was buddies with the local magistrate and they're in a border town with an impending war, preventing a by-the-book resolution.)
Reference material for The Railway Series reveals that the first Sir Topham Hatt, Baronet, had this. He was an engineer in his own right, before becoming director of the entire North Western region. He knew Sir William Stanier and Sir Nigel Gresley, both among the most famous locomotive engineers the world had ever seen. His good standing with them ensured Gordon was purchased, and Henry was rebuilt, to give his railway the powerhouses it needed.
Another rare heroic example in The Raven Cycle: Richard Campbell Gansey III lives among psychics, spirits, and magicians. His super power? Calling in favors. He uses this power for good, either to help a friend in trouble (such as when Ronan faces expulsion or Adam presses charges against his father) or to further his search for Glendower
Sam the Cat: Detective: Prior to The Great Catsby, a local woman shot her rich husband and got away with claiming she’d mistaken him for a burglar because her sister was married to the sheriff.
The Scholomance: Todd breaks one of the biggest taboos of the magical community by killing another student for his room, but he avoids any major punishment due to his father being a prominent member of the New York enclave.
Sisterhood Series by Fern Michaels: The Vigilantes definitely use this trope to accomplish their missions and with style! In fact, it seems that Washington, D.C. pretty much requires everyone to make use of this trope. A number of the bad guys use this, and John Chai from Vendetta happens to be very explicit, considering how he was promising the Vigilantes that his father would make them pay (The Vigilantes were not intimidated by this, for the record).
A Song of Ice and Fire
- Has Janos Slynt attempt to do this at the Wall, despite the fact that at the Wall you're essentially a dead man and no one will care what happens to you.
- Jaime Lannister got away with his killing of Aerys and stayed in part in part thanks to his father's power and reputation, as Robert didn't want to risk offending or punishing Tywin after the sack of King's Landing, and of him being the queen's brother. Him being a Lannister and the son of the mighty Tywin made him feel that he was above the laws, and could always get away with anything in the end. Deconstructed when he faces the Brave Companions, finding out the hard way that Ax-Crazy Psycho for Hire who kill, pillage, torture and rape just for the sake of it aren't going to care much about who your father and family name are.
The Stranger's Wife: What Evan believes right up until he gets shot.
Sugawara Akitada: Even though he's a lowly clerk, being on a mission for the Emperor is empowering enough that Akitada is able to hire a wanted criminal^* as a servant and walk around with him in the very region he was wanted. Akitada also has influential friends among the government willing to help him, too.
The main character in Tender Is the Flesh has been working in the "special meat" industry for a long time and made connections with high-ranking officials, which allows him some freedom to disregard certain regulations.
Under Heaven: Shen Tai is able to unintentionally pull this off. A servant to the Beloved Consort (the Emperor's favorite wife) informs Tai that his horse was moved (without his permission) in preparation for a meeting.^note During the heated discussion that follows, Shen Tai uses a gesture that can mean "be quiet", but wonders why he isn't being reprimanded for excessive rudeness - as far as he knows, he's just an army officer, with the rank being an appointment to support actions he might need to take claiming a large gift from another country. Then he realizes: since his sister was "promoted" to princess to justify using her in an arranged marriage (along with an actual princess), his entire family can be treated as royalty... including him.
The Unteachables: In the Backstory, Jake avoided being expelled after being caught selling test answers because two school board members were former fraternity brothers of Jake's dad.
Vorkosigan Saga:
- Miles Vorkosigan, the Barrayaran Prime Minister's son and Emperor's foster brother, occasionally does this; he considers it a last resort. He still gets in a lot of trouble, and the time he does try to use connections to keep from losing his secret covert ops identity after injuring an officer during a seizure, then falsifying the report of the incident, it doesn't work, though he still gets a medical discharge instead of dishonorable discharge and a further sentence. Really, his usual philosophy is more "Screw the Rules, My Results Will Justify It" or "Screw The Rules, I'll Deal With the Consequences Later". It's probably ironic that in the aftermath of the above incident, not only did his connections prove as valuable as he could possibly have wanted, they were taking care of and protecting him to a degree neither her nor they were aware of at the time.
- Similar to the Discworld example above, this used to be the case for the aristocracy in general, and the efforts toward reforming the government to stop this are frequently mentioned.
Falcone, closest thing to a Big Bad in the Warchild Series, has been arrested once before and sent to prison. His connections either broke him out or saw fit to release him early (the books are rather vague on that). When he gets arrested a second time, he tells our heroes it's a waste of time and brags about how he'll be out again. Indeed, he doesn't even make it to the prison when a group of his loyalists arrive to free him from the custody of the Space Marines. But in a fitting turn, he is murdered on the docks because one of our gray heroes can't bear to see him get away unpunished.
Warformed Stormweaver: According to an epigraph, the MIND's influence means that wealth is far less important than it used to be; now what matters is social capital and family connections. Even then, it's limited. Notably, while Aria and Viv both come from well-off families, their actual money is never mentioned, just their connections.
The Wayfarer Redemption: Hagen gets away with burning his wife alive and brutally maiming and torturing his adoptive daughter for years because he's the mayor and part of the Seneschal, claiming to have a connection to the god Artor himself. It's finally averted when Azhure murders him herself.
Wolf Hall:
- Thomas Cromwell is a member of a covert reading group of John Tyndale's English translation of the Bible, who face death by burning if discovered (as indeed several of them are). Cromwell is a little safer than people like Little Bilney because he's the right hand of Cardinal Wolsey, and it's an unspoken understanding between the two of them that he's allowed his little bit of heresy because of their friendship. (Cromwell also pays close attention to when Wolsey mentions names from the group and warns them of forthcoming raids. Later, when he's Master Secretary and thus becomes the Connection, he tries to arrange an escape for John Frith, but Frith refuses to take it.)
- Cromwell later does this from the other end in an example of "screw the rules for my connections." When he's put in charge of bringing down Anne Boleyn, he's reminded by his accomplices of Thomas Wyatt, a poet with a well-known crush on Anne. Henry Wyatt is a family friend who once asked Cromwell to look after his wayward son, so when Mark Smeaton names Thomas Wyatt as one of Anne's partners, Cromwell refuses to add him to the list and refuses his accomplices' advice to arrest him until Wyatt arrives in London and Cromwell has no choice but to take him in. Even then he puts Wyatt in the Tower of London only for protective custody and doesn't even start a case in the hopes that the well-publicized executions of Anne and her five accused lovers will take the heat off. It does, and he releases Wyatt unharmed a little while later.

Music

"Bitchin' Camaro" by The Dead Milkmen gives us this gem:
I ran over some old lady
at the county fair.
And I didn't get arrested
because my dad's the mayor.
Tom Lehrer: "My Home Town" from Songs by Tom Lehrer mentions Sam, who was the village idiot and a Pyromaniac, but about whom "Nothing could be done / Because he was the mayor's son".

Myths & Religion

It's been suggested that this is why Jesus Christ wasn't immediately arrested following the cleansing of the temple — Herod Antipas let it slide as part of a conspiracy with Sejanus to get himself installed as King of Judea and overthrow the conservative, corrupt High Priest Caiaphas.

Podcasts

Invoked by one of the mayor's assistants in Welcome to Night Vale, she claims to have supernatural mayoral powers. She then urges to have Cecil's reporters look away, and then follows through before they do.

Pro Wrestling

The McMahon kids don't fall into this too well... Shane's a fan favorite (the inversion of Vince in many ways, but he has broken out into one of his catchphrases once. Not the one you're thinking of though.), and while Stephanie is a bit of a bitch as well as a Daddy's Girl, she was a face in her General Manager days (and ironically, her reign came to an end when Vince beat her in an I Quit match).
Being friends with a high-profile wrestler is a great way to guarantee a job. Brutus Beefcake owes his entire career to his friendship with Hulk Hogan. Kevin Nash was first brought into the WWF because of his friendship with Scott Hall, and then they became good friends with Shawn Michaels and former indy sensation the 1-2-3 Kid (Sean Waltman)^note. They would form The Kliq and amass all kinds of backstage power for themselves, with Triple H joining in 1995. Later in WCW, the top wrestlers would try to become friends with Eric Bischoff and would usually get a huge push from it. Just ask Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Diamond Dallas Page, among others.
Carlito became this way in Ohio Valley Wrestling after joining Bolin Services, telling Jim Cornette he could do whatever he wanted when being yelled at him for arriving to a training session late. It also led, somewhat ironically, to Carly disowning his family and WWC, who'd you'd think would provide more connections than Kenny Bolin...
Paul Heyman, the son of a lawyer, played this card on at least two occasions to get his job back after being fired by WCW^note.

Radio

The early Adventures in Odyssey episode "Camp What-A-Nut" features a low-key version of this. Chas Wentworth, son of a wealthy businessman who (among other things) partially owns the camp itself, has a well-earned reputation as a troublemaker who figures his money will cover any trouble he might get into. For once, among other things, this doesn't come hand in hand with being popular. In fact, it eventually comes out that he is caught in a cycle of being a jerk to everyone because most people don't like him because he keeps flaunting his cash on the flawed assumption that people universally respect money.

Tabletop Games

Arkham Horror 3rd Edition: Player characters with the condition "Wanted" can make an Influence test to prevent its penalty from triggering or even discard the card entirely.
Hero System characters may have a "Contact" Perk, representing an NPC who is willing to do favors and pull strings.
While it may not be potent enough to really count for this trope (barring GM Fiat, of course), the 2012 version of the Iron Kingdoms RPG introduced a Connections system. Mainly representing membership to certain organisations, like the Order of the Golden Crucible or the Greylord Covenant, or a specific nation's military and these connections can provide some material help at the GM's discretion. The section does mention that it can't be used to, say, have the party's Mage Hunter use his contacts in the Retribution of Scyrah to call in a couple of Mage Hunter Strike Teams to clear out an Orgoth ruin for them.
- Played somewhat more straight with one of the Aristocrat career's starting abilities, Privilege. Short version is that he's immune to persecution for petty crimes and can only be tried by a court of his peers (meaning other nobles). A successful Etiquette roll can let the character demand hospitality and request aid from a noble not at war with his kingdom (so don't expect Cygnaran noble to get much help in Khador or the Protectorate) and gets a nice bonus so social skill rolls made against people of a lower station who recognise him as a noble. Drawback is that the punishments from a high court are typically quite severe.
Rifts: Dr. Desmond Bradford grew up alongside Karl Prosek, the man who would become Emperor of the Coalition States. This has kept his more horrific work at the Lone Star Complex (Bradford is a geneticist who literally believes he is a god) under wraps, as Karl refuses to believe his friend would do anything as hideous as human experimentation. This fact makes Joseph Prosek II's life all the harder - he knows Dr. Bradford is up to things even the Coalition States would find unacceptable, but he also knows he needs absolute ironclad proof or else his father will never believe it... and Dr. Bradford is far too intelligent to leave that kind of proof.
The Serenity Role Playing Game has two perks of this nature, "Friends in High Places" (for connections in society's elite) and "Friends in Low Places" (for criminal underworld connections). You can roll a die to get your contacts to help with problems, difficulty dependent on the magnitude of the request (e.g. a small loan is an easy roll, getting the Feds to back off is harder).
Shadowrun characters can cultivate connections that vary in function, influence, and loyalty. Being a 'connection horse' is a popular way to make a socially-oriented character extra useful: having a ton of loyal friends in high places makes running the shadows fairly easy at times.
This is what the various "Influence" backgrounds in The World of Darkness represent. Vampires, being immortal, are especially prone to cultivating these. Particularly the Ventrue.

Theater

Roy Cohn in Angels in America.
In the opera The Barber of Seville, Count Almaviva's connections keep him from being arrested by his romantic rival, Dr. Bartolo.
Cyrano de Bergerac: At Act II Scene VII, De Guiche wants to Buy Them Off Cyrano, offering to say to his uncle, Cardinal Richelieu, whom Cyrano has already impressed, I'll gladly say a word to him for you. And at Act III Scene II, he lampshades how he will occult in a monastery:
De Guiche: ...Hard by, in the Rue d'Orleans, is a convent founded by Father Athanasius, the syndic of the Capuchins. True that no layman may enter—but—I can settle that with the good Fathers! Their habit sleeves are wide enough to hide me in. 'Tis they who serve Richelieu's private chapel: and from respect to the uncle, fear the nephew. All will deem me gone...
'Tis Pity She's a Whore: How Grimaldi gets away with killing Bergetto. He happens to be a friend of the cardinal, who decides the crime was nothing more than a tragic accident and places him under the protection of the church.

Video Games

Ace Attorney:
- In the second case of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Redd White is a man who has connections with the judges, prosecutors, police force... He essentially has the entire legal system wrapped around his finger. He uses said connections to get Phoenix arrested and charged with the murder of Mia Fey, despite Maya Fey being the original defendant, because he knew Phoenix could prove his guilt... and then ended up being proven guilty by Phoenix anyway.
- In Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, these are the exact people the Yatagarasu tries to combat. It's also pulled by Alba in the final case. If he committed the murder on Allebahstian soil, then he only gets a trial in Allebahst, where he will surely get off lightly due to his war hero status. This is before Agent Lang shows Edgeworth's trump card to the Allebahst royal family; after that, Alba attempts to leave for parts unknown instead.
In Discipline: A Record of a Crusade, this is the primary reason for Leona's Rich Bitch personality. When she's able to use a jet to blow up a portion of a school building, and NOT get punished for it, not even the O'Rourke family has that kind of clout.
In Dragon Age: Origins, Bann Vaughan, son of the current Arl of Denerim, employs this trope throughout the City Elf Origin, first by responding to the Warden's threats with the stock phrase "Do you have any idea who I am?" He later claims the Alienage will be purged by his father should the Warden slay him.
Dustborn: Unlike the American Republic, Pacifica technically doesn't have laws against being an Anomal. Despite that, the Puritans get away with "disappearing" any exposed Anomals in Pacifica, likely due to their close ties with Pacifica's police.
The Elder Scrolls
- Throughout the series, the Order of the Black Worm, a secretive Magical Society/Necrocracy founded by the legendary/infamous Lich/Necromancer Mannimarco that is dedicated to the study of The Dark Arts, has long been able to forge connections with people in positions of power. Empress Clivia Tharn allowed the Order to practice freely in Cyrodiil during the Planemeld, and the Order forged connections with Lord K'avar and Princess Morgiah leading up to the Warp in the West. When this has failed, the Order has simply resorted to bribery or threats instead.
- Oblivion: Downplayed. If the player character is arrested for a crime by a City Guard with an extremely high Disposition towards them, the guard will cancel the bounty and let them go, so long as the bounty is relatively small (i.e., less than what you get for murder).
- Skyrim:
  - Doing favors for the jarls can result in the Dragonborn becoming a Thane. It's mostly a ceremonial title, but one of the perks is the ability to force guards to overlook any bounty that you might have on your head. It only works if your crimes are minor, though.
  - Oddly enough, however, the bounty for assassinating the Emperor is low enough for you to do this. (1500, 150% of the bounty for normal murder.) Sure, it was a decoy, but you didn't know that and your intent was to kill the real Emperor. This might make sense if you've completed the Stormcloak questline and liberated Skyrim from the Empire, but if you have, that in itself presents Fridge Logic as to why the Penitus Oculatus is still in Skyrim in the first place.
  - The Thieves Guild questline also allows you to do this; when you reach a certain rank you can bribe guards for half the normal price for bounties.
  - Several quests in the game also allow you to bring up your title if you've become the faction leader of a certain faction (by completing the relevant questlines).
In The Godfather 2, you can do favours for corrupt officials in exchange for getting their help later.
Grand Theft Auto V: Devin Weston flat out tells Franklin in the last mission that even the President allows him to finger his wife. In fact, this is why he's confident Franklin will be intimidated by him instead of the FIB. This is also how he initially got Michael to work for him in the first place, by introducing Michael to one of his Vinewood idols.
- However, as is implied by the "Deathwish" ending, it seems that Devin doesn't have as many connections as he thought, since none of the protagonists ever face repercussions for their role in his death, the police and FIB simply label him as disappeared when his body doesn't turn up and don't carry out any further investigations and his closest ally, Don Percival of Merryweather, is glad to see him gone so he can buy out his shares at a low price.
- It's also revealed that the connections you have won't help when you make your connections via money, coercion and blackmail, as opposed to inspiring loyalty. Once you can no longer pay people, or keep them under your thumb, they have little reason to remain "loyal".
Some of the bystanders in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City claim that they "know people".
More than a few of the targets in Hitman have used their connections to get away with huge and heinous crimes. Too bad for them that other people have connections to the ICA, the employers of one Agent 47.
League of Legends: Shyvana is a magical being, being half-dragon, and would normally be arrested, much less be allowed to be part of an elite task force for the prince. However, because she saved Jarvan IV's life, she is an exception to the rules. Called out in The Mageseeker, where Shyvana is very aware that even with Jarvan's protection, she is likely to end up on the wrong end of the Mageseekers the second Jarvan's attention is turned towards something else.
Kosuke attempts this in Lost Judgment, by saying he has connections in the Tojo Clan to try and get Yagami to leave him alone. Unfortunately, he apparently didn't get the memo that the Tojo Clan disbanded.
One of the routes in Majikoi! Love Me Seriously! has a Sadist Teacher who is already jerk becoming even worse, which in many cases has him assaulting people, while bragging about his powerful family meaning he can do whatever wants and get away with it. This eventually causes one of the main characters to have enough and hit the teacher. When the principal is seen taking things over with the teacher's father, he does nothing because he doesn't approve of his son arrogantly tormenting others and thinking his family's power will let him get away with it.
Mass Effect:
- Spectres more or less have this privilege. They answer directly to the Citadel Council, and are explicitly "above the law", enabling them to do things that would otherwise be very illegal in the pursuit of greater threats. Some Spectres abuse this, others are more scrupulous, but as long as they get the job done, the Council will back them. Of course, if the Council decides a Spectre has gone too far, they can revoke this privilege, and then the ex-Spectre is on the hook for everything they've done.
- In Mass Effect 3, Aria T'loak, a crimelord and former de-facto ruler of Omega, is capable of bypassing Citadel customs by calling up the Asari councilor and telling her to give her permission.
In Max Payne 3, the paramilitary leader Neves says that he knows a lot of powerful people. Max tells him that they won't be able to help him now.
- Victor Branco pulls the same thing, declaring that even if Max takes him in, he'll walk. Max responds "You'll walk with a limp" and shatters one of Branco's legs with a harsh stomp.
Early on in NBA Ballers: Phenom's story mode, Hot Sauce pulls strings to ice your character out of the Beverly Hills tournaments for a decent stretch of the story. After building up enough goodwill with Ludacris, he makes it clear that Sauce doesn't have as much pull as he thinks, and lets you inside the Beverly Hills gates.
In Persona 5, a drunk douchebag tries to sexually harass a woman. Fortunately for her, you happen to be passing by and stop him. Unfortunately for you, said douchebag has more pull with the police than you and promptly has you arrested for assault, expelled from your high school, and forced to move away to serve a year of probation. Many of the villains in the game are people who get away with misdeeds due to their connections, all the way up to Masayoshi Shido, a candidate for Prime Minister and the aforementioned drunken douchebag who gave your protagonist such grief in the first place. Luckily, the Phantom Thieves don't really give a damn about how famous or well-connected 'shitty adults' are. In fact, trying to invoke this trope and act above the law is a quick way to piss them off and get your heart stolen.
In Pokémon Legends: Z-A, all participants in the Z-A Royal must ascend the ranks one promotion match at a time. However, there is one exception...you. Due to subduing a Rogue Mega Evolved Absol the night prior, Vinnie of Quasartico recognizes the potential in you (and your Friendly Rival) but knows that trainers who are at Rank G are allowed to handle Mega Evolution battles, so they could run into trouble for being that low rank. Knowing that both the player and the rival are just at Rank V by the time this happens, he makes a special exception and allows them to jump ranks from Rank V to Rank F after they win against him as their promotion match. This is followed by the player character taking a moment of wild bewilderment as they watch their own rank jumping straight to Rank F.
In Spirit Hunter: NG, if security proves to be too much of a hassle for the characters to get past, then Seiji tugs on his Yakuza connections and has them 'taken care of', allowing the protagonists free reign. Later on, he's replaced by Cowboy Cop Ooe, who uses her status to the same effect.
In Star Trek Online, there's Nog, the son of the Grand Nagus Rom and first Ferengi in Starfleet. Despite this humongous helping hand, Nog prefers to do things without his help. When you first meet him, yes, he's carrying around his father's staff, but he tells the Player Character that he's here on Starfleet duty and, besides, the staff was his father's second best.
Tales Series:
- Tales of Destiny 2: Loni suggests Kyle cut the line to see King Woodrow by bringing up that he's the Legendary Hero Stahn's son. While it works, it also gets Kyle chewed out by Woodrow for not respecting the system and Judas calls Kyle out on relying too much on his father's name rather than standing on his own as a person. Zigzagged as after the chewing out, Woodrow tells Kyle that he will always make time for him because Stahn was his dear friend.
- In Tales of the Abyss, there's an unusual example in that it's actually useful to the player outside of cutscenes: equipping Jade with his "Emperor's Best Friend" title gets you a discount in shops.
- Tales of Vesperia has 2 characters who, due to their positions of power, will probably be acquitted for their heinous crimes even after being arrested. Yuri murders both of them in cold blood before they're given the chance.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader: As a holder of a Warrant of Trade issued by the God Emperor Himself, you have permission to operate outside of the spatial borders and legal scope of the Imperium and the Lex Imperialis.
Having a high reputation with a government in the X-Universe series lets you get away with an absurd amount of murders. You can capture their flagship, murder the crew, then sell the fighter pilots into slavery, and you'll often take only a minor reputation hit unless you started slaughtering everything else in the sector.
In Zenless Zone Zero, Phaethon - AKA Wise and Belle - start off as a lawless legendary Proxy team hiding their services from the public (except a select few) as they work to find out about their lost adoptive mother Carole Arna. Because of their Chronic Hero Syndrome, they successfully endear many major Agent factions across New Eridu; some of which are so influential that the very own major of the city lends them their aid to find Carole and put a stop to the Exaltists from causing a devastating Hollow disaster, though it helps that he's an old friend of Carole in the first place.

Web Animation

On The Edge: Shigeo's victims bring up their connections with powerful people before he tortures them. However, he doesn't care and tortures them anyway. What's more, he captures the powerful person connected with the criminal as well.
Gossip City: Harumi could get away with bullying Mari and other girls because she was the Chairman's daughter. When the latter's mother Azusa came to the hospital to check on her, the former showed up and gloated about her connections and how he's good friends with the police, even when Azusa's husband is the police chief. However, she loses her connections after Mamoru bought Uwasa Middle School while Leon had the Chairman arrested.
MoniRobo:
- Spoiled son ran over me with his car and tried to pretend it never happened: Eri filed a lawsuit against Eiji for trying to run her over, but it didn't stick as his dad was a powerful congressman.
- A spoiled brat beat me and my friend up and tried to use money to hide it...: Takakuni always thinks he could use his father's money and power to get out of trouble and force Mari to date him, but his luck runs out when his father's company turns out to be a client to her brother Masaki's company.
- The new recruit is using her family's powers to threaten me!: Ikari was a lousy worker who was only accepted into the office because she was a Yakuza's daughter. Whenever Atsumu tried to take her to task, she always brings it up to silence him into submission by threatening his loved ones.
- My sister's being bullied at school, but the principal wants to cover it up: Ai's bullying of Sayuu was never dealt with properly despite the latter's sister Miyuu presenting evidence her dad was friends with the principal and had him cover up said bullying.
Refreshing Stories:
- "I confronted the woman in the accounting department who was causing trouble": Ms. Tachibana brings up that she is the mistress of President Sakanoue and therefore with the same authority as him to silence Hiroshi for trying to call her out for unjustly accusing him and his coworkers of embezzlement for taking expensive services.
- "The teacher tried to force my son to drink milk even though he's allergic to it, but I had a plan…": Mr. Takahashi became a teacher because of his connections, as he was the Principal's son. When Hiroshi tried to call out the principal for letting said teacher bully his son Ren for his dairy allergy, he didn't do anything.
- "My idiot wife got into my taxi with her cheating partner to go to a hotel…": Miha used her status as the Refreshing Hotels CEO's daughter to not only cheat on Hiroshi with another man but also have the guy pass as Hiroshi and threaten the receptionists into not charging her the room services she abused under threat of firing them.
- "My wife was cheating on my while secretly lying about being on maternity leave": Yumi seemed to defy this trope when she demanded her father, the CEO, to not give her special treatment since she wanted to be in the company through her hard work, even threatening him with a lawsuit for power harassment when he brought up her recent behavior. However, it turns out she has been forging numbers and documents to cover up her mistakes and Manato exposed her after Hiroshi caught her cheating. She then begs her dad for help only for the man to fire her for said crimes.
- "A colleague stole my girlfriend, became the CEO, and then fired me…": Shota Temae always stole deals from Hiroshi to pass as his own to the higher-ups. Moreover, the latter couldn't do anything about it because the former was the CEO's son and got his job at the company through personal connections and put on a pleasant facade around other coworkers and higher-ups to make himself untouchable and eventually get Hiroshi.
Revenge Films:
- "Fiasco at my colleague's wedding. Turns out that she was having an affair with her manager": the manager drunkenly exposed his affair with Sarah on her wedding day. However, while Sarah was suffering the consequences of having her affair exposed, the affair partner got off scot-free because he was related to the company's president. However, the employees got on strike and got him fired, with his wife finally divorcing him for his trouble.
- "My ex girlfriend dumped me saying she could never marry a peasant. A few years later...": Oscar's high school bully, Scott, is revealed to have landed his job through his parents' connections but ended up fired six months into his job for his poor work ethic and laziness. Fed up with his refusal to work afterward, Scott's parents cut ties with him and kicked him out of the house.

Web Comics

Subverted in Arthur, King of Time and Space: Morgan (before she's openly evil) expects that as the king's half-sister she can do whatever she wants, but egalitarian Arthur has instructed his people that anyone saying "Do you know who I am?" is to be ignored.
This is the case for students at the military academy "The Roost" whose parents have high positions in government in The Croaking: for example, Del gets away with trying to murder another student (Scra) in plain view of his classmates and instructors — Scra nearly falling to his death is instead explained away with faulty equipment.
El Goonish Shive: Played with when Edward nearly gets fired from his position in the FBI for attacking a criminal who'd already surrendered (understandable considering that said criminal had nearly killed his niece). However, his immediate superior bluntly informs him that he has far, far too many powerful friends who'd raise hell if that happened, so instead he's being promoted to an entirely new position with significantly less power, but still able to do a great deal of good.
Girl Genius: While this is not at all Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, his paper doll sports useful phrases such as "Do you know who I am?" and "My father will hear of this!".
In Jupiter-Men, Rick picks a fight with Arrio, who defends himself and gives Rick a black eye. Arrio is given three weeks detention for the Crime of Self-Defense on account of it being his birthday (his principal says he would've expelled him any other day). Meanwhile, Rick gets to walk away scot-free on the condition that he doesn't breathe a word of this to his mother. Rick's mom is later revealed to be a high-level executive of MunTech, a billion-dollar tech company, and tapped to become its interim CEO following Daejung's disappearance. This explains the principal's unwillingness to get on her bad side.
Rare heroic example in Kubera: Asha has such good connections that she can literally get away with murder. 29 times.
In Terra Kaleb Ceros is still alive at the start of the comic because of somebody else's connections. He was sentenced to death for beating one of his subordinates to death, but Solus Kalar had his father, the Sovereign of the Asurian Empire, overturn the execution so Solus could use him in the Shadow Cabal.
In Weak Hero, the bullies in Gray's middle school got away with hospitalising his best friend because one of them had a city representative as a parent. At least, they got away with it until Gray took matters into his own hands.

Web Videos

American High Digital: Julia in "College Essays" doesn't have to worry about what her essay is about as her parents donate plenty to the college she's applying to.
Siria and Gideon from Dina Marino are VERY fond of this trope whenever issues that can be solved by their connections arises.
Manwhores: Hilariously, Randy tries to invoke this trope, saying that he "knows people now" who can put a horse head in Greg's sheets — after he's spent three days as a male prostitute, while threatening him ineffectually.
According to former mafioso Michael Franzese, it's a very bad idea to explicitly invoke this with The Mafia, especially when the "connection" hasn't given permission to use their name. He relates a story where he encountered a man who claimed to know Michael Franzese and his father "Sonny" while making trouble at a bar owned by the latter.
Franzese: He looked at me and said "You know who I am?" The worst line you could ever say to someone in that life. [...] He said "Sonny's doing time right now, he's away. But I make one phone call and I'll have his son Michael down here in five minutes." And he's talking to me, okay? [...] We took him in the back, and I guarantee you, this guy would never mention somebody's name again.
Gaea from Noob has done plenty of ban-worthy stuff. Some of that stuff was cooperating with Tenshirock, who helped her get her avatar back when it was banned, then kept it from being kicked out a second time when she got framed by someone else in the webseries and novels.
The Nostalgia Chick, as part justification for the high-grade (cameras in Nella's house across the country, stealing Todd's government pay records, that kinda thing) stalking she does.
Text Theater: Liam disregarded his boss and had a bad attitude towards other employees and sales representatives just because he is the executive manager's son. Unfortunately for him, he lost his power when his father got fired for harassing the female employees and he was fired when it came out that he was helping his father look for the employees.

Western Animation

The Boondocks: Ed Wuncler III's grandfather is the ultra-rich owner of... pretty much everything, so Ed gets away with... well, pretty much everything. Take, for example, his foray into bank robbery. It was bungled about as badly as it could have been, and when they get into the car, they start arguing and eventually ask the bank manager (who they had also kidnapped) for a second opinion. Later, back at Ed's house, a police officer shows up to return Ed's wallet, which he lost at the bank while in the process of robbing it. He even apologizes for having wasted Ed's time. It helps when your granddad owns both the police and the bank in question. Wuncler Sr. does this in the Season 3 finale by calling the President of the United States to get a renegade agent to stand down.
Codename: Kids Next Door: The Series Finale, "Operation I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S.", introduces Numbuh 363, a Bratty Half-Pint of the highest order who is nonetheless shown leniency because his older sister, Numbuh 362, is the group's Soopreme Leader. After Rachel steps down from her position, Numbuh 5 ends up succeeding her, and without his connections, Numbuh 363 is quickly decommissioned (both for his bad behavior and freakouts every time someone touches him) despite not being anywhere near the group's usual cut-off of thirteen.
Danny Phantom: As the star football player, the teachers often give Dash's bullying behavior a free pass. Best displayed in the pilot episode, where Mr. Lancer punishes Danny, Sam, and Tucker for a food fight Dash started while Dash gets off scot-free, declaring that his athletic status makes him "exempt from scorn."
Futurama: Used with the Mayor's aide dating Leela. Parodied to some degree, since he likes to try and use his position even when it wouldn't make any difference (e.g. saying he's the mayor's aide and requesting a table even after the restaurateur in question cheerfully showed them to a table).
Miraculous Ladybug: The only reason Chloé can get away with being such an insufferable Alpha Bitch to everyone is because her dad is the mayor, as well as a Doting Parent who will use the full extent of his authority to bring harsh punishment upon anyone who dares make his precious little angel displeased in any way. She is well aware of this and exploits this trope to its fullest potential. On the ludicrously rare occasion that her dad shows something resembling a spine and doesn't do what she says, she quickly puts him back in line by threatening to call the only person who has authority over him: her mom.
- Subverted come the Season 5 episode "Revolution" as, once Chloé is defeated as Queen Mayor, her father finally grows a spine, drags her off to be punished, tells off his wife Audrey and divorces her, and exiles them from Paris indefinitely. For Chloé, this means she no longer could use her father as leverage against her classmates or the school faculty, and essentially lost all her reasons to get her way, no matter what, leaving her under her furious mother's thumb, and a final "The Reason You Suck" Speech from Marinette shatters Chloé's ego, leaving her weeping at having lost everything that mattered to her.
Neo Yokio: The Magistocracy, the families of magic and psychic users, have "Magisticratic Immunity" from the law enforcement of Neo Yokio and will only answer to the Lord Mayor. Aunt Agatha uses this to save Kaz from the Remembrancer's interrogation.
The Simpsons:
- Subverted by Mayor Quimby's nephew, who is a Spoiled Brat, but didn't actually commit the crime he is thought to have. Also subverted in that in spite of Quimby's rampant bribery, his nephew still comes very close to being imprisoned for the crime. However, played straight in how he regularly behaves like a spoiled brat and mistreats everyone around him without facing any consequences.
- Marge benefited from this in an episode when she had a nervous breakdown and blocked traffic on a bridge. She was arrested, but Mayor Quimby immediately pulled some strings to get her released without charge. Quimby did it because he knew that if Marge went to jail, he could kiss the "chick vote" goodbye, but the results were still beneficial.
- Subverted in an episode where Lisa takes up soccer and Homer ends up refereeing one of her matches. Lisa tries getting him to bend the rules in her favour since she's his daughter, but Homer points out that he's "no one's father" when refereeing, and has Lisa sent off the match when she protests further.
Star Trek: Lower Decks: In "Cupid's Errant Arrow", Docent is able to push through a transfer request because an admiral was his grandma's neighbour.
Total Drama Action: Courtney and her gratuitous use of her lawyers, which has gotten her multiple immunities and preferential treatment by the producers. As the show goes on, though, they eventually start to tire of her attitude. Her lawyers stop returning her calls.

Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!
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Screw the Rules, I Have Connections! 15 Following

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Tony vs Officer Wilmore

Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!
15 Following