...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Obstructive Bureaucrat
- 1421 statements
- 269 feature instances
- 833 referencing feature instances
Obstructive Bureaucrat | type |
FeatureClass | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | label |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | page |
ObstructiveBureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | comment |
This guy is the ultimate pencil pusher from a government agency or corporation, and he creates the red tape that normal citizens hate, wielding the Stamp of Rejection like a weapon. He's an unlikeable Punch-Clock Villain with a bad temper and a sizable streak of callousness. Works for any and all bureaucracies, including Department of Child Disservices, banks and possibly even your own afterlife. His job, storywise, is to get in the way of whatever the heroes need to do, sometimes because what the heroes are doing is against some form of regulations, but other times because the character is a Jerkass who just doesn't like the heroes and is using "regulations" to make their lives difficult. In disaster movies and other works that lack a real villain (or whose villains are too cool to effectively hate), expect this guy to be the work's resident Hate Sink. Sometimes he can be restored to humanity by uncovering the secret dream buried deep beneath his efficient exterior. Failing that, you may be able to use his respect for Exact Words against him. On the other hand, sometimes he is obstructing a Matter of Life and Death. He and his colleagues often contribute to Head-in-the-Sand Management, refusing to do anything to help the situation. Threat of force, or actual force, may be needed to get by him. A benevolent Obstructive Bureaucrat may go and obstruct the villain by actively devising regulations to impede and hinder him, and then, with the same mindless fervor as any other bureaucrat, insist on their being followed to the letter. A common cause of Divided We Fall. Many a surreptitious entry into, or exit from, a location, or requisition of supplies, is needed because it would take too long to get by him. Almost all this form-filling out serves no useful purpose; for the hero to put in a list that will allow him access to a facility, for instance, is a very rare subversion. Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy (see above) is always in effect. The tropes: Beleaguered Bureaucrat, Department of Child Disservices, and Social Services Does Not Exist overlap since they all involve the same problems. The employees are often overworked, underpaid, lack resources, and suffer the public’s wrath. They then turn into the Obstructive Bureaucrat and use Bothering by the Book to slow down the workload or get revenge on the people who make unreasonable demands. This trope also has a darker version, where the character is still a government employee concerned with the bottom line, but what he does in daily work probably violates the Geneva Convention. He is likely to be a murderer and/or a torturer who defends himself by saying "I'm just doing my job". In short, he is a Well-Intentioned Extremist whose overriding motivation is being Employee of the Month. Note that this is not the same as the Knight Templar, another type of Well-Intentioned Extremist. The Knight Templar does horrible things for some greater good, whereas the Obstructive Bureaucrat has no concept of "greater good", and cares only about following procedure, or rather believes that procedure is equivalent to the "greater good". He's not just prone to Just Following Orders: as long as the orders match the rules he thinks it's his job to enforce and follow, Just Following Orders is what he is all about. In another sense, where the Knight Templar is the extreme leader, the Obstructive Bureaucrat is the extreme follower. If he has no idea that the job he's doing is evil, he may be a Clueless Deputy. This sort of Obstructive Bureaucrat can be drawn into a Heel–Face Turn or Freak Out more readily than one who does know and just feels it's none of his business (a fella's gotta eat)... For a character who isn't so much obstructive as much as overworked, see Beleaguered Bureaucrat. For a bureaucrat who can actually get things done, see Badass Bureaucrat. For a civil servant who's outright crooked, see Corrupt Bureaucrat. In the US, this character can also be a member of Congress (usually a senator) who is investigating the heroes. This type of character is also known as a "jobsworth" in British slang, named for their tendency to deny a perfectly reasonable request with "That's more than my job's worth." This species might easily proliferate around a Vestigial Empire, and any Vast Bureaucracy is likely to include them among their numbers. See also The Barnum. Related to Triage Tyrant. These characters tend towards Lawful Neutral, usually Lawful Stupid and sometimes Lawful Evil. Usually tends to be a subtrope of Villainy-Free Villain. They may dole out hefty doses of Paperwork Punishment. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat | fetched |
2024-04-08T14:46:09Z | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | parsed |
2024-04-08T14:46:10Z | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to AlienNonInterferenceClause: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to AnimatedAdaptation: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to BeleagueredBureaucrat: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to BigGood: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to BlatantLies: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to CHIKARA: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to ChildrenAreInnocent: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to ConsummateProfessional: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to CoolOldGuy: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to CreatorThumbprint: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to DiscOneFinalBoss: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to EvilChancellor: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to FarmBoy: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to FascistButInefficient: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to ForTheEvulz: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to FoxFolk: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to GoodCounterpart: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to GovernmentConspiracy: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to HeroicSacrifice: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to Implied: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to InteractiveFiction: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to Jerkass: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to LawfulEvil: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to LawfulStupid: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to LoonyLaws: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to MagicalStarsign: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to MinionWithAnFInEvil: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to MurderIsTheBestSolution: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to NaziHunter: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to NoMereWindmill: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to ObfuscatingStupidity: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to OmnicidalManiac: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to OpenAndShutCase: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to OverlyLongName: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to ParallelUniverse: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to PinkElephants: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to PlayedForLaughs: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to PointyHairedBoss: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to RuleOfThree: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to RulesLawyer: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to SelfFulfillingProphecy: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to SerialEscalation: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to SlaveToPR: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to StarWars: Not an Item - CAT | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to StarWarsExpandedUniverse: Not an Item - CAT | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to StrawmanPolitical: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheFederation: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheGrimReaper: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheMasquerade: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheMole: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to ThePurge: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheWildWest: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to ThomasAndFriends: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to TitleDrop: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to Tool: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to TyrantTakesTheHelm: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to UnfortunateItemSwap: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to UnstoppableMailman: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to VillainSong: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to WordOfGod: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to ZigZagged: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to invokedtrope: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingComment |
Dropped link to pun: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingUnknown |
ThomasAndFriends | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingUnknown |
ParallelUniverse | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | processingUnknown |
MagicalStarsign | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_10bc0a19 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_10bc0a19 | comment |
In Night Watch, Vimes refused to hand over people to the Unmentionables without a receipt. And proof of ID from the man who signed it. He insists that it is regulations — though regulations that had not been enforced before due to watchmen being scared. This stops them for a while, as no member of the Unmentionables wants to have his name connected to what they do to people. And asking for proof of ID made sense since the Unmentionable who initially signed for the prisoners did so with the name "Henry the Hamster" and Vimes, quite reasonably, pointed out that he'd look a bit silly if he went back to his captain with that on a receipt. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_10bc0a19 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_10bc0a19 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Night Watch (Discworld) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_10bc0a19 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_11010edc | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_11010edc | comment |
How most city employees in Parking Wars are regarded by the public, whether deserved or not. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_11010edc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_11010edc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
ParkingWars | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_11010edc | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_13665790 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_13665790 | comment |
A. E. Pessimal in Thud! who has been sent to audit the Watch and comes up with things like "Two officers were patrolling a street where no crimes were committed. How is this a good use of resources?" and, somewhat more justifiably "What is the point of Corporal Nobbs?" Vimes tries to wind him up by saying that if he wants to know how the Watch operates he should experience it, and putting him in the middle of a riot, and is rather taken aback when Pessimal enthusiastically gets involved and chooses to remain in the Watch. By Snuff he's become the Watch's forensic accountant, as long as every so often he gets to wear a helmet and walk a beat. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_13665790 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_13665790 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Thud! | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_13665790 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1449a8e8 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1449a8e8 | comment |
Dirty Harry had one per film. Not as evident in the first film, where he is mostly just chewed out for his methods, Lt. Briggs in Magnum Force is the Big Bad, Captain McKay in The Enforcer is portrayed as completely incompetent (leading to an ending where he gives in to the terrorists' demands if they release the mayor after Harry has dealt with them) and in later films, they want him to outright retire. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1449a8e8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1449a8e8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dirty Harry | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1449a8e8 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_16aedea5 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_16aedea5 | comment |
In the Foreign Affairs (1966) episode, "Can We Have Our Ball Back?", some youngsters are playing cricket near the Soviet Embassy when their ball lands in "Russian Territory". Rather than just give the boys their ball back, the Soviet Embassy and the Foreign Office get into a conflict over whether it is allowed to be returned or not. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_16aedea5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_16aedea5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Foreign Affairs (1966) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_16aedea5 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1858fe06 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1858fe06 | comment |
Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics): The Council of Acorn combine this with Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering. While they mean well, more often than not they prevent the Freedom Fighters from actually saving the day, such as initially refusing to let them stop Scourge and the Suppression Squad from invading Mobius in favor on focusing their efforts on Eggman, trying Sally for treason when she and the others do so anyway, letting Ixis Naugus become king while dismissing Sonic's warnings and annoyance, and voting to exile Nicole from New Mobotropolis because it was "what the people wanted"; it eventually got to the point where Rotor got sick of it and left in outrage. Hamlin Pig is one of the most blatant examples, mostly out of spite toward the Freedom Fighters for having made him a member of the rarely-used backup unit. He uses his position to attempt to make it hard for the Freedom Fighters to act, and is the only one to vote to punish Sally for leading an urgent mission against orders not to (though, granted, he likely wouldn't have been the only one if Sally hadn't threatened to become an Obstructive Bureaucrat herself). |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1858fe06 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1858fe06 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics) (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1858fe06 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1a1bd616 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1a1bd616 | comment |
The Chaotic Masters: The Titans dismiss Captain Black's superiors as red tape-wielding stereotypes, who have inadvertently kept them and the Justice League in the dark about the threats that the Chans have faced due to refusing to pass along word of them without definite proof. The Chaotic Masters and their worshippers have this view of the Dragon Council, seeing them as self-righteous jerks who stick their nose into any magical business and enforce The Masquerade even for magic practitioners who don't want to keep things secret. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1a1bd616 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1a1bd616 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Chaotic Masters (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1a1bd616 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1b5eec6e | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1b5eec6e | comment |
The Sheep in the Big City episode "Baah-dern Times" had Lisa Rental sing a musical number about how she'd like to grow up to be a bureaucrat because she'd be paid to make things frustrating and miserable for other people. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1b5eec6e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1b5eec6e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Sheep in the Big City | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1b5eec6e | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1bd69d53 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1bd69d53 | comment |
In Nickelodeon's TV show The Adventures of Pete & Pete, the younger Pete befriends Clothing Inspector #34, who proceeds to make the entire neighborhood rule mongers equal to himself. Finally defeated when Pete challenges him to an eating contest of barbeque chicken. Inspector 34 finishes every bit of meat on his chicken without getting a bit of sauce on his hands or clothes. Only to be reminded by Dad "You're supposed to get dirty eating chicken." Causing Inspector 27 to realize the error of his ways, and not be such a perfectionist. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1bd69d53 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1bd69d53 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Adventures of Pete & Pete | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1bd69d53 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1d0bbd68 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1d0bbd68 | comment |
There are quite a few of these in Simon's workplace in The Double, but especially the security guard. He makes Simon fill out a form to get into work every single day, and won't let Simon in until he shows him the form the guard just watched him fill out. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1d0bbd68 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1d0bbd68 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Double | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1d0bbd68 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1eebd8e1 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1eebd8e1 | comment |
In his youth, the only expression of strength and personal vengeance the mouse-like narrator of Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground could hope for was by playing this trope. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1eebd8e1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1eebd8e1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Notes from Underground | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1eebd8e1 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1fc7499e | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1fc7499e | comment |
In Reaper Man, Miss Flitworth helps Death against them because he explains they are like revenuers — which everyone knows are worse than death. (You only have to die once.) | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1fc7499e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1fc7499e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Reaper Man | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1fc7499e | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1fcdbe32 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1fcdbe32 | comment |
In The Phantom Tollbooth one of the demons lurking in the Mountains of Ignorance is the Senses Taker. He stalls the heroes with reams of pointless paperwork, which he then uses to distract them by creating the ultimate sensory experience for each one. The Taker is defeated when Milo accidentally breaks open a package of laughter, since the only sense he can't take is humor. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1fcdbe32 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1fcdbe32 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Phantom Tollbooth | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_1fcdbe32 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_22f708ef | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_22f708ef | comment |
Otto Palindrome from Quark, who often sends Quark on various garbage picking missions. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_22f708ef | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_22f708ef | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Quark | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_22f708ef | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_23a77ba7 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_23a77ba7 | comment |
Subverted in Worm/DC Universe crossover Echoes of Yesterday. Director Piggot tries to play hardball with Supergirl and throw the book at her in order to get her join the Protectorate, but when Piggot puts forward a Protectorate contract, Supergirl takes five seconds to read and memorize the entire document, and then makes Piggot listen to and clear all of her concerns on the spot. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_23a77ba7 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_23a77ba7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Echoes of Yesterday (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_23a77ba7 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_247422c7 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_247422c7 | comment |
The bureaucrats of the Solarian League in the Honor Harrington books. Unfortunately, they are the ones with the real decision-making power, thanks to the League's very poorly-written constitution. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_247422c7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_247422c7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Honor Harrington | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_247422c7 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_24a18ffe | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_24a18ffe | comment |
In The Ship Who... Won, Carialle is sixteen years out from a major traumatic experience. She needed two years of intensive, loving therapy to recover but has been reasonably healthy and stable since then, assisted by her brawn, with whom she likes to LARP. Psychologists still like to check in with her to see how she's doing, which is fine with her... except when it's the Inspector General Dr. Sennet Maxwell-Corey doing it. He seems to approach her every time she makes stationfall and has what Carialle sees as an obsessive desire to prove she's unfit for service, demanding lengthy psychological profile sessions, prodding the old trauma that rarely bothers her otherwise, and fixating particularly on her LARP hobby. Avoiding him kicks off the plot of The Ship Who Won, as she and Keff hare off somewhere he's not going. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_24a18ffe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_24a18ffe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Ship Who... | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_24a18ffe | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_24a63b5d | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_24a63b5d | comment |
The humorless foyer administrator in the children's TV show Lift-Off dug up a rule banning something new every episode... including, at one point, carrying around a ban sign with a mirror on it. That one backfired when they got him to turn it around. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_24a63b5d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_24a63b5d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
LiftOff | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_24a63b5d | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_26042b84 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_26042b84 | comment |
He's even beyond that. His actions during Avengers: The Initiative (cloning a teenage soldier and using him to cover up a training death) clearly cross the Moral Event Horizon. He's the only comic book character where "basic human decency" is an Informed Attribute. Everyone goes out of their way to say he's not a villain, while Gyrich's actions would say otherwise. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_26042b84 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_26042b84 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Avengers: The Initiative (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_26042b84 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_27831967 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_27831967 | comment |
The central premise of the Amy Poehler comedy Parks and Recreation is the Inversion of this trope. Poehler's character, Leslie Knope, is a naively optimistic bureaucrat who cares for the people of her small town and is seemingly oblivious to the fact that no one else does. Ron Swanson picked up the Obstructive Bureaucrat ball and ran with it. Namely because he's a Straw Capitalist/Libertarian who thinks government programs like parks should be abolished in favor of children spending their time at private, for-profit entertainment outfits like Chuck E. Cheese. The only time he ever shows enthusiasm for the job and does actual work is when the government needs ideas on how to slash its budget. (Or when Leslie ropes him into something.) April is technically just a secretary to bureaucrats, but in matters concerning her job, she makes it her mission to do as close to nothing as humanly possible. Which makes her Ron's ideal personal secretary. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_27831967 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_27831967 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Parks and Recreation | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_27831967 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2817ca8b | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2817ca8b | comment |
In The Killers of Krypton, C'Zal tries to hinder and dissuade Supergirl from checking the vault storing the most sensitive items in the Green Lantern Archives — where she might find evidence regarding Rogol Zaar and the Circle's dirty dealings — by listing the massive amount of paperwork she must fill to be allowed access to the Tower. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2817ca8b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2817ca8b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Killers of Krypton (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2817ca8b | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_28df3e79 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_28df3e79 | comment |
There Was Once an Avenger From Krypton: The World Security Council's response to Vilgax's invasion of Arcadia Oaks is to have the National Guard quarantine the area and force the Avengers to handle it themselves. When Coulson points out that this is the exact opposite of their reaction to the Battle of New York (where they wanted to sideline the Avengers and rely on conventional forces), Hill notes that it's probably retaliation to the team and Fury's habit of defying their authority. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_28df3e79 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_28df3e79 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
There Was Once an Avenger From Krypton (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_28df3e79 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_28fe1376 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_28fe1376 | comment |
Sanford Harris from Fringe, although his motivations are partly due to a personal vendetta against Olivia Dunham. ...and being The Mole. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_28fe1376 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_28fe1376 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Fringe | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_28fe1376 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2a04866b | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2a04866b | comment |
In Guild Wars: Factions, we have Cantha's Celestial Ministry. The cities and slums around the Kaineng Center are struggling with oppressive Guilds, pirates, and the Infected. There are dozens of homeless Canthan peasants, and the Celestial Ministry couldn't care less about their well being. In one mission, you are tasked with delivering handmirrors to the homeless; with each delivery, you are told, in no uncertain terms, that the Ministry should be sending them food and medicine, instead of increasingly pretty and useless trinkets like the mirrors (or decorative lawn gnomes). Another mission has you running all over the city trying to find the bureaucrat with the authority to hand out the new medical supplies; the highlight of that mission is when a guy tells you to talk to his superior, who is five feet away from him. Thankfully, the Emperor himself is far more in touch with what the people need. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2a04866b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2a04866b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Guild Wars (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2a04866b | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2a77a546 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2a77a546 | comment |
In Inside Out, the support staff of Riley's mind, which handle all the maintenance, are thoroughly unhelpful. They stick to their jobs even as the islands crumble, and serve as impediments to Joy and Sadness on several occasions. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2a77a546 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2a77a546 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Inside Out | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2a77a546 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2ae406c1 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2ae406c1 | comment |
Though the bureaucrats themselves are never actually seen, the Peacekeeper faction in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri has such extensive bureaucracy that it gives them an automatic penalty to efficiency. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2ae406c1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2ae406c1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2ae406c1 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2b7c5c88 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2b7c5c88 | comment |
Harrow: In "Aurum Potestas Est" ("Gold is Power"), an official from the Department of Energy does everything in her power to stymie Harrow's murder investigation when it threatens to derail a multi-billion dollar mining deal. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2b7c5c88 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2b7c5c88 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Harrow | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2b7c5c88 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2c2a56e3 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2c2a56e3 | comment |
The Phantom Menace: Palpatine suggests apathetic politicians rule the Republic with Chancellor Valorum as their puppet, and they are the reason that rather than doing anything about the Naboo situation, the Senate has merely had meetings. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2c2a56e3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2c2a56e3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Phantom Menace | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2c2a56e3 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2ea6ae26 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2ea6ae26 | comment |
Star Trek: Picard: The Romulan Star Empire is no more, but its successor, the Romulan Free State, is still a bureaucratic nightmare. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2ea6ae26 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2ea6ae26 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Star Trek: Picard | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_2ea6ae26 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_30ece126 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_30ece126 | comment |
In the Paladin of Shadows series, obstructive bureaucrats (particularly US government ones) are occasional roadblocks to the Keldara doing their jobs. However, since their boss is personal friends with the President of the United States, the bureaucrats don't remain obstructive for very long. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_30ece126 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_30ece126 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Paladin of Shadows | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_30ece126 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_310d6df7 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_310d6df7 | comment |
Stand Still, Stay Silent: A couple plot elements hint that the type is still around in the After the End Known World. It's unknown if this happens with everything, of if trips to the Silent World being involved make things more difficult. The main cast, who is on an expedition to explore the Silent World, runs out of food early because of an Unfortunate Item Swap while loading their supplies. The military base from which they departed could technically resupply them on the same day, but getting permission to do it is stated to take four weeks. This results in a member of Mission Control blackmailing the captain of merchant ship into doing it instead. The merchant ship in question unfortunately turns out to have been carrying, among other things, a sheltered Farm Boy turned unpaid kitchen aid eager to see other places than his home country, and who had just found out that he wouldn't be allowed to disembark once the ship reached its destination. The main cast finds this out the hard way upon opening one of their newly delivered food crates. They end up having to keep him with them because he's not immune to The Plague, the Silent World is ridden with Plague Zombie monsters, and merely arranging for a proper transportation to come get him would take at least half the time the expedition is supposed to last anyway. Add the twenty-something days the boat will need to get there, and the transportation might as well be used to pick up the whole expedition crew once their mission is complete. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_310d6df7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_310d6df7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Stand Still, Stay Silent (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_310d6df7 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_32399bc4 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_32399bc4 | comment |
In The Pulse, the administrator of the hospital Jessica Jones was taken to demands that she be removed from the premises immediately, despite — and because of — her being in active labor. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_32399bc4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_32399bc4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Pulse / Comicbook | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_32399bc4 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_329d44e6 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_329d44e6 | comment |
In Star Trek: Gemworld, there's Tangre Bertoran, and indeed most of the Jeptah (as the government elite maintaining Gemworld's environment are called). In contrast to most of the “normalâ€� folk encountered on Gemworld (who tend to be pleasant and welcoming enough), the Jeptah — and Bertoran in particular — resent the presence of anyone trying to actually help rather than blindly follow the rules, and complicate plans to save the planet considerably. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_329d44e6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_329d44e6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Star Trek: Gemworld | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_329d44e6 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_33909389 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_33909389 | comment |
In Larry Niven's Inferno (Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle), the protagonist, Carpenter, finds himself in (a very Dante-like) Hell and in need to some togas to escape. Finally getting to the administrative center of Hell, he puts in a requisition for the garments and is handed a two foot tall stack of forms to complete and a single pencil. When he points out that a single pencil will never last to complete all the forms, he is told to improvise and his attention is directed to another guy nearby who is working on his own stack of forms. His pencil has been worn down to a nub and he is using a ripped out fingernail and his own blood to complete the forms. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_33909389 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_33909389 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Inferno (Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_33909389 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_34d050c6 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_34d050c6 | comment |
Darkwing Duck sometimes works with an Interpol-like spy organization called SHUSH. One SHUSH bureaucrat, a Russian bear named Vladimir Goodenov Grizzlikov, loathes Darkwing and his unpredictable methods; Grizzlikov treats his agency's manual as if it were his Bible. (By contrast, Darkwing's immediate supervisor is too impressed by Darkwing's excellent track record to object to his unorthodox techniques.) Subverted in "The Darkwing Squad", in which SHUSH retrains a team of agents to fight crime in Darkwing's anarchic style ... and the squad eventually triumphs by following the book. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_34d050c6 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_34d050c6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Darkwing Duck | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_34d050c6 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_34dfb906 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_34dfb906 | comment |
Dominion. In this early-Renaissance-themed deck-building card game, the Bureaucrat is an Attack card that forces everyone else to move some useless-in-game cards (which are sort of like deeds to lands) to the top of their decks. These cards therefore take up space in one's hand for two turns in a row, and the Bureaucrat player gets a shiny coin for his trouble. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_34dfb906 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_34dfb906 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dominion (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_34dfb906 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_35ada324 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_35ada324 | comment |
The Alien franchise. Alien. Ellen Ripley quotes "24 hours for decontamination" regulations rather than allow Kane to enter the Nostromo for treatment. Of course, she turns out to be right, but by making her appear unsympathetic the movie conceals her eventual role as the hero. A more straight-up application of the trope is the board of inquiry in Aliens. Again this is used to mislead the audience, as the only member who expresses sympathy towards Ripley is Carter Burke, hiding his role as the villain. Mr. Andrews in Alien³. When Ripley tells him about the Alien he won't help her and confines her to sickbay, because he finds her story very implausible and he has a much simpler explanation for the recent deaths. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_35ada324 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_35ada324 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Alien (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_35ada324 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_367f632a | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_367f632a | comment |
Dawn of War 2: When the Space Marines arrive to the industrial planet Meridian and request access to a huge productional facility called Angel Forge, the planetary adminitrator Elena Derosa replies that the use of Forge is booked years in advance, and even then, only a fraction of its capacity will be available. When the bewildered Marines explain, that the Forge is needed urgently to make weapons against the Tyranid Fleet that threatens the entire sector, Derosa haughtily retorts that no Tyranid presence was registered on Meridian (implying that the rest of the sector can go frag itself). However, it turns out she wasn't entirely at fault. The lack of intelligence on Tyranids was due to the meddling from the Eldar, and Derosa was instructed to stall the Marines by the treacherous planetary governor. Once both those issues are resolved, she becomes much more helpful. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_367f632a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_367f632a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dawn of War (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_367f632a | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_36b7f3c | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_36b7f3c | comment |
In the Lafayette O'Leary series: O'Leary has the phone number for the mysterious agency known as "Central", whose job it is to keep the multiverse running properly, but whenever he calls with a spacetime-breaking emergency, he inevitably gets connected to some paper-pusher who refuses to believe him, and doesn't want to get involved. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_36b7f3c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_36b7f3c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Lafayette O'Leary | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_36b7f3c | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_36ee2abe | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_36ee2abe | comment |
Paranoia: Red tape is one of the many perils of life in Alpha Complex: for example, Troubleshooters might be forced to fill out Personal Authorized Handmounted Firearm Requisition Application Forms (in triplicate) to get laser guns so they can defend themselves from a horde of rampaging mutants. While being shot at by said mutants, no less. Source materials encourage this, even suggesting a GM may send forms other than what players requested and then execute them for treason if they fail to fill them out correctly or protest that they got the wrong ones. Another favorite: the equipment they need is available at their clearance level for once, but the requisition form for said equipment isn't. Or, for experimental equipment, the instructions aren't. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_36ee2abe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_36ee2abe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Paranoia (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_36ee2abe | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3aabfec3 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3aabfec3 | comment |
Captain Planet and the Planeteers: Subverted in "Fare Thee Whale". The whaling commissioner seems to be one at first, but soon reveals that he also wishes to see Blight and Plunder stopped. It's just that he can't take any legal action without solid evidence. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3aabfec3 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3aabfec3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Captain Planet and the Planeteers | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3aabfec3 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3aff800d | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3aff800d | comment |
Fun with Dick and Jane (1977): Dick's un-employment money is ended by a low level bureaucrat who follows the letter of the law and personally dislikes Dick. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3aff800d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3aff800d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Fun with Dick and Jane | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3aff800d | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b34143f | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b34143f | comment |
Cornelius Fudge of Harry Potter proves to be this. He primarily acts as headpiece for the Ministry with recommendations from Malfoy and other respected individuals deciding his actions rather than his own opinions. However, unlike his Undersecretary who is decidedly evil, Fudge simply wants to stay in control, and he seems to know that any disturbance in the peace would see him quickly ousted. As such, he refused to review the case of Sirius Black or accept Voldemort's return in order to maintain the status quo. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b34143f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b34143f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Harry Potter | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b34143f | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b7abee2 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b7abee2 | comment |
The G-Man in Half-Life is an (evil?) inter-dimensional bureaucrat, walking in the middle of a destroyed facility while wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase, orchestrating events threatening the whole of humanity, taking care of selected people, all for his "employers". We just don't know who they are yet. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b7abee2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b7abee2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Half-Life (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b7abee2 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b91d912 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b91d912 | comment |
Evangelion 303: The group of politicians tasked with overseeing the Evangelion project is always complaining about funding, the march of the program... and some of them would love an excuse for shutting it down. To be fair, their concerns are not without merit: | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b91d912 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b91d912 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Evangelion 303 (Manga) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3b91d912 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3c20669a | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3c20669a | comment |
Pie in the Sky: In "A Matter of Taste", Henry Crabbe's restaurant is beset by one from the local planning office played by Pete Postlethwaite. Turns out he just happens to be the brother-in-law of a rival restauranter who's been losing customers to Crabbe. One from the local health inspector's office makes repeat visits to the restaurant in "Coddled Eggs". |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3c20669a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3c20669a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Pie in the Sky | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3c20669a | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3caeeb6f | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3caeeb6f | comment |
SimCity 4 combines this, Shaped Like Itself and the Department of Redundancy Department with the Bureau of Bureaucracy building. Its description? "The bureau that handles bureaucracy". | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3caeeb6f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3caeeb6f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
SimCity (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3caeeb6f | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3d24ebc | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3d24ebc | comment |
Oblivion (2013): Victoria is a much more obedient to mission control than Jack. She refuses to go down to the planet with him, and believes everything mission control says - even ratting him out by saying they are no longer a good team. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3d24ebc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3d24ebc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Oblivion (2013) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3d24ebc | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3efde824 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3efde824 | comment |
Johannes Cabal the Necromancer: The new first circle of Hell is the egregious application paperwork devised by Arthur Trubshaw, a former bank clerk who was so obsessed with procedural busywork for procedural busywork's sake that he died demanding a receipt from an armed robber. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3efde824 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3efde824 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Johannes Cabal the Necromancer | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3efde824 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f047e59 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f047e59 | comment |
Our Miss Brooks: Miss Brooks runs into an obstructive clerk (played by Frank Nelson) in "Custodian of Students Funds". Mrs. Davis accidently uses school money to buy Miss Brooks a present from Sherry's Department Store. Miss Brooks tries to return the dress to Sherry's, a store that promises if the customer isn't satisfied their money will be "cheerfully refunded". After being given the third degree on the reason for the return, Miss Brooks is turned down because the dress was sold on sale. The scene is ommitted in the Sound-to-Screen Adaptation "The Embezzled Dress" Another obstructive clerk from Sherry's appears on the television episode "Christmas Show". This time it Sherry's promises to "cheerfully exchange" goods. Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Mr. Conklin each face the ill-tempered Mrs. Carney as they try to exchange their presents before Christmas. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f047e59 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f047e59 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Our Miss Brooks | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f047e59 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f0d1805 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f0d1805 | comment |
In Spaced, Daisy Steiner does not have a good time in the Job Centre: "No, this is the A-b form, you need the A-B form, capital B." The clerk responds to any question with a simpering smile and an inane, "I'm sorry, I don't understand." — although this is partly because Daisy's making a transparent attempt to claim benefits for the period she spent on holiday in Asia and the clerk, whilst definitely an example of this trope, has clocked exactly what she's up to. She also told him to "fuck off" instead of serving him whilst working at a bar. Tim Bisley, on the other hand, has a rather different experience, being fast-tracked through the system thanks to a shared difference of opinion regarding The Phantom Menace. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f0d1805 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f0d1805 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Spaced | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f0d1805 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f4a104b | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f4a104b | comment |
In Dilbert, the accounting department where Dilbert works is staffed by ugly trolls (not this kind, but this kind, and dealing with them is frustrating, if not dangerous. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f4a104b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f4a104b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dilbert (Comic Strip) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3f4a104b | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3fbd173e | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3fbd173e | comment |
In Freefall, Mr. Kornada and the Mayor both qualify as these. An erstwhile one sleeps better at night by (illegally) providing what people want instead. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3fbd173e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3fbd173e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Freefall (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3fbd173e | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3fe6b4fb | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3fe6b4fb | comment |
In the New Jedi Order he does, after Coruscant's fall, surrender to the highest-ranked nearby Vong, and then trigger a massive suicide bomb. Books that don't have him as a petty semi-villain portray him as brave in his way, but unable to let go of his paranoia and vindictiveness. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3fe6b4fb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3fe6b4fb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
New Jedi Order | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_3fe6b4fb | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_423d62c4 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_423d62c4 | comment |
The player can be this in Papers, Please. There are often decisions that give you the choice between helping out a person whose paperwork has simple errors and keeping your family warm and fed. There are also people who are just asking for rejection, though ("What is passport?"). As bad as you may be, your boss is worse. If he sees a sports poster, family photo, or child's drawing on the wall, he issues a fine equivalent to what basically amounts to a day's salary, for your first offense. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_423d62c4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_423d62c4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Papers, Please (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_423d62c4 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_43576f5 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_43576f5 | comment |
Dean and Sam from Supernatural meet quite a few of these in their Monster of the Week scenarios, but are very, very good at getting round them. Mostly because they have a seemingly limitless supply of fake identification. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_43576f5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_43576f5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Supernatural | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_43576f5 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4388e597 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4388e597 | comment |
The embassy workers in Chess, in their handling of a Russian potential defector. The lyrics of "Embassy Lament" really say it all. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4388e597 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4388e597 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Chess (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4388e597 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_44e08ee8 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_44e08ee8 | comment |
In Homicide: Life on the Street, the upper ranks of the BPD was filled with grand-standing, PR-obsessed Pointy Haired Bosses who constantly interfered with police investigations and sometimes stonewalled investigations out of personal spite. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_44e08ee8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_44e08ee8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Homicide: Life on the Street | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_44e08ee8 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4522fd1 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4522fd1 | comment |
From the Whateley Universe, Amelia Hartford, assistant to the headmistress at Whateley Academy, is the superpowered version of this. She uses her power over computers as well as her malicious nature to be the Obstructive Bureaucrat of your nightmares, except for the chosen few who get special privileges from her. As the stories go on, it's shown from time to time that she does in fact have a human side as well. She's nonetheless quite possibly the most difficult actual member of the school staff to get along with, and there's not much love lost between her and Team Kimba in particular. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4522fd1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4522fd1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Whateley Universe | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4522fd1 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4539f721 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4539f721 | comment |
The British medical establishment in The Citadel. They are horrified that Dr. Manson took a patient to an American named Stillman, because Stillman isn't a medical doctor—despite the fact that Stillman saved the patient when her hide-bound British doctor would have let her die. For this Manson is brought up on charges that could lose him his license. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4539f721 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4539f721 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Citadel | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4539f721 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_453a04b0 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_453a04b0 | comment |
The first appearance of the Pixies on The Fairly Oddparents had them taking over Fairy World. They immediately implemented a long paperwork system for granting wishes that it was nearly impossible to get any wish approved. They're so into bureaucracy that it's often their downfall. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_453a04b0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_453a04b0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Fairly OddParents! | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_453a04b0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_457b671e | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_457b671e | comment |
24 always had one in there to get in the way of stopping a terrorist attack. The most memorable of which being Ryan Chappelle in the first three seasons, who essentially was an insufferable pain in the ass that got in Jack's way everywhere he went, yet had arguably the most emotionally-jarring death of the series. Briefly subverted on Day 5 by Lynn McGill. When Jack (who had been in hiding for two years) uses an out-of-date distress code, McGill is the only one anal and methodical enough to recognize and research it, thereby saving the day. Of course, after that brief moment, he reverts to playing this trope completely straight, eventually crossing into Tyrant Takes the Helm territory. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_457b671e | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_457b671e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
24 | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_457b671e | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4626bb6d | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4626bb6d | comment |
Third Time Lucky: And Other Stories of the Most Powerful Wizard in the World: In "Nothing Up Her Sleeve" the Council of Wizards forbids wizard interference with muggle affairs, even to save them (e.g. from a disastrous flood). Magdelene's unimpressed by this and helps anyway as she sees fit. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4626bb6d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4626bb6d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Third Time Lucky: And Other Stories of the Most Powerful Wizard in the World | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4626bb6d | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_468bebb0 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_468bebb0 | comment |
The Discworld universe features the Auditors, mysterious, cosmic beings who balance the books of reality. They would prefer an existence devoid of life, which makes things untidy, and intelligent thought, which is even less tidy and predictable. They have repeatedly attempted to eliminate the Discworld in an attempt to tidy up their books. If they even think the world "I" or "me" or any other personal pronoun too many times they vanish in a Puff of Logic. They don't have names or even designations. They don't have faces. They never have any original thoughts. They have no feelings. Period. Abstract concepts cause them difficulties as the Auditors want to quantify everything that exists, but cannot isolate these concepts; at one point, they even disassembled a portrait to its component atoms in a vain attempt to locate the beauty. In Thief of Time they were introduced to mortal delights. Unlike the description in the page header where this could free them of their evil, this doesn't. The shock of experiencing chocolate was enough to make them vanish. Their attempts to catalog everything their body experienced made them think so hard they forgot to exist. The Death of the Discworld is, ironically, a recurring opponent of theirs; his job may be to take it away, but that doesn't stop Death from appreciating life. One might point out cynically that by defeating the Auditors, Death is protecting his own job, since if there's no life anymore he's literally redundant. In fact the real reason is probably because the Auditors are trying to disrupt the natural order of things, of which Death is a part. But while he is Bill Door he saves a little girl — even though it's usually his job to take people's lives away. The implication is that while he would prefer to be saving people, he's attached to his job to make sure that no one worse does it. Death has been shown as being the only remaining thing at the end of the universe, and then waiting for another one to inevitably form. His job is safe. By the end of Reaper Man, he makes it clear that he cares, first by asking the Ultimate Death, "What can the harvest hope for if not the care of the Reaper Man?", and, later, having installed fields of corn in his deathly estate, proceeds to carefully notice that they are not all alike, but are individuals each worth caring for. Of course, his waiting for a new universe occurs in an earlier book (he started out as an Omnicidal Maniac) and this was his Character Development book. Indeed, saving the girl was part of the Character Development — he had to be convinced to do it. Since from his point of view, if it was her time to die, then it was time. As 'Death', his (official) concern had been making sure it happened 'at the appropriate time' (and didn't take too long to actually happen); as 'Bill Door', well... what's wrong with fighting for those few extra minutes? In Reaper Man, Miss Flitworth helps Death against them because he explains they are like revenuers — which everyone knows are worse than death. (You only have to die once.) |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_468bebb0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_468bebb0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Discworld | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_468bebb0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_46d48eba | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_46d48eba | comment |
In James Bond book From Russia with Love, the author points out that all well-run organizations have at least one Obstructive Bureaucrat for the other workers to hate. He should have a job which isn't vital but affects everyone's day to day life. Something like being in charge of the office supplies. This is to unite them in at least one thing, that is they all agree this guy is a Jerkass. M makes sure to have one. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_46d48eba | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_46d48eba | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
James Bond | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_46d48eba | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_47b1287b | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_47b1287b | comment |
Quentyn Quinn, Space Ranger: A series of trials deconstructs varying codes of conduct and harshly judges those responsible for mass death and destruction with the use of subtle laws and regulations that ended up causing no-win situations. First off, the Captain Picard expy and his civilization get massive penalties to spatial travel and are sentenced to planetary rebuilding because they didn't save a planet with intelligent, non-advanced life over Prime Directive regulations. Then 'Yoda' is charged with abducting children to be indoctrinated into a cult and assassinating a legally-elected ruler over 'religious differences'. Finally, what seems like an Open-and-Shut Case of a space pilot spacing a young housewife because he wasn't prepared or determined to come up with a third option (spacecraft was carrying crucial medical supplies and there was too much weight, classic Cold Equation) ends up going the opposite way because of the bureaucracy forcing him to do it: The shuttle was a deathtrap because of "safety regulations" banning advanced technology or even redundant systems, the housewife stowed away because the local TSA was "cracking down" on space pirates, which made getting a shuttle too expensive, and she was able to get stow away because TSA TERRORIST REGULATIONS BANNED DOOR LOCKS (YES REALLY), and finally, while the pilot wasn't smart enough to just use the chair instead of the housewife, he did call for help and got a direct order to follow protocol and execute her. Fortunately, he got a slap on the wrist because he didn't even try to kill her; he intended to kill himself instead, but she sacrificed herself first, and she got paid enough for medical bills (she survived spacing herself) and her own ship. Additionally, the TSA was cracked down for designing this no-win situation intentionally to justify their "losing spacecraft constantly"; the plan was to decrease security, wait for hitchhikers to board one of the deathtraps, and then get their recently-promoted pilots to panic and do something stupid, thereby justifying the rumors of pirates (frame the pilot as a murderer, record the death of the housewife, or watch the ship blow itself to bits). |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_47b1287b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_47b1287b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Quentyn Quinn, Space Ranger (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_47b1287b | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_489150a8 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_489150a8 | comment |
Administration in The Licanius Trilogy acts as a permanent foil to Wirr's plans for reforming Andarra's treatment of the Gifted. They do this with obstruction and politicking instead of outright violence. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_489150a8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_489150a8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Licanius Trilogy | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_489150a8 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4dd54482 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4dd54482 | comment |
Alien X of Ben 10: Alien Force obstructs itself. The most powerful being in the universe, capable of altering reality... and its two halves are still in a meeting deciding whether or not they should save the dinosaurs. It's later shown that this is the hat of its species, as they all spent virtually all of their time standing motionlessly, deliberating on what to do with their awesome power and ultimately doing nothing. The only time they actually do anything is in Ben 10: Omniverse, when they all agree to fine Ben for using their powers to recreate the universe without permission. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4dd54482 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4dd54482 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Ben 10: Alien Force | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4dd54482 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4e2d3d00 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4e2d3d00 | comment |
The Glades: The hospital insurance administrator in "A Perfect Storm". She tries to stop Sanchez connecting up a generator to the blacked-out hospital during a hurricane. Later she is targeted by a spree killer because she was the one who cut off his meds when his insurance ran out, causing him to suffer a psychotic break. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4e2d3d00 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4e2d3d00 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Glades | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_4e2d3d00 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_50bcf7a6 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_50bcf7a6 | comment |
Homestuck: Jack Noir was originally this, stating that he'd rather gut someone than do paperwork for them that he doesn't feel like doing. This is dropped when he later goes on to be the Disc-One Final Boss of the series. It resurfaces again in Act 6, and when Jack ends up imprisoned on Prospit, Draconian Dignitary, now saddled with his job, contemplates negotiating with the White Queen to have some of the paperwork shipped to Jack's cell. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_50bcf7a6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_50bcf7a6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Homestuck (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_50bcf7a6 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_52837809 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_52837809 | comment |
Kamen Rider Drive has most of the regular police force be this to the Special Crimes Unit, but particularly their manager Mitsuhide Nira. It eventually becomes clear why nobody on the force except the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits seems to take the ongoing spree of killer robot attacks seriously: one of their number killed and replaced the Secretary of Defense, and has been making very liberal use of his ability to manipulate memories to make it so virtually every officer is physically incapable of thinking about the robots, leaving only an underfunded special task force to make the public think the authorities are still doing something. Nira, meanwhile, is The Quisling. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_52837809 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_52837809 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Kamen Rider Drive | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_52837809 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_53b04f6e | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_53b04f6e | comment |
The first world of Obsidian plays with this trope to fit the fact that it's based on one of the main character's dreams. So much that the receptionist is as much of a bureaucrat as everybody else, and all of them are shown as TV-headed robots that only show the nose and mouth of a human. Their chief is withholding information about your partner Max, and you are asked to fix a literal Broken Bridge between you and the Chief's office, "through the proper channels"; but as you progress, the complexity of the tasks you have to do increases to the point that the facility's rules actually have to be broken to reach the Chief by the end. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_53b04f6e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_53b04f6e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Obsidian (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_53b04f6e | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5412d1 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5412d1 | comment |
Nerdy Show's Dungeons and Doritoes portrays Cleaveland as an entire society of these. The party must negotiate and navigate the bureaucracy to get Jen'Ifer off the bus. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5412d1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5412d1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Nerdy Show (Podcast) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5412d1 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_55740773 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_55740773 | comment |
When You Reach Me: When the police come to interrogate Marcus, Wheelie, the school secretary, who knew all of the children at the school and what class they were in, stalled for as long as she could, asking them to repeat the name and age of Marcus and just taking time looking through the files to find him. This gave Miranda time to get Marcus out of his class. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_55740773 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_55740773 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
When You Reach Me | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_55740773 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_56fa0ea4 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_56fa0ea4 | comment |
Purchase the Democracy perk in Civilization Revolution and your production and culture increase greatly, but at the cost of your Congress vetoing you whenever you try to break peace treaties or refuse peace offers from rival civs. The other civs understand this limitation, and will liberally abuse it by attacking and capturing one of your cities, quickly offering you peace so you can't do anything about it, and repeating the process from there. And Congress never lets you refuse the peace offer or launch a counter-attack to reclaim your city, no matter how obvious it is that you're being played. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_56fa0ea4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_56fa0ea4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Civilization (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_56fa0ea4 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_57b6a595 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_57b6a595 | comment |
The mayor's receptionist in Copperhead is one: anyone attempting to meet with the mayor is informed his schedule is full and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Successful appointments are susceptible to cancellation due to last-minute travel or double-booking. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_57b6a595 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_57b6a595 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Copperhead (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_57b6a595 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_58907201 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_58907201 | comment |
In Sinfest, the forms to sell your soul. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_58907201 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_58907201 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Sinfest (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_58907201 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5908ee91 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5908ee91 | comment |
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: One particularly vicious and procedure-oriented Imperial captain hears one of her subordinates protesting that one of the traitorous rebels being sent to the block for execution is not on the list of Stormcloak rebels sentenced to death. She promptly shouts him down, since the prisoner is in that cart, so that prisoner is going to the block, and nothing is stopping this execution save for the dragon-god showing up a few minutes later. Said prisoner is you, the player-character. It is entirely possible after you escape to join up with the Stormcloaks and proceed to utterly destroy the entire Imperial presence in Skyrim out of raw fury at your near-experience with a Viking crewcut... because one jerk didn't double-check the list. Should you favor the Stormcloaks during your escapenote By following Ralof, the same Stormcloak official who you shared the cart ride with at the first minutes of the game, inside the fort., the player can get retribution against said Captain, who's one of the enemy NPCs spawned inside said fort, right at the doors. No such chance is given if the player follows Hadvar, the Imperial officer, instead. This, of course, shifted many players in favor of the Stormcloaks. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5908ee91 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5908ee91 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5908ee91 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_59da62aa | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_59da62aa | comment |
The main 'good guys' in Fallout: New Vegas are the New California Republic, a democratic faction whose lofty ideals are tempered by an aggressive expansionist policy and more red tape than you can shake ten sticks at. While natural for such a large organization, the inefficiency is one of the reasons the NCR has come to a stall in the game and gives plenty of work for the player character. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_59da62aa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_59da62aa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Fallout: New Vegas (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_59da62aa | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5b43d745 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5b43d745 | comment |
Another Douglas Adams title, Starship Titanic contains the sarcastic, deliberately unhelpful DeskBot, Marsinta Drewbish, at the start of the game, as well as in its novelization. It only lasts until you reset her off-kilter personality settings, though. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5b43d745 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5b43d745 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Starship Titanic (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5b43d745 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c3ec7f1 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c3ec7f1 | comment |
Mr. Chesney in Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones is somewhere in between humorous and dark. Making an entire world act like a bad fantasy novel might seem like a funny concept, until you take into account the people who are tortured, raped or killed because of it. A more benevolent version of this trope is found in another Diana Wynne Jones book: Brother Lawrence in A Sudden Wild Magic. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c3ec7f1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c3ec7f1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark Lord of Derkholm | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c3ec7f1 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c5251b6 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c5251b6 | comment |
HERZ: Every so often HERZ -the organization the main cast works for- has to deal with UN Inspectors and Auditors overseeing them, examining their accounts and records and poking their noses where they do not belong. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c5251b6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c5251b6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
HERZ (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c5251b6 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c897f4a | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c897f4a | comment |
The Lunar Government's bureaucracy in Schlock Mercenary requires multiple redundant signatures on everything, with no copying or computers, in the 31st century. After filling out a "short" form a foot thick by exploiting a loophole that allowed them to use Ennesby (as an AI forbidding him would be discrimination) the Toughs are hired to disperse a long-term mob outside the licensing office, which actually turns out to be the line. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c897f4a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c897f4a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5c897f4a | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5e150650 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5e150650 | comment |
Exalted: There are two uses for the Bureaucracy skill and its related Charms. One is to evade these characters. The other is to become one. With the Charms, you can magically aid your obstructions to be nearly insurmountable. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5e150650 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5e150650 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Exalted (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_5e150650 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_600454b2 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_600454b2 | comment |
Always Visible: Portland police see no point in investigating Delia's murder. Galbraith only miraculously manages to obtain documents to fly to London to begin the pursuit of doctor Baselard. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_600454b2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_600454b2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Always Visible (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_600454b2 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_60570997 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_60570997 | comment |
In S.S.D.D. Trisha, Maytec's customer service AI, is designed to ward off complaints by being so annoying that most just give up. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_60570997 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_60570997 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
S.S.D.D. (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_60570997 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_605dd875 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_605dd875 | comment |
The Stargate-verse sort of has a revolving door of them. Either, like Woolsey, they see what's going on and become more reasonable over the years, or like Kinsey, they get worse and get into a much more antagonistic role than just being the guy whose turn it is to say "the SGC is costing too much money" this year. Either way, this means it's time to bring in the next and start the cycle again. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_605dd875 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_605dd875 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Stargate-verse (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_605dd875 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_61052082 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_61052082 | comment |
The Pentagon Wars: The sheer lengths of obstructiveness by military bureaucrats is taken to near satirical levels, when the Army insists on creating an Office of Ruminant Procurement to determine “standards for sheep used in munitions tests� before sheep are provided for a test of the M-2 Bradley’s armor. The Air Force Colonel who wants to conduct the test, just goes and buys sheep from a local farmer. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_61052082 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_61052082 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Pentagon Wars | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_61052082 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6148031a | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6148031a | comment |
Broken Souls has Charles Lamb, head of Section XIII. When one of the officers within the Ministry of Magic started claiming that somebody was leaking information, he and the Joint Intelligence Committee tried to essentially sweep things under the rug. Justified in that while many people wanted a witch hunt, he wasn't about to start pointing fingers without evidence. He's also not remorseless, as he seems very distraught that several deaths have occurred because of his actions. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6148031a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6148031a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Broken Souls (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6148031a | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_62570927 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_62570927 | comment |
If there is ever a need for an insufferable jackass with a load of red tape in the Marvel Universe, expect to see another appearance by Henry Peter Gyrich. He spent decades being a massive pain in the ass of superhero teams, particularly the Avengers, before Crisis Crossover events such as Civil War and Secret Invasion pushed him into Knight Templar territory. He's even beyond that. His actions during Avengers: The Initiative (cloning a teenage soldier and using him to cover up a training death) clearly cross the Moral Event Horizon. He's the only comic book character where "basic human decency" is an Informed Attribute. Everyone goes out of their way to say he's not a villain, while Gyrich's actions would say otherwise. In a related example, in the climactic issue of Rom Spaceknight, he attempts to use the weapon that just defeated the Dire Wraiths to strip every super-being on Earth of their powers. No country on Marvel Earth has any law forbidding the possession of super-powers (though the US had tried to pass similar legislations - and failed), and Gyrich has no judicial authority at all. Hilariously enough, at one point, he was almost redeemed. During the Geoff Johns run around '03, Gyrich even managed to have a somewhat friendly relationship with Falcon and the two of them working together discovered that the US Secretary of Defense was the Red Skull in disguise, which was instrumental in trying to fight the Skull's plan to cover the US in a flesh-eating virus and use the attack to start WWIII by blaming Wakanda for it. Aaaaaand then Gyrich promptly dropped off the Moral Event Horizon himself only about three years later with his aforementioned atrocities in the Initiative. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_62570927 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_62570927 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Marvel Universe (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_62570927 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_630755ab | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_630755ab | comment |
The Senators in Codex Alera are bad about this. They tend to focus on irrelevant personal feuds and power plays in the face of such things as an invasion of 60,000 Wolf Men or a Horde of Alien Locusts, and one of them, Arnos, turns out to be an incompetent General Ripper when he's actually put in charge of something. Cheers could be heard from the readers when High Lord Placida bodily threw Senator Valerius out of a command meeting in the last book.note (He'd been ranting about how Bernard was breaking the law by building the fortifications that were the last defense of the human race, for the curious.) | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_630755ab | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_630755ab | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Codex Alera | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_630755ab | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_67f8d3b9 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_67f8d3b9 | comment |
Dis in Earthdawn is a literal god of bureaucracy. His rituals include the creation and filing of needless paperwork, and a specific element of his portfolio is busywork that does nothing for anyone. What makes him dark instead of humorous is that he's the chief god of Thera, and his beliefs and practices are a strong part of why slavery flourishes in that country. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_67f8d3b9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_67f8d3b9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Earthdawn (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_67f8d3b9 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_691be369 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_691be369 | comment |
Near the end of The X-Files novel Ground Zero by Kevin J. Anderson, Mulder, Scully and four civilians are stranded on a boat far out in the Pacific Ocean. Mulder tries to call for help on his cell phone, finally reaching a tracking station whose operator tells him to get off the line because this is a restricted number. Even when Mulder says that he's making an emergency distress call, the operator tells him that he shouldn't be on this frequency and to "try the appropriate contact numbers." Mulder then suggests that they send someone out to arrest him for misusing the number. The tracking station does eventually send help, but still... | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_691be369 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_691be369 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The X-Files | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_691be369 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_697c6470 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_697c6470 | comment |
In The Consul, the only visible employee of a foreign consulate in a European Police State is a secretary who gives people trying to obtain exit visas an endless series of forms for them to fill out and sign, if the documents she asks them to provide are all in order. Many are made to wait for months on end. The secretary views them as numbers rather than as people with names, because "otherwise, how can one do any work?" | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_697c6470 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_697c6470 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Consul (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_697c6470 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_69fa7496 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_69fa7496 | comment |
Disney Ducks Comic Universe: The bureaucrat from "Cosmic Confrontation" originally sneaked up aboard Gyro's rocket to check how many laws it violated, but when the rocket came face-to-face with a squad of giant alien constructor workers out to destroy Earth to make room for a space highway, he proceeds to use his bureaucracy to drive them away and save Earth. Another story shows that Duckburg's city bureaucrats were astoundingly lazy and unmotivated workers who'd leave the office to laze about or go shopping and proud of it—to the point their supervisor, seeing how fast and precise Scrooge's office workers were, at one point lied and claimed a permit Scrooge needed was being held up by his workers' laziness just to get him to break them out of it. Scrooge being Scrooge, he outsmarts and outplays constantly, breaking most of them out of their lazyness in days and the last stubborn wastrels, who decided to hide in the city hall's basement with the other covering for him just to prove he could still avoid working, being dealt with by locking him in. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_69fa7496 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_69fa7496 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Disney Ducks Comic Universe (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_69fa7496 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6a8aff51 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6a8aff51 | comment |
The Stormlight Archive: A mix of types from the Azir. They are obsessed with paperwork, requiring proper forms for everything from prisoner transport to requisitioning snacks. On the other hand, they're a meritocracy in a world otherwise ruled by feuding warlords, and anyone has a chance to rule the country if they submit the proper forms and write a particularly good essay. When an assassin is flying around the world killing princes and kings, every country is descending into in-fighting and anarchy—every country except Azir, where the mere possibility of a civil war is dismissed as "too much paperwork." The Azir have bureaucracy steeped into their bones so much that when their slaves regain their minds and become an army following demons, the first thing they do is sue the government for back pay and damages. Even better, it's implied they are fairly close to working out a deal, until said demons forced a fight. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6a8aff51 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6a8aff51 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Stormlight Archive | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6a8aff51 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6ac55ec7 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6ac55ec7 | comment |
In Dungeons & Dragons cosmology, anyone who has a legitimate reason to visit the Nine Hells (which also means being desperate or insane enough to want to) has to deal with one or more amnizu who watch the portals, obese, ugly fiends who double and triple check everything a visitor has, ask dozens of questions, and subject them to the most humiliating of searches before letting them by, both to be thorough and because, well, devils do that kind of thing. Natives of Mechanus - the Plane of Ultimate Law - are even worse. Simply being allowed one hour's access to the Guvner's library in the Fortress of Disciplined Enlightenment could mean filling out hundreds of pages of paper work just to get on the waiting list to see someone who you can make the request to. (Unless the guy making the request is also a Guvner; that might eliminate some of the red tape.) And don't even get into how long it takes when dealing with the modrons. For beings obsessed with law, it's always complicated, and sometimes dangerous, because not dealing with these bureaucrats in Mechanus could get someone arrested for something they had no idea was a crime. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6ac55ec7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6ac55ec7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dungeons & Dragons (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6ac55ec7 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6ae6b4c7 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6ae6b4c7 | comment |
In Pacific Rim the world council shelves the Jaeger project after the Kaiju start adapting, instead choosing to focus on the coastal wall project. When a Kaiju effortlessly destroys one such wall, riots ensue. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6ae6b4c7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6ae6b4c7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Pacific Rim | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6ae6b4c7 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6bc0f10a | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6bc0f10a | comment |
The movie plays it up when the Heart of Gold makes a Hyperspeed Escape from the Vogon armada. Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz turns to a subordinate and asks if the criminals they're pursuing filled out the proper paperwork to do this. The subordinate is shocked to find out that they did not. Later on, Arthur, Ford, and Zaphod fill out the release form for Trillian, who is about to be executed, only to be told that, since Zaphod is the President of the Galaxy, he has to submit a Presidential Release Form. Jeltz, who is all too eager to execute Trillian is instantly pacified when he receives the release form and orders her freed. Also, when the heroes are escaping, Jeltz is about to order pursuit, when a factory whistle is heard, and Jeltz tells everyone to take an hour for lunch. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6bc0f10a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6bc0f10a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6bc0f10a | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6be52549 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6be52549 | comment |
West of Loathing’s Ghostwood is a literal Ghost Town populated by nothing but these. You'll need to fill out a good dozen "different" (functionally-identical) forms to complete all the quests involving this area. And that's if you don't screw anything up and have to do it again... | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6be52549 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6be52549 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
West of Loathing (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6be52549 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6cdec540 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6cdec540 | comment |
Transformers: More than Meets the Eye: Prowl, who can and will use all manner of legal loopholes and red tape to get what he wants, while using it to make everyone else's life miserable. As can be imagined, the guy is all kinds of unpopular with everyone. He's bad enough that when the Decepticons mind-controlled him, none of Autobots noticed a change in his behavior. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6cdec540 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6cdec540 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Transformers: More than Meets the Eye (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6cdec540 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6f1dfbf0 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6f1dfbf0 | comment |
Myth Adventures: Parodied in one of the M.Y.T.H. Inc novels. The perspective characters are trying to sabotage an army. They end up in charge of a supply depot, which they hope to use for this purpose by deliberately screwing up 10% of all supply requests. They are thwarted by Obstructive Bureaucrats in an unusual way: First, they categorically refuse to use the horrifically convoluted official record-keeping procedures, inventing their own, just because they don't want to deal with the paperwork, making the processing once requisitions get to them much faster. Second, because of the long delays caused by the bureaucrats in getting the requisitions to the supply depots, the 'accidental' mistakes often improved things (like sending summer-weight uniforms to a unit that requested winter-weight uniforms and vice versa, not realizing that the requisition orders are six months old and consequently sending them uniforms that were correct for the current season). As a result, their sabotage made their depot the most efficient facility in the army. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6f1dfbf0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6f1dfbf0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Myth Adventures | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_6f1dfbf0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_70814599 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_70814599 | comment |
Richard Woolsey from Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis is exactly this. Even though he strictly believes in rules, he is generally benign and fair, although annoying. When he took command of Atlantis, the initial reaction was that A Tyrant Has Taken The Helm, exactly because of this trope. However, he turned out to be a capable leader after all. Even once he becomes a good guy Woolsey, uniquely, remains a bureaucrat. In fact he gets a few CMOA out of his skills as a lawyer and underhanded politician. Senator Kinsey also counts. In his first appearance he tries to get the Stargate Program shut down, under the guise that it's a money pit and exposes the Earth to unnecessary dangers. While he's right, the fact that he's trying to take on a more advanced race with regular weapons and believes God wouldn't let them lose is what cements him as this trope. Later on, he's shown to be working with a Government Conspiracy that wants to handle interplanetary relations their way, accusing the SGC of being "too soft". This includes them slaughtering millions of Jaffa, not caring whether the planets they attack are home to Free Jaffa or Jaffa that serve the Goa'uld, thus tacking on "hypocrite" to the above (which he also justifies by citing the Bible). Kinsey's actions, even as part of a conspiracy, are absolutely ungodly stupid. They seem to believe that they could defeat the Goa'uld by stealing certain pieces of alien technology from the Tolan, Tok'ra, and even Asgard and Ancient tech. They never seem to consider that without the help of these guys, especially the Asgard, Earth would have been conquered, glassed and/or shattered by at least a dozen different bad guys. There's also the fact that his initial objection about exposing Earth to alien threats ignores the fact that you can't put the genie back in the bottle. Earth had already been exposed to the Goa'uld, and shutting down the Stargate program wouldn't make them go away or ignore Earth. It would just require them to take (very slightly) longer to attack using spaceships (a point made by Col. O'Neill in the pilot and during the episode in question). Which they do. The very next episode. Understandably, after the shit had barely missed the fan, the rest of the government told Kinsey to put a sock in it and overruled him. Worth noting, Woolsey was introduced as Kinsey's assistant. When he realizes what sort of person Kinsey is and what he's up to, he collects evidence on him and turns it over to the President. Camile Wray of Stargate Universe, given her status as a member of the IOA. Of course, she is also trying to take over the ship, so she's the darker variant. She gets better after things have settled down. The entire IOA counts as this. After watching enough of Stargate Atlantis, you would think the only decisions they make is to put the blame on whoever else they can. On the rare occasion they do take action, they usually make things worse. Particular mention goes to their borderline-suicidal plan to stop the Ori in The Ark of Truth, which involved reviving the Replicators and taking away their only weakness. The Stargate-verse sort of has a revolving door of them. Either, like Woolsey, they see what's going on and become more reasonable over the years, or like Kinsey, they get worse and get into a much more antagonistic role than just being the guy whose turn it is to say "the SGC is costing too much money" this year. Either way, this means it's time to bring in the next and start the cycle again. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_70814599 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_70814599 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Stargate SG-1 | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_70814599 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_71a1ca53 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_71a1ca53 | comment |
Frank Dixon in The Terminal zigzags between this and the Dark version. He is not actively malicious, and believes that following the rules is the best option (best shown when he uncovers a man hiding drugs), but this prevents Viktor from being able to leave the airport legally. For much of the movie, he wavers between trying to pass Viktor off to some other authority, finding ways for him to lawfully leave the airport, tricking him into a legal nightmare, and locking him in a cell. He also prevents him from allowing a Russian man from leaving the country with medicine for his dying father, and when Viktor gives the man the means to give his father the medicine Dixon makes every attempt not to allow Viktor into the US, and threatens to destroy the careers of his friends if he tries. In the end, however, he relents when Viktor does get into the city. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_71a1ca53 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_71a1ca53 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Terminal | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_71a1ca53 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_72262aee | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_72262aee | comment |
Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Earth Kingdom in general (particularly Ba Sing Se) is depicted as symptomatically bureaucratic, much like the ancient China that pretty much codified the concept of bureaucracy in Real Life. An Earth Nation immigration official at Full Moon Bay prevents any refugees from taking the ferries to the city without an official ticket. Aang is forced to circumvent her by taking the deadly Serpent's Pass, to help out a family who lost their tickets. Joo Dee plays this part when she makes the Gaang wait through weeks-long processes to post "Lost Bison" posters or talk to the Earth King about the invasion. She's really under Long Feng's order to prevent them from doing anything. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_72262aee | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_72262aee | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Avatar: The Last Airbender | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_72262aee | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_734db98d | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_734db98d | comment |
"Blind Alley": A seemingly fussy bureaucrat, Loodun Antyok, manages to free an alien species kept under observation, all the while making sure he comes up smelling like roses. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_734db98d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_734db98d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Blind Alley | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_734db98d | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_73d7930f | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_73d7930f | comment |
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine In the first season episode "Past Prolouge" Commander Sisko has his crew play obstructive bureaucrats by having them insist to Gul Danar that all docking procedures have to be precisely followed no matter how long it takes. Sisko later tells Danar that DS9 is still repairing all the damage the Cardassians did when they left, hence the extending docking times. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_73d7930f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_73d7930f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_73d7930f | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_740815bb | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_740815bb | comment |
Interesting Times: The Agatean Empire, as a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Imperial China, has a lot of this. As Cohen puts it "You can't even go to the privy without a piece of paper." | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_740815bb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_740815bb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Interesting Times | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_740815bb | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7460586f | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7460586f | comment |
Rodney Whosits from Archer, the requisitions officer. Played for laughs as strict bureaucrat who cannot be threatened (but can be bribed). Also subverted in the sense that his placement is probably for the best, since the ISIS staff have a penchant of taking weapons for personal use, or for sale on the black market. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7460586f | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7460586f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Archer | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7460586f | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_75149ccd | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_75149ccd | comment |
In the X-Wing Series Admiral Ackbar assigns a droid called M-3PO (aka Emtrey) to the squadron at the behest of General Cracken in order to ensure that Captain Celchu is not a Manchurian Agent after escaping Imperial captivity. Emtrey has programming and an override mode installed that make him a very tempting tool for such agents. Part of his abilities are an ability to work around obstructive bureacrats to get Rogue Squadron the equipment they need, and to wheel and deal to obtain goods. Even after the real mole is exposed and the override mode is removed, Emtrey still has some of the requisition programming and is still able to function as a requisition specialist for the unit. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_75149ccd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_75149ccd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
X-Wing Series | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_75149ccd | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7668653a | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7668653a | comment |
Shepard can threaten to get Illium's own obstructive bureaucracy involved in Mass Effect 2 when trying to convince a Synthetic Insights representative to buy a contract for an "indentured servant". The representative is extremely quick to take up the contract because they don't want the bureaucracy to get involved. There's also a minor sidequest where you find a lost trinket with no monetary worth but significant sentimental value during Miranda's loyalty mission, and can return it to its owner, who gives you a fistful of money on the grounds that getting it back via the bureaucracy would have cost far more. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7668653a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7668653a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Mass Effect 2 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7668653a | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_774aac31 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_774aac31 | comment |
District 9 features a rare Obstructive Bureaucrat protagonist in the (initially) cowardly and weak-willed Wikus van de Merwe, who is put in charge of the relocation of several thousand fugitive aliens from one slum to another, even worse. He's something of a deconstruction, as he's a very realistic and complex character who shows that behind even the most obstructive of bureaucrats, there's still a human being — most likely an unhappy one in search of validation. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_774aac31 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_774aac31 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
District 9 | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_774aac31 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_77be988d | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_77be988d | comment |
In Thief of Time they were introduced to mortal delights. Unlike the description in the page header where this could free them of their evil, this doesn't. The shock of experiencing chocolate was enough to make them vanish. Their attempts to catalog everything their body experienced made them think so hard they forgot to exist. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_77be988d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_77be988d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Thief of Time | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_77be988d | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7848e564 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7848e564 | comment |
Superintendent McClellan in Monster Warriors. This paper-pusher is a real stickler for policy and procedure. He’s Mayor Mel’s right-hand-guy, but he’s no Warrior ally—-in fact quite the opposite! When something goes wrong in Capital City, teenagers are blamed—namely the Monster Warriors. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7848e564 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7848e564 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Monster Warriors | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7848e564 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_78f53d16 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_78f53d16 | comment |
In Kara of Rokyn, Green Lantern and Supergirl need to head off to Earth, but the emigration officer will not let them leave planet Rokyn because Hal Jordan needs an official authorization. So what if they need to save Superman? Hal has no travel permit, and that's it. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_78f53d16 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_78f53d16 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Kara of Rokyn (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_78f53d16 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_791e7b7f | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_791e7b7f | comment |
In Zootopia, the DMV (Department of Mammal Vehicles) is staffed exclusively with sloths, meaning it's even slower than the Real Life version. It's a downplayed version of the trope in that none of the sloths are intentionally trying to be obstructive or petty, they're just really, really slow. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_791e7b7f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_791e7b7f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Zootopia | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_791e7b7f | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7976faf1 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7976faf1 | comment |
In A Basket, a Blanket and a Bundle of Bills, the Treasury Wing is full of them; they don't like handing out money to anyone for any reason. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7976faf1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7976faf1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
A Basket, a Blanket and a Bundle of Bills / Fan Fic | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7976faf1 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_79878ea | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_79878ea | comment |
The Spoils: A number of cards from the Banker trade are bureaucrats created from the reanimated corpses of those who died in debt. They must pay back their debts to their lenders (a process one card implies takes roughly 500 years), and are mostly used a pencil-pushers to deal with the poor and undesirables the bank has no interest in lending money to, drowning them under mountains of paperwork. Mechanically, their function is to tie up the opponent's resources (for example, depleting their Character cards to no effect). One card's flavor text sums up the experience rather aptly: "Could I please speak to a living person?" | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_79878ea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_79878ea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Spoils (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_79878ea | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7988cb68 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7988cb68 | comment |
Mass Effect Donnel Udina serves this role to Shepard, caring only for looking good politically. He gets a special mention just for nearly causing the destruction of the universe in the first game before Jumping Off the Slippery Slope in the third. There's also Rannadril Ghan Swa Fulsoom Karaten Narr Eadi Bel Anoleis, who as the administrator of Port Hanshan on Noveria, sits halfway between this and Corrupt Corporate Executive. Fortunately, you can acquire evidence of his corruption (demanding large kickbacks from corporate interests who want to operate on Noveria to the point that it is damaging profits for Noveria as a whole) and get him arrested or killed. Amusingly you can bypass his entire subplot by exploiting this trope and turning an unrelated smuggler in to him and he'll handle the red tape as the reward. Shepard can threaten to get Illium's own obstructive bureaucracy involved in Mass Effect 2 when trying to convince a Synthetic Insights representative to buy a contract for an "indentured servant". The representative is extremely quick to take up the contract because they don't want the bureaucracy to get involved. There's also a minor sidequest where you find a lost trinket with no monetary worth but significant sentimental value during Miranda's loyalty mission, and can return it to its owner, who gives you a fistful of money on the grounds that getting it back via the bureaucracy would have cost far more. Councilor "We have dismissed that claim" Sparatus. The man seems to make it his mission in life to question everything Shepard says or does, regardless of how insane it makes him look... up until the third game (if he lives that long), where he's the first councillor to offer Shepard assistance. The Citadel's bureaucracy in general. Proving you just can't escape some things, Mass Effect: Andromeda has the acting head of the Andromeda Initiative, Jarunn Tann (acting because everyone above him died), and Director of Colonial Affairs Foster Addison. They're the people Ryder has to report to. Thankfully, they hate one another, and they at least don't try to make Ryder's job harder than it needs to be often. Intentionally. Usually. Though they are both serious micromanagers, though unlike the Citadel council, they at least are willing to admit they were wrong. Well, sometimes. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7988cb68 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7988cb68 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Mass Effect (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7988cb68 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_79ab0b3c | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_79ab0b3c | comment |
Tortall Universe: Sir Lionel of Trebond from the second Beka Cooper book. He's the Lord Provost of Port Caynn (Da Chief, in other words), but when Beka and Goodwin arrive to investigate the colemongering he actually forbids them from doing any other policework. Nor does he allow his own officers to interfere much with all the crime a port city can generate. After Pearl Skinner threatened his family, he's too scared of her retribution to curb her activities. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_79ab0b3c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_79ab0b3c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Tortall Universe | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_79ab0b3c | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7a7a1a46 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7a7a1a46 | comment |
Mr. Andrews in Alien³. When Ripley tells him about the Alien he won't help her and confines her to sickbay, because he finds her story very implausible and he has a much simpler explanation for the recent deaths. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7a7a1a46 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7a7a1a46 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Alien³ | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7a7a1a46 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7a7a1a86 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7a7a1a86 | comment |
A more straight-up application of the trope is the board of inquiry in Aliens. Again this is used to mislead the audience, as the only member who expresses sympathy towards Ripley is Carter Burke, hiding his role as the villain. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7a7a1a86 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7a7a1a86 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Aliens | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7a7a1a86 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7c802b66 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7c802b66 | comment |
A major theme in Brazil. The world is a consumer-driven, bureaucratic nightmare, with the Central Service being aggressively unhelpful to anyone who needs them and classifying anyone who tries to report a mistake as a terrorist. The hero, Sam Lowry, tries to defy this, and has daydreams about being a Badass Bureaucrat. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7c802b66 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7c802b66 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Brazil | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7c802b66 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7de8951a | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7de8951a | comment |
Traveller: The Vilani Imperium is a Vestigial Empire composed of these. They were completely incapable of running the war against the Terrans because of this. Interestingly, they were deliberately designed this way to ensure that the Imperium ran on autopilot and had as little disorder as possible. As there hadn't been a real enemy for thousands of years, it made sense in its day. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7de8951a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7de8951a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Traveller (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7de8951a | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7efbc126 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7efbc126 | comment |
Divine Misfortune: While the Court of Divine Affairs was founded to make things fair between gods and mortals, actually relying on them when things go pear-shaped — like Syph making her "followers" miserable, or Phil and Teri having to deal with Lucky's enemies showing up and making their lives difficult — is an exercise in futility considering how long it takes to get one's case sorted out. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7efbc126 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7efbc126 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Divine Misfortune | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7efbc126 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7f87dafc | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7f87dafc | comment |
Captain William Sutherland, a member of the Earth Forces' General Staff in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. During his initial appearances he interrogates the crew of the Archangel about the alleged improprieties in voyage, transfers the crewmembers he views as politically reliable to other assignments, than puts in motion a plan that will get not only the remaining Archangel crew, but also most of the Earth Forces' Eurasian allies killed off. He's later revealed to be The Dragon to Blue Cosmos leader Muruta Azrael, and in his own banal, pencil-pushing way, a major mover and shaker behind the plan to exterminate all of the Coordinators. A truly reprehensible, if dull personality. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7f87dafc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7f87dafc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_7f87dafc | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8132c15b | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8132c15b | comment |
Frank Herbert's ConSentiency universe has the "Bureau of Sabotage", whose job is to create or destroy red tape. However, BuSab obstructs the government to protect individual rights (when governments become too efficient, bad stuff occurs). Instead of paper work, the Bureau employs some rather humorous sabotage to get the job done. Jorj X. McKie, saboteur extraordinary and protagonist, subverts the trope by speeding up a meeting in one story, as well as being sensitive to the alien cultures he works with. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8132c15b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8132c15b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
ConSentiency | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8132c15b | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_81692f99 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_81692f99 | comment |
Star Trek: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine In the first season episode "Past Prolouge" Commander Sisko has his crew play obstructive bureaucrats by having them insist to Gul Danar that all docking procedures have to be precisely followed no matter how long it takes. Sisko later tells Danar that DS9 is still repairing all the damage the Cardassians did when they left, hence the extending docking times. Star Trek: Picard: The Romulan Star Empire is no more, but its successor, the Romulan Free State, is still a bureaucratic nightmare. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_81692f99 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_81692f99 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Star Trek (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_81692f99 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_81bd6d63 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_81bd6d63 | comment |
In Beyond Atlantis Hell is depicted as a bureaucracy run by demons who are insistent you follow protocol to get a Plot Coupon from them. The protocol involves getting a specific order of stamps on a claim form but the correct stamps and order is not disclosed. Wandering souls in the area were previous applicants who died while trying to get the order right. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_81bd6d63 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_81bd6d63 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Atlantis: The Lost Tales (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_81bd6d63 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_82439e64 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_82439e64 | comment |
The Office (US), Michael Scott definitely thinks Toby Flenderson qualifies as one of these. Toby is actually a much more sympathetic character than Michael gives him credit for, even to the point of Woobiefication to some viewers. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_82439e64 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_82439e64 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Office (US) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_82439e64 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_83264fb1 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_83264fb1 | comment |
The Bastard Operator from Hell regularly meets these, so there are plans for such a case. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_83264fb1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_83264fb1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Bastard Operator from Hell | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_83264fb1 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_863b7825 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_863b7825 | comment |
Elevated to an art form by Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes, Minister. As a matter of fact, pretty much the entire British civil service is portrayed as such in those series. On the other hand, you do see their perspective on things—though the writer clearly disagrees, the Civil Service seems to genuinely believe that it knows what's best for the country (and there are occasions when the Civil Service appears to be acting in the interests of Britain while the politicians are acting in the interests of their approval ratings), and Humphrey himself is hardly a one-dimensional character. He actually gets a fair number of sympathetic moments in. In the end, you see that they're still Obstructive Bureaucrats, but also see that there's a kind of twisted method to their obstructiveness. And in the (very) few times when the goals of the politicians matched theirs, their efficiency is deadly. There are also times when Minister Hacker successfully adopted Humphrey's methods with devastating effect, such as the time he arranged for a 'good will' visit of British troops...to a country that had just had a surprise invasion. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_863b7825 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_863b7825 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Yes, Minister | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_863b7825 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_872f1ff1 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_872f1ff1 | comment |
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire: And of course NYC Mayor Walter Peck continues to harass the Ghostbusters over the course of the film, and is prepared to shut them down once and for all until he realizes how low long his political career would last in that case. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_872f1ff1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_872f1ff1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_872f1ff1 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_884b3eb6 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_884b3eb6 | comment |
Arthur Brooks in Big Daddy appears to be this; however, his "victim" is a Jerkass who deserves to be taught a lesson by the government, so Brooks is instead an example of Good is Not Nice. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_884b3eb6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_884b3eb6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Big Daddy | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_884b3eb6 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_889ea24c | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_889ea24c | comment |
"The Evitable Conflict": Stephen Byerley, Co-ordinator of Earth, suspects someone is sabotaging the Machines, powerful robots that advise the decisions of humanity. He asks for help investigating this from the four Vice Coordinators of the four regions that Earth is divided into. They all dismiss the idea and none help Byerley, insisting they are doing their jobs well. Justified, because the Machines already control humanity and they will never let anyone competent enough to initiate an investigation have the job. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_889ea24c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_889ea24c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Evitable Conflict | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_889ea24c | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_89a21f03 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_89a21f03 | comment |
Ahsoka has an Imperial broker named Jenneth Pilar, who sends the Empire to out-of-the-way moon Raada so it can grow a plant used in nutritional supplements that renders the soil barren for years afterward, without any concern for the inhabitants that will be stuck there after the Empire is gone. He ends up having to flee Imperial service after things go pear-shaped. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_89a21f03 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_89a21f03 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Star Wars: Ahsoka | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_89a21f03 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8aaeda7e | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8aaeda7e | comment |
Godzilla Aftershock: The United Nations Security Council. They've made up their minds about what not to do about the MUTO Prime crisis as soon as they heard the part where the MUTO Prime succeeding in its goal of wearing down and fatally impregnating Godzilla with its parasitic spawn will cause the MUTO Prime to go back into dormancy. They're convinced this will solve both their problems with Godzilla dead and the MUTO Prime inactive, in blatant and frankly obscene disregard of the bit where allowing the MUTO Prime to do that will result in its spawn being unleashed on the world to at best trigger a repeat of the 2014 incident or at worst succeed in causing an extinction event, with no Godzilla to fight them (or any other hostile Titans) off this time. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8aaeda7e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8aaeda7e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
MonsterVerse (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8aaeda7e | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8c05f749 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8c05f749 | comment |
In the early seasons of Death in Paradise, Commissioner Selwyn Patterson often took this role, visiting the police station to inform Detective Inspector Richard Poole that some element of the current investigation implicated powerful local political figures or risked damaging the island's tourism trade, and subtly suggesting that Poole focus his attention elsewhere. However, as the series continues, this part of Patterson's personality fell to the side, and he became more willing to allow Poole's successors to follow their instincts as he trusts them to only do that with good reason. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8c05f749 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8c05f749 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Death in Paradise | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8c05f749 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8c7237b3 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8c7237b3 | comment |
In Wilhuff Tarkin, Hero of the Rebellion, some of the issues of the Galactic Empire's military are blamed on "efficiency experts" that at the end of the Clone Wars ordered the removal of equipment they found useless without really understanding how it worked and Palpatine letting them to reroute the funds to his various superweapon projects. The two examples we're given are the Imperial Star Destroyer having been designed with dual use torpedo launchers/flak guns only to have them removed (thus making them criminally vulnerable to fighter attacks and reducing their anti-ship firepower on top of that), and the line infantry squads losing their light repeating blasters, with the "experts" resisting their reintroduction after Imperial ground forces suffered grievous losses, but it's so bad that Tarkin is genuinely surprised when it turns out the one he's being forced to work with actually knows his job. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8c7237b3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8c7237b3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Wilhuff Tarkin, Hero of the Rebellion (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8c7237b3 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8d8157e0 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8d8157e0 | comment |
In Lexx, the entire city of Hogtown in the afterlife for evil souls is populated by these types. The devil simply leaves them to their own devices, preferring to avoid contact with them. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8d8157e0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8d8157e0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Lexx | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8d8157e0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8d81bc90 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8d81bc90 | comment |
M*A*S*H: An episode saw Hawkeye and Trapper navigate up the ranks through a series of obstructive bureaucrats in an attempt to obtain a piece of medical equipment. Of note is the guy who told them they couldn't have the vital piece of medical equipment they needed, but could have a pizza oven if they filled out the standard paperwork and replace "machine gun" with "pizza" on the request. However Radar is ultimately able to do some wheeling and dealing to obtain the equipment the surgeons need. Later, both before and after Radar leaves for the family farm in Iowa Klinger shows off his skills in getting around bureacrats to get the camp needed supplies. Klinger later becomes proficient enough in dealing with the bureacracy and his other duties that he's promoted to seargent. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8d81bc90 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8d81bc90 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
M*A*S*H | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8d81bc90 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8da301a6 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8da301a6 | comment |
Chasing Dragons: While Norvos is ruled by its priests, it's actually administered by a byzantine arrangement of councils and committees with a complex checks-and-balances system which means that it usually takes forever to get anything done. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8da301a6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8da301a6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Chasing Dragons (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8da301a6 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8fc868f5 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8fc868f5 | comment |
Gordon Brittas from The Brittas Empire acts like this sometimes. Like spending well over a minute to explain why he doesn't give change for the bus (ending in "it takes too long") or refusing to let people book the badminton court for more than 40 minutes, even when no one else had even tried to book it that day. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8fc868f5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8fc868f5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Brittas Empire | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_8fc868f5 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9004922f | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9004922f | comment |
Hogfather: A traditional Obstructive Bureaucrat appears when Susan is searching for the Tooth Fairy. Although he doesn't actually obstruct Susan by demanding forms and procedure, he does obstruct her by incessantly Wangsting about his rather boring life instead of answering her questions. Susan describes him as a very small, very weak bully, who couldn't find anyone smaller or weaker than him to bully and so took to making people's lives just that little bit more difficult. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9004922f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9004922f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Hogfather | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9004922f | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_903a9871 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_903a9871 | comment |
Dark Heresy: One of the locations described is the "Scrivener's System" of Prol, an entire solar system filled almost completely with Obstructive Bureaucrats. There is literally a civil war brewing in the Prol system because they're running out of places to store all the paperwork. All sides making their points in multi-volume treatises is not helping. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_903a9871 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_903a9871 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dark Heresy (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_903a9871 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_90ab7fe1 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_90ab7fe1 | comment |
Disney's Recess has Menlo, who's en route to becoming one of these guys and has already, through unfailing adherence to the rules, attained a highly trusted position within the school. An example of how strict he is: Gus and Mikey were standing in line with their permission slips for an excursion, but when they finally got to the front of the line, Menlo pointed out it was a few seconds past the due time, and got angry when they suggested still taking the slips. He seemed to find the fact that there was a line irrelevant. In one episode he teams up with Randall, and together they basically take over the entire playground through blackmail, because there's always some rule Menlo knows everyone or one of their friends is actually breaking it. The gang in general reacts quite negatively toward his legalism, although in one episode they are shocked to discover that Menlo and T.J. used to be inseparable best friends, but grew apart, some time before the gang got started — and both still have fond feelings for each other, despite the rivalry. It gives a bit of humanity to the kid. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_90ab7fe1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_90ab7fe1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Recess | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_90ab7fe1 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_91ba5165 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_91ba5165 | comment |
The Fold has two examples, both of which are more "light drama" than humorous. Protagonist Mike is hired as to audit a research project, but the subjects of his audit see his constantly asking for "access" and "basic information" as meaningless busywork that's getting in the way of their research. Later a different researcher is revealed to be ordering his staff to swap out parts relentlessly to generate a stream of paperwork that he can send up the chain showing "work" while he stalls for time to complete his own documentation. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_91ba5165 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_91ba5165 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Fold | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_91ba5165 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_93939352 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_93939352 | comment |
Deconstructed in Spectre. C/Max Denbigh is a corrupt paper-shuffler who expresses ignorant views on issues like total surveillance, interferes in MI6's operations, and advocates for the replacement of field agents like 007 with Attack Drones. However, James Bond and M find him to be quite suspicious given he's in charge of the Centre for National Surveillance system, which is really a Trojan horse for world domination for the titular criminal empire (of which C is a top-ranking member of) that they could use it to destroy their enemies. He nearly succeeds in getting it activated too. C is actually the Bond-verse's version of Kim Philby. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_93939352 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_93939352 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Spectre | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_93939352 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_94a444e6 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_94a444e6 | comment |
Goblin Quest: One of the many misfortunes that can interfere with whatever the players are currently doing involves a hobgoblin arriving and demanding that the players show identity papers, which the book says the players don't have. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_94a444e6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_94a444e6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Goblin Quest (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_94a444e6 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_969fb090 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_969fb090 | comment |
In Blindspot, Jonas Fischer is a particularly malignant version, cynically using his powers as Chief Inspector of the Office of Professional Responsibility to shut down an investigation that would have revealed that he's a double agent for the FSB. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_969fb090 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_969fb090 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Blindspot | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_969fb090 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_98288223 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_98288223 | comment |
The Magicians (2016): The library in the Neitherlands runs on one. Franz Kafka wrote The Trial after a week there. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_98288223 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_98288223 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Magicians (2016) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_98288223 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9910cc85 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9910cc85 | comment |
Disney's Mulan had Chi-Fu, a pompous government official appointed to oversee the training of the batch of recruits Mulan ended up with, who seemed to positively delight in documenting Shang's failures and the general ragtag nature of the unit in training, would have gotten Mulan killed had Shang not owed her his life, and proved to be an incredible ninny when not on duty. Though to his credit, he also seemed quite pleased when Shang or the unit actually met his unfairly high standards, and possessed enough intellectual integrity to recognize when following the rules simply wasn't possible or when The Book didn't really have anything to say about the situation. Chi-Fu also doubles as a Meaningful Name, as Qi Fu (æ¬ºè² ) means "bully" in Mandarin. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9910cc85 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9910cc85 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Mulan | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9910cc85 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9a1a8272 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9a1a8272 | comment |
Odd Squad: The episode "A Job Well Undone" has Orson invoking this trope in order to claim yet another "Agent of the Month" award after Olympia and Otis win it instead of him, but can't claim the award themselves due to Otis not turning in his paperwork on time. Orson disguises himself as Opa, a receptionist who nitpicks at minor flaws with Otis's paperwork and forces him to do various things to correct the flaws in order to drop off his files. Otis doesn't figure out that "Opa" is really Orson until he becomes exasperated enough to call Olympia, admit that she was right about offering him help (and he was wrong about refusing that help), and explain his situation, only for her to respond, "Who is Opa?" The two agents end up exposing Orson and win the Agent of the Month award, breaking his win streak. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9a1a8272 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9a1a8272 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Odd Squad | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9a1a8272 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9a7088bc | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9a7088bc | comment |
In the Star Trek: The Original Series novel Death Count, the Enterprise is plagued with efficiency experts who don't quite get the distinction between rules and practice, and particularly have it in for Chekov. This is summarily resolved when two of them are murdered by an on-board saboteur, and the third is so grateful to Chekov for saving his life that he gives him a glowing report. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9a7088bc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9a7088bc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Star Trek: The Original Series | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9a7088bc | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9aac0273 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9aac0273 | comment |
In Men at Arms, Mayonnaise Quirke of the Day Watch has completely screwed things up, leading to a riot. When a Day Watch officer arrives at the Watch House for help, Carrot first points out they've been relieved of duty, and then asks him a series of questions. Based on the answers he announces that, according to the Laws and Ordinances of Ankh-Morpork, the "Citizen's Militia" is now in control of everything. The Citizen's Militia consists of the Night Watch and whoever else they felt like recruiting. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9aac0273 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9aac0273 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Men at Arms | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9aac0273 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9b2df4bd | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9b2df4bd | comment |
In You Are Dead (Sign Here Please), the Celestial Bureaucracy seems to go out of its way to be as obtuse and long-winded as possible and they require forms be filled out for absolutely everything that happens, including scheming against your boss, sobering up or disastrous romances based on clingy desperation and/or desperate clinginess. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9b2df4bd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9b2df4bd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9b2df4bd | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9bc68a3f | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9bc68a3f | comment |
Smaller & Smaller Circles has Attorney Arcinas, who siphons off resources from the Payatas murder cases and turns down the priests' assistance in order to go chasing after far more sensational crimes. Never mind that his own boss asked them to help him with the said murders — Ungrateful Bastard, indeed. In his defense, even Arcinas thinks (however mistakenly) that: a) the Director will agree with him that the Bureau can conclude the investigation without the priests' help; and b) the person he framed might actually be the murderer (although the former could just be Arcinas trying to throw the priests off or an attempt to win more glory for himself, and the latter is mostly Jerome's speculation). Subverted by a few other government workers, the NBI Director most of all. The novel pointedly goes on to state that he is something of a rarity in the Philippine government, precisely because he is remarkably competent and honest. In fact it is because of this that the Director found it difficult to get good appointments in a public sector crawling with Obstructive Bureaucrats, Corrupt Bureaucrats, and friends and family of incumbent politicians. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9bc68a3f | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9bc68a3f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Smaller & Smaller Circles | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9bc68a3f | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9d47a2a2 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9d47a2a2 | comment |
From A Song of Ice and Fire we have the ever-charming House Frey, headed by Lord Walder Frey. They somehow manage to combine all the best features of this trope with those of Corrupt Bureaucrat and Crooked Contractor, and, to top it off, are operators of what amounts to a glorified Troll Bridge that brings in the bulk of the tax revenue for their part of the Riverlands. If they want to make you wait to cross their bridge, they will find a way to do it, dammit, using protocol and standard hospitality at its most excruciatingly drawn-out worst, if necessary, to do it. Do they use Exact Words and/or various statements as part of their deals and treaties with you and Disproportionate Retribution if you somehow break them by their lights, no matter how good or reasonable your reasons may appear? Mayhaps. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9d47a2a2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9d47a2a2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
A Song of Ice and Fire | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9d47a2a2 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9e7653e4 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9e7653e4 | comment |
Sisterhood Series by Fern Michaels: A major plotline that develops is how Martine Connor becomes the first female President of the United States, and she is trying to secure pardons to the Vigilantes. It proves to be more difficult than it appears. Here's why: Deadly Deals reveals her chief of staff, Aaron Lowry, who is The Napoleon, had been obstructing the presidential pardons, supposedly because it would be political suicide for the president to even try it. She ends up firing him as well as charging him in Game Over, because he turns out to be in bed with Baron Bell, a lawyer and Villain with Good Publicity who had been selling babies! Game Over also has the president obstructed by her advisors, who are more interested in their own agendas than in being loyal to her. At the urging of Henry "Hank" Jellicoe, head of Global Securities, she ends up throwing out many more people, and he supposedly pulls strings to replace them with people 100% loyal to her. She also has the pardons signed, and she paves the way to make it easy for the Vigilantes to sneak in and snatch the pardons! It's hard to be president! | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9e7653e4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9e7653e4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Sisterhood Series | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9e7653e4 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9e8e9ba3 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9e8e9ba3 | comment |
There's also a subversion in the Gaunt's Ghosts novel Necropolis. When the government begins bickering over whether they should call the Imperial Guard to help, the ranking Administratum official goes over their heads and contacts the Imperium anyways. He justifies this by saying that the planet is crucial for its production of military equipment, so it is therefore the Imperium's problem, not a local one. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9e8e9ba3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9e8e9ba3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Gaunt's Ghosts | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9e8e9ba3 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9ff7441c | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9ff7441c | comment |
This is constant source of comedy in The Men from the Ministry: whenever One and Two oversee a construction site or any other business, they always tangle on to the smallest of regulations, laws and orders no matter how insignificant they are. They also love to create forms full of personal questions which have nothing to do with what the form's about and are often impossible to answer. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9ff7441c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9ff7441c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Men from the Ministry (Radio) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_9ff7441c | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a183d57f | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a183d57f | comment |
Futurama: Hermes Conrad and various other agents of the Central Bureaucracy. They even have a neat pseudo-Villain Song about it in "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back". Nicely summed up by the leader of the Central Bureaucracy in this line: |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a183d57f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a183d57f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Futurama | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a183d57f | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a1f8fe8 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a1f8fe8 | comment |
In The Brother from Another Planet, such a bureaucrat bothers the title fugitive alien, than later on has a heroic moment when she thwarts the two bounty hunters who are after him. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a1f8fe8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a1f8fe8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Brother from Another Planet | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a1f8fe8 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a216bc3f | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a216bc3f | comment |
In a related example, in the climactic issue of Rom Spaceknight, he attempts to use the weapon that just defeated the Dire Wraiths to strip every super-being on Earth of their powers. No country on Marvel Earth has any law forbidding the possession of super-powers (though the US had tried to pass similar legislations - and failed), and Gyrich has no judicial authority at all. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a216bc3f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a216bc3f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
ROM: Space Knight (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a216bc3f | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a28912cf | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a28912cf | comment |
The Bridge in the Menagerie series has the Emeritus Professor of Bio-Sophistry, aka the Secretary Bird, who insists on pedantically enforcing obscure bridge rules even when everybody else at the table would rather just let the offence go and get on with it. The result of the pedantic rule enforcement is never to the Secretary Bird's advantage. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a28912cf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a28912cf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Bridge in the Menagerie | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a28912cf | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3c14f85 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3c14f85 | comment |
In Don't Look Up, President Orleans' response to being told that an Everest-sized comet is on a collision course with Earth is to classify the information and publicly discredit its discoverers and her own NASA official when they (naturally) try to inform the public anyway. She later has Kate, its discoverer, abducted by the FBI and forced to sign a gag order when she tries again, successfully co-opts Dr. Mindy for a time, but then gives him the same treatment when he snaps and rails against her risky decision to let a private company mine the comet into pieces. (Although it's presented in a Black Comedy way, it's still deathly serious and her selfish obstruction ultimately dooms the planet.) | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3c14f85 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3c14f85 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Don't Look Up | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3c14f85 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3eb1343 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3eb1343 | comment |
In Chivalry of a Failed Knight Ikki's family put pressure on Hagun Academy to keep him from graduating. This resulted in new rules that require students to have a certain ranking in order to take classes, keeping Ikki from getting units and passing his first year. Luckily, Kurono Shinguuji became director and fired the obstructive staff. Turns out to be the real reason they were trying to stop Ikki was they want Ikki to fail as an example. They don't want other F-Ranked to try to succeed as unlike Ikki, they will fail causing unrest in the mage-knight system. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3eb1343 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3eb1343 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Chivalry of a Failed Knight | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3eb1343 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3ef164b | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3ef164b | comment |
Ultimate X Men: Wraith felt that Ross was one because he wanted to shut down Weapon X. So, of course, he tried to kill him. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3ef164b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3ef164b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Ultimate X-Men (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3ef164b | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3fcd166 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3fcd166 | comment |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy: "Vogons are one of the most unpleasant races in the galaxy. Not evil, but bad-tempered, bureaucratic, officious, and callous. They wouldn't even lift a finger to save their own grandmothers from the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal without orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters. On no account should you allow a Vogon to read poetry at you." The movie plays it up when the Heart of Gold makes a Hyperspeed Escape from the Vogon armada. Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz turns to a subordinate and asks if the criminals they're pursuing filled out the proper paperwork to do this. The subordinate is shocked to find out that they did not. Later on, Arthur, Ford, and Zaphod fill out the release form for Trillian, who is about to be executed, only to be told that, since Zaphod is the President of the Galaxy, he has to submit a Presidential Release Form. Jeltz, who is all too eager to execute Trillian is instantly pacified when he receives the release form and orders her freed. Also, when the heroes are escaping, Jeltz is about to order pursuit, when a factory whistle is heard, and Jeltz tells everyone to take an hour for lunch. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3fcd166 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3fcd166 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a3fcd166 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a40b1126 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a40b1126 | comment |
The U.S. Secretary of Defense Albert Nimziki in Independence Day. He knowingly concealed the fact that the aliens had visited Earth before, even after they became hostile and any information would have been immensely helpful. He only admits it after the first failed attack and David's father draws attention to the supposed "myth" of the Roswell crash. He wants to continue nuking the aliens even after the first attempt proves that their shields can resist the bombs. Then he has the gall to insist that David's plan, which he had demonstrated could actually work, is a bad idea and tries to talk the President out of it (the RiffTrax crew dubs him "Foily McAntagonist" for his pointless and completely motive-free naysaying). At this point, the President gets tired of his crap and fires him. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a40b1126 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a40b1126 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Independence Day | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a40b1126 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a4db7d1 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a4db7d1 | comment |
Randy Pope, Joe's superior in Fish and Game in the Joe Pickett novels. Having risen through the ranks of the bureaucracy rather than being a field officer, he has little understanding of field work. Having a personal dislike of Joe, at one point he demands daily (rather than weekly reports) from Joe, and insists Joe clears any investigation with him before proceeding. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a4db7d1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a4db7d1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Joe Pickett | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a4db7d1 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a5549ed0 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a5549ed0 | comment |
As with in the humorous section, the New Testament of The Bible frequently painted the Pharisees as antagonists in this vein. It seems that one of Jesus's main purposes in coming back, aside from His sacrifice, was to clarify some very literal and twisted interpretations of Old Testament commandments. The Pharisees tried several times to catch Him in a logical contradiction using Hebraic code. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a5549ed0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a5549ed0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Bible | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a5549ed0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a698aa86 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a698aa86 | comment |
Ghostbusters: In the original Ghostbusters film minor EPA official Walter Peck (played to perfection by William Atherton) had the unmitigated gall to arrest the Ghostbusters for causing an explosion that he himself was responsible for when he ordered, in front of multiple witnesses, that the ghost-containment grid be shut down, despite repeated warnings that would be disastrous. In a deleted scene, as Gozer the Gozerian was wreaking havoc, the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man was smashing up the city and the End Of The World was quite seriously nigh, Peck's response was to grab a fleeing police officer and order him to go up to arrest the Ghostbusters for "going too far". The officer's response, not unreasonably, was "You go and arrest them!" Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire: And of course NYC Mayor Walter Peck continues to harass the Ghostbusters over the course of the film, and is prepared to shut them down once and for all until he realizes how low long his political career would last in that case. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a698aa86 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a698aa86 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Ghostbusters (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a698aa86 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a6e9ef3d | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a6e9ef3d | comment |
An example of this being used for good in Earthworm Jim, where one of these foils 'The thing that dares not speak its name''s plan to destroy the universe by making it fill out paperwork first. Paperwork so long that it would take a billion years to fill out. And after that, it turns out it was given the wrong paperwork! | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a6e9ef3d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a6e9ef3d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Earthworm Jim | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a6e9ef3d | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a7469a75 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a7469a75 | comment |
In Kolchak: The Night Stalker, pretty much every cop and authority figure Kolchak ran into was one of these, stonewalling his investigation and refusing to acknowledge anything supernatural was going on. A few of them actually turned out to be corrupt and in the know about whatever monster was on the loose, but covering it up for their own reasons. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a7469a75 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a7469a75 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Kolchak: The Night Stalker | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a7469a75 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a77de360 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a77de360 | comment |
Dilbert's Bob Bastard, the test engineer who NEVER aproves anything, and enjoys destroying people's dreams and emotionally and financially abusing women. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a77de360 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a77de360 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Dilbert | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a77de360 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a79d1e14 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a79d1e14 | comment |
Twelve O'Clock High: General Savage, the new commander of the 918th Bomb Group, conspires with the Group Adjutant, Major Stovall, to invoke this trope in a darkly humorous fashion. Savage's new policies are so harsh that all of the pilots put in for transfers. Savage needs time (ten days is his estimate) to prove that his policies will work, but is at a loss as to how to proceed. To the rescue comes Major Stovall, formerly a civilian lawyer who knows all the tricks of the bureaucracy. He outlines a plan that will delay processing any transfer requests for quite a while. First, he has two or three days worth of other work to deal with, before he can even look at any new items. Second, he'll have to check all those transfer requests for mistakes (since of course the General doesn't want sloppy paperwork coming out of the Group). Stovall predicts that every one of those requests will have to be returned to the squadrons to be redone, then checked again. By the time the whole process is done, Savage will have his ten days and probably more. Savage remarks that it's "a hell of a way to run a war." | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a79d1e14 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a79d1e14 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Twelve O'Clock High | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a79d1e14 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a825da3e | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a825da3e | comment |
In the Ravnica: City of Guilds set of Magic: The Gathering, the Azorius Senate can be seen as an entire guild of such characters. Just look at the cards Droning Bureaucrats and Minister of Impediments. Naturally, the guild's cards lend themselves well to stalling and control strategies. The Guild Charter of Ravnica explicitly states that the purpose of the Azorius Senate is to make the most complex and confusing laws possible. In 'Ravnica' fluff, Orzhov are shown to be more or less the same - a massive obfusticating bureaucracy, but this being black, partially staffed by the undead - adding a whole new meaning to the idiom ' corporate zombie '. This is pretty much the modus operandi for a good portion of White's cards. Being the color of light and law, (though not necessarily good,) White has no trouble using the Long Arm of The Law to strangle you to death. Of course, since the military falls under the technical definition of "law," they're just as likely to strangle you the old-fashioned way as well. And the Aysen Bureaucrats from the Homelands set. Parodied with Bureaucracy, an Unglued card where the bureaucratese is not only in the flavor text but in the entire text of what the card does. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a825da3e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a825da3e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Magic: The Gathering (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a825da3e | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a90d239a | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a90d239a | comment |
Go through anyone's mind in Psychonauts and you will find hundreds of these guys running around Censoring thoughts that should not be there. Normally, this is vital to the mental health of whoever owns the brain, but since technically you're not supposed to be in there either... | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a90d239a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a90d239a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Psychonauts (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a90d239a | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a9318083 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a9318083 | comment |
In The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, the Zissou expedition is forced by their creditors to take on a "bond company stooge", and Steve immediately assumes he's going to be this. It's subverted when he turns out to be an decent, inoffensive guy, and Steve ends up mounting a rescue when he gets kidnapped by Ruthless Modern Pirates. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a9318083 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a9318083 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a9318083 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a9a9a4b0 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a9a9a4b0 | comment |
"Marks" on Overhaulin' tend to run into these in the quest to retrieve their stolen or erroneously impounded cars. They're usually played by the hosts or other members of the production crew. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a9a9a4b0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a9a9a4b0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Overhaulin | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_a9a9a4b0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_aa819c97 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_aa819c97 | comment |
All Nagisa wants to do in CLANNAD is to re-establish the Drama Club. At every turn, whenever she thinks she's either overcome a rule handed down by the Student Council or found a creative way to solve her problem, the Council either announces a new rule or tells her that her solution isn't allowed | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_aa819c97 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_aa819c97 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
CLANNAD (Visual Novel) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_aa819c97 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ab60e67e | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ab60e67e | comment |
Henry Peter Gyrich again in Origin Story. He becomes obsessed with acquiring the eventual Superwoman as the government's attack dog, and authorizes several missions in a vain effort to capture or cow her. Fed up with Gyrich after several people nearly die in his attempts, Superwoman locates him in Washington, grabs him, and bodily hurls him into space. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ab60e67e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ab60e67e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Origin Story / Fan Fic | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ab60e67e | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ac58f5fa | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ac58f5fa | comment |
"The Dead Past": Thaddeus Araman, Department Head of the Division of Chronoscopy, is supposedly in charge of determining who gets access to the Chronoscope. In actuality, his job is to suppress access and knowledge of the technology, usually by making petitioners feel like they're on a waiting list to eventually make use of it, once all the higher-priority people have gotten their chance. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ac58f5fa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ac58f5fa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Dead Past | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ac58f5fa | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ad6b641b | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ad6b641b | comment |
In his preface to the The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis references the "Eichmann" bureaucrat type as a model for how he envisioned demons. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ad6b641b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ad6b641b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Screwtape Letters | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ad6b641b | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ae679c04 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ae679c04 | comment |
Retired Witches Mysteries: The Grand Council of Witches are ostensibly meant to keep witch society running smoothly, but more often than not they just end up making things difficult for the heroes. The witch community in Wilmington especially doesn't like them because they're more obstructive than helpful. Cassandra Black, the herald of the Grand Council of witches, especially serves in this role, since she's mainly out to stop witches from doing anything the Council doesn't like. Among other things, in book 1, the Council's representatives try to stop Molly and her coven from investigating Olivia's death (and barely do anything to investigate on their own until the witch in question's been dealt with already), and try (but fail miserably) to confiscate the amulet her mother left her because of its non-witch origins. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ae679c04 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ae679c04 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Retired Witches Mysteries | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ae679c04 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_aed912f3 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_aed912f3 | comment |
For the Glory of Irk: The Syndicate's government has an unfortunate habit of needing to process everything through extremely precise means, and then debate it heavily, before they do anything. This earns them a lot of derision from the Irkens. Sym, the Irkens' Chief of Agenda, is basically the Tallest's secretary who controls all of their appointments, which she uses to control who speaks to them, and makes it as difficult as possible for anyone to do so. On the other hand, she's also such a stickler for the laws that it even gets on the Tallest's nerves sometimes. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_aed912f3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_aed912f3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
For the Glory of Irk (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_aed912f3 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_af10a8a7 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_af10a8a7 | comment |
Later, in Legacy of the Force Jacen feels the Galactic Alliance bureaucracy is hobbling the military. In order to deal with the situation he heads directly to the supply department and forces the procurement agent in charge of turbolaser parts to be sent to the frontline unit with the most misfires. After Jacen does that his troopers compliment him, telling Jacen that he acted like his grandfather would have and their weapons were already working better. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_af10a8a7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_af10a8a7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Legacy of the Force | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_af10a8a7 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b0869b12 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b0869b12 | comment |
In Ashes to Ashes (2008), Jim Keats is initially made out to be this, until the finale suggests he's some kind of demon trying to collect the souls of the team. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b0869b12 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b0869b12 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Ashes to Ashes (2008) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b0869b12 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b08f67f7 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b08f67f7 | comment |
Asterix and Obelix have to deal with a whole building of obstructive bureaucrats for one of the challenges in The Twelve Tasks of Asterix. While none of the individual bureaucrats at "The Place that Sends You Mad" are particularly difficult or unhelpful in their own right, each one of them has a very specific job to do (which boils down to "If someone asks for X, request form Y, which can only be found at window Z. Then give them form A, to be filled out and delivered to window B, so they can receive form C..." There are a seemingly infinite number of forms, and the windows are randomly scattered around a very large building) and knows very little about the systems and procedures outside their own department. Realizing this, Asterix turns the tables on them by asking for a permit that doesn't exist, sending the entire workforce into disarray as they scramble to find information about new documents and instructions that nobody knows anything about. In the end, one bureaucrat gives Asterix the real permit he needs just to make him go away — and promptly goes insane himself when he realizes someone actually got a permit. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b08f67f7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b08f67f7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Twelve Tasks of Asterix | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b08f67f7 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b1c94339 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b1c94339 | comment |
The British Navy in the Horatio Hornblower books is sometimes worse than Napoleon. In Lieutenant Hornblower, they rescind his unconfirmed promotion due to the Peace of Amiens and then put him under complete pay stoppage until he's "repaid" the commander's salary he drew during that time—while he's furloughed in London in the middle of winter. He has to pawn most of his possessions and become a professional whist player to survive. In Hotspur, the supplies office gets on his case for using what they deem is too much shot, powder, and cordage while at serious blockade work for months, but Cornwallis fortunately has his back there. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b1c94339 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b1c94339 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Horatio Hornblower | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b1c94339 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b27fdd6d | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b27fdd6d | comment |
In Catch-22 Doc Daneeka is listed as a crew member of a plane so he can get flight pay, although he hates flying. He's not actually aboard the plane when it crashes. Still, since he is listed as being on it, he is marked down as dead. Even while he is standing right in front of people who have known him for months, they talk about what a shame it is he died in the crash. This does not turn out well for him. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b27fdd6d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b27fdd6d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Catch-22 | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b27fdd6d | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b29b88fb | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b29b88fb | comment |
Evil Diva: Hell's complaint department just puts people on hold. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b29b88fb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b29b88fb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Evil Diva / Web Comic | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b29b88fb | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b5134390 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b5134390 | comment |
The "Mystery of Magic" in My Immortal. They were most likely supposed to be serious, but given how it's written... | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b5134390 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b5134390 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
My Immortal / Fan Fic | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b5134390 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b8d48026 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b8d48026 | comment |
Hermitcraft: The DHP, or Department of Hermit Permits in Season 10 is a parody of bureaucratic offices where the staff uses the bureaucracy to avoid having to do any work. The first task is finding the office, which is located in the middle of the forest. The only door doesn't work (and has a sign that says, "please use other door"). Once you finally get inside, you're faced with monsterously long forms that force you do do nonsensical things like run laps around a lighthouse or place a live salmon in your neighbor's basement. If anything is even the slightest bit wrong, your paperwork is rejected outright. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b8d48026 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b8d48026 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Hermitcraft (Web Video) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b8d48026 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b93ba031 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b93ba031 | comment |
The Thin Blue Line: To be fair, Fowler's rigid adherence to proper procedure is rooted in a heartfelt belief in things like due process, rule of law, work ethics and other unglamourous but socially beneficial principles. He just has a tendency to take it a teensy bit too far at times.... | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b93ba031 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b93ba031 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Thin Blue Line | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b93ba031 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b9a0d78d | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b9a0d78d | comment |
Alien. Ellen Ripley quotes "24 hours for decontamination" regulations rather than allow Kane to enter the Nostromo for treatment. Of course, she turns out to be right, but by making her appear unsympathetic the movie conceals her eventual role as the hero. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b9a0d78d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b9a0d78d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Alien | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_b9a0d78d | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ba1120d0 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ba1120d0 | comment |
In Ikiru, Kanji Wanatabe works in a City Hall that is full of them. As one person said during his wake, "in order to clean up a garbage can somewhere, you need a garbage can full of paperwork!" | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ba1120d0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ba1120d0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Ikiru | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ba1120d0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ba3d2748 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ba3d2748 | comment |
The Incredibles: Gilbert Huph, the Insuricare Middle Manager and Bob's boss. His job is explicitly to see that every single claim that is made against Insuricare, no matter how valid or dire, is denied. He sees his clients as his stockholders, openly chafes at laws that protect policyholders, and mocks a man Bob sees getting mugged and beaten. Bob hurls him through several walls.note That said, we see Huph hospitalized with severe injuries, we're forced along with Bob to realize he could've killed him... Earlier, we have Bob secretly helping an old woman with a backdoor solution after he denied her claim. It works enough that Mr. Huph doesn't notice after she leaves. The trope is lampshaded when Huph rants at Bob for secretly helping his clients negotiate all the obstacles he's putting in their way. "They're penetrating the bureaucracy!" |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ba3d2748 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ba3d2748 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Incredibles | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ba3d2748 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bcadd7cb | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bcadd7cb | comment |
Warhammer 40,000's bureaucrats will tell you you're dead to your face if they have the paperwork, and there are planets of them, running a million-world Imperium as best they can. In the Ciaphas Cain novel The Caves of Ice, there are two particular Obstructive Bureaucrats, the local heads of the Administratum and Adeptus Mechanicus. Their constant arguing over protocols and procedure affects not only the normal operation of the promethium-mining facility there, but also the efforts of the Valhallan 597th as it works to prepare defenses against an oncoming Ork onslaught. Fortunately, Cain is able to find some lower-level officials in both ranks who not only are on amicable working terms with one another (and the mining population), but also happen to be able to actually get things done despite their superiors' constant bickering. The "dark" element of this trope comes into play when it is learned that the mine is built atop a Necron tomb; as later evidence proves, the site was intentionally chosen by the AdMech to give them easy access to the facility away from prying eyes should a way be found to investigate the tomb and recover its ancient technology. Fortunately, Cain and his comrades are able to deal with the "obstructive" part of the problem by imposing martial law and threatening to shoot anyone who gets in their way. The Valhallan 597th also owns some thanks to the Administratum, which still thinks they're two regiments, as such they are given twice as much supplies and recruits than most (also why the men/women ratio is always 50/50) Subverted by the Administratum bureaucrat Scrivener Quintus from Death or Glory, who single-handedly organizes logistics for Cain's ragtag army with impeccable skill for several months. He's also quite easy to get along with and even has something of a sense of humour. Also subverted by Bursar Brasker in Cain's Last Stand who is using Obfuscating Stupidity to conform to peoples' expectations of a fussy bureaucrat and is actually quite an amiable (and helpful) fellow once Cain finds out. Though, it wasn't so much Obfuscating Stupidity as it was Cain never seeing his skills as necessary before, and Brasker never really having anything important to do before. The book is written from Cain's perspective, who would have had little interest in how competent Brasker was at his job until the planet was being invaded and he had to ask for his help. In The Last Ditch the ship Cain and his regiment arrive on crashes on arrival before the shuttles assigned to unload them even leave the spaceport. The shuttles are therefore declared lost and made to leave so there's room for shuttles that exist. Cain doesn't give details, but apparently ex-quartermaster Sulla absolutely rips the administrators responsible a new one getting it straightened out. There's also a subversion in the Gaunt's Ghosts novel Necropolis. When the government begins bickering over whether they should call the Imperial Guard to help, the ranking Administratum official goes over their heads and contacts the Imperium anyways. He justifies this by saying that the planet is crucial for its production of military equipment, so it is therefore the Imperium's problem, not a local one. It should be also noted that the Administratum, is only Obstructive Bureaucrat because it covers such a large Empire, this is why fluff always shows that the lower-levels are so good at their jobs. The 5th ed. Imperial Guard codex has a mention of a unit that died to a man in battle. The paperwork wasn't completed properly, and their leader was selected to lead a later attack. When they didn't show up, the entire unit was posthumously sentenced to death for desertion. There's an example in one of the Eisenhorn books when Aemos tells someone that if all the data generated by the entire Imperium in a single second was put through all of Earth's cogitators, they would explode. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bcadd7cb | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bcadd7cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Warhammer 40,000 (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bcadd7cb | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bd41836e | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bd41836e | comment |
In StarCraft, Aldaris sends a fleet to Char, the planet that Tassadar was stranded on. To arrest him for, in short; disobeying orders and not purifying the infected Terran planets, not returning to Aiur to be punished, demoted, and maybe executed; attempting to help his race and home world by allying with the Nerazim; whom the Conclave had exiled for "heretical powers born of darkness", and not returning to Aiur after his ship was destroyed and he was marooned. His military contingent (led by the player) defects to Tassadar on the spot when they finally hear this spelled out. The entire Conclave likely fits this trope, although Aldaris is the only Judicator you meet. Also, the Confederacy when they arrested James Raynor for "destruction of Confederate property". The destroyed property? Infested Terran bases that were making more infested Terrans. The last example actually makes sense later on; the real reason Raynor was arrested was for disrupting the progress of the Zerg on Mar Sara. The Confederacy wanted to let the Zerg run free as a sort of sick "weapons test". | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bd41836e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bd41836e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
StarCraft (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bd41836e | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bdc49dbe | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bdc49dbe | comment |
In The Laundry Files, almost all of the staff of the Laundry except field agents are obstructive bureaucrats that are more concerned with matrix management, powerpoint presentations and paperclip audits than with the things the Laundry is supposed to do, like saving the world from Eldritch Abominations. This is justified for two reasons: first, The Masquerade is upheld by recruiting people that find out about it, rather than killing them (the Laundry used to employ Murder Is the Best Solution, but they've moved away from that), so the people that work for the Laundry aren't necessarily qualified for any position of power or access, resulting in scores of "busywork" positions, usually middle management. The other reason is that those paperclips could be infused with demonic power. They need to know where all of them are at all times. The only aversion is Angleton, who stands at a weird position between Affably Evil and Reasonable Authority Figure and that is because he secretly is an extremely powerful demon. It seems nothing short of being the Eater of Souls can prevent the Laundry bureaucracy from turning you into a mindless cubicle drone. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bdc49dbe | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bdc49dbe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Laundry Files | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bdc49dbe | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bedd4fe5 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bedd4fe5 | comment |
Quicken: When Emma is looking for her sister, she goes to her college. Unfortunately a RA refused to let her see Anne or tell her if her sister was even there. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bedd4fe5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bedd4fe5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Quicken (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bedd4fe5 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bf30abce | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bf30abce | comment |
I, Robot: In "The Evitable Conflict", Stephen Byerley, Coordinator of the Earth, suspects someone is sabotaging the Machines, powerful robots that advice the best decision to humanity, endangering the peace and stability of the entire planet. He asks for help investigating this from the four Vice Co ordinators of the four regions in that Earth is divided. All dismiss the idea and none helps Byerley, insisting they are doing their jobs well. Justified, because The Machines already control humanity and they will never let anyone capable of initiating an investigation have the job. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bf30abce | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bf30abce | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
I, Robot | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bf30abce | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bf7a989a | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bf7a989a | comment |
Stan Lee's Superhero Kindergarten has Principal Harriet Shoutzalot, who is suspicious of Arnold and his class and is always trying to figure out their secrets. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bf7a989a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bf7a989a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Stan Lee's Superhero Kindergarten | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_bf7a989a | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c00df586 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c00df586 | comment |
Androgyninja's A Dose of Venom: Sakura runs into this when she discovers that somebody is falsely reporting that she's already claimed her accolated equipment before she can actually procure it. Her complaints about this are repeatedly dismissed, forcing her to make due with her diminishing stock of what she already has on hand. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c00df586 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c00df586 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Androgyninja's A Dose of Venom (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c00df586 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c0aa8ea9 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c0aa8ea9 | comment |
Camile Wray of Stargate Universe, given her status as a member of the IOA. Of course, she is also trying to take over the ship, so she's the darker variant. She gets better after things have settled down. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c0aa8ea9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c0aa8ea9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Stargate Universe | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c0aa8ea9 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c1cc14e5 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c1cc14e5 | comment |
In the second book of The Southern Reach Trilogy, Control is appointed as the new director of the Southern Reach. His secretary immediately makes it known in no uncertain terms that she is still loyal to the old director and will go to every length to undermine anything he attempts to do and sabotage any change he attempts to make. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c1cc14e5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c1cc14e5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Southern Reach Trilogy | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c1cc14e5 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c2297a9c | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c2297a9c | comment |
In Judge Dredd, Mega-City One has the Bureau of Creative Bureaucracy. Its motto is "Saving Money For The City By Making Things Difficult For You!" | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c2297a9c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c2297a9c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Judge Dredd (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c2297a9c | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c43df4d8 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c43df4d8 | comment |
Doctor Who: Mr. Popplewick in "The Trial of a Time Lord" is a Victorian clerk who pops up numerous times to obfuscate, torment and hold up the Doctor while he's trying to locate the Valeyard in the Matrix. It's revealed that Popplewick is a disguise used by the Valeyard. The true villain of "Ghost Light" is a godlike bureaucrat known only as Light: having made a comprehensive survey of life on Earth many millions of years ago, he retires to stasis — only to awake in the nineteenth century and discover that evolution has made all his work invalid. His proposed solution is to sterilise the planet of all organic life and prevent any further amendments to his catalogue. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c43df4d8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c43df4d8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Doctor Who | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c43df4d8 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c4d1c0e8 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c4d1c0e8 | comment |
In Bloom Into You, Kuze, Touko's predecessor as Student Council President, usually is rather lazy and tends to delegate work to his subordinates (doing said work helps Touko build up her reputation and get elected as his successor). The one time he acts as a president should is when he vetoes Touko's proposal to bring back the School Play in the second volume of the Regarding Sayaka Saeki spinoff novels, which take place during Sayaka and Touko's first year of high school, in part because it's too much trouble. That being said, Sayaka admits that he raises some reasonable objections about the student council lacking the resources and talent for this endeavor, so he isn't solely motivated by laziness. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c4d1c0e8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c4d1c0e8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Bloom Into You (Manga) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c4d1c0e8 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c511c682 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c511c682 | comment |
Asterix had to deal with the Roman bureaucracy on a few occasions, such as in Asterix the Legionary. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c511c682 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c511c682 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Asterix (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c511c682 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c72021c5 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c72021c5 | comment |
In Deus Ex, you start out under the employ of a Joseph Manderley, a respected counter-terrorism official best known for eradicating a sect of Knights Templar. The best you ever see him do is push papers until he decides to shoot you in the back rather than the face when you escape UNATCO. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c72021c5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c72021c5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Deus Ex (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_c72021c5 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca08598f | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca08598f | comment |
Many politicians and high-ranking police officers in The Wire. Stan Valchek and Ervin Burrell are probably the most notable. Special mention goes to people in charge of homicide, all the way to the top, being more obsessed with their crime stats than with actually finding the guilty parties and jaling them, going so far as to being willing to jail someone innocent of the crime on dodgy evidence or refusing to go looking for bodies for fear it will worsen their statistics. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca08598f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca08598f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Wire | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca08598f | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca1f6145 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca1f6145 | comment |
In The Pale King, The Author's Foreword includes a lengthy description of all the legal issues that went along with the creation of the book. Everything involving David Foster Wallace's entry into the IRS, with the sole exception of Leonard Stecyk. The horrendously complex and ultimately bungled wrongful death lawsuit after Chris Fogle's father dies. After his experience in Advanced Tax class, Chris tries to make up for his mistakes by going to the dean and begging for a chance to salvage his college career. The dean laughs in his face. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca1f6145 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca1f6145 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Pale King | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca1f6145 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca786c92 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca786c92 | comment |
In Mega Man Reawakened, General Yancey imposes a strict time limit on Project Gamma's completion, and he threatens to have the whole thing scrapped if it isn't done in time. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca786c92 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca786c92 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Mega Man Reawakened / Fan Fic | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ca786c92 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cac20f89 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cac20f89 | comment |
JAG: In the season eight episode "Need To Know", the CIA Director and his attorney tries to block the Navy's attempt to declassify material relating to a secret joint Navy-CIA submarine mission in 1968 in which the sub sank near the Soviet coastlline. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cac20f89 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cac20f89 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
JAG | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cac20f89 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cae652c | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cae652c | comment |
Pariston Hill, the vice-chairman of the Hunters Association in Hunter × Hunter is this - very intentionally. He in fact took the position just for the sake of becoming one. Why? Because it amuses him. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cae652c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cae652c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Hunter × Hunter (Manga) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cae652c | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cb4d8cb0 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cb4d8cb0 | comment |
Doctor in Love: Despite Dr. Deakin's drug being needed to save a young child's life, Dr. Mincing refuses to let Dr. Hare have it as he claims it is too dangerous despite knowing the boy will die. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cb4d8cb0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cb4d8cb0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Doctor in Love | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cb4d8cb0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cbd30f6b | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cbd30f6b | comment |
As the Chief Officer of Rules and Regulations, Shika of Maryoku Yummy lives to enforce the rules, and nothing makes him happier than filling out forms. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cbd30f6b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cbd30f6b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Maryoku Yummy | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_cbd30f6b | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ccc80720 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ccc80720 | comment |
In My Life as a Teenage Robot Jenny is needed as the Skyway Patrol, the official global defense group, have to deal with literal mountains of paperwork in order to do virtually anything. They once try to arrest Jenny for her vigilantism, but are unable to do so because the necessary paperwork would take decades to fill out. It's little wonder Nora Wakeman retired from Skyway Patrol and began working on creating her daughter. Even Brad realized that being a Skyway Patrol Officer in "Last Action Zero" wasn't all that cracked up to be, especially when basic duties, such as making arrests are completely mummified in red tape and paperwork in triplicate. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ccc80720 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ccc80720 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
My Life as a Teenage Robot | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ccc80720 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d109f322 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d109f322 | comment |
Andromeda: One episode involved a world with extremely strict bureaucratic procedures. Interacting with them gave Tyr a lovely line (which the audience likely agrees with) after listening to a message summed up as "You don't have an appointment, please hold" for the umpteenth time: Followed by this exchange: |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d109f322 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d109f322 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Andromeda | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d109f322 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d14c3aa1 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d14c3aa1 | comment |
In the original Ghostbusters film minor EPA official Walter Peck (played to perfection by William Atherton) had the unmitigated gall to arrest the Ghostbusters for causing an explosion that he himself was responsible for when he ordered, in front of multiple witnesses, that the ghost-containment grid be shut down, despite repeated warnings that would be disastrous. In a deleted scene, as Gozer the Gozerian was wreaking havoc, the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man was smashing up the city and the End Of The World was quite seriously nigh, Peck's response was to grab a fleeing police officer and order him to go up to arrest the Ghostbusters for "going too far". The officer's response, not unreasonably, was "You go and arrest them!" | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d14c3aa1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d14c3aa1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Ghostbusters (1984) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d14c3aa1 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d2cd3b5e | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d2cd3b5e | comment |
In Nomine: Asmodeus, Prince of the Game, runs the infernal beauracracy, and very intentionally not in a way that makes it efficent or helpful. He views all of existence as an elaborate game with arbitrary and malleable rules and with no particular goal beyond one-upping everyone else, and organizes his civil services based on that logic. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d2cd3b5e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d2cd3b5e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
In Nomine (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d2cd3b5e | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d5166b45 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d5166b45 | comment |
Halo 4 has Captain Andrew Del Rio. When his ship is dragged into a Forerunner Shield World, his first impulse is to do whatever it takes to flee. Despite the fact that the Master Chief warns him about the danger posed by the Didact, Del Rio focuses on leaving Requiem. While he has some legitimate concerns (regarding Cortana's Rampancy), he is completely dismissive of a soldier whose entire life was defined by protecting humanity (going so far as to flippantly respond to the Chief asking for intel about a combat zone he was being sent to), as well as his own officers. His refusal to try and interdict the Didact allows the Forerunner to retrieve the Composer and wipe out all life in the city of New Phoenix with it, before the Master Chief managed to stop him. Del Rio, meanwhile, ended up thrown in the brig for his treatment of the Chief. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d5166b45 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d5166b45 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Halo 4 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d5166b45 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d5916141 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d5916141 | comment |
In the Jedi Academy Trilogy readers learn just how little tolerance the Empire has for obstructive bureaucrats. Those who weren't executed often went into hiding to avoid the wrath of Palpatine or Vader. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d5916141 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d5916141 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Jedi Academy Trilogy | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_d5916141 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_db3b75ff | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_db3b75ff | comment |
A frequent visitor on Barney Miller. Often it's the higher-ups in the department, or the gleefully malicious Scanlan of Internal Affairs, but there are many officials from the state and federal government who get drawn into whatever crazy case is going on. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_db3b75ff | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_db3b75ff | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Barney Miller | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_db3b75ff | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dc757598 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dc757598 | comment |
Esther Diamond: Lysander Singh is a rare example who goes out into the field, but the narrator considers him to be an Insufferable Genius who isn't as smart as the people he bosses around. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dc757598 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dc757598 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Esther Diamond | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dc757598 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dcb07085 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dcb07085 | comment |
Soul Music: Mr. Clete of the Musicians' Guild, is a nastier version, taking genuine pleasure in the suffering of those ensnared in red tape. It's mentioned in the text that the guild hired him for this specifically, because without a hard-ass forcing things the musicians would absentmindedly stop paying their fees and the guild would fall apart. Over the course of the story he gradually loses his mind entirely, to the point his own enforcers try to rein him in. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dcb07085 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dcb07085 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Soul Music | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dcb07085 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dd069325 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dd069325 | comment |
In Max Havelaar, the titular character's attempts to do something about the merciless exploitation of the Javanese peasants by their feudal overlords are thwarted at every step by those above, below, and next to him in the Dutch colonial bureaucracy. Some actually don't want him to succeed (it's easier to keep the peasants in check if the local feudal system remains in place, after all), but others are simply Dirty Cowards who don't want to step on any powerful toes — especially not since Havelaar's similarly idealistic predecessor died in a terrible accident. (Note that all of this actually happened in Real Life.) | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dd069325 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dd069325 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Havelaar | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dd069325 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dda72858 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dda72858 | comment |
Kent Mansley in The Iron Giant starts out as a humorous Obstructive Bureaucrat, but as his obsession with finding the giant grows, he starts to venture into Knight Templar territory, threatening to separate Hogarth from his mother and even suggesting nuking the town. When his recklessness leads to a nuclear missile actually being launched toward the town, his Patriotic Fervor is quickly replaced with outright cowardice: "Screw our country! I wanna live!" | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dda72858 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dda72858 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Iron Giant | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dda72858 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dee6ab5b | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dee6ab5b | comment |
The Serge Storms novel Florida Roadkill has an insurance exec whose job is to block insurance claims, especially if they're actually covered by the client's policy. This gets him a Karmic Death when he gets shot, and when he goes to the hospital, the call to his insurance company for payment regarding the treatment gets directed to his office. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dee6ab5b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dee6ab5b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Serge Storms | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_dee6ab5b | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e05c6feb | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e05c6feb | comment |
In Courier From Warsaw the author recounts the troubles Churchill's assistant (who may or may not have been a Soviet agent) gave him, from the "yes, sir, of course the prime minister will see you sometime in this century" variety, to outright lying his face off to discredit the author and his entire organisation. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e05c6feb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e05c6feb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Courier From Warsaw | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e05c6feb | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e081af79 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e081af79 | comment |
The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob!: on Butane, the planet of dragons, Legate Zippobic seems to be this, although he views himself as a Beleaguered Bureaucrat. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e081af79 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e081af79 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob! (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e081af79 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e21bc91e | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e21bc91e | comment |
The titular group from The Adjustment Bureau, though not in the usual sense. Their job is to essentially railroad people into doing whatever destiny demands, and to hell with whatever people themselves want or what has to be "adjusted" to do it. However it should be noted that, despite all this and being the antagonists of the film, they're not evil or even all that unreasonable. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e21bc91e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e21bc91e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Adjustment Bureau | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e21bc91e | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e2cb7d80 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e2cb7d80 | comment |
In the 2014 miniseries Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers, the Tiger's attempts to rescue one of the Captain Victory clones is hampered by Ranger Central's imposing a quarantine around the area of space where the clone has landed. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e2cb7d80 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e2cb7d80 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e2cb7d80 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e30b9261 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e30b9261 | comment |
New Avengers: Jeryn Hogarth, lawyer for Rand Industries, manages to make Iron Man looking stupid, running rings around him with loopholes when the guy (and the Avengers) try to arrest his boss, Iron Fist for being a super-hero. Given Iron Man's being a Jerkass, it's brilliant to behold. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e30b9261 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e30b9261 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
New Avengers / Comicbook | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e30b9261 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e30f4153 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e30f4153 | comment |
Season 5 of Major Crimes introduces Deputy Chief Winnie Davis. She is gunning for the position of Assistant Chief and resents the preferential treatment that Major Crimes gets. She uses her position as Chief of Operations to make life as difficult for Rayder and her team as possible. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e30f4153 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e30f4153 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Major Crimes | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e30f4153 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e4732abc | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e4732abc | comment |
The entire IOA counts as this. After watching enough of Stargate Atlantis, you would think the only decisions they make is to put the blame on whoever else they can. On the rare occasion they do take action, they usually make things worse. Particular mention goes to their borderline-suicidal plan to stop the Ori in The Ark of Truth, which involved reviving the Replicators and taking away their only weakness. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e4732abc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e4732abc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Stargate Atlantis | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e4732abc | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e6267766 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e6267766 | comment |
Star Wars Legends: Borsk Fey'lya, to an astonishing degree. He was introduced in The Thrawn Trilogy as a Bothan council member of the New Republic, proudly flaunting his species' hat of backbiting political savvy (the other hats being spying, hacking, and great personal courage). He literally cannot imagine his fellow Council members as not out to get him just as much as he is out to get them; everyone who opposes him is his enemy. He will try and bar them at any given opportunity. And he's on the New Republic's side, shows no signs of going over to the enemy, and does not actually engineer events so much as take advantage of them, so he is never the outright enemy, to several characters' frustration, as that would've given them the ability to just shoot him. And unfortunately for everyone, he's very good at recovering from even the most embarrassing political setbacks. In the New Jedi Order he does, after Coruscant's fall, surrender to the highest-ranked nearby Vong, and then trigger a massive suicide bomb. Books that don't have him as a petty semi-villain portray him as brave in his way, but unable to let go of his paranoia and vindictiveness. Fey'lya, up to his usual Rules Lawyering, tries to take control of Booster's Star Destroyer and pull off an elegant piece of backstabbing that will end up killing Corran Horn. Fey'lya unfortunately doesn't take two things into consideration; although Booster dislikes Horn, Corran is engaged to his daughter and more importantly Booster, being a 'former' smuggler, doesn't give a damn about any rules or laws protect Borsk. What follows is a brutal beatdown of Fey'lya by Terrick that ends with a broken nose and a lot of blood. What's even funnier is that Fey'lya knows that if he ever does try and get Terrik arrested he'll become a laughingstock among Bothans because he, a fairly young Bothan, got his ass handed to him by a middle-aged human despite the fact Bothans are supposedly much physically stronger than humans. Another example, during the Black Fleet Crisis, rejected Tenn Graneet's application to join the Republic military because he came from an Imperial planet. The main thing this earned him was a chewing out from Admiral Ackbar. Making things worse for the heroes in New Jedi Order is that Fey'lya is backed up by a whole senate of corrupt and obstructive politicians, who refuse to help with the incoming Yuuzhan Vong because they're happening to faraway places, or Leia's clearly making them up in a transparent grab for power, or it's somehow the Jedi's fault, hampering the war effort right up until the Vong are kicking the door down. Even the one bureaucrat who seems reasonable is actually working for them. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e6267766 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e6267766 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Star Wars Legends (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e6267766 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e68decb8 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e68decb8 | comment |
Star Control: Origins has the Measured, an entire race that has been genetically modified to be perfect bureaucrats. Before they'll even agree to talk to you, you'll have to file a request form. They have a separate form to switch from "bureaucrat speak" to "small talk" mode, even though their exasperated reaction indicates they would much rather use the former. Attempting to leave gets you a warning that you haven't filed the official forms for leaving. When you request those forms, they tell you that you don't have permission to request the forms. Then combat begins, during which their main form of attack is called "red tape" and involves launching what looks like forms at your ship. If you run into them, then your ship slows down and takes a little bit of damage, which allows more forms to catch up and slow your ship even more. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e68decb8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e68decb8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Star Control (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e68decb8 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e694aadb | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e694aadb | comment |
In the Ciaphas Cain novel The Caves of Ice, there are two particular Obstructive Bureaucrats, the local heads of the Administratum and Adeptus Mechanicus. Their constant arguing over protocols and procedure affects not only the normal operation of the promethium-mining facility there, but also the efforts of the Valhallan 597th as it works to prepare defenses against an oncoming Ork onslaught. Fortunately, Cain is able to find some lower-level officials in both ranks who not only are on amicable working terms with one another (and the mining population), but also happen to be able to actually get things done despite their superiors' constant bickering. The "dark" element of this trope comes into play when it is learned that the mine is built atop a Necron tomb; as later evidence proves, the site was intentionally chosen by the AdMech to give them easy access to the facility away from prying eyes should a way be found to investigate the tomb and recover its ancient technology. Fortunately, Cain and his comrades are able to deal with the "obstructive" part of the problem by imposing martial law and threatening to shoot anyone who gets in their way. The Valhallan 597th also owns some thanks to the Administratum, which still thinks they're two regiments, as such they are given twice as much supplies and recruits than most (also why the men/women ratio is always 50/50) | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e694aadb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e694aadb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Ciaphas Cain | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e694aadb | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e80fa454 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e80fa454 | comment |
In Battleborn, this is one of the major things if not the major thing obstructing the Peacekeepers from doing their job properly and to the fullest. Rather than get things done right away, the UPR's higher ups would rather follow protocol even in the dire state the universe is in. This is best seen in the second and third chapters of the web motioncomic where the UPR's bureaucracy causes problems such as not giving supplies immediately, and almost killing Rath and Ambra in the respective chapters. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e80fa454 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e80fa454 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Battleborn (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e80fa454 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e9e2b5e9 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e9e2b5e9 | comment |
Protocol Officer Quine of Starslip is a humorous examination of the default characterization of these characters: when he's introduced, he sounds like a typical regulations lawyer who is unceremoniously killed in his first away mission. Then we are introduced to his personal resurrection machine (that creates a clone of him and transfers his consciousness to it whenever he dies) and he gradually starts morphing into a Butt-Monkey who is just trying to do his job surrounded by people who openly insult him for no reason other than the fact that he's the only guy willing to apply regulations on what is ostensibly a military vessel and often getting killed in the process. The pinnacle of this was a recent storyline where he used his machine to "single handedly" (in other words, going through a lot of dead clones) to take back the Paradigm from hijackers and saving the lives of the rest of the crew... only for Vanderbeam to berate him for taking too long and giving all the credit to his dead clones. Poor guy. He ultimately turns out to be a good guy when he is confronted with just how corrupt the government really is. Even then, he is slightly conflicted about breaking laws. Then his wife points out that the government's leadership is betraying the founding principles of the government, so Quine's "insubordination" is actually nothing of the sort. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e9e2b5e9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e9e2b5e9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Starslip (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_e9e2b5e9 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ea787cd1 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ea787cd1 | comment |
The Forgotten Realms novel Azure Bonds shows how Lhaeo does his job, that is, prevents adventurers from bothering Elminster. How the scribe is supposed to intimidate and turn away people who used to take out dragons and worse? Riiight... | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ea787cd1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ea787cd1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Forgotten Realms | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ea787cd1 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eb1f3536 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eb1f3536 | comment |
Przygody Psa Cywila have lt. Zubek, By-the-Book Cop who oversees the daily proceedings of the training facility and is Comically Serious to boot. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eb1f3536 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eb1f3536 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Przygody Psa Cywila | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eb1f3536 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eb3f3551 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eb3f3551 | comment |
Mass Effect: Andromeda: Assistant to the Director of Colonial Affairs William Spender. He's a clueless idiot who frequently tries to interfere with the Nexus' engineering teams trying to keep the station functioning (and the people living on it living). Even his boss knows he's an idiot, but keeps him around because he'll take jobs no-one else will... despite, again, being an idiot. It later turns out he's deliberately doing his best to make everyone frustrated and miserable so he can weasel his way up the ladder, helped provoke the riots that led to a massive split in the Andromeda Initiative, and is trying to kill of the krogan who came along just 'cuz. The end of Drack's loyalty mission has Ryder either have him exiled, in which case he's screwed, or imprisoned. Either way, it's not nearly as much as he deserves. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eb3f3551 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eb3f3551 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Mass Effect: Andromeda (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eb3f3551 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ebc16967 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ebc16967 | comment |
A series of humor oriented web videos shows a paper pusher dealing with the Street Fighter II warriors, having issue with quite a few of them, arguing with Chun-Li over her outfit, with Vega over the definition of a "weapon" and with M. Bison over the finances. (One could likely view this guy as a sympathetic character doing an excellent job, considering.) | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ebc16967 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ebc16967 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Street Fighter II (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ebc16967 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec02633a | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec02633a | comment |
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: Blood and Wine has the quest "Paperchase". Geralt of Rivia is a hardened monster slayer who has faced the undead, vampires, werewolves, vain sorceresses, dragons and a mysterious entity who might well be the setting's equivalent of the Devil himself, but none of those threats can remotely prepare him for the sheer terror of trying to prove to the bank that he is not in fact dead so he can withdraw money from an account a client set up for him years ago as payment for a job. While the bank is frantically trying to cover up that they already spent Geralt's money after he was reported dead. The solution to the quest that gets Geralt his money is to be Nice to the Waiter. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec02633a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec02633a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec02633a | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec2531c4 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec2531c4 | comment |
Coco: The employees of the Celestial Bureaucracy are quite unhelpful to Héctor, though not by choice. During the epilogue, after the Time Skip, they are genuinely happy to allow Héctor to visit his family. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec2531c4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec2531c4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Coco | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec2531c4 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec25a849 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec25a849 | comment |
Vice-Principal Bone from Doug was one of these characters. He had a seemingly never-ending list of rules for student behavior that made it almost impossible to do anything that wasn't against the rules somehow. In one episode, Doug daydreams of himself as his superhero alter-ego Quailman, who battles "The Rulemeister", a Control Freak that looks and sounds exactly like Mr. Bone, and who is eventually defeated by being trapped in his own rules. Mr. Bone catches him and grabs his comic away, causing Doug to point out that "No grabbing other people's comic books" is one of his rules, and manages to convince Mr. Bone to let him and the other kids out of detention. In another episode, Quailman battles the "Robo-Bones", robot versions of Mr. Bone. Rather than trapping Bone with his own rules as in the previous example, Doug uses the "Secret Dream" version of escape by convincing the Robo-Bones to become a professional yodeling troupe. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec25a849 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec25a849 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Doug | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec25a849 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec4df952 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec4df952 | comment |
Vice-Chancellor Nesselrode is portrayed as this in The Death of the Vazir Mukhtar; he seems more funny at first, but his decisions, based on the high political considerations of avoiding all and any possible turbulence, could easily be fatal for some of his subordinates ( and end up being fatal for the Russian mission in Persia). | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec4df952 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec4df952 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Death of the Vazir Mukhtar | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ec4df952 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eca5afb5 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eca5afb5 | comment |
This was such a problem in the militaries of ancient China that Sun Tzu addressed it in The Art of War. His favored tactic - which the annotations also ascribe to other great generals - was to ignore the bureaucracy, and if the bureaucrat became too obstructive, execute him. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eca5afb5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eca5afb5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Art of War (Sun Tzu) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_eca5afb5 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ee75904a | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ee75904a | comment |
Kyoshi Rising; the magistrate's assistant Kyoshi meets early in her journey, who ignoring Kyoshi's attempts to help the town with a giant spirit monster even after she reveals she's the Avatar. The dockmaster in Taizhou has the temperament of an Obstructive Bureaucrat, but is more of a Beleaguered Bureaucrat. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ee75904a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ee75904a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Kyoshi Rising (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ee75904a | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f186d60d | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f186d60d | comment |
Wet Desert: Tracking Down a Terrorist on the Colorado River: The governor of Nevada delays the opening of the spillways at Hoover Dam when he's informed that people have to be evacuated in preparation from the towns beneath the dam. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f186d60d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f186d60d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Wet Desert: Tracking Down a Terrorist on the Colorado River | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f186d60d | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f3464a68 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f3464a68 | comment |
Director Theodore Galloway, the President's Aide sent to oversee NEST in Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen actively believes that the Autobots are to blame for the Decepticons attacking Earth, and attempts to force the Autobots to leave. When the Decepticons finally invade in force, instead of mobilizing NEST, the aide instead forces NEST to stand down and return to base, citing that standard operating procedure would be to try and negotiate a peaceful resolution with the enemy. Fortunately, they manage to get rid of him by shoving him out of a plane and dumping him in the middle of the Egyptian desert. Unfortunately they gave him a parachute first. Though considering that he's still the president's aide, that was probably for the best. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f3464a68 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f3464a68 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f3464a68 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f3ef0f86 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f3ef0f86 | comment |
Ark Sool in Artemis Fowl, a painfully By-the-Book Cop obsessed with regulations and incredibly rude about it to boot. His being promoted to commander is enough to get Holly Short to quit LEP for a while. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f3ef0f86 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f3ef0f86 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Artemis Fowl | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f3ef0f86 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f41aa707 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f41aa707 | comment |
Sugawara Akitada: Akitada's superiors don't make his job any easier, often getting in his way or taking actions behind the scenes that disrupt Akitada's efforts. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f41aa707 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f41aa707 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Sugawara Akitada | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f41aa707 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f451da89 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f451da89 | comment |
Daisy Owl: And she's pleasant, and agrees that the fees are unreasonable, to add insult to injury. The next strip has him go to the very man said bureaucrat recommended after the one who asked for the license to be renewed wanted a less pleasant guy who plays the trope straighter. The customer was ironically satisfied with the bad customer service the less pleasant guy gave him. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f451da89 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f451da89 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Daisy Owl (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f451da89 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f74b5f80 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f74b5f80 | comment |
Babylon 5: Inverted in the episode "Survivors". It is the protagonists, Sinclair and Ivanova specifically, who are obstructing Major Lianna Kemmer's attempts to locate and arrest Garibaldi on suspicion of sabotage. Played straight with Garibaldi attempting to retrieve a package from an obstructive mailman who insists Garibaldi pay a hefty fee before he can get his package (it's special ingredients for a birthday dinner). The Drazi have a peculiar system of government, in which every five cycles (six Earth years) the entire population, anywhere they are, is randomly divided in two sides, one wearing a green sash and one wearing a purple sash, and they beat each other up until one side gives up, leaving the other in power. However, in "The Geometry of Shadows", when the "election" on the station starts to include deadly force, Ivanova (trying to make them reason) takes the sash of Green Leader... and is informed that now she is Green Leader, because the system predates First Contact and the change in rules to exclude aliens got caught in a committee. For over eight hundred years. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f74b5f80 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f74b5f80 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Babylon 5 | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f74b5f80 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f7e45c31 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f7e45c31 | comment |
Life Is Beautiful: Rodolfo, Dora's Disposable Fiancé, is a city official in charge of issuing business licenses. He is haughty, rude, and unhelpful towards the citizens he is supposed to be serving. He and Guido, who aspires to own a bookshop, butt heads with each other even before they become romantic rivals. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f7e45c31 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f7e45c31 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Life Is Beautiful | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_f7e45c31 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fb9c177d | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fb9c177d | comment |
Holepunch, a Targetmaster from Transformers, is an actively malicious Obstructive Bureaucrat. In fact, making people wait in lines and having them come back later and such is basically all the fun he ever has. And he's an Autobot! The Mirror Universe version of him inverts this as a peppy motivational speaker skilled at keeping morale high. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fb9c177d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fb9c177d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Transformers (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fb9c177d | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fc030253 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fc030253 | comment |
Project Tatterdemalion: Referenced repeatedly — General Yamamoto and Colonel Hughes are very by-the-book about paperwork, and obstructive bureaucrats are responsible for the Republic's harsh genetic engineering laws. This is also Ryuuken's cover for infiltrating the Project: he's supposedly a health inspector. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fc030253 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fc030253 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Project Tatterdemalion / Fan Fic | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fc030253 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fc8c3b74 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fc8c3b74 | comment |
In Savior of Demons, the Council of Arcos is ridiculously obstructive, until you realize that they are trying to help by reigning in King Kold's tendency to jump feet-first into whatever solution he thinks is best and most expedient. Queen Isa also accuses them of being Corrupt Bureaucrats. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fc8c3b74 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fc8c3b74 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Savior of Demons (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fc8c3b74 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fd2e8800 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fd2e8800 | comment |
Cecilia Irene of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Plot to Assassinate Gihren is a cross between this and Sexy Secretary. An attractive, efficent young woman, Cecelia is Gihren Zabi's keeper of the keys. She takes care of administrative trivia, acts as his liaison to the high-command, and arranges assassinations, political crackdowns, arrests, and other black operations that the brass won't touch. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fd2e8800 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fd2e8800 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Plot to Assassinate Gihren (Manga) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fd2e8800 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fd698fa7 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fd698fa7 | comment |
Tunefully adapted as a Disney animated short. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fd698fa7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fd698fa7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Pigs Is Pigs (1954) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fd698fa7 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fe5f9efb | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fe5f9efb | comment |
Quatermass II: During The Infiltration, these oppose the scientist hero's attempts to uncover the truth about the Alien Invasion. Some oppose the hero out of petty authoritarianism, others because they're possessed by aliens, and others interestingly enough help the hero because as experienced bureaucrats they realize that the obstructiveness is happening in a way that doesn't make sense. One of the latter even lampshades this trope. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fe5f9efb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fe5f9efb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Quatermass (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fe5f9efb | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fe8ef766 | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fe8ef766 | comment |
Captain America: The Commission of Super-Human Activities, who not incidentally have aforementioned Henry Gyrich among their number, usually are just regular obstructive. In "The Captain", they find Steve Rogers technically owes them back-pay. Steve resigns on grounds of conscience, and they replace him with John Walker. Fine enough, but Gyrich insists that if Steve continues superheroing, the CSA strip the Avengers of any ability to operate on American soil. He's soon outdone by the CSA's head, who as the story goes on becomes increasingly maniacal, trying to have Steve arrested for sedition (uh) and treason (breaking into the White House to save the President from being turned into a snake man. Long story), and even the other commissioners think he's being nuts. Turns out the man is working for the Red Skull as part of a plot to ruin Cap's legacy. Once he's caught out, the Skull has him killed to tie up loose ends. | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fe8ef766 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fe8ef766 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Captain America (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_fe8ef766 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ff9ab17f | type |
Obstructive Bureaucrat | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ff9ab17f | comment |
Vice Admiral Alynna Nechayev is presented this way in most of her appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation and DS9. Her involvement in the Cardassian DMZ crisis, if not actually outright caused by her, certainly aggravated the situation The Sheliak, a one-episode race, act as this. The claim is that their particular mindset is simply fixated on the letter of agreements, but they very conveniently refuse to invoke the negotiation clause of their treaty with the Federation when it would cause minor delays for them and potentially allow fifteen thousand humans to be evacuated. Picard's ultimate response is to turn it right back at them: the negotiation clause requires both parties to agree, but a single party can invoke the third party arbitration clause. Picard does so and names a species that is in a months-long hibernation cycle as the arbitrators, meaning the delay would be much longer than the one he had asked for. The Sheliak quickly change their tune. |
|
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ff9ab17f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ff9ab17f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Star Trek: The Next Generation | hasFeature |
Obstructive Bureaucrat / int_ff9ab17f |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.