TVSquad

Rules are meant to be broken... especially for these ten television characters. For them, the rest of the world has one standard to live by and they have another. It makes them interesting and fun to watch... you just wouldn't necessarily want to be the person having to deal with them because they could drive you to distraction. Here's my ten pack of characters who live in a world of their own, according to no rules except their own. From the not-too-bad to the really bad.

10. Patrick Jane, The Mentalist
You would think that as a consultant to the CBI -- California Bureau of Investigation -- Patrick Jane would be compelled to uphold the rules and regulations of the department. However, Jane is a free spirit when it comes to office protocol. He does his own thing. For instance, bugging the office of a CBI higher-up is definitely not kosher. Jane doesn't care; he did it anyway and will probably get away with it.

9. Tracy Jordan, 30 Rock
Being a successful, overpaid and privileged comedy star of TGS, Tracey Jordan is insulated. The only rules Tracy follows are those that Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy force him to. Anything outside the studio is up for grabs. Even Angie can't keep him from breaking the rules. He has necklace that reads "open marriage," so don't even mention marital vows.

8. Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother
There are some rules that are very important to Barney, like the Bro Code. Or wearing a suit. But, generally speaking, the rules of polite society don't apply to Barney. He once pretended to be realtor to get into a furnished apartment so he could make love to a woman and leaves her the next morning, deceiving her completely. It wasn't right, but in Barney world, it was just fine.

7. Christine Campbell, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Christine has spent so many years ignoring the rules that these days she's barely aware that they exist. For instance, her affair with Richie's teacher, which was unethical. Then there was marrying Barb to keep her from being deported. That was illegal. Christine doesn't seem to know that the rules are there for a reason. She doesn't care or even know that she's supposed to care.

6. Dwight Schrute, The Office
Dwight is a rule breaker when it suits him. That might make him a borderline sociopath. At times, he is a strict advocate of procedures and rules and would gladly rat out a fellow worker who veers from them. However, if Michael tells him to do something reprehensible, like set up Toby to be busted by the police, Dwight is right there to make it happen.

5. Don Draper, Mad Men
To the outside world, Madison Avenue creative director Don seems like he's following the rules. Even in the time in which he's living, 1963, Don skirts the rules. Having drinks during business hours is business as usual then, but bedding female clients to get their business, isn't. And taking a business trip and disappearing for a few weeks was not how to succeed in corporate America then or now, but Don gets away with it. Rules are clearly for other mad men, not Draper.

4. Sue Sylvester, Glee
For a woman like Sue, McKinley High School is her kingdom and she's the only monarch. She can call the shots and defy every rule that other teachers have to follow. To a colleague like glee club director Will Schuester, Sue is a bully who gets away with pushing his kids around. Because of her seniority and the success of her Cheerios, Sue breaks the rules because she can.

3. Gregory House, House, MD
It's not surprising that a physician like House would abhor the rules of Princeton Plainsboro. House wants to practice diagnostic medicine, not do clinic hours. So he ignores Cuddy's rules and does what he wants. But that's small potatoes compared to the Vicodan habit that House has only recently gotten under control. While using, House broke the law and the rules to get his pain meds.

2. Gabriel Sylar, Heroes
Sylar has extraordinary powers that have turned him into a stone-cold killing machine. Slicing the top of a victim's head off to expose their brains definitely qualifies as being against the rules. Sylar has been unlike the others with powers because he has no compunction about flaunting his blatant disregard for the law and every rule imaginable.

1. Dexter Morgan, Dexter
If you break the rules for the greater good, are you still the worst rule breaker on TV today? Yes, because Dexter Morgan is a serial killer. The fact that his victims deserve to die doesn't alter the fact that Dexter knows he shouldn't be doing what he's doing. And using the information he gleans by working in the Miami P.D. just makes it worse because he's supposed to be part of the legal system.

[Check out SlashControl for clips and episodes from these shows.]