Chaotic Neutral

""Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're gonna do something incredibly... stupid.""

- Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean

Chaotic Neutral characters do whatever the hell they like and damn the consequences (unless they're too noble or hurtful, watch out for that part!). Some say they're the ultimate free spirits, others that they're just crazy. Either way, there's no telling what they'll decide to do next - their main, and often only, concern is their own freedom. Whose side are they on? It's doubted that they even know themselves. Nobody else does. In some ways their inherent uncertainty makes them an unknown quantity to deal with most times so they border on Jerkass in terms of their self-centered perception of the world, though they usually do have some redeeming features. Chaotic Neutrals detest the self righteous and believe in power to the individual. These characters are also useful in any story that involves something that isn't damnably black and white in the outcomes.

Chaotic Neutral comes in a variety of flavours:


 * Type 1 can be vaguely described as a true hedonist- they are interested in fulfillng their desires, and in pursuing their own interests. They have little to no respect for law and order, at best accepting it as a necessary evil that furthers these ends, at worst to the point they are prepared to commit acts that are immoral or outright criminal, avoiding a Neutral or Chaotic Evil alignment due to simply not being ruthless or malevolent enough. They are not evil because their desires are not especially evil (or they have too much of a conscience), but nor are they altruistic enough to be considered good, and they may hold both either in disdain or with indifference, feeling that to each their own, though most know better than to hang out with especially wicked types. At best, they are kind to friends, family or strangers if only because they find such behaviour personally satisfying; at worst, they are Jerkasses who don't give a damn about anyone but themselves, and are indifferent or blind to the rights of others.
 * Type 2 are those who are devoted to a Chaotic Neutral ideal, such as an anarchist or a libertarian, or perhaps something just plain bizarre. They are prepared to work within a group system in order to challenge an establishment system or further their cause, which can sometimes push them into Lawful Neutral territory if they become particularly devoted (or fanatical). In practice, this can be a very tricky Type to maintain without quickly devolving into some type of hypocrisy, as it is difficult if not impossible to change or abolish the system without infringing on somebodies rights or desires and it is very likely that a new Status Quo (band) will emerge, or rather that the old one will stay in place as these causes are rarely very successful (at least in Real Life). At best this type works towards the overthrowing of a genuinelly corrupt or oppressive system and replacing it with something better, but at worst they can be lead into The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized or end up supporting a cause that actually makes things worse. They may also hold Chaotic Neutral itself as an ideal, seeing it as their duty to stir things up and make things less boring.
 * A Type 3 is someone who rebels for the sake of rebelling, someone who is counter-culture just for the sake of it,. As such, their beliefs tend to be shallow and they may find themselves in over their head, or be duped into The Man Is Sticking It to the Man. This sort tends to believe Cool People Rebel Against Authority, which conversely often makes them vulnerable to the influence of powerful personalities or particular fads that they believe no-one else is following. In effect, they have an issue or grudge against a particular authority practice or figure, or were simply aimless and adrift in their own lives, and use Chaotic Neutral as a cover to vent their frustrations or give themselves some direction. At best, this can be harmless or even lead to some benefitial Character Development, but at worst the character can fall under the sway of dangerous and evil people and perhaps become one themselves.
 * Type 4 are those who are overly cynical, and hold no allegiance to anyone and decide for themselves what is right or wrong, and whether or not they want to do anything about it. They are often the disillusioned types who once held onto an ideal or have lost their family or friends, and often belonged to a completely different alignment, but others were cynical from an early age, often (but not always) due to a bad childhood. They can be dragged into The Quest or bought for their services, and may battle the forces of evil if they come across them or they get in the way, but they lack conviction beyond basic self-interest, and if they still aspire to better themselves they are usually their own worst enemy. They are often loners, though they may have a handful of close family or friends, and tend to prize survival highly with wealth, luxury and power often being mainly (though not necessarily exclusively) a means of ensuring said-survival for good, assuming they are not self-destructive or suicidal. At their worst can be completely amoral and indifferent to other people getting hurt whether or not by their own hand, but they usually have the potential to still be good people.

The Chaotic Neutral character may have a kind enough heart and even help out others sometimes, but they do not feel committed to helping others as they are random, and sometimes they are nothing but an amoral nutjob, not consciously thinking about the consequences of their actions. Occasionally, if a character runs the entire gamut of alignments with their actions (inevitably failing at Good), they can be classed as Chaotic Neutral on average. (But, they may really be True Neutral, Lawful Neutral, or they may defy traditional alignments all together.) It's sometimes hard to tell with these folks.

Chaotic Neutral is both an easy and difficult alignment to play as. Easy, because its chaos and neutrality allows a player to do what they please, and hard because you really have to be careful about not annoying people when you can do whatever you want. Many players of Chaotic Neutral also have a tendency to end up in Good groups, playing Chaotic Good characters and doing things that are generally good, not just selfish. Many poor players also confuse Chaotic Neutral with "batshit crazy": a Chaotic Neutral character is not equally likely to jump off a bridge as he is to cross it, that would rather be Chaotic Stupid, and a competent Chaotic Neutral generally tries to avert being just that - although a player choosing to jump off a bridge is probably not all that interested in participating, anyway.

In Tabletop Games, Chaotic Neutral is often the choice of players who want to do bad things when the GM forbids playing evil characters, perhaps breaking up the party and killing Player Characters for the hell of it. (Protip: Killing someone or generally causing dissent "for the hell of it" is Chaotic Evil).

If you have a difficulty deciding which alignment a neutral-aligned character belongs to, the main difference between Lawful Neutral, True Neutral and Chaotic Neutral is not their lack of devotion to either good or evil, but the methods they believe are best to show it:


 * Lawful Neutral characters believe the best way is to have a specific, strict code of conduct, whether self-imposed or codified as a law. Their first impulse when making a moral decision is to refer back to this code; those with externally imposed systems (codes of laws, hierarchies, etc.) will try to work within the system when those systems go wrong. They will refuse to break the code even though it would hurt someone.
 * True Neutral characters are indifferent to Order Versus Chaos, and their only interest is in living their own lives. They simply live their lives, whether that means tearing down a code of laws, following a code of laws, creating an orderly society, causing the breakdown of some kinds of order, or staying away from society altogether. They have no particular objective.
 * Although in some works True Neutral can also mean that the character actively sees balance as a desirable end unto itself, and will fight Good or Evil organisations that they believe have become too powerful. This is a rather different type of character who actually has more of a Lawful Neutral mindset (obeying the law of balance is more important than conventional morality), but is placed into True Neutral to indicate that they cannot be assumed to back any side by default.
 * Most Chaotic Neutral characters don't constantly break the law, but they cannot see much value in laws. They believe that their own consciences are their best guides, and that tying themselves to any given code of conduct would be limiting their own ability to do what they want. They do not get along with anyone who tries to instill any kind of order over the Chaotic Neutral character, believing these people to be restricting their freedom. Chaotic Neutral characters often focus very strongly on their individual rights and freedoms, and will strongly resist any form of oppression of themselves.

Chaotic Neutral character types include:
 * More sympathetic Ax Crazy characters, those who aren't Chaotic Evil
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Those who aren't Chaotic Good
 * Most Byronic Heroes
 * Crazy Survivalist
 * Playful Hacker
 * Rebellious Spirit
 * The Trickster
 * Lovable Rogue
 * The Hedonist
 * Ninja, most of the time.
 * Many Noble Demons
 * Karmic Tricksters
 * Screwy Squirrel
 * Sociopathic Heroes: Those who aren't Chaotic Evil.
 * If they are not the protagonist, a Cowboy Cop or a Military Maverick. Otherwise, they might be Chaotic Good.
 * Most Nineties Anti-Hero, but can also be shown as True Neutral (Spawn, Cable), more evil versions may qualify as Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil (The Comedian and Lobo).
 * Morally neutral versions of The Unfettered.
 * Villain Protagonist: Those who aren't really evil.

'''When dealing with the examples of specific characters, remember that assigning an alignment to a character who doesn't come with one is subjective (and, at All The Tropes, discouraged). If you have a problem with a character being listed here, it probably belongs on the discussion page. There will be no Real Life examples under any circumstances; it just invites an Edit War.'''

'On works pages: Character Alignment is only to be used in works where it is canonical, and only for characters who have alignments in-story''. There is to be no arguing over canonical alignments, and no Real Life examples, ever.'''

Anime and Manga
"Narrator: Those outlaws who are adrift and roaming the universe say, "You may not have the urge to break the law, but you are still bound to ignore it.""
 * Michiko The criminal from Michiko to Hatchin
 * Ranma ½ has characters that swing all over the Character Alignment scale, with only a few who can truly be said to fit into a definitive alignment (Kasumi Tendo, Nabiki Tendo, Shampoo, Happosai) -- and even they are open to different readings. Especially between the two versions (the anime treats the other members of Ranma's Unwanted Harem much more sympathetically than the original manga does), most of the main crew can switch between Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil malice, Chaotic Good benevolence and sympathy, and just self-centeredness, which means that Chaotic Neutral (and Neutral Evil, for characters more frequently used as villains) is more of the 'average' alignment then anything else.
 * Ranma Saotome is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold more often than not, shrugging off frequent abuse and manipulations as no big deal and capable of feeling genuinely sorry for Taro or Herb, despite petty casual murder attempts. Yet, anytime a possible cure for his curse comes up, he gets jealous, he wants to upstage someone who beat him in something, a fiancee starts treating him coldly, someone claims that his female side isn't pretty, he has a comparatively banal or more justified (Genma and Happosai) grudge, etc, he can be one of the most petty, childish, spiteful, manipulative, and even outright cruel members of the cast. Still, most of his "good" actions are genuinely heroic, and most of his "bad" actions are—even while cruel—less intentionally malicious than they are insensitive.
 * Akane Tendo generally leans towards Neutral Good, although given her polarizing effect on the fandom it is a matter of some dispute. As a type-B (often flanderized as type-A) Tsundere she is typically polite and friendly towards people and respectful of authority, unless she is given reason to behave otherwise. Even there, she's often inclined to be forgiving of those who've wronged her. Her fiancé Ranma, however, endlessly falls afoul of her Berserk Button, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not, and her harsh treatment of him can blur the line between the series' general use of Comedic Sociopathy, the Belligerent Sexual Tension that is Rumiko Takahashi's trademark, and outright Chaotic Neutral moral questionability. While most of her worst actions were done in the heat of emotion, she should not be spared criticism for all of them—yet just the same, she is actually one of the nicer members of the cast, despite being perhaps the most prone to turning up in Hate Fic/Revenge Fic.
 * Ukyo Kuonji is a generally pleasant, affable, self-reliant, and loyal girl-next-door (choice of clothes aside) who tries to be a friend to Ranma, and even gets on relatively well with Akane outside of competition. She has romantic fantasies about Ranma, and clings to whatever scraps of apparent kindness he throws her way. At the same time, she is capable of being very manipulative and underhanded; including setting violent ambushes and using threats of violence to get her way. She also has a tendency to whack any male she finds annoying or stupid with her giant steel spatula, no insults necessary, and together with Shampoo and Kodachi has beat up Ranma in various melee brawls. However, she does not appear to be as amoral and ruthless as the other two, as she can be compassionate, loyal, or charitable—the two most notable examples of this last aspect are her allowing Konatsu to live with her, despite being a socially clueless and naive bother (admittedly, she has him working for pathetically low wages) and her willingness to allow the Tendos to stay in her house after they briefly lost their own, even though she had no obligation to do so. She can be considered the least violent of the Unwanted Harem; she avoided killing Genma when first introduced despite that he turned her into an outcast, prefers to use non-violent plots half the time, and never actually states an intent to kill anybody. However, when teamed up with Shampoo and Kodachi, this line can turn very blurry, as, regardless if she only intended to beat Nabiki, Hinako, or (during the wedding) Akane unconscious, the other two would go all the way if convenient. In the manga she also seems more cynical and suspicious than Akane; for example, in their relative opinions on Miss Hinako's intents towards Ranma in an exchange between them. In the anime, she is kinder however, and more likely to fall into Chaotic Good.
 * When it comes to Character Alignment, Ryoga Hibiki is the biggest Base Breaker of the cast, with some saying he improves from Chaotic Neutral to in-between Chaotic Good and Neutral Good with varying degrees of speed (see the former link for that side of the argument), others that he remains Chaotic Neutral, and yet others that he started out as Chaotic Good, but had been provoked to extremes. In all cases, most agree with the fact he is an inherently sympathetic character with an absolutely terrible background, though some consider Ryoga-fans to be too willing to excuse his misdeeds in light of his extreme circumstances. Unpredictable to the extreme, he can literally be unable to force himself to hit Ranma one moment (because he knows Ranma is now too weak to fight back)... and shortly afterwards accuse Ranma of raping Akane Tendo, ragingly attacking him after finding Ranma with a tatter-clothed and teary-eyed Akane in the woods, despite Akane outright saying that's not the case and shouting at Ranma to stop encouraging Ryoga's beliefs. He's willing to go along with Akane using him as her pet piglet, yet is genuinely extremely shy, and refuses to peek at her while she's not fully dressed, once even declaring outright that it's the most evil thing he can think of doing. The, worst thing he has ever did was when he possessed the "Koi rod, of love" . Even Ryoga doesn't really seem to know what he's going to do from one moment to the next, sometimes.
 * Lina Inverse from Slayers can be considered one of the best examples of this trope in a Dungeons & Dragons sense, being motivated almost entirely by self-interest and whim. While she has morals that do prevent her from going too far to the dark side, and even to come off as Chaotic Good once in a while, she is extremely selfish, greedy, bad-tempered, self-centered and impulsive, and even comes off as petty on occasions, as she often refuses to give any attention, never mind assistance, to people who don't offer her a reward of some kind. Notable stunts include refusing to a fight a dragon (which A: she set loose and B: happens to be tearing down the village she's in) unless the Village Headman agrees to pay her, only agreeing to help a girl whose village has been enslaved in one of the movies after recalling that said village is built near Elven ruins, saving a girl from a rampaging Golem in another movie and then harassing her for a reward, and demanding a new companion of his surrender a family heirloom of his to her after finding out it's a powerful magical weapon.
 * The creator-deity of the Slayers universe, the Lord of Nightmares, fits this alignment even better, being chaos itself. Lets put it this way, She's the source of all good and evil. She created the world, and will destroy it when it pleases her.
 * Xellos, despite being Lawful Evil in the novel, in the anime is this.
 * While he is generally True Neutral, Switzerland from Axis Powers Hetalia occasionally fits this trope, even shooting at anyone who enter his territory
 * Prussia, Russia and France show tendences towards this, too. Prussia is generally too uncontrollable to qualify in other alignments (at best he may be Chaotic Good sometimes), France tends to do things as he wishes and thinks better without paying much attention (with the little head doing a good part of the thinking), and Russia tends to be too immature and childish to really know/care if he's doing the right or wrong thing.
 * Belarus might fit in here too, as she does stuff mostly to get Russia's attention and doesn't give much thought to others.
 * Hong Kong and Netherlands seem to be good choices here. Hong Kong is very mischievous and pranks almost everyone in his surroundings much to the despair of his Neutral Good brother figure China, Netherlands keeps a super stoic face but does everything in his power to either get more money or avert spending what he already has, to the exasperation of his Neutral Good sister Belgium.
 * Laon only cares about finding it's missing tails... and stuffing itself.
 * Vegeta of Dragonball Z fame fits this alignment during the Cell Saga. He starts out as a textbook Neutral Evil who cares only for himself, and aspires to use the Dragon Balls to become immortal and take over the universe. This doesn't work out, and after the Frieza Saga he ends up stuck on Earth with no place else to go (his homeworld having been destroyed years ago). At this point he loses interest in immortality and becomes single-mindedly obsessed with becoming stronger than Goku. He's more than willing to help out against the arc villains, but mostly to feed his ego. That, and the fact that he doesn't want anyone else killing Goku.
 * Gene Starwind of Outlaw Star is a perfect example of this as the series begins, perhaps softening to Chaotic Good by the series' end. This has less to do with him being an outlaw and more with him being impulsive, hedonistic, lazy, immature and self-centered. This is one of the reasons why the crew is often broke; Gene refuses to take up small jobs, a very bad thing coupled with his spending habits (and his knack for randomly destroying things that he subsequently has to pay for). Aisha Clan-Clan also counts, though it seems that part of the reason for her acting so erratically is that she's something of The Ditz.
 * In a broader sense, the entire philosophy of the Outlaws centers around this.


 * Excel from Excel Saga. All she cares about is serving her lord Il Palazzo, regardless of his intentions. She's alsosomewhat insane.
 * Probably also Lord Il Palazzo and Dr. Kabapu, in the manga at least, even though both insist otherwise. And indeed, probably majority of the main cast in general.
 * Nao Yuuki from My-HiME. Though she's quite temperamental and hates dealing with people (and rules), she's not out-and-out evil. She'll very rarely stick her claws out for the "good guys" if it personally benefits her in some way. Still, it's a pretty bad idea to cross her, because she will attack you. Her Mai-Otome incarnation, Juliet Nao Zhang, is closer to Chaotic Good.
 * Seto Kaiba. Challenges anybody and everybody, regardless of what side they're on (though he seems inordinately obsessed with battling Yugi) and screws the rules, because he has money...and lots of it.
 * Joichiro Nishi from Gantz is a good example of the "amoral nutjob" type. Though he does have a Chaotic Evil streak, he's really just an an aggressive kid who cares more about how many points he gets than how many people die in the process.
 * The titular Haruhi Suzumiya. She might help you out if you've got some problems which might be super natural in nature and got a couple of subtle Pet the Dog moments plus Character Development in the "nicer" direction; on the other hand...
 * And so is Asakura Ryoko. She's definitely chaotic ever since she basically said "Fuck you" to the Entity, or at least their conservative faction. In, she literally says that she only plans on acting according to her own will. And while she did try to , she isn't outright evil and can be genuinely nice when she isn't trying to stab you. Mainly, she doesn't really care about humans, can't really grasp her head around that concept of "life" and "death" regarding organic lifeforms, so pray that her objectives somehow coincide with your own. Then she'll be a great ally.
 * Bleach's Kenpachi Zaraki fits this trope nicely. A battle-hungry warrior who has been known to let opponents live on a whim. Or not.
 * Also: Urahara Kisuke during the flashback arc. In the series proper, he's closer to Chaotic Good, but still doesn't completely qualify (e.g. awakens Ichigo's inner hallow without telling him,
 * Much of Squad 11 counts as Chaotic Neutral. The characters tend to like fighting, and put it above all else (even their orders. ).
 * Potentially the Visoreds, as they mainly want revenge on Aizen for, rather than wanting to save the world or help the Gotei 13.
 * Spike, Faye, and Ed from Cowboy Bebop are all Chaotic Neutral, although Spike is implied to have been more Neutral Evil in the past. Jet is either a (very cynical and pragmatic) Lawful Good, or a Lawful Neutral.
 * The Straw Hat Pirates of One Piece: Being pirates, they're criminals and lawbreakers by default, have no compunctions about stealing available loot (but except for Nami, so far only from people who were glad to pay them for the help anyway), and some of the cast members (Zoro, Nico Robin) are very willing to kill even decent law officers that confront them, whereas Luffy was unconcerned (or more likely didn't think that far) about creating a prison riot that loosened many rapists and murderers on the populace in his effort to free his brother, but they also tend to help people they like, at times.
 * An interesting example happens during the Skypea arc, the Titular pirates defeaded a self-proclaimed god so they could steal the gold he had stolen first, this goes to the point that after saving the island from sure destruction Luffy personally woke up his crew carefully enough to not wake up the hangover habitants so they could sneak away with (literally) as much gold as they could carry, the habitants wanted to let them have it for saving them anyway, but other than Nico Robin none of the straw-hats know that. Also, they usually spend all their money on parties.
 * It should be noted that they tend go into Chaotic Good territory fairly often. One example is around the time they met Aokiji; they ran into some shipwrecked (and hungry) people stranded on the island they had arrived at, and were more than happy to provide them with food and medical attention. It's probably accurate to say that they tend towards good in general, but don't care about the law and can be quite harsh when provoked.
 * Dr. Kureha tends to act like this, coming in whenever she wants and treating the patients for certain fees she requests. Unlike Hiruluk, she does not have any great desire to save Drum Kingdom.
 * The titular character from Akagi fits this alignment to a T. He spits on societal rules, regularly cheats while playing Mahjong, won't obey even if it means death (not that he cares about dying) and generally isn't a very nice person. He isn't particularly malevolent, it's just that you better stay away from him.
 * Oh, Claire Stanfield. Only you can massacre dozens of not-very innocent people for both money and a bizarre interpretation of train etiquette, only to go completely (well, almost) straight by sunrise. Granted, his real alignment is probably "HOLY SHIT" but this is the closest the D&D system can get.
 * Ditto Graham who is chaos incarnate, often doing a 180 on his opinions and is similarly inclined to go from threatening violence against someone to being creepily friendly in a No Sense of Personal Space kind of way.
 * Ryoko from all the various Tenchi incarnations. She's a lazy, conniving, hard drinking space pirate who robs banks for a living, but she's willing to fight to the death to defend her friends (even her arch-rival Ayeka).
 * Killerbee in Naruto, who disregards his brother—the Raikage's -- repeated reminders not to  and . He hardly cares about anything apart from what he wants to do at the moment, but doesn't do anything particularly bad in order to fulfill those desires.
 * Subverted as we learn more about him. Bee tends to lean more toward Chaotic Good - he cares about his village and his brother very much, he's just irresponsible and was tired of not being allowed to leave.
 * Team Hebi (not Taka) can be classified as this: Jugo averages out between his Chaotic Evil and Neutral Good sides, Suigetsu has a bit of a cruel streak, but has some noble tendencies and Karin cares only about Sasuke. Sasuke is more True Neutral.
 * Evangeline of Mahou Sensei Negima swears she is Exclusively Evil, and has the reputation to back it up. However, she helps out Sayo, friendly neighborhood ghost, out of sympathy/boredom, is a sort of ally to Negi and willing to help him and others out if she considers them a friend nakama useful pawn. She doesn't care about anything else, though, either. What she does or wants is anyone's guess. Except wanting to get the hell out of that school. Who wouldn't?
 * Haruna is another example of Chaotic Neutral.
 * Hiei follows this alignment after his Heel Face Turn in Yu Yu Hakusho; while he tends to help the protagonists, he usually does it because he's forced to, or because there's something he wants. He tends to spare his opponents, but usually because he doesn't feel like killing them, or believes he is under no obligation to finish them off.
 * Raizen and Mukuro also qualify.
 * Although arguably Chaotic Evil in the first season, Suigintou becomes this in Träumend with her devotion to her sick medium Megu, which changes her motivation to participate in the Alice Game from meeting her father to curing Megu. She also seems to value her sisters somewhat more (albeit she would deny it), as she herself starts believing nobody is junk.
 * Mugen from Samurai Champloo is a great anime example (especially since he's an Expy of Spike Spiegel). He's a womanizing, hard-drinking Sociopathic Hero Anti-Hero who never lets the law (or the yakuza) get in the way of any opportunity for mayhem and bloodshed. But he's not Chaotic Evil. He tries to avoid hurting innocent people and won't just kill for no reason, but will only help an innocent bystander if there's something in it for him.
 * Greed in the anime and manga versions of Fullmetal Alchemist rebelled against his creator, the Big Bad, to pursue his own desires (especially immortality). While he is quite selfish, he cares for his friends (albeit because they are in a sense, his possessions).
 * Wrath from the first series is definitely Chaotic, but while he will attack the heroes, try to take Ed's body, and works with the villains after the Chaotic Evil Envy convinces him to join them, he's not knowingly evil as much as really, really screwed up, immature, and attached to Sloth as a surrogate mother to his real one, he may still count as evil though, and after her death, the only thing he cares about is resurrecting her. His impulse control is so low he dips into Chaotic Stupid multiple times. This was his alignment before also as a feral child. By the movie, he might have become Chaotic Good.
 * Grell from Black Butler is an Axe Crazy Chaotic Neutral Shinigami.
 * Undertaker fits this trope better.
 * Sousuke from Full Metal Panic! could definitely be considered this - especially in the beginning. Though even currently in the story, he's not exactly a defender of justice. He only really seems to care if anything happens to Kaname. His status as being Chaotic Neutral is actually a major plot point in the series, and is addressed many times. The fact that he's a mercenary also encourages this kind of thinking, as well. In his past, he especially encompasses this - he was shown to have actually been on the opposite side of many of his current colleagues (who have been shown to be good and righteous people on the side of justice), even going on missions to assassinate them.
 * Dark Schneider, the Anti-Hero of Bastard!! is a ridiculously egotistical overpowered sorcerer, not to mention a Handsome Lech. He pretty much fights on the side of good against various Evil Overlord types mostly because he wants to rule the world himself. Note that this version of him (sealed in a Neutral Good human boy) is considered a saint compared to his earlier incarnation who was probably Chaotic Evil.
 * Bart from Fist of the North Star starts out as a Chaotic Neutral, but as he journeys with Kenshiro, he gradually develops good in his heart and eventually becomes a Chaotic Good leader of the La Resistance fighters in Fist Of The North Star 2.
 * Juza initially openly aims to do only as he himself pleases without any loyalty to anybody whatsoever, living a life of true hedonism. That said, even while he does try to do as he pleases, he still can't help but to be unconditionally kind to women, even giving a group of them more than enough food to support their families, letting them go even after having rescued them to introduce them to his harem. He does turn Chaotic Good when and leads the assault against Raoh.
 * Gundam
 * Amuro Ray in Mobile Suit Gundam, although he changed to a Lawful Good person during Zeta Gundam and Chars Counterattack.
 * Similarly, Kai Shiden, who is admittedly as cowardly as he could be. He gets better toward the end of the show and Zeta Gundam.
 * Zeta Gundam, Gundam ZZ and G Gundam's respectable heroes Kamille Vidan, Juddau Ashta and Dommon Kashuu are initially this before changing to Chaotic Good.
 * Kou Uraki from Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory.
 * from Gundam Wing slightly became this after . He got better.
 * Shinn Asuka.
 * Graham "Mr. Bushido" Aker, Michael and Nena Trinity from Gundam 00.
 * Panty and Stocking.
 * General Cross Marian of D.Gray-man.
 * Souryuu Asuka Langley from Neon Genesis Evangelion could be considered as this as she is a Lawful Selfish character; very often her actions exceed the authority's expectation just to be recognized as the best pilot on Earth.
 * On the darker side of the scale is the cold-blooded Golgo 13 who is willing to perform any sniping mission if the price is right. While he is far from a Hitman with a Heart The people he kills are usually far from innocent, and indeed, on some of his government missions he's probably ended up saving millions of lives, but it's always just another job to him.
 * Revy, of Black Lagoon becomes this as part of her Character Development.
 * Bando, after his Character Development, from Elfen Lied.
 * The Ongyou (Mataichi, Ogin and Nagamimi) from Requiem from the Darkness.
 * Dr. Stein of Soul Eater.
 * Chirico Cuvie in Armored Trooper VOTOMS, though he does shift to True Neutral later on.
 * Kagura and Koga, from Inuyasha.
 * Mello from Death Note. Initially, he was a Neutral Evil character, but after meeting with Near, he mellows out.

Comic Books

 * The Incredible Hulk arguably fits in here. Sure, he'll go Ax Crazy if you make him mad, and he'll cause tremendous amounts of damage in the process, but a lot of the time he does go crazy, it's because one of his enemies pushed him too far. He's capable of showing a certain amount of empathy and friendship in rare cases, and rarely seeks to hurt people or try and use his power for personal gain... but God help you if you provoke him.
 * Marv from Sin City certainly qualifies. He's a violent brute who is more or less insane, and usually kills his enemies in horrible, horrible ways, but like Conan does not kill innocents..
 * Downer Tarantula, the protagonist of Downer comics published in the Dungeon magazine - down-on-his-luck renegade drow and Jerk with a Heart of Gold. His stats were published in Dragon magazine, so this can be considered Word of God.
 * Catwoman from Batman. She switches between good and evil at will to best suit her own interests, law be damned.
 * True to his chosen name, Madcap is a deliberately (both in the alignment and the insanity) Chaotic Neutral Cloudcuckoolander whose only goal is to show people that the world makes no sense.
 * John Constantine, Hellblazer, sometime Occult Detective and gambler with Fate, full-time smartass and Rebellious Spirit, is the ultimate individualist, always looking to Take a Third Option, and just as likely to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as he is to pull a Crowning Moment of Awesome out of his butt. However, given that he is as likely to Rage Against the Heavens as battle The Legions of Hell, even at the best of times Constantine's victories tend to be bittersweet.
 * The Creeper.
 * Delirium of The Sandman exemplifies Chaotic Neutral, of The Loonie variety. Destruction also becomes Chaotic Neutral in abandoning his duties to become a dabbling wanderer. For similar reasons.
 * Several Walt Disney characters (Donald Duck, Goofy, Fethry Duck) fall under this alignment, although Mickey Mouse is undeniably Lawful Good and Scrooge McDuck can alternate dramatically between True Neutral, Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil and Chaotic Good.
 * Mickey Mouse in his early characterizations was more Chaotic Neutral.
 * Elizabeth from Gemini Storm only kills the monsters plaguing her town because she enjoys it. The fact that she may save everyone seems to be coincidence.
 * Depending on the Writer, Batman villain Two-Face would fit here too, since he can do good or evil depending on how a coin flip goes.
 * Deadpool seems to be trying this out lately. Early on, he didn't care so much about killing innocents. He'll still hurt them though, even his friends, though now they fall into the Amusing Injuries category.
 * Spider Jerusalem, dedicated to the Truth, no matter what, and perfectly willing to shoot the President of the United States with a gun that makes you shit yourself. He hovers on the edge of, and occasionally slips completely into, Chaotic Good.
 * Writer Landry Walker used this exact phrase to describe Supergirl's doppelganger Belinda Zee in Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade. She embraced the idea of chaos without becoming a full-fledged villain, using her enhanced "superior vision" to turn her fellow classmates into more straightforward Bizarros. Walker described Belinda's emotional state as being on a constant hair trigger, and that "she's not exactly evil but she certainly isn't good". Before being manipulated into becoming Superior Girl, all Belinda cared about was her own popularity and "awesomeness" and making Supergirl as miserable as she could.
 * Kid!Loki was this by design. The regular Neutral Evil Loki realized that because he was evil and bound by his own neuroses and anger with Thor (that he alluded to being irrational), he could not be a true God of Mischief since he was so darn predictable (try to kill Thor/impress Odin while doing something evil at the same time, fail, rinse, repeat) So he got himself killed and made it so if Thor reincarnated him he'd come back as a boy without all the mental baggage that kept making him evil/predictable. Kid!Loki's only out to save Thor and himself and try not to be the Complete Monster he sees his older self as quite possibly having been.
 * He even admitted that he'd rather have stayed dead (if Thor had not reincarnated him) than stay as he was.
 * Though not easy to classify, V from V for Vendetta (the comic specifically) might be best described as a principled Chaotic Neutral, almost a contradiction in terms. He's a dedicated anarchist who believes in no government, hence chaotic; his goals are good but his methods extreme, averaging out to neutral. Ironically, it might be just the balanced presentation of the different sides that prevents him from being Chaotic Good instead, so that in a work closer to Black and White Morality he'd easily pass for good by doing the same things (killing "bad guys", mostly).

Fan Works

 * Zaerini, the protagonist (corresponding to the Player Character) from the Baldur's Gate fan fiction "In the Cards", is explicitly Chaotic Neutral and makes a fine example. She can be a sympathetic character, compassionate towards others and downright heroic - but towards those who happen to annoy her instead, she's a pretty awful (and awesome, if you sympathize) Karmic Trickster. She does whatever she happens to feel is right at the moment, and, in the end, seems to have no kind of consistent principles whatsoever, not even those that she might claim to. For example, shortly after a chapter beginning with a quote from a book she writes in the future after the story that says she absolutely hates torture, she runs into someone who acts like an incredibly massive jerk towards her, prompting her to leave him tied to a tree in the middle of the forest covered in honey to be chewed upon by ants.
 * Voldemort of My Immortal is theoretically Chaotic Evil. This would be alright, except for the fact that he never does any villainy in-fic. He just goes around hijacking MCR concerts and yelling at Ebony.
 * He's probably just True Neutral, considering the people he's dealing with. The protagonist is a Chaotic Neutral who thinks she's Chaotic Good. It's hilarious to watch.
 * The DC Nation version of Mento defaults to this. In that universe, his telepathic abilities are uncontrolled, so he tends to reflect the alignment of whoever he's with. It wasn't an issue when he was with the Doom Patrol, as they were all good guys. It's after the Doom Patrol died, and his company was infiltrated by a Religion of Evil that he started going off the rails. Still, even despite the company he keeps, he isn't necessarily the nicest guy, just the one who will get the job done.
 * Socrates from Calvin and Hobbes: The Series; his pranks are mostly the only thing he cares about.
 * Kyuubi from Eye of the Fox is depicted as something like this as while he is fundamentally trapped within the mind of a twelve-year-old, he still divulges his own rules by making Naruto/Rad's training as grueling as possible and letting the boy take breaks and train when he says he can.

Film
"Joe: The Rojos on one side of town, the Baxters on the other, and me right in the middle. Crazy bellringer was right, there's money to be made in a place like this.""
 * A Fistful of Dollars has Joe, who bounces between Chaotic Neutral and Chaotic Good.

"Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the gun."
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Captain Jack Sparrow is a free-spirited Pirate who may or may not be out of his gourd. May be Affably Evil, may be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold - probably close enough to call him Neutral, and definitely Chaotic. He becomes a little more benevolent in the 2nd and 3rd movie, when he returns to the Black Pearl to save his crew after running away from the kraken, and, leaning towards Chaotic Good, but still Chaotic Neutral.
 * The best proof has to be in the fourth film, when he wants eternal life from the Fountain of Youth...until he finds out someone else has to die for him to get the gift. This makes it, as he put it "a much less enticing prospect." He values freedom above all else, and tries to avoid impairing the freedom of others unless they absolutely will not get out of his way. Sacrificing an innocent life for no good reason doesn't fit with that.
 * In Star Wars, both Han Solo and Lando Calrissian in their initial appearances. They later moved toward Chaotic Good and even Neutral Good in Return of the Jedi.
 * The Hutts, an entire race of space gangsters. In the EU they switch sides to anyone that benefits their ends, or to the one who's winning.
 * Manos: The Hands of Fate: Torgo, the insane, sexually-deprived Crusty Caretaker satyr of marginal loyalty to the Lawful Evil Master.
 * Tyler Durden, the unfettered Ubermensch anarchist of Fight Club. Looking for a better world by destroying society as we know it. But not actually Chaotic Evil, considering that he constantly avoids actually killing anyone. It takes a fair bit of planning for him to destroy several skyscrapers without putting any lives at risk.
 * Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford), the unpredictable and erratic young con man in The Sting, especially in the first part of the movie.
 * The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Dr. Frank N. Furter. Due to his hedonistic nature, he tends to do whatever he pleases without any second thought of the consequences.
 * Flip from Little Nemo was definitely Chaotic Neutral in the movie Little Nemo Adventures in Slumberland. He did screw things up for Slumberland by convincing Nemo to open the forbidden door, thus releasing the Nightmare King, but he was just having some fun.
 * Ash, from Evil Dead, sums up his personal alignment with this famous line:

"The Plague: There is no "good" or "bad". There is only "fun" and "boring"!"
 * Tallahassee of Zombieland, total Badass and poster boy for Crazy Awesome. His main goal in life is to survive. Beyond that, he just wants a goddamn twinkie.
 * Billy Bob Thornton's character in Bad Santa, Jerkass, thief, drunkard and slob. By the end of the movie he's still a mess, but he achieves the Jerk with a Heart of Gold status. Kind of.
 * The Plague in Hackers - an amoral mercenary hacker with an unusual philosophy;

"With these powers I could be... a superhero! I'd fight crime, protect the innocent, work for world peace. But first... (goes to the mechanics who price gouged Stanley's car for revenge)"
 * The titular Inglourious Basterds. A little band of Heroic Sociopaths who love killing and scalping Nazis—why? Because they're American Jews hungry for revenge and it's just plain fun. Because they fight Nazis, they can't be pure evil, considering they don't work for Stalin either, but they're far from being good.
 * Another Quentin Tarantino example: Mr. White from Reservoir Dogs. He's polite, loyal, takes honor very seriously, genuinely cares for his friend Mr. Orange enough to risk incarceration to keep him alive, and dislikes killing civilians. And he has no problem blowing several police officers to hell and torturing bank tellers by cutting off their fingers. And he's the nicest character in the movie. As found out the hard way, "just because he's a nice guy doesn't mean he won't kill you."
 * Pretty much any Tarantino protagonist is going to be this or True Neutral. Other examples include, The Bride of Kill Bill and Seth Gecko of From Dusk till Dawn.
 * Beetlejuice himself falls under this trope. He's dangerously unpredictable, and, though he's willing to help others...his idea of "helping" often involves endangering the lives of others, or conning them in some way.
 * The titular Drop Dead Fred claims to be Lizzie's only true friend, but it doesn't keep him from acting like a complete jerk to her and all the rest of the characters.
 * The Mask in both the movie and the animated adaptation (in the comics, wearers of the mask are more Chaotic Evil, ultraviolent and seeking revenge and mayhem). He just wants to have fun, even at the expense of certain people, and will fight those who cause trouble to The Mask or Stanley. Best summed by this:


 * Si and Am from Lady and the Tramp. Though many people view them Neutral Evil or even Chaotic Evil (due to the fact that they're viewed as the villains in the movie), in reality, they're more mischievous and curious than evil. So, this basically fits for them.
 * The Chronicles of Riddick: Riddick is a guy who does good things in a horrendously evil manner, and all because he wants to fulfill a deal so that people will just leave him the fuck alone.
 * Snake Plissken, protagonist of Escape from New York and Escape From L.A.. He's a career criminal who doesn't care about the rest of the world, and only goes to rescue the President because he's coerced. An example: at one point he comes across two punks passing an obviously drugged girl between them... and doesn't step in to rescue her or defend her, but just keeps on walking.
 * The Novelization goes further into Snake's psyche and past, and reveals he isn't as cold and unfeeling as he appears to be. However, considering what happened to him in his backstory, one can hardly blame him for acting the way he does.
 * "Driver" from the movie Faster (played by The Rock) is most certainly this but bounces on Chaotic Good. He's a former driver for bank robbers, but is on a mission to avenge his murdered brother (also a bank robber). He spends most of the movie going around shooting the killers, but when confronts "Killer", an assassin, he moves a little girl out of the way before they have a shootout. Also, he even allows killer to live once he hears about him wanting to stop being an assassin so he can marry his girlfriend.
 * The bird in A Bug's Life. Sure, it comes across as a threat in both of its scenes, but its latter scene has
 * The Japanese Godzilla by default.

Literature

 * Conan the Barbarian could be the poster child for this trope. He's a thief, a reaver, a slayer... and pretty much everything else you can think of where there's an opportunity for violence, wenches and loot. Including piracy, assassination, mercenary work and becoming warrior-king of the richest country on the continent, the only thing that separates him of being Chaotic Evil is that he never kills anyone who does not deserve it or not trying to kill him.
 * Despite all animals being True Neutral, rampaging animals in fiction, such as the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, often behave in a Chaotic Neutral manner—they probably aren't aware and don't intend the damage that they're doing, but they sure as Hell manage to cause a lot of it.
 * On the topic of Michael Crichton's work, the nanobots from Prey probably fit this trope too, at least to begin with, because the harm they cause isn't intentional. As events progress and they become more intelligent, however, they inevitably go from this to Chaotic Evil.
 * Achilles of The Iliad may temporarily devote himself to a particular ruler, but at the end of the day is loyal only to himself.
 * Queen Mab from The Dresden Files. Unpredictable, alternately helpful and malicious, oh, and totally batshit. This fits her pretty well. Her daughter, Maeve, probably fits here too, though Mother Winter is probably closer to True Neutral.
 * Thomas Raith.
 * The quirkiest characters in Forgotten Realms novels:
 * Jarlaxle . The drow who is not actively malevolent, but is a great opportunist. He dresses like a pimp. He'll stab you in the back on a whim (and patch you up if he decides he made a mistake). He tries to reform assassins and corrupt knights. He is, or at least was,, not that he reciprocated. He thrives in the midst of chaos, a calm, smirking eye in the raging storm. He is Chaotic Neutral on legs.
 * Liriel Baenre, before she turned Neutral Good, though some of the attitude stuck well. Never appreciated typical drow vicious side, but is every bit as competitive and scheming as her peers. Has a lot of fun with social engagements anyway, using high social status, arcane talents inherited from the city's Archmage and penchant for pranks. Found side-adventures for fun and profit even in the Underdark. Was quite happy in such an environment, then had to leave in hurry, tasted the surface life and decided it's more fun. Then managed to "adopt" as temporary father figure a pirate considered wild (if  fair and sort of keen) even in his barbaric company. She was trained as a priestess to Lolth, whom she abandoned when had to choose between goddess and lover, then tried Eilistraee for a while (she's really into dance, after all) and when this didn't work out well, converted again to serve Mystra  - with her inclinations the goddess of magic was the natural choice - "with a focus and fervor that would have had her grandmother, the dreaded Matron Baenre, nodding in approval". While hanging out with former loners of two even more "exotic" elven subraces.
 * The Meddler of the Firekeeper novels is generally in this area. Besides he does with the main characters, the stories that exist of him, as told in the fifth book, describe how he earns his name by getting involved in situations with seemingly good intentions but without ever considering the consequences. Most telling is a tale in which he persuaded a boy to run away with a girl his father was loudly opposed to his marrying, only to learn after the fact that the two were in fact half-siblings. While she was ignorant of the fact, the boy fully understood who she was to him.
 * Discworld Elves, the local version of The Fair Folk, are essentially Chaos personified. They don't have enough of a concept of morality to be actively evil, but you really want them to stay far, far away from you. They have been compared to cats.
 * In her appearances in the New Jedi Order, Vergere appeared to be Chaotic Neutral, starting on the "side" of the Yuuzhan Vong, then flipping, then flipping back, then capturing Jacen Solo to torture him, then helping him escape, then claiming to be a Jedi of the Old Republic posing serious questions of morality and ethics to Luke's order. Later novels put the kibosh on that.
 * Elric of Menilbone, Michael Moorcock's anti-hero, is kept alive by the Gods of Chaos, but he'll tender his services to the highest bidder.
 * As an incarnation of the Eternal Champion, by the end he's True Neutral in the sense of seeking to restore the balance between Chaos and Law, but through most of his adventures he willingly wields a wholly evil artifact in Stormbringer. He probably stands as a good example of how alignments can break down in more subtle and nuanced works and settings.
 * Gollum in The Lord of the Rings is definitely not good, but overall he comes across as more unstable and deranged than truly evil. He has some serious issues, after all. If we're to look at his two personalities as separate characters (as the movie did), "Sméagol" would be Chaotic Neutral and "Gollum" Chaotic Evil.
 * The original draft of The Silmarillion (The Book of Lost Tales) contained two war-gods—Makar and his sister Meássë (whose names mean "battle" and "gore"). They were loyal to the side of good, but yet were sympathetic to the great enemy Melko, because they delighted in ceaseless violence. They were quietly dropped from the book, probably because having a pro-Melko/Melkor faction among the gods would have opened up a few cans of worms that Tolkien didn't care to deal with.
 * Yossarian, the protagonist of Catch-22, is positively dedicated to Chaotic Neutrality.
 * Simkin, a side character in Weis and Hickman's Darksword trilogy, sums up the Chaotic Neutral life philosophy (and his own) with the declaration that, "The game is nothing, the playing of it everything."
 * Archie, the gang leader in The Chocolate War and Beyond the Chocolate War, is either this or True Neutral. When Obie remarks that "You really hate this school," he responds "I don't hate anyone or anything." Obie is somewhat disturbed by this, wondering if he loves anyone or just walks through life in a fog.
 * Peeves the Poltergeist from Harry Potter is a literal spirit of chaos. He delights in wreaking havoc wherever he goes, but his pranks tend to be more annoying/humiliating than seriously dangerous. The only individuals at Hogwarts who can exercise control over him at all are Dumbledore, the Bloody Baron, and on one memorable occasion, the Weasley twins. Nearly Headless Nick actually uses him in the second book to spare Harry from getting a possible detention for letting Argus Filch catch him track mud on campus, and in the first book Harry uses the Baron's control over Peeves to his advantage by impersonating the Baron from under his Invisibility Cloak.
 * Vezon, from Bionicle although he teeters toward both Chaotic Good and Chaotic Evil from time to time.
 * Well, it helps that he's completely insane.
 * The philosophy of the Dark Others in the Night Watch series fits this- praising individualism with an attitude to the effect that everyone should look out for their own desires and not infringe on those of anyone else. In practice, they tend to forget the last part making them more Chaotic Evil, although some of their members might qualify. The best example would be the Villain Protagonist witch Alice. Within the first several hours of her story she spends a lot of energy staving off her mother's incipient heart attack, then replenishes that energy by infuriating a random guy who gave her a lift, rescues a mouse from some jerks who were torturing it and then demostrates total consent with the prospect of child sacrifice in order to win a minor brawl with the Light Ones.
 * Lisbeth Salander, the Anti-Hero protagonist of the The Millennium Trilogy, is as Chaotic Neutral as they come. If you stay on her good side, great! She'll help you in your time of need. However, if you do anything bad (especially towards women) she'll make you hurt in ways you can't possibly even begin to imagine. The way she treats her victims prevents her from being Chaotic Good, but the nature of her victims prevents her from being Chaotic Evil as well.
 * From Perdido Street Station: The Weaver. Proof that chaotic neutral is far more terrifying than Lawful Evil.
 * Alaska Young of Looking for Alaska is the very embodiment of this trope. She's brash, impulsive, and hurts people on a regular basis with little to no explanation for her actions. Sure, she treats Pudge with a great deal of kindness, but only out of personal fondness for him.
 * Balram from The White Tiger will do anything it takes to break out of the Rooster Coop.
 * Luke Rhinehart, the protagonist of The Dice Man, epitomizes this trope.
 * The Gawtrybe in Martin the Warrior are a tribe of Psychopathic Manchild squirrels whose morality operates solely on the basis of what makes a "good game". When the heroes first meet them, they want to play "chase" ... up a cliff, and if they catch the heroes, they get to throw them off. During the climactic battle, however, they are persuaded to help the good guys on the basis that slaughtering vermin makes an equally good "game".
 * In Naomi Novik's Temeraire series any feral dragon is likely to be this. Iskierka turns this up almost to ChaoticStupid levels
 * Ethan Nakamura from Percy Jackson and The Olympians works as this. As the son of Nemisis, his primary motivation for flipping sides multiple times is revenge, almost to the point of Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, though I guess this could count as Lawful Neutral.
 * Lestat De Lioncourt from The Vampire Chronicles. True, he's no saint, but, he generally tries to do the right thing....most of the time.
 * From A Song of Ice and Fire, Sandor "The Hound" Clegane definitely fits this alignment, having no real loyalty but to himself... but he's still nowhere near as unpleasant as his brother Gregor.
 * Littlefinger might also fall under this trope, but YMMV.

Live-Action TV

 * Star Trek: Klingon society's outward face seems to be Lawful Neutral, but its internal politics walk the line between Chaotic Neutral and Neutral Evil.
 * Q is a straighter example; he's chaotic in order to amuse himself, but neutral in that he honestly doesn't care about mortal politics or morality.
 * Quark fits here as well - his only real motivation is profit, and though occasionally he does something good it's not his primary M.O.
 * It seems odd, but Sisko actually points out that Quark is explicitly Lawful Neutral; it's just that his Lawfulness comes from following the Rules of Acquisition as his code of conduct (a morally Neutral set of rules that don't really concern themselves with local laws). His Heart of Gold-Pressed-Latinum pushes him towards Lawful Good or Neutral Good (since he has to violate Rules of Acquisition to help others for no profit) at times, and the Grand Negus ends up enacting reforms on the whole Ferengi Empire to push them all that way (to use greed for the common good instead of just personal profit).
 * The Nietzscheans from Andromeda - they work on the principle of "enlightened self-interest", which basically means they can do anything the writers want.
 * Lampshaded at one point in an Alternate Timeline episode where one of the Nietzcheans responsible for the uprising that destroyed the original Commonwealth finds himself completely disgusted by the current conduct of his people. They were supposed to be a race of Warrior Poets but forgot about the poetry and the "enlightened" aspect of enlightened self-interest.
 * Dr. Gregory House. Definitely on the side of Chaos, as he chafes under authority - be it legal, professional, or religious. He rebels at every opportunity, and even his rigorous problem-solving method seems holistic, piecemeal, and free-associating (complete with 'Eureka!' moments) rather than strictly logical and linear. House doesn't care enough about his patients as people to be Chaotic Good, but is too dedicated to saving them to be Chaotic Evil. His dedication comes not from any genuine care for his patients, however, but rather because he views them as puzzles which he HATES losing.
 * Michael Westen of Burn Notice. He'll help out the underdog if they appeal to his sense of justice, but his immaculately thought out plans often end with the episode's antagonist dead in an alley.
 * Fiona's is other example of Chaotic Neutral. She's impulsive, violent, enjoys beating on people, as is as likely to be unwilling to help the needy as she is likely to want to help them. She's not above using others to further her own ends especially towards toying with Michael.
 * iCarly: Sam Puckett. Without Carly, who acts as her Morality Chain, she'd likely end up as Chaotic Evil.
 * Spencer started like this, and stayed that way.
 * Jayne from Firefly fits here, according to some interpretations.
 * Mal attempts to give off an impression of being Chaotic Neutral, but his continuous tendencies toward Honor Before Reason, Good Is Not Nice, and loyalty to his crew shift him toward Chaotic Good.
 * Chiana from Farscape embodies Chaotic Neutral.
 * Rygel would likely qualify as well.
 * Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer began as Chaotic Neutral, slipped into Neutral Evil and eventually ended up as Chaotic Good.
 * Spike. Who in the course of a single season, went from hired to kill Buffy to cutting a deal with her.
 * Ethan Rayne is a chaos magician who basically spends his time messing with people for no better reason than that he can.
 * Anya exemplified this trope, particularly in her early appearances.
 * Claude Rains, the Ensemble Darkhorse Trickster Mentor from Heroes. He's lived as an Invisible Hobo for seven years, pickpocketing and following random people around because he can. He's a callous pessimist who puts Peter Petrelli through Training from Hell (which includes pushing him off a building). But we learn that his misanthropy is justifiable (his best friend betrayed and shot him), and that he lives as an invisible, homeless pickpocket to stay off the Company's radar. And he loves his pigeons.
 * Elle Bishop and Sylar develop into this in season 3.
 * Merritt Rook from Law and Order Special Victims Unit, episode "Authority." He convinces people to do utterly vile things that never quite cross the Moral Event Horizon (although his first act, strip-searching a teenage girl, came close), his only concern being to subvert the power structures he blames for the death of his wife.
 * The Shadows of Babylon 5 are initially portrayed as Chaotic Evil. However, later we find out that their antagonism with the started off as an educational partnership for the benefit of younger races, making them Knights Templar for Chaos, and really more Chaotic Neutral than evil.
 * Stargate SG 1: Vala Mal Doran swings between fighting to save the Milky Way Galaxy from the Ori threat to being only in it for the money, including (but not limited to) pretending to still be a Goa'uld so she could take an entire planet for every cent it had. Occasional moments of heartwarming vulnerability may also just be her messing with your head.
 * While the rest of the Leverage crew start out as this and work their way during the first season to Chaotic Good Parker pretty much stays Chaotic Neutral.
 * A couple characters on Lost, but Danielle Rousseau and Miles Straume are the most pronounced.
 * Red Dwarf - Lister, Rimmer, and Cat! Though, Lister edges up to Chaotic Good through Character Development, and Rimmer is here because he fails at being Lawful Neutral. The Cat is the truest case, as he really does not care, so long as you don't mess with his clothes or his food.
 * Noble Demon Alex Russo of Wizards of Waverly Place. she is lazy, irresponsible, selfish, openly mocks authority, and treats her best friend like a servant.
 * Heroic Sociopath Charlie Kelly from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
 * The Almighty Janitor from Scrubs truly exemplifies Chaotic Neutral.
 * Blake, Avon, Cally, Villa and the rest of the seven from Blakes Seven.
 * The titular Sherlock Holmes of BBC's Sherlock falls to this alignment, solving the numerous cases that the London Police Department brings before him as an excuse to satisfy his intellectual vanity, and repeatedly stepping over regulations and normal practices in order to achieve what he desires, and proves to be an insufferable pillock towards those around him.. That said, his few friends are very dear to him, to the extent where

Music

 * "Renegade" by Eminem and Jay-Z
 * Most songs by Ludacris.
 * Quite a few songs by The Beatles, many of whom were written to make as little sense as possible. Songs like "I Am The Walrus", "Lucy In The Sky with Diamonds", "Strawberry Fields" and "Glass Onion" are perfect examples of songs of pure, refined chaos in lyrical form.

Newspaper Comics
"Alice: Congratulations, you've motivated me to act randomly. PHB: I'm going over here, and I don't know why."
 * Calvin is a definite example, being extremely unpredictable, as well as hating all kinds of rules and limitations. He's frequently at odds with authority figures, especially school and his parents, makes up his own rules to games - or makes up new games altogether - and has the kind of imagination that'd almost suggest he has a problem with reality itself. He's selfish and egoistic, and usually doesn't help other people unless he might profit out of it. His general thoughts about the state of the world and mankind, as well as his fondness for animals, would suggest an alignment change to Chaotic Good later in his life, though.
 * The Pointy-Haired Boss from Dilbert isn't so much evil as he is straight-out insane (and stupid). After all, what other alignment would give someone a bonus for something they did, then refuse to tell them what they did because then they might do it again and expect another bonus.


 * Switches between this and Lawful Evil whenever he talks to Catbert.
 * Snoopy from "Peanuts" and (on a Good Day) Lucy van Pelt.

Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends

 * Loki in Norse Mythology. Leads the monster army against Odin and Valhalla during Ragnarok.
 * Fenrir's only reason for killing Odin during Ragnarok was that he was pissed that Odin chained him up and kept him by his throne, because the Allfather had a vision that Fenrir would kill him during Ragnarok.
 * Likewise, Coyote in many native American myths is this.
 * The Mastermaid, with her very considerable magic powers, which she first uses to serve a man-eating giant, then to help the prince she's fallen in love with escape from said giant, then to mercilessly torment three men whose only crime is wanting to marry her. She marries her prince; he'll be in trouble if she ever gets mad at him...
 * Traditional Robin Hood (i.e. before storytellers added the "rob from the rich, give to the poor" schtick) was Chaotic Neutral: he was just as likely to go out looking for a random fight as he was to look for a rich person to rob.
 * Elaborating on the Queen Mab example above, in general, The Fair Folk are at best Chaotic Neutral, but can easily become Chaotic Evil, as they are extremely capricious, just as likely to torture someone to death as to help them. The ones in Discworld are more on the Chaotic Evil end, as is the villain of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (although his vendetta against Strange might move him into Neutral Evil). For instance, one story has a "faery servant" Tom Brightwind who does good deeds for completely selfish reasons, and being a human raised as a faery, the Raven King is comfortably in this category.

Professional Wrestling

 * A modern example of this trope would be CM Punk. His character absolutely despises authority, and will go out of his way to mock or provoke anybody who attempts to get him to change his mind. Punk will also take every opportunity he can to get ahead, even if it means cashing in on a weakened opponent, be they a babyface or a heel. Punk is straight-edge (both in Kayfabe and Real Life), and that means he's "better than you" and not afraid to tell you so.
 * Stone Cold Steve Austin lives by the motto "Don't Trust Anybody" and is concerned with nothing so much as drinking beer and kicking ass. He can occasionally be convinced to do the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing, but is just as likely to turn on the convincer and beat him up for shits and giggles once the good deed is done. About the only thing he's ever been consistent on is that he absolutely hates being told what to do.
 * Kane is another good example. He's been a face for a good portion of his career, but he's clearly not a case of Dark Is Not Evil. I think what makes him so popular with the crowds is simply because he's such an effective Badass - that, and also the fact that he has often been bullied and tormented by even more evil wrestlers (not to speak of his near-death by burning at the hands of his "brother," The Undertaker), resulting in him becoming a most unusual version of The Woobie. (Most notably, it was hard not to sympathize with Kane during his feud with Evolution in 2003, during which Triple H dressed up as him and....well, if you've been to the wrestling section of the horrible thread, you know the rest). While Kane is undeniably a sadist and a monster, he has tended to shy away from being a Complete Monster by only attacking people who actually deserve to have their ass kicked. He finally turned heel again in the summer of 2008 when he tortured Rey Mysterio, Jr. and stole his mask, although he seems to get cheered by the fans even now.

Radio

 * Everyone on The Goon Show, except perhaps Moriarty and Grytpype-Thynne (both Neutral Evil, most of the time). Only when Spike Milligan is involved is the Cloudcuckoolander the least crazy.

Tabletop Games

 * The Random Number God, appropriately. He'll give you great rolls or horrible ones, depending on what he finds most amusing that day.
 * ORKS ORKS ORKS ORKS ORKS ORKS
 * While the Eldar commonly fight against threats to Order and Good like the Necrons, Tyranids and Chaos, above all they are concerned only with their survival, the deaths of innumerous members of the "lesser races" insignificant in comparison. Members of the Imperium describe them as a capricious, fickle force of the universe like the aforementioned Orks and Tyranids, yet realise that allying with them is often the difference between victory and defeat.
 * If you stretch it, some of the Chaos Gods in both Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000 might barely count as Chaotic Neutral. Nurgle might be the best example, since he does love you. A lot. Then we have Necoho and Malal, while not any of the greater chaos gods, act more benevolent than the other gods, in Malal's case, he practically only focuses on other chaos gods, since he represents chaos turned against itself, and Necoho is the god of atheism, which means he practically only targets religious cults of any kind, in addition to the other chaos gods.
 * In the earliest fluff, all of the Chaos Gods were Chaotic Neutral, being neither good nor evil, but simply embodiments of a particular set of emotions and related concepts. Though many Chaos worshippers did end up sliding into extremism and becoming evil, it was perfectly valid to have a relatively "good" Chaos worshipper, who applied the teachings of their patron in a manner that was at least not actively dangerous to most, and maybe even sometimes beneficial—a Khorne Champion who would never harm the weak, instead seeking to fight and kill only the strong and deadly in order to prove themselves worthy of Khorne's ideals, for example. Subsequent editions have played up the Chaotic Evil aspect of the Dark Gods, however.
 * The Chaos Gods are still Chaotic Neutral. They aren't really concerned about anything but themselves, and rarely even pay attention to the mortals, unless they perceive something as a treath to them (infact, most of the horribly evil things champions of Chaos do is to attract the attention of the Gods for even a split second so that they could be elevated to daemonhood). The Gods themselves don't really actively strive to do evil things, they just want to increase their own power. The Daemons and mortal followers of Chaos tend to be Chaotic Evil, however.
 * Indeed, because of this, the Chaos gods are treated as evil in the same way as Cthulhu is treated as evil, since they technically have a moral system that is beyond human comprehension. As to this, they technically are Chaotic Neutral, but due to human lack of understanding to the morals of the chaos gods, they appear Chaotic Evil in human moral terms.
 * Ogres and Orcs seem to fit in Fantasy. Orcs fit like they do in 40K, being bad but not really that much worse than the "good" armies, and Ogres will work for anyone for a good meal and some more gunpowder for their leadbelcher cannons.
 * In Dungeons & Dragons, the slaadi are the Anthropomorphic Personification of this in the same way demons represent Chaotic Evil and archons (sorta like angels) represent Lawful Good. They were switched to Chaotic Evil during 4th edition upon recognition that they were far more destructive than Chaotic Neutral typically exemplifies (not to mention that their method of reproduction is Body Horror and Nightmare Fuel).
 * A prominent Chaotic Neutral race in D&D are the grugach, also known as wild elves. Unlike the more noble high elves, they're a violently xenophobic culture of forest-dwelling nomads.
 * In Pathfinder, the slaadi are replaced as Chaotic Neutral's exemplars by the serpentine proteans, the living embodiments of raw creative and destructive potential (as opposed to the slaadi, who represented rampant self-indulgence, another aspect of Chaotic Neutral). Perhaps not incidentally, the primordial gods of Egyptian myth, the Ogdoad, were depicted as frogs and snakes.
 * Almost every Shadowrunner, and most Shadowrunning teams fall victim to this standpoint. The ones who go too evil find themselves obsessed with blood magic and insane amounts of cybernetics, while the ones who wind up too good eventually go legitimate. Or start up a television show once their statute of limitations expires.
 * While several characters in the Magic: The Gathering storylines fit this trope, most red-aligned characters are Chaotic Neutral, with a few slipping into Chaotic Good (the flamekin) or Chaotic Evil (the Mercadians).
 * The Blue/Red colour combination (exemplified by the Izzet guild) is probably a good example of "smart" chaotic neutral. Their thought processes are generally non-linear, they leap from idea to seemingly (often actually) unrelated ideas for the sole purpose of learning new things, regardless of what those new things are and often without even questioning why they need to know them.
 * Black in its most benevolent form is generally this or True Neutral.
 * Everyone in Paranoia. Except Friend Computer. Friend Computer is Lawful Good. Have a pleasant daycycle. The Computer Is Your Friend.
 * The Destroyers factions in Monsterpocalypse who go on destructive rampages out of pure instinct alone. The Planet Eaters mostly consume anything they can get their claws on. While the Savage Swarm smash anything that has bright and shiny lights.

Video Games
""He owes allegiance to no one, and will do anything for money. He comes and goes like the wind...""
 * Lilica Felchenerow from Arcana Heart Her main goal is to just have fun and play harmless pranks, actively tries to break the rules, and doesn't care much for the dimensional disturbance.
 * Insufferable Genius Kira Daidohji probably fancies herself to be a Lawful Evil Overlord, but despite her intelligence and overblown ego, her plans are too simplistic and random to make her really dangerous.
 * Arcueid Brunestud of Tsukihime is quite a complex case. She is whimsical, naive, somewhat self-centered, and definitely Chaotic... but, while she isn't too concerned with morality, she can be very kind when she wants (especially with Shiki...) and refuses to give in to her vampiric urges, not wanting to become a blood-sucking monster. She, too, is probably hanging between Chaotic Neutral and Chaotic Good.
 * Eiji Shinjo, the brash main character of Toshinden, probably started out with this alignment, never mind his more heroic anime incarnation. He used to only care about himself, his only objective being to surpass his brother Sho in fighting skill. He eventually matures, and by the end of the third game, he can probably be considered Chaotic Good. That is, prior to his Face Heel Turn in the fourth game, which quite a few fans refuse to consider canon...
 * Akuma from the Street Fighter series would qualify. One could be excused for thinking he's evil, but he has his own code of honor that prohibits him from harming innocents or fighting in a match that would be too unfair (case in point, he stopped his fight with Gen when he realized the he was sick). He also killed M. Bison during the time he tried to make Ryu fall to the Satsui no Hadou.
 * In his days as Dr. Baldhead, Faust was Chaotic Evil. After coming to terms with the death of one of his patients, he seeks redemption and acts much like Tezuka's Black Jack. However, he still takes some pleasure in bloodshed - as pointed out by I-No. Insisting on "curing" Chipp with an oversized scalpel and risking his own life to protect Venom, both due to to his interpretation of the Hippocratic oath, he might not be eligible for the Chaotic Good badge just yet.
 * Black Jack himself likes to cultivate this reputation, though his Pet the Dog moments lean him a bit towards Chaotic Good. However, he's very much a mercenary of medicine and will heal criminals if the price is right, and feel completely justified in refusing treatment to those who can't pay (though he does end up doing much more charity work than his reputation would suggest.)
 * The demoman from Team Fortress 2 is clearly that. He does look extremely unpredictable, does not play by the team's rules and uses explosives to inhibit the opposing team advancement in the level, being a rugged chaotic neutral in this situation, even being a defensive class.
 * In Warcraft III, Grom Hellscream, previously a Chaotic Evil Berserker, permanently cements himself as a Chaotic Neutral Berserker instead. Every action he takes that isn't fueled by his desire to atone for his past sins is fueled by his anger at anyone whom he views as an enemy. Near the end of the Orc campaign he falls once again to his Chaotic Evil side but redeems himself by killing the demon responsible for cursing the Orcs (and thus freeing them from the demons) in exchange for his life.
 * Illidan Stormrage in the same game. His main goal is power, and at a brief glance it seems that he's willing to do absolutely anything for it, but he shows from time to time that there are things that still matter to him, such as his childhood friend Tyrande and the lands he grew up in. One reading of his actions would be "a really selfish and greedy guy who tries to be good to show off but doesn't really know how to"..
 * The Goblin Race as a whole, who care about nothing but their own personal freedom, profit, and explosions - in that order. They never pick a side unless their freedom is put at stake and Word of God says they'd be just as at home in the Horde or the Alliance - the Alliance simply accidentally attacked the Kezanian Goblins first, prompting their joining the Horde.
 * Annah, the fiercely passionate, mercurial young tiefling from Planescape: Torment, is a thief, a guttersnipe, and a corpse-seller—but while she has a sharp tongue she doesn't have a genuinely mean bone in her body. The Pyromaniac mage Ignus wants to burn down The Multiverse, but his mind has been scrambled too much to have a concept of 'morality' and 'malice' and is unaware why setting fire to everything is something other people would have a problem with. And Nordom is Chaotic Neutral because he was split from the Hive Mind and values his own new-found individuality more than anything even if he covers it up in Robo Speak and generally behaving like a regular Modron.
 * Jet The Hawk and the Babylon Riders from the Sonic Riders games, seems to fall under more the 'rebel without a cause' type of Chaotic Neutral.
 * And let's not forget Chaos, who's Chaos incarnate and fits this trope well even without much screentime.
 * Shadow the Hedgehog falls somewhere between this and True Neutral.
 * Despite her character sheet listing her as True Neutral, the tiefling rogue Neeshka in Neverwinter Nights 2 has a personality that practically screams Chaotic Neutral with most of her suggestions being (small-scale) evil or chaotic, but she still seems to have a nice streak that shows through on occasion.
 * Then there's Qara who is listed as this alignment, but is basically Chaotic Stupid - being quite selfish and tends to want to set things on fire just because she can, regardless of what the object is or the safety of anyone else around. One can make the interpretation that Qara is merely too pampered and immature to understand the concept of control however and she will risk her life for a true friend, though.
 * Pretty much everyone in the Grand Theft Auto series is Chaotic Neutral, seeking only their personal profit, owing allegiance to nobody. Although the fact they kill people would probably count as Evil, you also have to consider that all the protagonists in Grand Theft Auto live in a world of crime where killing is like everyday commute. The probable exception would be CJ and Sweet from San Andreas, whose intentions of cleaning all the drug dealers from Grove Street and restoring its former days of glory make them more Chaotic Good, as well as Niko from GTA IV, whose aspiration is to live the American dream and retire from the life of crime he made in Liberty City.
 * In Mass Effect Renegade Shepard's goal is fundamentally sound (stop Saren in the first game, ), and, if all Loyalty missions are completed, s/he does seem to genuinely care about his/her crewmembers, willing to risk his/her own life many times over in the name of helping them. But it seems that those are honestly the only two things s/he cares about, as his/her methods can be a little... extreme. S/he seems perfectly fine with punching out reporters, workers, scared survivors, and generally anyone who pisses him/her off, s/he will also happily , will force Jack to , and generally just acts like a total jerk to everyone around him/her. Not to mention that during Samara's loyalty mission,
 * As for Shepard's companions, Wrex fits this trope fairly well for most of the first game, but evolves into Chaotic Good in the second You can also nudge Garrus down this path in Mass Effect 1 and 2 if you encourage him to embrace the Jack Bauer approach to handling crime, and Jack slowly starts to become this if you  Grunt also typifies this in Mass Effect 2, seeking to determine who is the strongest by fighting everyone, regardless of clan or alignment. It could be argued he turned more toward Chaotic Good after his loyalty mission, though.
 * Jak and Daxter: Jak in Renegade is pretty much a textbook "Chaotic Neutral without being Chaotic Stupid". He's basically trapped in the battle between his natural compassion and the aftereffects of spending two years in prison being painfully tortured and experimented on with Dark Eco. He joins La Résistance not because he wants to help people, but because his sole desire at that point is to crush his archenemy's face into the ground, then place a gun to Praxis's head and fire. He eventually swung over to Neutral Good, though.
 * The Daedra from The Elder Scrolls, despite being technically beyond good or evil, often come across as Chaotic Neutral. Only problem is, their divine shenanigans can destroy entire worlds...
 * It's more like some of them do deeds that are disagreeable to the inhabitants of Tameriel that earn them the "evil" status.
 * Sheogorath, as the Daedric Prince of Madness in the Elder Scrolls series embodies Chaotic Neutral in his particular universe. Since he is the embodiment of madness, he could be compared to pendulum that swings between Chaotic Evil, Chaotic Neutral and Chaotic Good, but tends to stick with Chaotic Neutral. On one hand, he can be psychopathic, (Killing a person for having a beard) and "Ax Crazy", while on the other hand, he helped the Chimer (who later became the dark elves) move from Summerset Isle and form their pre-tribunal culture, and is the source of creativity. He's also very keen on punishing those that deserve it, or teaching lessons to people, usually in the oddest way possible. So, in short, he IS the very definition of Chaotic Neutral. He does what he wants, and says fuck the consequences. Well, when his madness doesn't run in "take consequences into account a little bit too much"-ways (he is the God of Madness... including paranoia and compulsive behaviours).
 * Atton Rand from Knights of the Old Republic II is mildly insane, largely out for himself, and it's rather tricky to predict exactly how he'll respond to anything. More specifically, Atton starts out neutral. How the Exile behaves toward him can guide his Character Development to either good or evil - but he remains chaotic regardless, and the fact that the Exile can gain influence with Atton through either kindness or total gore-spattered psychopathy says a great deal.
 * Depending on how forgiving you're willing to be, Kirby is either Chaotic Neutral or Chaotic Good. He mostly seems to follow his instincts while saving the world almost on accident. King Dedede probably also qualifies.
 * Kingdom Hearts: Axel fits this alignment to a tee. While ostensibly a member of the bad guys, he basically does what he wants, when he wants through the entire series. In Chain of Memories, his duty seems to be that of The Mole, but he really only does his job because he wants to, not out of any sense of loyalty to the Organization. Indeed, at one point he muses that "all the players are in place," and that he's looking forward to "one hell of a show." In Kingdom Hearts II, he actively plays both sides, alternating between helping and hindering Sora as he feels like it. He follows his orders to bring Roxas back, but only because he himself has an interest in seeing him again. He kidnaps Kairi, but only because he knew it would bring Sora to their door that much quicker. At one point, he shows up and all but spells out the Organization's plot to Sora's face.
 * First Encounter Assault Recon: Alma. She's not really evil, just a very insane and very angry eight-year-old girl in a twenty-year-old's body. All she wants is to be free, to hold her children, and to be with a man she loves. And to get payback on Armacham, but considering what they did to her, its almost justified.
 * Disgaea and the rest of the Nippon Ichi games tend to have this as their default alignment for virtually all demons. Mao, Rozalin, Zetta, Pram, even Laharl and Etna, plus virtually every NPC demon all can fall in this category. (For the main characters, that is assuming you get the good endings, at least.) While they loudly proclaim their villainy, it generally comes down to a few childish pranks, and picking fights with each other in a world where coming back from the dead is a quick stop at the nurse's office and some chump change. They really just want to live their lives goofing off, and hanging out with the buddies that they may or may not willingly admit they have, and in any time of trouble, always come to the aid of their fellows.
 * Boomerang from Wild ARMs 1 has one goal in life: to fight the strongest opponent he can find. He is most definitely not a good person, but he isn't truly malicious either. Lucied, his wolf companion, is also of this alignment.
 * Ultimately, almost the entire cast of Touhou can be classified in this alignment. Effectively a giant band of superpowered little girls who unleash their world-breaking, space-time continuum-shredding superpowers upon one another largely for shits and giggles, possibly because at their extreme age, they just want a little excitement every now and then. Of course, nobody dies in Gensokyo, and Defeat Means Friendship, so it's really difficult to definitively say anyone is evil in Touhou. Well ... other than that one demonic cherry tree. And let's not get into the Fantastic Racism that shows up now and then ...
 * Very definitely Knights in The Nightmare's Meria. Some of her actions (rescuing you, her Taking the Bullet scene) lean a little towards Chaotic Good and others (her power fixation) towards Chaotic Evil, but she defiantly (and repeatedly) states that she's really only fighting for her own freedom.
 * Secret of Monkey Island: Guybrush Threepwood is almost a human personification of chaos. While destroying the evil LeChuck is a good thing, but he mostly do it out of trying to get into Elaine's pants (nevermind his Pant Of Holding is big enough to put her in.... er, let's not go there). He lies, steals, and openly cheats to get what he wants - proper for a MIGHTY Pirate but hardly ethical, but he doesn't do it out of Malice (well except for nailing Stan into a previously used Coffin, but that's Stan). In fact, he seems highly unaware of the consequences of his actions, and tend to refuse to take responsibility for his failures when it does blow up in his face. (Isn't this pretty much a textbook example of a psychopath?)
 * Two characters from BlazBlue are very different forms of Chaotic Neutral:
 * Arakune, who is simply too insane to form any coherent thought beyond how to survive in his current state.
 * Kokonoe, whose singleminded devotion to bringing down Yuuki Terumi causes her to use any means whatsoever towards destroying him, up to and including . That said, despite being a bitch, she isn't an actively malicious or evil person, and is shown to have genuine care towards her subordinates, particularly Tager.
 * There is also Ragna The Bloodedge, but he is only part-time Chaotic Neutral. Most of the time he is Chaotic Good on account of the Good Is Not Nice trope... The occasional Neutrality is due to him waging a one-man war against the opressive NOL, indiscriminately slaughtering every Mook and Punch Clock Villain he is able to find in its branch institutions. He isn't waging this war for altruistic purposes, like wanting to free the people from opression or bringing peace and stability, either. No, he simply wants revenge on the NOL and Terumi for fucking up his life.
 * Jin Kisaragi may also be this. Yeah, he's a dick, but he's got his Pet the Dog moments, and he doesn't go the extra step into becoming truly evil. He flies straight into Ax Crazy Chaotic Evil territory whenever he bumps into Ragna or Noel, but.
 * Raziel from Legacy of Kain fits as chaotic neutral. He's billigerent, defiant, and rebellous against most everyone he meets. He expresses no remorse at cutting down the mooks that get in his way, even though they are completely incapable of killing him, nor does he bat an eye at draining the souls of helpless victims chained to walls, though he's not as sadistic about it as Kain is. He rarely thinks his actions through, making choices that cause great harm only because they benifit, or could potentially benifit him in the short term. Though he claims to be trying to restore balance to the world, his true motivation is selfish revenge and later, escaping a Fate Worse Than Death, regardless of the consequences.
 * Black Whirlwind from Jade Empire, an Ax Crazy mercenary whose chaotic and impulsive actions (Sleeping with his employers wife, cutting in two a girl two rivals were fighting over) normally end in him having to kill everyone in self defence. The only thing that stops him being Chaotic Evil is that he seems to regret this outcome, if only because he doesn't get paid.
 * Same goes for Cha Dawn from Alien Crossfire, leader of the Cult of Planet, whose ultimate goal is to respect Planet's environments at all costs, even if that means returning Planet to its pristine state (making him at least borderline Chaotic Evil).
 * Wario did a brief stint with Chaotic Evil in his premiere game, Super Mario Land 2, but quickly and permanently settled here afterward. He has little interest in fighting for (or against) good or evil, only treasure.
 * Kimmy Eckman of Backyard Sports. She likes candy and hurts pinatas and dolls just to see if candy is in them (or for batting practice).
 * NiGHTS from NiGHTS Into Dreams - first game only, though, as s/he develops more into Chaotic Good in the next one.
 * Depending on who you ask, Morrigan in Dragon Age may be of this alignment. She is consistent about the fact that she will not be controlled or restrained by laws and rules, but what pushes slightly closer to this then outright pure bitch evil is that several times in her backstory she mentions avoiding fights rather then just killing people that get in her way, though she is easily capable of doing so. However her vanity and blatant statements that power is the best method of personal freedom, not to mention at least one VERY morally questionable action causes her to skirt Evil quite frequently.
 * Alex Mercer of Prototype. He holds very little concern for individual human lives and kills often, out of necessity (unless you decide otherwise), or when bystanders get in his way (which is sadly very easy for them to do). On the other hand, he genuinely cares for his sister and his ultimate goals are downright heroic. In the war between The Virus and the Blackwatch, Alex is a side all by himself and such a pure force of destruction that it's impossible to classify him as good, but his alien and fragmentary mind and good intentions, even fueled by rage, exclude him from evil. Either way, funny little things like laws don't even slow him down.
 * Surprisingly enough, Gabriel from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, in becoming Dracula, does not turn into Chaotic Evil. Instead, he becomes this, hiding himself inside an abandoned church in severe depression for 1000 years without turning against other humans even after he lost his childhood love. Instead of revenge on humans, all that he desires is death, unlike the Dracula in the original Castlevania timeline.
 * ... And that also proves Dracula's Love Makes You Evil motive incredibly ridiculous - no wonder he gets so little sympathy from the original Belmonts.
 * Tony Montana, originally a Neutral Evil in the movie Scarface, turns into this after surviving the final battle, and helps several people to fend off the Complete Monster gangsters of Sosa in order to claim back his power in The World Is Yours.
 * Shadow from Final Fantasy VI is actually an interesting case on how a character can have this alignment without being a raving loony. He's withdrawn and silent, but has little patience for any sort of laws or binding contracts. In the game itself, he'll show up as a Guest Star Party Member, and has a random chance of leaving the party after a random enemy encounter. According to his character introduction:

"Science isn't about why, it's about why not? Why is so much of our Science dangerous? Why not marry Safe Science if you love it so much? In fact, why not invent a special "safety door" that won't hit you on the butt on the way out, because you are fired! Not you, test subject, you're doing fine. Yes, you. Box. Your stuff. Out the front door. Parking lot. Car. Goodbye."
 * About halfway through the game he starts leaning towards Chaotic Good or possibly even Neutral Good, but when his character development stops, basically hits the Reset Button, and when you recruit him again, all of his character development from then on is flashbacks ending with
 * Karel from Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade is a Sociopathic Hero or Blood Knight who only cares about improving his sword skills. In his story, he killed his entire family over a sword technique except for his sister Karla who he didn't see as a threat at the time. Then he goes on a journey to slay the most powerful opponents across the continent he can find. He then joins up with Eliwood's army because he wishes to observe his skills. He threatens to kill anyone who challenges him, such as Guy who only wants to learn sword fighting from Karel, and even though he agrees to teach Guy, he stops when Guy reaches a threshold because, to Karel himself, teaching him any more would compel Karel to kill Guy. When he is reunited with his sister Karla, he doesn't hesitate to tell her that he will try to kill her soon.
 * Eventually though, he begins to soften and starts to show kindness towards others, such as Karla and Lucius, to name a few.
 * Karel first appeared in Fire Emblem The Binding Blade where we see him undergone development and had regret his actions. During conversations with him, he elaborates on his younger self and the bloodlust he once had. Notably, while he expresses remorse and has clearly become a better person, he makes no excuses for his past actions and now only serves as the protector to a small village but joins Roy after being convinced by his niece Fir or her father Bartre.
 * Shinon in Fire Emblem 9 and 10 rolls with this, abandoning the player in the first game in the player's darkest hour simply for a lack of interest in working for you, going over to work for the enemy, and then coming back. Rolf serves as his Morality Chain.
 * Anti-Villain N of Pokémon Black and White, if not Chaotic Good.
 * Rance, the euphonious protagonist of the whole Rance} Series. This guy has one prime motivation, to have sex with as many beautiful women as possible, no matter what it takes. If he has to rape them, he will. If he has to conquer an entire country to save a distressed damsel, he will do that too. He does have some restraints, though, since he is pretty explicitly not a pedophile, and prefers his women to be adults. He also doesn't have much patience with actual governing, tending to let other people take care of that kind of stuff for him while he is out on the field hunting for women.
 * Dryst from Brigandine. He's got a Kingdom, but didn't bother to rule it and instead uses his authority just to party all day and have fun with fighting and wars. Anyone who wanna join in the fun is allowed to the party, people in Iscalio suffers but he didn't care. What separated him from Chaotic Evil is that aside of some Pet the Dog, his fun doesn't exactly refer to 'directly making others suffer' like Bulnoil. There's a reason why he's called The Mad Monarch
 * Portal 2: Aperture Science founder Cave Johnson, who... well, we'll let the man himself speak:

Web Comics

 * Rocky Rickaby of Lackadaisy. He isn't a Wild Card; he has a strong loyalty to the Lackadaisy crew. But in a series with no "good guys" or "bad guys", where all the protagonists are criminals, Rocky falls squarely into Neutral territory. As for the Chaotic...
 * After burning down the house and barn of some guys who tried to kill him: "I know it wasn't lawful, per se. But I find the scope of the law can be rather limiting. What's lawful doesn't always coincide with what's right, Freckle. And that was very right."
 * Celesto Morgan from Dominic Deegan. Sure, he'd call himself Chaotic Good, but he's... well... chaotic.
 * Nitrine and Zintiel from Flaky Pastry. Especially Zintiel, who, when a fan asked her when she became Chaotic Evil, denied being evil...and then began rapping about chaos alignment.
 * This applies to the Jägers of Girl Genius most of the time. The main exceptions are when they are directly obeying or protecting a Heterodyne, in accordance with their centuries-old oath (bar Vole, who was kicked out of the Jaegers and now obeys Baron Wulfenbach).
 * Sparks, even ones as basically decent as Agatha, tend to get this way when visiting The Madness Place.
 * Wonderella is about 80% Chaotic Neutral, 20% Chaotic Evil, and 100% Chaotic Stupid.
 * Arguably, Pintsize from Questionable Content. He's certainly chaotic, but he's not really good, considering the amount of gleeful havoc he spreads. But he's not really evil, since he never really causes any lasting damage. Having said that, there's a reason why Faye and Marten were required to put down another $500 for the security deposit on their apartment.
 * Ethan MacManus.
 * Fuschia has gone from Chaotic Evil to Chaotic Neutral over the past two years.
 * Magarce from Tally Road. Diminutive feline Siamese pirate girl, as quick to kill you as she is to pounce you and ravage your innocence. Once you figure out she's Chaotic Neutral, she makes more sense- kinda.
 * King Steve from 8-Bit Theater. Sarda may also be this or Chaotic Evil.
 * Coyote of Gunnerkrigg Court, in keeping with his nature as The Trickster. He is quite mischievous, and seems to have an agenda that is opposed to the Court, but he is not actively malicious, shows a great fondness for Ysengrim and Reynardine (the latter of which he regards as a cousin), as well as towards Antimony and her dead mother (even going so far as to hug Antimony after seeing her sadness while he reminisces about Surma). Reynardine himself probably fell into this category before the time of the comic, although his current alignment is more ambiguous.
 * Annie herself seems to be falling into this line of thinking as her feelings towards adults expands into full-blown disrespect for authority.
 * The titular Schlock of Schlock Mercenary is chaotic neutral, with a tiny dash of good thrown in. He mainly fights just for the "BOOM", chugs Ovalkwik like a drug, considers kittens "comfort food", and has little respect even for the loose rules of Tagon's Toughs.
 * Lord Sykos from The Wotch.
 * The titular character from Blade of Toshubi constantly straddles the line between this and Chaotic Good.
 * In The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob, Galatea has undergone significant alignment drift towards niceness since she was first introduced, but she still seems to drift around the Chaotic Neutral area, with little to no respect for the laws of society. She was effectively raised in a box, and so maintaining her personal freedom and avoiding confinement are overwhelmingly important to her.
 * Chaotic Neutrality, thy name is Minus!
 * Angelika from Our Little Adventure.
 * Larisa from Sandra and Woo is a classic example for this alignment. At the same time as her friend Cloud suggests to be quiet to not draw unnecessary attention to the group, she draws unnecessary attention to the group by pushing a cupboard out of a window (which is smaller than the cupboard itself!). Woo, like most raccoons, is also a chaotic neutral character.
 * Sam Starfall of Freefall would qualify. Laws mean nothing to him, and he enjoys breaking them, stealing things and blackmailing people far more than he should, but there's no actual malice behind his actions - he seems to steal for the fun of it rather than the profit, and cheerfully helps Neutral Good Florence save the robots of the world because screwing with Ecosystems Unlimited and the mayor is more fun than his usual petty crime.

Web Original

 * The titular character of Interviewing Leather.
 * Nutty from Happy Tree Friends.
 * Red from Ruby Quest, despite starting as Chaotic Good, has fallen squarely into this alignment by the time Ruby and Tom find him, mainly due to insanity.
 * For all his attempts to join the Evil League of Evil, Dr. Horrible really comes of as this rather than Chaotic Evil while he has good intentions most of his disrupting of the status quo benefits him.
 * Dad of Dad's Home fame (as well as Dad's at Work and Dadgame.) He may have a knack for destruction, the attention span of a retarded goldfish, a healthy disregard for the laws of physics and a permanent insane grin, but he doesn't seem to lean towards good or evil in particular.
 * Most everyone in Red vs. Blue, although Church has his Neutral Good moments.
 * Gordon Freeman's Alternate Character Interpretation in Freeman's Mind. He spends most of the time trying to escape from Black Mesa, and while he does occasionally help others along the way when it is convenient, he will never take huge risks to rescue other scientists. Basically, the lack of true harm from his actions and the fact that he has a fairly sympathetic goal keeps him from he evil side of the scale, but the fact that he mostly just cares for himself (making him an Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist) keeps him from becoming Chaotic Good (although he does have Heroic Sociopath tendencies). The chaotic part, on the other hand, is really clear, even before he started killing off hostile soldiers (if his dialogue about his past is to be believed). In fact, most "Mind Series" protagonists fall under here, with the possible exception of Adrian Sheperd, who, as you'd expect from a marine, seems to be Lawful Neutral.
 * The Nostalgia Critic (the character, not Doug Walker himself of course) fits. He clearly has a standard of morality as demonstrated by his faithfulness in pointing out evil as it occurs in the movies he reviews (as well as Broken Aesops), but isn't above issuing rivers of biting sarcasm, or maybe blowing the head off a sufficiently annoying character with his gun. And chaotic? Why, yes.
 * Really, everyone on That Guy With The Glasses counts. They love their brawls, Comedic Sociopathy runs rampant; Spoony's a self-admitted rapist, The Nostalgia Chick gleefully abuses her best friend and pays her for to put up with it, Linkara's just nuts... and so on, but the majority of them have hearts of gold and will point out evil bastards in whatever they review.
 * Debatable. Linkara's persona seems to lean more towards Lawful Good, especially since he not only went out of his way to bring Spoony back from the dead but even showed sufficent mercy to grant his split personalities (one of whom being his arch enemy) lives of their own. Plus Benzaie was willing to risk exposing himself to an obviously homocidal Nostalgia Critic to save Spoony in Kickassia.
 * Neopets: Sophie, after the potion incident that drove all the Neovians crazy against her family, escaped into the Haunted Woods and became an embittered Chaotic Neutral as a lone swamp witch in spite of her trying to recover the Neovians with her potions. After the job is done, she continues to stay away from the town as a loner; anyone who disturbs her and catches her in bad mood will be turned into a Petpet or a Petpetpet.
 * Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation calls himself the "free-spirited, Chaotic Neutral rebel of video game journalism".
 * This assertion actually fits into his personality in reviewing. He chose to be good while playing In Famous mainly to spite the game's seeming default assumption that you'd be a villain. And in his Overlord 2 review, he discusses at length how "Being a dick in a dickishness simulator is just as boring as being good in any other game." Yahtzee's gameplaying persona seems to derive sadistic glee not from morally questionable behavior, but from defying the preset expectations. Of course, he does sarcastically mention in The Stinger "debate whether I am actually Chaotic Neutral or not" so, even if this analysis is right, it's still wrong.
 * This is about the nicest (and probably the most accurate) way to describe the collective mindset of /b/.

Western Animation
""I suppose I could part with one and still be feared...""
 * Bugs Bunny, the all-time heavyweight champion of self-interested screwball mayhem, and pop culture's ultimate Trickster Archetype.
 * Though in "The Looney Tunes Show", he starts to slide towards True Neutral.
 * With Daffy Duck a very close second - he's equally as Chaotic Neutral as Bugs, he's just not as good at it.
 * Screwy Squirrels in general tend to be Chaotic Neutral.
 * Yakko, Wakko and Dot from Animaniacs. Similar to Bugs in that they only strike back when provoked. However, their definition of "provoked", in this case, is far looser.
 * Duncan, Eva, and Ezekiel from the Total Drama series.
 * Toph of Avatar: The Last Airbender borders the line between Chaotic Good and Chaotic Neutral. She shows affection through mild violence.
 * Zuko goes through pretty much every neutral alignment. Most of season 2 has him in Chaotic Neutral, however.
 * As do the pirates. Pay 'em, and they don't care what country you're working for.
 * Jet would fall under the usual Robin Hood-type Chaotic Good, if it weren't for the fact that he became a Well-Intentioned Extremist who didn't care who he hurt trying to take down the Fire Nation.
 * Bloo from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. He's a big mischief maker.
 * Futurama has Professor Farnsworth, who apparently does whatever he likes, inventing things like the Smelloscope (thus saving the world) and incredibly destructive weapons that can blow up planets like the Sphereoboom (also saving the world, ironically). Despite this, he has never actually done anything bad with them - many of these weapons appear to be mainly for show.

"Gizmo: Whose side are you on, Barf Brain?! Red X: MINE!"
 * Kenny is often this in South Park. While he does right by his friends most of the time and will save the world if pressed to do so, he is nothing short of a hedonist, has no problem shooting animals on sight, would much rather play video games, doesn't care about saving the whales, gets it on with the school slut while still in 4th grade (and dies of an STD). He'll even go along with some of Cartman's schemes in the earlier seasons.
 * It is notable that his superhero persona, Mysterion is Chaotic Good of the vigilante variant.
 * Roger on American Dad, mostly due to his short attention span. He probably leans evil, though, or at least selfish.
 * Beavis and Butthead. They tend to goof off, listen to heavy metal, piss off people, and generally do what they want whenever they feel like to starve off boredom, which may unintentionally harm some people. They are also very dumb to even be aware what's going on. This is very clear in their movie. Beavis and Butthead were in a terrorist plot involving a biological weapon that can detonate in Washington D.C., what do they think about at this time, "scoring" with a chick.
 * All five members of Dethklok from Metalocalypse. While they rarely cause intentional harm to anyone around them, they are usually either amused by or indifferent to the constant carnage that happens in their wake. Their presence in general also tends to make the world more chaotic.
 * Satan from Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil. Sure, he tries to be Lawful Evil, but he usually loses interest before his evil plans have the chance to do any real damage.
 * Heloise on Jimmy Two-Shoes. She works for Misery Inc, owned by the closest thing the series has to a Big Bad. At the same time, even her boss is not immune from her sadistic tendencies, and her humongous crush on Jimmy often results in her doing the right thing (albeit reluctantly).
 * Terra from Teen Titans. While she tries to be Chaotic Good, she's got a whole slew of personal issues that leave her open to becoming a pawn for the Big Bad, and while she's not generally malicious she can be scary if you hit her Berserk Button. Fittingly, she spends her appearances torn between the two sides.
 * Robin slips into this from time to time, primarily when it involves capturing Slade.
 * Red X anyone?


 * Chaotic Neutral is the best way to describe Marceline from Adventure Time. When Finn and Jake first meet her, she forcibly evicts them from what used to be her treehouse. The second time, Finn spares an old man's life to become her henchman, but  Every appearance since indicates that Marceline is one of Finn's friends, and he's recently stated in song that she's one of "(his) best friends in the world".
 * Add The Flame Princess to the list, now.
 * King Julien in Madagascar and all Spin-Offs he's in (such as The Penguins of Madagascar). He is a Cloudcuckoolander, a complete Jerkass, incredibly selfish and egotistical. But he also has done many good things, and while he often causes trouble, has never intentionally done anything particuarly antagonistic.
 * Despite her official Game status as Lawful Evil (indeed, as a Devil), Tiamat in the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon tended to display this temperament.
 * Oberon from Gargoyles isn't really malicious, but neither is he governed by any sort of morality more complex than his immediate whims. As he's also a Physical God, this amorality makes more dangerous than most of the show's straightforward villains—but only, of course, if he cares to be for some reason.
 * Freakazoid! is just, well, Chaotic. Period. He's technically on the side of the law, but he drives the villains so insane you can't help but almost feel sorry for them. He does what he wants when he feels like it, and his ADHD tends to just lean towards doing good. At least his handlers try to steer him that way.
 * Kaos, the god/personification of Chaos from the Aladdin series. He's not evil, he just sees order as stagnation and boredom so he sees it his duty to stir up people.
 * SpongeBob SquarePants, although he has moments of Neutral Good.
 * GIR from Invader Zim takes this to the extreme - his only motivation is his own amusement, and what amuses him is completely incomprehensible to sane minds.
 * The Parasprites in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic are bugs that reproduce fast and can throw a town into mayhem by not only eating everything but also making a mess and bugging people in general for no particular reason.
 * Transformers Animated has the Dinobots, as they only possess primeval animal instincts. They simply prefer to be left alone, but they tend to cause trouble to the Autobots for one reason or another. They were once threatened to by Prometheus Black, and were seduced by Blackarachnia.
 * Bart Simpson from The Simpsons is definitely of this alignment. All he cares about is doing his own thing, and doesn't follow any rules.
 * Riley, Ed, and Rummy from The Boondocks.

Miscellaneous

 * Puck (Robin Goodfellow) in most traditional incarnations, notably Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and especially in Gargoyles where he seemed to go out of his way to be a Literal Genie just for his own amusement.
 * Most incarnations of Peter Pan probably match this alignment best.