Above Good and Evil: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

A character declares that he or his objectives are more valuable than meaningless considerations about good and evil. Such distinctions are for slaves and lesser beings, not for him. He often terms them [[Good Is Old-Fashioned|antiquated]] or [[Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids|childish]]. He may go on to question [[What Is Evil?]]

 

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* The Lord of Nightmares from the ''[[Slayers]]'' continuity is Above Good and Evil, and creator of both. She represents the primal chaos from which all things emerge, and can side with creation just as easily as with destruction. Most people are only aware of her destructive side, and consider her the Dark Lord above the Dark Lords.

* ''[[Medaka Box]]'': {{spoiler|Ajimu, who as almost 13 quadrillion super powers}} is basically this, and states that life, death, love, hate, etc. is meaningless garbage. {{spoiler|This is because she is under the delusion that ''everything'' is fake.}}

* Sousuke Aizen from ''[[Bleach]]'' uses this to justify his depraved actions, claiming that distinctions of good and evil would merely limit his potential.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* ''[[New Gods]]'': [[Darkseid]].

* [[Word of God|Word of]] [[Geoff Johns]] says that [[Blackest Night|Nekron]] was intended to be this. Given that he spends most of his panel-time committing atrocity after atrocity, culminating in {{spoiler|putting people's minds in an [[And I Must Scream]] state [[Forced to Watch]] as their now-undead bodies mindlessly slaughter their friends}}, fans tend to [[Complete Monster|disagree]].

 

== [[Film]] ==

* In ''[[Dungeon Siege|In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale]]'', the [[Evil Sorcerer]] Gallian tries to destroy the Kingdom of Ehb in order to usher in a [[New World Order]]. When someone points out that he could show his merciful side by releasing the prisoners, he explains in a [[Large Ham]] way that he's beyond such petty concepts as Mercy, Good, or Evil. After he takes over, Good will be redefined in terms of power (i.e. the more the better). He is also insane, which he doesn't try to hide.

* In ''[[Film/Thirst|Thirst]]'', {{spoiler|Tae-ju}} takes this attitude to vampirism, comparing a vampire killing a human to a fox killing a chicken.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* In [[John C. Wright]]'s ''[[Hermetic Millenium|Count to a Trillion]]'', Menelaus asks whether they are going to teach post-humans morals, and gets the answer that they would be above it—it would make no more sense than preaching monogamy to bees or veganitarism to lions.

 

* ''[[Charmed]]'' had a group called Avatars with this philosophy. They are actually closer to the [[True Neutral]] variety, though.

* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', John Lumic justifies his illegal {{spoiler|creation of the Cybermen}} with "I am governed by greater laws, old friend. The right of a man to survive."

I am serving Fire alone,

Not the bliss and not the pain now. }}

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* Though labeled an "evil" character ("dark" is more apt), ''[[Street Fighter]]'''s Akuma does not believe there is any merit in tagging one's self as 'good' or 'evil'. His ultimate goal is simply to be the most perfect example of a warrior, and that means anyone who has the might to stand against him will not be spared his full power, regardless of where they are morally.

 

* ''[[Bob and George]]'': [http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/020723 After he blows up the fortress]

{{quote|'''George''': Uh -- is that a good thing or a bad thing?

* [[Assassin's Creed|Alt]][[Memetic Badass|air]], according to the Grand Unifying Guesses: "(Altair) serves a higher power now. One that transcends the notions of race, gender and any concept of good and evil."

* In ''[[Atop the Fourth Wall]]'', the [[Eldritch Abomination|Entity]] {{spoiler|aka [[The Missingno|Missingno]],}} is directly stated- by the protagonist, no less- to be a being beyond good and evil.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==