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Big Good: Difference between revisions
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Whereas the [[Big Bad]] is considered the ultimate evil to be defeated, the Big Good is the cornerstone of any heroic organization. This character is explicitly stated to be a counterpart to combat the forces of evil, likely calling all the shots in the organization and is normally the highest ranking or the absolute most powerful. Since [[The Hero]] is usually, but [[Anti-Hero|not]] [[Villain Protagonist|always]] synonymous with the protagonist, the Big Good does not always fill that role, as it is usually more dramatic for the protagonist to work upwards from the bottom. In fact, it may even be stated (at least in the beginning) that [[The Hero]] is expendable whereas this character is not. The Big Good is simply the most valuable member of the heroic movement in a given work, whether in terms of rank, function or wisdom. If not [[The Hero]], then they will most definitely be [[Mentor Archetype|the mentor]] to craft [[The Hero]] into being the weapon they need him to be.
[[Authority Equals Asskicking]] is in full force most of the time, with the Big Good usually starting off several orders of magnitude more powerful than [[The Hero]]. The character may even be servant to [[The Man Behind the Man|a greater good]] just like his or her evil counterpart is servant to a greater evil. Unlike the [[Big Bad]], however, the Big Good ''can'' be taken down rather early- to show [[The Worf Effect|just how powerful the enemy has gotten]] by that point or [[My Death Is Only the Beginning|as part of a greater plan.]] One of the more common ways this is done is to have the two Bigs confront each other directly, with the Big Good coming up short. For extra pathos, the [[Big Bad]] was [[The Paragon Always Rebels|once their second in command.]] Expect [[The Hero]] or some other member of the [[True Companions]] to take up the mantle by time the [[Grand Finale]] comes round.
At the beginning of a series, expect the [[Big Bad]] to be much more worried about this character than about [[The Hero]]. In fact, [[The Hero]] may not even register on any antagonist's radar while all of them will be out to off the Big Good.
To illustrate, in the [[Five-Bad Band]], [[The Dragon]] is far more often the [[Rival]] or [[Worthy Opponent]] to [[The Hero]] than the [[Big Bad]] is. If that is the case the counterpart of the [[Big Bad]] would be the [[Big Good]].
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* Captain Bravo from ''[[Busou Renkin]]''. Then the second half of the series introduced a ''Bigger'' Good Guy who was ''his'' captain. He even makes the bigger part somewhat literal -- whereas Captain Bravo's weapon is a body-fitting armor, his superior's weapon is a ''[[Humongous Mecha]]'' suit of armor.
* King Kai from ''[[Dragonball Z]]'s'' run. He's a mentor to Goku, one of the [[Physical God|Physical Gods]] of the afterlife, and in most of the movies he takes time to inform Goku on various threats.
** Supreme Kai as well, though apparently [[The Gods Must Be Lazy|anything that doesn't threaten the entire universe is beneath his notice]].
* Koutarou Taiga from ''[[GaoGaiGar]]''. (Not actually more powerful, but [[The Hero]] is a super-advanced cyborg and Taiga is a [[Badass Normal]] who can fight off the enemy boss with a golf club.)
* Lord Mallory from ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]''.
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** [[Black and Gray Morality|Kinda]][[Reasonable Authority Figure|sorta.]] Still better than the other side, though.
** Depends on who you ask, but this seems to be shared equally among four contenders: Yamamoto is the [[Big Bad]]'s equal in power, Kisuke Urahara is the [[Big Bad]]'s equal in intellect, Shinji Hirako somewhat combines the two as the most direct threat to the [[Big Bad]] personally, and {{spoiler|Isshin Kurosaki}} is able to take on the [[Big Bad]] in one-on-one combat.
* [[The Obi-Wan|Dr.Riddles]] in ''[[Gash Bell]]'' for [[The Hero|Kiyo, Zatch]] and Gang. He [[Trickster Mentor|trains the heros]] and organizes them to fight against threats like ancient demons and Faudo.
* The Queen in ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure]]''.
** Couppe-sama and Granny Kaoruko{{spoiler|/Cure Flower}} jointly hold this position in ''[[Heartcatch Pretty Cure]]''.
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** At the same time [[Manipulative Bastard|Lieutenant General Grumman]] and [[Four-Star Badass|Major General Armstrong]].
* Pope Benedict in ''[[The Legend of Koizumi]]'', who leads the world's [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|Mahjong-based]] defense against the [[Stupid Jetpack Hitler|Fourth]] [[Those Wacky Nazis|Reich]], who live on the moon and shoot meteors at major cities. [[It's Personal]] for him for some reason, probably due to his having grown up in the third one.
* ''[[Soul Eater]]'''s Big Good is Death, ironically. He's the head of the school that trains the heroes, gives them their missions and is the only one capable of going head to head with the Big Bad. Also, he's the one the villains are worried about; the heroes themselves are a much lower priority.
* In more recent chapters of ''[[One Piece]]'', Silvers Rayleigh seems to operate in this capacity, being likely the strongest and most traveled ally of the Straw Hats, and taking on a mentor/trainer role for [[The Hero|Luffy]]. Rayleigh was merely a [[Retired Badass]] despite being powerful enough to hold this role all along, until Luffy's determination (and similarity to Rayleigh's old captain, Gold Roger) impressed him enough to get him to come out of retirement.
** Two of the strongest pirates alive, "Red-Haired" Shanks and Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate {{spoiler|until his death}} could also qualify. In particular, during the Whitebeard War, the rather morally-sound Newgate led the battle against the more reprehensible [[Knight Templar|Marines]] into battle, but it was Shanks himself that ended the war, simply by '''threatening to attack anyone that wanted to continue fighting'''!.
* Ceiphied aka the Flare Dragon of ''[[Slayers]]''. Fought the [[Big Bad]] Shabranigdu to a draw (of sorts) 5,000 years ago, thus saving the world from being a rather [[Crapsack World|gloomy place]]. He also perished in the deed, but his released essence gave birth to a whole hierarchy of lesser dragonlords who still keep the Mazoku (demons) in check.
* The [[Power Trio|Three Dark Lords]] of ''[[Rosario
* This was [[Badass|Erza]]'s role in the earlier chapters of ''[[Fairy Tail]]'', until [[The Obi-Wan|Makarov]], then [[Person of Mass Destruction|Gildarts]] was introduced.
** Erza still has the capability to become this in the future. She's arguably stronger than [[Idiot Hero|Natsu]] and definitely more levelheaded. The main thing holding her back is her age (which is never actually given, but she's somewhere in her late teens or early twenties).
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** In any story involving the entire Bat Family, Batman will be this even more so than Superman. [[The Man Behind the Man|Alfred Pennyworth]] [[Battle Butler|is a kind of this]] even more than Batman.
** In a similar capacity, [[Captain Marvel]] is often treated like this, even in comparison to Superman, possibly due to [[Children Are Innocent]]. It's explicitly stated in the comics that Billy Batson would be Marvel full-time to help people, if not for the wizard Shazam insisting that Batson himself deserves some happiness in his life, too.
* [[Captain America (comics)]] is to the Marvel multiverse what Superman is to the DC universe. Though he's far from the most powerful hero, Steve Rogers is basically the embodiment of Good in the Marvel Universe.
** ''Especially'' when he was the director of SHIELD.
** [[Spider-Man]] fufills this at points, if Steve is the [[The Messiah|Soul]] of the Marvel Universe then Parker is definately the [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|Heart]]. He manages to unite even the most cynical of heroes and [[Moral Event Horizon|loathesome]] villians together or brings out the best in them with his optimism and true everyman nature.
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== Fan Fiction ==
* In the ''[[Command
* ''[[Undocumented Features]]'' has the Wedge Defense Force, and later the International Police Organization.
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* Captain Azarcon in the [[Warchild Series]] would most likely count. His morals are undoubtedly in the right place, and he commands the respect of his men and the aliens of [[La Résistance]]. Unfortunately, the bureaucrats of the universe don't seem to agree.
* M, in the [[James Bond]] series.
* Kelsier from ''[[Mistborn]]'' in the first book. {{spoiler|With the new backstory revealed in the third book, this also applies to the primordial god Preservation. In fact, on a cosmic scale the apparent Big Bad of [[Mistborn]], the Lord Ruler, turns out in the end to have been the Big ''Good''. In a twisted sort of way}}.
** Until the third book, Vin seems to have taken up his mantle.
* Mentor of Arisia, in the [[Lensman]] series.
* The ''[[His Dark Materials]]'' trilogy has an interesting subversion: Because he is the leader of the forces opposing the [[Big Bad]], Lord Asriel could be said to fill this role, despite being pretty firmly an [[Anti-Villain]]. Of course, because the other leaders are not so morally questionable (as far as we know), all of them could more easily be said to be the ''collective'' [[Big Good]].
** Xaphania, perhaps?
*** If only she was still around instead of suffering [[A Fate Worse Than Death]] for her original rebellion against the Authority.
* Gesar from ''[[Night Watch (novel)|Night Watch]]''.
* Lews Therin and Rand al'Thor from ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' series fit this to a T. Not only are they the absolute leaders of the forces of light in their respective ages, but are the only real hope against the Dark One. Of course, the former messes it up pretty badly, we'll have to read and find out how the latter fares.
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* Great Mage Urtho in the ''Mage Wars'' prequel trilogy of the ''[[Heralds of Valdemar]]'' series. The entire conflict revolves around a massive war between him and the [[Big Bad]], Ma'ar, and their mutual deaths cause a [[The End of the World as We Know It|cataclysm]] that shapes the world for thousands of years afterwards.
* Michael in ''[[The Guardians]]'' series is the Doyen of the [[Our Angels Are Different|Guardians]]. He's their leader and it's his job to recruit new Guardians, enforce the Rules and facilitate the [[Brought Down to Normal|Fall]] or [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence|Ascension]] of retiring Guardians. He was also the first Guardian ever changed.
* Luke Skywalker in the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]], most notably the novels. According to George Lucas' [[Word of God]] Anakin had the potential to become far more powerful than Emperor Palpatine, but due to his injuries on Mustafar had difficulty realizing that potential during his lifetime. Luke inherits that power and realizes it to the point where he becomes the most powerful Force User who has ever lived in the entire Star Wars canon. Luke has countless feats to his name but some that stand out include: Walking directly on top of a lava flow in order to impress an apprentice, during the Yuuzhan Vong War took on over a hundred enemy troops who individually could take on hundreds of Republic soldiers and cut them down with such alarming speed that fellow Jedi could only see Luke's after-image, manipulating the gravity of a black hole and moving it so as to prevent it from destroying the Galactic Republic's forces and sends it back to the enemies who cast it, and perhaps most impressive of all defeating a resurrected Emperor Palpatine in single combat by cutting off his hand which is especially notable as Palpatine is considered the most powerful Sith user and one of the greatest lightsaber duelists who ever lived. By the time Luke is in his prime it becomes easily understood why Luke became the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order, one even more powerful and wise than Yoda ever was.
* [[The Obi-Wan|Dallben]], from the [[Prydain Chronicles]]. Competes with [[Supporting Leader|Prince Gwydion]] for the title, with the former raising the protagonist and the latter being the warrior-prince he aspires to be.
* In ''[[The Man Who Was Thursday]]'', there's the "man in the dark room" who made the protagonists policemen, though he doesn't seem to play much of an active role in the story; it's more that his very existence is a source of inspiration and hope for them. He may or may not also be {{spoiler|God -- and he is certainly also Sunday, who the protagonists thought was the [[Big Bad]] but who was really doing it all for their own good}}. It's kind of complicated.
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* In the ''[[John Carter of Mars]]'' books, Tardos Mors, the ruler of Helium -- and perhaps even more so John Carter himself, once he gets the title of Warlord of Mars.
* Christopher Robin is this to the animals in ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]''. Not that there are any [[Big Bad|Big Bads]] to contend with, but everyone holds Christopher Robin in high esteem, and his word is Law for resolving all conflicts (as seen in the "Poohsticks" chapter).
* Ardneh in the ''Empire of the East'' trilogy by Fred Saberhagen. So much so that the [[La Résistance|good guys]], or some of them at least, worship him as a god, even though he denies being one.
* Allanon in the first ''[[The Sword of Shannara]]'' and its many sequels. Just because you're the [[Big Good]] doesn't mean [[Good Is Not Nice|you're nice]].
* D'ol Falla from the [[Green-Sky Trilogy]] becomes this after making up her mind to [[The Atoner|atone]] for her actions while leading the [[Knight Templar|Geets-Kel]].
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** Supreme Commander Fowler/Doggie Cruger from ''Space Patrol Delta''.
** Captain Logan {{spoiler|and Alex Drake}} from ''Time Force''
*** Interesting note: Logan's ''[[Mirai Sentai Timeranger]]'' counterpart Ryuya? {{spoiler|He's [[The Man Behind the Man]].}}
** Captain William Mitchell from ''Lightspeed Rescue''.
** Animus from ''Wild Force''.
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* [[Da Chief|The Chief]], in opposition to ''[[Carmen Sandiego]]''.
* In ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' as Gul Dukat asserts himself as the [[Big Bad]], Ben Sisko was brought up by The Prophets (who are usually unconcerned with mortal dealings) to become the ultimate force for good.
** It's a bit of a disservice to say Ben Sisko was the embodiment of good. He was an accessory to two murders of Garak's, tricked the Romulans into the Dominion War which resulted in numerous Romulan deaths and he poisoned the atmosphere of a Maquis planet to spite Michael Eddington. All of that may be justifiable...but it wasn't "good".
* Subverted in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', where Giles is nominally this but in practice tends to defer to Buffy.
** Also subverted in that the Watchers Council seems to see themselves as this and is indeed traditionally in charge of the Slayer's fight against evil (a tradition Buffy never follows), but they also use [[I Did What I Had to Do|cruel methods]] like torture and [[Secret Test of Character|rendering Slayers defenseless before locking them up with a vampire]]. A further subversion, emphasized in ''Angel'', is that the celestial Powers That Be share similar [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] flaws as the Watcher Council.
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** In the old pre-exilic Israelite religion, El was the King of the universe and head of the Divine Council. YHWH was his firstborn and most beloved son who by far outranked and superceded the others in every respect.
** Depending on your interpretation of His place in the universe, it could be said that He isn't the [[Big Good]], because He is greater ''than even that''. He is the Big ''Everything'', because ''nothing'' is beyond His vision or power, with Evil just being another tool in his toolbox.
* Hinduism has a plethora of these. Vishnu on a cosmic scale, some of his avatars like Rama on the wordly scale, and Indra of the early Rig Veda. Yudhishtir is another one.
** Interestingly, the different sects of Hinduism are basically distinguished by who they believe is the cosmic [[Big Good]]: for Vishnaivites it's Vishnu, for Shaivites it's Shiva, for Shaktas it's Devi, certain spin-off religions and the Hare Krishnas believe it's Vishnu's avatar Krishna, and Smartas give the [[Mathematician's Answer]] and say it's all of them.
* Many, though not certainly not all, religions with a deity or deities view them as this -- although some of the polytheistic ones have some as big goods, others as [[Big Bad|big bads]], and others as bystanders, of course.
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== Videogames ==
* They tend to vary in ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'', but whoever the canonical big goods of various series usually are will defer to one (though there can be more) major [[Big Good]] to lead them and the rest of the troops, and in most games [[Mobile Suit Gundam|Bright Noah]] usually gets this task due to overall command experience.
* [[Fantasia|Yen Sid]], as of the more recent games in the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' series. [[Final Fantasy VIII|Leon / Squall]] leads most of the supporting cast, but Yen Sid is the guy ''King Mickey'' goes to for advice. He's currently {{spoiler|co-ordinating the effort to rescue those suffering and prepare for Xehanort's reincarnation.}}
* The various leaders of the three home nations in ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'', as well as the Archduke of Jeuno. {{spoiler|He actually pulls double duty, as all the problems with the Shadow Lord in the present are because of him and his brother}}.
* Statesman in ''[[City of Heroes]]'', [[Alternate Company Equivalent]] of [[Superman]], is the main signature character of the game, and avatar of the original lead developer Jack Emmert.
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* As Myrrah from ''[[Gears of War]]'' cements herself as the [[Big Bad]], it would seem that the Big Good of the story is Adam Fenix, Marcus' father who had apparently died some 4 years before the games. {{spoiler|Except his voice at the end of the second game credits...}}
* Every ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' expansion tends to have one. In the Burning Crusade, A'dal stood at the literal center of Outland, and occasionally players would kite monsters to him to see A'dal deal ridiculous damage. In Wrath of the Lich King the role belongs to Tirion Fordring, the leader of the Argent Crusade. In Cataclysm, we have Alexstrasza the Life-Binder, queen of the dragons and Deathwing's heroic counterpart. Also, to some extent, this applies to most of the faction leaders in the game (Thrall, Varian Wrynn, etc.)
** The straightest examples among faction leaders are probably Jaina Proudmoore, Thrall, slightly less Cairne Bloodhoof, and of course the Prophet Velen.
* In ''[[Chrono Cross]]'', {{spoiler|Belthasar is the big good, as well as [[The Chessmaster]].}}
* Cosmos from ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]''. Chaos summons villains, she summons heroes, and neither of them gets personally involved in the fighting unless they have no other choice.
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** [[Player Character|Shepard]] becomes the [[Big Good]] for humanity in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'' as s/he tries to rally the rest of the galaxy against the [[Eldritch Abomination|Rea]][[Abusive Precursors|pers.]] In return, s/he'll need to unite the other leaders of the races into cooperating with each other.
** Admiral Steven Hackett from the same game as well. He's become the de facto leader of humanity and the allied galactic forces.
** Admiral (formerly Captain and/or Councilor) Anderson fills this role for the human resistance back on Earth. The three of them essentially form a Big Good Ensemble.
* In ''[[Star Wars: Dark Forces|Jedi Outcast]]'' and ''[[Jedi Academy]]'', Luke Skywalker, as the head of the Jedi Academy (and probably the most powerful Jedi ever, by other sources).
* Queen Fay in ''[[Overlord II]]'' is the ruler of Light Magic beings and the [[Evil Overlord]]'s foil. {{spoiler|Later on however while [[Heroic Sacrifice|sacrificing her energy]] during an [[Enemy Mine]] with the Overlord she ends up being corrupted and driven mad by his dark magic, becoming the [[Fallen Hero]] Dark Fay.}}
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*** Of course, Prime is ''every so slightly'' outranked by [[God|Primus]].
* Admiral Winfield in ''[[Exo Squad]]''.
* [[The Professor|Dr. Benton C. Quest]] from ''[[Jonny Quest]]''.
* The Supreme Luminescent in the second season of ''[[Gormiti the Lords of Nature Return]]''.
* The Sorceress in ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]''.
* Zadavia from ''[[Loonatics Unleashed]]''. Her twin brother, Optimatus, is [[Big Bad|her exact opposite]].{{spoiler|.. until his [[Heel Face Turn]] near the end of the series.}}
* In season 5 of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003]]'', the Ninja Tribunal occupied this role--even though, as the the turtles point out, they're kind of dicks.
* White Knight on ''[[Generator Rex]]'' is nominally this, but his actions often paint a picture of someone little better than [[Big Bad]] Van Kleiss.
** To clarify, White Knight is, as his name implies, a borderline [[Knight Templar]], who [[Invoked Trope|invokes]] [[We Have Reserves]] to his men's faces when Rex {{spoiler|chooses to save a group of [[Red Shirt|Providence Soldiers]] over the data module they'd been sent to recover}}, and is more than willing to use [[Nuke'Em|Weapons of Mass Destruction]] in Urban areas if it means containing an E.V.O outbreak that was arguably nowhere near the [[Godzilla Threshold]].
* [[Kid Hero|Aang]] from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', along with any Avatar, it's pretty much the job description. [[Cool Old Guy|Iroh]] would also count as the most powerful good guy (next to [[The Messiah|Aang]], arguably), the wisest, and the leader of the [[The Order|Order of the White Lotus.]]
* [[Batman]] in ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'', who may seem (and sometimes is) hard and strict on the team, but he ultimately praises them and encourages them to work together.
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** Numbuh One, in a way, being [[The Hero|the main team's personal leader]] and, despite Sector V's poor reputation, one of the most respected--if not ''the'' most respected--field agent in the entire organization.
* [[Everything's Better with Princesses|Princess Celestia]] from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' is ruler over the whole setting, fully embodies [[Large and In Charge]] and is implied to be massively powerful. Easily the most intelligent person in the show, the main [[Big Bad]] of the first series is only a threat because of her absence.
* Thundera's [[The Good King|King]] Claudus from ''[[Thundercats 2011|ThunderCats (2011)]]'' Though a [[Noble Bigot]] and leader of [[The Empire]], he fights the good fight against ancient evil [[Sorcerous Overlord]] Mumm-Ra, becoming the [[Sacrificial Lion]] of Mumm-Ra's invasion of his kingdom.
* [[Action Girl|Amanda Carey]] from ''[[Hurricanes]]'' is arguably this since she leads the Hurricanes into most of their efforts against [[Big Bad|Stavros Garkos']] evil plots.
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* Look among the oldest members of your extended family. Chances are one of them is this.
* [[Winston Churchill]] in [[World War II]] was a source of inspiration for all of Europe. Britain managed to keep London's day to day activities going throughout daily bombings, despite the fact that the Royal Air Force was one-third the size of the Luftwaffe at the start of the attacks. Although in this case [[Grey and Gray Morality|"good" is relative]].
* Conversely, [[Abraham Lincoln]] became this for the Union during the [[American Civil War]], while [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] fit the bill as this for America during [[World War II]].
* The Big Good of America, [[George Washington]], who not only fathered the country, but by law was given the rank of General of the Armies of the United States which means he can '''never be outranked''' by any other Military Officer in the U.S Military.
* [[wikipedia:Mustafa Abdul Jalil|Mustafa Abdul Jalil]], the political head of the Libyan rebels in the 2011 civil war.
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