Black and White Morality: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"By G'Quan, I can't recall the last time I was in a fight like that. No moral ambiguity, no... hopeless battle against ancient and overwhelming forces. They were the bad guys, as you say, we were the good guys. And they made a very satisfying thump when they hit the floor."''|'''G'kar''', ''[[Babylon 5]] -- A Late Delivery from Avalon''}}

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This can come in a variety of forms:

* Motivation: The villains ''never'' have a sympathetic motivation for their actions. [[Complete Monster~~|Complete Monsters~~]] are common, there aren't any [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Well Intentioned Extremists]], and [[The Mole]] will show his [[Evil Costume Switch|true colours]] once he's [[Face Heel Turn|unmasked]]. Rather, their intentions are entirely selfish or [[For the Evulz|for the sake of Evil]] (and may involve [[Take Over the World|taking over]] or [[Earthshattering Kaboom|destroying the world]]). Likewise, the forces of good never have any ulterior motives for their deeds; they do good because it's [[For Great Justice|The Right Thing To Do.]]

* Motivation: The villains ''never'' have a sympathetic motivation for their actions. [[Complete Monster]]s are common, there aren't any [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Well Intentioned Extremists]], and [[The Mole]] will show his [[Evil Costume Switch|true colours]] once he's [[Face Heel Turn|unmasked]]. Rather, their intentions are entirely selfish or [[For the Evulz|for the sake of Evil]] (and may involve [[Take Over the World|taking over]] or [[Earthshattering Kaboom|destroying the world]]). Likewise, the forces of good never have any ulterior motives for their deeds; they do good because it's [[For Great Justice|The Right Thing To Do.]]

* Choices: All major choices that the heroes are faced with are either unambiguously right or wrong. There aren't any grey areas, and when a [[Sadistic Choice]] ''is'' presented, there's always a [[Take a Third Option|third option]]. Furthermore, the heroes will ''always'' make the right choice unless they're about to learn [[An Aesop]] or pull a [[Face Heel Turn]].

* Characterization: [[Shaped Like Itself|The good guys are good]], and the [[Obviously Evil|bad guys are bad]]. If there are any morally ambiguous or grey characters around (such as an [[Anti-Hero]] or [[Worthy Opponent]]), they will eventually shift firmly to one side or the other. They'll either [[Face Heel Turn|switch]] to the side that matches their [[Heel Face Turn|actual perceived alignment]], or turn [[Badass Decay|fully good]] or [[Slowly Slipping Into Evil|fully evil]]. Minor characters may maintain some degree of neutrality, but the major characters will all be on one side or the other.

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== Film ==

* ''[[Star Wars]]'': The [[The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified|rebels are good]], [[The Empire]] is [[Good Republic, Evil Empire|evil]].

** Black And White Morality is ''enforced'' by, well, the Force in the case of the Jedi. If Jedi aren't committed 100% to the Light Side, it's only a matter of time before they become insanely evil [[Complete Monster~~|Complete Monsters~~]]. There were a few exceptions in the EU(such as the Gray Jedi, who dabble in [[The Dark Side]] only to the point where it does not corrupt them), but those ended up taking a side in the end or died before that became an issue.

** Black And White Morality is ''enforced'' by, well, the Force in the case of the Jedi. If Jedi aren't committed 100% to the Light Side, it's only a matter of time before they become insanely evil [[Complete Monster]]s. There were a few exceptions in the EU(such as the Gray Jedi, who dabble in [[The Dark Side]] only to the point where it does not corrupt them), but those ended up taking a side in the end or died before that became an issue.

** The [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] adds a bit more moral ambiguity with some of the mundane factions ([[Noble Demon]] imperials and ambitious [[Smug Snake]] rebels show up notably in Timothy Zahn's work, for example). Even the Jedi sometimes produce [[Knight Templar~~|Knight Templars~~]]. The Sith, by contrast, are ''always'' [[Exclusively Evil|pure evil]] {{spoiler|[[Knights of the Old Republic|with the exception of Revan and (initially) Caedus]]}}.

** The [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] adds a bit more moral ambiguity with some of the mundane factions ([[Noble Demon]] imperials and ambitious [[Smug Snake]] rebels show up notably in Timothy Zahn's work, for example). Even the Jedi sometimes produce [[Knight Templar]]s. The Sith, by contrast, are ''always'' [[Exclusively Evil|pure evil]] {{spoiler|[[Knights of the Old Republic|with the exception of Revan and (initially) Caedus]]}}.

** ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]] 2'' [[Deconstruction|deconstructs]] the traditional Jedi are good, Sith are evil dichotomy. In addition to the revelation (or [[Retcon]]) that {{spoiler|Revan sacrificed morality to become a Sith and save the galaxy,}} its made clear throughout the game that the Jedi are [[Lawful Stupid]] traditionalists who can't listen to anything outside their teachings, while the Sith are [[Stupid Evil]] morons who would burn the galaxy just because its there, and will inevitably kill each other in the end. The main [[Big Bad|villain of the game]] has been both Jedi and Sith, and is disgusted with both.

*** Kreia shares a great deal in common with Vergere, a Jedi of questionable motives who helped save the galaxy from the Vong.

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** ''Broadly'' speaking. See the quote at the top of [[Grey and Gray Morality]]. ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' in particular tends to be [[The Good, the Bad, and The Evil|white, grey and black]]. (Surely people like Feanor, his sons, the Noldor in general, Thingol, Turin, etc. cannot be thought of as all black or all white.)

** Outside of the Silmarillion there are many other examples. Gollum, Lobellia and Denethor (in the book, the movie plays him as more of a straight forward villain) are anything but clean cut good or bad guys. Despite its lighter tone The Hobbit averts this a lot more than its darker sequel. Thorin is for the most part noble but also a greedy, proud jerkass who would risk a war to hang onto his gold while Beorn is kind and friendly but kills an Orc who had already surrendered and puts its head on a pike.

** Indeed, it would probably be best to say that Middle-Earth ''has'' [[Black and White Morality]], but only as extremes- [[God|Eru]] and [[Council of Angels|the Valar]] are pure good; [[Satan|Morgoth]] and [[The Legions of Hell|his directly corrupted minions]] are pure evil; most of the non-divine characters lean strongly one way or the other, but aren't "pure". This ties in to temptation being a major theme of LOTR in particular.

** Indeed, it would probably be best to say that Middle-Earth ''has'' Black and White Morality, but only as extremes- [[God|Eru]] and [[Council of Angels|the Valar]] are pure good; [[Satan|Morgoth]] and [[The Legions of Hell|his directly corrupted minions]] are pure evil; most of the non-divine characters lean strongly one way or the other, but aren't "pure". This ties in to temptation being a major theme of LOTR in particular.

** Completely and utterly averted in [[The Children of Hurin]]. Turin is well meaning but also a morally ambigous Jerkass who blows over the [[Moral Event Horizon]] when he murders a lame man in cold blood, his Lancer Androg is a serial rapist and murderer and the group's traitor, Mim the Dwarf is a Woobie [[Anti-Villain]] whose actions are motivated by the relentless persecution his people suffered from the Elves as well as Androg's cruelty. Even after his betrayl he inists that Turin be released unharmed.

* ''[[Inheritance Cycle]]'': [[La Résistance|The Varden]] and Elves are good, [[The Empire]] is evil.

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== Live Action TV ==

* ''[[Power Rangers]] and [[Super Sentai]]'': Rangers and their friends are good; even the shady ones have an excuse: [[Power Rangers SPD|street-level hoods]]? Stealing to survive and help other homeless! [[Power Rangers RPM|Guy working with the mob]]? Screwed them all over to help an orphanage of [[Littlest Cancer Patient~~|Littlest Cancer Patients~~]]! [[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive|Professional thief]]? ...Okay, that one was just glossed over, but he's probably one of those guys who's legitimately hired by companies to test security.

* ''[[Power Rangers]] and [[Super Sentai]]'': Rangers and their friends are good; even the shady ones have an excuse: [[Power Rangers SPD|street-level hoods]]? Stealing to survive and help other homeless! [[Power Rangers RPM|Guy working with the mob]]? Screwed them all over to help an orphanage of [[Littlest Cancer Patient]]s! [[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive|Professional thief]]? ...Okay, that one was just glossed over, but he's probably one of those guys who's legitimately hired by companies to test security.

** Special mention must go to ''[[Power Rangers Dino Thunder]]'s'' Mesogog, who, while still black, was a ''particularly grey shade'' of black, as he is the sole villain of the series to not [[Card-Carrying Villain|carry an evil business card]]. He was a dinosaur hybrid who wanted to wipe out us filthy mammals and restore dinosaurs to their rightful place as the dominant creatures, and so thought what he was doing to be right, although his methods and manner make it dark enough to still be evil. Its grey, but only in comparison to the villains whose goals are ''stated'' to be "to be as evil as possible, nyahaha".

** The grayest [[Power Rangers]] villain is Ransik of ''[[Power Rangers Time Force]]''. He wanted to take over the world in the present, because in the future, the mutations that result on rare occasion from the genetic engineering process that normally allows for perfect [[Designer Babies]] for all are shunned to a degree that would make the mutants of X-Men count their blessings. Ransik's entire gang is gathered from the homeless mutants. He cackles as much as any past villain whose title is "Your Evilness" when causing mayhem, but he's got a reason for his hate and his motivation isn't simply greed or [[For the Evulz|the evulz]] like many of the others.

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* ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'': Mario is good, Bowser is evil.

** Averted in later spin-offs, as Bowser developed over time and he became increasingly [[Affably Evil]] to the point that in most modern games he's less evil then simply misguided and greedy.

** Played brutally straight in the main series, though; in both ''Galaxy'' games Bowser is as one-dimensionally megalomaniacal as ever. Probably because their one attempt at giving him more "complexity" was ''[[Super Mario Sunshine]]'', which included [[~~Narm|narmy~~]] voice acting ([[Memetic Mutation|"How dare you disturb my family vacation!"]]) and introduced [[The Scrappy]], Bowser Jr.

** Played brutally straight in the main series, though; in both ''Galaxy'' games Bowser is as one-dimensionally megalomaniacal as ever. Probably because their one attempt at giving him more "complexity" was ''[[Super Mario Sunshine]]'', which included [[narm]]y voice acting ([[Memetic Mutation|"How dare you disturb my family vacation!"]]) and introduced [[The Scrappy]], Bowser Jr.

** Also played straight by the one-off villains in the ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]'' and ''[[Mario & Luigi]]'' series. Okay, not quite Count Bleck, but Fawful, Dimentio, the Shadow Queen, Cackletta, and the Shroobs are portrayed very much to the extreme end of the evil scale.

* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'': Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are good; Robotnik is evil. [[Anti-Hero|Shadow and Rouge]] border on the Grey morality, though.

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* In ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue]]'' and ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver]]''. The main character is good, Team Rocket is evil.

** The later core games avert this though, with the evil teams having more reasonable and even sympathetic motivations. The exception is Ghetsis of Team Plasma, whose villainy neighbors ''Cipher'' proportions. And on that note, Cipher from [[Pokémon Colosseum]] is far more evil than anything before them and a sight more evil than just about anything since.

* Played with in ''[[Touhou]]''. On one hand, the series as a whole follows [[White and Grey Morality]] at worse, with copious amounts of [[Dark Is Not Evil]] and [[Good All Along]] preventing the series from having any true villains. On the other hand, the character Shikieiki Yamaxanadu possesses the ability to "distinctly judge anything to be Good or Evil", meaning that she literally sees the world in [[Black and White Morality]]. As she is the resident Judge of the Dead whom decides the ultimate fate of every deceased soul in Gensokyo, she gets a lot of mileage out of this.

* Played with in ''[[Touhou]]''. On one hand, the series as a whole follows [[White and Grey Morality]] at worse, with copious amounts of [[Dark Is Not Evil]] and [[Good All Along]] preventing the series from having any true villains. On the other hand, the character Shikieiki Yamaxanadu possesses the ability to "distinctly judge anything to be Good or Evil", meaning that she literally sees the world in Black and White Morality. As she is the resident Judge of the Dead whom decides the ultimate fate of every deceased soul in Gensokyo, she gets a lot of mileage out of this.

* ''[[Dragon Quest]]'' series uses this regularly. The heroes are good. [[Dragon Quest I|A giant dragon]] and [[Dragon Quest II|a badly skinned mage]] are evil. [[Complete Monster|Many other villains are even beyond that.]]

** [[Dragon Quest IV|Psaro the Man Slayer]] subverts this partly. He hates humans because they harmed his girlfriend. But going into the arena and beating random fighters to death isn't that nice of a thing to do either. None of his underlings are ever good.

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== Web Original ==

* This was mostly avoided in the [[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]], but was especially enforced in the ''Golden Age'' campaign, which was set during World War II and featured [[Those Wacky Nazis]] as villains (along with [[Super Villain|supervillains]] who were [[For the Evulz|evil for the sake of being evil]] and [[The Mafia|mobsters]], of course).

* In [[The Fear Mythos]], the character "Achromatic Morality" demonstrates this ~~perfectly -- the~~ clue's in the name. In her words, "there are two sides. The side that I am on, which is righteous; and the side I am not, which is monstrous."

* In [[The Fear Mythos]], the character "Achromatic Morality" demonstrates this perfectly—the clue's in the name. In her words, "there are two sides. The side that I am on, which is righteous; and the side I am not, which is monstrous."