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{{trope}}
[[File:
'''Always remember that the vast majority of characters in fiction are not tabletop game characters, and therefore lack a canonical interpretation of alignment by the standards below.''' ([http://alzrius.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/batman-alignment.jpg As this image shows], even a supposedly clear-cut case such as [[Batman]] cannot easily be assigned a character alignment. Pigeonholing an alignment on a character can be a crutch - or a straitjacket.) Characters should only be categorized under them when their alignments are clearly and explicitly stated in canon. As both the standards and especially character personalities are vague, complicated to interpret, and subject to change with [[Character Development]], thus leading to endless debate, the assignment of alignments to characters not stated to have them is considered strictly subjective.▼
▲[[Character Alignment]] is a shorthand for a given character's (or religion's, society's, organization's, etc.) moral/ethical outlook on [[The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy|Life, the Universe, and Everything]]. Many roleplaying games use some sort of alignment system as a [[Karma Meter]] or an "ideal" for a character to live up to, though some gamers deride them as crutches to "real roleplaying," and some systems accordingly have none at all.
The alignment system most roleplayers are familiar with is the one used in ''[[Dungeons
▲'''Always remember that the vast majority of characters in fiction are not tabletop game characters, and therefore lack a canonical interpretation of alignment by the standards below.''' Characters should only be categorized under them when their alignments are clearly and explicitly stated in canon. As both the standards and especially character personalities are vague, complicated to interpret, and subject to change with [[Character Development]], thus leading to endless debate, the assignment of alignments to characters not stated to have them is considered strictly subjective.
The original editions of ''[[Dungeons
▲The alignment system most roleplayers are familiar with is the one used in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', which has appeared in a couple of different forms:
▲The original editions of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' drew on the works of [[Poul Anderson]] and [[Michael Moorcock]] to come up with three alignments: [[Order Versus Chaos|Lawful, Neutral, and Chaotic]], with Lawful representing honor and obedience to, well, [[Shaped Like Itself|law]]. Chaotic characters may be insane, but could lean towards a desire for the freedom to do what they want. Whether they do good or evil because of this freedom is what decides their moral leaning. Neutrality alternatively represents neither one (as was the case with animals and people who simply didn't care) or a desire to see "balance" between the two. Later editions kept this as the "ethical" axis of the alignment scale and added a second "moral" axis of Good, Neutral, and Evil.
The ethical axis was more one's attitude towards the position of society and rules: Lawful characters think having an ordered society is important and beneficial; Chaotic characters don't necessarily oppose this but think the freedom of the individual comes first; Neutral characters tend to judge such situations on a case by case basis. If a law was unjust, a lawful person might think it needs retooling, or say that it prevents more problems than it causes. A neutral person might see the need for such a law, but would still think it should be scrapped and redone from scratch. A chaotic person would probably just break it.
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'''Combining the two axes allowed characters to be of nine possible alignments, as follows:'''
* '''{{color|blue|{{smallcaps|[[Lawful Good]]:}}}}''' Basically, they believe Law is Good, and that you do good by upholding the law. The alignment of [[The Cape (trope)]], [[Knight in Shining Armor|Paladins]]. Believes in Truth, Justice and such, but may potentially believe in them a little [[Wide
* '''{{color|fuchsia|{{smallcaps|[[Neutral Good]]}}:}}''' Sweetness and light. Doing good is more important than upholding the law, but law is not a bad thing. Not too caught up in [[Order Versus Chaos]]; concerned with moral goodness, but often not willing to enforce it in others. [[The Messiah]] is very likely to be [[Neutral Good]]. Just think "basically nice person" and you've probably got it. (For advanced learners, there's [[Good Is Not Nice]].) [[Neutral Good]] states may be [[Utopia|really nice places to live]], but depending on how idealistic or cynical the setting is, they may be deluding themselves. The guardinal celestials of [[Dungeons
* '''{{color|orange|{{smallcaps|[[Chaotic Good]]}}:}}''' [[Rebellious Spirit|Rebels]] and [[Wild Card|free spirits]] who are more often than not seen opposing tyrants and other oppressive types. Somewhat like [[Chaotic Neutral]], only much nicer. They tend to believe that things like order, discipline, and honor get in the way of doing good. Or they may believe too much order is bad for ''everyone''. Whatever their stance is, they act on their ideals before they let laws get in the way, and sometimes they ''dare'' the laws to get in the way. Whether they're portrayed as damn big heroes, [[Wide
* '''{{color|green|{{smallcaps|[[Lawful Neutral]]}}:}}''' The rule-abiding sort. Law and order is more important than whether you're good or evil. Believes in keeping order, though not necessarily in Justice as a universal constant (though they may - this can get complicated). They'll arrest a robber or rapist, but may also kick a family out of their home for failing to pay rent, even if they were poor. May also believe in a Cosmic Order that transcends laws - many monks are [[Lawful Neutral]]. Just as often the bad guys as the good guys in an [[Order Versus Chaos]] situation. People who think [[Hobbes Was Right]] will argue that all societies tend towards [[Lawful Neutral]], as the Always [[Chaotic Neutral]] individuals who make up society surrender their freedom to the law in exchange [[Enemy Mine|for protection from other Chaotic Neutral individuals]]. Modrons, [[Dungeons
* '''{{color|navy|{{smallcaps|[[True Neutral]]}}:}}''' Sometimes known as just ''Neutral'', or even ''[[Department of Redundancy Department|Neutral Neutral]]''. Comes in two flavors: [[Balance Between Good and Evil|Keeping the Balance]] and [[Somebody
* '''{{color|gray|{{smallcaps|[[Chaotic Neutral]]}}:}}''' The ultimate free spirits, or just [[Cloudcuckoolander|lunatics]]? It can go either way. [[Chaotic Neutral]] characters are all about freedom, and don't care so much about morality. Sometimes they're just amoral nutjobs, and sometimes they're generally good people with a wild streak that sometimes leads them into bad things. Often used by players in [[Tabletop Games]] to excuse doing anything they feel like (in the case of a [[Game Master]] who disables evil alignments - see [[Neutral Evil]], below), and often prohibited by the sort of [[Game Master]] who also prohibits outright evil characters. Like [[Lawful Neutral]], however, how "good" they ultimately end up seeming depends on which side of [[Order Versus Chaos]] the plot tends toward. The toadlike slaad ("I didn't know what he was talking about, so I ate him."), inhabitants of Limbo, are [[Chaotic Neutral]].
* '''{{color|maroon|{{smallcaps|[[Lawful Evil]]}}:}}''' The ordered sort of Evil, that often ends up in charge. Can be a lot like [[Lawful Neutral]], but ''nastier''. Well-structured, large-scale and often scarily successful evil. May believe in keeping order ''[[Utopia Justifies the Means|at all costs]]'', or may simply believe that a well-ordered system is ''so'' much [[Amoral Attorney|easier to exploit]]. Whether an [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]] is [[Lawful Evil]] or [[Lawful Neutral]] is basically a function of whether he ''enjoys'' what he's doing (see above example of kicking the family out of the house). [[Knight Templar
* '''{{color|purple|{{smallcaps|[[Neutral Evil]]}}:}}''' Sometimes known as the Asshole Alignment. The [[Neutral Evil]] Alignment can be even more dangerous than the [[Chaotic Evil]] Alignment - simply because you can't be sure of which way they'll swing in the end. [[Neutral Evil]] characters are primarily in it for themselves, because while they are usually villains, they can also swing to the good guy's side, like the [[Magnificent Bastard]] they really are. They may also just happen to be on the Good Guy's Team because it's better for them at the moment. Why are they so bad? It could be that [[Evil Tastes Good]] or maybe [[Evil Feels Good]]. Could be that they've given in to [[The Dark Side]]. They could be part of the [[Religion of Evil]]. They could just be, you know, [[The Sociopath|sociopaths]]. They could take [[
* '''{{color|red|{{smallcaps|[[Chaotic Evil]]}}:}}''' If [[Chaotic Neutral]] indicates the truly free spirit, [[Chaotic Evil]] is the truly evil free spirit. Whereas the [[Chaotic Neutral]] is concerned only with his freedom but isn't a really horrible person, the same can't be said for the [[Chaotic Evil]] character. They will do whatever they want to (even if, and sometimes, especially, it hurts other people) and (to them) rules don't matter. Whereas a [[Neutral Evil]] character will sometimes follow the law if it is convenient, the [[Chaotic Evil]] character occasionally takes pleasure in going out of their way to break the law. So why are they evil? Perhaps they're in it for profit. Maybe they are narcisstic or egotistical. Or maybe they're simply insane; most but not all psychopaths fall under this designation. But contrary to what some believe, [[Chaotic Evil]] does not mean the kind of wanton, meaningless slaughter and destruction associated with [[Stupid Evil]]. Indeed, it is often the more calculating and intelligent villains of this kind that are the most dangerous. Being [[Chaotic Evil]] doesn't mean a character HAS to slaughter an entire village just because he's passing through. Of course, if he's feeling bored, or is having a bad day, he might just jam a knife in somebody [[For the Evulz]]. [[Serial Killer
It helps to think of it as a 3x3 square with the moral and ethical axes on each side, and all the possible alignments surrounding [[True Neutral]] like so:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
|| '''Good''' || {{color|blue|Lawful Good}} || {{color|fuchsia|Neutral Good}} || {{color|orange|Chaotic Good}} ||▼
|-
|| '''Evil''' || {{color|maroon|Lawful Evil}} || {{color|purple|Neutral Evil}} || {{color|red|Chaotic Evil}} ||▼
▲
|-
| '''Neutral''' || {{color|green|Lawful Neutral}} || {{color|navy|True Neutral}} || {{color|gray|Chaotic Neutral}}
|-
▲
|}
The alignment any particular character falls under is mostly [[Subjective Tropes|a matter of opinion]] in works other than [[Tabletop Games]], where it's usually spelled out (and even then, fans are likely to spill a lot of words about how [[Alternate Character Interpretation|the creator got the character's alignment wrong]]). It's also generally only ''important'' in [[Tabletop Games]], but that doesn't stop RPG fans from discussing what alignment characters in every other work they like would be - just for fun, try Googling '[[The Punisher|Punisher]] alignment', or better yet, Google Site Search it on an RPG-oriented forum. This is why most of the above statements about which alignment a character "probably" is are qualified (and, incidentally, why none of the examples is [[The Punisher]]). There will ''always'' be a counter-interpretation.
This is the concept that gives [[Lawful Stupid]], [[Chaotic Stupid]], [[Stupid Good]], [[Stupid Evil]], [[Stupid Neutral]], [[Selfish Good, Selfish Evil]], [[
As the quote for [[Lawful Stupid Chaotic Stupid]] shows, the alignment system was and is meant to be a roleplaying tool (every DnD manual from 2E on mentions this fact). Most players of any TTRPG involving one tend to ignore this, and either ignore their alignment or treat it as a character shackle. This truth in and of itself is the reason so many [[Sub
If someone is having difficulty depicting a character of a particular alignment ''because'' of the alignment, or in imagining how to do so sensibly, it's probably because they're putting the cart before the horse. Alignment isn't personality and doesn't determine it. Personality determines alignment. You should first come up with the personality and see how the character functions based on it, and ''then'' see which alignment it fits. For example, instead of presenting [[Chaotic Evil]] as doing random evil acts for no reason, you might come up with a character who thinks the only way to get by is to dominate everyone else by using physical violence, and is willing to apply this method at the least provocation, lest he seem "weak", not caring that he hurts
A recent [[Memetic Mutation|meme]] on [[Image Boards|a certain imageboard]] is creating motivational posters of various characters from fiction and real life with a caption explaining their alignment. The ultimate example being a 3x3 grid showing every alignment with varying pictures and captions, but [[Depending
As with all good concepts, it's very ripe for parody - there are such motivational posters of alignments including "Chaotic Awesome" (for [[South Park|Cartman]]) and "Chaotic Gorgeous" (Evanna Lynch's portrayal of [[Harry Potter|Luna Lovegood]]).
For more information about specific alignments, and [[Subjective Tropes|tropers' interpretation]] of characters who fit those alignments, see:
* [[Lawful Good]]
* [[Neutral Good]]
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* [[Chaotic Evil]]
[http://easydamus.com/alignment.html This website] is also quite helpful in explaining the concept of
See also [[Lawful Stupid Chaotic Stupid]], [[Stupid Good]], [[Stupid Evil]], [[Selfish Good, Selfish Evil]], [[
▲[http://easydamus.com/alignment.html This website] is also quite helpful in explaining the concept of [[Character Alignment]], and has further info on the nine different alignments.
{{noreallife|this is a trope about how characters are depicted in media. Real people are far more complex than fictional characters, and cannot be pigeonholed this way.}}
'''For that matter, many if not most fictional characters cannot be pigeonholed this way, either.''' Characters are rarely so simplistic as to be easily assigned to a bucket on a 3x3 grid. Further, alignments only make sense for certain series where there is [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil|a neat sorting of good vs. evil]] (or order vs. anarchy). In works where morality is relative, or never discussed at all, even the definitions of the alignments are up for debate, never mind who qualifies.
▲See also [[Lawful Stupid Chaotic Stupid]], [[Stupid Good]], [[Stupid Evil]], [[Selfish Good Selfish Evil]], [[Always Chaotic Evil]], [[Good and Evil For Your Convenience]]. The [[Mirror Morality Machine]] will invert any alignment... except for [[True Neutral]]; the opposite of zero is still zero.
It is for these reasons that, on All The Tropes, we ask that you resist the temptation to assign an alignment to every character you see. Sooner or later someone will disagree with you, and then you'll see the escalating cycle of [[Natter]], [[Thread Mode]], and [[Flame War]]s. Even if nobody disagrees, seeing the [[Neutral Good]] label attached to a character is irresistible to some people, and before you know it, characters as diverse as [[The Little Mermaid|Ariel]] and [[Superman|Lex Luthor]] will become the subject of what we uncharitably refer to as [[Fan Wank|alignmentwank]].
Okay, so what are the rules exactly? '''[[Character Alignment]] is only to be used in works where it is [[canon]]ical, and only for characters who have alignments in-story. There is to be no arguing over canonical alignments, and no [[Real Life]] examples, ever.''' Any examples not meeting these criteria should be deleted.
'''Examples of Works/Settings With Explicit [[Character Alignment]]:'''▼
== [[Comic Books]] ==▼
* See the [[Batman]] example in the article description.▼
* ''[[The Gamers|The Gamers: Dorkness Rising]]'' features a character who claims to be [[Chaotic Neutral]], but whose actions lead others to believe she is evil. The joke is that this is how most people play [[Chaotic Neutral]].▼
== [[Literature]] ==▼
* In ''[[
== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==▼
* [[Professional Wrestling]] has a bit of an implied alignment system, with all wrestlers being divided into [[Face]], [[Heel]], or [[Wild Card|Tweener]], though this generally isn't acknowledged in [[Kayfabe]]
** When a D20 game was released under WWE's licensing, the alignments were actually Face, Tweener, and Heel. The most recent games have 'Clean' and 'Dirty'; apparently no real 'tweeners.▼
*** That's because Tweeners can't get a crowd reaction in today's WWE anymore, [[Epileptic Trees|probably being considered indecisive as to which side they would be taking]]. You either do something to make them CHEER you (making you Face, even if your alignment says otherwise) or to make them BOO you (which would make you Heel...even if you're John Cena). The independent companies have more leeway with this system, and some of the most popular non-WWE wrestlers in the US are firmly in Tweener territory; just look at Christopher Daniels.▼
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Dungeons
** It should be noted that, in earlier editions of the game, only player characters were able to freely choose their alignment; monsters (that is, any non-human or demihuman creature) were born with their specific alignment and could never change. This was due to the influence of the Outer Planes (which were arranged precisely according to the alignment axis) and the gods of the campaign. A goblin, for example, was born evil, and no amount of counseling would ever change it (though magic might.) The fact all creatures (including PCs) had invisible "alignment auras" that could be "read" was proof of this. The reason for this was, of course, so that good-aligned characters would be justified in killing or stealing from most monsters. There were, however, occasional variations- you might meet the rare non-evil goblin, for example, but it would be the result of crossbreeding, magic, etc.- never willing change.
** If the many many conversations on alignment on various boards (oddly only rarely becoming flame wars) are any indication, the rules for alignment are vague as hell. It really doesn't help that the writers don't seem that constant, one iconic character is lawful because they are devoted to something, but another iconic is chaotic because they are devoted to their art.
** Another bit of evidence that suggests that alignment was originally intended to be more "tangible" was the concept of alignment languages. Yes, [[Dork Age|alignment languages]]. If you were, say, [[Lawful Good]], then you had the option of learning to speak the official [[Lawful Good]] language ''(tm)''. Presumably, you were then issued your LG decoder ring and membership card that gave you access to the Lambda Gamma frat house where there is absolutely no underage drinking and a strict curfew. Hey, if you wanted a party house, you should've pledged [[Chaotic Evil|Chi Epsilon]], which has the most [[Totally Radical|bodacious]] keggers, but you'll probably have trouble getting your roommate to pick up his socks!
* Interestingly enough, the 4th Edition [[Dungeons
** Not that the absence of any nonevil Chaotic alignments dials back on the [[Chaotic Stupid]]...
*** And, for that matter, the absence of any non-good Lawful alignments' effects on [[Lawful Stupid]]...
** [[Dungeons
** Further, there was a reason for combining [[Lawful Evil]] and [[Neutral Evil]], along with [[Neutral Good]] and some of [[Chaotic Good]]:
*** [[Chaotic Good]] was always something of an odd alignment out; in play, unless you were very serious about [[Order Versus Chaos]] distinctions, it either became "[[Neutral Good]] but more suspicious of the law" or "Kindhearted/Heroic [[Chaotic Neutral]]".
*** [[Chaotic Evil]] was always the "Kill, Crush, Burn" evil alignment, as opposed to "Whatever benefits me" of the other branches of Evil.
*** And [[Lawful Good]] was similarly distinct from the other branches of Good. Short version: [[Lawful Good|LG]] had specific prescriptions for "what is Good" built right into it, unlike the others, and was more of a balancing act.
** Importantly, by the way, [[Lawful Good]] and [[Chaotic Evil]] are not just [[The Same but More]] of Good and Evil, respectively; they represent completely different approaches to behavior.
* Both ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
** ''[[
** For the most part, however, [[
* Missions in ''[[Mechwarrior]] 4: Mercenaries'' will give you either "nobility" or "infamy". Nobility is usually earned for defense-oriented missions like convoy escorts and reinforcement, letting defeated opponents flee, protecting optional objectives, and also fighting [[Proud Warrior Race|the Clans]] or [[
* The [[Warhammer 40
* [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] had five alignments: Lawful, Good, Neutral, Evil and Chaotic.
* The standard Palladium system of most of its settings, such as ''[[Rifts]]'', ''[[Palladium]]'', ''Heroes Unlimited'' and ''[[Robotech]]'' has a different alignment system from ''[[Dungeons
* ''[[FATAL]]'' has virtually the same system, only instead of Lawful it's Ethical, and instead of Good it's Moral. So Ethical Moral to Unethical Immoral. Essentially, being ''[[FATAL]]'', this probably comes down to whether you will say "please" and "thank you" when raping someone or not.
* [[Magic:
** Things get interesting once you see a character that uses both white and red mana, personifying both law and chaos simultaneously. Such a character is technically neutral, but bears special mention because they usually end up as a kind of [[Knight Templar]], devoting themselves fully to one cause and pursuing it with unwavering fanaticism and zeal.
* ''Calidar'' has 3-dimensional system, using numbers to express how strong a component is: Heart (Benevolent - Dispassionate - Malevolent), Mind (Rational - Practical - Instinctive), Spirit (Lively - Even-Tempered - Stern). While the first two correspond to D&D scales, the third measures seriousness: i.e. a minstrel and a rebel can both be <s>Chaotic Good</s> "Benevolent, Instinctive" and dislike the same tyrant, but the former' would want to make him into widely despised laughing stock, while the latter would want to gather armed upraising; the Spirit reflects this difference.
▲== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'', naturally, as it is loosely based on the ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' world. However, the comic [[Genre Deconstruction|proceeds to completely deconstruct the concept in a realistic manner]] to create believable characters with interesting motivations.▼
** One of the best examples is the juxtaposition of Roy and Miko during [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0199.html No Cure For The Paladin Blues]. They're both [[Lawful Good]], but take completely different approaches to their alignemnt.▼
** A non-good example of this is Redcloak, high priest of an evil god who has a plan which will either end with world domination or world destruction. He is a well-developed character with deep personal motivations for his cause, a complex relationship with the lich who {{spoiler|killed his brother}}, and his primary motivation is to change the [[Fantastic Racism|quality of living for his species]] (at the expense of any other race).▼
** However, several recent strips give an excellent illustration of alignments coming into conflict: The [[Lawful Good]] Celia, [[Chaotic Good]] Haley, and [[Chaotic Evil]] Belkar encounter a couple of [[Lawful Evil]] Hobgoblins. Belkar stabs the Hobgoblin because he just likes killing. Celia is horrified at his random unlawful murder, but Haley justifies it by saying that as they are fighting a war against evil, the unjust killing was, if not necessary, then at least acceptable. However, then they come into contact with a friendly gnome merchant, who Belkar then also stabs. Haley is horrified, but Belkar points out that the gnome's cart and donkey are of great use to the group, and likely to benefit the resistance more than his hobgoblin slaying. Celia then starts commenting on how [[Not So Different]] the situation is, and sarcastically suggests that Haley should paint the corpse to look like a Hobgoblin so that Haley can more easily rationalize this second unlawful killing.▼
** Not to mention the endless alignment debates over {{spoiler|Vaarsuvius's [[Deal With the Devil]] in Don't Split the Party}}. It's gotten to the point where people jokingly start arguing about alignments every time a character moves a muscle.▼
*** Is this remark about the jokes about moral justifications morally justified?▼
*** Some fans jokingly argue that [[Complete Monster|Belkar could fall within the bounds of Chaotic Good]]. In this case it's more a bad case of [[Draco in Leather Pants]] than ambiguity because, not only has Rich Burlew gone on record multiple times stating that Belkar is canonically Chaotic Evil, Belkar actively ''revels'' in it.▼
* ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' has remained deliberately vague about the rules and game mechanics of the RPG that the characters are playing. There does appear to be some sort of alignment system: in [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0192.html strip 192], Pete, the resident [[Munchkin]], identifies his [[Do Anything Robot]] character as [[Chaotic Neutral]].▼
* [[Goblin Hollow]]: Ben [http://www.rhjunior.com/GH/00058.html explains alignments].▼
* ''[[Bittersweet Candy Bowl]]'', The characters run the [http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/candybooru/post/view/1569?search=Chart gamut].▼
* Larisa Korolev from ''[[Sandra and Woo (Webcomic)|Sandra and Woo]]'' is said by Oliver Knörzer to be a prime example of the [[Chaotic Neutral]] alignment.▼
▲== [[Literature]] ==
▲* In ''[[I Claudius|I, Claudius]]'', Claudius refers to different character types: virtuous men or scoundrels, stony hearts or golden hearts. He gives example of [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|virtuous men with golden hearts]] (his old teacher), [[Good Is Not Nice|virtuous men with stony hearts]] (Cato), [[Jerk With a Heart of Jerk|scoundrels with stony hearts]] (one of Caligula's henchmen) and [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold|scoundrels with golden hearts]] (Herod Agrippa).
▲== [[Comic Books]] ==
▲* See the [[Batman]] example in the article description.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* In the expansion to ''[[City of Heroes]]'' called Going Rogue, a morality system is implemented which allow a player to move up and down the good/evil spectrum. As well as having Heroes fall from hero to vigilante to villain, a villain can redeem themself and become a rogue, and then a fully-fledged hero. There is also a "grey area" of content for new characters set in a ''[[Lawful Evil]]'' empire in "[[Another Dimension]]'' where being Lawful makes you Evil and being Chaotic bends you to Good.
* Every character in the ''[[Ogre Battle]]'' series has an alignment, ranging from Lawful to Chaotic, which changes based on their actions during battles. (Characters which attack enemies stronger than themselves, for example, grow more lawful, while characters who hunt down and destroy weaker units will grow chaotic.) Alignment affects what classes are available to a particular character. In addition, there is another measure available only to the main character which goes by multiple names but is generally known as Reputation. The two are completely separate -- you can be utterly evil but still be famous and respected for your strength. Many special characters will only join you if your Reputation is high or low enough to suit their tastes, and it affects your [[Multiple Endings|ending]].
* The summoned champions of ''[[Fate/stay
** The similarities between [[Nasuverse]] alignments and [[Dungeons
* Alignment plays a huge role in the ''[[
** ''Megami Tensei I'' & ''[[
** ''[[
** In ''[[
** Games outside the main continuity tend to ditch the alignment system completely. ''[[
*** These endings are still somewhat analogous to the classic [[Mega Ten]] alignments, though; Amane's ending, where you ally with God and the angels, obviously corresponds to Law, Naoya's and Yuzu's endings, where you {{spoiler|side with the demons to overthrow God}} and screw everybody else to save yourself, respectively, correspond to different facets of Chaos, and Atsuro and Gin's ending, where you forego siding with any of the higher powers in favor of humanity, corresponds to Neutral.
** ''[[Shin Megami Tensei
* A rare action game example, ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog]]'' works off this system quite well. Using branching story-lines, the player would choose multiple endings using a system of levels made up of three outcomes: [[Big Damn Heroes|hero]], [[Someone Elses Problem|neutral]] and [[The Bad Guy Wins|dark]]. The final levels would involve only two outcomes (neither could be neutral), which would decide the boss fought and ultimately the ending.
** Note that the "path" names are non-canonical; instead there are 326 (!!!) combinations you could possibly take through the levels, [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything|each with their own name]]. However, each combination must end with one of these endings. {{spoiler|[[Subverted Trope|It's subverted in the end;]] Shadow fights the [[One
* ''[[Fable
** Even with the improvements in ''[[
** It's worse than that. Purity/Corruption is tied to Good/Evil, whether you like it or not. Try being Good but Corrupt and not seeing your character look just like some evil demon. And the opposite (Evil/Pure) ends up with the same outcome. Good/Pure and Evil/Corrupt are the only possible paths in the game. Any deviance from this yields nothing in terms of character appearance or NPC reaction.
*** While the NPC reaction is no different depending on your purity/corruption, your character's appearance is very different. A Corrupt Good character has dirty-looking skin and a greenish tinge to their eyes, while still looking like a good person. On the flip-side a Pure Evil character will be very attractive, but with ashy grey skin and red cat-like eyes. Compare Pure Good to Corrupt Good and you'll notice a decent difference, but Pure Evil and Corrupt Evil are vastly different of one another.
* One ''[[Castlevania]]'' character has been given a canonical alignment: according to the ''Portrait of Ruin'' manual, Death is [[Lawful Evil]]. This is common for incarnations of
* ''[[
* ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'' rates regions of land on a "benign-neutral-savage" and a "good-neutral-evil" axis. So, benign good is "serene", while savage evil is "terrifying". (It's...not very good for your dwarves to start in an evil area. Really. [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|For them, at least.]])
** Additionally, the main difference between savage-evil biomes and savage-good biomes often comes down to little more than whether your dwarves get massacred by rampaging zombies, or by rampaging unicorns.
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** I like to think of it as the [[Beware the Nice Ones]] alignment. A polite fellow to most people, and generally willing to give situations a chance to resolve amicably, but push a [[Berserk Button]] and the gloves come off.
*** [[Fan Nickname]] has dubbed it 'Paragade', who a certain developer thought sounded like an energy drink and put it in an in-game Mass Effect 2 ad as a shout out. However some players didn't like the name, as it didn't fit with how they played an asshole-Paragade Shepard. So 'Renegon' was born.
* Every other [[
* The ''[[Fallout]]'' series goes with a Karma system. It really is only one scale, and doesn't involve the lawful-chaotic scale, only ranging from good to evil. The main relation to the [[Dungeons
* In ''[[Ogre Battle]]'', there's just one axis, law/chaos. Lawful characters tend to have "light" classses (cleric, knight, angel), while chaotic ones tend to have "dark" classes (wizard, dark knight). Just remember [[Dark Is Not Evil]] and [[Light Is Not Good]].
* ''[[ADOM]]'' has the old-D&D-style "[[Order Versus Chaos]] (psst, it's really [[Good vs. Evil]])" system. There's a scale of symbols representing the different steps from completely Chaotic to completely Lawful:
{{quote|
** Whether you're primarily Chaotic, Neutral or Lawful (as indicated by the first letter of your alignment) determines which of your three racial deities you serve. You can pray to become a champion of your alignment after having the most extreme version (which for Neutral, of course, could also be called the least extreme) and getting extremely favoured by your deity.
** The sequel, ''JADE'', is supposed to add the Good/Evil axis to this.
* [[Nethack]] has D&D-inspired [[Order Versus Chaos]] alignment system which decides what artifacts you can use, what deities you worship and if you get punished for things like stealing from shops or attacking peaceful creatures. [[The Unfought]] [[Big Bad]] evil god Moloch is [[Blue and Orange Morality|unaligned]]
* There is [http://i.imgur.com/XERul.jpg this] depicting the different [[Portal (
* [[Mortal Kombat]] tended to keep to a dichotomy of good vs evil for the most part, but the [[Order Versus Chaos]] element is also heavily played and hard to ignore. For one thing, the first game made reference to Shang Tsung corrupting the shaolin tournament and the furies, shifting the side of the tournament's order allignment to the chaos allignment. Later on we see Shang Tsung's boss, the Emperer of Outworld, Shao Kahn, who uses his extermination squads to invade and merge other realms using brute, compassionate-free, aggressive force, all while completley ignoring and defying the rules and regulations the Elder Gods commanded to stop this happening. Later on, in the 6th installment ''[[Mortal Kombat
** This is the game where the [[Order Versus Chaos]] dichotomy comes into play. With only a handful of 'good' characters left, either killed, or brainwashed to serve as Onaga's pawns, we're left with previously (and new) 'evil' or grey characters teaming up and binding together to fight on the side of chaos to fight for freedom that's threatened by the side of order. Suddenly it's no longer about good vs evil. New realms introduced in the series include Chaosrealm and Orderrealm. Introduced characters that maintain morally grey and/or take no stances on good and evil, are a guardsman from the Orderrealm outright stated to want to preserve law and order at all costs, a cleric from the Chaosrealm with a desire to see the world descend into turmoil with militant obsession to oppose any control (good or bad), a resistence revolutionary from Orderrealm taking a leaf out of the chaos book to fight for freedom in Orderrealm and oppose all regulations and laws, and your standard [[Wild Card]] mercenary that takes no sides in the whole ordeal (good, evil, order or chaos). If order wins, the universe will be destroyed. If chaos wins, you can celebrate for about a minute before you realize you helped your former evil return. You're screwed either way.
* ''[[
** [[Lawful Good]]: The Medic, due to his main purpose being to heal teammates.
** [[Neutral Good]]: The Heavy, who seems only out to shoot his own gun (and use up the government's money in the process).
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** [[Chaotic Evil]]: The Pyro, who seems to have no care in the world who gets set on fire, just as long as stuff gets set on fire.
== [[
▲* ''[[The Order of the Stick
▲* ''[[The Gamers|The Gamers: Dorkness Rising]]'' features a character who claims to be [[Chaotic Neutral]], but whose actions lead others to believe she is evil. The joke is that this is how most people play [[Chaotic Neutral]].
▲** One of the best examples is the juxtaposition of Roy and Miko during [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0199.html No Cure For The Paladin Blues]. They're both [[Lawful Good]], but take completely different approaches to their
▲** A non-good example of this is Redcloak, high priest of an evil god who has a plan which will either end with world domination or world destruction. He is a well-developed character with deep personal motivations for his cause, a complex relationship with the lich who {{spoiler|killed his brother}}, and his primary motivation is to change the [[Fantastic Racism|quality of living for his species]] (at the expense of any other race).
▲== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
▲**
▲* [[Professional Wrestling]] has a bit of an implied alignment system, with all wrestlers being divided into [[Face]], [[Heel]], or [[Wild Card|Tweener]], though this generally isn't acknowledged in [[Kayfabe]] -- except in Mexican lucha libre promotions, and lucha-inspired promotions like [[CHIKARA]], where wrestlers are openly referred to as either "[[Face|Tecnicos]]" or "[[Heel|Rudos]]". Look for media based on North American wrestling, such as video games, to use euphemisms to refer to this system (such as "Fan Favorite" for Face and "Rule Breaker" for Heel).
▲** Not to mention the endless alignment debates over {{spoiler|Vaarsuvius's [[Deal
▲** When a D20 game was released under WWE's licensing, the alignments were actually Face, Tweener, and Heel. The most recent games have 'Clean' and 'Dirty'; apparently no real 'tweeners.
▲*** Is this remark about the jokes about moral justifications morally justified?
▲*** That's because Tweeners can't get a crowd reaction in today's WWE anymore, [[Epileptic Trees|probably being considered indecisive as to which side they would be taking]]. You either do something to make them CHEER you (making you Face, even if your alignment says otherwise) or to make them BOO you (which would make you Heel...even if you're John Cena). The independent companies have more leeway with this system, and some of the most popular non-WWE wrestlers in the US are firmly in Tweener territory; just look at Christopher Daniels.
▲*** Some fans jokingly argue that [[Complete Monster|Belkar could fall within the bounds of Chaotic Good]]. In this case it's more a bad case of [[Draco in Leather Pants]] than ambiguity because, not only has Rich Burlew gone on record multiple times stating that Belkar is canonically Chaotic Evil, Belkar actively ''revels'' in it.
▲* ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' has remained deliberately vague about the rules and game mechanics of the RPG that the characters are playing. There does appear to be some sort of alignment system: in [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0192.html strip 192], Pete, the resident [[Munchkin]], identifies his [[Do
▲* [[Goblin Hollow]]: Ben [https://web.archive.org/web/20130227022404/http://www.rhjunior.com/GH/00058.html explains alignments].
▲* ''[[Bittersweet Candy Bowl]]'', The characters run the [http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/candybooru/post/view/1569?search=Chart gamut].
▲* Larisa Korolev from ''[[
== [[Web Original]] ==
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[
== Others ==
* In the Complete Scoundrel lists, several characters are used as examples of alignments.
** [[Lawful Good]]: [[Batman]], Dick Tracy and [[Indiana Jones]].
** [[Neutral Good]]: [[Batman]], Zorro, and Spider-Man.
** [[Chaotic Good]]: [[Batman]], Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica, Malcolm Reynolds from [[Firefly]], and [[Robin Hood]].
** [[Lawful Neutral]]: [[Batman]], [[James Bond]], Odysseus, and Sanjuro.
** [[True Neutral]]: [[Batman]], Lara Croft, Lucy Westenra from Dracula and [[Jerk
** [[Chaotic Neutral]]: [[Batman]], [[The Wonka|Pirate Ship Captain Jack Sparrow]] Al Swearengen from the TV series Deadwood, and Snake Plissken from ''[[Escape
** [[Lawful Evil]]: [[Batman]], Boba Fett of ''[[Star Wars]]'', and [[Big Bad|Magneto]]
** [[Neutral Evil]]: [[Batman]], Mystique, and Sawyer of the early seasons of Lost.
** [[Chaotic Evil]]: [[Batman]], Carl Denham from the 2005 remake of [[King Kong]] and Riddick from [[Pitch Black]].
* For gamers, [http://graphjam.memebase.com/2011/09/28/funny-graphs-so-chaotic-neutral-is-just-a-nice-way-of-saying-noob/ a Meta example]
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