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Dark Is Not Evil/Video Games: Difference between revisions
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** Overall, this trope is pretty much half the point of the game itself...the other half being {{spoiler|[[Light Is Not Good]]}}
* Dante of ''[[Devil May Cry (Video Game)|Devil May Cry]]'', although he's mostly an exception as nearly all demons in the series are evil. Sparda, Dante's father, was an extremely powerful devil and nicknamed "The Legendary Dark Knight"; he was also a very nice guy who saved humanity from extinction. Trish and Lucia from the same series are also demons who fight for the good of mankind.
** Nero from ''4'' is another example: His arm [[Evil Hand|looks like living lava]], and he's implied to be possesed by the ghost of [[Aloof Big Brother]] Vergil. Despite this, he's a [[Knight in Shining Armor]] who, despite what you may think from the word "possessed", does ''not'' have a [[Super
* Dark type ''[[Pokémon]]''. Dark types also aren't emo, despite what the good people of [[Deviant ART]] tell you. Though they aren't perfect, they're no worse than any other type of Pokémon. A good example is Absol, who can sense disasters and tries to warn people of them, but gets [[Mis Blamed]] as the perpetrator, or Umbreon, which evolves due to ''happiness'' (at night).
** Despite this, the original Japanese name for Dark type is "aku" or "evil" type. This could be because of the nasty effects dark-type attacks often have, however - most of them involve [[The Combat Pragmatist|"fighting dirty"]], like pretending to cry (Fake Tears), ganging up on one opponent (Beat Up), biting (Bite, Crunch), thievery (Thief), and throwing foreign objects (Fling).
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** The Gerudo in ''Ocarina of Time'' at first come across as a dangerous race who kidnap and lock up men, attack Link, and hail Ganondorf as their king. They are perfectly willing to accept Link into their tribe when they see his strength and skill though, and Nabooru is introduced as doing her best to prevent Ganondorf's evil plans.
** Koume and Kotake from ''Majora's Mask''. Both are shriveled hags who appeared in the previous game as villains. In this game, they're pretty nice (if a little grumpy) and will provide Link with some useful items and help him move forward in the game.
* Soma Cruz, the resident [[White
** Lampshaded by Alucard (you already know it's him!). When Soma freaks because he's told his powers are dark, Alucard tells him it is just that, and not evil.
** Other examples from the series include [[Dhampyr|Dracula's son Alucard]], [[Our Werewolves Are Different|the peaceful beastman Cornell]], the traitorous devil forgemaster Hector, and a [[Golem]] who was temporarily given a soul.
* Demons in ''[[Disgaea]]'' and ''[[Makai Kingdom]]''. Though most would [[Noble Demon|likely insist that they are, in fact, totally evil]], the only affect demonhood would appear to really have on one's conscience (as {{spoiler|Flonne}} and others turned into demons would probably tell you) is a natural predisposition to be a smartass. And slightly dimwitted: {{spoiler|Adell, who never actually figures out he's really a full-blooded demon himself}} doesn't even manage that much 'evil', other than a love of battle.
** King Krichevskoy particularly exemplifies this. Far from being a [[Card
** Of course, there are a few demons who are genuinely evil even though the majority of their kind lean more towards chaos. {{spoiler|Demon Overlord Seedle was a "hero" who tried to ''rape'' the woman who would become protagonist Zetta's [[Love Interest]] and became Overlord of the Netherworld just to get revenge for her fighting back. Fake Zenon was a general asshole who ruled Veldime with an iron fist, perpetuated a curse to drain away the residents' memories and conscience in exchange for his own power, and captured the amnesiac reincarnation of the real Overlord Zenon as a trophy before ''burning the people raising her into the ashes of history''.}}
** Driving the point of this home is a sequence in the first game. The angel Vulcanus sneaked down to the netherworld out of rage that Flonne had be sent to deal with the situation there instead of himself. He steals a pendant that Flonne (or any trainee angel) needs in order to survive down there. As he's escaping the Netherworld, the pendant starts to blaze into heat in his hand, causing him to drop it, for the [[Noble Demon]] <s>Veyers</s> Mid-Boss ({{spoiler|who turns out to be a reincarnation of Laharl's dad, mentioned above}}), to find and pick up. Before the last battle of the chapter, the main characters find Mid-Boss in possession of the pendant, and Flonne warns him that it will burn the hands of anyone with an evil soul. Not only does its failing to do so in Mid-Boss' hands display this trope, [[Light Is Not Good|But what does it say about Vulcanus back up there?]]
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** In fact, Zeratul, the Dark Templar hero of the series has been described by Gamespot's [http://uk.gamespot.com/features/tenspot_heroes/hero10.html Top 10 Heroes in Gaming] as a [[Star Wars|Darth Vader]] who fights for the rebellion.
* Nina of ''[[Breath of Fire]] 2'' fame is a pure-hearted maiden, but her feathery black wings make her an [[All of the Other Reindeer|outcast and scapegoat for disaster]] in her hometown. Also a [[Black Magician Girl]].
* The hero's power in ''[[Illusion of Gaia]]'' are dark-based, and his badass form is called a dark knight. The [[Big Bad]] [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere|it]]self is neither Light nor Dark, the hero and his [[Love Interest]] fuse into a [[Yin
* The Daedric Princes of ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]''. Despite many of them being outright evil, and the general association of Daedric meaning Demonic, quite a few of the Daedric Lords are benign or outright Good. Meridia, Azura and even the [[Ax Crazy]] Sheogorath, Daedric Lord of Madness, turns out not be really evil.
** On the other hand, {{spoiler|Azura only shows compassion to her followers in ''Oblivion'' and doesn't particularly care that the mortal world is invaded by Mehrunes Dagon}}. And in ''Morrowind'', the only reason she helps the PC is {{spoiler|to pull off a [[Xanatos Roulette]] to get back at a few [[A God Am I|ex-followers-turned-living-gods]] for a slight that occured a few thousand years ago. The fact that this actually helps ward off a big war and a [[Knight Templar]] theocracy is just coincidental.}}
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** Meridia is another example; she wants to fight undead and necromancy. And even Malacath, who has you protect the honor of Orcs and Ogres when they are abused by other races (such as a Dunmer Hero taking credits for the exploits of his Orc servant in ''Morrowind'', or humans using Ogres as slaves in ''Oblivion''). While their methods are ruthless and violent, their goals are not always evil.
** A more straight example may be Divayth Fyr from ''Morrowind'' - not only does he run the only hospital for sufferers of a certain truly horrific disease and show genuine compassion for them, he is also the only person in the game to wear [[Spikes of Doom|full demonic armour]].
*** Though is you talk to him, Divayth makes it clear that his interest in Corprus is [[For Science!|academic]]. If he so happens to help people while doing his research, so much the better, but he's only doing this because of his fascination for the intricacies of Corprus as a complex magic disease and the corprusarium is a side benefit of that research.
** Nocturnal would either be this trope played absolutely straight or subverted, if she wasn't so damn MYSTERIOUS! About the only action that has been stated that might be good or evil would be the curse of the grey cowl of Nocturnal, and that seems more like a [[Take That]] than anything else. Most of the time she calls on the PC to take care of some matter that's causing her grief.
** For an example of this trope from ordinary Daedra, Sheogorath's enforcers in ''Shivering Isles.'' The Dark Seducers are much friendlier than their [[Light Is Not Good|counterparts,]] [[Jerkass|the Golden Saints.]]
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** He's contrasted in ''Symphonia'' by Luna and Aska, who [[Light Is Not Good|will kill you if you lose the pact-making fight]], and they're the Summon Spirits of Light. (Note that in ''Phantasia'', neither Luna nor Aska had a fight either.)
*** They don't necessarily ''kill'' you. But you'll get a [[Game Over]] for losing the fight, which is justified by the fact that the group can't simply return like on the other fights. {{spoiler|Kratos}} would block the way, making things like leveling up somewhat impossible.
** Because of ''[[Tales of Eternia (Video Game)|Tales of Eternia]]'''s magic system, Shadow ''makes'' whatever mage is equipped with him the designated Dark mage. Also, the Dark Aurora used by [[Knight Templar|Shizel]] {{spoiler|and Meredy}}. See also [[Yin
** Tenebrae, from the [[Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World (Video Game)|sequel]], is also a very straight example-besides being a servant of you know, ''the king of all monsters'', he's also the Centurion of Darkness. He's also a pure good guy, albeit one with a [[Deadpan Snarker|nasty sense of humor]].
*** Emil, the protagonist in the sequel, is also Darkness-affiliated. Although with his [[Berserk Mode|Ratatosk Mode]], this may not be a perfectly straight example.
** The series also has several Dark-elemental playable characters - Leon Magnus of ''[[Tales of Destiny (Video Game)|Tales of Destiny]]'', Ricardo Soldat of ''[[Tales of Innocence (Video Game)|Tales of Innocence]]'', and Kunzite of ''[[Tales of Hearts (Video Game)|Tales of Hearts]]'' all use primarily Dark techs, spells, and abilities. However, the original Leon doesn't really count as he remained a sadistic [[Jerkass]], it wasn't until the remake where his personality gets retooled into a [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold]]. On the other hand, {{spoiler|his alter ego}} Judas counts very much.
*** Judas (as well as Harold) both feature Light and Dark elemental spells in their moveset. Judas's stronger hi-ougis have him using Light elemental attacks, and his best move involves him materializing a sword of light out of thin air. As a result, he could be considered an example of a [[Yin
* The dark worlds in ''[[Dragon Quest III (Video Game)|Dragon Quest III]]'' and ''[[Dragon Quest VIII (Video Game)|Dragon Quest VIII]]: Journey of the Cursed King'' are pretty much called that because they aren't as bright as the worlds the heroes come from and not because there's evil everywhere (though almost everything in the one in VIII is black and white for some reason, with the residents commenting on the heroes' colors). In fact, most (if not all) of the human residents encountered aren't evil at all. {{spoiler|The one in ''[[Dragon Quest III (Video Game)|Dragon Quest III]]'' is actually Alefgard, the country the original game takes place in, which also appeared in the second. The main character defeats the Demon King Zoma and restores light to the land and is given the title of Loto/Erdrick, becoming the legendary hero that the main characters of the first two games are descended from.}}
* Neither [[Our Vampires Are Different|Demitri]] nor [[Horny Devils|Morrigan]] from ''[[Darkstalkers (Video Game)|Darkstalkers]]'' are evil.
** Neither of them, however, are ''good''. Morrigan is a self-indulgent and childish princess, and Demitri is a power-hungry vampire who wants to conquer Makai/the Dark World. However, several of the characters the closest to purely good in the series also fall under this, including Rikuo/Aulbath, the fish-man; John Talbain/Gallon, the werewolf; Anakaris, the living mummy; Lei-Lei/Hsien-Ko, the [[Chinese Vampire]]; and Victor, the [[
*** At the end of Morrigan or Lilith's routes in ''Vampire Savior'', however, it does show Morrigan starting to actually grow up and accept responsibilities.
* ''[[City of Heroes]]'' liberally uses and [[Playing With a Trope|plays with]] [[Superhero]] tropes, and this is no expection. The primary example is Infernal, a demonic-looking warrior from another dimension who controls demons and binds them into his armour, but is always portrayed as a hero (excepting his [[Evil Twin]] from the [[Mirror Universe]], who shows that demon binding is a risky business). ''[[City of Villains]]'' added a large amount of [[Spikes of Villainy|rather villainous-looking]] costume pieces, but all of them are equally accessible to hero characters as well.
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** In ''10'', your army ends up working for the goddess of chaos ''against'' the goddess of order. The goddess of chaos is considerably kinder than the goddess of order.
** A mention to ''FE 5'''s Salem, a Loputo Mage (a servant of a Dark God (who really is evil)) is pulling a [[Heel Face Turn]] when you encounter him. If you successfully capture him you'll find he's not evil, unlike every other Loputo Mage ever.
** '''FE 8'' has Knoll, a Shaman who is also one of the kindest and more unfortunate people in the game. If you promote Ewan into a Shaman, he also becomes an example of this. In contrast, {{spoiler|Lyon is an [[Anti
* Meta Knight, Gooey, and Shadow Kirby from ''[[Kirby]]''.
** Gooey from ''Kirby's Dream Land 3''. He is shown as Kirby's friend ''from the beginning'', and the only way to reveal he ''should'' be with the bad guys is doing 2-player on the [[Final Boss]]. Gooey attacks Zero without hesitating ''the slightest'', as if he never was on their side.
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** Shadow Kirby is actually just the {{spoiler|Kirby of the Mirror world, meaning he was supposed to be the hero, but he just helps you out by having you attack him and dropping power-ups if you do so.}}
* ''[[Planescape Torment|Planescape: Torment]]'' really likes this one. Your party alone can include Fall-From-Grace, a [[Chaste Hero|chaste]] [[Horny Devils|succubus]] uninterested in consuming mortal men's souls, and Morte, the sarcastic foul-mouthed disembodied talking skull {{spoiler|who went to Hell when he died}}... who is also the only Good recruitable NPC and the only true friend you start the game with.
* In ''[[Jak 3 Wastelander]]'' one of the reasons Jak is banished is because he is tainted with [[Psycho Serum|Dark Eco]]. While he's [[Anti
** However, Dark Eco is still pretty nasty stuff that [[The Corruption|turns benevolent gods into monsters]], makes nice heroes [[Super
* The true ending of ''[[Eversion]]:'' {{spoiler|The princess was a monster all along! But wait... [[Tomato in The Mirror|your character was also a monster all along!]]}}
* The Nanaya clan in ''[[Tsukihime]]''. A family of assassins. Seclusive, described as vicious killers and also seem to have a penchant for rape. The only glimpse we get of one is Nanaya Shiki, the hero's [[Super
** Actually, the rape was due to {{spoiler|Arcueid's mystic eyes}}. It had absolutely nothing to do with the Nanaya side.
* The Asmodians of ''[[Aion]]''. They look faintly demonic, and are rather harsh and violent -- both due to living in a wasteland that at its brightest exists in what could be called "shadowy twilight", and due to being descended from those who supported continued war with the cruel and brutal Balaur rather than attempting to sue for peace. They're ultimately only trying to survive, and just as dedicated to fighting the ''real'' villains as the more angelic Elyos. Unfortunately, both sides are just as dedicated to fighting ''each other'', out of a combination of blaming the other side for the ruin of their world, and the belief that one of the remaining stumps of the Tower of Eternity has to be destroyed to save what's left of the world from total destruction. Each side also blames the other for their current state of war.
* In ''[[Odin Sphere]]'', the "Shadow Knight" Oswald is somewhat cold and ruthless, but DEFINITELY a good guy. The "Demon Lord" Odin is one of the most morally ambiguous characters in the game but never comes across as "evil". Even Odette the Queen of the Underworld, despite being as cruel and vindictive as you'd expect for someone in her position, doesn't seem to be a real villain. The game DOES have definite villains and Odette doesn't even come close.
* ''[[Furcadia]]'''s Dark Primes aren't all bad. Tallus, for example, was an "evil" god of prophecy and {{spoiler|only considered evil because he could see the apocalypse.}}. He also was a thief but {{spoiler|normally only stole from those who were unwary, unlike the light goddess M'rill who steals anything she wants.}} Tallus, according to in-game lore, died protecting his brothers and sisters, but in-game actually died {{spoiler|in a bar as he tried to defend himself from an unprovoked attack by the light god Viveravus. He could have won, but did not want to harm the mortals around him.}} Taglin Tigh is considered the king of the Dark Primes and the god of Nightmares, but {{spoiler|actually is friendly and helpful to anyone not a light prime. His main problem with the light primes is that they murdered Tallus in cold blood for no reason.}} He also is renowned as a "good father" to his many children {{spoiler|and often his own brothers and sisters. When seen in public with his less-sane family members, he is always taking care of them and preventing them from hurting anyone.}}.
* The ghouls of ''[[Fallout]]'' generally have either gone completely feral or are just regular people with severe skin issues. ''Fallout 3'' subverts this in the Tenpenny Towers questline, where the [[Fantastic Racism|racists]] are refusing to let Roy Philips and other ghouls move in. {{spoiler|Roy's actually ''worse'' than the residents and ends up killing all humans in the tower if the player helps him. [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]}}.
** Similarly, the Family turn out to be {{spoiler|[[Friendly Neighborhood Vampire|Friendly Neighborhood Vampires]]. Well, they aren't really vampires, they're a gang of cannibals that model the tenants of their society around vampire mythology, drinking human blood to control their cannibalistic urges. Get past that, and they're just some fairly decent people trying to get by in a [[Crapsack World]] that reviles them}}.
** And in some extent, some super mutants like Fawkes, Uncle Leo and Marcus.
** The Talking Deathclaws in Fallout 2. Deathclaws in general may look frightening, but they're not evil per se, just really dangerous.
* Toby from ''[[Quest for Glory]] 4'' is this giant, furry, hulking, red-eyed, fanged, ill-tempered monstrosity. However, he's just protective of his ward {{spoiler|[[Tear Jerker|to the point where he will sacrifice himself to bring her back to life.]]}}
* Pick a [[Youkai]] from ''[[Touhou]]'', any youkai from ''Touhou''. In spite of youkai supposedly having a [[I'm a Humanitarian|diet consisting of human]], almost none of the characters are ever admitted as having actually done this. (Notable exception: [[Our Vampires Are Different|Vampire]] Remilia Scarlet, who, disturbingly enough, is otherwise very much a [[Friendly Neighborhood Vampires|friendly neighborhood vampire]].) Even if, at first glance, [[The World Is Always Doomed]], almost none of the supposed [[Big Bad|Big Bads]] were actually doing something as dangerous as it at first seemed, and [[Defeat Means Friendship|after the shooting ends]], [[Did We Just Have Tea With Cthulhu?|tea parties are in order]], and the characters are invited into the greater cast for whatever random adventure they'll be up for next.
** ''Subterranean Animism'' featured youkai hated even by other youkai for their [[Bad Powers, Bad People|distasteful powers]], and exiled to the Underworld. Yamame, the friendly [[Cute Monster Girl]] spider monster could inflict diseases at will, but was popular for her friendly, cheerful personality. Yuugi, a much-feared Oni, mostly played around (though [[Blood Knight|very roughly]]) with the heroines before helping them out. Satori and Koishi both had telepathic powers that terrified youkai and humans alike, forcing them to live with nothing but animals, even if they had done no actual wrongs to anyone. Rin carries away corpses and uses them to regulate the Hell of Blazing Fires, and initiated the game when she began driving evil spirits above ground, but only to lure the more powerful beings living there underground to stop her friend Utsuho from doing anything foolish or dangerous. Even Utsuho herself, the nuclear-powered hell raven with ambitions to [[Take Over the World]], just went a little [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|mad with power]] and was fine after having some sense blasted into her.
* Death from [[Romancing Sa Ga]] is actually quite an important deity, as he is in charge of the cycle of reincarnation; he even helps out the heroes if you fight in areas where Death is worshipped or use his vortex enough; in which he will instantly kill most enemies, even some Bosses (Sadly undead and certain bosses are exempt).
* Rose from ''[[Legend of Dragoon]]'', who, being the dragoon of the dark dragon, has such attacks as: sucking out an enemy's life force, doing ''something'' that leaves the enemies utterly terrified, and sucking the enemy party through a portal to hell. She can be rather harsh, but she also saves the main character's life, teaches him how to use her powers, and faithfully follows the rest of the party in their missions. It's eventually revealed that {{spoiler|as the only apparent survivor of the original seven dragoons, she has spent the last 11,000 years taking the unpleasant but necessary steps to keep the world from being utterly annihilated by the [[Light Is Not Good|supposed Messiah]].}}
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* ''[[Soul Reaver]]'' features a [[Crapsack World]] and a number of fearsome-looking characters who could not exactly be called blameless, but their appearance is no guarantee of their moral alignment. The protagonist Raziel is former vampire, twisted by cruel execution into a ghoul who must feed on the souls of humans and monsters alike. However he rejects the brutality of his former brethren and acts with honor and is genuinely searching for the truth. The vampires are revealed to be the victims of a curse by their enemies, and were once a race of winged celestial beings. The vampire Vorador is a green scaly monstrosity but is basically decent. Even Kain, the [[Big Bad]], is partially justified in his actions in the end. Contrast this with the supposedly righteous human characters, who are xenophobic, religiously fanatical exterminators of anything not human, including {{spoiler|Raziel in his pre-vampire days as a member of the ruthless Sarafan order.}}
* ''Noctropolis'' features a post-cataclysmic city in perpetual night under a cloud of volcanic ash. The city's main hero restores his health, powers and equipment by immersing himself in a pool of [[Applied Phlebotinum]] called Liquidark, the distilled liquid essence of darkness, created by the Brotherhood of the Night as research into the extradimensional Elementals particularly the Patronage of Darkness, none of whom seem malevolent. The protagonist takes up the hero's mantle to fight the [[Big Bad]] {{spoiler|revealed to be his predecessor switched over to [[Light Is Not Good|Light]] in a [[Face Heel Turn]] to take over the world.}}
* [[Badass|Ragna]] [[One
** There's also [[Token Mini
* Shadow from ''[[Twisted Metal]]''. A ghostly black hearse that's had several drivers (including an undead mortician, a goth girl, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|a nerdy kid with a pet frog]]), all with fairly sympathetic motives.
* ''[[Endless Frontier|Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier]]'' has the Orchestral Army, and to an extent the entire demon world of Formido Heim, although they did cause a bloody war ten years ago. However, special mention goes to the Orchestral Army's leader Ezel Granada, an axe-wielding demon whose head is a demonic skull with glowing red eyes and ram horns, constantly displaying a fanged grimace. He's also quite possibly the most noble character in the entire game, {{spoiler|having spent the past ten years shouldering the burden of protecting the Endless Frontier from the Einst, as well as the guilt from being tricked into starting the war.}}
* [[Neverwinter Nights]] has no alignment alterations for appearance. So yes, with an upgraded game to get the right color options you can run around as a paladin with matte-black skin and hair dressed in black and red, and still have people treat you like you look perfectly normal and are not at all creepy.
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* [[Shinobido|Goh Asuka]] is known as the Crow and wears black from top to toe, but he's the good guy.
* In ''[[Spyro the Dragon|The Legend of Spyro Trilogy]]'', Cynder is the only [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|black dragon in the game]] and has control over the element of [[Casting a Shadow|Darkness]] but is only a villain in the first game, after being freed of being [[Brainwashed and Crazy]], turns out she's actually a pretty nice girl and a loyal ally, and {{spoiler|love intrest}}, for Spyro, even becoming playible in the third game.
** Speaking about the Spyro serie, [[Skylanders Spyros Adventure|Skylanders]] also has plenty of this; the Skylanders are basically the Spyro Universe's version of the Justice League, yet they have absolutely no problem in recruiting [[The Undead|Undeads and Ghosts]] such as Ghost Roaster and Chop-Chop, the [[Our Elves Are Better|Elven]] undead [[Necromancy|Necromancer]] Hex, Troll [[Mad Bomber]] Boomer, Orc Warrior Vodood or Cynder. Spyro is even revealed to have learnt to use his [[Super
* In ''[[Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney]]: Trials and Tribulations'', {{spoiler|Viola Cadaverini}} definitely falls under [[Obviously Evil]]. Her clothing and hair is entirely black, she has a way of [[Offscreen Teleportation|suddenly appearing from nowhere]], a [[Giggling Villain|creepy giggle]], is aware of her family's being [[The Mafia]], and repeatedly offers [[Perfect Poison|coffee]] to Phoenix and Maya. As it turns out, she's {{spoiler|an innocent victim being exploited by Furio Tigre, and thinks that his murder scheme was horrible.}} Of course, that doesn't stop her from {{spoiler|"making him [[Deadly Euphemism|drink a lot of coffee]]" when she finds out the truth.}}
** Detective Tyrell Badd isn't bad, although he is [[Badass|Baddass]].
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