Default to Good: Difference between revisions

'''Han Solo''': Hey, Luke... may the Force be with you.

''[Luke exits. Chewie growls]''

 

Fairly often in fiction, [[I Work Alone|a Dedicated Loner]] character will appear. He (or more rarely, she) is [[Ineffectual Loner|pretty useless]], evil, or just [[Loners Are Freaks|a little strange]]. However, sometimes these Switzerland types are in possession of just enough power to sway the final battle, should they choose to get involved. If they do, the chances are excellent that they'll end up [[Neutral No Longer|throwing in with the Good Guys]] [[Changed My Mind, Kid|at the very last minute]] and providing the decisive element in the victory over evil. [[Awakening the Sleeping Giant|Sometimes they provide a little more decisive element than necessary]].

[[I Work Alone|These unaffiliated loners may initially refuse to join a side for many reasons]]. They may not care about the conflict in question ("Eh, meet the new boss, same as the old boss"), or may not care enough to consider it worth risking their own precious skins ("I'm not stupid, [[Red Shirt|I'm not expendable]], and I'm not going,") or may have reasons to hate both sides of the fight equally ("A plague on both your houses; I hope you annihilate each other completely and leave the world a better place.") Generally, they relish their uninvolved status, although you may see them randomly helping out the Good Guys (or even the Bad Guys) once or twice just because it livens up a dull day.

 

 

If you want to bring one of these guys over on to your team, there are a couple of simple suggestions you might want to follow:

Note that this is '''not''' the same as either a [[Heel Face Turn]] or a [[Face Heel Turn]]. Someone who Defaults To Good was neither a Heel nor a Face to begin with; they are affiliated with neither of the main sides until some critical point very late in the story. For most of the tale, they are only on their ''own'' side, although they may have an affiliation with a [[Hidden Elf Village|third]] [[Hufflepuff House|group]] that is not taking an active part in the main conflict.

 

{{examples}}

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* Gabriel winds up doing this in [[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]. He helped advance the villain's agenda in his second appearance on the show, and tried to advance it in his third, because he thinks the whole destined mess should be gotten over with as quickly as possible, but he doesn't actively back either side. His official story is he doesn't care; it's pretty clear he doesn't want to be responsible for either side losing because he cares about them ''both'', but then:

'''Gabriel:''' No one makes ''us'' do anything. }}

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Corruption Tropes]]

[[Category:Redemption Tropes]]