Good Is Not Nice: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

He [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|never kills anyone if he can help it]], nor will he allow people to come to any sort of harm by ignoring them. He's always willing to go out of his way [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|to save the town and complete strangers]]. When the call comes, [[Resigned to the Call|he will answer it, usually with very little protest.]] He will often help people in need with little promise of reward. In almost every way, he acts like an [[Ideal Hero]].

 

 

 

There are a few reasons a person may act like this:

# He may want to be a [[Nice Guy|nice person]], but believes in tough love, particularly if [[Trickster Mentor|he has to teach something]]. (This one may be an intermittent effect, applied only when necessary; contrast [[Beware the Nice Ones]], where such outbursts result from break-down. On the other hand, emotional trauma ''can'' coincide with the realization that nice won't cut it.)

# [[It's Not You, It's My Enemies|He can't afford to let others get close to him because his enemies will use them against him.]]

 

The [[Naive Newcomer]] may be surprised to learn he [[Warts and All|isn't the idealized hero everyone thinks he is]].

 

 

Why Light powers can be the [[Holy Hand Grenade]] even when [[Light Is Good]].

See also [[Hidden Depths]].

 

 

{{examples}}

 

== Anime and Manga ==

** General Cross could also fall under this one. He's brutal, but effective, and he genuinely does care about Allen when push comes to shove. Awww.

** Pretty much the entire main cast can fit under this trope, except [[Stepford Smiler|Hakkai]]

* The supposed hero Sunred in ''[[Tentai Senshi Sunred]]''. He knows he's supposed to play the role of hero and does beat up villains regularly. Yet he's also a smoking, pachinko-playing jerk who mooches off his girlfriend and becomes (understandably) annoyed at Florshiem's attempts at "world domination".

** And then there's Near, who is even more [[Raised by Wolves]] and much less subtle in regards to snarking. {{spoiler|There's endless debate over whether or not he used the Death Note to control Mikami's actions, so as to convict Light. [[Word of God]] also states that he "cheats"}}.

** Not to mention Soichiro, Light's father. [[Word of God]] states that he is the only truly good character in the series...notwithstanding {{spoiler|holding two people (the first a civilian, the second ''his own son'') at gunpoint, actually firing - even when it's loaded with blanks - at ''point blank range'' during the latter occasion, and later still making the trade for Shinigami Eyes and attempting to write Mello's name in the notebook, only failing to write said name in full because Mello asks him if he's ever killed a person before, leading to a moment of hesitation which proves his undoing.}}

* Togusa in ''[[Ghost in the Shell (manga)|Ghost in The Shell]]'', as [[The Rookie]] recruited from the regular police, is pretty much the only character who is actively trying to work within the law and respect the rights of criminals. The rest of Section 9 is not above using torture and murder, but the entire country is in such a corrupt state that even Togusa usually accepts that as a necessary part of their work.

* The entirety of Team Urameshi in ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]''. Hiei is just plain evil [[For the Evulz]] (at least at first). Yusuke is [[Jerkass|an ass]] towards literally everyone he knows, but [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|he genuinely cares about all of them,]] and [[The Power of Friendship|his power spikes exponentially whenever they're in danger]]. Kurama is outwardly pleasant, but he's also a [[Deadpan Snarker]] of the highest order, incredibly fond of the [[Stealth Insult]] towards his less intelligent teammates, and (even by ''[[Jerkass|Hiei's]]'' admission), the most ruthless fighter on the team, a trait he demonstrates when he mercilessly executes most of his enemies even after they're defeated. By contrast, Kuwabara's a borderline [[Nice Guy]], a [[Boisterous Bruiser]] [[Bruiser with a Soft Center|with a soft centre.]]

* In ''[[Slayers]]'' [[Black Magician Girl]] Lina Inverse is mostly [[Anti-Hero|a self-centered, immature, avaricious and temperamental teenage girl]] with an advanced grasp on highly destructive [[Black Magic]]. And yet, she and her team is all that stands in the way of the various ravening monsters, mad wizards and nihilistic demons that pop up over the course of the series, some of whom try to [[The End of the World as We Know It|destroy the world]].

** [[Love Freak|Amelia Seyruun]] wants to be a "[[For Great Justice|Hero of Justice]]" but is so naive and wrapped up in stereotypes and clichés she's barely aware of what that means. She tries to do things right as she understands it, but end up either too misguided or too self-righteous. And hits this trope straight. Lina may be a black mage rarely caring of anything including moderate collateral damage, but ''her'' reaction on the thought of Amelia with [[Fantastic Nuke|more destructive spells]] (in {{spoiler|season 1, ep. 12}}) is a bad idea, and even dumb-as-a-jellyfish Gourry see why. However, her father Phil is far more adequate despite having exactly the same [[Love Freak]] quirks and being even bigger [[Martial Pacifist]].

** [[Jerkass Woobie|Zelgadis]], having been [[Cursed with Awesome|turned into a chimera]] by his [[Affably Evil]] bastard of a great-grandfather, fits this trope to a T, even more so than Lina. He [[Wandering the Earth|wanders from place to place searching for a cure for his condition]], often disregarding others around him; only when the world is in grave danger will he stray from his wandering ways, he ''does'' genuinely care about Lina and Gourry, and he [[Ship Tease|may or may not have feelings]] for Amelia. He actually subverts this trope in the original novels, as he is more of a straight-up [[Jerkass|douche]], and an extra story in one of the books reveals that he actually ''wants'' to forget about his friends.

** Anime-only character Filia is a [[Tsundere|bad-tempered]] [[Holier Than Thou]] [[Good Shepherd|priestess]]. In her defense, she appears to have been raised in isolation from the wider world (and has JUST left her home for the first time as TRY starts) and her main problems are due more to [[Naive Newcomer|immaturity and naïveté]] than anything else.

* Sakurako Sanjou from ''[[Hana Yori Dango]]'' is a [[Rich Bitch]] [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing]] as well as ''very'' nasty when crossed. After her [[Heel Face Turn]], despite having a kinder disposition, she still remains spoiled and childish.

* Much to everyone's surprise, {{spoiler|'''Eva'''}} turns out to be this in ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]''.

** [[Zeta Gundam|Kamille Bidan]], an angry young Newtype who frequently has trouble with authority and other people - especially [[Affably Evil|Jerid Messa]], but nevertheless holds a genuine empathy toward innocent lives who suffer [[Evil vs. Evil|both the oppression of the tyrannical Earth Federation and the atrocity of the evil Zeon]].

* Kaiser Ryo of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh GX]]'' is this in seasons 1 and later in season 3. In season 1, he's a loner and not very friendly, but he's willing to risk his life for his friends and brother. Season 3 features a much darker [[Anti-Hero]], but he's essentially one of the "good guys" and ends up {{spoiler|sacrificing himself in order to snap Judai out of his [[Heroic BSOD]]}}

* Possible interpretation of Shinigami in ''[[Soul Eater]]''. Some of his methods of enforcing order are decidedly questionable (Asura, the witches (especially Kim and Angela), Mifune) they're just not half as questionable as what his fellow Physical Gods, or more appropriately their associated baddies, get up to.

* Gen from ''[[Kekkaishi]]'' could be the posterboy for this trope. Masamori is a less obvious example, as he's outwardly polite, even while he's delivering a thinly veiled threat.

* Piccolo from ''[[Dragon Ball]]''. Even after his [[Heel Face Turn]], he is generally aloof and distant from the rest of human characters. Some of them consider him be to outright scary but Piccolo saves [[Pet the Dog|his softer side for Gohan.]] Not to mention he is quite ruthless in battle, such as severing Dr Gero's arms (though he had assumed he was an android) and [[Half the Man He Used To Be|bifurcating Babidi.]]

* [[Vampire Princess Miyu|Miyu]] does what she can to aid humans, and occasionally feels regret for those she can't help, but in the end her job is to banish Shinma, ''not'' to protect or save people. She's not above using mortals as bait, if necessary.

* Killy from ''[[Blame]]!'' since he shoots the Silicon Creatures indiscriminately.

* In ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'', Yzak sides with Clyne's faction while insulting Kira, i.e. Lacus' fiancé. [[It Makes Sense in Context|It really makes sense]] if you know [[Gundam Seed|their common past]] ( {{spoiler|Yzak knows that Kira killed one of his friends and disfigured him due to [[War Is Hell]], and he knows that when Lacus fights against a government, she's usually the on the good side. But he's not forgiving enough to speak nicely to Kira while doing the right thing}}).

 

== Comic Books ==

* [[Defrosting Ice Queen|The female Dr. Light]]: Helping fellow heroes while looking down on them [[Crisis on Infinite Earths|since 1985]].

* ''Grimjack'' aka John Gaunt. His code of "Always Seek The Truth" can (and often does) hurt his friends, family, clients, random people on the street, etc.

* [[The Spectre]] is literally the Angel of Vengeance, tasked by [[God]] with punishing those murders, molesters, and miscellaneous malefactors that escape the justice at human hands. He is also one of the creepiest, most unsettling, and cruelest beings in the DC universe.

* [[Spider-Man]] had his moments in his early teenage days. He would often act very cocky and could be a bit of a jerk towards fellow heroes at times. He mellowed out a lot more once he came into adulthood.

** This is even how the Uncle Ben incident happened originally. Several retellings (such as [[The Movie]]) try to make it more sympathetic, but really, he just let the thief go because it wasn't his problem. He learned the "with great power..." thing from what happened later, but it didn't instantly transform him into a perfect human being.

* [[Deconstructed]] (along with everything else) in ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]''.

* When the [[Fantastic Four]] trespassed into Heaven {{spoiler|in a bid to resurrect Ben Grimm}}, Johnny was struck by an archangel's [[Flaming Sword]] and noted that it hurt even worse than ''[[Hellfire]]''.

 

== Fan Works ==

* The [[Wise Prince|dwarven noble]] [[Guile Hero|protagonist]] in [[Dragon Age: The Crown of Thorns|Dragon Age the Crown of Thorns]] does usually maintain an affable manner, but he doesn't bother being overly amiable to people who press his buttons like {{spoiler|Lady Isolde, King Cailan and the Orzammar Assembly}}, to name a few.

** Gwenith 'Gwen' Cousland is the more straight example. She has a tendency of getting into bar fights and is overall quite [[Hot-Blooded]], getting angry easily and yelling often. She also seems to take people for granted. Nonetheless, she ''does'' mean well, proven particularly accurately by how she, though not without help from some of the other Wardens, {{spoiler|spent some time holding off the darkspawn attacking Redcliffe in order to help the remaining refugees flee}}.

* [http://www.fanfiction.net/~mrevil Mr.Evil's] [[Original Character]] Fredi "Frediano" Heat is described as a borderline sociopath, isn't afraid of practically crippling or killing anyone in his path, and ultimately hates being referred to as a "good guy". Despite all of this, he is extremely loyal and gets the job done. The police are just happy that he is on their side.

* Tatl Beryllia in ''[[The Blue Blur of Termina]]''. Though she generally means well, she can be quite a jerk at times.

 

== Film ==

* The eponymous ogre of the ''[[Shrek]]'' films, who initially just wants to be left alone in his swamp. Then he agrees to rescue a princess in exchange for clearing out the exiles in his swamp, and things spiral from there.

* ''[[Hancock]]'' starts off like this. He goes out of his way to help people in need and stop criminals, and he also doesn't commit murder, with one possible exception right near the end of the movie. He's also an alcoholic with a short temper who isn't afraid to use his powers to intimidate people he doesn't like.

* Basil of Baker Street, from ''[[The Great Mouse Detective]]'', is condescending and rude. Children coming to his office to say their fathers were kidnapped are told "I have no time for lost fathers!" Of course, this turns out to be because he's focused on trying to apprehend a local crime lord named Professor Ratigan, whom ironically happens to be very [[Faux Affably Evil]], the polar opposite of this trope.

* Also a theme of the ''[[Star Wars]]'' series. More general examples include the strict Jedi code and the lengths the well-intentioned pro-republic characters are willing to go to in order to keep the galaxy together. ({{spoiler|For example, an army of clones whose genetics are modified to make them obedient, as a means of crushing the separatists, was created, and Mace and Yoda didn't object at Palpatine's announcement of this.}})

* ''[[Lean on Me]]'' portrays Joe Clark as on several occasions being willing to do the right thing when the right thing isn't exactly nice. He expels hundreds of "troublemakers" at a time to improve the school for the better students, orders the school's doors "chained and locked" on being told that someone from inside the school let an expelled student into the school building, and fires a teacher for picking up trash during the school song for which everyone was told not to move.

 

== Literature ==

** There's also Sam "This is how you play [[Lawful Good]] you morons!" Vimes.

**** He also arranged things so when he dies, everything goes to hell. It makes sure he won't be assassinated, but all men are mortal, and Vetinari is a man.

* Micah E. F. Martin's [[The Canticle]] gives us [[Knight Templar|Jonathan Servitor]], a merciless inquisitor serving a [[Corrupt Church]] that's all humanity has standing between it and the ravenous legions of the dead. Needless to say, sometimes he gets his hands dirty.

* Flannery O'Connor [http://www.flanneryoconnor.org/ssfreaks.html spawned a quote] that often comes up to describe this trope; it is most commonly repeated through the form in which [http://www.amywelborn.com/walkerpercy/thantos.html Walker Percy paraphrased] it, when she wrote that, "''tenderness leads to the gas chamber''". It's a rather shocking way of pointing out that trying to be ''nice'' without first being ''good'' is a fast road to becoming a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|very dangerous kind of person]].

** The exact extent to which the [[Big Good]] Dumbledore is a [[Manipulative Bastard]] is up to a debate, but the fact itself is certain.

* Max Pesaro from ''[[The Gardella Vampire Chronicles]].''

** It's worth noting that Aslan is actually supposed to be [[Jesus Christ]]. Lewis was a strict Christian, but was quite exasperated by people trying to turn God into a "nice Guy" rather than a "good Guy."

* In ''[[Stationery Voyagers]]'', the ''good'' angels don't mind at all [[Uncanny Valley|how much they creep everyone out]]. But they are usually within workable, tolerable attitude. Unless you [[Too Dumb to Live|deliberately go pushing their buttons]], try [[Tempting Fate]], or [[Hitler's Time Travel Exemption Act|ignore the Web of Destiny's Center Rod]]. Which [[Dying Like Animals|happens a lot]] in this series, as at least half the villains are [[Leeroy Jenkins|rabid]] about their zealous hatred for the heroes.

* Nicholas van Rijn from [[Poul Anderson]]'s [[Technic History]] is a greedy, sloppy, cynical, womanizing corporate executive. He also constantly saves his employees from death and disaster, often with an elaborate [[Batman Gambit]] that involves using evolutionary psychology to psychoanalyze whatever alien race is giving their interstellar trading company trouble. He is also merciful towards his enemies and tries to create win-win situations for them.

* [[Sherlock Holmes]] was often arrogant, self-absorbed, callous, and rude; subject to many theories about Asperger's Syndrome and bipolarism.

** The main character Anton embodies this trope to a T. Especially during that section of the first book where [[What You Are in the Dark|all bets are off.]]

* Robert Jordan's ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' has quite a bit of this. Rand al'Thor, and to a lesser degree Perrin Aybara, want to be good and nice, but end up growing more bitter and reclusive as the series progresses. And then there are all the [[Jerkass]] women, who are "good" only because they oppose [[Satan|the Dark One]]. There are also the Aiel, who oppose the Dark One, [[Determinator|to their last breath]], but have a massive superiority complex over all Wetlanders. In later books a few of the characters get annoyed with their attitudes but say nothing because they need them for the Last Battle.

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''[[Gaunt's Ghosts]]'' novel ''Ghostmaker'', the angel (or hallucination) that appears to Larkins inspires him to carry out his mission alone, despite his terror, but that includes prying out him the truth of his panic-stricken flight and demanding that he carry it out.

* Richard of the ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' books. Pick a book, especially a later book. He is 'good,' but has a nasty habit of killing people who disagree with him

** The other heroes are worse. Richard will only kill you. Cara will torture you first. As for Kahlan...

'''Kahlan''': "Cut their throats." }}

** Gandalf fits this trope perfectly, enough that it's alluded to be a general stereotype of wizards. He has quite a temper, he hates explaining himself, and he's also something of a [[Deadpan Snarker]]. But he's also the [[Big Good]].

* Noldor in [[The Silmarillion]] in general fit this trope.

* Roland from ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' series. He desires to be kind, and whenever he has an opportunity he demonstrates it. But he always ends up in situations where he must hurt, {{spoiler|even sacrifice}} those he loves for the sake of his mission. [[Dirty Business|It bothers him]].

* Stated fairly well in ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', when [[Mama Bear|Charity]] is dressing Harry's cut even though she dislikes him.

** And Harry himself, at times.

*** Best shown in ''Death Masks'', where Harry and the [[Lawful Good|Knights of the Cross]] are confronted by a willing collaborator of the Denarians who [[I Surrender, Suckers|surrenders and sarcastically promises to repent]], all the while [[Smug Snake|taunting them smugly]] because the Knights are bound to not judge or punish, but only to fight the evil possessing the Denarians. {{spoiler|Once the Knights leave, [[Shut UP, Hannibal|Harry takes a baseball bat to the man's kneecaps]].}}

*** Even demonstrated by the Knights themselves in the same scene. When Harry leaves the room, the Knights are standing calmly in the hall, knowing full well what Harry was doing and choosing not to intervene. After all, they aren't out to judge or punish someone for {{spoiler|taking a baseball bat to an evil bastard's knees}}. And they take gleeful delight in the look on the man's face when he realized what Harry was about to do, as well as Harry's parting shot: {{spoiler|he left the man a quarter to call for an ambulance, assuming he dragged himself across the parking lot to a payphone.}}

'''Harry:''' I know. }}

** Ebenezar McCoy, who once {{spoiler|[[Colony Drop|pulled a decommissioned Soviet satellite out of orbit]] to punish a vampire duke who tried to cheat in a duel against Harry.}}

* After undergoing some major [[Character Development]], Scorpio from the later ''[[Revelation Space]]'' novels is one of the more altruistic characters, but he's definitely not someone you should piss off.

* Speaking of which, in the [[Left Behind]] series, God goes all out with His judgments during the Tribulation in order to bring as many people to salvation as possible before sending Jesus to finish off the hardened moral rebels which comprise the bulk of the Global Community army sided with the Antichrist.

** And if you [[Berserk Button|diss a late friend and comrade of his out of]] [[Fantastic Racism]]...

* Ii-chan, the main character of NISIOISIN's [[Zaregoto]] novels, fits this trope to a tee.

* [[The Bible|Yahweh.]] Yes, He's ultimately [[God Is Good|a force for good]], but [[Good Is Not Soft|you do]] ''not'' [[Nightmare Fuel|want to cross him.]]

* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: The Sisterhood/Viglantes. Each member did start out as nice, but the minute they form this group is the minute they dive into this trope. Reason 6 is certainly a factor for this, although reason 2 may possibly apply as well. The first 7 books are all about them getting [[Revenge]] on the people who wronged them. The last 13 books are all about trying to get back to their normal, everyday lives. Unfortunately, this trope gets cranked [[Up to Eleven]] so much that some of the villains actually become [[Unintentionally Sympathetic]]!

 

* Dr. Cox of ''[[Scrubs]]'' is willing to risk his career to save a patient's life, but is not an overwhelmingly friendly person and gladly insults a patient who has different opinions than him.

** Differing opinions, the woman he loves, his favored protégé, complete strangers... Cox is not a nice person, but see his reactions to losing friends and patients.

* And following this pattern, Reid Oliver from ''[[As the World Turns]]''.

* ''[[Becker]]''.

* As much as Dr. [[House (TV series)|House]] wants everyone to think he only does it for the puzzle, many episodes show in his behavior that he does genuinely care, and has on several occasions put himself in harm's way to save the patient's life. Sure, he may say he doesn't really care about people, but, well...everybody lies. In spite of his genuine goodness, however, he regards pretty much everybody else he meets as an idiot, and [[Insufferable Genius|tells them as much to their face]].

* The Fist Team from ''[[Double the Fist]]'' are here to help. They want the world to be more activate and powerful, and even helped save the woodland from loggers once. However, they have also murdered a number of innocent people, destroyed a lot of public property, and eventually conquered the world. Their hearts are in the right place...Well, Mephisto may enjoy his work a bit too much.

** Also, there's Ronon Dex, who can be outright mean, is hard to get to know, and takes a long time for him to warm up to you enough to trust you as a friend. But when that time comes, he's a fierce fighter.

** To a lesser extent, O'Neill of ''[[Stargate SG-1|SG-1]]''. He's clearly far more comfortable with kicking evildoers' asses than making friends. [[The Conscience|That's what Daniel was for]].

* [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Spike]] in ''[[Angel]]''. During a brief stint at Angel's old job of helping the helpless, he stops a vampire from killing a woman. He then proceeds to insult the crap out of her for being dumb enough to be walking down a dark alley dressed the way she is.

** Hell, Angel in ''[[Angel]]'' is this trope, for the most part. Reason #3 describes him rather well.

** Also, Giles. Despite how he acted in the first few seasons, he's often one of the most sarcastic and foul-mouthed people on the show (never picked up on by most due to him using mostly British swears). Plus, he'll kill humans if he must, an opinion only shared by him until Season 8.

* Keisuke Nago follows this trope to the letter in ''[[Kamen Rider Kiva]]'', to the point where ''all five'' reasons listed in the opening paragraphs that a person could experience this trope apply to him. He eventually mellows out, but it takes half the series to happen.

* ''[[Dexter]]'': Sergeant James Doakes is an anti-social [[Jerkass]] with a penchant for violence, but a damn fine cop and a good person at the end of the day.

* Jacob on ''[[Lost]]''. While he may work to good ends, he doesn't seem to care much about what happens to the people he uses along the way to achieve those ends. So much so that for much of the final season fans frequently speculated online that in the end Jacob would turn out to be the evil one and the Man In Black the good one.

* In ''[[Lost in Oz]]'', Bellaridere's soldiers capture Alex and company, and she's essentially blackmailing them to fight the Witch. On the other hand, she does have the best interests of Oz in mind.

* [[Sherlock]] [[Sherlock Holmes|Holmes]] is this in spades. He helps solve crimes, but only because he'd be bored without cases to keep him occupied. He tends to ignore any sort of human element to his cases and has been self-diagnosed as a sociopath.

* Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson in ''[[The Closer]]'' will fight for her people and for the victims of crime, but will run rough-shod over anyone and everyone (including her husband the FBI agent) to solve her case. In one notable episode she was after this rich young punk who has fled to Mexico after raping and killing his family's Mexican maid. Brenda threatens to charge his mother with aiding and abetting his escape unless he explained the entire thing to her. He cheerfully does so and then arrogantly tells Brenda she can't touch him. Brenda agrees that this is true, but then she points out that he is in a Mexican police station with two Mexican police officers who understand English standing behind him and he just confessed to raping and murdering a Mexican girl. They promptly arrest him for the rape and murder and drag him away to a life sentence in Mexican prison, stated to be far worse for him than the similar sentence in US prison. Even Brenda acknowledges that she may have gone a little too far to close this case.

* Parodied on ''[[Monk]]''. Monk is so demanding of his dry cleaners that he is charged extra, and eventually banned from the place. Of course the murderer is a more courteous customer. Even after being informed of his deeds, the dry cleaner still thinks the murderer is better customer than Monk.

 

== Music ==

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

* [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]]. A foul mouthed, beer chugging, [[Jerkass|asshole]] who hates his boss and fights for the good guys.

* [[Randy Orton]]. His past times include performing his finisher on women, punting a lot of people in the head hard enough to hospitalize them, and trying to [[Ax Crazy|kill John Cena with pyrotechnics during a match.]] These days, his attitude hasn't changed much, but he's just decided to use his violent tactics on Heels.

** Hell, recently he punted all of the New Nexus, [[Chris Jericho]], RKO-ed [[Ron Killings|R-Truth]] into a table twice, kicked [[Christian]] [[Groin Attack|in the nuts]] because he spat in his face, and has a street fight with him on the next episode of WWE [[Smack Down]]. Lets remember that a street fight is a no holds barred match that can take place anywhere in the arena, and Randy Orton has actually tried to ''use fireworks to kill an opponent''. And he REALLY doesn't like Christian.

 

== Religion ==

* [[The Bible]]: God is always good, but isn't always nice. This trope also applies to Jesus, despite how he is perceived in modern times. For example, when the temple had been turned into a literal den of thieves, he started overturning tables and drove out the money changers with a whip, and his public debates with the pharisees frequently utilized scathing insults that left his opponents the laughingstock of bystanders.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* High Elves in [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. They are arrogant, uppity and haughty bastards.

** In 3.5, the Book of Exalted Deeds directly says that good does not mean nice.

*** ''Complete Scoundrel'' introduces a Paladin [[Prestige Class]] called Gray Guard that ''is'' this trope. The illustration even shows a Gray Guard strangling a necromancer. A Gray Guard is a paladin who [[Combat Pragmatist|fights dirty]], and can turn his [[Healing Hands|lay on hands]] ability into a variant on the [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique]].

*** [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons|They're not exactly wrong.]]

*** It's not actually that uncommon. The Celestial Lions are another notably humanitarian chapter, as are the Iron Snakes and presumably many of the other Ultramarines-derived successor chapters (and the majority of successor chapters are of Ultramarines stock).

** On the opposite end of the spectrum you have the Black Templars. Definitely the good guys from the Imperium's standpoint, the hardest working and most pious Space Marine chapter. They have fought a crusade against aliens for 10,000 years, but they are willing to do things like sacrifice millions of human lives to kill an alien psker that stood in the Imperium's way.

*** In one story we see a Black Templar attack from the perspective of a simple human farmer when the battles over his farm is destroyed and he prays that they will never come back because they scared him more than the Orks they had fought. He even pitied the Orks for being in such a [[Curb Stomp Battle]]

** Actually, ''everyone'' who you could consider to be "good guys" in the setting are not nice.

** To simplify things about the setting, [[The Empire|the Imperium]] is the [[Designated Hero|Designated Protagonist Faction]], and, [[Depending on the Writer]] (or whether it's a novel or background material), its members can range from being genuinely holy crusaders to being truly monstrous. Or both at once.

** In the fan setting ''Brighthammer 40,000'', this is pretty much the defining trait of the Lords of Order, the [[Mirror Universe]] counterpart to the Chaos Gods. They're as unarguably good and benevolent as their Canon counterparts are evil and malevolent... but they're still ultimately alien manifestations of raw human emotion that can be truly dangerous if offended or treated carelessly.

 

== Theater ==

* Lampshaded by the Witch in a kind of reverse way in ''[[Into the Woods]]''

** From the [[Into the Woods|same musical,]] this trope is almost directly quoted by Little Red Riding Hood in "I Know Things Now." See the page quotation.

* Elphaba in ''[[Wicked (theatre)|Wicked]]'' could be considered an example of this.

* [[John Adams]] in ''[[1776]]'' definitely fits. He's an early promoter of the cause of independence ... and so obnoxious, abrasive, rude, arrogant, and snarky that he's even detested by most of his friends.

'''Benjamin Franklin''': That's true John. }}

 

== Video Games ==

** Some players actually find it surprising and a little heartwarming that the guy thanks you, because they know it took an almost superhuman effort for him to admit that he's grateful.

* The Brotherhood of Steel in ''[[Fallout]]'' are some of the purest good guys in the games, with the exception of a good-aligned [[Player Character]]. With some exceptions, they're also arrogant bastards who are more than willing to let innocents die in the pursuit of their long-term goals for the revival and salvation of humanity.

** Mind you, you can play your [[Player Character]] like this too, save everyone, but be a dick about it.

** In the ''Honest Hearts'' DLC, we have Joshua Graham, the former Malpais Legate (now a good guy again). While he truly cares for the tribals he's sworn to defend, he is completely over the top [[Papa Wolf]] who will (and has) gone [[Beyond the Impossible]] to prove fucking with those under his protection will result in the Wrath Of God killing the hell out of you. {{spoiler|However, depending on how things play out, you can either encourage him to take this to it's logical, ultraviolent conclusion, or help him temper his ultraviolence for a good cause with a little mercy.}}

* ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]'' Archer, Archer, Archer. To be fair, he would seem like less of a (rather badass) jerk if he wasn't always going up against Shirou. Almost all of the above examples apply to him. {{spoiler|The constant [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|switching of sides]] really muddies the issue of whether he's 'good' or not for a while. As a matter of fact, he's [[True Neutral]].}}

* Some of your allies in the ''[[Suikoden]]'' series can come off as complete jerks who you nonetheless respect [[Bunny Ears Lawyer|because they're good at what they do]]. [[Suikoden II|Shu]] and [[Suikoden V|Zerase]] immediately spring to mind.

** He's just topping the Night Elves' performance. Rather than informing Grom that he's trespassing on their land (which wouldn't have stopped him), their solution was to launch a series of aggressive raids on the orcs. In fact, night elves' attitude in WC3 was generally "shoot first, ask questions later".

** Maiev, leader of the Wardens, got an increasingly concentrated dose of this in ''The Frozen Throne''. She was utterly obsessed with capturing Illidan, her efforts [[He Who Fights Monsters|gradually becoming more and more fanatical as time passed]].

* Jimmy Hopkins from ''[[Bully (video game)|Bully]]'' IS this trope. We could rename it "The Jimmy Hopkins", and not lose any meaning.

* Jaheira from the ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' sequels, where it otherwise looks like she's not living up (down?) to her obligatory druidic [[True Neutral]] [[Character Alignment|alignment]], is still a blunt know-it-all with no patience for people who don't happen to see things her way or who happen to annoy her through no fault of their own.

* If You choose to play non-leathal in ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution|Deus Ex Human Revolution]]'', Adam is Essentially Batman with cybernetics.

* Godot in ''[[Ace Attorney]]''. He's an outright jerk to Phoenix Wright in court, and the three 'targets' of his prosecuting are a sweet but hapless young woman, a sweet but hapless young man, and {{spoiler|a sweet but secretly conspiring with him young woman.}} However, {{spoiler|all of his actions in the final case were either to avenge Mia, take down Dahlia, or protect Mia's sister Maya.}}

* The moral choices in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' can be either "Paragon" or [[Anti-Hero|"Renegade"]] - and a Renegade Shepard can be a real ass.

*** Case in point, during [[Downloadable Content|Zaeed's]] loyalty mission, there's a part where Zaeed goes out of his way to set off a refinery. The paragon option involves punching Zaeed and asking him [[What the Hell, Hero?|what the hell he was thinking]], and later on {{spoiler|when Zaeed gets pinned under a girder because he refused to play as a team, the paragon option involves laying out for Zaeed ''exactly'' why acting like a loose cannon isn't going to fly if he wants to stay on the team}}.

*** You can even {{spoiler|leave Zaeed to die there}}, but only after completing the main storyline quests.

** Similarly Samara, who by all accounts would die to save an innocent and generally fights for justice. With her that usually means killing evil people, armed or unarmed. This even goes as far as killing her own daughter.

** Another case in point: on Omega, Shepard encounters a quarian merchant who got stuck there while on Pilgrimage. He's selling salvage to try to get off the station, but another merchant, an elcor named Harrot, is forcing him to sell higher than him to maintain market share. Shepard can talk to Harrot with the traditional Paragon/Renegade dialogue options. The renegade approach is to convince him to shut down the quarian, with the merchant's fate left uncertain. The paragon approach, meanwhile...

'''Harrot:''' [[I Do Not Speak Nonverbal|With barely contained terror:]] You drive a hard bargain, human. }}

* In ''[[Dante's Inferno (video game)|Dantes Inferno]]'' the eponymous character has the choice to either "[[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence|Absolve]]" or "[[Video Game Cruelty Potential|Punish]]" the [[Legions of Hell]] he battles as a [[Finishing Move]]. The bright and shining Absolve-based finishers aren't all that much less brutal than their scythe-based Punish counterparts.

'''Cap''': After [[Mind Control|what you did to Jean Grey]], it wouldn't be torture, it'd be justice. Now tell me what Doom wants before I do something you'll regret. }}

* The Warden in ''[[Dragon Age]]'' ''Origins'' can be a good example. He or she can always choose the more Lawful Good options and save as many innocent people as possible while still being a [[Jerkass]] [[Deadpan Snarker]] to everyone they meet.

* Miranda of ''[[Legend of Dragoon]]''. She's the First Sacred Sister of Mille Seseau, a combination of princess, general, and priestess for the people of her country. She's also chosen as the White Silver Dragoon, the holiest and gentlest of dragoon spirits. Too bad she's a [[Tsundere|raging bitch]]. [[Character Development|She gets better]] as the game goes on, but her cynical business-first attitude puts her in stark contrast to her predecessor, [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|Shana]].

* In ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]: Mask of the Betrayer'', Kaelyn the Dove is a just, noble Aasimar that tries to do good whenever she can. However, she is ''obsessed'' with destroying the [[Fate Worse Than Death|Wall of the Faithless]], and is willing to do ''anything'' to tear it down.

* ''[[Golden Sun]]'' games love this trope, the biggest example being the twist in ''The Lost Age'' that the "bad guys" we hunted down in the first game were trying to save the world. Several subplots involve other characters with good intentions but questionable methods.

* Some of the Daedra from the [[Elder Scrolls]] games ''may'' qualify as this. Daedric lords such as Azura, Meridia, and possibly Nocturnal have reputations for being less malignant and more beneficial to humans than the other lords. However, they aren't necessarily nice. Azura is described simultaneously as being cruel, but also as wise and encouraging her worshipers to love themselves as much as they love her.

 

== Web Comics ==

** The paladins of Azure City are pragmatic in general, cunning to the point of underhandedness when necessary. (Yes, [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0214.html even] [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0215.html Miko].)

*** Miko is socially inept, [[Lawful Stupid]], and eventually [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|jumps off the slippery slope]], but she's unfailingly courageous and eager to save innocent bystanders.

** Haley has her moments, too. Those who read her origin comic may get [[Mood Whiplash]] when they see her friends again. {{spoiler|She kills most of them without hesitation, and in many cases without them even having the chance to surrender or speak in their own defense. Mind, they're there to kill her, too.}}

** The same can be said, albeit in different ways, of Durkon. He's lawful good to the core, and weeps tears of joy when he realizes that he'll be going home to his people {{spoiler|as a corpse}}. He also has Charisma as his dump stat, so even when people can understand his accent, he comes off gruff.

* Mike from ''[[Walkyverse|It's Walky!]]'' has this in him. He comes off as a total [[Jerkass]] {{spoiler|until he sacrifices his life to save Joyce at the end. He also does several other heroic things before then, but that's the kicker.}}

** When he shows up in ''[[Shortpacked]]'', some of the horrible things he does end up forcing other characters to confront bad aspects of themselves, making them better people overall.

* Master Fei from ''[[How I Killed Your Master]]''

* Raven, from ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', is a strict disciplinarian, quite caustic and doesn't suffer fools gladly. And will fight monsters or wizards to protect his students.

* Gilgam in ''[[The Water Phoenix King]]'' is the embodiment of this. Being [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]] is only part of the reason; it mostly seems caused by [[Won the War, Lost the Peace|post-war disillusionment]] and [[War Is Hell|depression,]] though he was probably always sarcastic and irreverent (he ''was'' a lawyer, after all) and being the [[Only Sane Man]] (in his mind, at least) doesn't help.

* Aeris from ''[[VG Cats]]''. She tends to [[Deadpan Snarker|very bluntly]] berate Leo for his stupidity, but often times it's for his own good. [http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=83 (Here's an especially classic case of this.)] She's also implied-but-not-shown to hit Leo from time to time, but it's presumably based on a similar principle.

* [[The Messiah|Rikk]] in ''Fans'' get a rather [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|epic moment]] that screams this trope when he is [[Curb Stomp Battle|laying the smackdown]] on [[Complete Monster|Keith Feddyg.]] It's an interesting moment, as most of the time Rikk is easily the kindest and most level-headed character in the comic.

* Can an entire culture count? Angels in ''[[Slightly Damned]]'' canonically tend toward good. What little we've seen of their society could be ''generously'' called a hyper-conformist borderline fascist state.

 

== Web Original ==

* ''[[ARCHON]]'' has this in spades. Elves for instance are described as having rebelled against their original creator because they didn't want to harm innocents, yet Arglwydd has little issue with [[Kill It with Fire]] tactics and [[Badass Preacher]] Offeiriad is content to slaughter an entire town when they go feral and try to kill him.

* In ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'', Adam Dodd circa v3. Whilst he's supposedly ''the'' good guy of the series that doesn't stop him acting like a a complete [[Jerkass|prick]] to more or less everyone.

** V4's Aileen Borden seems to fit this trope so far. Being a [[Deadpan Snarker]] and somewhat of a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] from the beginning, she tends to snark her way through events in the game, and does from time to time get annoyed with her allies. However, despite this, she genuinely wants to get as many people off the island as possible, gets worried about her team mates when they go missing and is relieved when they show up again, and gets upset at Announcement time, especially if someone she knows is named. Shame about her being a [[Unwitting Pawn]] to [[Manipulative Bastard|Aaron Hughes]]...

* ''[[The Nostalgia Critic]]'' may be a [[Psychopathic Manchild]] with a [[Dark and Troubled Past]], but God help you if you were to [[Berserk Button|hurt a child.]]

* The Silver Order from ''[[Tasakeru]]'' exemplifies this trope. They feed, clothe, and shelter, and provide aid for vast numbers of Sankami's citizens in their credo to "protect life", but Gods help you if you fall outside their definition of "life"...

 

== Western Animation ==

* Sentinel Prime from ''[[Transformers Animated]]''. He's technically a good guy, but is also a [[Jerkass]] who [[Fantastic Racism|hates organics]] and is willing to work with [[Psycho for Hire|Lockdown]] in order to defeat the Decepticons

* Primus, [[God]]-ancestor of all Cybertronians in ''[[Transformers]]'' who is in the background of every subseries and universe, exhibits this quite well. His goal is to ensure that the multiverse is still here tomorrow, and will often make life quite difficult or unpleasant for mortals in the process if it is necessary for the greater good.

** [[Donald Duck]] too. Especially when he's put in a blatantly heroic role, such as the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' series. He might be selfish and temperamental, but when you get right down to it, he's nothing if not loyal to his friends.

* [[Blinky Bill]] and his friends are sometimes considered to be worse than the Dingos. Considering that he was "toned down greatly" in the cartoon, compared to his literary incarnation, he must have been a real [[Jerkass]] in the books...

* Mr. Krabs from [[SpongeBob]] can be quite the greedy, selfish jerk, even risking the lives of his fellow employee's just for the sake of making a quick buck, [[Designated Hero|but is still considered a good guy]]

* There was a cutaway gag in ''[[Family Guy]]'' where Peter encounters Kenneth, [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|the bad-ass mail clerk with a heart of gold.]] Peter is then told by another employee that said clerk donated half his paycheck to orphans with diseases.

** Toph Beifong can sometimes fit into this trope as well.

* [[God]] in ''[[The Prince of Egypt]]''. See the above entry for [[The Bible]].

* Raphael in all incarnations of the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]''. He's cool but rude.

* Skipper from ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]'' is supposed to be the main protagonist, but he's pretty coarse and violent even on his comrades.

'''Skipper''': If done correctly. }}

* Benson from ''[[Regular Show]]''. He may be constantly angry and constantly threatening to fire Mordecai and Rigby, but all he's really doing is his job. Plus, he's actually pretty friendly when things aren't out of hand.

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Knight in Shining Tropes]]

[[Category:Goodness Tropes]]

[[Category:Morality Tropes]]

[[Category:Index With a Heart of Gold]]

[[Category:No Real Life Examples, Please]]