Light Is Not Good/Anime and Manga: Difference between revisions

** Other examples come from the evil Nanto Seiken practitioners. Their martial art is stated early to be the Yang (Light) side of the art of killing, all but one of the known Nanto Seiken practitioners are clearly light aligned (Souther going so far to declare himself an holy emperor, and having the phoenix as his symbol), and Shin, Yuda and Souther are three ''massive'' jerks.

* Krad from ''[[D.N.Angel]]'' fits. He's the villain, but he's got all the light-related imagery, white wings and all that, while the good guy, Dark, has... well, you can probably guess.

* [[Bishounen|Kalutika Maybus]], The God of Light in the ''[[Manhwa]]'' "Rebirth" wants to destroy the human race because his life as a human in the 1600s was [[Break the Cutie|very unpleasant]]. Prior to attaining (or growing into) godhood, he was {{spoiler|the main character, [[Anti-Hero|half-vampire Deshiwitat's]] close friend}}. After {{spoiler|Desh failed to save Kal's beloved sister, Kal had a [[Heroic BSOD]] and became a god. He then vaporized Desh's girlfriend Lilith right before his eyes and sealed Desh in stone for 300 years.}} Currently, he has {{spoiler|somehow revived Lilith and made her his wife/consort. They apparently have a son, a powerful vampire called [[Meaningful Name|Gray]]. In spite of their connections with the vampire race, they're planning on killing them all before moving on to humans (Kal has already destroyed the <s>Galactic Senate</s> Council of Gods which govern his actions).}}

* ''[[Trinity Blood]]'' is another classic example of this: The "Enemy of the World" is a blond [[Bishonen]] with six white wings, who dresses all in long white robes and is first seen standing atop the enormous cross which hovers over the Vatican. The hero, in contrast, is a [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]] with black wings who dresses all in black and wields a scythe made of his own blood.

* ''[[One Piece]]'' has Marine Admiral Kizaru, whose abilities via the Pika-Pika Devil Fruit give him power over light. He can move/attack at the speed of light, focus light into lasers, and also use blinding flashes. This isn't also including the basic advantages of his type of Devil Fruit, which cause solid objects to pass right through him. Though whether this is an aversion, playing straight, or subversion depends on your point of view as ''[[One Piece]]'' has pirates as the protagonists, making Kizaru the enemy, even though he's on the side of "Good" as far as the OP-verse is concerned.

** I don't think it's a question at all, it's definitely played straight, the [[The Government|World Government]] has [[Moral Event Horizon|committed more horrific acts]] than anyone else in the series. Also Kizaru himself while laid back, is pretty [[General Ripper|sadistic and aggressive]] unlike the more [[Anti-Villain|Antivillainesque]] Marines like Aokiji, Garp and Smoker. Actually a lot about the Marines and World Government play with this trope, from the white uniforms of the Marines themselves, to {{spoiler|the nobles of the government thinking they're gods}}.

** Another possible example is the Fleet Admiral Sengoku himself, what with how he apparently has the power to morph himself into a copy of the Buddha. He's still one of the few ''non-evil'' Admirals, alongside Monkey D. Garp and maybe Aokiji. He is '''damn''' pissed with the most recent decisions of the higher-ups, for example.

** It seems that everybody in One Piece can be considered "bad" ''except'' for the few pirate crews who just want to sail the seas and explore the world (like the Straw Hats), and the few Marines who believe in leaving pirates alone unless they're actively causing trouble (like Admiral Aokiji).

** Suzaku Kururugi has shades of this, as well. Known as the White Knight, and later as the "White Grim Reaper" in the places he helps conquer, he actually started out with noble morals and an honest belief in reforming the system. A few [[It Got Worse|traumas]] later, and he was willing to do '''[[Utopia Justifies the Means|anything]]''' to [[Big Brother Is Employing You|maintain what he saw as peace and reform]] over violent revolution. This trope is played deliberately in his case, much like Scheizel and Mao, since he's an antagonist of Lelouch. Meanwhile, Lelouch's mother and father are both portrayed as Light in their own ways (his father is the Emperor, and while not overly white in the same vein as Schneizel, [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|still has shades of it]], his mother was treated by all who knew her as a saint, and nicknamed "The Flash"). In the end, {{spoiler|both were sympathetic in their very ultimate goals, but were veritable antagonists who wished to destroy the Gods as part of an [[Assimilation Plot]], and their twisted love for their kids was their main motivator}}.

* In the series ''[[Yami no Matsuei]]'', Muraki Kazutaka has a lot of "light" symbolism surrounding him. (In the anime, he was even first encountered in a church by the hero.) The manga takes this even further, in his final appearance he {{spoiler|is saved from dying by a giant ball of light "so strong and evil it could burn your eyes out." He may have inherited this trait from his mother, who may have been the one who saved him. [[Mind Screw|That manga arc was really vague in some areas.]]}}

** From the same series, we have [[Evilly Affable|Ladd Russo]], who is very fond of wearing white suits, and is a [[Kick the Dog|child-killing]] [[Psycho for Hire]]. He likes wearing white because it makes the blood stand out...

* The true villain of ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' in the manga? {{spoiler|King Enma, the lord of the Spirit World, who was catching weak and innocent demons and brainwashing them to be evil so that he could justify the Spirit World's more questionable actions as being for the sake of protecting the Human World. In fact, the last battle in the manga was against the more fanatical members of the Spirit World, who was appalled at the thought of humans and [[Dark Is Not Evil|demons]] [[The Unmasqued World|living in harmony]] and was planning to do some cleansing by causing [[The End of the World as We Know It|Armageddon]]. Ultimately, Enma is overthrown by his son Koenma.}}

** Alexander Anderson, a [[Church Militant|Catholic priest/paladin]] dressed in white who's kind to children and puppies. However, you even mention the word "Vampire" in front of him and he turns into a [[Axe Crazy|homicidal psychopath]] who won't hesitate to chop up normal humans in his path to purify the world of "evil".

** The Crusade that was assembled when the Nazi Vampires {{spoiler|destroyed most of London}}. They not only looked like a cross between the historical [[Knight Templar]] and members of the Ku Klux Klan, but their mission wasn't to {{spoiler|eliminate the vampires and save London,}} it was to {{spoiler|eliminate the vampires and KILL EVERY PROTESTANT IN ENGLAND.}}

* [[Kurohime|Yashahime]] is a [[White-Haired Pretty Girl|beautiful young woman]] who frequently wears [[Costume Porn|long, stylized kimonos]] [[Hair Decorations|and flowers in her hair,]] is [[Lady of War|rather graceful]] with her White God Tree [[Katanas Are Just Better|katana]] and is the [[Green Thumb|High Goddess of Earth.]] She also has a rather [[Yandere|obsessive crush]] on the Grim Reaper ([[Dark Is Evil|who's not so nice himself]]) and is [[Omnicidal Maniac|batshit crazy.]] Oh, and she's really a {{spoiler|[[When Trees Attack|tree monster.]]}}

* One of the major themes of the manga ''[[Angel Sanctuary]]''. [[God Is Evil]], and many of the angels are fanatical, murderous, lunatics. And with which group does the hero side? [[Dark Is Not Evil|The demons.]]

* {{spoiler|The Sword of Light}} from ''[[Slayers]]''. ''Slayers Try'' reveals that it is actually one of a set of five weapons from another dimension that are that dimension's equivalent of the Five Dark Lords.

* In ''[[Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex]]'', Kuze has a cybernetic body with white skin and hair, and usually dresses completely in white. His followers see him as a [[The Messiah|savior]], but he's also Japans most dangerous top terrorist. {{spoiler|Slightly subverted, as it later turns out that he's actually the most noble and kind character in the entire franchise, even though he has turned to extreme measures to bring an end to injustice.}}

* In ''[[Bastard!!]]'', the only Angel willing to fight to protect humanity instead of wiping it out is the fallen angel Lucifer, {{spoiler|AKA Lucien Renlen}}.

* This even exists in ''[[Dragon Ball]]''. Case and point: FREEZA. His main colors? Pink, purple, and white. Especially in his final form; he's like a bastion of whiteness. In regular demeanor he's completely regal. And he is indeed the lord. {{spoiler|Of an intergalactic organization of planet pirates responsible for multiple genocides, ''including at least one of a race that worked for him at the time.''}}

* The Hyuga clan of ''[[Naruto]]'' often dresses in white, and many of their names have to do with the sun or other sources of light. However, the leadership of the clan oppresses the branch house with a curse mark that can cause great pain or kill those with it when it's activated, and some members of the branch house possess resentment toward the head family that can be potentially murderous. Despite this, it is implied that Hiashi, current head of the clan, is rethinking the role of the main and branch families, especially after Hizashi sacrificed himself for the sake of his brother and village rather than the head family, and the current heiress, Hinata, is a kind individual who cares for the members of the branch family.

* Raijin in ''[[Yaiba]]'' is the God of Thunder, but hinted to be quite evil. Kaguya is the Moon Princess, but is at least a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] and a [[Complete Monster]] at worst. {{spoiler|Also Plasma the Light Demon.}}

* [[Big Bad|Aion]] of ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' dresses in all white, and comes with [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]]. Underneath his disguise however is a total bastard. Prone of [[Large Ham|long winded speeches]] and making your life a total misery.

* Love Machine, the big bad AI gone mad in ''[[Summer Wars]]'' might qualify. After it feeds on a few unsuspecting avatars he goes from rather ditzy looking to something that could only be described as a monk, who looks like he fights for good, with an evil mask. What drives the point home though is the bright white godlike aura he can activate at will in this form, making him look like a cyber-messiah.