Noble Demon/Live-Action TV

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Examples of Noble Demons in Live-Action TV include:

  • Crowley in Supernatural doesn't want the world to end and helps the Winchesters to find Death (partially because Lucifer would wipe out demons as well, but also because the other demons ate his tailor...it makes sense in context) and gives Bobby back his ability to walk...Although there was a deal (well, pawning) involved in the latter.
    • Then subverted when it's revealed that he can't actually get Sam's soul back and has been getting the Winchesters to do his dirty work, leading to Cas burning his bones and effectively 'killing' him.
    • And THEN it turns out that he was working with Cas so they could get the souls out of Purgatory.
  • The Wolf Knight in Power Rangers Mystic Forceas well as his Mahou Sentai Magiranger counterpart Wolzard for that matter - constantly insisting on honor, and even refusing to fight the Rangers as it would be "dishonorable to defeat a weaker opponent" (as a result of which, by the time he does fight them, they're too powerful for him to beat). It eventually turns out that his honorable side was an artifact of his previous heroic personality, before he was turned evil by a magic spell.
  • Doctor Who
    • The Master is sometimes portrayed as a Noble Demon, often mentioning his friendship with the Doctor, or expressing regret at inconveniencing the companion, between stages of his plan to rule the universe and kill them both.
  • The trope is subverted in the Doctor Who episode "Boom Town", in which the villain claims that her sparing of a journalist is evidence that she isn't evil, and the Doctor completely dismisses the idea, pointing out that it's just a rationale she uses to live with herself.

Margaret: I promise you I've changed since we last met, Doctor. There was this girl, just today, a young thing, something of a danger. She was getting too close. I felt the bloodlust rising, just as the family had taught me, I was going to kill her without a thought...and then, I stopped. She's alive somewhere right now, she's walking around this city because I can change, I did change. I know I can't prove it--
The Doctor: I believe you.
Margaret: Then you know I'm capable of better.
The Doctor: It doesn't mean anything.
Margaret: I spared her life!
The Doctor: You let one of them go, but that's nothing new. Every now and then, a little victim is spared. Because she smiled. 'Cause he's got freckles. 'Cause they begged. And that's how you live with yourself. That's how you slaughter millions. Because once in a while, on a whim, if the wind's in the right direction, you happen to be kind.

  • Margaret then attempts to turn his own argument against him:

Margaret: Only a killer would know that. Isn't that right? From what I've seen, your funny little happy-go-lucky life leaves devastation in its wake. Always moving on, because you dare not look back. Playing with so many people's lives - you might as well be a god. And you're right, Doctor, you're absolutely right. Sometimes... you let one go. (Beat) Let me go.

  • So apparently she's never heard of criminology?
  • In the transitory stages of his Badass Decay, this accurately describes the normal behaviour of Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, an escalation from his previous instances of Petting the Dog.
  • Illyria in Angel, who is a literal demon king, has a tendency to give self-serving justifications for her helpfulness. Given the above Buffy example, this might be part of the reason why she gets along with Spike so well.
    • Of course, it could also be that he's fairly resilient even by vampiric standards, so he's the only remotely acceptable toy she has on hand in what is otherwise a World Of Cardboard.
  • The Imagin of Kamen Rider Den-O are time-traveling spirits whose goal is to ravage the past in order to change the future, typically pulling cruel Literal Genie tricks along the way. However, the series introduces several Imagin who don't know their original goal or simply don't care for it; all of these Imagin end up as good guys.
    • The singular best example is Kintaros, whose partner wished to become stronger. While most Imagin would beat up anybody stronger than their partner, Kintaros possessed the young man's body and underwent physical training using his extreme strength. Throughout the entire ordeal, Kintaros displays exceptional honor, courage, and compassion, and it's no surprise he ends up partnered with Den-O by the end of the two-parter.
  • Todd From Stargate Atlantis counts, he may be a Wraith, but he's helped the humans out a fair bit with their various crises, some of which they caused in the first place.
    • It should be noted that Todd is assumed to be killing and feeding from humans as usual when the Atlanteans aren't around. What makes him stand out is that he considers Atlantis too useful to destroy, given how often he's benefited from their temporary alliances.
    • System Lord Yu from the original series.
  • Grey from Choujin Sentai Jetman. As opposed to Radiguet, he believes in fair play and strangely has an extra devotion to Maria, because he likes her. He even gets pissed at Radiguet's plan to turn Maria into a vampire to become his queen, and pleads with the Jetmen to restore her humanity so she can die human, not as a monster. While he does fight Gai in his end, his reasoning for that boils down to just "I'm a warrior, this is all I can do". He died commending Gai for his victory and muttering Maria's name.
  • Mr. Cataliades from The Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries.
  • Jade from Victorious may act like a bitch most of the time, but she pets enough dogs (or, should we say, Cats) to show us that she's actually one of these.
  • Madan Senki Ryukendo had Jack Moon, who while living by an ideology of "The Strong Rule and The Weak Obey" belived in a fair fight, he even refused at one point to revive his boss todestroy everything because it would violate his ethics as a swordsman, although his demonic nature would rear its ugly head from time to time.
  • While Joe from The Walking Dead is yet another example how a zombie apocalypse can bring out the worst in people (previously, Rick Grimes's group had encountered the Governor, a sociopath), he does have some rules that he expects his group to follow. For example, when Len claims a rabbit, he breaks up a fight between him and Daryl, and eventually splits the rabbit between them. When Len attempts to frame Daryl for theft, Len ends up dying for attempting to frame Daryl for breaking their rules of conduct.
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