True Neutral: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''"I stick my neck out for nobody."''|'''Rick Blaine''', ''[[Casablanca]]''}}

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* Fred Lou from ''[[Outlaw Star]]''. His business policy is "Don't ask questions" and (with exception to Gene, who he's [[Yaoi Guys|in love with]]) "Don't take credit." There's even a scene where Fred calls in to alert Gene about the Kei Pirates' arrival. How does he know they're on Sentinel? Because he ''sold them their weapons''. Twilight Suzuka also falls into this trope, mainly due to her wavering between [[Lawful Neutral]] and [[Chaotic Neutral]] in the series and her apathy. She adheres to strict codes about assassination, but is willing to twist the letter, if not the spirit, of her code when it suits her purpose. She travels with the Outlaw Star and is a loyal crew member in crisis, but in everyday life walks alone from the others, neither contributing money towards the expenses, nor racking up further expenses.

* Guts from ''[[Berserk]]'' is so burned out with all the political maneuvering and demonic atrocities that mark his world that he no longer cares about good, evil, law, chaos, or anything outside his own survival and the well-being of his [[True Companions]]. Back when he was with the Band of the Hawk, he was closer to Lawful Neutral due to his respect for Griffith, but that's ''long'' gone now thanks to the events of the Eclipse. In addition to all of that, he also has to contend with a [[Chaotic Evil]] [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] that acts as his [[Enemy Within]]

** The ORB Union from the [[Gundam Seed|Cosmic]] [[Gundam Seed Destiny|Era]] timeline established themselves as a neutral nation. They allow [[Puny Earthlings|naturals]] and [[Designer Babies|coordinators]] to live in their country, and they have a non-discrimination policy to ensure coexistence. Their national motto also reflects their global-political standings;

{{quote| ''"ORB will not attack another nation, will not allow another nation to attack them, and will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations"''.}}

** [[Gundam AGE|Asemu Asuno]], whose main concern as a young soldier is to become stronger so that he can defeat his X-Rounder former friend in battle, even disregarding the rules of his father's military at times.

** Ryuk, and apparently the Shinigami in general. He leans a little towards Chaotic Neutral due to him dropping the title [[Artifact of Doom]] into the human world just because he's bored and wants to see [[Hilarity Ensues|what will happen]]. Other than that, though, he just watches what happens, and makes it clear that he has no sense of loyalty or emotional attachment to the person who finds the notebook (Light, in this case), and rarely interferes with anything. Still, Ryuk doesn't seem to be evil or overly malicious, and he has enough decency to call Light out when he's emotionally abusive to Misa.

* Genkai of ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' holds a tournament to determine her successor, and is willing to train whoever wins, even if it is an assassin or a demon. In the Dark Tournament, she admits that she is not a champion of justice, but she fights against those she dislikes, which includes {{spoiler|her former teammate Toguro}}.

* Nathan Mahler from ''[[Blood Plus]]'' is [[Big Bad|Diva]]'s chevalier but he is completely apathetic to her organisation's plan to replace humanity with chiropterans. Not only does he refuse to take orders from [[The Dragon|Amshel]], he often prevents other villains from killing Saya despite the fact that Saya is the major threat to Diva's plan. The only thing he is concerned with is the happiness of Diva, which in the end turns out to be completely irrelevant to her plan to turn all humans into chiropterans. Throughout the series, Nathan remains as a distant observer to how the two queens of vampires struggle against each other and where that struggle leads to.

* Benny from ''[[Black Lagoon]]''. Ultimately, he isn't willing to cross the line entirely into the villain territory occupied by most of the rest of Roanapur, but he's certainly no charity case either and merely ''associating'' with Revy is probably soul-staining enough to keep him off the straight and narrow.

** Rock, as of El Baile de los Muertos, has become this.

** [[Implacable Man|Roberta]] fits this before and after her breakdown.

* ''[[Record of Lodoss War]]'' has the fourth variant down pat in the form of Karla, whose goal seems to be the preservation of balance--when two kings clash in the battlefield and one falls, she quickly blasts the other from afar.

** {{spoiler|Clone!Syaoran}} belongs here too. It's true that he does a large number of absolutely ''horrible'' things once he appears on the scene, but this is less due to him being "evil" and more because he's a moral-free construct programmed to complete the task he was made for [[Implacable Man|by any means necessary]]. {{spoiler|He also performs a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]-slash-[[Heel Face Turn]] for the protagonists when he attacks his creator Fei Wong Reed, demonstrating that he's developed a heart of his own}}.

* Hei and, in fact, most Contractors in ''[[Darker Than Black]]''.

** Also, to the untrained eye, Sasuke seems to change alliances as often as he changes his wardrobe (the two actually seem to be somewhat connected anyway, {{spoiler|as in the case of the Akatsuki robes}}), but it's more the result of this trope, which drives him to work with anyone as long as it furthers his own goals (and, by extension, betray them if simply leaving isn't an option), which basically means he's on his own side and no one else's, falling between type 2 and 9.

*** Konan of the Akatsuki fits [[True Neutral]] as well.

* Most of the characters in ''[[Ranma One Half]]'' are [[Chaotic Neutral]] (with the more villainy-inclined being [[Neutral Evil]]), but Cologne is [[True Neutral]], after an initial stint of behavior that can be seen as [[Neutral Evil]]. While initially entering the series in an attempt to make [[Accidental Marriage|Ranma]] marry [[Hot Amazon|Shampoo]], she basically gives up after that first story and more or less settles for watching the madness with every sign of joy at the entertainment, occasionally chipping in with aid for either Ranma, Shampoo or [[The Rival|Ryoga Hibiki]]. [[Yamato Nadeshiko|Kasumi Tendo]] is generally considered to be [[Neutral Good]], mainly because she is totally non-violent and very docile (not to mention [[Word of God]] describing her as a "saint" because of her lack of violent behavior and active malice). However, niceness does not equate goodness (hence the existence of the [[Affably Evil]] (where someone manages to be very nice despite being a villain), [[Faux Affably Evil]] (where someone is a villain, even a [[Complete Monster]], yet still manages to be good-humored and pleasant) and [[Good Is Not Nice]] (where someone is unpleasant, yet still a fundamentally decent person) tropes) and it's legitimately possible to see her as a sweet-hearted and gentle [[True Neutral]] of types 2, 10 or 12.

* Simon starts off as this in ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''. Perhaps because his big brother actually ''sweats'' [[Chaotic Good]], it doesn't last very long.

* Thorfinn of ''[[Vinland Saga]]''.

* Chloe & Mirelle of ''[[Noir]]''.

* [[Perky Goth]] and [[Knowledge Broker]] Undertaker from ''[[Black Butler]]''.

* Papillion of ''[[Busou Renkin]]''. He doesn't want to kill humans and burn the world to ash, but, he's not going to help anyone out unless he gets something out of it.

* [[Wild Card]] Kai Hiwatari of ''[[Beyblade]]''.

* In ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'', {{spoiler|Kyubey is one of these. Despite behaving in an extremely creepy manner at all times, he's only watching for the wellbeing of the universe, even though during the main plot that causes a huge amount of death and suffering. After the finale it can be seen that he keeps the same personality, but behaves in a much friendlier manner. But that's not because he changed, he still has the same goal, it's just that in the new universe the most straightforward way of achieving it looks friendlier.}}

*** Despair is neutral (if not very pleasant for others) as she only cares about her work and hoping the family will be nice (although she is easily swayed by Desire). The others tend to good (Death and Destruction) or evil (the actively malicious Desire).

**** Destruction actually {{spoiler|abandons his role as Destruction}} largely because he can no longer carry it out in a neutral fashion - his feelings get in the way.

{{quote| ''...I didn't care about their cause in the slightest. If the king had hired me, I'd have happily killed the rebels!''}}

* [[The Punisher]] is a [[Vigilante Man]] and [[Anti-Hero]], though many may consider chaotic neutral is not really known for being a "free spirit."

 

 

== Fan Fic ==

 

 

* Rick Blaine starts out like this in ''[[Casablanca]]''.

** Captain Renault may be a better example. He seems to be having just as much fun when he's collaborating with the Nazis as when he's resisting them. He even flat-out says at one point that he "blows with the wind."

* Han Solo in his first ''[[Star Wars]]'' appearances. Some people might consider him [[Chaotic Neutral]] given his status as a [[Lovable Rogue]]; however he seems to really be putting [[Money, Dear Boy|profit]] ahead of everything else.

** Luke Skywalker, as with many other young heroes in fictions, also starts as a [[True Neutral]] - a typical youngster serving his family at home until he meets Obi-Wan Kenobi.

* ''[[The Terminator]]'' is Type 10, a machine whose decisions are severely limited by its programming.

* Jules from ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'' can be seen as both Type 2 and Type 5.

* Jill Tuck, from the latter half of the ''[[Saw]]'' franchise. It's made clear that she at least knew what [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|her husband]] was [[Sadistic Choice|doing]] to those he judged as "unworthy of life". Though she never aided him in his tests, she didn't do much to stop him, either, or try to turn him in to the police.

* [[Broken Bird]] Shoshanna Dreyfuss of ''[[Inglorious Basterds]]''.

* [[Byronic Hero|Dom Cobb]] of ''[[Inception]]''. A fugitive who is on the run from authorities for {{spoiler|apparently murdering his wife ([[From a Certain Point of View|and arguably did by manipulating her into waking up from the dream world and driving her insane]]).}} He readily accepts work from [[Lawful Evil]] [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Corrupt Corporate Executives]], and breaks into peoples' dreams for a living, but is a thief because circumstances force him to be. During the Inception mission, {{spoiler|he wasn't motivated by a desire to see justice done in stopping a powerful international monopoly from controlling the world's economy; he just wanted to see his children again, and the business deal he made with resident [[Noble Demon]] Saito would have allowed him to see his children again.}} [[Manipulative Bastard|He is also quite manipulative]], but genuinely cares about the people he loves, and watches out for his [[Fire-Forged Friends]].

 

*** In the case of goblins and centaurs though, their perceived neutrality on wizarding matters is really more a case of [[Blue and Orange Morality]]. Bill Weasley's remarks on goblin ideas of ownership even provide the page quote.

** As [[The Atoner]], {{spoiler|Severus Snape}} is this combined with [[Knight in Sour Armour]].

** The justice system in Ankh-Morpork is a somewhat haphazard affair. The Guilds punish offenders against their rules, and the Guild of Lawyers sells its services to anyone with cash. At least the police force is severely low on corruption. Vetinari is the court of the last appeal for those too poor to afford a lawyer, or who ran afoul of someone more powerful, or those no-one cares about. And surprisingly often he decides in their favour, as a moral lesson to everyone.

*** Well, what ''about'' Vetinari? Possibly inclining a little more towards Lawful at times, but in some of his appearances he's about as Neutral as it's possible to be.

* Raistlin of the ''[[Dragonlance]]'' saga started out as this, as [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|signified by his red robes]] but wasn't exactly [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|content to stay that way...]]

* Titania & Thomas Raith from ''[[The Dresden Files]].''

* The Dealy Lama {{spoiler|AKA Gruad the Grayface}} from The ''[[Illuminatus]]'' Trilogy. His philosophy is summed up best by an old koan which tells about a duckling that is placed in a glass bottle and allowed to grow until it is too big to fit through the bottle neck, and asks how to remove it without breaking the bottle. The answer, of course is {{spoiler|to let it continue to grow until it is big enough to break out of the bottle on its own}}. However, he denies being uninvolved in world affairs, stating that {{spoiler|"someone needs to feed the duckling while it grows"}}.

* ''[[Redwall]]'''s Asmodeus could fall into either this trope or [[Neutral Evil]]. He eats good and bad characters alike, bears no grudge or sympathy to either side, and doesn't actively try to make his victims suffer (in fact, his habit of hypnotising them beforehand could be seen as making them suffer ''less''). He's definitely dangerous, but a snake's got to eat something.

* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'': Jaime Lannister, after he becomes POW Character seems to show signs of a type 9 True Neutral. He has challenged the will of [[Lawful Evil|his father]] to join the [[Knight in Shining Armor|Kingsguard]], then "betrayed" [[The Caligula|his king]]. Faced with scorn for his oathbreaking ways, he embraces the arrogant and amoral personality people seemed to expect from him, but now tries [[The Atoner|to make amends]].

** The Guild of the Faceless Men's philosophy seems close enough of True Neutrality.

* Tom the Merchant in ''Deltora Quest'' is a happy shopkeeper to both the Evil Overlords forces and the Resistance members, giving different discounts and preferential treatments to both (only discriminating against the neutral adventurers).

* The oracles in ''[[The Belgariad]]'' are supposed to cultivate being on the fence so they can make an unbiased decision between good and evil. Though {{spoiler|traveling with the good people and being courted by and eventually ''marrying'' one of them}} might just possibly have influenced her decision.

* The Ents in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. "I am not altogether on anybody's side, because nobody is altogether on my side," quoth Treebeard.

* [[Ciaphas Cain]], '''[[Fake Ultimate Hero|HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!]]''' is an obvious Type 2, keeping up his image as a hero just to keep himself out of trouble, which usually turns out to be something that he just doesn't have the luck to avoid anyway. Jurgen would count as a Type 6 if it wasn't for his unwavering loyalty and sense of duty putting him pretty solidly in [[Lawful Neutral]] territory.

* An example of this alignment is found in one of the most famous books of Italian literature, ''[[The Betrothed]]'', in the character of Don Abbondio. He is a cowardly priest who, threatened by the men of [[Smug Snake]] Don Rodrigo, refuses to marry the two protagonists, coming across the [[Punch Clock Villain]] of the first chapters. Throughout the whole book he is painted as a basically decent, but spineless and mediocre old man whose only purpose in life is avoiding troubles.

* [[The Witcher|The Witchers]] have a professional code of neutrality. Geralt, in any media, seems to suffer just as much for breaking it as maintaining it.

* Irial from ''[[Wicked Lovely]]''.

* Hawk from the ''[[Spenser]]'' series by Robert Parker. Early on the series, Hawk appears (at a casual first glance) to be an [[Affably Evil]] legbreaker. However, Spenser's evaluation of Hawk in the book "Hush Money" identifies him positively as a True Neutral character: "You're completely pragmatic...you don't care what people call you...you don't care about color. You don't get mad, you don't get sentimental. You don't hate anyone. You don't love anyone. You don't mind violence. You don't enjoy violence." (As an aside, Hawk responds only to disagree with the "you don't love anyone" statement, remarking that he "kind of like[s]" Spenser's girlfriend, Susan.)

== Live Action TV ==

* This is apparently why George was picked to be a [[Dead Like Me|reaper]].

* The Ferengi from ''[[Star Trek]]'' would seem to be the 'Just Don't Care' version. They'll happily do business with anyone.

* The Vulcans of ''[[Star Trek]]'' are famous for their impartiality, as exemplified in their mantra "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one" (which includes the individual Vulcan himself or herself).

** Another possible example would be Lorne, who often seems to see himself as morally obliged to lend his powers to anyone who asks, even if they're very evil, on the grounds that he's just an instrument of fate.

* Sheldon Cooper from [[The Big Bang Theory]] could have been mad efor this archetype; he's occasionally actively malicious or well-intentioned, but usually just does whatever will help him achieve his own goals or improve his personal quality of life. Although at first glance, with his fondness for complicated contracts and numerous personal rules and quirks he appears [[Lawful Neutral]], all such agreements are written specifically to benefit him, and he is willing to obey or disobey Federal, State and scientific ethical conduct laws depending on what brings him the most short-term benefit.

** [[Alternate Character Interpretation|Depending on who you ask]], Jayne Cobb could be considered True Neutral, showing surprising loyalty to Mal (even when he could make more money betraying him) and to the rest of the crew, and only turning on River and Simon when both offered a lot of money ''and'' River attacks him and presents a danger to the rest of the crew.

** Zoe. She's fiercely loyal to her crew and isn't entirely cold-blooded; however, she has demonstrated a ruthless sort of pragmatism on various occasions. She very much dislikes the Alliance, and displays contempt for bureaucracy and authoritarian order, while at the same time respecting and enforcing Mal's brand of order on board the ship. This potentially makes her a mixture of types 11 and 12, depending on how much of her past you're taking into account.

* Frankie from ''[[Lip Service]]''.

** Given the [[Gray and Gray Morality]] of almost every conflict of the series, one could argue most of the characters are some shade of Neutral or another. Most think they have good intentions ([[Jade-Colored Glasses|or once did and are now past caring]]) and almost all end up doing pretty [[Shoot the Dog|morally]] [[Sadistic Choice|ambiguous]] [[Dirty Business|things]], but their actions are rarely outright evil.

* Hank Moody, The [[Anti-Hero]] of ''[[Californication]]''.

* The Observers in ''[[Fringe]]'' seem to clearly fall into this category. True to their name, they merely observe and refuse to interact except under very specific conditions, in which case the goal also appears to be unknown.

* Gaius Baltar in 21st-century ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]'', whose changes over the course of the show can be seen as maintaining a constant alignment, but becoming more philosophically conscious and compassionate as he moves from True Neutral selfish to True Neutral "philosophy of balance".

 

 

* In 1st and 2nd editions of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', druids had to be true neutral, implied to be of the balance-keeping rather than the dispassionate variety.

** In Second Edition all True Neutral people were stated to be type 4, and the player's guide definition explains that they always side with the underdog, and sometimes swap sides when one is winning. It goes on to explain that "Clearly, there are very few true neutral characters in the world". This may because of the enemies they've also wiped out killing them when they show up at the door and claiming they want to swap.

** In Third Edition, druids have to be no more than one step away from [[True Neutral]], supposedly to retain at least ''some'' of "nature's dispassion".

** In the 2nd Edition setting of ''Planescape'', each alignment had a race that exemplified it (appropriately, called "exemplars" in the fan community). The rilmani were the type-3 [[True Neutral]] exemplars, and have whole castes dedicated to preserving the Balance by any means necessary. Mentioned once and then never again were also the kamerel, the type-2 [[True Neutral]] exemplars who were displaced by the rilmani when their apathetic isolationist tendencies proved detrimental.

* The Wood Elves of ''[[Warhammer]]'' are distinctly of the Type 5 variety, Wild Hunt and all. They are described as true forces of nature, they don't get involved in anything unless it directly threatens their forest.

** The Tomb kings are generally feared by many because of their undead natures, but most of the time, they just want to be left alone and have nothing to do with the wars of the living.

 

 

== Video Games ==

* Bill, from ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'', fits the [[Incredibly Lame Pun|bill]] best. While he genuinely cares for his fellow survivors and sticks his neck out for them on a regular basis, on one of the many occasions where the team was escaping to a rescue vehicle (in this case, a train) he deliberately refuses to so much as stop for two seconds to save a hapless doctor behind them from being eaten alive. Zoey [[What the Hell, Hero?|chews him out]] on this later. His response? [[Badass Boast|"We look after our own!"]]

** Justified since the doctor had possibly zero combat experience against the infected (Zoey, Bill, Louis, and Francis had been engaging the infected for 2 weeks) and would become [[The Load]] to the team. On top of this, it would be likely that Bill or someone else would be yanked off the train by the incoming horde if the train had slowed down or stopped. Bill had also said to the doctor and two other people earlier that if they fell behind, they were on their own.

** Shirou himself in ''Heaven's Feel'' shifts into this, discarding his ideal of hero of justice for a chance to save Sakura. This Sakura, however, has {{spoiler|turned into a world-destroying monster and would kill many people. Shirou's response was basically, "Screw them. I'll sacrifice some to save my beloved!"}}

* Gen from ''[[Street Fighter]]''. Except for maybe Dorai and Chun-Li, he shows no attachment to anyone, and if you annoy him enough, he'll kill you without an ounce of remorse.

** Crimson Viper comes off as a mix between a Type 13 and a Type 2.

** As a blank slate, the Nameless One, the amnesiac protagonist, starts out [[True Neutral]], with his actions in-game determining his alignment.

** The Lady of Pain, despite her evil sounding title, is completely apathetic towards morality and is utterly inscrutable. The only motive she seems to have is that of protecting Sigil's existence.

** On a similar note, [http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/Kerrah_photos/TRUENEUTRAL-1.jpg Orgrim Doomhammer], the warchief of the Horde during the second game of the franchise, has been [[Retcon|Retconned]] into this alignment. He wished to save his people, the orcs, by conquering Azeroth from the humans, knowing that their own home could no longer support their numbers. To achieve this goal, he betrays his own chieftain to assume command and lead his people.

** Goblins in general are of this alignment, neither favoring the Horde or the Alliance when selling their goods, and tend to mostly stay out of conflicts enough to profit them as much as possible. However, they are usually found more associating with the horde due to past alliances with them, and are commonly seen working for the horde with their maintaining of the zeppelins they use for travel, not to mention the playable goblin faction of the Bilgewater Cartel joining the Horde in Cataclysm. In general, however, they really only care for money and profit in the most lucrative way possible, as exemplified with the Steamwheedle Cartel of goblins that are usually seen in ''World of Warcraft''.

** Jaheira, a Type 4 balance-preserving Druid, who becomes more Type 6 throughout her storyline.

** Yoshimo, who initially comes across as just a 'screw alignments, I'm just in it for myself' type, but is in actual fact a baffling mishmash of contradictions that about average out at True Neutral.

** It is possible for Viconia deVir to change her initial evil alignment to this. If this happens, she'll be of the "Don't bother me and I won't bother you" variety.

* In the [[Dragon Age]] setting, the Grey Wardens as an order are like this, with certain individuals like [[The Obi-Wan|Duncan]] seeming to actually be True Neutral on a personal level, while other Wardens can be worse or more decent folk depending on the individual. They take no sides, obey no kings, and every action they take somehow must make progression towards reliving the world of the threat of Darkspawn. In the first game it's difficult to pick this, as most of the tasks you have to do to stop the Blight end up saving people or quelling chaos in Ferelden anyway, but in the sequel you directly run across a group of Grey Wardens {{spoiler|during the Quanari's assault on Kirkwall}}. Though they help you briefly, they immediately admit their primary goal is basically to cut themselves free of the chaos surrounding the city so they could go back to doing their job, namely hunting darkspawn: they even give the same line of "a greater menace then the Qunari threatens the world", despite the most recent Blight being over, reinforcing that literally every goal they ever have somehow is geared towards this. Helping people is a happy accident, if it happens at all.

* [[Classy Cat Burglar|Rouge the Bat]] from the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' games; morally ambiguous but trustworthy enough to work for the [[Lawful Neutral]] G.U.N, and seems to care about her allies and is willing to work in a team, but her goals of gathering jewels are her top priority in the end.

** Big also qualifies, generally wanting to be alone. When he does fight, it's because of Froggy, curiosity, or for survival.

* Amarant from ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]''. He doesn't care about things. His battle strategy involves letting his opponents kill each other.

** Toss Quina from the same game here. [[Ambiguous Gender|His/her]] only concern is literally where the next meal is coming from.

** This is extended into ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy|Dissidia]]'', where he will fight anyone who interferes with his mission of "get crystal, go home," but never initiates a battle unless provoked.

* In ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'', which deals predominately with the effects the machinations a [[Corrupt Church]] and an evil aristocracy are having on the general populace, the only neutral characters are two robots. In fact, they are ''so'' neutral, their particular alignment has been transmuted into a [[Standard Status Effect]].

* Vincent in ''[[Silent Hill 3]]''. He wants nothing to do with Claudia's plans to unleash a [[Cosmic Horror]] on the world, but neither does he care enough to intervene directly, preferring to manipulate a seventeen-year-old into doing it for him. Perhaps as a result, he is by far the most cheerful and well-adjusted character in the entire series (although that isn't particularly difficult).

* Garrett of ''[[Thief]]'' is one type; the Keepers who trained him another. The Keepers are True Neutral because they strive to preserve neutrality, via the [[Balance Between Good and Evil|balance of power]] between the [[Lawful Neutral|lawful Hammers]] and [[Chaotic Neutral|chaotic Pagans]]. Garrett is neutral because he doesn't ''care'' about the Balance, or any 'ideal'. A loner and a cynic, he's a selfish, almost-amoral criminal motivated by profit who feels neither pleasure nor remorse when killing and avoids it where possible out of professional pride. Strangely enough, he's also therefore the only one who can be relied upon to save the world: because it's what he happens to be living on, and he'd like to ''keep'' living, thank you very much.

* This is the alignment of choice for Niko Bellic of ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV]]''. He doesn't really care about gang wars, drugs, mobs, or anything, and will kill anyone or steal anything as long as you pay him. The only things he really does care about are the few friends whom he keeps close to himself and settling the score with the man who had his mercenary buddies sold out. You just better make damn sure you don't cross him or anybody he cares about, or he will make you pay.

* Several of the ghosts encountered in ''[[The Suffering]].'' For example, the ghosts of Torque's family seem unable or unwilling to interfere with the plot; Horace Gage swings wildly between lashing out in pain and providing rudimentary assistance; finally, the utterly amoral [[Projected Man|Dr Killjoy]] has taken it upon himself to cure Torque of his insanity [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|by any means necessary]].

* [[No More Heroes|Travis Touchdown]] is a brutal [[Blood Knight]], but [[You Suck|he's too pathetic to be called evil]]. Mostly, he's just unable to separate reality from fantasy; he lives for the fight, to reach the next rank in the UAA, and is utterly oblivious to the repercussions of his actions. He won't [[Wouldn't Hit a Girl|kill any woman]] [[Chivalrous Pervert|he'd like to have sex with]], but otherwise is completely fine with finishing off his enemies. He doesn't enjoy killing, as he tells [[Psycho for Hire|Bad Girl]], he just likes the battle. It's all a great big game to him, one that he doesn't even try to understand.

** [[Character Development|He grows out of this]] in the sequel, where he begins to realize that the people he's killing are real people, some of whom just want to get out of the UAA. He decides that he'll destroy the UAA by killing its leader, who just happens to be the #1 assassin in this game.

* [[Blaz Blue|Rachel]] is a vampire that acts out of boredom rather than any real malice. She has [[Neutral Good]] tendencies, however.

* Pete Wheeler from ''[[Backyard Sports]]''. Because he's too stupid to think otherwise.

* M.A.R.Go.T. the transit system CPU in ''[[Fallout 3]]: Broken Steel''. She is the only robot in the game (besides {{spoiler|John Henry Eden}}) who seems to know that a war happened 200 years ago, and humanity is struggling today, but is solely concerned with making the trains run on time. She only helps the player because you help her.

* Altair from ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' only kills the [[Knight Templar|templars]], but won't hurt the innocents, based on his tenets.

* The colossi from ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]''. They're just ''there'', attacking only in self-defense. It's possible that they're living manifestations of the land itself.

* [[Red Dead Redemption|John Marston]] is a mixture of type 2 and type 12. His only goal through the game is to capture or kill the surviving members of his former gang so that his family will be released. He has few other moral stances; he just wants his family back and to live his life peacefully on his ranch, and he's willing to do anything including helping the local town marshal clean up crime to {{spoiler|helping the local dictator root out [[La Résistance]]}} to achieve that goal.

** It should be noted that he does display a clear disapproval of some of the more morally objectionable things he's made to do throughout his quest, however.

* The Pkunk from the ''[[Star Control]]'' universe attempt to be this in an effort to avoid becoming so good they flip right around to evil. [[Poke the Poodle|They do this by playing pranks and being insulting sometimes.]] This turns into a form of [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|Gameplay And Story Integration]], as their way of recharging energy is to toss out mild insults.

* [[Record of Agarest War|Nemesis]] plays this trope straight in the fact that during the war of the gods, she sided with the darkness just because they were outnumbered. Even though her name and her title "Goddess of Revenge" would suggest otherwise.

* NOVA from 'Milky Way Wishes' in ''[[Kirby Super Star]]''. All he does is grant wishes, no matter what they are.

* The players' Virtuaroids in ''[[Virtual On]]'' could be considered as Type 10, as they are designed solely for players to control and is not capable of independent thoughts.

* [[Word of God]] has stated that the Von Neumann of ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'' are merely nonsentient expert systems that exist to catalogue systems and harvest resources. When they go after your ships, it is not out of malice. Unfortunately for all involved, if their motherships fail to report back, they will clear obstacles with extreme prejudice.

* The Norgard faction in ''[[Brigandine]]'' is Type 12. The ruler Vaynard is merely a pragmatic opportunist warlord, he's not as goody-two-shoes as Lance of New Almekia or Cai of Caerleon or Lyonesse from Leonia, but he cares about his people, more than Dryst of Iscalio (or of course Zemeckis of Esgares), and wants to build a strong nation under his rule. Vaynard himself has some genuine [[Pet the Dog]] moment and is quite fond of his sister Esmeree... who's in Esgares.

* Ethan Mars in ''[[Heavy Rain]]'' is this when he doesn't care if his life is endangered by the Origami Killer's trials, but only saving his son.

** Captain Perry appears to care the press more than the investigation of the Origami Killer.

** Neeshka is listed as True Neutral, but acts like archetypal [[Chaotic Neutral]].

** The Construct, being a non-sentient golem, is Type 10.

 

 

** The Oracle sells information to anyone who asks, to the best of his ability, whether it helps or hinders the OOTS. Silly humanoids think the story revolves around them.

** Also Therkla, who in one strip claims she's "fed up with good guys and bad guys" and just wants everyone to be safe.

* In ''[[Dungeon Crawl Inc]].'' the Archdruid, and later, the Archdryad are major opposition to the main characters because the forces of good, in his opinion, have grown too strong.

* Red Mage of ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|8-Bit Theater]]'' is a combination of type 5 (amoral) and type 2 (indifferent to the good/evil conflict), concerned only with [[Munchkin|maximising his stats]]. It also helps that, despite few characters being anywhere near stable, he is by far the most insane character in the series, actually attempting to ''benefit'' from being [[Man On Fire|lit on fire]].

* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'':

* Cro-Marmot from [[Happy Tree Friends]].

* Bladedancer, in the [[Whateley Universe]], is 'The Handmaiden', the one chosen by The Tao to uphold balance no matter what. She might have to kill a demon. She might have to slay a superhero. Whatever it takes to maintain 'balance'. Several of her teammates have figured out the consequences of this, in terms of their own health, should they ever unbalance things by being too successful as [[Big Damn Heroes]].

* [[Self-Demonstrating Article|Tropes.]] They are neither [[Tropes Are Tools|Good nor Bad]].

 

{{quote| '''Dib:''' Don't you care that Zim is trying to destroy all mankind? Huh? <br />

'''Gaz:''' But he's so ''bad'' at it. }}

{{quote| '''Red X:''' ''Mine!''}}

** That also serves as a particularly awesome [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner|pre-asskicking one liner]].

* In ''[[The Lion King]]'', Timon and Pumbaa start off as the "Don't Care" type of True Neutral, with their motto of ''"Hakuna Matata"'' (No Worries). They manage to convert Simba into this temporarily before he decides [[Lawful Good|to recognize his duty as a king]].

{{quote| '''Dark Wizard:''' For your final test... ''Slay this'' ''''unaligned ant!''''<br />

'''Finn:''' ...An unaligned ant? Is it evil?<br />

{{quote| '''[[Precocious Crush|Ferb]]:''' Well, sometimes if you love somebody, you have to meet them halfway.<br />

'''Vanessa:''' Halfway, huh? Hmm... You mean like, maybe I should take an interest in his work? I would, but it's actually evil. I just can't---Ferb? }}

* Shifty Dingo from ''[[Blinky Bill]]'' is this sometimes.

* Gwen from [[Total Drama Island|the Total Drama series]]

** Noah was this in [[Total Drama Island]].

** Heather becomes this in [[Total Drama Island|Total Drama World Tour]].

** Anubis, a spirit of death [[Sadly Mythtaken|in this series]], pretty much defines himself as a Type 3 example when [[Anti-Villain|the Emir]] tries to force him to resurrect his dead child.

* Eustace in ''[[Courage the Cowardly Dog]]'', though he occasionally slides towards [[Neutral Evil]] when he's after Courage.