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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"I stick my neck out for nobody."''
|'''Rick Blaine''', ''[[Casablanca]]''}}
The best known [[Character Alignment]] system has two axes: Good—Evil and Lawful—Chaotic. But some characters just don't fit either end of either axis: they're not selfless enough to be Good,
A
True Neutral is the base alignment of animals, which prompts Druids to be of the
True Neutral makes a good 'transition'
Some
----
If you have a difficulty deciding which alignment a neutral-aligned character belongs to, the main difference between [[Lawful Neutral]],
* [[Lawful Neutral]] characters believe the best way is to have a specific, strict code of conduct, whether self-imposed or codified as a law. Their first impulse when making a moral decision is to refer back to this code; those with externally imposed systems (codes of laws, hierarchies, etc.) will try to work within the system when those systems go wrong. They will refuse to break the code even though it would hurt someone.
*
* Most [[Chaotic Neutral]] characters don't constantly break the law, but they cannot see much value in laws. They believe that their own consciences are their best guides, and that tying themselves to any given code of conduct would be limiting their own ability to do what they want. They do not get along with anyone who tries to instill any kind of order over the [[Chaotic Neutral]] character, believing these people to be restricting their freedom. [[Chaotic Neutral]] characters often focus very strongly on their individual rights and freedoms, and will strongly resist any form of oppression of themselves.
Compare [[Crowning Moment of Indifference]]. For the different types in which this alignment may manifest, check [[True Neutral/Analysis]].
{{noreallife|this is a trope about how characters are depicted in media. Real people are far more complex than fictional characters, and cannot be pigeonholed this way. (For that matter, many if not most fictional characters cannot be pigeonholed this way, either; see below for the standards on whether to use this trope at all.}}
{{examples}}
'''When dealing with the examples of specific characters, remember that assigning an alignment to a character who doesn't come with one is
'''On works pages: Character Alignment is only to be used in works where it is canonical, ''and only for characters who have alignments in-story''. There is to be no arguing over canonical alignments, and no Real Life examples, ever.'''
== Anime and Manga ==
* Kevin Mask in ''[[Ultimate Muscle]]'' entered the stage as [[Neutral Evil]] (beating up or killing [[Kick the Dog|humans and superhumans alike]] for kicks and joining the dMp [[Freudian Excuse|to spite his overbearing father]]), but soon left for the
* 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]]
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** And then we have Kyon of course. Sure he saves the world and genuinely cares about the Brigade members, Yuki the most. But then again, he also likes to be a cynical jerk. Above all of course is his sheer apathy to everything.
* Dracule Mihawk from ''[[One Piece]]'' doesn't seem to really care about anything short of finding someone who can surpass him in swordsman skills. He takes a passing interest in Zoro and Luffy, which is why he ''doesn't kill'' the former after their [[Curb Stomp Battle|hopelessly one-sided duel]]; as for Luffy, during the Whitebeard War saga he decides to attack him without holding back just to see if [[Because Destiny Says So|fate]] will really somehow miraculously save his life despite his best efforts.
** [[Magnificent Bastard|Crocodile]] starts out somewhere in the [[Neutral Evil]] range: posing as a legitimate businessman and government-sanctioned "hero" of a country his secret organization is working to overthrow, so that he can found a new military regime (also, [[Lost Superweapon|superweapon]]). After his defeat, he passes on an opportunity to escape prison out of sheer disinterest, only to escape later on [[Enemy Mine|by joining our heroes]] to fight in the War of the Summit, wherein he was on the side of [[Wild Card|exactly no one]]: He started out wanting to take [[World's Strongest Man|Whitebeard's]] head, rebuffed an offer to join forces with [[Camp Gay|Donquixote]] [[Complete Monster|Doflamingo]], and then saved both Ace and Luffy, just to spite the Marines. What he's up to next is anyone's guess.
* Shizuru from ''[[
* The ''[[Gundam]]'' series has many great examples.
** Anaheim Electronics is probably the quintessential example. THE mobile suit manufacturer in the UC-verse, they sell their products to anybody willing to pay for them, and often end up supplying multiple opposing factions in the same conflict.
** Oliver May of MS Igloo is probably an example, too. In spite of being a sentient, aware young man toward everything happening in the forces of Zeon, he could do very little to change the course for them.
** [[Mobile Suit Gundam|Lalah Sune]] counts as a Type 7
** Wu Fei Chang in ''[[Gundam Wing]]'', after a [[Freak-Out]], starts attacking everybody in space who possesses weapons regardless of what side they're on. Treize Kushrenada is probably another good example, though he uses one assassination or the other to serve his purpose, he mainly uses his charisma and intellect to legally governing the OZ organization and whose ultimate plan was to {{spoiler|start a war so terrible that would make both Earth and the space colonies give up war forever while giving up his own life in the process.}}
** 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"''.}}
** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'' is ''filled'' with this. There's Celestial Being, a paramilitary organization created to eradicate war, they will attack any nations or factions who they see causing tensions. CB founder Aeolia Schenberg and members Lockon Stratos {{spoiler|(the first)}}, Sumeragi Lee Noriega and Feldt Grace are true neutrals of types 5, 13, 9 and 6 respectively. Regene Regetta of the Innovators is a type 2 & 13. Then there's [[Ordinary High School Student|Ordinary]] [[High School Sweethearts]] Saji Crossroad and Louise Halevy. They spent most of the first season as Type 10 True Neutrals being [[Innocent Bystander
** [[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.
* Near from ''[[Death Note]]''. Although he tries to emulate the [[Lawful Neutral]] L, it is obvious that he doesn't have anywhere near as much of a sense of justice. Indeed, he's only chasing after Kira because [[Laser Guided Tykebomb|he's the guy who chases after Kira]], and ethics and motivations have nothing to do with it.
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* 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}}.
* In ''[[Code Geass]]'', there's [[Mad Scientist|Lloyd]] [[Bunny Ears Lawyer|Asplund]], C.C and [[Going for the Big Scoop|Diethard Reid]].
* Nathan Mahler from ''[[Blood
* ''[[Golgo 13]]''. Duke Togo seems to live by one single rule: if someone meets his hefty fee and explains their motives for wanting another person dead, Golgo 13 will put a bullet in said person's head in a laughably improbable manner. [[Contract on the Hitman|As long as you do NOT double-cross him, of course]]
* 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.
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** [[Implacable Man|Roberta]] fits this before and after her breakdown.
* So Touma from ''[[Q.E.D.]]'', who prefers to laid back than getting involved in cases. But [[Lawful Good|Kana]] makes him [[Neutral Good|do it anyway.]]
* ''[[Record of Lodoss War]]'' has the fourth variant down pat in the form of Karla, whose goal seems to be the preservation of
* {{spoiler|Fai D. Flowright, [[Spell My Name with an "S"|or however you choose to spell it]]}} from ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]''. While he bears no actual malice to any of the main
** {{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
* Haku of ''[[Naruto]]'' typically defines his existence as serving as the [[Neutral Evil]] Zabuza's tool and assisting in his evil doings, but unlike Zabuza, has a conscience and has, on at least one occasion, rendered his opponents unconscious to avoid having to kill them.
** 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
* Lambdadelta from ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' seems to be the fourth variety seeing as she does whatever she can to make sure both sides are equal or close to it {{spoiler|like in episode 6 where she throws popcorn to prevent one character form killing/denying another}}
* Most of the characters in ''[[Ranma ½]]'' are [[Chaotic Neutral]] (with the more villainy-inclined being [[Neutral Evil]]), but Cologne is
* 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.
* [[Anti-Villain|Anti Villains]] Coyote Starrk and Tia Harribel from ''[[Bleach]]''.
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* Sesshomaru from [[Inuyasha]] falls here after his [[Heel Face Turn]].
* Shinji Ikari from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. While he saves the world on a regular basis, he has no idealic reason for doing so (like the [[Neutral Good]] Misato or [[Chaotic Good]] Kaji). He's only interested in being an EVA pilot because his father told him to and he sees it at a way to get recognition from both his dad and the people he works with. He very nearly quit the job twice for no other reason then the fact that the terror of being a pilot wasn't worth such a long-shot of a reward. In spite of having very selfish motivations, he manages to keep a layer of sympathy by having a truly terrible life and having not even wanted to be an EVA pilot in the first place.
** Pretty much all of the [[Eldritch Abomination|Angels]] fall into
* Truth, the closet thing that the ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''-verse has to a deity, is best understood as this alignment. He has no active involvement in human life, neither rewarding the good or punishing the bad. However, if an alchemist infringes upon the laws of nature and comes before Truth, he upholds the laws of [[Equivalent Exchange]] by taking an organ or limb from them (which he does with sadistic glee) but in exchange, they gain the ability to do alchemy without a transmutation circle. Finally, while he's certainly a [[Jerkass Gods|jerkass]], Truth ultimately shows just enough benevolence to not fit any evil alignment.
** As is stated in the series, his purpose is to discourage the humans to try to enter the domains of God.
** He can also be seen as the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of the world (which is how he describes himself if asked). Neither good nor evil, but a representation of the natural laws of the universe, which of course take no sides.
** Yoki, a former [[Corrupt Bureaucrat]] is also
*** [[Mysterious Parent|Hohenheim]], [[Stoic Woobie|Lust]] and [[Broken Bird|Sloth]] of the first anime also count.
* Re-L Mayer and later on, Raul Creed of ''[[Ergo Proxy]]''.
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* Charden Flamberg of ''[[Black Cat (manga)|Black Cat]]''. Unlike his comrades, he has genuine reasons for hating Chronos and follows the [[Big Bad]] to do so. But, he leaves when he realizes that Creed's ego has taken over.
* 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.
* Yuko Ichihara, the Dimension Witch of ''[[
* [[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.}}
* [[The Chessmaster|Roger Dunstan]], his doji [[Badass Long Hair|Milleiu]] and [[Badass Normal|Fushimi Agari]] from ''[[Karakuridouji Ultimo]]''.
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* ''[[Wormy]]'' the dragon is true neutral in increasingly complex ways.
* Metron of [[The DCU]]'s ''[[New Gods]]'' is more concerned with seeking out knowledge than taking part in the huge cosmic war that the rest of his people are engaged in, and has aided both sides over the years.
** Metron though has a very definite role as a mediator in the Cold War between Apokolips and New Genesis, which is dependant on both sides being ''convinced'' of his neutrality. If he crossed the line to help New Genesis one too often [[Darkseid]] would no longer use him, which increases the chance of another outbreak of violent conflict. Metron is closer to [[Lawful Neutral]] or even [[Lawful Good]], as he generally sides and sympathises with heroic characters, and less so with the local [[God of Evil]] who is rather up front about his ultimate ambition to enslave or kill everything in the universe, including Metron himself.
* Doctor Manhattan from ''[[Watchmen]]'', to the absolute screaming extreme. He's just stopped viewing life from a human perspective, and cares almost nothing for anything else than observing pretty physics.
* [[Marvel]]'s [[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]] arc had characters that fell firmly in the number 7 group. In particular, [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Ben Grimm]] (The Thing) - who ran off [[Unfortunate Implications|to France]] rather than choose a side and end up fighting one teammate (Mr. Fantastic, Pro-Reg) or the other two (Sue and Johnny Storm, Anti-Reg).
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== Fan Fic ==
* Andy of ''[[Calvin and Hobbes: The Series|Calvin and Hobbes The Series]]'' doesn't really care much about good or evil, mostly just playing video games and going along with Calvin's misadventures.
== Film ==
* The [[Alien
* The Kaminoans from the ''[[Star Wars]]'' prequels seem to pretty much not care about the rest of the galaxy. [[Planet of Hats|They just want to clone, and research new ways to clone, and raise their clones, and...]]
* Agent Sands (Depp's character) in ''[[Once Upon a Time In Mexico]]''. He actually says "restore the balance" when he explains his purpose. It includes summarily executing cooks who are too good.
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* Due to never receiving instructions on anything from their state legislature, the New York delegates in ''[[1776]]'' never vote on anything, always abstaining. Courteously. In the end, they decide to sign the Declaration anyway.
* 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
** Anakin Skywalker. He just as easily makes friends with the [[Neutral Evil]] Chancellor as the [[Neutral Good]] Obi-Wan. While he dislikes restrictions and laws, he still follows orders because it's all he's known. The only people he cares about are his immediate friends, and his goals are related only to solving an immediate problem (saving Padmé, avenging his mother, becoming the most powerful man in the galaxy). He skirts between good and evil, law and chaos, before finally settling on [[Lawful Evil]].
* ''[[Godzilla]]'' in some timelines is
* ''[[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.
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* [[Broken Bird]] Shoshanna Dreyfuss of ''[[Inglorious Basterds]]''.
* The Driver of ''[[Drive (film)|Drive]]''.
* ''[[Kick-Ass]]'' - and notably even his arch-nemesis Red Mist - are both
* [[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
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*** 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]].
* [[Death]] of the ''[[Discworld]]'' is sometimes this, and sometimes... not. Really, he's all over the place. He tends to go from a friendly Type 3
** 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.
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** The Erlking is also considered to be of this alignment. He's explicitly stated as not being evil, but as the embodiment of the ideal of the hunt, while he's after prey the Erlking is merciless and vicious. Later on in {{spoiler|''Changes''}}, he's actually quite friendly and polite and gracious when {{spoiler|Susan and Harry burst into his castle-cave.}} On the other hand, the Erlking ''is'' the ruler of goblins, who are most definitely ''not'' this alignment.
** The White Council of Wizards is also officially of this alignment. Their primary goal is the regulation of magic as a whole, to ensure that wizards do not abuse their power by breaking one of the Seven Laws of magic. Justice and morality does not factor into the regulation of magic, only whether or not the wizard has violated one of the Laws. Harry and Luccio actually engage in a bit of a debate on this in ''Turn Coat'', where Luccio makes a good case for why wizards as a whole stay out of mortal affairs, noting that [[Grey and Gray Morality]] complicates efforts to determine who is right and who is wrong. On the other hand, the Council is quite willing to violate the same Laws in the defense of itself and humanity, as evidenced by the office of the Blackstaff, which serves as the Council's assassin and wetworks specialist.
** Bob the Skull, who is explicitly a morally blanks slate defined by his current owner when they take possession of him. In Harry Dresden's possession, Bob is snarky, insubordinate, and obsessed with sex, but ultimately pretty harmless- but when he belonged to [[Evil Sorcerer|Heinrich Kemmler]], he was cold-bloodedly malevolent and deeply creepy. Were Bob to change hands again {{spoiler|well, in ''Ghost Story'' Butters got him, but since he first met Harry's Bob, Butters' Bob is almost identical}}, he would get a new, likely completely different, personality.
* 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.
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* ''[[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.
* The B'omarr Monks in ''[[Tales From
* 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).
* Though she's a benign character in the movie adaptation, the original novel ''[[The Neverending Story (novel)|The Neverending Story]]'' gradually reveals the Childlike Empress to be an inhuman and almost unfathomably neutral entity, with her sole concern being the preservation of Fantasia's existence. Atreyu attempts to invoke her authority to save Falkor from a monster, only for it to reply that, since she transcends good and evil, the Empress would never forbid it from acting on its own evil nature. Later, he's shocked to learn that, now that Bastian's served her purpose in saving Fantasia, she has no further interest in his well being. Being heroically good himself, Atreyu renounces his loyalty to her and swears to help Bastian anyway.
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* 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.
* From the [[Star Trek Novel Verse]], specifically [[Star Trek: New Frontier]], there's the Boragi. They're infamous for their lack of concern for anything but their own needs. Always neutral, they have a habit of stirring up trouble, setting other races against each other (all the time remaining suspiciously uninvolved) and then coming in to pick up the pieces once their neighbours have blown each other to smithereens. Any alliance with a Boragi is nothing of the kind- they honour only their own needs and will always, always, turn away when it bests suits them.
* [[The Witcher
* [[Ursula K. Le Guin|The Ekumen]] as a whole. They do persuade inhabited worlds to join them, but they're mostly interested in observing, and almost never interfere, even if a member planet does something against Ekumenical code. If that happens, the Ekumen will usually just withdraw and wait (for hundreds of years if necessary) for the planet's inhabitants to sort it out themselves.
* Irial from ''[[Wicked Lovely]]''.
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* 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).
* Although Wesley from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffy]]/[[Angel]]'' starts out as [[Lawful Good]], he drifts into [[Neutral Good]] territory after undergoing [[Character Development]]
** 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.
* The True Ancients in ''[[Farscape]]'': being [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|godlike aliens]] that live in another dimension, they have no interest in the affairs of the main characters. In fact, the only reason they took an interest in John Crichton was due to his wormhole knowledge, which could endanger the very fabric of reality if used incorrectly- one of the reasons they honestly considered killing him to save time.
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* [[Robot Girl|Cameron]] from ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'' is a sapient machine, but nonetheless is bound by her programming to protect John Connor, no matter the cost. {{spoiler|Or her programming to ''kill'' him, no matter the cost.}} This tends to result in her doing terrible things to people her programming dictates are threats, or being apathetic toward others' plights if they do not concern her. In the second season, she even discusses her blank morality with John, pointing out that even though Terminators like her are killing machines, that "we aren't cruel."
* Dr. Smith from ''[[Lost in Space]]'' occasionally falls into this alignment. For example, in one episode he travels back in time to avoid going on the Jupiter II, but upon learning that by staying behind he'll condemn the Robinsons to death, he can't quite bring himself to stay behind - he's self-interested, certainly, but not a straight-out bastard.
* Deb from ''[[Drop Dead Diva]]'' is an airhead model who [[First-Episode Resurrection|dies in the pilot episode]]. The angel who evaluates her status as a "good person" tells her that "you've never done a single good deed or bad action in your life, [[
* 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
* The Cleaners in ''[[Charmed]]'' are this alignment as their sole objective is to clean up any mess created by other magical beings in order to prevent the existence of magic from being revealed to the mostly unaware human population. They will not hesitate to take any and all measures they deem necessary to pursue this objective regardless of who they come into conflict with or what alignment those others might be. [[Fridge Logic|Not that they did anything before their formal introduction to the series, even in situations where their intervention would have been warranted...]]
* Edmund [[Blackadder]] in his
* Captain Jack Harkness of ''[[Torchwood]]''.
* The Replicators of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' are a rare example of a
== Oral Tradition ==
* [[Grim Reaper|Anthropomorphic personifications of Death]] are usually
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* When a [[Power Stable]] is feuding another [[Power Stable]], the chances are fairly good a True Neutral character will be in there somewhere. Everybody wants them on their side but they're not really willing to pick a side for whatever reason. Christian Cage was this during the beginning of the Main Event Mafia-Frontline feud. Usually, said character will eventually slide to one side of the fence or another.
* A face will sometimes become a Neutral character by default if they're feuding with a bigger face and haven't officially turned heel. Examples include the Rock at ''Wrestlemania X-7'' against Stone Cold and Shawn Michaels at ''Wrestlemania XXIII'' against John Cena.
== Tabletop Games ==
* In 1st and 2nd editions of ''[[Dungeons
** 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.
*** They presumably had to change this after the sheer absurdity of cases analogous to Jaheira and Faldorn in the ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' series, having the same alignment despite having ''mutually exclusive'' philosophies of nature and society (with Jaheira as the calm, benevolent-but-paying-lip-service-to-balance [[Nature Hero]] and Faldorn making the average [[Knight Templar]] look calm).
** In Third Edition, druids have to be no more than one step away from
** 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
** Mordenkainen, the Lord Mage of ''[[Greyhawk]]'', has a philosophy of either aiding or sabotaging the forces of both good and evil to ensure that neither side wins supremacy, which he believes would lead to a devastating war (like the Greyhawk Wars, which he was unable to prevent). [[The Omniscient Council of Vagueness]] which he founded, the Circle of Eight, works along the same lines. This led to an angry schism between him and his former companion, the [[Lawful Good]] archmage Tenser, who blames Mordenkainen for the deaths of several of their friends.
** Replacing the rilmani in ''[[Pathfinder]]'' are two races of
** Lizardfolk. Extremely territorial and ferocious when provoked (and will sometimes [[I Am a Humanitarian|eat their fallen enemies]]), but not malicious like orcs or goblins. They mostly just [[Heroic Neutral|want to be left alone]]. They have a high number of druids (see above) as religious leaders.
* The Tyranids of ''[[Warhammer
** The Orks are arguably type 5 also, all inevitably violent and bloodthirsty... but when one particular Ork is strong enough to keep all the other Orks in line and become Warboss, they typically are able to form a "Waagh!" horde which is large and strong enough to rampage throughout the galaxy. Of course, that doesn't mean there are no Orks that are willing to try to take down the current Warboss and take control from there...
*** Specifically the Blood Axe clan, who not only learned human-style tactics such as retreating and camouflage, but also do mercenary work as well. Considering the rest of the race, this is what makes them neutral.
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* 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.
* ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' has three interesting variants of
** As a blank slate, the Nameless One, the amnesiac protagonist, starts out
** 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.
** The {{spoiler|Transcendent One}} is also
* The daedra of ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' are
* [http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/Kerrah_photos/TRUENEUTRAL.jpg Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider] was
** 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
** 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''.
* Several of the characters who can join your group in the ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' series:
** 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.
** Also, Cernd, a werewolf-druid who spends most of his time speaking in [[Ice Cream Koan
** 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.
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** And also Wave and Storm.
* Beckett in ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]]'' a [[Deadpan Snarker|deeply sarcastic]] vampire scholar with no allegiance to any side in the Jyhad, and motivated entirely by his archaelogical interests.
** Also, the PC can choose to become
* 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.
* Squall Leonhart in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' was raised as a mercenary and, as a result, doesn't particularly believe in the concepts of "good" and "evil." He accepts that any given side of a conflict has their own reasons, and believes that one's stance on any subject is shaped by one's point of view. Accordingly, when he gets involved in stopping [[The End of the World as We Know It]], he does so less out of any moral impulse and more as a means of ensuring the safety of the girl he loves - and because the government of Esthar is paying him to do it. By the end of the game he has arguably [[Neutral No Longer|developed]] more towards [[Neutral Good]], but his personal morality is still defined more as "[[Always Save the Girl]]" than anything else.
** 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.
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** Sergei, one of the corrections officers on Carnate, has decided to spend what will probably be the last hours of his life as happy and stoned as possible. As such, he's a type 1.
** [[Cloudcuckoolander|Kyle]] is a darker variant on the average type 1: he's a teenage heroin addict with almost no objective besides surviving the invasion of Baltimore long enough to find his next fix. In fact, he only follows the PC because he appears to believe that Torque is his father.
** Torque himself can be a
* [[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.
* Saya, the eponymous [[Eldritch Abomination]] in the extremely gory visual novel ''[[Saya no Uta]]''. While obviously sentient, she doesn't seem to even have a clear concept of morality, and even at her worst, she comes across as [[Obliviously Evil]]. Her only real goal is to understand her own purpouse and propagate her species. And, well, her love for Fuminori is [[Tear Jerker|heart-wrenching]].
* [[
* 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.
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* 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.
* Augustus Sinclair in ''[[
* 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.
* From the ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' series, Naomi Hunter, a Type 3
* [[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.
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* Antimony Carver from ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]''. She's respectful towards the school staff even when she disagrees with them and she won't break rules needlessly, but she doesn't hesitate to break them when the need arises, either. She seems to hold to the philosophy that [[Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught|"It's not breaking the rules if you don't get caught"]], yet she criticizes Eglamore for suggesting the same. She's capable of [[Chronic Hero Syndrome|great selflessness]] (see her entire career as a spirit medium) as well as petty selfishness (such as cheating on a test or stealing from her best friend's parents). Overall, it seems Annie's neutrality isn't really a choice on her part; rather, she's young and confused, and her moral compass simply hasn't stabilized.
* 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.
* Spoofed in ''[[The Non-Adventures of Wonderella]]'', when the title character says she has no "evil" twin because "The opposite of neutral is still neutral!" She's supposed to be a [[The Cape (trope)|good guy]], but falls into the "Just Don't Care" variant, above... or rather slumps apathetically into it.
* Red Mage of ''[[
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'':
** Chaz, in spite of its [[Evil Weapon]] vibes. "I am neither good nor evil. I am just a sword. Wield me as you will, master."
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** [[Anthropomorphic Personification|Father Time.]] "I only care that time runs smoothly. Beyond that I am indifferent." Also parodied with a nonsensical qualification: "...Except for the Dutch. They tick me off. You're not Dutch, are you?"
* Rocky and Lenny from ''[[Our Little Adventure]]''. Rocky doesn't seem to care about good and evil or law and chaos, and though Lenny's a nicer person than Rocky, his drive on the adventure centers around [[Battle Butler|protecting]] and [[Extreme Doormat|helping]] [[Satellite Character|his wife.]]
* Rose Lalonde of ''[[Homestuck]]'' actually ends up here by the time Act 4 closes. She [[Off the Rails|gives the middle finger to the rules of Sburb]]and doesn't really give a shit about any of the [[Gambit Pileup|conflicting factions in the game]] except for herself and her friends. She's also willing to consult with [[Eldritch Abomination
** Karkat qualifies by simply being a jerk instead of the murdering kind of evil his teammates often display.
* ''[[Sinfest]]'''s Dragon, being the embodiment of Chinese philosophy, is one. At one point when God and the Devil are campaigning for Slick's support, he just tells him to play both sides against each other.
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* 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]].
* Equinox from ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'' is a rare Type 4 True Neutral, seeking to balance the conflict between good and evil. In his first appearance he had Gorilla Grodd and [[The Question]] suspended on a gigantic scales, intending to kill both, stopping only when Batman interferes.
* Merklynn, from the short-lived [[Merchandise-Driven]] 80s cartoon ''[[Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light]]'', definitely falls under Type 2. He would repeatedly [[Status Quo Is God|rescue the bad guys from jail after the good guys had won]]. Of course, he gave both sides their powers so they'd be able to carry out tasks for him, so he was probably just protecting his investment.
* ''[[Adventure Time]]'':
{{quote|'''Dark Wizard:''' For your final test... ''Slay this'' ''''unaligned ant!''''
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'''Dark Wizard:''' Well, no... But it's not good either! }}
* [[Your Mileage May Vary|Arguably]] [[Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter|Vanessa]] from ''[[Phineas and Ferb]],'' overlapping with [[Selfish Good, Selfish Evil|Selfish Neutral]]---she clearly finds her [[Punch Clock Villain]] father's plans annoying, but she never really actively helps his nemesis [[Everythings Better With Platypus|Perry]] stop him either. She seems to becoming closer to [[Chaotic Neutral]] as time goes on, though, despite expressing at least some misgivings:
{{quote|'''[[Precocious Crush|Ferb]]:''' Well, sometimes if you love somebody, you have to meet them halfway.
'''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? }}
* On ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', Samy cares very little whether the people of Miseryville are suffering [[For the Evulz|like his boss does]], he's only intrested in two things: his acting career and, according to [[Word of God]], [[The Starscream|overthrowing Lucius]].
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]
[[Category:Character Alignment]]
[[Category:YMMV Trope]]
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