True Neutral: Difference between revisions

Compare [[Crowning Moment of Indifference (Darth Wiki)|Crowning Moment of Indifference]]. For the different types in which this alignment may manifest, check [[True Neutral/Analysis]].

 

'''When dealing with the examples of specific characters, remember that assigning an alignment to a character who doesn't come with one is pretty [[Subjective Tropes|subjective]]. If you've got a problem with a character being listed here, it probably belongs on the discussion page. There will be no [[Real Life]] examples under any circumstances; it just invites an [[Edit War]].'''

 

* 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 [[True Neutral]] camp (only beating up worthy adversaries in the ring, but not shying away from dirty tricks and killing opponents). Come the Demon Seed arc, he appears to have completed the switch to [[Neutral Good|Neutral]] - or at least [[Chaotic Good|Chaotic - Good]] (challenging the Devil Superhumans to save Meat, all for the good of humanity).

* 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.

* Aoshi Shinomori of ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]''.

* Spike Spiegel of ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', who doesn't really care about much of anything besides his crew, what's to eat, and where he'll get his next bounty. This is a direct contrast to his previous personality as a criminal working for [[The Syndicate]], when he was much more aligned with [[Neutral Evil]] than anything.

** 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.

* Shizuru from ''[[Mai-HiME]]'' started out as a Type 2 Neutral, taking a relaxed approach to everything (her official bio states that one of her pet peeves is "being rushed") but eventually became [[Neutral Evil]] when {{spoiler|she received her powers and felt that [[Love Makes You Evil|violence was the only way to keep her from being separated from Natsuki]].}}

* The ''[[Gundam]]'' series has many great examples.

* So Touma from ''[[QED]]'', 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 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]]''.

* 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.

* Switzerland and Liechtenstein from ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]''. Switzerland is a Type 12 (shoots and yells at people when they disturb him, mostly, and hides his care for others except for his younger sister) and Liechtenstein is a Type 2 (sweet and gentle like a [[Neutral Good]], but doesn't necessarily go out of her way to help others).

** This actually becomes a plot point in ''[[The Movie|Paint it White]]'' where their very neutrality (among other things) actually ''saves'' them from the [[Alien Invasion]] going on elsewhere. {{spoiler|They even spend an intimate, seemingly quiet picnic for most of the movie, totally unaware of the mess outside.}}

* 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).

** Just in case anyone doubts Namor's position as True Neutral, take this into account: he's a member of Professor X's Illuminati (good) and [[Norman Osborn]]'s Cabal (evil), ''at the same time''. And he's not acting as [[The Mole]] for either group, since neither knows that he's a member of the other.

* [[The Sandman]]; Death, Desire and Despair are True Neutral.

*** 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!''}}

* Peter Parker starts out as a Type 11 True Neutral, and continues to be this even after acquiring the special ability as ''[[Spider Man]]'', up until the death of his dear uncle because of his own indifferent attitude toward the villain who killed him. Afterwards, he became the [[Neutral Good]] ''[[Spider Man]]'' we know today.

* [[Spawn]] likewise switches between this and [[Neutral Good]], [[Depending On the Writer]]. Understandably so; caught between the [[Lawful Evil]] [[Knight Templar]] [[Light Is Not Good|angels]] and [[Chaotic Evil]] [[Legions of Hell]], it's something of an in-universe [[Darkness Induced Audience Apathy|Darkness Induced]] ''[[Darkness Induced Audience Apathy|Protagonist]]'' [[Darkness Induced Audience Apathy|Apathy]]. He still helps people but mostly wants to [[Heroic Neutral|be left alone]].

** 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."

* Due to never receiving instructions on anything from their state legislature, the New York delegates in ''[[Seventeen Seventy Six|1776]]'' never vote on anything, always abstaining. Courteously. In the end, they decide to sign the Declaration anyway.

** 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.

** 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]].

* Martin Blank, the [[Hitman With a Heart]] from ''[[Grosse Pointe Blank]]''.

** And by extention, Brad Hauser of "[[War Inc]]"".

* The [[Genre Savvy]] [[Handsome Lech]] Graverobber of ''[[Repo the Genetic Opera]]''. He's a drug-dealer who opts to stay out of the main conflict throughout the movie and is probably the smartest character to do so. He even comes out alive at the end.

* [[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 [[True Neutral]], with Kick-Ass himself as Type 8, and Red Mist Type 12.

 

 

* 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 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.

* ''[[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).

* Though she's a benign character in the movie adaptation, the original novel ''[[The Neverending Story (Literature)|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.

* The Rock of Ages in the ''[[Merlin (Film)|Merlin]]'' miniseries, who spends most of his time sleeping and being mistaken for a mountain. Since he's one of the few immortals that don't [[Gods Need Prayer Badly|require human belief to survive]], he isn't troubled by Christianity's arrival in Britain, and only helps Merlin because his role requires the least amount of work- holding Excalibur.

* Possibly John Locke from ''[[Lost (TV)|Lost]]'', although it's a tough call. He's definitely not a bad guy, but he commits several acts that are apparently selfish and even amoral. He seems to alternate between law (doing everything the Island says) and chaos (he has a long history of losing his faith, changing his mind, shifting allegiances...). He's also something of a [[Wild Card]].

* [[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.

== Video Games ==

* Geralt from ''[[The Witcher (Video Game)|The Witcher]] at least claims to be this, as part of "The Witcher's Code"; however it is impossible to truly live up to it in the game.

** 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.

* Archer's alignment in the ''[[Fate Stay Night]]'' [[Visual Novel]] is listed as simply "Neutral". Though summoned as a Servant in the game, his typical role is a Guardian, a heroic spirit periodically summoned by The World to slaughter any humans, good or bad, who pose a threat to humanity's existence as a whole. This (un)living hell has left him bitter and uncaring towards humans.

** 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 [[True Neutral]], which is an unusual alignment for {{spoiler|a [[Big Bad]]}}. All he wants is to be left alone, but so long as {{spoiler|the Nameless One seeks his true identity}}, that is impossible.

* [http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/Kerrah_photos/TRUENEUTRAL.jpg Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider] was [[True Neutral]] in ''[[Warcraft III]]''. His only aim was the survival of his people, no matter the cost.

** 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.

** Also, Cernd, a werewolf-druid who spends most of his time speaking in [[Ice Cream Koan|Ice Cream Koans]]; as Minsc put it "You talk in circles, Cernd, but that's okay. Boo runs in them."

** 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.

* The AI Thoth in ''[[Marathon (Video Game)|Marathon]] 2'' always try to help the underdog. This means he helps you from the point where {{spoiler|you reactivate him}}, and then {{spoiler|turns on you and Durandal when you're winning against the Pfhor.}} Thoth isn't very successful when {{spoiler|trying to stop you though, as the Pfhor completely ignore his offers of assistance.}}

* [[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.

* [[Mad World|Jack Cayman]] could certainly be considered True Neutral, for reasons similar to Guts above. {{spoiler|He seems to work for the government, is sent to rescue a well-to-do in danger and, when it turns out she was taking part in orchestrating Death Watch, Jack may have struck her, but he notably didn't kill her (although he expressed regret at sparing her). However, the brutality of his kills certainly don't fall under any "Good" category I care to think of, he claims "I don't work for justice, and I'm certainly not its bitch", and he has a habit of doing things his own way when the situation calls for it}}. In short, Jack's the living proof against True Neutral being a wuss or wishy-washy class: if he's on the fence, it's probably so that he can decide how to kill you with it.

* 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.

** 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.

* 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.

* 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|good guy]], but falls into the "Just Don't Care" variant, above... or rather slumps apathetically into it.

* ''[[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."

** [[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.]]

* [[Dr. Horribles Sing Along Blog|Dr. Horrible]] likely drifted into the Just-Don't-Care variant after {{spoiler|Penny's death}}. He is seen robbing banks and attending Evil League of Evil meetings, but his heart isn't in it.

* [[Rather Vocalized Illusion (Web Video)|Rather Vocalized Illusion]] has several episodes praised as being objective and fairly looking at both sides of an issue. Bhaalspawn even made a two parter to analyze the good traits and negative traits of Bronies (a group he admittedly hates).

 

 

** Also Wan Shi Tong from the great Library. Thoroughly nonpartisan and supportive only of knowledge for knowledge's sake... and please don't be stupid and lie to him. Bad idea, that.

* Charles Foster Ofdenson from ''[[Metalocalypse]]''. Sure, he rules a lawful business empire, but he also associates with the [[Chaotic Neutral]] Dethklok, and is not above using them achieve his own ends. And ultimately, the only rule he lives by is that no one fucks with his bread and butter.

** In the "Bloaty's Pizza Hog" episode, she gives a reason why she ignores Zim's efforts:

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

* Red X from ''[[Teen Titans (Animation)|Teen Titans]]'' essentially spells out this alignment in one word, when asked whose side he was on.

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

* 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 (Animation)|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.

* ''[[Adventure Time (Animation)|Adventure Time]]'':

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

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

'''Dark Wizard:''' Well, no... But it's not good either! }}

{{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? }}

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

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

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

* Agents Frances and Epsilon from ''The Secret Saturdays'' are the epitome of this trope.

[[Category:Flame Bait]]

[[Category:True Neutral]]