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shroudofsorrow

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Neutral Evil

"Let these people burn! Vido dies! WHATEVER THE COST!"

-Zaeed Massani

The second of the evil alignments, Neutral Evil characters are those who are out for their own personal gain and will cross any moral line to get it. Said personal gain tends to be along the lines of wealth/greed, or possibly revenge in some instances. Neutral Evil characters don't care if they happen to break the rules in the process of doing what they do, and also work within the bounds of the law and authority only for as long as it is convenient and/or beneficial to them. However by the same token they will not commit random violence and cruelty if they see no direct benefit to it and therefore do not just do evil for evil's sake, although notably some people's definitions of Neutral Evil disagree with me on that front. But either way for a Neutral Evil character, their personal goals come first, and while they again, won't usually do evil deeds out of pure sadism or pointless pleasure, they also don't have too many qualms about crossing moral lines and stabbing people in the back to get what they want. Long story short they look out only for number one.

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  • Source of the page quote. Easily one of Commander Shepard's darkest and most ethically lacking crew members, Zaeed shows just how self-centered he really is during his Loyalty Mission, where he proves to be quite agreeable to letting innocent people burn to death just to get some revenge. Paragon Shepard rightly calls him out on this.

  • Considering the dude's a pragmatic mercenary who is well-known for doing most anything anyone can think to ask of him so long as he gets paid, I'd say that's a yes. He is driven by coin and occasionally his own private agenda. Too bad nothing good ever comes of either one.

  • As kind of a Marvel equivalent to Deathstroke, this makes sense. Indeed, Taskmaster prides himself on being the most coldly professional of all of Marvel's main mercenaries, as opposed to others who are too emotional and prone to good (Silver Sable and Domino), TOO immoral and evil (Bullseye), or just too bloody crazy (Deadpool). So long story short, he's a selfish guy who will do bad things for money, but he's not entirely without restraint or a sense of pragmatism.

  • Official D&D books list him as an example of Lawful Evil, but I would say that's only with earlier EU depictions of him where he took jobs for the Empire and respected their authority because he had a twisted idea of order. More modern EU depictions however portray him as a more self-centered mercenary and bounty hunter who cares more about keeping his options open and making money than anything else. Not going around committing random, pointless cruelty, but no longer obsessed with order like he was in older EU stories. That's Neutral Evil. I'm pretty sure he's also shown that he's willing to turn on people if he gets a better offer, though that may not be consistent and instead vary depending on the writer. Either way, he did eventually grow out of this after becoming the new Mandalore.

  • "Like father like son" as the saying goes. In fact he fits this more consistently than his son does.

  • I could frankly make an argument for his being Chaotic Evil, but for now I'll list him as this. Either way though, he's much more evil than Jango Fett ever was, and that's saying something.

  • From what I've gathered she's a fairly amoral rogue who's backstabbed people plenty of times in the past, which in turn suggests her current alliance with the Sith is lasting only for as long as it is convenient and beneficial to her, which really does suggest Neutral Evil to me.

  • Given that he gets by being a corrupt member of the Republic military, a case could be made for his being Lawful rather than Neutral, but I feel that his being interested in profit and also having questionable loyalties to the military (also indulging in against-regulations behavior here and there), I feel he's more this in the end.

  • One of the ultimate crime lords and a slug both in appearance and nature.

  • In contrast to most Sith, who are Lawful Evil, Darth Maul I feel is more Neutral Evil, despite definitely still having some Lawful tendencies. And here's why: following his return he is most concerned with getting revenge on Obi-Wan and killing the Jedi, and outside of these goals that he will cross any moral line to achieve, he actually generally doesn't go out of his way to commit random violence and cruelty. No generally when Maul does something he has a reason for doing it. May not be a good reason, but he's nevertheless still a man with a clear-set goal in mind, one that he doesn't care if he happens to cross moral or legal boundaries to achieve. And that to me is Neutral Evil.

  • Essentially a coalition of various sleazy corporations and enterprises from across the Star Wars Galaxy who banded together against the Republic and started a galaxy-wide war with them basically because the Republic was costing them money. Yeah. And to think people actually sympathize with these guys, in-universe and out.

  • Text-book example of this, especially considering that he outright said "I'll take on any job...for the right price". As an amoral money-obsessed bounty hunter he's Neutral Evil at it's finest.

  • Well he IS a crime lord after all. And while one who did attain most of that success by working within the system that was the Empire (and also being a serious kiss-up to Palpatine at the same time) he was also still a chiefly self-interested crook, so ultimately I'd put him in-between this alignment and Lawful Evil.

  • Cold-blooded and merciless bounty hunter and assassin droid. Considering that the IG-88s aspired to trigger a droid rebellion and take over the Galaxy (true story!) I could make the argument that they were more Lawful Evil, but that's also more them as a collective. When out bounty hunting as individuals, I'd say they were more this.

  • When brainwashed, being a ruthless and cold-blooded assassin whose only real purpose was to complete the missions given to him.

  • During her days as a merciless, cold-blooded assassin. Also the more consistently villainous Ultimate Marvel universe version.

  • Official D&D books consider her an example of this and frankly looking at the evidence yeah, she fits this one rather nicely.

  • I feel I should note here that Spider-Man has a LOT of villains that are this alignment. And I mean A LOT. And what better way to begin that list within a list then with the very first supervillain Spider-Man ever went up against? Given that he's usually depicted as a kind of mercenary-like figure, I think this is a good fit.

  • Along with many, many, many of Spider-Man's other enemies, Vulture here is motivated chiefly by self-interest, usually in the form of profit and also revenge (both on Spider-Man and his treacherous ex-partner).

  • Like Chameleon above, Tinkerer is a sort of pseudo-mercenary, hiring his technical services to anyone with the cash to pay. While he has at times given some nice new toys to good guys (such as Prowler and Black Cat) he has also regularly supplied supervillains with dangerous new technology.

  • Determined to show the world how "great" he is and also crush that pesky Spider-Man, no matter how far he has to go to achieve these ends.

  • And here's ANOTHER Spider-Man villain who fits this (and we're not even close to the end yet). He has at times inched more into Chaotic Evil territory though, depending on the writer.

  • Though at times Sandman has tried to make a go for things on the side of right, he usually still ends up backsliding to his criminal ways. And whenever he IS a criminal, he's pretty comfortably this, being someone who is interested solely in profit and actually would probably leave Spider-Man alone if he didn't keep trying to stop him.

  • One of my personal favorite Spider-Man villains, and one motivated by basically egomania and a desire to be noticed. Hence his theatrics. His other motivations (greed and revenge on Spidey) further cement his status as a representative of this alignment.

  • While the Green Goblin himself is text-book Chaotic Evil, his alter-ego Norman Osborn is Neutral Evil. Yes he enforces the Registration Act and uses it as an excuse to mercilessly hunt down real superheroes, and as such might seem more Lawful Evil. But the thing is, Norman only works within the confines of the system for as long as it's actually convenient, and that is Neutral Evil, not Lawful Evil. Ultimately Norman is just a complete sociopath who is out for his own and would happily step over anybody else just to keep going. Not even his own son (whom he hates anyway) is exempt from this.

  • And onwards we go. In this case the goal Kraven obsessively pursues (and to an extent even moreso than many of the others here I might add) is hunting Spider-Man, who he sees as the only worth prey. Outside of that though Kraven actually fancies himself a man of honor and to his credit doesn't really perform any real evil outside of his neverending hunt for the web-head.

  • Well he IS an assassin for hire...which means he kills people for money. Sounds pretty Neutral Evil to me.

  • Even moreso than a lot of other Marvel villains and even Spider-Man villains specifically, Shocker is a dude who is chiefly self-interested and out for personal gain, and that outside of this he really doesn't have any other malevolent agenda in mind. That said, he is also a very resourceful and flexible villain, who has tried all manner of schemes in the hope of coming out on top. He never does.

  • Yet another Spider-Man villain who's primary motive is selfish revenge against the web-head, one he pursued in the absolute most convoluted way possible (*Cough, cough* THE CLONE SAGA *cough, cough*)

  • Particularly in my Marvel Universe, where he's much more sociopathic, sadistic, and ultimately more like his father.

  • As opposed to the blatantly homicidal and destruction-happy sadist that was the Green Goblin, the original Hobgoblin was always to me just a bit more Machiavellian, being interested chiefly in advancing his career (which quickly turned deeply criminal) by any means necessary and also making sure to always look out for number 1. As such I feel he's more Neutral Evil than Chaotic Evil.

  • Much like the man whose identity he later stole, Jason Macendale is a pretty self-interested individual, especially considering that he's as much a mercenary as he is a supervillain.

  • Whenever turned into a straight up villain instead of a self-righteous anti-hero, Eddie tends to be this alignment.

  • Though in mainstream continuity she's an anti-hero, most alternate versions of the character recast her as a more cold-blooded and amoral individual who is basically like any other mercenary: will do bad stuff so long as she gets paid.

  • Thanks to bad writing and a, shall we say, misunderstanding between her and Spidey, Felicia's fallen to the Dark Side pretty dang hard, and in fact now is way more villainous then she has ever been previously, even back when the character was first introduced. Working with Electro, not caring about whether or not innocent people are hurt, stuff like that. Shame too. I always preferred Black Cat as a hero/neutral than as a villain...

  • Someone who is so thoroughly consumed with getting what she wants when she wants it that she was even willing to smash apart her own mother's grave just to get back her lost power, rather than take the opportunity to make amends for her past mistakes.

  • Pretty much your classic femme fatale, and also it seems kind of the Talia to Iron Man's Batman. It also runs in the family, with her father Count Nefaria also being Neutral Evil.

  • Like many of the other characters on this list, his motivations (especially in the movie) are greed and revenge against the hero, although in this case there's also the "upstage the hero" goal thrown in as well.

  • With this one I'm thinking more the comic version (who is MUCh more evil than the movie version incidentally) who long ago came to the conclusion that life was a game to be won no matter the cost. He ends up taking this goal to rather ridiculous lengths, and in doing so becomes arguably the single most evil villain in (Comic) Iron Man's rogues gallery. Among other things he threatened to crush a baby's skull just to get Tony to stand down. Yeah.

  • The Ultimate Marvel Universe version of Hank Pym, whose turned into a much more selfish egotist who also nearly kills his girlfriend during a particularly violent domestic dispute, one he pretty much started. After this (understandably) gets him thrown out of the Ultimates, he decides to throw his lot in with superpowered terrorists and help them invade the country. And when things are clearly turning against them, he turns on them too. Simply put, Ultimate Hank Pym is a slimeball.

  • More the 616 version, who seems to be the kind of guy whose always willing to do some messed up stuff if it means he can still benefit from it in some way. The movie version was more a very twisted Lawful Evil.

  • While the movie version is mostly Lawful Evil the comic book version, though he does sometimes still aspire to be king of Asgard, is ultimately I feel still more this alignment. The reason for that being that Loki in the comics does not work exclusively within the confines of Asgard's system of order and quite the contrary regularly works OUTSIDE of it. His goals are also not solely about acquiring power. A lot of the time in fact his goals are just a bit more petty, usually involving beating and ideally humiliating a certain Thunder God and his buddies...

  • Typically most concerned with winning the affection's of Death's physical embodiment, though he will occasionally pursue his own separate goals as well. Either way though, Thanos is quite agreeable to doing whatever it takes to achieve his goals, no matter how evil he's got to be.

  • This one's a controversial call, I admit. Most would argue that Galactus isn't evil because he's just doing what is necessary to survive. But there are some problems with this argument, namely that Galactus could choose to only devour planets that don't have any intelligent life on them. This way he would keep himself sustained without committing genocide in the process. But Galactus doesn't do that because he finds it inconvenient and also makes it very clear that he doesn't usually care about anyone or anything but himself, and that to me makes him more this alignment.

  • Like Galactus, Brainiac has scoured the cosmos looking for new worlds that he invariably ends up destroying in the pursuit of a selfish agenda. But Brainiac is even worse than Galactus because he doesn't do it to sustain himself, rather he does it to acquire the planet's knowledge, which he holds in a higher regard than he does the planet's inhabitants. You can't even say he's just following his programming and doesn't know any better because Brainiac's been depicted as either just as sentient as any human or even more sentient and therefore knows full well what he's doing. And he doesn't care.

  • As the champion of the orange light of avarice, Larfleeze is perpetually greedy and always wanting more and more. And he's willing to cross any and all moral lines to satisfy that all-consuming greed.

  • Yes, he's CEO of his own company. Yes, he was president of the USA. Yes, he's sometimes led supervillain teams. But unlike DCAU Lex Luthor, who seems to be most comfortable working from such positions of power, comic Lex to me only does so for as long as it's actually convenient and beneficial to him. The second it ceases to be he casts such positions aside much more casually then his DCAU version would and goes right back to doing what he's always done best: looking out only for himself and his own interests. That and his ongoing feud with Superman of course.

  • Especially since the DCAU version started out as a mercenary before becoming a greed/revenge motivated supervillain.

  • Another Superman villain to fit this, with this one being motivated more by hunger than traditional monetary greed.

  • And here's ANOTHER Superman villain that fits this. And for the usual greed/revenge reasons too.

  • An unrepentant crook who goes out of his way to act like a cold-blooded professional. Gratuitous violence is a big no-no for him, but cutting down someone who gets in the way of his score? He's not losing a wink of sleep over that.

  • Under Captain Cold's leadership, all of the other Flash Rogues behave as he does, and Mirror Master is no exception to that.

  • And here's another one.

  • More the first one than the second though, although Owen Mercer did become Neutral Evil during Blackest Night, also becoming so bad the other Flash Rogues turned on him in disgust.

  • Though a little bit more "high-profile" then the likes of say, Carmine Falcone and Rupert Thorne, Penguin is nevertheless still a ruthless and self-interested crime boss in the same vein as many of Gotham's other crooks. Don't tell him that though.

  • Another Batman villain motivated by greed, as well as a seriously bad ego and also desire for attention. In short, a classic narcissist.

  • While in the comics he's more Chaotic Evil, I would say that Two-Face as he appeared in The Dark Knight was more Neutral Evil, in that he was most interested in revenge over random slaughter or anarchy, and had also come to the rather nihilistic conclusion that chance was the only kind of true morality in the world he lived in, and that he also viewed it as a sort of twisted fairness.

  • Yet another Batman villain driven solely by greed and personal gain. Batman even said in the (albeit non-canon) story Justice that he has never been anything but a common criminal.

  • Bane is a man who craves power, but not so much authority over others. Though he has occasionally gotten that too, by and large Bane is a man ruled by self-interest who will crush any and all who try to oppose him but outside of that actually doesn't really set out to do evil and in fact even has some measure of scruples in spite of his villainy.

  • Well he IS a guy who kills people for money after all. Assassin-for-hire and all that.

  • Like Bane Catman is driven by greed and also a desire to prove himself worthy of fear and respect. He is also under Gail Simone a fairly ruthless and amoral individual. On that note...

  • Determined to exact vengeance on Bruce Wayne and then seize his fortune no matter the cost, scheming against his foe with surgical precision and a complete disregard for the well-being of others. He is also by the way, my favorite Batman villain besides the Joker himself.

  • A remorseless, cold-blooded assassin who barring one brief stint as Black Canary (weird I know) is pretty consistently villainous. She cares little for the gratuitous violence of say, the Joker, but she's still not good any stretch.

  • A dude so hungry for power and knowledge both that he sold his own soul just to get more of it.

  • While I tend to associate megalomania more with Lawful Evil, Jafar still ultimately leans more towards this one due to not really being interested in ruling so much as just raw power, as opposed to say, Doctor Doom and Palpatine, who also do covet power but at the same time enforce their own twisted idea of order on others. Jafar never does that, and as such I feel I can list him as this.

  • Scar is an interesting case in that he initially seems more Lawful Evil. After all, he aspired to be king, a Lawful position, and eventually overthrew the old regime and replaced it with his own iron-fisted one. But as time passes it becomes clear that Scar has no real interest in order whatsoever and really just a selfish person who is thoroughly self-interested and will do and say anything just to keep himself going. Ironically, this winds up condemning him when he tries to sell the Hyenas out and they turn on him and kill him. So basically starts Lawful Evil and then becomes more this alignment.

  • An egomaniacal hunter who's willing to illegally poach a whole herd of gorillas for money, as well as kill anyone who tries to get in his way.

  • An amoral pirate captain who tends to also be quite the back-stabber, and pretty casually crosses both lines and lives in the pursuit of his invariably selfish goals.

  • Obsessed with ridding the world of the superheroes he'd grown to despise, Syndrome was shown to be pretty single-minded in this goal, and comfortably acted without any kind of legal or ethical restraint as he lured the retired supers to their deaths one by one before then plotting to make himself look like the biggest hero of them all. In essence a classic supervillain criminal mastermind.

  • Believing that darkness could not be destroyed, only channeled, Master Xehanort fell very much into full-on villainy, becoming someone who was willing to cross any line in the name of both power and his "research".

  • Determined to get their hearts back, no matter the moral cost. Seems pretty straight forward to me. Especially since many of their individual members are also this alignment.

  • Considering that he joined Xehanort and became a Nobody in the first place out of a desire to get something others had that he coveted (the ability to wield a keyblade) and also manipulates others to further his own goals, this a yes.

  • One of the Organization's more lazy members who's pretty content to get others to do work in his stead while he pursues his own more selfish agenda that doesn't really include the rest of the Organization.

  • Like Vexen above and Demyx below, Zexion is pretty darn lazy and prefers to get others to do the dirty work. Zexion also seems to enjoy manipulating others in the service of his own agenda.

  • An unrepentantly lazy individual who is generally content to let others do his dirty work. Though outwardly appearing like a dim-witted goofball and maybe even a bit friendly, in reality he is just as (literally) heartless as any other Nobody.

  • As his character description puts it: "Life to him is a just game to be won".

  • A sadistic and mean-spirited doppelganger of the real Riku. While not all that interested in order or even doing evil from any real position of power or authority, he does still respect his creator Vexen's authority to a degree, and also does seem to have a clear goal in mind beyond random violence, namely proving himself Sora and the real Riku's better. So ultimately I'd argue in favor of his being this alignment.

  • At least in Kingdom Hearts anyway. Can't say anything about his original Final Fantasy VII version.

  • While he's technically listed as Lawful Evil, his being a greedy, money-driven mercenary makes him more Neutral Evil in my mind. And yes, yes I know, he's listed as Lawful Evil, but people aren't infallible. Even Bioware can be wrong sometimes and this is one of those times when I think they're wrong.

  • Now this, on the other hand, is one they got right.

  • He does come off as kind of the archetypal rogue along with Eldoth, and not the lovable kind either. Honestly, his attitude and personality seem more in line with a Dwarf like Kagain.

  • Well she IS a Drow, who tend to come out Neutral Evil, so...

  • Not all Dark Elves everywhere, but the Dark Elves known as Drow from Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder are typically listed as being of this alignment. Personally I've always found them to be more Chaotic Evil, but I'll list them here anywhere. I mean, it's not like there can't be some Drow who have specific goals rather than just destruction for destruction's sake right?

  • Well, given that they're mercenaries motivated by the usual mercenary motivations (greed), and also that their founder was/is this alignment, I suppose it was inevitable that they come out fitting this.

  • Beings that are single-minded in their goal of procuring human specimens for the Human Reaper Larvae and carrying out their master's other goals, but also only ever pursue whatever goal they're assigned, never really committing random chaos, violence, or evil for evil's sake. Thus I feel they're more this than Chaotic Evil, though I might also say they're in-between the two alignments.

  • Like Saren a rogue Spectre, one who believes in doing whatever is necessary to keep the Citadel "safe". Of course, her willingness to kill innocent civilians via bombing public buildings, her xenophobic disdain for Asari purebloods (making her reasons for targeting Liara suspect), and just her general lack of moral scruples or ethics of any kind ensures that the ends don't justify the means with this one. Her being willing to work with a criminal (The Shadow Broker) whenever it suits her also shows that she doesn't always work within the system either. That said, she does arguably have a desire for order based on her stated goal of keeping the Citadel safe, so I suppose she could also be said to be Lawful Evil. I feel she leans more towards this alignment though.

  • A crime boss with a specialty in information, and also willing to buy and sell secrets without the slightest regard for the consequences of such acts. His clearly liking to have control over people might actually make him more Lawful Evil, but I suppose that much like his employee Tela Vasir he's in-between the two alignments.

  • Yet another ruthless and amoral mercenary character. Considering how greed seems to be one of his chief motivators and he's worked with several other villains from the series big and small just to satisfy said motivator, I think this one needs little else in the way of explanation.

  • On one hand, he does serve as a recurring flunkey to Shao Kahn, but he's also sometimes plotted against him and is really just out for his own personal gain a lot of the time. As such he'll work within the confines of the system that is serving Shao Kahn only for as long as it is actually beneficial to him.

  • Like Shang Tsung I feel he ultimately fits this despite having some Lawful Evil tendencies. Though he is meant to respect Quan-Chi's authority and serve him diligently (which would be more Lawful), Noob has several times stepped outside of Quan-Chi's influence to pursue his own agenda, as seen with the Noob-Smoke alliance.

  • As of God of War III, where in his single-minded quest for (selfish) vengeance against the Olympians he mercilessly slaughters them all along with anyone else who dares to get in his way. This winds up mucking up the entire planet and condemning all life on it, but Kratos doesn't really care about that. And to think people still love the guy. Yeesh.

  • A particularly sociopathic and amoral pirate captain who is ever in pursuit of Soul Edge, the cursed sword he once wielded with zeal. Honestly I could maybe argue for his being Chaotic Evil, but I'll keep him as this for now.

  • Zasalamel on the other hand, is definitely Neutral Evil. While his desire to end his immortality is understandable, he is willing to hurt and manipulate quite a few people to achieve that goal.

  • Another villain with an understandable and sympathetic motive, but also someone willing to, and I quote "destroy any who stand in his way".

  • The fictional vampire version, who is most concerned with sating his (literal) bloodlust and keeping himself sustained. And seducing the occasional female. That too.

  • While they can, according to official D&D books be any evil alignment, the description given for them to me suggests they're mostly this, as they have no interests in ruling or imposing order, and are instead isolationists obsessed with continuing their existence and other similarly selfish goals. However, I wouldn't say they're Chaotic Evil either, since they don't seem terribly predisposed to random, pointless cruelty or needless sadism. Thus, Neutral Evil instead.

  • Near-mindless servants to Sauron who are forever bound to his will. They are most concerned with reclaiming the One Ring for Sauron and much like the Terminator at the very beginning of this list are pretty single-minded in that one goal, not caring what they do along the way of achieving it but also not really setting out to cause chaos or damage either.

  • A treacherous and conniving slimeball through and through, his ultimate goal being to have Eowyn all to himself. While he does insert himself into Theoden's court, it is only for as long as it is convenient for him and furthers his goals. Ultimately I suppose you could say he's in-between this and Lawful Evil.

  • A dragon who in his quest for wealth drove the Dwarves out of their ancestral home and from there made himself comfortable on top of their great big pile of treasure. The second he thinks this treasure (that he stole) is being threatened by an outside force, he decides to raze an entire innocent city. So long as he's left alone he's not out causing random destruction, but this does little to diminish his existing evil. All it does really is make him Neutral Evil rather than Chaotic Evil.

  • As his last name kind of implies, Goldfinger likes gold, to the point that he was willing to pretty much nuke Fort Knox's storage of gold to make his own more valuable, also being fine with killing quite a few innocent people in the process.
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