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shroudofsorrow

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True Neutral

"I am not altogether on anybody's side, because nobody is altogether on my side"

-Treebeard

True Neutral characters are those who prefer to just "stay out of it". That is to say that in big conflicts between good and evil True Neutral characters try to remain well, neutral, as much as possible. That said they are NOT completely ambivalent and uncaring. True Neutral characters WILL pick a side if they are forced to, and usually side with good over evil (since the average person would rather have a good person looking after them than an evil one). But they do not set out to do good the way a good character does, nor do they set out to be cruel or callous the way an evil character does. In essence True Neutral characters are a more mild and innocent Neutral Evil in that they are chiefly self-interested, but not to a ruthless, cruel, or well, evil degree. They're out for their own and do not like to get involved if at all possible with either good or evil, but again will usually side with the former if forced.

List items

  • Source of the page quote, though having said that he ultimately makes the transition to Neutral Good after seeing what Saruman has done and finally deciding to take action.

  • An individual who is completely apathetic and ambivalent to the greater world and only gets involved because his girlfriend asked him to. Outside of that he prefers to keep to himself and be alone.

  • Left the Strider program and chose retirement and seclusion. He comes out of retirement every so often to face an unambiguous crisis, but beyond that he prefers to keep to himself. Kind of in-between this and Neutral Good.

  • While most see them as villains and they can definitely qualify as such it should be remembered that the Xenomorphs are really just animals who are trying to keep their species alive, which just so happens to require killing people. But it's not because they're malevolent: rather they are again animals trying to preserve themselves, and are largely incapable of telling right from wrong, at least in the original movies. I don't fault the humans for killing them mind you, but it's more a case of people vs. hostile wildlife than a true good vs. evil affair.

  • They are a primarily self-interested and largely loyal-less species that are not all that good or evil, instead being most concerned with turning a profit for themselves.

  • While he certainly has his heroic moments by and large C-3PO is very neurotic and not at all interested in involving himself in dangerous and chaotic conflicts. Really he'd much rather prefer to just be simulating etiquette.

  • Prior to his Character Development Han Solo is a thoroughly self-interested smuggler who does not at all like the idea of getting involved in a conflict between the Rebellion and the Empire (and says as much to Leia) and only does get involved for the monetary reward. Obviously this doesn't stick and Han eventually makes the transition to Chaotic Good.

  • Dash essentially shows what Han Solo was pre character development, being a smuggler who is by no means evil but is also not terribly interested in being good either. He helps the Rebel Alliance around the time of Empire Strikes Back, but more for money than ideology. He does also help fight against Prince Xizor, but even there I'd say more because he and Han Solo are old friends. Like C-3PO and Strider Hiryu above, he's in-between this and Good and like his friend Han ultimately starts to inch more into Chaotic Good territory.

  • His clone, who is barely interested in the rebellion anymore than he is in the Empire and is most concerned with finding Juno Eclipse and coming to better terms with who he is. But outside of that he is chiefly out for his own and is very resistant to joining either the Rebellion or Darth Vader. That and he's also stressed as being kind of a blank slate who can choose to be either good or evil.

  • Initially pretty submissive and subservient to first Darth Nihilus and then the player. Really she comes off as someone who's just content to go with the flow, attaching herself to whoever she feels is most deserving of her loyalty.

  • After abandoning Dooku and the Separatists and undergoing some Character Development into a still selfish but nowhere near as malevolent bounty hunter.

  • During that period in her life when she was beginning to throw off Palpatine's influence but hadn't yet embraced the ways of the Jedi Order.

  • The Marvel Cinematic Universe version of the character seems to have settled into this by the end of the movie.

  • A lot of people consider Galactus to be this, arguing that he's just doing what he needs to do to survive and is thus no more evil than a predator in the jungle. I personally don't come from that school of thought, but it's an argument I can sympathize with at least, so I'll ultimately judge Galactus to be in-between this and Neutral Evil.

  • With the exception of Gamora, all of the members of the team start out as this in the movie before Character Development sets in.

  • The MCU version is either this or Chaotic Neutral

  • Same as Rocket, at least again, before Character Development sets in.

  • Groot too.

  • Ditto.

  • The Jade Green Giant sometimes transitions into this, as after all "he just wants to be left alone". Really, the Hulk's been several different alignments over the years.

  • Luke tried to be this early in his career, fashioning himself as the "Hero for Hire" who would do good only if you paid him and would keep to himself otherwise. Thing is though, Cage found that his conscience more often than not didn't allow him to act that way and he ultimately became more Neutral Good/Chaotic Good, including as a member of the New Avengers.

  • In the MCU, at least initially. He's in-between law and chaos due to being a lawyer who is also a crimefighter that indulges in torture and excessive force on a regular basis. In fact, it's his habitually torturing criminals that is also why he's in-between good and evil. Thus, True Neutral.

  • Though he's always been seen as one of Spider-Man's greatest foes, it should be noted that Eddie Brock is often in fact an anti-hero who outside of his vendetta with Spider-Man actually considers himself a protector of society and to his credit does know how to play the part fairly well. In fact, it is only because of his ongoing feud with Spider-Man that I'm listing him as this and not Chaotic Good.

  • Obviously not the Lizard himself, but Curt Connors tends to be either this or Neutral Good.

  • By and large MJ just wants a calm, peaceful, normal life and though not a fan of the supervillains regularly criticizes Peter for being a superhero and typically opposes his being Spider-Man.

  • Like MJ Gwen's pretty unambitious in her goals and is generally content to just go with the flow. The movie version played by Emma Stone on the other hand, is much more heroic, because she actively helps Spider-Man.

  • Seems to be this at least some of the time, as for all of her helping Spider-Man every so often she does also seem to often have her own personal and ambiguous agenda. Probably in-between this and Neutral Good in the end.

  • For me, I feel that a big part of his character arc is the journey from this alignment to Neutral Good.

  • In my DC Universe since he starts out the same as he did in mainstream continuity, namely as a self-interested attention-seeker whose only trying to be a superhero because he thinks and hopes that it will get him fame and fortune.

  • In keeping with his being an animal character but besides that he is also noticeably more selfish than Aladdin. Not so much that he is bad or evil by any means, but at the same time it does make me more inclined to list him as this, in contrast to Aladdin's being more Neutral Good.

  • In the original Arabian Night, where his story is more akin to winning the lottery, rather than about a well-meaning underdog who stops the villain and saves the day.

  • Sometimes presented as this due to being a nihilist who does not believe in good or evil but nevertheless sometimes stands against the latter anyway.

  • Initially he's pretty content to just do whatever the Organization tells him to do and doesn't really think for himself all that much. It's only as the game progresses that he begins to transition more to Neutral Good and then to Chaotic Neutral. Yeah, Roxas changes alignments a lot.

  • Like Roxas she starts out as this and honestly is this for most of the game before ultimately ending as Neutral Good. Given that she's in a way an extension of Roxas their sharing an alignment (and similar alignment transition) is fitting.

  • She seems to be this, given how she often comes off as lacking a terribly distinct personality and being more of a "go with the flow" kind of person.

  • A fairly self-centered and self-absorbed rich man's daughter who is ultimately the very definition of spoiled rotten. Not really evil though, and as such True Neutral really is the best fit for her.

  • A fairly independent warrior who respects martial prowess and strength of character, but is not as concerned with morality.

  • A wandering lycanthrope with not as much to his character as some of the other party members in the series. His being a werewolf is cool though.

  • Well, he IS a bounty hunter after all, and one that definitely seems to be out for his own.

  • In Injustice Gods Among Us, where he doesn't care who his opponent is and has no stake in the Regime/Insurgency conflict. He just wants to get back home and will fight anyone who gets in his way regardless of their moral alignment.

  • Though Mortal Kombat considers him to be a good character, as I said above neutral characters can and will side with good against evil if the occasion calls for it. But outside of sometimes uniting with Earthrealm's main defenders against a common enemy Kenshi's main goal is neither altruistic nor malevolent: it is simply revenge against Shang Tsung for blinding him.

  • A wandering Samurai who just goes wherever the action is, not caring who his opponent happens to be or what their moral alignment is. Ergo, he is either this or Chaotic Neutral.

  • Is driven by a somewhat single-minded vendetta against the above character, and isn't interested in much else besides.

  • Like Setsuka, Amy is pretty single-minded in her specific goal, and has no desire to be particularly good or evil outside of that goal. Both women are even looking for a particular man, though their desires differ greatly.

  • Possibly an older Amy going by some fan theories, but either way Viola comes off as pretty stoic and apathetic, and never really shows much in the way of strong moral convictions. Seems like more of a "go with the flow" type character.

  • Going by his dialogue in the game proper, it seems that the only things in this lad's head are a lot of air and one word: food. Seriously, that's all he EVER thinks or talks about. Food. Honestly, given how one-note he is I seriously question if he can even be said to have any kind of personality at all. He certainly doesn't have any particularly strong moral convictions.

  • Can't say anything about the way he was in the first few Soul Calibur games, but in SCIV at least he's interested primarily with getting back his lost soul which frankly isn't that villainous a goal. Not to mention that Lizardman is shown to be just as willing to fight evil characters as he is good ones in the pursuit of his goal, and even defeats Nightmare at the end of his story mode. Between that and his animal-level or near-animal level intelligence and I'd say he fits this pretty well.

  • In Batman Arkham City where he is frankly not really that bad a guy. Yes, he tries to kill Batman...after Bats provokes and all but threatens him. Outside of that he just wants to be left alone and save his dying wife's life. After getting Nora back for Mr. Freeze Batman even urges him to save her and stop trying to be a villain, because it's not who he is.

  • Settles into this during the course of the game. While he remains largely self-interested, he also comes to care about Elizabeth to a degree and rarely if ever hurts innocent Columbia civilians, and is thus not completely without a conscience.

  • Another admittedly controversial call. Krusty tends to be depicted as being pretty crooked and sleazy, but is also not without a sympathetic side and compared to the actions of say, Mr. Burns, Sideshow Bob, Snake, and others, his criminal acts are pretty tame. Mostly he's just a sleaze, but not quite evil in my mind.

  • Well she IS a baby after all, if not also a surprisingly and deceptively intelligent one.

  • Sometimes this, depending on the episode. Usually though more Neutral Good or, at his most obnoxious, Chaotic Neutral.

  • Usually settles into this. While he can at times be genuinely cruel, he has also had moments of decency and kindness and by and large just wants to be left alone and have Spongebob and Patrick not bother him.

  • George R.R. Martin himself has outright said that Tyrion is the most neutral character in the whole series. As such his fitting this should surprise nobody. That said, he does frequently shift to Neutral Good throughout the series.

  • In Tolkein's mythos the Dwarves are depicted as a wary and secretive (not to mention often self-interested) race that tend to keep to themselves and are rarely seen in the company of Elves and Men. Even the Dwarves in the Hobbit are still kind of self-interested for the most part, and in all I feel that the Dwarves having such an isolationist and at times greedy mindset makes them more this. And no, occasional team-ups with the Elves and Men against the forces of Evil don't keep them from being this, as True Neutral characters will pick a side if they have to, as I have already noted above.

  • Also in Tolkein's mythos, and for the same reason no less, namely that they are pretty isolated and insist on remaining so. They don't want to go out and be good or evil but rather just keep to themselves in the Shire. Thus, True Neutral.

  • It seems that whenever Druids show up in any traditional high-fantasy setting they're pretty much required to be this alignment, even though there are some examples of non-neutral Druids in fiction (Faldorn from Baldur's Gate for instance, who I'd judge to be Chaotic Evil).

  • More Neutral Evil in "The Last Wish", but otherwise the morally gray sorceress of the lodge fits this rather well.

  • Though he can shift to Neutral Good or Neutral Evil depending on the player's actions, in general the cold-blooded Witcher fits this alignment by way of his moral ambiguity and resistance to doing anything that doesn't carry with it a monetary reward.

  • Neither good nor evil. Just a dumb kid who flew too close to the sun.