Alignment
Notes:
The following was based on D&D 3.5 alignment descriptions, which I adapted for the ARC RPGs. I hope they will help flesh out characters by giving them philosophical morals to lean upon.
The Nine Alignments
- Lawful Good
- Neutral Good
- Chaotic Good
- Lawful Neutral
- Neutral
- Chaotic Neutral
- Lawful Evil
- Neutral Evil
- Chaotic Evil
Lawful Good “Crusader”
A lawful good character acts as a good character is expected to act. She combines the conviction and commitment to fight evil and the discipline to fight relentlessly. A lawful good character hates to see evil and wrongdoing go unpunished. Paladins who fight evil without mercy and protect the innocent without hesitation are lawful good.
Lawful good is the best alignment one can be because it combines honor and compassion, yet it is one of the hardest to play because of the strict inflexibility of its tenets. Paladins who break the laws of lawful good face the risk of losing all of their divinely-given powers.
Athrun Zala, Suzaku Kururugi or Misa Hayase are lawful good characters.
Neutral Good“Benefactor”
A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with Kings and authorities, but does not feel beholden to them. The common phrase for neutral good is “true good”. Clerics, who help and serve the community according to their needs, are neutral good.
Neutral good is the best alignment one can be because one can be good but have no bias or leanings toward or against law and order.
Luke Skywalker, Lacus Clyne or Kira Yamato are neutral good characters.
Chaotic Good“Rebel”
A chaotic good character acts to what his conscience tells him without regard of what others expect out of him. He makes his own way, yet he is kind and benevolent. He believes in the good and right, but has little use for law or rules. He hates it when people try to intimidate others and tell them what to do. He follows his own moral compass, which may be good, but not necessarily accepted by general society. A ranger who waylays an evil baron’s tax collections and spreads it back to the poor is chaotic good.
Chaotic good is the best alignment one can be because it combines a good heart with a free spirit.
Uzumaki Naruto and Haruhi Suzumiya are some of the best-known anime characters that falls under the chaotic good sphere.
Lawful Neutral“Judge”
A lawful neutral character acts by the way law, tradition or a personal code directs her. Order and organization are paramount to her. She may believe personal order and live by a code or standard, or she may believe in order for all and support a strong and conservative government. Monks and judges who strictly follow discipline without being swayed by the demands of those in need or the temptation of evil, are lawful neutral.
Lawful Neutral is the best alignment one can be because one can be honorable and reliable, at the expense of being rigid with no concern for good or evil.
Char Aznable, Gaara of the Sand or Scar of Full Metal Alchemist fall under Lawful Neutral character types.
Neutral (or True Neutral)
“Undecided”
A neutral character does what seems to be a good idea. She doesn’t feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to law versue chaos or good versus evil. Most neutrals lack conviction or bias for a cause rather than total commitment to being neutral. But a neutral character thinks of good as better than evil. After all, one would rather have good neighbors and rulers rather than evil ones. Still, she is not totally committed to uphold good in a universal way. Wizards, who devote themselves to the study and perfection of the magical arts, and are bored by the semantics of debate, tend to be neutral.
Some neutral characters, devote their philosophical leanings towards total neutrality. They see good, law, evil and chaos as prejudices and dangerous extremes. They advocate the middle road of neutrality as the best, most balanced way for one to live in the long run. These are the “true neutral” characters.
A neutral character is the best alignment one can be because you can act naturally without prejudice or compulsion.
Chaotic Neutral“Free Spirit”
A chaotic neutral character follows his own whims. He is an individualist first and last. He values his own liberty yet does not strive to protect other’s freedoms. He avoids authority, resents restrictions and challenges tradition. The chaotic neutral character won’t intentionally disrupt organizations as a campaign of anarchy. To do so, he would have to be motivated by good (the desire to help liberate others) or evil (and a desire to make those different from him suffer).
Remember that while a chaotic neutral characters are usually unpredictable, their behavior is not totally random. They will not likely jump off a bridge than to cross it.
Chaotic neutral is the best alignment one can be because it represents total and true freedom from society’s restrictions and a do-gooder’s zeal.
Lelouch Lamperouge or Fllay Allster can be considered a chaotic neutral characters.
Lawful Evil“Tyrant”
A lawful evil character methodically takes what he wants within the limits of a code of conduct with no regard as to who he hurts. He cares about tradition, loyalty and order, but not about freedom, dignity or life. He plays by the rules, but without mercy or compassion. He is comfortable in a hierarchy and would like to a ruler, but he is willing to serve in a group. He condemns others not by their actions but by race, religion, homeland or social rank. He is loath to break laws or promises. This reluctance is partly by nature and partly because he depends on order to protect himself from those who oppose him on moral grounds.
Some lawful evil villains have particular taboos, like never personally kill in cold blood (but lets his underlings do it for him) or not let children come to harm (if he can help it). They imagine that these compunctions put them above unscrupulous villains. The scheming dictator who expands his power and exploits his people is lawful evil.
Lawful evil is the most dangerous alignment because it represents methodical, intentional, and frequently successful evil.
Most members of the Akatsuki and Gilbert Dullindal are lawful evil.
Neutral Evil“Malefactor”
A neutral evil character does whatever she can get away with. She is out for herself, pure and simple. She sheds no tears for whoever she kills, whether for profit, sport or convenience. She has no love for order and no illusions that following laws, traditions and codes would make her better and more noble. On the other hand, she does not have the restless nature or love for conflict that a chaotic evil character will have. The criminal who robs and murders for what she wants is neutral evil.
Some neutral evil characters will hold up evil as an ideal, committing evil for its own sake. Most often, such evil characters are devoted to evil deities or secret societies.
The common phrase for neutral evil is “true evil”
Neutral evil is the most dangerous alignment because it represents true evil without honor and without variation.
Uchiha Madara falls under the neutral evil template.
Chaotic Evil“Destroyer”
A chaotic evil character does whatever his greed, hatred and lust for destruction drive him to. He is hot-tempered, vicious, arbitrarily violent and unpredictable. If simply out for whatever he can get, he is ruthless and brutal. If he is committed to the spread of evil and violence, he is even worse.
Thankfully his plans are usually haphazard, and any group he joins or forms are poorly organized. Typically a group of chaotic evil characters can be made to work together only by force, and a leader can only remain in his position as long as he can thwart attempts to topple or assassinate him. The demented sorcerer pursuing mad dreams of vengeance and havoc is chaotic evil.
Chaotic evil is the most dangerous alignment because it represents not only all that is beautiful and living but also the order that beauty and life depends upon.
The Emperor of Britannia, members of LOGOS and Rau La Crueset falls under the chaotic evil template
