History DarkIsNotEvil / TableTopGames

** In general, Black mana is associated with selfishness, hedonism disregard for morality, and ScrewDestiny, and its iconic creatures are zombies, vampires, and demons. However, they aren't defined as strictly evil, only greedy or ambitious. In practice, it's sometimes hard to see this as the cards tend to associate it with sadism, desecration and murder, and Black creature still tend to be consistently portrayed as dangerous and very untrustworthy. Many major villains have been primarily Black-aligned - but importantly, just as many haven't. Some specific black-aligned groups that fall under this trope:

*** The Bleak Cabal are extreme nihilists, most of whom have at least a trace of mental illness. But despite that and their ominous moniker, they run Sigil's orphanage and soup kitchens, as well as asylums that at least try to not be Bedlam House. If there's no point to anything, there's no reason not to help each other, nor is there a reason to make the Crapsack World worse.

** The tribe of bones, although now demonized InUniverse as evil necromancers, were in fact a sub-tribe of peaceful shamans who revered the spirits of their ancestors and followed the teachings of Soft Whisper (Madame Tris'do, as they called her), seeking only to ensure that the souls of the dead went peacefully on their way to the afterlife.

** Angrath is a large, scary minotaur with a flaming chain whip... but once you get to know him, you realize that all the fire and anger is because he's been trapped on another plane and unable to see his family for over a decade. He ends up helping out the protagonists later during War of the Spark.

** The Plane of Shadow is home to beings like the fetchlings and wayangs, that mostly want to be left to themselves. The Movanic Deva angel is an angel that looks downright demonic. Svirfneblin, at first glance, seem to be gnome versions of duergar or drow, but they're usually neutral. Pseudodragons are tiny dragons that look somewhat freaky, but are NeutralGood and have catlike personalities. And, obviously, we have tieflings, the mortal descendants of fiends that can choose to embrace their heritage or completely denounce it.

*** The "Book Of Vile Darkness" describes evil, and what has to be done for it to be evil. Spells like "Finger Of Death" are not evil -- Killing something is a neutral effect, the reason why is what's morally affected. However, spells that cause unneeded pain or torment, like "Wither Limb", which causes the target's limbs to shrivel terribly, are evil simply because you could incapacitate an enemy in a much less cruel way. Otherwise, in a game like ''D&D'', where a Paladin loses all abilities for doing any evil, even just attacking would be evil because it's causing harm. It's okay, because it's not [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]].

** 4E has an ''embodiment'' of the trope as a ''basic character class'', the theurgy-inclined Warlock. The three paths they have to their particular brand of Pact Magic are, as follows: Making a literal DealWithTheDevil for more offensive BlackMagic, consorting with TheFairFolk for PsychicPowers and various trickery, or making a contract with an abomination for a mix... and they are quite as capable of being good as any other core class, although the book mentions they have great capacity for evil as well, but that's the same for all other classes. There's even the Dark Pact in the ''Player's Guide to Faerûn'', in which you make deals with shadowy beings of darkness, and you are no more forced to have any alignment restrictions either (though it does promote acting like a dick in some cases).
*** That's because the Dark Pact has a modified version of CastFromHitPoints applied to it; some of its spells can be made more powerful by draining HitPoints from allies, while others cause a penalty to allies in exchange for working. And what about the Vestige Pact, which revolves around drawing upon the spiritual remnants of powerful forces and entities that displayed either great authority or awful capabilities in life? Or The Sorcerer King pact from TabletopGame/DarkSun, based around getting power from the horrible wizards who get their powers from draining the lifeforce of the planet?

%%** Three words: SpecialSnowflakeSyndrome.

*** Angrath is a large, scary minotaur with a flaming chain whip... but once you get to know him, you realize that all the fire and anger is because he's been trapped on another plane and unable to see his family for over a decade. He ends up helping out the protagonists later during War of the Spark.

** In general, Black mana is associated with selfishness, hedonism and disregard for morality, and its iconic creatures are zombies, vampires, and demons. However, they aren't defined as strictly evil, only greedy or ambitious. In theory anyway. In practice, it's also heavily associated with sadism, desecration and murder, and Black creature still tend to be consistently portrayed as dangerous and very untrustworthy -- most major villains have been primarily Black-aligned. Many wholly or partly Black-aligned creatures, characters and groups, however, also fall under this trope:

[[AC: [=RPGs=] ]]

*** Arguably, the "crunch" that is backing that flavor text IS the fact that it has the Evil descriptor, thus signifying that casting the spell is an inherently evil and alignment-altering event even in the absence of any other visible moral aspects.

** The ''Al-Qadim'' campaign setting went out of its way to embrace this trope, such that goblins, orcs, ogres, and other races that are just there for the heroes to kill in other settings were actually peaceful, productive members of society; the only races that were AlwaysChaoticEvil were explicitly supernatural, like the yuan-ti, yak-folk, and noble efreet. Likewise, the ''{{TabletopGame/Eberron}}'' setting played goblinoids as aggressive but not inherently evil, while the orcs were actually responsible for protecting the world from monsters. And, of course, the draconians in ''Dragonlance'' were ''created'' to be the vile servants of the Gods of Evil, but once the gods went away, a lot of draconians realized that not being willing tools of evil has its ups.

* In the ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' third party setting ''Halt Evil Doer!'', the principle hero team features Splotch, a darkness manipulator who looks like a walking ink blot test. Not only is he one of the good guys, but he's also an Expy (or CaptainErsatz depending on your point of view) for ComicBook/SpiderMan.
* The ''TabletopGame/{{Nightbane}}'' is about characters who are gifted with incredible superpowers that they use to fight off demonic forces that secretly rule the world. Except the superpowers all relate to darkness or blood, and they have to transform into hideous freaky-deaky monsters to use their powers.
* The gods and demigods that make up The Dark in ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}'' are harder to characterize as Not Evil than their opposite number are as [[LightIsNotGood not Good]], since they believe above all else in inducing humans to suicide. Their work generally involves systematically destroying everything a given person cares about. However, they have some redeeming features: They are arguably a fundamental and necessary part of human nature, having sprung from the fruit of the Garden of Eden. They will almost never kill, since a murder is a suicide prevented, and may even step in to avert needless death. The more someone resists their tortures, the more likely they are to simply leave them alone for an easier target, effectively [[EvilutionaryBiologist purifying the gene pool]]. Some believe that the point of their work is to make those they test stronger. However, as the book points out, cruelty for kindness' sake can be much more thorough than the other kind...
** They've gotten a bit nicer in 3E: While the Dark still wants to drive humans to their own deaths, they want humans to also have the freedom to choose it. Thus, life under the Dark may be short, [[LikeYouWereDying but it's a lot of fun]].
** There's also Hell. Heaven in Nobilis restricts its love to perfection, but Hell loves ''everything''. It does slip into wickedness when it begins to love the cruel and twisted more than anything else, but that's more of a failure state than a ''raison d'etre''.

** In the spinoff, ''TabletopGame/ChuubosMarvelousWishGrantingEngine'', this is the general pattern for pregens who would be considered Excrucians in Nobilis proper. Miramie Mesmer, a Strategist-shard, is a spooky figure who tried to end the world in a previous existence, but now is helping out around the area, while Leonardo de Montreal, a Mimic, is a broody, ''literally'' heartless[[note]]he used it to restart the sun[[/note]] loner and nightmare scientist who uses his loneliness as a power source to protect and help people, even as the evil world sealed in his chest thirsts for release.

[[AC: War Games]]

* In spite of its [[RageHelm terrifying visage]], the ''[[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Atlas_%28BattleMech%29 Atlas]]'' of ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' is not an inherently evil machine--in fact quite a few of the setting's heroes are shown to pilot one, and an ''Atlas'' was one of the two 'Mechs that iconically took down the mad usurper Stefan Amaris, the game's equivalent of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. Even the creepier looking specimens like the ghoulish ''[[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Cadaver Cadaver]]'' or ominously named ''[[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Blood_Reaper Blood Reaper]]'' are piloted by day-to-day warriors just looking to get by. A side character in the novels is an unquestionably morally upstanding pilot whose machine is called an ''[[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Exterminator Exterminator]]''. For contrast, the game also employs LightIsNotGood--the ChurchMilitant Word of Blake, responsible for an intergalactic war where nukes, chemical weapons, and bio-bombs were used indiscriminately and trillions of civilians died, uses machines named after angels and other holy icons.

* The ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' world has a few examples, notably the followers of Mohr, god of death. His paladins dress in armour carved from obsidian, but are as heroic as anyone in [[BlackAndGreyMorality this]] [[CrapsackWorld setting]]. Oh, and they really hate the undead.
** Ditto for the wizards of the Amethyst College: in spite of their dark robes and nasty-looking scythes of office, their aim, just like the other Colleges of Magic, is to serve and protect the Empire.
** The Empire itself certainly qualifies, as it follows a dark Germanic/Gothic theme in its architecture, units and art, but is depicted as a much fairer place for the ordinary person to live than [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} the Imperium of Man]] and a truly noble force in the world, [[GoodIsNotNice though still brutal]] to its [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy extremely]] [[TheUndead horrid]] [[ReligionOfEvil enemies]].
** Speaking of ''Warhammer'', the undead themselves sometimes qualify for this trope themselves. Blatantly obvious are the Tomb Kings, who for the most part just want to be left alone and be left to rest. The Vampire Counts, on the other hand, can range between anything from the occasional AntiVillain to the far more common rogue, mainly because they are a far more varied bunch than the Tomb Kings.
*** A ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'' supplement has a short story about a scholar from the Empire who traveled to distant Khemri, braving the burning sands and the restless dead to explore the ancient city of Bel Aliad. He was caught when his guide foolishly decided to do a bit of tomb robbing, and soon a squad of skeletal soldiers escorted them both to an ancient throneroom, where they met the mummified Tomb Prince who ruled the city and a Liche Priest who spoke fluent Reikspiel. The prince, through the priest, asked why the scholar had traveled so far to steal his possessions, and the scholar explained that he wasn't here for treasure - his wife had been poisoned by a rival, and he hoped that this legendary city of healing might offer a cure. When this was translated back to the mummy, the prince sat in silence for a moment, then gestured at the guards, who promptly cut of the thieving guide's head. Then the prince smiled, spoke with the priest again, and left with his retinue. The priest gave the scholar a message: "My lord commands me to tell you that he, too, loved once. He too would've gone to the ends of the world to save his love. I am to show you the wisdom you seek." And thus the scholar was brought to a secret chamber and allowed to return home with the knowledge to save his wife.
** While we're on the subject of the undead, we have Abhorash, the first Blood Dragon. See, he was a pretty decent guy and never actually wanted to become a vampire but Neferata turned him into one against his will. His initial attempt to resist his HorrorHunger ended in disaster when he murdered a lot of people in a blood frenzy, and afterwards he was ''really'' sorry about it, so much he developed a policy of never drinking the blood of innocent people, only [[BloodKnight worthy challenges]] and [[PayEvilUntoEvil people who deserved it]].
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' the Black Templars and Dark Angels Space Marine Chapters are... no ''more'' evil than their peers, although the Dark Angels are one of the shadier Chapters of Space Marines, more concerned with personal redemption than serving the Imperium itself. Though, the Dark Eldar are definitely a lot worse than the Craftworld Eldar.
** The Black Templars are [[KnightTemplar even more fanatical]] than usual and the Dark Angels...[[MysteriousPast well]]. It's also not fair to label all the SpaceMarine Chapters as "evil" - the Ultramarines and the Imperial Fists are examples of a couple of the more genuinely heroic chapters. The Raven Guard are a better example of DarkIsNotEvil.
** The Soul Drinkers are a dead-straight example: their name sounds pretty nasty by itself, their motto is "Cold and fast", and as a pleasant bonus the vast majority of them are mutated in some way, with their Chapter Master having the legs of a giant spider. They're the closest 40K gets to NeutralGood, fighting both the destructive madness of Chaos and the tyranny of the Imperium.
** Then there's the Space Wolves, who all look like [[NinjaZombiePirateRobot large, wolf-fanged, viking Space Marines]], who are all pretty damn pissed that the administratum decided to wipe out the remaining survivors on a planet they had just saved. Needless to say, they are probably the least tolerating towards the administratum's actions of all the chapters still in the Imperium.

[[AC: Card Games]]

* The Golgari Swarm in the ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' setting of Ravnica are a cult of elf and human necromancers who use zombies as labor... but they're also an indispensable part of Ravnica's society, providing food and waste disposal services. A lot of them are indeed black-hearted knaves who sacrifice unwilling people to raise them as undead, but one of the heroes of the tie-in novels is the leader of the Golgari, who's working to reform them after the death of his evil sister.
** What about Black? Its iconic creatures are zombies, vampires, and demons. But they aren't defined as strictly evil, only greedy or ambitious. In theory anyway. In practice it's also heavily associated with sadism, desecration and murder.
** However, Kamigawa's main protagonist, [[AntiHero Toshiro Umezawa]], is black, while its main antagonist (among mortals, at least), Konda, [[LightIsNotGood is white]].
** Mark Rosewater discusses Black's ideology at length [[http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr109 here]].
** The vampire planeswalker Sorin Markov is another black AntiHero. He's scheming, vicious and paranoid...but at the same time, he managed to work together with two other planeswalkers to seal the Eldrazi in their [[SealedEvilInACan can]].
*** In fact, given that he is singularly responsible for nothing less than the [[spoiler: '''creation of at least one virtuous god-figure''',]] purely to defend the humans of his home plane, Sorin is capable of remarkable compassion and foresight (although in this set, he is part-white, unlike before, though this might be due to his use of plains magic, as mana cost often isn't entirely accurate to the character's personality).
** To a lesser extent, gargoyles. Although they are technically White, their appearance is [[http://www.abugames.com/images/products/5thedition/abbeygargoyles.jpg quite]] [[http://magic.tcgplayer.com/images/article/gargoyle.jpg demonic]]
** ''Magic'' has gone back and forth on this when it comes to Black. It didn't help that the ultimate BigBad of the setting for the first several years, the Clockwork Hell of Phyrexia, was mono-Black. Obviously, the team recognized their DarkIsEvil problem of the past, because the New Phyrexia is five-color.
** Avacyn from the Innistrad Pack. Seriously, [[http://media.wizards.com/images/magic/daily/arcana/864_unhbhpaqaq.jpg look at her]]! Would you guess a gothic woman with deathly pale skin and black leather would be the guardian angel of mankind? (Of her plane, of course. She can't planeswalk)
*** The PAX video heavily hints that her dark look was acquired due to her stay in the Helvault with the demons. If that's the case, this definitely this trope, as the demonic influence had no effect on her morality.
** Chainer is another Black aligned protagonist (before being corrupted, anyway), as is the Sapling of Colfenor, Teysa, and, as of Innistrad, [[spoiler: Liliana Vess]] (who was just an anti-heroine in her previous appearances anyways).
** Very prevalent in the Theros Block, in which the mono-Black god, [[EverybodyHatesHades Erebos]], is one of the most reasonable and kind (albeit not without his moments of anger and pettiness), as are the Green/Black Pharika and White/Black Athreos; the Green/Blue god Kruphix is definitely the most benevolent of all of the settings deities, and he appears solely as a LivingShadow.
** Though the Tarkir setting plays DarkIsEvil up with the most evil of the clans being the Black-centered Sultai, it also features prominently benevolent aspects to Black. The Abzan are part-Black and definitely one of the most positively portrayed clans, with their mono-Black cards being unambiguously benevolent as they portray loyal [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orcs]] and protective ancestor spirits. Meanwhile, [[spoiler:in the new timeline created by the setting's time traveling shenanigans, it's eventually revealed that Kolaghan, the Black/Red dragon, is originally most benevolent of the bunch, being the only of the five brood leaders to not enslave the clan they shared their lands with, instead inviting the Mardu to keep up with her in her travels. Later averted into straight DarkIsEvil after 1, 280 years in which the clan becomes [[TearJerker a horde of murderous cannibals under Kolaghan's influence]].]]
** The Aetherborn of Kaladesh are an interesting race in that they represent black's elements of hedonism rather than its cruelty. Each one is born knowing exactly how long it's going to live (four years at most, although some can [[VampiricDraining steal more from others]]), and that acute sense of mortality motivates them to make the most of their short time. While some are more sinister, most love nothing more than a good party and tend to be excellent hosts thanks to their empathic abilities.
** Davriel Cane is a planeswalker specialised in demonic magic, but all he really wants to do is sleep and deliberately keeps a low profile. His demonic entourage in ''Literature/ChildrenOfTheNameless'' is also sympathetic for the most part, some perfectly content with their hopelessly skewed deals to him.
** On the plane of Eldraine, there are five Courts of knights for each of the five colors, and each representing a different knightly virtue, even Black. The virtue Black-Aligned knights strive towards? [[{{Determinator}} Persistence]].
* ''[[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Ally_of_Justice The Ally of Justice]]'' set of cards from the ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' card game are DARK attribute. Also worth noting, ''[[LightIsNotGood they hate light with every fiber of their being]]''. (Ironically, in the anime, these cards are used by the [[DeceptivelyHumanRobots Diablo army]] unleashed by Placido, whose intentions are not good at all.)
** They were created to fight the [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Worms Worms]], which are [[StarfishAliens horrendous]], [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent reptillian]], LightIsNotGood-type {{Eldritch Abomination}}s.
** There are also the Dark World Fiends, which are an odd case. They were villains in the anime, where they were clearly evil, but the flavor text of [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Zure%2C_Knight_of_Dark_World Zure, Knight of Dark World]] and [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Renge,_Gatekeeper_of_Dark_World Renge, Gatekeeper of Darkworld]] portrays them as renown heroes, while the ''Master Guide 2'' support book claims that they aren't evil at all. Obviously this was a case of AdaptationalVillainy on the anime's part.
** The reason the Ghostrick entered the Yu-Gi-Oh fray was because fewer people believed in them and they were lonely, and they seem to be more interested in scaring people than fighting. Their tactics of bypassing their opponent's monsters using their Field Spell supports this.
** The Inzektors are based on ''Franchise/KamenRider'', and many of them seem to be heroic types. They're also all Dark.
** Implied with Sephira Naga and Sephira Roots. Both members of the Shaddoll Archetype. The other 4 archetypes supported by this one are more heroic, Especially notable with Naga who resembles Evilswarm Kerykeyion, one of the two monsters to have killed [[GodIsEvil Sophia]]. Note that these two are the only Shaddoll monsters without any discernible strings.
** The Destiny [=HEROes=] are all DARK and look positively demonic, with lots of skulls and {{spikes| of villainy}}, but they're, you know, heroes. Several support cards portray them as allied to the unambigously heroic Elemental [=HEROes=]

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': Though the game tends to be pretty bad for "dark equals evil", this is not ''always'' the case. Even necromancy isn't always evil; while most of the necromancy-themed prestige classes don't allow you to be ''good'', they don't require you to be ''evil'', and a wizard specializing in necromancy may be of any alignment. Basically, in most settings there used to be three main types of people who chose Necromancy knowing what they want: some came there to create {{undead}} and drain life, some for [[WhiteMagic healing/resurrecting]], and some to [[HunterOfMonsters ward off and destroy undead]]. Old [[http://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=9256 Complete Necromancers]] put raising mindless undead as such in "gray" subdivision (while unappetizing, it's just walking remnants), anti-undead and defensive spells in "white".

* Though ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' tends to be pretty bad for "dark equals evil", this is not ''always'' the case. Even necromancy isn't always evil; while most of the necromancy-themed prestige classes don't allow you to be ''good'', they don't require you to be ''evil'', and a wizard specializing in necromancy may be of any alignment. Basically, in most settings there used to be three main types of people who chose Necromancy knowing what they want: some came there to create {{undead}} and drain life, some for [[WhiteMagic healing/resurrecting]], and some to [[HunterOfMonsters ward off and destroy undead]]. Old [[http://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=9256 Complete Necromancers]] put raising mindless undead as such in "gray" subdivision (while unappetizing, it's just walking remnants), anti-undead and defensive spells in "white".

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', the otyugh is portrayed as being a huge, ugly scavenger that many immediately assume is evil because it eats "waste" and isn't a nonsentient animal. However, it's not inherently evil so much as bestial and non-human; all it wants is an ample supply of garbage to eat and decorate its lair with, and it's quite docile if this desire is sated and nobody tries to hurt it. It's often purposefully hired as a living garburator by non-humans.
** Best example of this trope in Pathfinder would be Tsukiyo, one of the major deities in the Dragon Empires. The god of the moon, jade, and spirits, Tsukiyo's domains include darkness and ''madness'', despite being LawfulGood.
** Additionally, the Plane of Shadow is home to beings like the fetchlings and wayangs, that mostly want to be left to themselves. The Movanic Deva angel is an angel that looks downright demonic. Svirfneblin, at first glance, seem to be gnome versions of duergar or drow, but they're usually neutral. Pseudodragons are tiny dragons that look somewhat freaky, but are NeutralGood and have catlike personalities. And, obviously, we have tieflings, the mortal descendants of fiends that can choose to embrace their heritage or completely denounce it.
* ''[[TabletopGame/{{PoniesAndParasprites}} Ponies and Parasprites]]'' has two non-canon interpretations of "dark" powers:
** The magic known as ''Umbramancy'' is generally perceived as bad because its two most prolific users, Sombra and Princess Luna, are respectively evil and very much misunderstood. The book explicitly states that Luna created Umbramancy before her fall, and Sombra corrupted the art of shadow magic to his own ends. The powers are presented in-story as being part of an introspective, peaceful philosophy based around understanding and learning to live in harmony with darkness. Mechanically, Shadow Witches and Warlocks gain powerful buffs (sing a song of shadow to grant the party extra Love, two healing spells) and debuffs (pin an enemy in place with a splinter in their shadow).

* ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'' has any number of gods of death or darkness among the roster. Their Scions are perfectly capable of being decent folk -- one of the sample characters on the hero side is the daughter of Baron Samedi, Loa of death. Likewise, just because your patron god is generally considered evil doesn't force you to be a villain -- the rules allow Scions of, say, Loki or Set to be heroic.
** There's Orlanda Elliot, daughter of Xipe Totec, the Aztec death-rebirth god who is noted to be one of the most beloved to the people who worshiped him because he made spring come every year, and [[HumanSacrifice all things considered,]] probably a nicer guy than [[GodOfEvil Tezcatlipoca,]] the father of the corresponding good Atzlanti Scion.

** They were created to fight the [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Worms Worms]], which are [[StarfishAlien horrendous]], [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent reptillian]], LightIsNotGood [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]].

** By 3.5 core rules, very few Necromancy spells are evil. The Evil Necromancy spells are any that create undead creatures, causing disease via Contagion, making unholy water (the opposite of holy water, natch) via Curse Water, the life-draining Death Knell, the torturous Symbol of Pain, and the "Evil Eye" Eyebite. Oddly Deathwatch is described as Evil even though the only effect of the spell is to know how close nearby creatures are to dying. Strangely, not even instant-kill spells like Finger of Death are given the "Evil" stamp by the game - and most of the Evil spells are available to priestly Clerics.

*** The "Book Of Vile Darkness" describes evil, and what has to be done for it to be evil. Spells like "Finger Of Death" are not evil-- Killing something is a neutral effect, the reason why is what's morally affected. However, spells that cause unneeded pain or torment, like "Wither Limb", which causes the target's limbs to shrivel terribly, are evil simply because you could incapacitate an enemy in a much less cruel way. Otherwise, in a game like ''D&D'', where a Paladin loses all abilities for doing any evil, even just attacking would be evil because it's causing harm. It's okay, because it's not [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]].

* The ''TabletopGame/{{Nightbane}}'' is about characters who are gifted with incredible superpowers that they use to fight off demonic forces that secretly rule the world. Except the superpowers all relate to darkness or blood, and they have to transform into hideous freaky-deaky monsters to use their powers.
* In the ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' third party setting ''Halt Evil Doer!'', the principle hero team features Splotch, a darkness manipulator who looks like a walking ink blot test. Not only is he one of the good guys, but he's also an Expy (or CaptainErsatz depending on your point of view) for ComicBook/SpiderMan.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', Five Days Darkness sure ''sounds'' like he'd be an [[GodOfEvil evil god]]--he's got a sinister name, a backstory as the first shadow cast by the Unconquered Sun, he was cast out of Heaven because the other deities didn't trust him, and he's a Creature of Darkness, a descriptor usually used to refer to enemies of Creation. However, not only is he one of the good guys, he's also [[JerkassGods one of the nicest and least corrupt gods you're likely to meet]].
** We also have Green Sun Princes, the True Infernal Exalts. Yeah, sure, they're basically demonic demigods, they have to fulfill their [[ChronicVillainy Urges]] or risk building up [[HatePlague Torment]] and the way to reduce it is to act like a B-Movie supervillain...Except those Urges can easily be ignored or worked around (because Urges only inflict Torment if the character actively works against them, but they have no timetable, and it's hard to 'work against' your Urge if your Motivation has you literally on the other side of the world). WordOfGod says the Yozi [[NiceJobFixingItVillain screwed themselves over]] on that one.
** Likewise, Abyssals may hurt the world through their very existence, but some of them work to keep the ghost/mortal deals fair (although the White Walker is a bit myopic when it comes to the feelings of mortals), and some of them, such as Fallen Wolf of the Cutting Sea, would very much like to ''stop'' hurting the world now please.
** Lunar Exalted are not to be overlooked here - they can make zombies with Charms natural to their Charm set, slap some rather disturbing mutations onto people, and turn into horrifying things, but their power is no more inherently harmful than that of a Solar or Sidereal.
** The devils of the Righteous Dead (from the Daystar supplement) also qualify. They were once righteous mortal souls chosen by the Unconquered Sun to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, but they failed to climb the whole way, becoming horrible monsters that exist to torment other righteous dead who take the path of suffering. And they are damned well going to do their job, because it's the only way to cleanse these ex-mortals of their sins and make them ready to join the Unconquered Sun's company, and in so doing, prevent them from falling into suffering as they have.
** Finally, the whole field of necromancy is an excellent exemple of this trope. Sure, it is now almost only used by Abyssal exalts (who are at best anti-heros) and Deathlords (who are very much evil indeed), but it was created by the ''Twilight caste Solar Exalted'' during the First Age in order to use the energies of death for their own righteous (well, at least theoretically) goals. Granted, some necromantic spells involve really gruesome rituals, but simply being a necromancer won't make you evil, or doesn't require you to be evil in any way. (And it is useful to point that "regular", non-necromantic sorcery, ''does'' have spell to level cities, permanently turn someone into your obedient slave, or utter a curse so horrible it tears the target's soul.)
** Part of the InUniverse theme of the Scripture of the Savory Maiden, about a maiden trapped in a cook pot by monsters:
--->''She called to the stones, and she called to the sky, but it was the night that came to her aid; and, in the night, fire and pain. "Why would you help me?" she asked.''\\
''"To know the world is to serve it," they said.''
* ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'' has any number of gods of death or darkness among the roster. Their Scions are perfectly capable of being decent folk - one of the sample characters on the hero side is the daughter of Baron Samedi, Loa of death. Likewise, just because your patron god is generally considered evil doesn't force you to be a villain - the rules allow Scions of, say, Loki or Set to be heroic.
** There's Orlanda Elliot, daughter of Xipe Totec, the Aztec death-rebirth god who is noted to be one of the most beloved to the people who worshiped him because he made spring come every year, and [[HumanSacrifice all things considered,]] probably a nicer guy than [[GodOfEvil Tezcatlipoca,]] the father of the corresponding good Atzlanti Scion.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', the otyugh is portrayed as being a huge, ugly scavenger that many immediately assume is evil because it eats "waste" and isn't a nonsentient animal. However, it's not inherently evil so much as bestial and non-human; all it wants is an ample supply of garbage to eat and decorate its lair with, and it's quite docile if this desire is sated and nobody tries to hurt it. It's often purposefully hired as a living garburator by non-humans.
** Best example of this trope in Pathfinder would be Tsukiyo, one of the major deities in the Dragon Empires. The god of the moon, jade, and spirits, Tsukiyo's domains include darkness and ''madness'', despite being LawfulGood.
** Additionally, the Plane of Shadow is home to beings like the fetchlings and wayangs, that mostly want to be left to themselves. The Movanic Deva angel is an angel that looks downright demonic. Svirfneblin, at first glance, seem to be gnome versions of duergar or drow, but they're usually neutral. Pseudodragons are tiny dragons that look somewhat freaky, but are NeutralGood and have catlike personalities. And, obviously, we have tieflings, the mortal descendants of fiends that can choose to embrace their heritage or completely denounce it.
* ''TabletopGame/CthulhuTech'':
** The Eldritch Society, despite happily worshiping {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, is pretty much the only thing keeping the Chrysalis Corporation from corrupting the NEG from within. You can also play a sorcerer, who indulges in what one would probably consider BlackMagic in any other setting, albeit at a significant cost to their sanity. Then again, [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity everyone else is paying that cost too]].
** The Vade Mecum book adds ghouls, who, while they are certainly TheGrotesque and have some [[ImAHumanitarian disgusting nutritional requirements]], are no better or worse then the mortal races -- heck, [[TheVirus some of them may have]] ''[[TheVirus been]]'' [[TheVirus mortal once]].
* ''[[TabletopGame/{{PoniesAndParasprites}} Ponies and Parasprites]]'' has two non-canon interpretations of "dark" powers:
** The magic known as ''Umbramancy'' is generally perceived as bad because its two most prolific users, Sombra and Princess Luna, are respectively evil and very much misunderstood. The book explicitly states that Luna created Umbramancy before her fall, and Sombra corrupted the art of shadow magic to his own ends. The powers are presented in-story as being part of an introspective, peaceful philosophy based around understanding and learning to live in harmony with darkness. Mechanically, Shadow Witches and Warlocks gain powerful buffs (sing a song of shadow to grant the party extra Love, two healing spells) and debuffs (pin an enemy in place with a splinter in their shadow).
** "Bat Ponies", Luna's royal guard, are interpreted as members of the ''Aegis Mercurial''. They gain powers similar to their patron and work as spies, counter-intelligence operatives, and monster hunters. As such, most of their duties are performed at night and in secret, meaning they cut a mysterious and frankly scary figure among the general populace.
* ''TabletopGame/BleakWorld'' is all about being a monster, be it vampire, werewolf, or giant. However it never says anywhere that you have to be evil. A Primal Vampire (pale skin, [[BlackEyesOfEvil pure black eyes]], [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily a mouth filled with fangs]], and [[BaldOfEvil completely hairless]]) is no more evil than a Dracul. Just about every race is presented as fundamentally good in fact!

* The ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' world has a few examples, notably the followers of Mohr, god of death. His paladins dress in armour carved from obsidian, but are as heroic as anyone in [[BlackAndGreyMorality this]] [[CrapsackWorld setting]]. Oh, and they really hate the undead.
** Ditto for the wizards of the Amethyst College: in spite of their dark robes and nasty-looking scythes of office, their aim, just like the other Colleges of Magic, is to serve and protect the Empire.
** The Empire itself certainly qualifies, as it follows a dark Germanic/Gothic theme in its architecture, units and art, but is depicted as a much fairer place for the ordinary person to live than [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} the Imperium of Man]] and a truly noble force in the world, [[GoodIsNotNice though still brutal]] to its [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy extremely]] [[TheUndead horrid]] [[ReligionOfEvil enemies]].
** Speaking of ''Warhammer'', the undead themselves sometimes qualify for this trope themselves. Blatantly obvious are the Tomb Kings, who for the most part just want to be left alone and be left to rest. The Vampire Counts, on the other hand, can range between anything from the occasional AntiVillain to the far more common rogue, mainly because they are a far more varied bunch than the Tomb Kings.
*** A ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'' supplement has a short story about a scholar from the Empire who traveled to distant Khemri, braving the burning sands and the restless dead to explore the ancient city of Bel Aliad. He was caught when his guide foolishly decided to do a bit of tomb robbing, and soon a squad of skeletal soldiers escorted them both to an ancient throneroom, where they met the mummified Tomb Prince who ruled the city and a Liche Priest who spoke fluent Reikspiel. The prince, through the priest, asked why the scholar had traveled so far to steal his possessions, and the scholar explained that he wasn't here for treasure - his wife had been poisoned by a rival, and he hoped that this legendary city of healing might offer a cure. When this was translated back to the mummy, the prince sat in silence for a moment, then gestured at the guards, who promptly cut of the thieving guide's head. Then the prince smiled, spoke with the priest again, and left with his retinue. The priest gave the scholar a message: "My lord commands me to tell you that he, too, loved once. He too would've gone to the ends of the world to save his love. I am to show you the wisdom you seek." And thus the scholar was brought to a secret chamber and allowed to return home with the knowledge to save his wife.
** While we're on the subject of the undead, we have Abhorash, the first Blood Dragon. See, he was a pretty decent guy and never actually wanted to become a vampire but Neferata turned him into one against his will. His initial attempt to resist his HorrorHunger ended in disaster when he murdered a lot of people in a blood frenzy, and afterwards he was ''really'' sorry about it, so much he developed a policy of never drinking the blood of innocent people, only [[BloodKnight worthy challenges]] and [[PayEvilUntoEvil people who deserved it]].
* In spite of its [[RageHelm terrifying visage]], the ''[[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Atlas_%28BattleMech%29 Atlas]]'' of ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' is not an inherently evil machine--in fact quite a few of the setting's heroes are shown to pilot one, and an ''Atlas'' was one of the two 'Mechs that iconically took down the mad usurper Stefan Amaris, the game's equivalent of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. Even the creepier looking specimens like the ghoulish ''[[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Cadaver Cadaver]]'' or ominously named ''[[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Blood_Reaper Blood Reaper]]'' are piloted by day-to-day warriors just looking to get by. A side character in the novels is an unquestionably morally upstanding pilot whose machine is called an ''[[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Exterminator Exterminator]]''. For contrast, the game also employs LightIsNotGood--the ChurchMilitant Word of Blake, responsible for an intergalactic war where nukes, chemical weapons, and bio-bombs were used indiscriminately and trillions of civilians died, uses machines named after angels and other holy icons.
** In a thematic sense, there's the [[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Gray_Death_Legion Gray Death Legion]]. Their colors are two-tone gray camouflage, while their emblem is a grinning gray skull on a blood red crest. Pirate marauders? Bandit raiders? Nope, they're one of the most ethical, morally upstanding, self-sacrificing mercenary groups in the setting.

** The Destiny [=HEROes=] are all DARK and look positively demonic, with lots of skulls and {{spikes| of villainy}}, but they're, you know, heroes. Several support cards portray them as allied to the unambigously heroic Elemental [=HEROes=]

** In Lords Of Madness, a book about [[EldritchAbomination Abberations]],there is a race called the Silthilar, creatures that were once elven wizards but turned into hive minded swarms that coalesce into what can only be called a [[StarfishAliens Starfish Alien]] and specialize in grafting strange and bizzarre parts onto humanoids. And they are ChaoticGood.

* ''TabletopGame/BleakWorld'' is all about being a monster, be it vampire, werewolf, or giant. However it never says anywhere that you have to be evil. A Primal Vampire ([[EvilAlbino Pale Skin]], [[BlackEyesOfEvil pure black eyes]], [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily a mouth filled with fangs]], and [[BaldOfEvil completely hairless]]) is no more evil than a Dracul. Just about every race is presented as fundamentally good in fact!

* ''[[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Ally_of_Justice The Ally of Justice]]'' set of cards from the ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' card game are DARK attribute. Also worth noting, ''[[LightIsNotGood they hate light with every fiber of their being]]''. (Ironically, in the anime, these cards are used by the [[DeceptivelyHumanRobots Diablo army]] unleashed by Placido, whose intentions [[CrushKillDestroy are not good at all.]])

** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'' and ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' had... well, pretty much everyone. The protagonists are werewolves for god's sake, turning into big ugly monsters comes with the job.

** Also, one has to note that, in 4th Edition thanks to the little appendix at the end of the Monster Manual, it is actually easier than ever to play as a good version of a normally evil race and have it actually be playable crunch-wise.

** On the plane of Eldraine, there are five Courts of knights for each of the five colors, and each representing a different knightly virtue, even Black. The virtue Black-Aligned knights strive towards? [[{{Determinator}} Perseverance]].

*** Also Saulofein in Baldur's Gate II. Throughout the quest he is involved in, he is extremely rude to you, takes every opportunity to insult you, he is sarcastic and seemingly just as heartless and cruel as all the other drow in the city. At the end of the quest you are supposed to deliver a silver dragon egg to the matriarch, who will use it to gain favour with a greater demon she will summon. You yourself are on a quest to actually save the dragon egg. You are provided with an opportunity to do so when the Matriarch's daughter gives you a fake egg, which will anger the demon, who will kill her mother, after which she can then offer the real egg. But just before you can go on, Saulofein will show up, and reveal that he has been spying on you, and if you have secretly performed good deeds before, he will have noticed. But instead of attacking you, he reveals that he is actually secretly a worshiper of Eilistrae, and his whole rude, insulting, sarcastic character was just a ruse. He then gives you a second fake egg which you can switch with the real egg. When both the Matriarch and her daughter offer their eggs to the Greater Demon in turn, hilarity ensues.