History Main / BlueandOrangeMorality

See also these tropes, which includes/connected to this kind of Morality System: {{Xenofiction}}, HumansAreCthulhu, HumanityIsInfectious (all often involving this), AboveGoodAndEvil, AffablyEvil / FauxAffablyEvil (they sometimes can come across as this), EvenEvilHasStandards (when handled poorly or bizarrely), EvilCannotComprehendGood (less elaborate forms that resemble this in practice), and NonMaliciousMonster (which occasionally requires this), and ObliviouslyEvil (when a villain thinks that his actions are acceptable or helpful). When two sides go to war and nothing will stop them except total annihilation, that's GuiltFreeExterminationWar. If the character genuinely knows everything will turn out okay, allowing the plot to treat them as a good guy no matter how cruel, irresponsible or inhuman this makes them by our standards, that's OmniscientMoralityLicense.

[[caption-width-right:350:''Ye who walk with the Path of Bacon[softreturn] shall be [[YourFavorite with dinner blessed]].[softreturn] Yet ye who follow the Way of Necktie[softreturn] shall be [[SharpDressedMan for dinner dressed]].'']]

* ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa}}'': Nagito Komaeda has a very bizarre outlook on morality. To him, hope is good and despair bad, but because his life has been [[UnluckilyLucky a long roller coaster of disaster followed by windfalls]], he believes that bad things will always ''lead'' to good things, and therefore it's okay to cause despair so long as that's not your end goal (like Junko).

* To an extent, this tends to happen when dealing with religious and spiritual matters that one may not be affiliated or familiar with. When an outside perspective is perplexed by the perceived arbitrariness and/or contradiction of a belief, a commonly given answer is that [[InMysteriousWays the higher powers aren't easily understood]] and also that [[HumanityIsFlawed the problem is most likely on our end.]] Thus the best we can do is listen to them and hope for the best. This also comes up in response to the common question of why, in a universe believed to be controlled by a benevolent force, bad things happen to good people. Many philosophies and religions recognize that the needs and wants of an individual and the needs of the universe at large will conflict, and a transcendent being likely isn't exclusively concerned with the former. So while one person might see another's [[PowersThatBe Power(s) That Be]] as needlessly cruel for an action that doesn't sit with well with them, that other person would say that it is the right thing to do from their own and their divine entity's standpoint.
* At least in older stories (before pop culture made them rather Disney-fied and cute), this is usually one of the defining traits of TheFairFolk. Fairies obsess over seemingly trivial things that may mean nothing to us, and may perform acts of overwhelming kindness or barbarous cruelty for reasons that seem nonsensical to mortals.
** In some stories, one way of recognizing a fairy disguised as a human is that their emotional reactions may make no sense to us, laughing at tragic things and crying at happy ones. [[FridgeHorror And then remember some theories that "changelings" were autistic children before we knew what autism was...]]
** A common story has a poor man notice that fairies come to perform work every night (such as fixing clothes, making boots, sorting grains, etc.). In gratitude, he leaves the fairies something to eat or to wear. The next evening, the fairies come in, notice the reward, then declare that they've been paid more than enough for their work, and never come again. Alternately, they may take great offense at the reward and either never come again, or worse, hex the man out of anger and spite.

* In terms of UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}}[=/=]Literature/TheBible and UsefulNotes/{{Islam}},[=/=]Literature/TheQuran GodAndSatanAreBothJerks can easily be an example of this as well, not to mention an inversion of the same. Christianity itself lends to these interpretations. Think about it: While God is associated with charity and salvation, he also preaches homophobia, genocide, misogyny, collectivism, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and toxic positivity]][[note]](All of these descriptions of God can [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation easily be disputed]], but this is not the place for that)[[/note]]. Meanwhile, Satan teaches excess, gluttony, and abuse, but also knowledge, enterprise, and initiative. Considering most humans would find good and evil in both figures, but both are believed to be consistent, it's this trope.

* To an extent, this tends to happen when dealing with religious and spiritual matters that one may not be affiliated or familiar with. When an outside perspective is perplexed by the perceived arbitrariness and/or contradiction of a belief, a commonly given answer is that [[InMysteriousWays the higher powers aren't easily understood]] and also that [[HumanityIsFlawed the problem is most likely on our end.]] Thus the best we can do is listen to them and hope for the best. This also comes up in response to the common question of why, in a universe believed to be controlled by a benevolent force, bad things happen to good people. Many philosophies and religions recognize that the needs and wants of an individual and the needs of the universe at large will conflict, and a transcendent being likely isn't exclusively concerned with the former. So while one person might see another's [[PowersThatBe Power(s) That Be]] as needlessly cruel for an action that doesn't sit with well with them, that other person would say that it is the right thing to do from their own and their divine entity's standpoint.

* Probably one of the most extreme examples is the Borborite Gnostic sect, assuming the reports of their existence aren't demonization by mainstream Christians. Imagine having a pretty standard Christian mindset...except that you think that the true version of the Eucharist entails eating semen, menstrual blood and children extracted from pregnant women.
* GodAndSatanAreBothJerks can easily be an example of this as well, not to mention an inversion of the same. Christianity itself lends to these interpretations. Think about it: While God is associated with charity and salvation, he also preaches [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking homophobia, genocide, misogyny, collectivism, and toxic positiviy]]. Meanwhile, Satan teaches excess, gluttony, and abuse, but also knowledge, enterprise, and initiative. Considering most humans would find good and evil in both figures, but both are believed to be consistent, it's this trope.

** A common story has a poor man notice that fairies come to perform work every night (such as fixing clothes, making boots, sorting grains, etc.). In gratitude, he leaves the fairies something to eat or to wear. The next evening, the fairies come in, notice the reward, then declare that they've been paid more than enough for their work, and never come again.

[[caption-width-right:350:''Ye who walk with the Path of Bacon shall be [[YourFavorite with dinner blessed]].[softreturn] Yet ye who follow the Way of Necktie shall be [[SharpDressedMan for dinner dressed]].'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''Ye who walk with the Path of Bacon shall be [[YourFavorite with dinner blessed]]. Yet ye who follow the Way of Necktie shall be [[SharpDressedMan for dinner dressed]].'']]

* BlueAndOrangeMorality/RealLife

* GodAbdSatanAreBothJerks can easily be an example of this as well, not to mention an inversion of the same. Christianity itself lends to these interpretations. Think about it: While God is associated with charity and salvation, he also preaches [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking homophobia, genocide, misogyny, collectivism,and toxic positiviy]]. Meanwhile, Satan teaches excess, gluttony, and abuse, but also knowledge, enterprise, and initiative. Considering most humans would find good and evil in both figures, but both are believed to be consistent, it's this trope.

* Franchise/EvilliousChronicles has [[HangingJudge the Master of the Court,]] whose main goal for the series is implied to be [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroying the world.]] Except that ''[[ObliviouslyEvil she doesn't seem to see this as a bad thing.]]'' {{Justified|Trope}} as the only human she saw for most of her life was completely insane.

See also these tropes, which includes/connected to this kind of Morality System:{{Xenofiction}}, HumansAreCthulhu, HumanityIsInfectious (all often involving this), AboveGoodAndEvil, AffablyEvil / FauxAffablyEvil (they sometimes can come across as this), EvenEvilHasStandards (when handled poorly or bizarrely), EvilCannotComprehendGood (less elaborate forms that resemble this in practice), and NonMaliciousMonster (which occasionally requires this), and ObliviouslyEvil (when a villain thinks that his actions are acceptable or helpful). When two sides go to war and nothing will stop them except total annihilation, that's GuiltFreeExterminationWar. If the character genuinely knows everything will turn out okay, allowing the plot to treat them as a good guy no matter how cruel, irresponsible or inhuman this makes them by our standards, that's OmniscientMoralityLicense.

** It's debatable how canon this is (for obvious reasons), but in the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series, Jack tends to think of new experiences (such as the Heartless) in terms of how he can repurpose them into new Halloween surprises, but also tends to become quite disillusioned with them if it should ever come to light that it can actually cause people harm ([[EvilIsNotAToy such as, again, the Heartless]]). This is why Oogie Boogie is the villain of the original film: he's the only citizen of Halloween Town who [[EveryoneHasStandards actually wants to do harm to the people he scares.]]

** The Aztec views of what was good and what was evil were rather alien to the sensibilities to the Spanish conquistadors. Even when offering non-human sacrifices, such as food or goods, the Aztecs would draw their own blood in offering along with the sacrifice. As for human sacrifices, being a sacrifice was considered a high honor, despite the (to the European perspective) incredibly dishonorable things done to their body after their death (which normally involved public display followed by dismemberment and cannibalism). Indeed, being sacrificed was the only surefire way to get inducted into the "best" Aztec heaven. Your afterlife was based not on how you lived, but how you died, and none of those afterlives could be considered truly hellish. And, in spite of the war and sacrifices, a lot of Aztec society was pretty progressive. They treated their slaves well, and they're one of the first societies that had compulsory education for EVERYONE, not just the upper class. All that being said, the Aztecs were an anomaly even among Mesoamericans. Most of their neighbors were also horrified. One of the reasons the Spanish conquest succeeded was that practically all the Aztec's neighbors turned on them when they saw a chance to overthrow them - the endless drive for human sacrifice playing a large part.

Has nothing to do with the following: Bucknell University, The University of Illinois, The University of Virginia, The University of Florida, Auburn University, Syracuse University, Hope College, Gettysburg College or Boise State University (the colors of all of which are blue and orange, albeit different shades in each case). Nor the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, New York Knicks, New York Mets, New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, or [[MemeticMutation Mango Sentinels]]. Or the City of New York, for that matter. Furthermore, do not confuse with [[OrangeBlueContrast Blue and Orange Movies]] (even if they do overlap). Also has nothing to do with the KarmaMeter in ''Franchise/MassEffect'', nor the [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} Aperture Science Hand Held Portal Device]], the two most prominent ink colors in ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'', or even the [[ColourCodedForYourConvenience light scheme]] in ''Film/{{Tron}}'' and its universe.

** The Aztec views of what was good and what was evil were rather alien to the sensibilities to the Spanish conquistadors. Even when offering non-human sacrifices, such as food or goods, the Aztecs would draw their own blood in offering along with the sacrifice. As for human sacrifices, being a sacrifice was considered a high honor, despite the (to the European perspective) incredibly dishonorable things done to their body after their death (which normally involved public display followed by dismemberment and cannibalism). Indeed, being sacrificed was the only surefire way to get inducted into the "best" Aztec heaven. Your afterlife was based not on how you lived, but how you died, and none of those afterlives could be considered truly hellish. And, in spite of the war and sacrifices, a lot of Aztec society was pretty progressive. Their treatment of slaves was downright amazing, and they're one of the first societies that had compulsory education for EVERYONE, not just the upper class.

** The Aztec views of what was good and what was evil were rather alien to the sensibilities to the Spanish conquistadors. Even when offering non-human sacrifices, such as food or goods, the Aztecs would draw their own blood in offering along with the sacrifice. As for human sacrifices, being a sacrifice was considered a high honor, despite the (to the European perspective) incredibly unhonorable things done their body after their death (which normally involved public display followed by dismemberment and cannibalism). Indeed, being sacrificed was the only surefire way to get inducted into the "best" Aztec heaven. Your afterlife was based not on how you lived, but how you died, and none of those afterlives could be considered truly hellish. And, in spite of the war and sacrifices, a lot of Aztec society was pretty progressive. Their treatment of slaves was downright amazing, and they're one of the first societies that had compulsory education for EVERYONE, not just the upper class.

** The Aztec views of what was good and what was evil were rather alien to the sensibilities to the Spanish conquistadors. Being sacrificed was considered an honor (theoretically, anyway). Indeed, it was the only surefire way to get inducted into the "best" Aztec heaven. Your afterlife was based not on how you lived, but how you died, and none of those afterlives could be considered truly hellish. And, in spite of the war and sacrifices, a lot of Aztec society was pretty progressive. Their treatment of slaves was downright amazing, and they're one of the first societies that had compulsory education for EVERYONE, not just the upper class.

** The Aztec views of what was good and what was evil were rather alien to the sensibilities to the Spanish conquistadors. Being sacrificed was considered an honor. Indeed, it was the only surefire way to get inducted into the "best" Aztec heaven. Your afterlife was based not on how you lived, but how you died, and none of those afterlives could be considered truly hellish. And, in spite of the war and sacrifices, a lot of Aztec society was pretty progressive. Their treatment of slaves was downright amazing, and they're one of the first societies that had compulsory education for EVERYONE, not just the upper class.
** The Aztec view of good and evil was considered strange ''even by neighboring groups with similar cultures and religious systems''. Most of their neighbors thought they'd gone off the deep end when it came to human sacrifices, for instance. While blood sacrifices were ubiquitous in the region (and sometimes consisted of just blood drawn through specially-inflicted wounds), the Aztecs were known to wage wars for the purpose of acquiring sacrificial victims, and on some particularly important occasions, would sacrifice thousands of people ''in a day''.

The strangest of these characters are those who espouse Blue and Orange Morality. These characters have a moral framework that is so utterly alien and foreign to human experience that we can't peg them as "good" or "evil". They aren't a ChaoticNeutral [[TheUnfettered Unfettered]], though they may seem to act [[CloudCuckooLander terrifyingly randomly;]] nor are they necessarily a LawfulNeutral [[TheFettered Fettered]], because our and their understanding of "law" as a concept may not even be equivalent. There might be a [[InsaneTrollLogic logic]] behind their actions, it's just that they operate with entirely different sets of values and premises with which to draw their conclusions. It's also worth noting that such cultures are just as likely to be something we'd find appalling, as they are to be something we'd find benign and/or weird. [[HumansThroughAlienEyes They may also find us appalling, benign, or weird even if we don't see them that way.]]

* ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'' shows us a strange example of humans with this type of morality: the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Gascons]] believe that ''"Good"'' is to be [[YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb crack–brained and brave]], [[ImpoverishedPatrician to be poor is a motive for pride]], [[MartyrdomCulture your self-destructive tendencies are to be not only tolerated but encouraged]], [[JerkAss to treat others like crap is tolerable so long as they are not Gascons]], [[DeathSeeker and to die in battle is the best destiny you can aspire to.]] ''"Evil"'' is to [[AmbitionIsEvil try to get ahead in life by connections]] and [[FalseFriend alliances]] with [[DeadlyDecadentCourt powerful people,]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJayWalking to display your riches in public is shameful]] to the point of being declared [[NoTrueScotsman No True Gascon.]] Most of all, DisproportionateRetribution and DisproportionateReward are completely normal conduct.

* ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'' shows us a strange example of humans with this type of morality: the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Gascons]] believe that ''"Good"'' is to be [[YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb crack–brained and brave]]. [[ImpoverishedPatrician to be poor is a motive for pride]], [[MartyrdomCulture your self-destructive tendencies are to be not only tolerated but encouraged]], [[JerkAss to treat others like crap is tolerable so long as they are not Gascons]], [[DeathSeeker and to die in battle is the best destiny you can aspire to.]] ''"Evil"'' is to [[AmbitionIsEvil try to get ahead in life by connections]] and [[FalseFriend alliances]] with [[DeadlyDecadentCourt powerful people,]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJayWalking to display your riches in public is shameful]] to the point of being declared [[NoTrueScotsman No True Gascon.]] Most of all, DisproportionateRetribution and DisproportionateReward are completely normal conduct.

Note that cases involving solely [[PoorCommunicationKills a misapprehension of facts and consequences]] do not count here no matter how alien the reasons; if, for example, a race of aliens thinks [[ImmortalLifeIsCheap killing is okay]] because its own members [[HealingFactor respawn within a day]] with no harm done, and [[IThoughtEveryoneCouldDoThat mistake humans as working the same way]], that doesn't mean they wouldn't balk at killing if they realized the degree of harm it causes to other creatures. In this case, they may be working by comprehensible moral standards and just gravely mistaken about the implications of their actions.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Myth/AztecMythology:
** The Aztec views of what was good and what was evil were rather alien to the sensibilities to the Spanish conquistadors. Being sacrificed was considered an honor. Indeed, it was the only surefire way to get inducted into the "best" Aztec heaven. Your afterlife was based not on how you lived, but how you died, and none of those afterlives could be considered truly hellish. And, in spite of the war and sacrifices, a lot of Aztec society was pretty progressive. Their treatment of slaves was downright amazing, and they're one of the first societies that had compulsory education for EVERYONE, not just the upper class.
** The Aztec view of good and evil was considered strange ''even by neighboring groups with similar cultures and religious systems''. Most of their neighbors thought they'd gone off the deep end when it came to human sacrifices, for instance. While blood sacrifices were ubiquitous in the region (and sometimes consisted of just blood drawn through specially-inflicted wounds), the Aztecs were known to wage wars for the purpose of acquiring sacrificial victims, and on some particularly important occasions, would sacrifice thousands of people ''in a day''.
* Probably one of the most extreme examples is the Borborite Gnostic sect, assuming the reports of their existence aren't demonization by mainstream Christians. Imagine having a pretty standard Christian mindset...except that you think that the true version of the Eucharist entails eating semen, menstrual blood and children extracted from pregnant women.
[[/folder]]

* Probably one of the most extreme examples is the Borborite Gnostic sect, assuming the reports of their existence aren't demonization by mainstream Christians. Imagine having a pretty standard Christian mindset...except that you think that the true version of the Eucharist entails eating semen, menstrual blood and children extracted from pregnant women.

* Myth/AztecMythology:
** The Aztec views of what was good and what was evil were rather alien to the sensibilities to the Spanish conquistadors. Being sacrificed was considered an honor. Indeed, it was the only surefire way to get inducted into the "best" Aztec heaven. Your afterlife was based not on how you lived, but how you died, and none of those afterlives could be considered truly hellish. And, in spite of the war and sacrifices, a lot of Aztec society was pretty progressive. Their treatment of slaves was downright amazing, and they're one of the first societies that had compulsory education for EVERYONE, not just the upper class.
** The Aztec view of good and evil was considered strange ''even by neighboring groups with similar cultures and religious systems''. Most of their neighbors thought they'd gone off the deep end when it came to human sacrifices, for instance. While blood sacrifices were ubiquitous in the region (and sometimes consisted of just blood drawn through specially-inflicted wounds), the Aztecs were known to wage wars for the purpose of acquiring sacrificial victims, and on some particularly important occasions, would sacrifice thousands of people ''in a day''.

* At least in older stories (before pop culture made them rather Disney-fied and cute), this is usually one of the defining traits of TheFairFolk. Fairies obsess over seemingly trivial things that may mean nothing to us, and may perform acts of overwhelming kindness or barbarous cruelty for reasons that seem nonsensical to mortals. In some stories, one way of recognizing a fairy disguised as a human is that their emotional reactions may make no sense to us, laughing at tragic things and crying at happy ones.

* ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'' shows us a strange example of humans with this type of morality: the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Gascons]] believe that ''"Good"'' is to be [[YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb crack–brained and brave]]. [[ImpoverishedPatrician to be poor is a motive for pride]], [[MartyrdomCulture your self-destructive tendencies are to be not only tolerated but encouraged]], [[JerkAss to treat others like crap is tolerable so long as they are not Gascons]], [[DeathSeeker and to die in battle is the best destiny your can aspire to.]] ''"Evil"'' is to [[AmbitionIsEvil try to get ahead in life by connections]] and [[FalseFriend alliances]] with [[DeadlyDecadentCourt powerful people,]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJayWalking to display your riches in public is shameful]] to the point of being declared [[NoTrueScotsman No True Gascon.]] Most of all, DisproportionateRetribution and DisproportionateReward are completely normal conduct.