History Main / ImpartialPurposeDrivenFaction

** The Greybeards are an AncientTradition of monks who live atop the Throat of the World, Tamriel's tallest mountain, and believe in enlightenment through "The Way of the Voice", mastery of the [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]], the Draconic LanguageOfMagic. They typically take a truly neutral stance on the affairs of the kingdoms down below, as they were taught by their founder, Jurgen Windcaller, following his HeelFaithTurn. In the distance past, Nord armies led by masters of the Thu'um, known as "Tongues", forged a powerful empire and were expanding in Morrowind, homeland of the (at the time) [[OurElvesAreDifferent Chimer]] and [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwemer]]. Despite the advantage conferred by the Thu'um, the Nord army was [[ShockingDefeatLegacy soundly]] [[CurbStompBattle crushed]]. For seven years, Windcaller meditated and reflected on the defeat, coming to the conclusion that it was a punishment from the gods for misusing the Thu'um. He would use the defeat as inspiration to discover the Way of the Voice and found the Greybeards. In modern times, the Greybeards espouse [[BadassPacifist nonintervention and pacifism]], while accepting any who wish to study into their order. [[FounderOfTheKingdom Tiber Septim]] famously studied under the Greybeards, as did Ulfric Stormcloak, instigator of the Skyrim CivilWar during the time period of the [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim eponymous game]]. There are many factions, including the Blades (the former PraetorianGuard and SecretPolice of the Empire) who believe that the Greybeards are wasting their abilities [[spoiler:and strongly dislike the fact that their leader is a dragon]]. Naturally, the ''Skyrim'' PlayerCharacter must study under them as well in order to defeat [[BigBad Alduin]].

->''This is being broadcasted on all radio frequencies in five languages. We do not wish to be involved in politics or cultural exchange. We only wish to trade. For every 1000 kg of limestone, we shall provide you with one of our technological productions. We shall not discriminate between nationality, ethnicity, ideology, or any other discriminator. We offer these terms of exchange impartially, and equally, to all of humanity."''
--->-- '''The Peddlers'''' FirstContact message, ''Anime/{{Obsolete}}''

->'''''Impartial''': Unable to perceive any promise of personal advantage from espousing either side of a controversy or adopting either of two opinions.''
-->-- ''Literature/TheDevilsDictionary''

** The Grey Wardens were created to fight the Darkspawn and don't take sides otherwise, e.g. in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', a group of Wardens refuses to get involved even as Kirkwall is being torched [[spoiler:by the Qunari.]] The reason for that can be seen in the Soldier's Peak storyline, which reveals that the Wardens were banished from Ferelden for involving themselves in dynastic struggles and left the country unprotected in the face of a Darkspawn invasion. This also forms part of the conflict in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', where Teyrn Loghain refuses to let the Orlesian chapter of Grey Wardens into Ferelden to aid against the Blight because he has grown paranoid over the years, constantly expecting Orlais to try to re-conquer Ferelden (which plenty of them happily would, just not the Wardens).

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': The Cult of [[HealerGod Shallya]] are pacifistic healers who, unlike most other religious orders, refuse to become involved in politics. Their neutrality and their mandate to offer free healing and aid without judgement make them [[LovedByAll loved by almost everyone]] who isn't actively out to end the world. They also aren't completely exempt from internal problems, and it's mentioned the only male Shallyans allowed to stay in female convents are the older ones to avoid... "incidents".

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': The Cult of [[HealerGod Shallya]] are pacifistic healers who, unlike most other religious orders, refuse to become involved in politics. Their neutrality and their mandate to offer free healing and aid without judgement make them [[LovedByAll loved by almost everyone]] who isn't actively out to end the world.

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', while Dominaria was ravaged by the Brother's War between the brother artificers [[https://scryfall.com/card/mh1/75/urza-lord-high-artificer Urza]] and [[https://scryfall.com/card/tsp/243/mishra-artificer-prodigy Mishra]], a third artificer named [[https://scryfall.com/card/c21/169/feldon-of-the-third-path Feldon]] founded the Third Path, dedicated to neutrality between the two brothers.

** The Harlequins are an Eldar sub-faction of warrior clowns dedicated to combating Chaos, whether by military force or by spreading knowledge of its danger through elaborate performances. As such, they move freely among all the main Eldar factions and have even been known to put on shows for humans, T'au, and Orks, as Chaos is a threat to everyone in the galaxy. As the Eldar are inspired by TheFairFolk to varying degrees, however, and the Harlequins themselves divided into many different troupes, the exact degree of their benevolence can be hard to ascertain.

** The Iron Bank of Braavos, the most powerful banking institute of the known world. It will lend its money to anyone as long as they pay it back -- if a noble house doesn't pay their due, the bank will stop all transactions with said house, and pay another house to eliminate them. The Bank has a dreaded reputation -- even [[MagnificentBastard Tywin Lannister]] dares not cross them. [[StupidEvil Cersei]] [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Lannister]] however is foolish enough to not pay the kingdom's dues: in response the Bank cancels all its deals with Westeros, plunging the realm in debt.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has several factions that will gladly accept help from either the Alliance or the Horde, such as the [[ThePaladin Argent Crusade]], paladins who fight against evil forces such as [[TheUndead the Scourge]] or the [[LegionsOfHell Burning Legion]]; [[FriendToAllLivingThings the Cenarion Circle]], druids who work to protect and nurture life; or [[ElementsOfNature The Earthen Ring]], shaman who work to maintain the balance of the four elements.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': In the third to fifth edition, the [[RobotWar Necrons]] exist only to kill all organic life in the universe, and never interact with them in any other way. Afterwards, through Retcon, they gained their own personality, with the OmnicidalManiac Necrons being described as the first to awaken from a long stasis and were damaged during said stasis.

OddJobGods and their followers occasionally fall under this, as well. As does the TimePolice that is more concerned with dealing with ClockRoaches or preserving the time stream than good and bad. The AncientOrderOfProtectors may also fall into as they will attempt to ward off anyone who gets too close to what they're protecting, regardless of which side they're on.

** The Jedi Order wants to be this, and sometimes manages it. Most ages of peace and prosperity occur when the Jedi are completely neutral, refusing to take political sides (usually acting as mediators in conflicts) except against any enemy using the Dark Side of the Force. However, they are often drawn into conflicts in both the movies and the EU. The movies present the worst-case scenario of this, resulting in the functional destruction of the Jedi Order. The EU tends to do three things to them when they get involved in politics; massively knock down their numbers to a mere fraction of what they were, push them back to their positions of neutrality and semi-religious protection against the Dark Side, and then proceed to become very conservative, controlling as much of the order as possible. The last one is usually because their political meddling is a result of them giving a lot of freedom to their members; as opposed to the highly oppressed Jedi appearing in the movies, certain periods of republic history had active Jedi be landowners and even reigning monarchs, sometimes with families (usually justified as a political duty). There was, in fact, a 400 year period in which the Supreme Chancellors of the Republic were all Jedi without exception.

An organization whose non-political purpose takes complete precedence over power-plays and diplomacy. Where most factions are interested in increasing their power by building alliances, the CodeOfHonour of these people mandates to either avoid contact with others completely or accept any help unconditionally without taking any obligations. Their neutrality is often safe-guarded by their purpose being beneficial to everyone in long-term.

** The Jedi Order wants to be this, and sometimes manages it. Most ages of peace and prosperity occur when the Jedi are completely neutral, refusing to take political sides (usually acting as mediators in conflicts) except against any enemy using the Dark Side of the Force. However, they are often drawn into conflicts in both the movies and the EU. The movies present the worst case scenario of this, resulting in the functional destruction of the Jedi Order. The EU tends to do three things to them when they get involved in politics; massively knock down their numbers to a mere fraction of what they were, push them back to their positions of neutrality and semi-religious protection against the Dark Side, and then proceed to become very conservative, controlling as much of the order as possible. The last one is usually because their political meddling is a result of them giving a lot of freedom to their members; as opposed to the highly oppressed Jedi appearing in the movies, certain periods of republic history had active Jedi be land owners and even reigning monarchs, sometimes with families (usually justified as a political duty). There was, in fact, a 400 year period in which the Supreme Chancellors of the Republic were all Jedi without exception.
** The Gray Jedi are even more this trope than the Jedi Order. These rare and perhaps enlightened individuals, accept both the Light and Dark Sides as equally important teachings. Many are Jedi who became disillusioned with the council, but kept away from the Sith. Since they choose to wield both contrasting Force powers, battling them may be much harder than you'd expect. Fortunately though, they believe in keeping absolute balance, instead of actively looking for a fight.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': The Federation is supposed to be this, but is such a large organization that it's forced to be an active participant in galactic politics. The Prime Directive states that the Federation may not interfere with the internal affairs of non-Federation cultures, and that it may not make any form of contact with or interfere with the development of pre-Warp civilizations. However, individual Starfleet officers have broken, bent or re-interpreted this rule when they see fit.

** Technically speaking, this is supposed to be the case for the Imperial Chartered Guilds - namely the Fighters and Mages Guilds. According to their charters, they are to offer training and employment in martial and magical matters (respectively), but are not allowed to accept any contracts which would violate the laws the Empire.

* ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'': The Falenan Dragon Cavalry "only swears allegiance to rivers of Falena". They only ride out when when a foreign power invades and do not involve themselves with any internal conflicts. They stick to this policy when Civil War that breaks out between the Godwins and Loyalist Army (lead by [[PlayerCharacter Prince of Falena]]) [[spoiler:but this goes out the window when the Godwins make an alliance with an enemy nation, and take the Cavalry's Hatchery hostage. They side with the Prince for the rest of the war]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Tyranny}}'', the School of Ink and Quill describes itself one of these, claiming to seek only the preservation and spread knowledge. In actuality, they've been playing politics for a long while, manipulating the realms of the area into fighting each other.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': In the third to fifth edition, the [[RobotWar Necrons]] exist only to kill all organic life in the universe, and never interact with them in any other way. Afterwards, through Retcon, they gained their own personality, with the OmnicidialManiac Necrons being described as the first to awaken from a long stasis and were damaged during said stasis.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': In the third to fifth edition, the [[RobotWar Necrons]] exist only to kill all organic life in the universe, and never interact with them in any other way.

** The Greybeards are an AncientTradition of monks who live atop the Throat of the World, Tamriel's tallest mountain, and believe in enlightenment through "The Way of the Voice", mastery of the [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]], the Draconic LanguageOfMagic. They typically take a truly neutral stance on the affairs of the kingdoms down below, as they were taught by their founder, Jurgen Windcaller, following his HeelFaithTurn. In the distance past, Nord armies led by masters of the Thu'um, known as "Tongues", forged a powerful empire and were expanding in Morrowind, homeland of the (at the time) [[OurElvesAreBetter Chimer]] and [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwemer]]. Despite the advantage conferred by the Thu'um, the Nord army was [[ShockingDefeatLegacy soundly]] [[CurbStompBattle crushed]]. For seven years, Windcaller meditated and reflected on the defeat, coming to the conclusion that it was a punishment from the gods for misusing the Thu'um. He would use the defeat as inspiration to discover the Way of the Voice and found the Greybeards. In modern times, the Greybeards espouse [[BadassPacifist nonintervention and pacifism]], while accepting any who wish to study into their order. [[FounderOfTheKingdom Tiber Septim]] famously studied under the Greybeards, as did Ulfric Stormcloak, instigator of the Skyrim CivilWar during the time period of the [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim eponymous game]]. There are many factions, including the Blades (the former PraetorianGuard and SecretPolice of the Empire) who believe that the Greybeards are wasting their abilities [[spoiler:and strongly dislike the fact that their leader is a dragon]]. Naturally, the ''Skyrim'' PlayerCharacter must study under them as well in order to defeat [[BigBad Alduin]].

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': The History Monks are mostly concerned with fixing/protecting time and space, as well as patching up {{Continuity Snarl}}s and do not interfere with business that doesn't concern time travel. In ''Discworld/NightWatch'', Lu-Tze is even called out by another monk for helping Vimes (though he got away with it), and in the only other book where they feature prominently, they avoid contact with any factions they aren't already fighting.