Line #65 Main/ALighterShadeOfBlack


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4	[[quoteright:300:[[ComicBook/{{Venom}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/venom_vs_carnage_5.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:300:In this case, the ''[[ComicBook/{{Carnage}} red one]]'' is worse.]]
6
7	->''"I'm just a bad guy who gets paid to fuck up worse guys."''
8	-->-- '''Wade Wilson''', ''Film/Deadpool2016''
9
10	While EvilVersusEvil may be fun, it carries the risk of making people say "TooBleakStoppedCaring": people just ''do'' like having someone to cheer for, but if both sides are equally reprehensible, then there's really no point to it.
11
12	So that's where this trope kicks in. It basically means that the author is clearly trying to portray one side of the conflict as the better or more sympathetic one, so the audience can root for them. Since both sides are supposed to be villains, this isn't that hard. You just need to give your Lighter Black a little edge on the sympathy meter. The idea is to have the audience say "Yeah, Alice may be evil, but at least she's not half as bad as Bob!"
13
14	This can be done in many ways. Give your villain the SympatheticPOV. Have them PetTheDog, be a NobleDemon or invoke EvenEvilHasStandards. Perhaps they're simply a smaller threat to the world. Maybe their goals are, [[FallenHero or used to be]], [[AntiVillain somewhat sympathetic]]. Maybe they have many EvilVirtues. Or, when compared to the opposition, their cause still seems a little more "right" or their character "pure" than that of the enemy. Sometimes, Bob just needs to be stopped at any cost, and Alice happens to have that goal in mind, if only for selfish reasons. Since we want them to win, this may lead to a villainous version of RightMakesMight and PureIsNotGood.
15
16	Or maybe the villain is such a dangerously efficient operator that it's easier to side with them. Especially if [[OmnicidalManiac their opposition is a threat to]] ''[[EvilVersusOblivion everyone]]''.
17
18	If they shoot way over the line, the character in question may end up doing a HeelFaceTurn. This is generally a trait of most Enlightenment fiction that believes RousseauWasRight.
19
20	See also ALighterShadeOfGrey, NominalHero, and ShadesOfConflict. An exaggerated form of this trope is EvilVersusOblivion. The polar opposite of VilerNewVillain, when a villain is shown to be worse than the nobler villain. For a downplayed form, see BlackAndGrayMorality.
21
22	Do not confuse this trope with LesserOfTwoEvils, in which case, there still isn't a side to root for. Those stories usually involve a hero's P.O.V. and he's observing the two villains fighting each other. Also not to be confused with SympatheticVillainDespicableVillain, where the sympathetic party is unlikely to still be unambiguously evil.
23	----
24	!!Example subpages:
25
26	[[index]]
27	* ALighterShadeOfBlack/AnimeAndManga
28	* ALighterShadeOfBlack/ComicBooks
29	* ALighterShadeOfBlack/FanWorks
30	* [[ALighterShadeOfBlack/{{Film}} Films]]
31	* ALighterShadeOfBlack/{{Literature}}
32	* ALighterShadeOfBlack/LiveActionTV
33	* ALighterShadeOfBlack/VideoGames
34	[[/index]]
35
36	!!Other examples:
37	[[foldercontrol]]
38
39	[[folder:Podcasts]]
40	* ''Podcast/TheMagnusArchives'': Sure, the Magnus Institute works to stop the potentially world-ending rituals of [[EldritchAbomination eldritch fear gods]] and their followers... but only because [[spoiler:the Institute follows its own eldritch fear god and wants to get its own world-ending ritual completed before anyone else's]].
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
44	* CHAOS was the top "evil" stable of Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling before the establishment of the [[ForeignWrestlingHeel gaijin]] group Wrestling/BulletClub (never mind CHAOS's own "outsiders") but they both get cheered when facing what was once Kojimagun. Wrestling/{{Minoru\|Suzuki}} simply became that unlikable since taking over and making it Suzukigun.
45	* Madison Eagles and Jessicka Havok became this when Nicole Matthews won the Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} Championship belt. Eagles still had an unhealthy obsession with the title, Havok was still [[TheBrute Havok]], but Matthews was something of a [[DirtyCoward coward]], something no SHIMMER Champion had ever been before and Jessicka was after Nicole's TagTeam partner Portia Perez, a HateSink who once [[MoralEventHorizon tried to kill a baby]]. Furthermore, most baby {{face}}s, while threatened and intimidated, were mostly spared during the two's RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Matthews and Perez, who happily hid among other {{heel}}s like The Kimber Bombs.
46	* World Wrestling League Tercias champions Los Rabiosos consisted of two thugs who only cared about money and a whiny backstabbing hypocrite, which still made them better than Spectro, Kronya and Vassago, the murderous arsonists of Legio. However, Rabiosos would later get some PetTheDog moments through haciendo la diferencia while the later only got worse by [[VillainTeamUp picking up]] Mistress Glenda Lee and El Profe, turning it into BlackAndGrayMorality.
47	* [=Level5=] vs W-FIX in Chigusa Nagayo's Marvelous. They are both opposed by Nagayo's student Mio Momono but [=Level5=] is merely Tomoko Watanabe and Yuu Yamagata's continuous effort to corrupt Natsumi Maki, and anyone else they can, as they know their careers are winding down. KAORU, while sometimes showing AffablyEvil tendencies off ring, is individually worse than all of [=Level5=], happy to end the career of any young wrestler that crosses her path, even if they aren't contracted to Marvelous, and is just one member of W-FIX, who are all almost as bad or worse. The worst is Chikayo Nagashima, who works overtime to ensure every last part of Marvelous suffers, ''including'' [=Level5=].
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
51	* This is what ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' has instead of Good versus Evil, and is presumably what fans of the Lighter Black factions (Tau, Craftworld Eldar, the nicer Imperium sub-factions such as the Salamanders, Necrons) see in playing on the side of such horrible people; they're fighting against the very incarnations of cruelty (Dark Eldar), savagery (Orks), consumption (Tyranids) and, well, Chaos.
52	** The Tau were basically created to be this trope, despite FanDumb forcing them to get darker since their introduction. It says a lot about the state of the universe where the race with a collectivist manifest destiny motif who openly seek to conquer the universe and make all other races part of their empire, who resort to violence if their efforts to subsume other races diplomatically fail, and who are implied (in a comment of dubious canonicity) to set up concentration camps and forced sterilization programs for races who resist, are still relatively good guys.
53	** The Imperium of Man: a massive VestigialEmpire choked with a TautologicalTemplar bureaucracy that preaches zealotry, ignorance, and militarism while completely disregarding the individual -- yet it's made up of humans just trying to survive in a universe where EverythingIsTryingToKillYou. Or at least, some of it is; a lot of its other sub-factions aren't really distinguishable from Chaos or Tyranids in their behavior to other factions or even other elements of their own faction. Plus, at this point in the setting, the [[CrapsackWorld galaxy is so screwed up]] that [[TheExtremistWasRight fixing it might actually cause the apocalypse]].
54	** Among the Astartes, the Lamenters chapter is the best fit for this trope. They are the only chapter that will go out of their way to defend the innocent and defenseless of the Imperium. [[ButtMonkey They also get regularly and thoroughly thrashed by whoever they tussle with.]] The Grey Knights and their holdings are another good example. They're brutal, but devoted totally to fighting TheLegionsOfHell. They'll even help and trade with xeno races like Craftworld Eldar and Necrons as long as they don't get in the way of that all-important goal. Another example among the Imperium is the Rogue Trade empires, de facto independent realms that get to defy standard Imperial policy in a lot of places, most notably via coexistence and cooperation with aliens and non-Imperium human polities. Keep in mind they'll also ruthlessly exploit those same neighbors if they're weaker and it's profitable to do so, they just (usually) won't exterminate them and will also play nice if it's profitable to do so; the British Empire to the wider Imperium's Nazi Germany, if you will.
55	** Most (non-Dark) Eldar default to this. Like the Imperium, they consider all other races to be worthless compared to their own citizens; unlike most of the Imperium,[[note]]Rogue Trader empires, radical Inquisitors, and fringe sectors being the exceptions.[[/note]] they usually don't [[AbsoluteXenophobe actively try to exterminate outsiders]] that don't get in their way, and mostly just want to be left alone. They're also the most likely race to cooperate with aliens (including humans) and generally aim their military efforts at the AlwaysChaoticEvil factions (they, are notably, the only race that hasn't had a real conflict with the Tau). The Necrons who aren't utter {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s are similar in that regard.
56	** Among the forces of Chaos, the Thousand Sons (especially Magnus) are sort of this. The Emperor kept secrets from Magnus, and his attempt to warn the Emperor of the Literature/HorusHeresy damaged the Emperor's secret work, and resulted in the Thousand Sons being forced to join the traitors. Afterwards, Ahriman managed to turn most of the legion to dust, leaving the Thousand Sons as a broken legion, just as engineered by [[ManipulativeBastard Tzeentch]].
57	* Likewise, in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'':
58	** The Empire is a fanatical religious theocracy where the minor nobles are corrupt (and a good number of them are secretly Chaos worshippers), the Church employs {{Witch Hunter}}s who burn people, dark Gothic iconography is everywhere, and [[TheDungAges life generally sucks for anyone outside the major trade cities]]. But it is undeniably a bulwark that protects the civilized human nations of Bretonnia, Estalia and Tilea against myriad madmen and monsters who would tear it all down; they are brutal and have to be, because their enemies are all horrible.
59	** The Norscans is usually depicted as the least far gone of the major Chaos tribal groups, and thus not quite as bad as the Beastmen and other Chaos Warriors such as the Kurgans and the Hung. They're bloodthirsty warriors of the Dark Gods who nevertheless abide by a certain code of honour and possess a dark humour that prevents them from becoming utterly terrifying. Additionally, while the other groups live for absolutely nothing but fighting, killing, and slaving, Norscan explorers are a recurring theme in the setting, and there is occasional mention of Norscans being willing to work as mercenaries and even traders.
60	** The Wood Elves of Athel Loren ruthlessly kill most trespassers into their forest home and are known to occasionally raid and skirmish Bretonnian border communities, but they also can be trusted to repay debts, can [[YouAreACreditToYourRace respect particularly principled non-Asrai]] like Emperor Karl Franz, and recognize distinction between "crude ignorance" and willful malice. As such, the Asrai have been known to aid humans against Beastmen, Northmen and Greenskins once in a blue moon. The Dryads and Treefolk with whom they share Athel Loren are cruel {{Absolute Xenophobe}}s who see everything including the Wood Elves themselves, as mere vermin to be exterminated. The Asrai see it as their duty to defend the outside world from the ever-expanding magical forest as much as defend the forest from the outside world, and encircle it with magical waystones to prevent its expansion, lest the forest either be destroyed by contact with humans, or become so evil and determined in its extermination of the mortal races as to be indistinguishable from the forces of Chaos itself.
61	* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': The triple-A MegaCorp Horizon (which appeared in 4th edition onwards) is a world-dominating mega corp that has a completely flat and transparent corporate structure, an extremely cheerful and public CEO, and focus on 'benign' industries like Public Relations and pharmaceuticals. Rather than make them the 'good guys' of the setting, this has made them ParanoiaFuel; Shadowrunners are usually extremely smart (they don't live long if they aren't), and the concept of a Mega with no skeletons in the closet that actually ''cares'' is scarier than eight of the other open [[PragmaticVillainy Pragmatic Villains]] on the Corporate Court combined, because this only means they must be hiding something utterly depraved in there ''somewhere''... but nobody knows what it is. (They're still not as scary as [[TheDreaded Aztechnology]], though.) [[spoiler:Turns out it's metahuman experimentation on Technomancers.]]
62	** [[ArmsDealer Ares Macrotechnology]] is generally considered this trope in the shadows. It's not that Ares aren't doing shadowy, dirty business (they are) or that they give a hoot about making the world a better place (they don't), but Ares (perhaps due to their LovableRogue CEO or the fact that shadowrunners continuing to exist raises demand for their products) [[PragmaticVillainy tend to understand 'the game' between shadowrunners and corporations better than most]]. A run against Ares is a run where [[GentlemanThief if you play by the rules]], [[FairPlayVillain so will they]]. If you get hired to do work on their behalf, odds are better than average that the Johnson actually intends to ''pay'' you at the end instead of backstabbing you. Also they were on the ground in Chicago when the [[BugWar Insect Spirits attacked]]
63	** In an interesting example Saeder-Krupp is this trope to the rest of the world, while managing to be the darker shade of black to the Player Characters. Saeder-Krupp sheer pragmatism means that it doesn't have a hidden agenda beyond standard corporate profits and expansion. In fact the companies policy of safe guarding their computer systems meant that Europe was able to ride out Crash 2.0 mostly unharmed. However to any Player Characters, they are the worst company to do runs for. After all, you never cut a deal with a dragon.
64	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', The LawfulEvil God Asmodeus, firmly sits in this trope, even among other Lawful Evil Gods. He's the God of Slavery, Tyranny, Pride, and most importantly, Contracts. [[IGaveMyWord He will uphold his part of any contract and agreement he enters into]]. You just have to make sure what you think is his part and what actually is his part are one and the same. Even the ChaoticGood Gods go to him for advice on occasion, and he would give them honest advice. [[PragmaticVillainy Because giving them honest advice means they would rely on him more, and would fall into his circle of power and influence.]] His worshippers are one of the only Evil Worshippers allowed to openly worship as they tend to cause less trouble then anyone else. Then there is the fact that he [[EvilVersusOblivion fought alongside all the other gods against Rovagug, and personally forge the lock to his cage.]] Free of charge.
65	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': Vhaeraun is an absolutely and utterly evil god, and intent on leading the drow to conquer the multiverse and enslave all non-drow. However, unlike his mother Lolth, he sees drow society for the self-destructive mess it is, and is a staunch advocate for gender equality and co-operation. He is also pragmatic enough to work with both people and gods he hates, if it gets him closer to taking his mother down.
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Theatre]]
69	* Sweeney Todd is a murderous barber who slashes his customers' throats and has them baked into pies. But in ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'', we root for him because he wants revenge against the corrupt HangingJudge who falsely transported him for life in order to get at his beautiful wife, as well as having some rather [[WifeHusbandry skeevy designs]] on his daughter when she comes of age.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
73	* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'': Monokuma, [[spoiler:controlled by Junko in the main saga]] and [[spoiler:Team Danganronpa & Tsumugi in the retool]], are plainly evil and sadistic with nothing to really redeem them of it, but there are other villainous characters who have a sense of morality or a reason for their actions.
74	** Every murder culprit serves as an antagonist within each chapter, but they either have a Duress defense or are lesser of an evil by comparison in some way that makes them seem more humane than the BigBad, this including [[spoiler:Korekiyo, who despite everything is at least not a killing game mastermind]], and someone like [[spoiler:Kokichi, who is marginally driven by the fact that he's in a killing game in the first place and would otherwise not go to those extremes in different circumstances.]]
75	** [[spoiler:While Mukuro Ikusaba]] is Junko's assistant, [[spoiler:she is driven by a familial love (that isn't returned) than the actual drive for despair, and unlike Junko, is capable of caring about others ''without'' using that to sate her own evil desires. However, she also cares little about the amorality of Junko's desires in the process, and willingly gives into Junko's every desire.]]
76	** In the second game, [[spoiler:Nagito is a WellIntentionedExtremist who desires to spread hope]], and [[spoiler:Izuru Kamukura is a TragicVillain who is bored of the world around him and had his inhibitions forcibly removed by Hope's Peak Academy, and Junko taking advantage of him led to a burning desire for revenge, which comes up in the form of the second game's events.]]
77	** Dowplayed, as it's not much lighter by comparison, but even [[spoiler:Monaca, despite being a HateSink, has a FreudianExcuse for her behavior]], which is no thanks to Haiji, and Haiji himself is mostly driven by his trauma, though it doesn't excuse his awful misdeeds throughout his feature game.
78	** In ''Side:Future'', [[spoiler:Kazuo Tengan is a KnightTemplar who genuinely believes brainwashing the world will save it from despair, and Chisa Yukizome is a NiceGirl who was [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed by Junko]] to be a SycophanticServant of despair.]]
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Web Animation]]
82	* [[VillainProtagonist Hank J. Wimbleton]] from ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat'' is a [[OneManArmy mass-murdering]] BloodKnight who kills people over a boombox in the first episode, and graduates to a cop-killing sociopathic mercenary in the second. In later episodes though, Hank becomes at least [[NominalHero nominally heroic]], given how his opponents now include [[AxCrazy Tricky]] [[MonsterClown the Clown]] and [[HumanoidAbomination The]] [[GodOfEvil Auditor]], who are responsible for [[RealityWarper warping]] Nevada into a CrapsackWorld full of senseless violence.
83	* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Raven Branwen is the leader of a BanditClan, a ruthless believer in the idea that the strong survive and the weak die, and is someone who doesn't care about the lives of the people she hurts; she will even kidnap people for ransom purposes if the price is right. Volume 5 pits her against Cinder Fall, a sadist whose hunger for power cannot be sated and who enjoys pain and killing; she thrills at the destruction and suffering she causes to the city of Vale, picks off people to die just to torment their friends, and is willing to work for someone who wants to destroy humanity if she can obtain great power out of it. [[spoiler:Cinder's lust for power is so great, she's even willing to attach Grimm body parts to herself to aid her search for power, an act that [[EveryoneHasStandards disgusts Raven]].]]
84	* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' has a few episodes with two villains pitted against each other, but one of them is more morally-gray or has a good side as compared to the other who is flat-out villainous. Examples are:
85	** "[[ComicBook/{{Venom}} Carnage]] VS [[Manga/ElfenLied Lucy]]": Lucy is the lighter shade. Whereas Cletus is TheSociopath and a CardCarryingVillain who kills [[ForTheEvulz simply for the fun of it]], Lucy is a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds with an ''extremely'' DarkAndTroubledPast whose character arc is based around developing from a VillainProtagonist to an AntiHero. Also, Cletus [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals killed a dog as a kid]] while Lucy's StartOfDarkness was triggered by [[KidsAreCruel kids killing a dog]]. [[spoiler:The fight ends with Lucy's victory]].
86	** "[[Franchise/DragonBall Beerus]] VS [[Franchise/SailorMoon Sailor Galaxia]]": Beerus is the lighter shade. Even prior to his HeelFaceTurn, Beerus is AffablyEvil and willingly spares Earth of destruction despite his prior plans after getting what he came for. While Galaxia also underwent a HeelFaceTurn, prior to that, she was a murderous tyrant who willingly sided with an [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch]] GodOfEvil out of a lust for power. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Beerus wins the battle in the end]].
87	** "[[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Winter Soldier]] VS [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Red Hood]]": The Winter Soldier is the lighter shade. While both have dark histories and have killed numerous people throughout their life, Bucky proves to be the more virtuous due to the majority of his killings occurring while he was BrainwashedAndCrazy, and becomes TheAtoner in order to redeem himself for his acts. Jason, meanwhile, is completely willing to kill and continues to do so even after veering into a more heroic light. [[spoiler:Bucky ends up as the victor]].
88	** "[[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Lex Luthor]] VS [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Doctor Doom]]": Doctor Doom is the lighter shade. Whereas Lex is TheSociopath who desires to conquer Earth out of personal {{pride}} and {{greed}}, and is shown in one future to have turned the universe into an apocalyptic hellscape, Victor is a WellIntentionedExtremist who wants to conquer Earth out of a genuine belief that [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans it can be improved under his rule]], and is shown in one future to actually be correct. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Doom ends up the winner of the fight]].
89	** "[[Franchise/{{Tekken}} Heihachi Mishima]] VS [[VideoGame/FatalFury Geese]] [[Franchise/TheKingOfFighters Howard]]": Heihachi is the lighter shade. Heihachi, for as monstrous as his actions can be, is still a fairly sympathetic character who [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes did once genuinely care about his family]], and is heavily implied to have a HeelRealization in his final moments. Geese, meanwhile, has no real redeeming qualities whatsoever, and shows no desire to improve himself. [[spoiler:The fight ends in Heihachi's favor]].
90	** "[[Franchise/DragonBall Goku Black]] VS [[ComicBook/TheFlash Reverse-Flash]]": Reverse-Flash is the lighter shade. While both of these characters are horrifying monsters through and through, Zamasu is an outright OmnicidalManiac on a mission to wipe out all mortal life in existence, while Thawne is focused on the far smaller scale goal of making Barry Allen's life a living hell, and rarely commits any grand scale acts of villainy unless said acts benefit that initial goal. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Thawne wins the battle, though he does end up destroying Earth in the process]].
91	** "[[Franchise/StreetFighter Akuma]] VS [[Franchise/MortalKombat Shao Kahn]]": Akuma is the lighter shade. Akuma, for as ruthless as he can be, is still a NobleDemon with code of honor, which includes not fighting opponents who can't/won't fight back and always keeping his promises, and he has the relatively small scale goal of wanting to find a WorthyOpponent. Shao Kahn, meanwhile, is an EvilOverlord out to [[MultiversalConqueror conquer the multiverse]], and is [[CombatPragmatist not above cheating to get an advantage in battle]]. [[spoiler:In the end, Shao Kahn ends up as the victor of the fight]].
92	** "[[Manga/{{Naruto}} Madara]] VS [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Aizen]]": Madara is the lighter shade. While both characters commit some rather monstrous actions, Madara just barely manages to scrape out the title of the lesser evil by virtue of being a TragicVillain consumed by his clan's hatred and a WellIntentionedExtremist willing to use force to achieve peace. Aizen, on the other hand, has the personal goal of wanting to achieve ultimate power to stand above all others, and his motives behind his more heroic actions are left ambiguous. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Madara ends up winning the battle]].
93	** "[[ComicBook/{{Invincible}} Omni-Man]] VS [[ComicBook/TheBoys Homelander]]": Omni-Man is the lighter shade. In spite of his initial goal of conquering Earth, Nolan has plenty of redeeming qualities, such as his [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes love for his family]], performs his villainous actions out of the genuine belief that they will lead to the best possible outcome, and eventually does [[HeelRealization end up seeing the error of his ways]] and performs a HeelFaceTurn. Homelander, by comparison, is an unrepentant HateSink whose very few sympathetic qualities fail to make up for just how much of a horrifying monster he is. [[spoiler:The fight ends with Nolan on top after subjecting Homelander to an absolutely brutal and very well-deserved CurbStompBattle]].
94	** "[[ComicBook/XMen Magneto]] VS [[Manga/{{AKIRA}} Tetsuo]]": Magneto is the lighter shade. Magneto, while a supervillain for most of his life, is a TragicVillain whose goal at its core is the survival of Mutantkind, and eventually [[HeelRealization came to see how his actions do more harm than good]] and performed a HeelFaceTurn in order to make amends. Tetsuo, on the other hand, while a fairly tragic WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, is still an AxCrazy villain who never saw the error of his ways. [[spoiler:In the end, Magneto wins the battle, with him performing a MercyKill on Tetsuo after the latter undergoes his SuperpowerMeltdown]].
95	** "[[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Black Adam]] VS [[ComicBook/XMen Apocalypse]]": Black Adam is the lighter shade. Adam, while no stranger to performing morally villainous actions, is at his core an AntiVillain who prioritizes the protection of his home country of Kahndaq above all else. Apocalypse, meanwhile is a sadistic [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinist]] out to conquer the world and wipe out all who he deems weak. [[spoiler:The fight ends with Apocalypse's victory, in what is one of the series' biggest {{Downer Ending}}s]].
96	** "[[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees]] VS [[{{Franchise/Halloween}} Michael Myers]]": Jason is the lighter shade. While he's undoubtedly a monstrous killer, Jason is also a fairly tragic character, given his backstory, and has a number of humanizing qualities, such as his [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas love for his mother]], his hatred of those who hurt animals, and the fact that he only targets those who invade on his territory. Michael, by comparison, has no tragic backstory, no redeeming qualities, and commits his murders ForTheEvulz. [[spoiler:Jason ends up as the victor in the end]].
97	** "[[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls Bill Cipher]] VS [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Discord]]": Discord is the lighter shade. Both are beings that thrive on chaos, but whereas Bill is a {{sadist}}ic {{jerkass}} who gets enjoyment out of suffering and is completely fine with [[OmnicidalManiac destroying all of reality]], Discord is a JerkWithAHeartOfGold who never means for any real evil in his actions, and eventually pulls a HeelFaceTurn thanks to his friendship with [[MoralityPet Fluttershy]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Bill comes out on top in the fight, but Discord is still successful in [[HeroicSacrifice screwing him over]] [[MeaninglessVillainVictory in the end]]]].
98	** "[[Franchise/DragonBall Frieza]] VS [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Megatron]]": Megatron is the lighter shade. Both are utterly ruthless galactic conquerors who set out to bring the cosmos to its knees, but whereas Frieza is a sadistic and pampered tyrant through-and-through, with no sympathetic backstory to speak of, Megatron, [[MotiveDecay at first]], advocated for peace and [[WellIntentionedExtremist only fought for the freedom of his people]] from an unfair caste system before descending into full-blown tyranny and waging war for war's sake. [[spoiler:In the end, Frieza destroys his opponent, but not before Megatron destroys his mothership, his army, [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe most of his body]], and [[PyrrhicVictory denies him his conquest of Cybertron itself with its destruction]]. Frieza decides [[FinalSolution to wipe out all Cybertronians]] in retaliation]].
99	** "ComicBook/{{Galactus}} VS [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Unicron]]": Galactus is the lighter shade. Both are {{Planet Eater}}s, but Galactus consumes planets because they are simply what he must eat to sustain himself, no different to how humans eat plants and other animals to live. On the other hand, Unicron consumes planets out of a malevolent desire to [[OmnicidalManiac wipe out all life in the multiverse]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Galactus ends the fight as the victor]].
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Webcomics]]
103	* {{Webcomic/Homestuck}} has The Midnight Crew, who are only considered heroes during "Operation Regisurp" in the Troll's Session, due to their alliance with the protagonists. Later in story, they're only considered heroic at all because their rivals, Lord English and the Felt, are worse. They still casually murder people and given half the chance would become just as dangerous as Jack Noir and the agents under him in the Kid's session.
104	* Zala'ess Vel'Sharen in ''{{Webcomic/Drowtales}}'' is by no means a particularly nice person, since in the process of vying for the title of Empress among her sisters participates in {{Matricide}}, pulls a UriahGambit on an (adopted) child, politically manipulates several clans into helping her and deliberately and secretly sabotages a duel that causes one of her sisters to die. And yet compared to her eldest sister [[BigBad Snadhya'rune]], who's an outright [[TheSociopath sociopath]] who views people (even [[AbusiveParents her children]]) as things, and Sarv'swati, her [[TheCaligula brutal and tyrannical]] second eldest sister, she seems downright reasonable and displays some humanizing qualities, like honest concern for her children.
105	* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' gets a fair bit of mileage out of this. Red Mage in particular tends to fill this role in the Light Warriors, compared to Fighter (the TokenGoodTeammate) and Black Mage and Thief (incredibly evil). Red Mage is amoral, borderline insane, and has a total disregard for life, but he tends to be less evil than the latter two because his actual motivation is simply to finish the adventure and win fame and power for himself. This causes him to frequently balk at their methods for being [[StupidEvil senselessly cruel]] -- even though he's done some pretty horrible things himself, he did them because he thought they were the best way to accomplish his current objective (they rarely were, but Red Mage is not good at planning).
106	* ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'' is about a gang war between two booze joints in the 20's USA. The eponymous Lackadaisy gang is mostly presented as a group of good friends and underdogs who got into organized crime due to circumstances or for some of them out of desperation, while the rival Marigold gang is a group of experienced and hardened criminals who seem to enjoy their job way too much and have very few (if any) redeeming qualities.
107	* The war between Batea and Alemi in ''Webcomic/AnecdoteOfError'' is a textbook case. On the one hand, Alemi is led by a bunch of psychopaths who kill their prisoners in some of the most horrific ways possible, who invade boarding schools while children are present in order to gain the weapons inside, and whose soldiers brag about all the cities they will sack once the tide of the war turns in their favor, and claim that [[DisproportionateRetribution someone being torn limb from limb is an appropriate response to being held and questioned]]. On the other hand, Batea is a place where children are sorted into unequal castes once they reach a certain age, and can be [[ChildSoldiers drafted into wars]], and housekeepers [[StayInTheKitchen have very few rights]], and [[spoiler:the faculty of a boarding school decide to summarily execute an enemy soldier without thinking twice]], and the teacher who explains this thinks that it will make the children she is telling it to feel better, and is hinted to have alienated the entire rest of the world such that they are willing to ally with Alemi in spite of all its crimes against humanity. A lot of readers want both sides to lose, but if forced to pick, would want Batea to be victorious, not just because [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality the protagonists are from there]], and are just normal kids caught up in a horrible situation, but because [[EvilVersusOblivion Batea is merely an oppressive tyranny, whereas Alemi is a fanatical horde that will destroy for the sake of destruction]]. There are a small handful of Alemi citizens who aren’t this bad, but not enough to classify the conflict as ALighterShadeOfGray instead.
108	* ''Webcomic/DreamingFreedom'': Ultimately, Jeongmin and Siyun in comparison to Juhyeon. While Juhyeon is a relentless, cruel bully who manipulates others with ease, neither of the two leads are entirely good either, with Jeongmin [[spoiler:blackmailing Sora]] and Siyun [[spoiler:having violent tendencies, including stabbing Juhyeon via a dream and beating Jaehyeok to a pulp.]]
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111	[[folder:Web Original]]
112	* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': Downplayed and Discussed. Though their methods differ, Beau and Molly are both thieves and scam artists, and are at least in part doing it for the love of the game. However, while Beau is hostile and will steal from literally anyone, Molly is more of a KarmicThief who tries to limit himself to people who deserve it, and who tries to leave every town better than he found it. After [[spoiler:Molly dies]], this philosophy leads into a HeelRealization for Beau.
113	-->'''Beau:''' We had a conversation last night when we were up for watch, and he asked me what my greatest lie was and we pulled fucking cards for it. Loser would go first. He told me this story about tricking a town into thinking he was royalty, being a king, to pull off a scam. I was almost going to tell him about my childhood, and I didn’t. Because he told that fucking story and I realized: even in his scams, when he was doing something shitty, he was still making people feel good or feel special. The town was being visited by– graced by his presence, by his royal highness. And I told him this story of ruining a couple’s lives by extorting them because I fucking could. Because I fucking felt like it. I realized if I can deliberately leave a town shittier than what I found it, of course he could fucking leave a town better than what he found it. And I’m not going to do that again. I’m not saying that I’m going to go off and be a fucking hero, but maybe we can equal out and I can at least not fuck any more shit up. Take baby steps towards the leaving the town better… thing.
114	* ''Literature/TheDeathOfRussia'':
115	** While the Chechens are allied with Islamists in their fight for freedom, the Russian Army's actions in Chechnya are simply nightmarish, most infamously in the village of Vedeno, with the entire male population down to roughly twelve years old in the village executed before most of the remaining females were raped.
116	** [[spoiler:Alexander Lebed]] has a low opinion of democracy, but he's merely a charismatic military strongman, which makes him a much better contender in the Second Russian Civil War compared to the Communists and Fascists, nor is he a PoliticallyIncorrectHero. Combined with intending to restore access to resource deposits in Siberia, this serves as incentive for him to get under-the-table support from corporate sponsors.
117	* ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'' uses this in its most famous, recurring matchup: [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]] Vs. UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler.
118	* Seiji from ''Literature/OnlyVillainsDoThat'' isn't particularly likeable, but compared to the goddess of evil Virya he's a saint.
119	* The [[FishPeople Kua-Toa]] of ''WebVideo/TalesFromMyDDCampaign'' are divided into two factions: The Illud and the Deluvians. Both are [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil slavers]] and believe themselves to be the MasterRace, but the Deluvians worship the AxCrazy goddess of slaughter and want to butcher all the civilized races, while the Illud worship a neutral god of storms, and may be content with just enslaving all the civilized races.
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122	[[folder:Western Animation]]
123	* ''WesternAnimation/AngryBirdsSummerMadness'': Neideflyer's sister, Robin. While she is just as stuck-up and antagonistic as her brother, she has lows she won't stoop to, and doesn't hesitate to help Stella save her friends in "Space Oddities".
124	* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'':
125	** Sir George vs Diagon. George might be a [[FantasticRacism anti-alien]] KnightTemplar leading a whole faction of CapeBusters, but he is still better than the [[MindRape Mind-Raping]], MultiversalConqueror EldritchAbomination that is Diagon. However, later episodes show that he, unlike Driscoll and the rest of the knights, was not so bad after all. Once the Diagon arc kicks in he's pretty much a good guy who also protects the world, but he and Ben were at odds with their views on non-earthly beings until a bigger threat forced Sir George to get over it and work with the team.
126	** Charmcaster vs. Adwaitya. [[spoiler:Charmcaster is hardly is a saint, but Adwaitya is way, ''way'' worse: she may have done more damage than he did temporarily (though one could argue that regardless of what Spellbinder claimed, wiping out all life in her realm in one go is still more benevolent than Adwaitya's systematic killing over the ages) but is called out on it and becomes a FriendlyEnemy afterward for the most part; by contrast, Adwaitya was power-mad and unrepentant to the end.]]
127	* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': Sly Sludge is this compared to the other villains, as he is more negligent than malicious. He works in waste disposal, which could actually be very beneficial to the environment. The problem is that he's a LazyBum who goes about it in the most careless ways, just dumping his polution wherever he can and burning it to make acid rain. He isn't truly evil, and he eventually [[spoiler:turns himself around and starts properly recycling]].
128	* ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'' does this with [[Characters/HarleyQuinn2019TheCharacter Harley]] and [[Characters/HarleyQuinn2019HarleysCrew her friends]]. They're ever so slightly nicer than their enemies, which makes it possible to root for them. Harley herself is still a CardCarryingVillain who wants nothing more than to be invited to join the Legion of Doom, but she at least gets the benefit of a sympathetic backstory and isn't as extreme in her evil acts as the Joker.
129	* In the season five finale of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Twilight sees a number of alternate timelines where the villains won and it turns out that, while not ''good'' in any sense of the word, Nightmare Moon's reign is [[TheNightThatNeverEnds ironically]] this. King Sombra turns all his subjects into mindless slaves, Chrysalis treats Equestria's populace as prey, Tirek just destroys everything, and Discord creates a WorldOfChaos. Nightmare Moon, by contrast, rules over an Equestria that's swept in eternal night and while her kingdom is certainly tyrannical and authoritarian, it ''is'' a functioning kingdom where ponies are able to live their night-to-night lives in peace.
130	* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': [[Characters/RickAndMortyEvilMorty Evil Morty]] is this compared to Rick Prime. Evil Morty may have committed his fair share of atrocities, but they were all done to find a way to get away from Rick’s influence for good and decide to no longer be a threat to our Rick and Morty once he [[TheBadGuyWins accomplishes his goal]]. Rick Prime, on the other hand, committed all of his atrocities out of sheer [[EvilIsPetty pettiness]], having wiped out every single version of Rick’s wife from existence and was about to do the same with the rest of Rick’s loved ones, all because Rick rejected his offer to explore the multiverse with him.
131	* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' and its SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'', [[Characters/StarWarsDarthMaul Darth Maul]] is certainly not a good person, what with his desire for revenge on Obi-Wan and his general lack of morals. However, he is also given some tragic elements to his character and a somewhat humanizing relationship with Savage Opress and Ezra Bridger. This places sympathy on his side when he gets into conflict with his former master [[Characters/StarWarsEmperorPalpatine Darth Sidious]], a total sociopath motivated only by selfish lust for power.
132	* ''WesternAnimation/SuicideSquadHellToPay'', more prominently in the tie-in sequel comics, have Amanda Waller as this. Amanda Waller is far from a heroic, pleasant, or likeable individual, but the comic points out quite clearly she had done good things. Meanwhile the two she's competing with for the [[spoiler:Get Out of Hell Free Card]], ''ComicBook/VandalSavage'' and [[ComicBook/TheFlash Reverse-Flash]], are complete monsters with no redeeming features or good actions to their names.
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Context Main / ALighterShadeOfBlack