Line #30 Main/MoralSociopathy


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7	->''"But I have a perfectly healthy brain. It just doesn't contain feelings. And that doesn't necessarily make me a bad person. It just means I have to work a little harder than everyone else to be good."''
8	-->-- '''Amanda''', ''Film/{{Thoroughbreds}}''
9
10	[[TheSociopath Sociopaths]] are essentially the human version of AlwaysChaoticEvil in most media. Since we consider morality to be good, they are naturally depicted as selfish and immoral.
11
12	However, reality is quite a bit more complicated, and some works reflect this.
13
14	While it is somewhat TruthInTelevision, sociopaths are still human, and it's not unnatural that sociopaths have a sense of right and wrong, [[BlueAndOrangeMorality even though it is highly likely to be completely different from what other people consider that to be]]. Many diagnosed sociopaths are known to have moral codes, often [[{{Ubermensch}} unique to them]], but occasionally based on preexisting social codes (such as TheGoldenRule) as filtered through their very particular perspectives. Naturally, since these types of morality focus more on abstract concepts and [[BotheringByTheBook rigid adherence to their chosen code]] [[LackOfEmpathy rather than on the feelings or reactions of people themselves]], expect some rather interesting and/or nasty [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans extremism]] to crop up: either occasional or a lot. The upshot is, they can easily like individuals and work towards the welfare of people as groups without actually ''caring'' for or about them and what they feel all that much. Emotional toes are likely to be trodden on and then shrugged off with an easy smile, and not even out of any deliberate calculation on their part, because they might very well ''not'' even be fully aware that they have trodden.
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16	By definition, sociopaths are largely or totally incapable of normal levels of guilt, empathy, or remorse -- thus, whenever they subscribe to a moral code, said code will either be reinterpreted into something rather more amoral than usual or simply be amoral from the outset. They might well feel "bad" or uncomfortable about doing something they think is wrong, or that goes against their code, [[IgnoredEpiphany but they won't necessarily be able to feel guilty about that and will shrug it off as just one of those things]], or [[IDidWhatIHadToDo justify to themselves what they did]] as meeting TheNeedsOfTheMany, or what have you, no matter how much InsaneTrollLogic they have to employ to reach their conclusion. This guilt-free confidence of theirs in their own beliefs, abilities, and logic chains can come across as highly charismatic to a lot of the people around them, so expect TheCharmer or TheSocialExpert to come with the package, even if they openly display their blind spots.
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18	The psychologist Andrzej M. Łobaczewski described something somewhat similar to this as a "schizoidal psychopath"[[note]]Not to be confused with schizoid personality disorder, which is a completely unrelated personality disorder.[[/note]] -- someone who may have a conscience, but it's so heavily distorted that their moral codes end up demented, and whose attitude toward society thus becomes that of a KnightTemplar.
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20	See also PrinciplesZealot, when one is completely obsessed with their moral code above everything; some moral sociopaths are twisted versions of these as well since they care about their empathy-restricted moral code almost as much as they do about themselves. This twist can be bad to be around, without necessarily being Evil or even conventionally [[GoodIsNotNice Good]] for that matter (it's going to hit [[ToBeLawfulOrGood Lawful]], though). However, moral sociopaths need not be always overwhelmed by extremism. Many can simply hit NominalHero, who, while lacking empathy, still have their moral codes to restrict them from dangerous, socially damaging behaviors in many ways. Also compare/contrast BlackAndWhiteInsanity, ByronicHero, and SociopathicHero. Also, at a bit more of a stretch, ComedicSociopathy.[[note]]A word of caution for all other characters in a work -- always remember to wear properly tested safety equipment if one of ''these'' is a main protagonist. Having "fun feels good and is liked by the crowd, so do what is fun for the crowd and avoid what the crowd finds unfun" as an actual moral stance can be draining to live with.[[/note]] See also EvilHero, in which the person in question truly ''is'' evil through and through but is merely doing a traditionally heroic job like police officer or firefighter.
21
22	Moral sociopaths are both born and raised, so you can't just make one without most of the ingredients being there. The more socially acceptable types are likely to have had strong role models of the MentorArchetype school who helped them develop their codes around a solid, workable framework to hang their unconventional outlooks from, or just some really [[GoodParents decent parental figures]] they wish to live up to. By contrast, the rather more extreme versions will have a rotten background with terrible mentors and/or role models giving them a valid FreudianExcuse or two (or six) handy that will go quite some way to explain the somewhat questionable nature of the moral code they have cobbled together out of sheer spite, the will to completely confound the bad examples and/or the wish to survive.
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24	This is not to be confused with {{Ubermensch}}. Moral sociopaths can have their own unique moral codes, but they are just as likely to adhere to already-established things like Christianity and Communism.
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26	[[noreallife]]
27	----
28	!!Examples:
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30	[[foldercontrol]]
31
32	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
33	* ''Manga/{{Akagi}}'': While it's never made clear whether or not [[VillainProtagonist the titular character]] is indeed a sociopath, he does have a moral code he follows that has very little overlap with 'traditional' morality. Akagi considers lying, cheating, and hurting others to be acceptable as long as whoever is doing them is willing to let the same happen to them if they lose. He despises double standards and people unwilling to risk anything.
34	* ''Manga/BlackButler'' shows most 'supernaturals' having codes that by their very nature are immoral for humans.
35	** The first season BigBad [[spoiler:Ash/Angela]] wants a world of {{pur\|eIsNotGood}}ity and {{light\|IsNotGood}} -- burning cities, murdering children, [[BestialityIsDepraved screwing dogs]], whatever it takes. [[spoiler:This is possibly a side-effect of being a FallenAngel, since [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels shouldn't be on earth in the first place]].]]
36	** Ciel says that [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]] (including Sebastian, the eponymous Black Butler) do not have morality or attachments, only aesthetics; this includes following orders, which may be viewed as a sort of morality code. Even though Sebastian himself never shows any compassion or guilt, he does care about his assets, even if for only practical reasons (to get their loyalty).
37	* Lloyd Asplund of ''Anime/CodeGeass'', though more of a MadScientist, claims that he is a sociopath, caring only about science and engineering. An instance is when he decides to marry Milly Ashford, just so he could inherit the third generation Knightmare Frame in the family's possession. [[spoiler:Later on, when Milly breaks off the engagement so she can live her own life, he isn't overly concerned and lets her go without a fuss.]]
38	* ''Manga/DeathNote'': [[Characters/DeathNoteLightYagami Light Yagami]] has a moral code based upon perfectionism. He gets perfect grades in school? That's good. He's athletic, intelligent and charismatic? That's good. He just ''murdered a man'' using an ArtifactOfDoom? That's... it's... It is good. It ''has'' to be good. '''''He''''' has to be good. He has to be ''perfect'', and if the only way to ensure that he is perfect is to [[AGodAmI establish himself as God]] by forcing his brand of justice upon the world, in the process murdering everyone who is imperfect and bad according to him, [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope then so be it]]. When one of his followers starts killing people for the "crime" of being unproductive to society, Light's reaction is that it is wrong. Why? Because there are are still criminals to take care of; it's still ''too early'' to kill off people just for being unproductive.
39	* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': [[Characters/DragonBallZamasu Zamasu]], the ArcVillain of the Future Trunks Saga, truly and honestly believes that mortals are foolish and dangerous creatures that can challenge the gods and should be destroyed for the good of the universe. When [[spoiler:he tries to kill Gowasu for his earrings, he freely admits that what he's doing is evil, but he believes that [[NecessarilyEvil said evil will lead to a greater good]]]].
40	* Solf J. Kimblee from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' is one of the evilest examples. While he is an AxCrazy MadBomber, it is well-established that he does have a few standards, like always sticking by your principles (regardless of what those principles may be) and [[VillainsNeverLie telling the truth]]. He highly respects people who stick to their guns through anything, but he'll still blow up their house with a SlasherSmile.
41	* Wolfgang Grimmer from ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' is a sociopath (at least according to himself) who is incapable of empathy and emotion. This has made his moral code, [[IJustWantToBeNormal which is to fake his emotions as best he can at all times so that no one can tell he's a sociopath]], all the more important to him. He's so good at it that only people who really get to know him can tell that he lacks emotional affect. [[spoiler:His wife only truly noticed it after their son died in an accident and Wolfgang was unable to fake mourning him.]] By contrast, Johan Liebert is a [[TheSociopath more traditional sociopath]].
42	* The Marines from ''Manga/OnePiece'' are filled with many who have this view, usually [[KnightTemplar seeing the letter of the law as more important than the spirit of the law]].
43	** Admiral Sakazuki/Akainu's code is of absolute justice untempered by mercy or restraint, to the point that he'd slaughter civilian refugees just on the ''off-chance'' one of those "wanted" by them escapes and renders the Marine's efforts useless. However, he is facing some of the problems with this post-TimeSkip: [[spoiler:as Fleet Admiral, he now has to clash with being in charge of the whole thing while butting heads with the Five Stars when they do actions for the Celestial Dragons that meanwhile damage the reputation of the Marines. Furthermore, he now has to deal with unruly subordinates who don't prescribe to his code and are on the level of power that he would need to take seriously]].
44	** His fellow Admiral Borsalino/Kizaru, while not as extreme, is also perfectly willing to target civilians to force his targets to take the blow instead and treats the hunting of pirates and criminals more like a game than a duty. It's implied that the main, if not only, reason that Borsalino is less extreme than Sakazuki is that by his own admission he's too lazy to go all-out like Sakazuki.
45	* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': [[spoiler:Kyubey]] is [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation debatably]] this, viewing emotions as a mental disorder and simply not understanding human morality. At the same time, [[spoiler:he's trying to prevent the heat death of the universe]]. The 'debatable' part is that [[spoiler:it's not clear if he [[WellIntentionedExtremist genuinely believes his actions are for the greater good]] or if he is selfishly trying to preserve the lives of [[SpeciesLoyalty his race]]]].
46	* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': [[Characters/YuGiOhSetoKaiba Seto Kaiba]] is virtually incapable of feeling empathy for anyone besides Mokuba. Not even Amelda, who lost his own little brother to war, can invoke much sympathy from Kaiba. However, Kaiba certainly has a strong sense of honor when it comes to duels, despises conflict for any reason ''besides'' measuring your own strength, and has a vision to make the world better.
47	[[/folder]]
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49	[[folder:Comic Books]]
50	* ''ComicBook/{{AXIS}}'': After being [[HeelFaceBrainwashing inverted]], Cletus Kasady/Carnage -- normally an AxCrazy, [[ChaosIsEvil chaos-worshipping]] [[TheSociopath sociopath]] with the [[StrawNihilist nihilistic]] desire to [[OmnicidalManiac kill everyone and everything in existence]] -- is forcibly saddled with the desire to redeem himself and do good but [[HeroWithAnFInGood has no clue how to actually do so]] due to his lingering bloodlust and LackOfEmpathy.
51	* ComicBook/{{Batman}}: Minhkhoa Khan, the Ghost-Maker, was diagnosed with psychopathy at the age of eight. Despite this, he became a skilled crime-fighter and rival of Batman who studied under many of the Dark Knight's teachers, though he sees crime-fighting as an art instead of an obligation. He agreed to refrain from killing after joining Batman Incorporated, albeit for the challenge of it rather than believing in Batman's code.
52	* ''ComicBook/TheBoys'': Billy Butcher has high-functioning psychopathy with a general LackOfEmpathy, but he has a strong sense of honor and morality as well as [[SociopathicHero concern for his fellow man]] that makes him [[BloodKnight more than willing to happily]] PayEvilUntoEvil. [[spoiler:However, his ControlFreak tendencies and excessive FantasticRacism when it comes to the superpowered leads to him becoming a WellIntentionedExtremist with time, eventually seeking to [[FinalSolution genocide the entire supe population]].]]
53	* Mind████ from ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' is an odd case, as she used her mental powers to ''prevent'' herself from being the sociopath she sensed she would become (and that her brother already was), leading to her becoming one of the most empathetic characters in the series. [[spoiler:This also means that when she and Empowered are in a situation where only one of them can escape, she mind-controls Empowered to force her to do so, reasoning that Empowered was more purely heroic than her given that she had to MindRape herself to not be a sociopath.]]
54	* ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'': [[spoiler:Gepetto]] combines the worst elements of an EvilOverlord and a KnightTemplar, much to the detriment of everyone else.
55	* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': Doctor Doom subscribes to a personal code of honor that concerns [[IGaveMyWord always keeping his word]], repaying any debt he owes to another, [[TheGoodKing looking after the welfare of the people of Latveria]], [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans working to eradicate poverty, famine, disease, and war]] via [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]], and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick ruthlessly avenging any and every insult to his character, real or imagined]]. Depending on his mood (and, thus, DependingOnTheWriter), he can abuse the hell out of all of these -- ExactWords, RevengeBeforeReason, DisproportionateRetribution, EvilIsPetty, UngratefulBastard, ItsAllAboutMe, and a serious LackOfEmpathy are all characteristics of the man that his code doesn't get in the way of, and Latveria is sometimes depicted as a brutally efficient PoliceState. As his worst, ColdBloodedTorture, WouldHurtAChild, and mass-murder are all fair game. It ''should'' be noted that while using ExactWords when he was younger, when he was called out on it, he did acknowledge it and thus became more inclined to follow on the spirit of the word.
56	* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': The Guardians believe in upholding order in the universe, but they also suppress any form of emotion that they believe would hamper their own judgement. They even went as far as creating the Third Army to replace the Green Lanterns and wipe out all emotions in the universe to end future conflict.
57	* ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'': [[spoiler:Robot]] just wants to bring peace and happiness to the Earth, even if he has to TakeOverTheWorld, murder his fellow superheroes, and turn the planet into a giant PoliceState to ''force'' them [[HappinessIsMandatory into peace and happiness]]. In his opinion, [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves humans are incapable of maintaining a truly peaceful society]], and only someone who's "empty" like him can make the truly logical choices without emotion clouding their judgement. His astounding intelligence means that [[VillainHasAPoint he actually has many good ideas on how to improve the world]], but his dampened emotions quickly prove to be a hindrance, not a strength. [[EvilCannotComprehendGood He genuinely can't understand how other people feel and think]], and this lack of understanding means his attempts to help the populace [[UnwantedAssistance often go over poorly]].
58	* In ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'', [[{{Satan}} the title character]] is an arrogant sociopath who does whatever it takes to get his way (and usually gets away with it due to being nearly omnipotent in most circumstances). Nonetheless, he scrupulously observes a personal moral code of [[IGaveMyWord always keeping his word]] and [[VillainsNeverLie always telling the unvarnished truth]].
59	* ''ComicBook/MercuryHeat'': The protagonist, Luiza Bora, has enough morals to want to work as a cop, but is sufficiently sociopathic to have no problems with [[PayEvilUntoEvil killing and torturing people]] if she thinks it's in a good cause. This personality profile meant that she was unable to get a policing job anywhere except [[WretchedHive Mercury]].
60	* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'': Frank Castle sometimes has this problem, DependingOnTheWriter. He kills because he's a [[BloodKnight war-addicted psychopath]]; he [[VigilanteMan limits himself to criminals]] out of a lingering sense of responsibility.
61	* [[spoiler:Getaway]] from ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', enough so that his nature is a major spoiler. He ''does'' have a sense of morality, with a strong belief in loyalty to his cause and a desire to avoid unnecessary violence. Yet at the same time, his moral code is odd and often seems more concerned with the overall concepts than with individual people. He leads a mutiny and makes a deal with the BigBad to get rid of Megatron, yet speaks as if he's on the moral high ground simply because he's doing so for the crew as a whole. When the DJD kill some people, [[spoiler:Getaway]] expresses seemingly genuine sadness for their deaths but doesn't really show any ''guilt'' over it, even though his scheme indirectly led to those deaths. Essentially he thinks less "it's all my fault" and more "shit happens".
62	-->''"I'm not a bad person. I just have strong beliefs."''
63	* ''ComicBook/{{Venom}}'': During his AntiHero days in the 1990s, Eddie Brock -- influenced by the Venom symbiote's bloodlust -- goes out of his way to protect people he deems innocent while happily murdering anyone he deems guilty in gruesome fashions, often cracking sadistic jokes while doing so. There are also a few lines that he's (usually) unwilling to cross, such as satiating the symbiote's [[HorrorHunger growing appetite for flesh]] by committing cannibalism.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Fan Works]]
67	* The author's version of the [[PlayerCharacter Inquisitor]] in the ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' fic ''Fanfic/AllThisVenatoriNonsense'' is a man with violent impulses who sees murder as a form of stress relief and struggles to relate to other people on even a basic level, among many other character flaws. Despite this, he is one of the heroes of the story and does have a moral code of ''some'' kind, eventually even making friends he truly cares about in the Inquisition. His lack of empathy for other people usually just means he has an easier time making [[PragmaticHero pragmatic decisions]] than others would in his position.
68	* [[TheDragon The Princess]] from ''Fanfic/BadFutureCrusaders'' has one of these just barely concealed by her [[AffablyEvil affable nature]], as best seen when she politely claims lying is wrong while calmly ''strangling Silver Spoon to death'':
69	-->''"It did not have to end like this, but no matter. I would say it was nice knowing you, but quite frankly that would be a lie, which is wrong."''
70	* ''Fanfic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness Act IV'': Hokuto Kaneshiro is firmly convinced that [[StrawNihilist all living beings, human and monster alike, are evil, destructive beings]] who endlessly fight and kill one another simply for being different and only care about living for the sake of living; he sincerely believes that all life is a plague, and the only way to achieve true peace is to resurrect [[EldritchAbomination Alucard]] and [[OmnicidalManiac allow him to destroy everything]].
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73	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
74	* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney'': Frollo is selfish in his lust for Esmeralda, but otherwise he sincerely believes half of the things he does genuinely are what God intended (albeit because [[TautologicalTemplar he, Frollo, couldn't possibly do anything God didn't want him to do]]). A pretty big break from the literary version, who was a much nicer AntiVillain and probably not a sociopath at all.
75	* According to the creator's commentary, in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'', Lord Shen exhibits traits of this. He knows how [[MoralEventHorizon utterly horrendous]] his actions were, but he refuses to admit how wrong he was about his parents because it's the only way he can justify the genocide of the pandas. As far as he is concerned, it's too late for his redemption, and rendering everything as accidents is unthinkable.
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78	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
79	* ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Walter Simmons]] is a [[TheSociopath high-functioning sociopathic]] {{narcissist}}, who seems to genuinely believe his own claims that he's bettering the human race... while [[CorporateConspiracy conspiring]] to endanger millions of innocent people and starting a needless, costly war against Godzilla for nothing better than his own wounded pride; having absolutely no empathy nor remorse for the people he's endangering, and calling their deaths amid Godzilla's rampage "providence".
80	* The Warden in ''Film/{{Marmoulak}}'' wants to get all of his prisoners to heaven - even if he has to drag them there kicking and screaming.
81	* ''Film/MissionImpossibleFallout'': Erica Sloane, the new head of the CIA, ultimately comes to agree with Ethan Hunt's compassionate work ethic '''not''' out of any respect or agreement with his morality, but only because of her not needing to feel any sympathy about [[AMillionIsAStatistic any potential collateral damage]] while many others can.
82	* Mr. Blonde from ''Film/ReservoirDogs'' cuts a man's ear off for fun, has no sense of professionalism, guns down innocent bystanders, and clearly has no regard for his fellow robbers or their well-being. On the flip side, he appears to have a great deal of personal loyalty to his employer Joe and is shown (in a flashback) to have refused a plea bargain and instead serving a jail sentence when he could have walked by implicating Joe in a smuggling operation that he was caught in. He also, as well as almost all of the other criminals, is offended when Mr. Pink refuses to tip their waitress in the opening scene.
83	* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
84	** The Jedi aspire to be this, as they value morality, but their whole purpose is to forsake emotion. The [[Franchise/StarWarsLegends old EU]] occasionally explores this in greater detail, sometimes to [[KnightTemplar horrific detail]]. This is implied to be the FatalFlaw that led to the fall of the Order, and something that Luke Skywalker is careful not to repeat in the New Order.
85	** The EU also portrays Darth Vader as this, in his absolute devotion to TheEmpire and TheEmperor. It's ultimately subverted in that BeneathTheMask Vader hates himself for what he does, and the very act of [[BeingEvilSucks being Darth Vader]] is the man's own [[IAmAMonster self-inflicted punishment]] for killing his wife.
86	* Amanda from ''Film/{{Thoroughbreds}}'' says that she's incapable of feeling ''[[EmotionlessGirl anything]]''. This includes shame, guilt, or fear, but also sadness, anger, pride, or even happiness, [[spoiler:barring the final minute of the film, when she sports a genuine smile while looking at a picture of her and Lily as little kids]]. She tells Lily that growing up, she became so adept at mimicking emotions that for a long time she believed that she actually felt them. She has little social skills and shares other traits common with sociopaths, including an affinity for high-risk behavior, unbroken eye contact that makes other people uncomfortable, and zero fear response, even when someone holds a gun to her head. However, she holds that this doesn't make her an inherently bad person, she just has to work harder at being good than most people. She dislikes those who are evil or unkind, she doesn't enjoy inflicting pain and is never outright cruel to anyone, and she seems to have cognitive empathy as seen when she puts down her prized horse because he was dying and she didn't want him to suffer. From her perspective, murder is okay if the victim does more harm than good in the world -- she compares it to putting down a horse with a broken leg. She is also the page's quote.
87	-->''"I think most of this country's moral norms comes from weird old Puritan bullshit. A human life isn't some sacred thing. There's nothing holy about a dick and a vaj getting together and spitting out a little dude. If that dude causes more bad than good, then he's like a... you know, a piece of malfunctioning machinery."''
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:Literature]]
91	* ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'': The PoeticSerialKiller U.N. Owen/[[spoiler:Justice Wargrave]] describes himself in the EpilogueLetter as having been a sociopath who craved murder since childhood but also having a moral code that caused him to [[SerialKillerKiller target only other murderers]].
92	* ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'': Despite his cheerful AllLovingHero demeanor and selfless behavior, [[spoiler:Elmer C. Albatross]] is [[LackOfEmpathy completely devoid of empathy and concern for others]]. He just does what he does because GoodFeelsGood.
93	* {{Subverted\|Trope}} with Hrathen in ''Literature/{{Elantris}}'', who seems like a religious fanatic at first, but turns out to be one of the more reasonable antagonists and goes through crippling guilt for his actions -- he supports his theocratic religion because he believes it is too logical and well-organized to be wrong [[spoiler:and turns against it when it ''stops'' behaving logically.]] Played straight with [[spoiler:Dilaf, who is such a fanatic and has such a serious case of FantasticRacism for the Elantrians that he can justify any atrocity.]]
94	* Ambiguously, [[SociopathicHero Peter Wiggin]] in ''Literature/EndersGame'', whose goal is to TakeOverTheWorld and unite it under a hegemony before [[WorldWarIII the Russian-aligned Second Warsaw Pact creates a new conflict]] after the insectoid alien "buggers" are defeated.
95	* In ''Literature/TheExpanse'', Amos is explicitly described as a sociopathic killer, more than willing to start butchering people who get in his way. But since indiscriminate murder is a poor survival strategy in space, where you need a lot of people on your side just to get ''air and water'', he makes a habit of seeking out a MoralityChain whose lead he can follow through a world far more complicated than he is. What little empathy he has, he keeps for children who could [[DarkAndTroubledPast turn out like him]] without his (quite violent) protection. Amos also has a strong sense of moral obligation to those who are part of his self-identified "family", and is quietly horrified by the idea that anyone would willingly submit to a procedure that strips them of their empathy.
96	* [[spoiler:Amy Dunne]] from ''Literature/GoneGirl'' is a sociopath to the core, with a list of transgressions that includes [[spoiler:setting up a former boyfriend for raping her, throwing herself down a flight of stairs and blaming it on a childhood friend for petty reasons, and murdering Desi as well as framing him for kidnapping and raping her to fit her WoundedGazelleGambit plot]]. However, [[spoiler:she does genuinely believe in the concept of marriage and all that it details. Nick's neglectful, inconsiderate attitude toward her, as well as him cheating on her with a student of his by using the same routine that he used to win her over, is what pushes her to exact her revenge. [[PoliticallyCorrectVillain She also seems to care about social equality and diverse representation]]; in her list of things that she did with Nick that made her not use her brain as much as she used to, she says that she watched movies and didn't think about the "lack of women and minorities in meaningful roles".]]
97	* ''Franchise/HannibalLecter'': [[BlueAndOrangeMorality Lecter's personal ethics are bizarre]]. Murder, torture, cannibalism, and mutilation are fine, but sexual assault and rudeness are punishable by death. What Lecter considers to be rude behaviour is unclear as he himself insults, ignores, and talks down to people, and murder could be seen as being pretty rude as well. Furthermore, [[WhatIsEvil his definition of evil]] is to defy the rules of society, and he [[CardCarryingVillain made the deliberate choice to be evil]] by rejecting societal norms.
98	* Bartemius Crouch Jr. in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' is ruthlessly violent in service of the EvilSorcerer Voldemort. In the backstory, Barty was at least an accomplice, if not an active participant, in the ColdBloodedTorture of Neville Longbottom's parents, who were so damaged from the experience that they don't even recognize their son a decade and a half later. At the time of the story, Barty imprisons [[spoiler:Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody]] in a trunk for almost a year, kills [[spoiler:his own father]], and mind-controls one Triwizard Tournament contestant into torturing another. Yet:
99	** His core value is UndyingLoyalty to Voldemort. He despises fellow Death Eaters (Voldemort's followers) who disavowed the cause after Voldemort's [[OnlyMostlyDead apparent]] death, especially those who ratted others out in exchange for amnesty. This could be considered hypocritical, as Barty himself denied involvement in the attack on the Longbottoms and begged not to be imprisoned. On the other hand, he never renounced Voldemort or the Death Eaters, and [[spoiler: after smuggling him out of Azkaban, his father had to use mind control to keep him from seeking out his presumed-dead master]]. So he likely wanted to avoid prison specifically to keep up the fight.
100	** He also shows disdain for people who attack when their opponents' backs are turned.
101	* In Creator/DanWells' John Cleaver trilogy (''Literature/IAmNotASerialKiller'', ''Literature/MrMonster'', and ''Literature/IDontWantToKillYou''), the eponymous protagonist, diagnosed at 15 with conduct disorder (which he calls "just a nice way of telling parents their kids have antisocial personality disorder"), does not want to become a serial killer but recognizes his potential to become one, so he lives by a strict set of rules to prevent himself from SlowlySlippingIntoEvil, "[[ReluctantPsycho practicing normal life as if it were a private religion that could save him from damnation]]". His rules include: Not watching one person for too long (and ignoring them for a whole week if he does) to prevent stalking behaviour; not interacting with animals at all, period (animal cruelty); and giving someone a compliment if they make him so angry he wants to hurt them — he'll do this even to a boy at school who bullies him. John is ''so'' dependent on these rules, that in the wake of local serial killings, he wrestles for a ''week'' with the idea of breaking a rule to simply ''follow'' a suspicious drifter, purely because he's afraid of the slippery slope.
102	* Explored in detail with various characters in ''Literature/TheMachineriesOfEmpire'':
103	** Mikodez really is a sociopath with morality, maintaining an overall good orientation despite his lack of morals because he intellectually thinks that treating other people well is more effective in keeping society stable and avoiding trouble.
104	** Jedao really tries to be one, because he thinks it's necessary but is deeply tormented as a result.
105	** [[spoiler:Kujen deliberately turned himself into a sociopath because he found being a WellIntentionedExtremist too painful and thought he could continue to achieve good ends, but ended up as just a sociopathic villain because he didn't account for MotiveDecay]].
106	* Aster in ''Literature/MagikOnline'' shows all the signs of being TheSociopath but he has a very twisted moral compass of a KnightTemplar, refusing to believe in evil because he believes he can reeducate anyone into a model citizen, ironically showing a belief in good and bad.
107	* Zack of ''Literature/TheMentalState'' is practically a textbook definition of this trope. He generally serves as a demonstration of how the darker side of human nature can not only be useful but also essential. Apart from self-preservation, his primary motive throughout the course of the story is to impose his own concept of morality on the prison system. [[spoiler:Luckily, he is a big believer in prisoner rights and freedom of choice. His rule is less like a 'dictatorship' and more like a 'dictablanda'.]]
108	* In the ''Literature/NightWatchSeries'', the worse members of the [[LightIsNotGood Light Ones]] and the better members of [[DarkIsNotEvil Dark Ones]] are this.
109	* Anton Chigurh from ''Literature/NoCountryForOldMen'' is an absolute whirlwind of destruction who’ll kill you for so much as inconveniencing him, but he is also obsessively honest and reliable, and if nothing else he is not even remotely greedy. At the end of the story he recovers the [[MacGuffin $2 million]] and returns it to its owner, who’s baffled that he didn’t simply keep it for himself. Anton simply sees no reason to back out of a deal no matter how much it would benefit him personally. He then proceeds to drive to a widow’s house and murder her because he “promised” her now-deceased husband that he’d do so if he didn’t comply.
110	* In ''Literature/{{RCN}}'', Adele Mundy's personal bodyguard is said to be a SociopathicSoldier who acts moral not because of any personal code, but because of the legal consequences of doing otherwise.
111	* Tanya von Degurechaff from ''Literature/TheSagaOfTanyaTheEvil'' is this combined with JerkassHasAPoint. She does have reasonably firm moral lines and displays significant contempt for those who breach them. She hates war and fighting, considering them a waste of resources, endeavors to always obey the rules, despises laziness, and views HonorBeforeReason attitudes as pure selfish pride.
112	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Bronn does [[PrivateMilitaryContractors his job]] to the best of his abilities, whatever it might [[PunchClockVillain currently]] [[PunchClockHero entail]] as part of the agreed package, all while maintaining a professional and personable demeanour to all and sundry where suitable. However, outside the job, [[ItsAllAboutMe he comes first]] -- ''[[NothingPersonal always]]''. He seems to find it somewhat disagreeable when people mistreat those he regards as having more worth (or just a load more bad luck) than wider society deems them to have or simply overlooks, but [[LackOfEmpathy he won't actually step in to act on their behalf]] unless there is [[OnlyInItForTheMoney something for him to gain by it]]. There is very little he is unwilling to do for the right price from the right authority, but the more distasteful (or dangerous) he finds the act, the more money or concessions he'll demand in exchange for doing it. And, if you don't manage to supply sufficient incentive, he'll simply leave. Oh, and don't try insulting him by suggesting he go against his underlying "[[HonestyIsTheBestPolicy keep it honest]]; [[ConsummateProfessional keep in business]]" code for simply enough recompense or some suspiciously, nebulously defined social credit: no dice. He'll add [[TheGadfly trolling you]] to his general "[[EnlightenedSelfInterest exist as well as feasible]]" strategy.
113	-->'''Tyrion:''' If someone asked you to kill someone's baby, would you do it, without question?\
114	'''Bronn:''' Without question? No. ''[beat]'' [[BaitAndSwitchComment I'd ask how much]].
115	* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
116	** [[Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy Imperial Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo]] can be interpreted this way. Thrawn prizes efficiency over brutality and behaves as AFatherToHisMen but appears to do so on purely practical terms: he's averse to genocide and randomly murdering subordinates because he considers them ''wasteful'' rather than immoral. Thrawn doesn't really appear to actually ''care'' about anybody (other than his brother Thrass in ''Literature/OutboundFlight''), and when he's foiled, it's often because he failed to consider the possibility that his opponents would take some supremely risky action out of genuine altruism. He also never once appears to consider how he would actually ''rule'' the galaxy were he to succeed in reconquering it for the Empire, seeming to want to do so [[ChallengeSeeker purely for the intellectual challenge of the attempt]].
117	** ''Literature/TalesOfTheBountyHunters'':
118	*** Dengar has this since after the brain surgery he's suffered to remake him into an Imperial assassin, [[EmotionSuppression he no longer feels most emotions]] (only anger, hope, and loneliness). However, he still recalls what doing good means, and slowly pulls a HeelFaceTurn before somewhat recovering through [[MindlinkMates mind-linking]] with Manaroo.
119	*** Probably the best way to describe Creator/DanielKeysMoran's version of Boba Fett is as a LawfulEvil sociopath. He considers extramarital sex and rape to be immoral but also considers running drugs and rebellion to be on the same level, even saying to Leia Organa's face that Alderaan deserved it. At the same time, he has no problem with murder for hire, because bounty hunting is legal, nor did he have a problem murdering somebody he thought deserved it -- however, he's disturbed when he accidentally kills Incavi Baker because he was aiming at Han Solo.
120	* ''Literature/SweetValleyHigh''. Elizabeth Wakefield can be like this. In her efforts to punish people for their wrongdoing, she can be as cruel as the person themselves was, but she's always completely oblivious to this.
121	* ''Literature/Timeline191'': Boris Lavochkin is a SociopathicSoldier who will kill anybody who even looks at him funny. He still finds the CSA's FinalSolution horrifying and deserving of punishment, meaning that for all his disregard for morality, he has a conception of it.
122	* ''Literature/TheTruth'': After being presented with proof of an afterlife, Mr. Pin becomes frightened enough to start acting in ways that conflict with his natural inclinations but conform with his "shaky grasp of how things were supposed to work in a moral universe" in the hopes it might keep him out of Hell. However, his lack of enthusiasm about this and attempts to employ ruthless loopholes end poorly for him.
123	* Sauron of ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'' was originally this. From the beginning, Sauron was an obsessive perfectionist, which served him well as a servant of [[UltimateBlacksmith Aulë]] but caused massive friction when confronted with the chaotic mess created by his master’s wife [[MotherNature Yavanna]]. Sauron defected to [[BigBad Morgoth]], but his goals were ultimately to impose his own sense of order onto the world. His frustrations mounted with the emergence of [[SmugSuper the elves]], who rejected his attempts at guidance and built a perfectly functional society entirely on their own. Sauron's intentions [[MotiveDecay slowly degraded]] from order to subjugation, refusing peace in favor of vengeance against those who had resisted him. By the time of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', he has become so bitter, frustrated, and sadistic that he [[TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget can't remember]] what it was like to feel for others.
124	* ''Literature/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'':
125	** [[BigBad Prince Fugil Arcadia]] believes in creating a balanced and peaceful world, but he has no empathy for individual humans (save for Arshalia), to the point where he sees them as objects in a Civ-like game who can be manipulated and sacrificed for TheNeedsOfTheMany.
126	** Singlen Shelbrit is opposed to corrupt, inefficient governments, and seeks to rule the world to correct society. Like Fugil, he is also unable to form attachments with others and is willing to sacrifice others for these ideals. He may be a bigger example than Fugil, since he never shows attachment to anyone, including his sister.
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
130	* ''Series/BurnNotice'': Michael Weston is a former CIA agent regarded by many of his colleagues to be one of the best field agents they have, and it shows in his work; he is an expert at emotionally manipulating targets and tricking them into giving him what he wants, whatever that may be. Many of his tactics such as deliberate gaslighting and the ease with which he lies edge into some sociopathic tendencies. He also struggles to relate to his friends and family on an emotional level, his cold calculated approach frequently alienating people he genuinely cares for. These tendencies are further highlighted in a conversation with his mother, in which she reveals that [[spoiler:even as a child she could see something dark in him. It worried her so much she forged his father's signature to let him join the military, thinking they would help him forge that darkness into a tool for good]]. Despite the emotionless deadpan he usually displays, he has strict morals about how he handles situations, what sort of jobs he's willing to take, and he only ever takes a life if absolutely necessary.
131	* The two-part episode ''Nothing To Lose'' of ''Series/CSIMiami'' features a serial killer who agrees to murder a child molester in exchange for an opportunity to escape prison. Not only does he keep his bargain, shooting said pedophile ''in the crotch'' no less, but he also takes the opportunity to show the corpse of the pedophile to the very child the man hurt. He seems ''genuinely'' confused as to why the poor kid screams in horror instead of being relieved that the man who hurt him is laying dead right in front of him, and simply [[EvilCannotComprehendGood can't understand why]] his other hostage is disgusted by it.
132	* In ''Series/Daredevil2015'', FBIAgent Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter is explicitly diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and psychopathic tendencies, but due to the positive influence of his childhood therapist, he has spent most of his life trying to find a person to be his "north star" whose example he can follow in order to be a good person. Unfortunately, he decides that the best way to do so is by obsessively stalking a former coworker, [[FromBadToWorse and then]] [[TheCorrupter Wilson Fisk]] manages to get his claws into him and the "moral" part goes out the window.
133	* This is the whole point of ''Series/{{Dexter}}''. The title character is a psychopathic serial killer who had a moral code instilled in him by his foster father, [[spoiler:who in turn did so after confiding in a psychiatrist who pioneered research into psychopaths]]. While his code [[NeverHurtAnInnocent prevents him from killing innocents]], its main purpose is to prevent him from getting caught.
134	* The Rani, from ''Series/DoctorWho'' and its extended universe. Unlike another former classmate of the Doctor's turned Time Lord renegade, the Master, the Rani dislikes needless violence and exercising power over others for its own sake. She'll even help people who are in danger when it doesn't benefit her. She genuinely sees herself as [[ForScience working toward scientific knowledge]] and at one point thinks an entire planet she's been experimenting on will benefit in the long term from her actions. It's just that her quest for knowledge tends to benefit her while inflicting ''tremendous'' suffering on beings she considers [[TheRightOfASuperiorSpecies lesser species]]. Nor does she really understand the Doctor's ethics. In the Big Finish audio ''The Rani Elite'', when the Doctor is angry that she [[MercyKill kills a man who is trapped in a decaying body as a direct result of her experiments]], she's genuinely taken aback that the Doctor isn't instead praising her for her compassion.
135	* Patrick Jane from ''Series/TheMentalist'' once ''pretends'' to have become an example of this trope. To trick a killer into a revealing admission, he pretends that an experimental device has switched off his conscience and threatens to shoot a group of suspects on the grounds that it's his job to identify criminals and they aren't cooperating.
136	* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': Sameen Shaw is a textbook sociopath who is on the right side. She was originally an extremely talented surgeon since she didn't have all those messy emotions that got in the way of work for everybody else. However, her [[DrJerk horrific bedside manner]] led to her superiors strongly encouraging her to find another job, so she became a government black ops agent. She did a great job at that until she stumbled onto a secret miles above her pay grade, and her partner was killed for it. Shaw killed her boss (the guy who ordered the hit), but pointedly left everyone else in the organization alive because she knew they were doing good work. Then she joined Team Machine, a group of {{Small Steps Hero}}es who do the exact same job she was doing for the government, just on a smaller scale. While she finds some of their rules such as avoiding killing to be naïve, she does follow them when possible and proves to be an extremely valuable asset. Even her former black ops bosses, who know that they should really kill her [[HeKnowsTooMuch for knowing too much]], acknowledge that she's better off where she is.
137	* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': If we are to take him at his word, Sherlock Holmes is a more-or-less-heroic example of this trope. ([[InsistentTerminology He says that he's a "high-functioning sociopath", not a psychopath]].) He solves difficult crimes for the intellectual challenge rather than any particular desire to right wrongs or help people. On the other hand, he feels a deep kinship with [[LonersAreFreaks any of those who don't "fit" into society at large]]. That is, he tends to treat them like he does his brother Mycroft: constant needling in their day-to-day lives, mostly out of boredom. He's an outright brutal ''bastard'' to anyone who preys upon them.
138	-->'''Watson:''' There are lives at stake, Sherlock! Actual human lives -- ju-just so I know, do you care about that at all?\
139	'''Sherlock:''' Will caring about them help save them?\
140	'''Watson:''' ''[angrily]'' Nope!\
141	'''Sherlock:''' Then I'll continue not to make that mistake.
142	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': After his [[TheSoulless soul is eaten]] by Amara, Donatello Redfield freely admits to being "empty" inside, but has no particular inclination to do evil. He keeps himself on the straight and narrow so he can still operate in society by asking himself, "what would Mister Rogers do?"
143	* ''Series/TheWire'': Omar Little robs drug dealers and kills when he has to. He feels no guilt about his actions, as he strictly focuses on people involved in 'The Game': [[WouldNotShootACivilian civilians are off-limits]]. However, if the effects harm people he cares about, it does upset him, but it does not stop him from doing what he does.
144	[[/folder]]
145
146	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
147	* Franklin Killers in ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' have had their moral code screwed up by exposure to the Franklin Working, the creation of a very conservative, homophobic, and sex-negative mage. As a result, they tend to have very firm personal codes, in which premarital sex or minor crime is likely considered morally worse than violence, so they may see nothing wrong with stabbing a jaywalker.
148	* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'':
149	** The Phyrexians have a very well-structured religious system and many of them [[KnightTemplar hang neurotically to their philosophy]], but they have very little empathy. New Phyrexia indeed has two factions that fit this bill perfectly: the [[MachineWorship Machine Orthodoxy]], composed of [[LightIsNotGood White-aligned]] Phyrexians that formed a [[ReligionOfEvil nightmarish faith]] which they cling to obsessively, and the [[MadScientist Progress Engine]], composed of Blue-aligned Phyrexians whose view of "progress" would make Josef Mengele proud.
150	** The [[VastBureaucracy Azorius Senate]] from [[CityPlanet Ravnica]] also count, being obsessed with order and making laws, while not caring for the population, and sometimes even acting fascistic. Being the enemy colors of Red, the color of emotions and freedom, White and Blue love this trope.
151	* In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', before the title went to his ReasonableAuthorityFigure son Guilliman, the GodEmperor of Mankind was the BigGood of the setting. He was a WellIntentionedExtremist who genuinely wanted to do right by humanity... [[BlueAndOrangeMorality in the grand scheme of things]]. As a consequence of having [[DeityOfHumanOrigin transcended humanity]] he became completely incapable of relating to mortals on an individual level and understanding their emotional needs. He simply [[ControlFreak steamrolled anyone who got in his way]] in the name of UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans, and on the rare occasions he actually tried to explain himself (like with the Last Priest) he used unsound and circular arguments as he was simply out of touch with his fellow man and the fact that they wouldn't understand his methods without the proper context. His long history of PoorCommunicationKills resulted in half of his [[ParentalNeglect neglected]] demigod sons [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels turning evil]] and nearly destroying TheEmpire he built.
152	* In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', members of some independent or Sabbat clans may practice "Paths of Enlightenment" as an alternative to the default path of humanity. Many if not most of these leave human morals by the wayside, but a few, like the [[KnightInShiningArmor Path of Honorable Accord]], [[ThePhilosopher Path of Entelechy]], or [[TheAtoner Path of Redemption]] revolve around largely human virtues, though driven more by a sense of abstract higher calling than sympathy for others.
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Video Games]]
156	* "John Doe" from ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries'' is more a PsychopathicManchild than a true sociopath, but the two things he views as genuinely ''wrong'' are [[UndyingLoyalty betraying a friend]] and [[FelonyMisdemeanor being rude]]. Of all the things you can do to him, the one thing that seems to genuinely cross him is "rudely" putting a tracking device on him.
157	* ''VideoGame/BioShock2'': Sofia Lamb is a curious case in that she probably did not begin as this, being originally driven by her altruistic goals (though she was arguably enamored with the concept rather than the people themselves). However, by the time of the game, she has become a TotalitarianUtilitarian obsessed with [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill removing individuality]] and [[EvilutionaryBiologist curing humanity's genetic fatalism]].
158	* Nil from ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'' loves killing, and was formerly a soldier of TheEmpire, which he had no particular problem with. He was jailed after the fall of the regime (which he thinks is fair enough), and when he emerged decided that killing citizens of established tribes wasn't worth the ire it raised. Thus, Aloy can find him scouting various bandit camps.
159	* The Reapers of the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series turn out to be this. Yes, they come in every 50,000 years and eradicate all the technologically advanced species [[spoiler:and convert them into raw material for a new Reaper, but they do it [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves so the galaxy won't descend into an endless war of organics vs. synthetics]], and besides, the civilizations they harvest live on within the minds of the Reapers. Thus, they rationalize genocide as being part of the "greater good", and ultimately what's best for everyone]].
160	-->'''The Rannoch Reaper:''' [[OrderVersusChaos You represent chaos, we represent order]]. [[NecessarilyEvil Every organic civilization must be harvested in order to bring order to chaos]]. It is inevitable. Without our intervention, organics are doomed. We are your salvation.
161	* [[BigBad Kronika]] from ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' truly believes that she is doing the right thing. However, the method she does everything is so sociopathic that it ends up [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist making her look even worse]]. She says that it is important to maintain the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil, but what she wants is ForeverWar which will result in so much suffering for many people. She attempts to remove free will from the people of the timeline so she can have what she believes is the perfect timeline for everyone involved. Her arrogance prevents her from allowing any result that doesn't have her desired outcome.
162	* ''VideoGame/Persona4'''s resident SerialKiller, [[spoiler:Adachi]], evolves into this after his defeat. By ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'' he's still a sociopathic asshole, but he's decided that he's going to pay for his crimes, and if he were to be released from prison because somebody else started killing people in the same manner, it would violate the rules he's decided for himself. He also slightly cares for [[spoiler:Yu and Doujima]], but [[{{Tsundere}} good luck getting him to admit that]].
163	* ''VideoGame/PhysicalExorcismSeries'': Despite their LackOfEmpathy towards others and their need for stimulation, Brucie and Jade make an effort to treat their clients with good faith. [[spoiler:In the true ending of [[VideoGame/PhysicalExorcismCase01 ''Case 01'']], Brucie gives Lucy a discount for the exorcism fee because he failed to save Sapphire from going insane.]] Brucie also has an odd fixation with moral consistency, since he disagrees with how meat-eating people can eat some animals, but not others.
164	* Racter from ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns: Hong Kong'' is a clinical sociopath but learned from a young age that it was in his rational self-interest to pretend to adhere to 'normal' human morality even if he feels no emotional connection to it. He understands things such as friendships on an intellectual level and will consider the PlayerCharacter one if you continue to engage him in interesting talks without blowing him off. He also has a near-religious interest in {{transhuman}}ism and therefore feels moral outrage (or the closest he can get to it) about people who jeopardize the future of the human race's evolution for personal gain, like two of his former research companions did when they stole his experimental drone data and sold it to [[MegaCorp ARES]] in return for employment. Aside from this, he views his sociopathy as the next stage of human evolution, as [[spoiler:it's later revealed that [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe his lower half is entirely mechanical]], and he attributes his ability to successfully integrate the parts to his sociopathy, as [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul he should have been basically zombified with that implant]]]].
165	* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'': Chairman Yang, the leader of the Human Hive, disregards the individual in pursuit of a totalitarian collectivism because he believes that [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans unfettered self-interest is ultimately harmful to the cause of human progress]].
166	* ''VideoGame/SomaSpirits'': Form believes that joyful emotions are the only things that are needed to live a fulfilling life while Dissonance believes that sorrowful emotions are needed to live an orderly life. Each believes that the opposite emotions will lead to tragedy and conflict and that the two sets of emotions cannot coexist. However, they care more about the concepts of these emotions than the people of the world who experience these emotions. Their obsession with their moral codes is taken so far that they [[LackOfEmpathy dehumanize anyone]] who has undesirable emotions, which is why Form and Dissonance seek to wipe out the populations of Worlds of Sorrow and Joy (respectively) for representing the emotions they don't like, and they shamelessly deceive and manipulate Heart and Soul to achieve these goals. When the two worlds are fused, Form and Dissonance deem everyone to be deserving of death for failing their standards, showing that [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist for all their self-righteousness, the self-serving way that they interpret their morals ultimately prevents them from having any goodwill towards others]].
167	* Jade Curtiss in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' is a [[SociopathicHero heroic]] version. He has no empathy whatsoever, but is troubled by this, and always tries to do the right thing even though his concept of right and wrong can be a little skewed. Far, far less so in his backstory, where he was a CreepyChild.
168	* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': [[Characters/UndertaleFlowey Flowey the Flower]] used to be this. He states that he spent [[GroundhogDayLoop many timelines]] being the Underground's savior, but unfortunately got bored with that and started doing everything, good and evil.
169	* BigBad Prince Maximilian from ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' is a classic sociopath in many ways (shallow effect, relating to others only in terms of their worth to him, ItsAllAboutMe mentality), but he possesses a very strong code of ethics that often makes him very sympathetic. He's one of the least racist people in a game where even the good guys display strong prejudice, abhors disloyalty, executes his own men for war crimes, and rescued a young Selvaria from the laboratory where she had been imprisoned (mostly because he knew it would ensure her loyalty, but still).
170	[[/folder]]
171
172	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
173	* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': [[SinisterMinister Priest]] Kirei Kotomine's religious beliefs and personal circumstances make him state firmly that there's no sin in an unborn baby and that everyone has the right to be born. He is willing to put his life on the line and sacrifice everything without blinking an eye to witness a certain baby's birth. What makes it a case of BlueAndOrangeMorality is that he will literally sacrifice everything, including humanity, for [[spoiler:Angra Mainyu]], "[[FetusTerrible the baby]]" that is an {{omnicidal\|Maniac}} SealedEvilInACan. [[spoiler:Of course, he turns out to be an actual [[TheSociopath sociopath]] trying desperately to ape normal morals, so he doesn't actually get why people would be a little more nuanced about this than he is. He's also desperately trying to justify his own existence; he was born without the ability to feel joy from anything [[{{Sadist}} except other people's pain]] while [[ReluctantPsycho fully knowing just how twisted that was]]. He wants to believe that everyone, no matter how twisted their nature, deserves to be born because to believe otherwise would be to condemn himself.]]
174	[[/folder]]
175
176	[[folder:Webcomics]]
177	* ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'': [[spoiler:Doctor Bowman]], thanks to faulty, uneven {{uplift\|edAnimal}}ing combined with [[ManiacMonkeys a very poor choice of species]], is a violent, overly impulsive sociopath who is ''very aware'' that he is one. He had to build his own moral code from scratch and take extreme measures to make sure he could stick to it and minimize chances to break it; he outright warns Florence to not look him in the eye or touch him because he can't help reacting badly to it, and chats with her in an environment where he's likely to take out his rage on a punching dummy instead of her. When left alone to work with his thoughts in peace, and dealt with on his terms, he's utterly reasonable and an actual force of good with his scientific developments, but he's still aware he could kill someone if approached the wrong way.
178	* [[LightIsNotGood Kore]] from ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' does sincerely believe he is doing the right thing by mercilessly slaughtering everyone that has been in contact with [[FantasticRacism "evil races"]], even children of his own species that were with said "evil races". His utter conviction that he is doing good is probably what allows him to keep his paladin powers. This is either due to a house rule that lets paladins be this without falling, or just Herbert the Gamemaster being out of it or [[KillerGameMaster sadistic]] -- or both. It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:Kore [[YourSoulIsMine takes the souls of those he kills]] and becomes connected to those souls' alignments, effectively making him every single alignment at once for the purposes of the world's [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons DnD 3.5]] [[RPGMechanicsVerse mechanics]]. In other words, ''he'' is still "LawfulGood" because many of those he's killed are Lawful Good]]. This probably makes it quite natural for him to be such a TautologicalTemplar.
179	* In ''Webcomic/ImTheGrimReaper'', God is basically a high functioning sociopath, unable to relate to [[AmbiguousGender their]] lesser creations and only seeing humanity as useful tools in God's QuestForIdentity. God values virtue[[note]]up to a point, if you are ''too'' good, God erases you out of existence[[/note]] and punishes sin, but this inability to relate to their creations means that God's judgements lack a lot of context that mortals would consider important.
180	* In ''Webcomic/StrongFemaleProtagonist'', after [[{{Telepathy}} Patrick]] ran away from home, he partitioned away many emotions that he felt would be detrimental to his survival on the streets, such as fear, and the need for love and affection.
181	-->''"While I felt the betrayal of my mother, I could not compel myself to leave the truck stops and alleyways. But then I made a barrier, and put my need for love behind it. And when I got rid of my need for love, the lack of it didn't sting so bad. And when that stinging stopped, I was able to get to work."''
182	[[/folder]]
183
184	[[folder:Web Originals]]
185	* ''Literature/GoldTongues'' has Stix, a kleptomaniac who spends his time stealing from others for his own selfish reasons. Nevertheless, he doesn't kill people unless he absolutely has to, and he finds rape to be deplorable and tasteless. It's because of this that he ends up [[spoiler:mortally shooting Petrol and abandoning Buzz -- the former is a sadistic child rapist, and the latter murdered a defenseless mutant on a mere impulse]].
186	[[/folder]]
187
188	[[folder:Western Animation]]
189	* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Philip Wittebane, who is [[spoiler:the true identity of [[BigBad Emperor Belos]]]], was a WitchHunter from 17th century Earth who got trapped on the Boiling Isles. He believes he'll be saving humanity from evil by [[spoiler:[[FinalSolution killing every witch]] on the Boiling Isles]], and he more or less gets stuck in a mindset of MoralMyopia in which he is the good guy by definition. All the while he shows a total LackOfEmpathy and a similar lack of scruples or guilt for any of his actions. To give you a good idea of just how twisted to the core Philip is: his response to his beloved brother falling in love with a witch was to kill him and then [[spoiler:create Grimwalker clones in his brother's image for centuries in an attempt to create a "better" replacement, letting them die and then making a new one every time they "disappoint" him, which turns out to be an inevitability]].
190	[[/folder]]
191

Context Main / MoralSociopathy