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1Many conflicts in fiction are about [[BlackAndWhiteMorality good vs evil]]. It's simple and easy to follow, but its straightforwardness might make it stale after a while.
2
3Enter this trope - where a third faction is introduced, the "bad guys" - or the "grey faction".
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5That the [[BlackAndWhiteMorality good guys are good and evil guys are evil is a given]], but it's the added "bad guys" or "[[WhiteAndGreyMorality grey guys and other good guys]]" that stirs the whole dynamic. They aren't quite good but not that bad, and their motivations might be either similar to one side, to both sides, or neither. There are multiple ways this can go about:
6* The grey faction is presented as an antagonist alongside the black faction (who may either ally with each other, [[EvilVersusEvil be against each other]], or simply be running around at the same time), while the white faction opposes both. The white faction may either sympathize with the gray one and perhaps try to convince them to go good, or they may show the same animosity that they show towards the black faction until it's revealed that the gray guys may not be so bad after all.
7* The grey faction is presented as an ally to the white one, and [[BlackAndGrayMorality both of them oppose the black one]]. Either the gray faction was simply a morally ambiguous faction without any relation to the white faction prior to the story, or the gray faction was once antagonistic and/or allied with the black faction, in which case the alliance is a case of EnemyMine and that an EnemyCivilWar had occurred.
8* It can also be just an all-out MeleeATrois, where only one can win, depending on the story. Often in this case, all sides are after the same MacGuffin but for different reasons.
9* When there are varying moralities and loyalties in the members of the bad faction, it may balance out as grey thanks to some of them being as bad as the evil ones, while the rest are [[AntiVillain Anti-Villains]] at worst.
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11In fact, at least some of the "bad" guys most of the time have to be [[AntiVillain Anti-Villains]] (any of its flavors) in order to clearly stand as morally superior to the "evil" ones, or if nothing else display that EvenEvilHasStandards. The "black" faction (or at least, its leader/prominent members) may also possibly be in just ForTheEvulz.
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13Compare MoralityKitchenSink, in which characters from everywhere on the moral spectrum are present but aren't conveniently sorted into white, gray, and black factions. Compare also to EvilVersusOblivion, where both sides are definitely evil, but the "Evil" side is nominally "better" (if only due to PragmaticVillainy) than the "Oblivion" side, so the other factions decide that [[XMustNotWin the latter absolutely must not win]] (although the reverse is not unheard of either). Also to AngelsDevilsAndSquid and NiceMeanAndInbetween. Compare SympatheticVillainDespicableVillain if the lesser-evil villain becomes more sympathetic overtime, and may come to oppose the greater evil along with the heroes.
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16!!Examples:
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20[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
21* ''Manga/AngelSanctuary'': Granted it's an oversimplification, but humans and Evils are ''generally'' the Good (in spite [[DeathBringerTheAdorable of the latters' name]]), Lucifer, the Satans and their ilk are the Bad, and the Angels are the Evil. Granted, there are a few good angels, ([[BigGood Adam Kadamon]], [[TheParagon Alexiel]], [[TheAce Anael]], [[GuileHero Zaphkiel]], [[TheCutie Raziel]] and [[AllLovingHero Gabriel]]), and a few others who are more neutral ([[BloodKnight Michael]], [[TheCasanova Raphael]], [[TheAtoner Uriel]], and the [[ObliviouslyEvil Metatron]]), but the ruling powers ([[BigBad Rosiel]], [[BigBadWannabe Sevothtarte]], [[spoiler: [[TheManBehindTheMan Sandalphon]]]], [[spoiler:YHWH]]) are all bad, and even the good angels [[TokenGoodTeammate are occasionally antagonists]].
22* The final arc of ''Anime/AuraBattlerDunbine'' causes the many factions to split into three such groups. The various resistance groups opposed to the villains rally around Queen Ciela (BigGood), the [[VisionaryVillain visionary]] and [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic]] Drake who leads a bunch of [[AntiVillain anti-villains]] and NobleDemon form the "Bad" and a splinter faction that broke away from Drake lead by King Bishott and made up of an EvilOverlord, a MadScientist and a bunch of AxeCrazy minions form the "Evil". Drake and Bishott still technically have a nonaggression pact but Drake knows it's just a farce and Bishott will kill him once the heroes are gone so during the final battle [[spoiler:he feigns an emergency and sends Bishott's army out first so that the heroes would shoot him down and then strategically places himself behind Bishott's battleship so he can't run away when things start going bad.]]
23* In ''Literature/CheatMagicianLifeThatStartedFromBeingJudgedUseless'', the city of Volzard has an entertainment district that is run by three bosses, the pleasant and jovial Menendez, who is the "good" of the three, the LoanShark Volent who cooks his books and abuses debts to sell people to other countries as slaves, and Olivia, the evil, who not only straight up murders people and feeds the corpses to monsters but is very, very vindictive and just will not rest until she retaliates against any offense, real or imagined, and doesn't care if she drags innocents into her quarrels, being well known for RevengeByProxy if she can't go after the target(s) of her ire directly.
24* In ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'', the Future Foundation can be divided into the Good, which are Makoto, the survivors of class 78 and the ones helping them (Tengan, Great Gozu, Gekkogahara, and Mitarai); The Bad, composed by the Radical Faction, Munakata, Sakakura, Kimura, Andou, Izayoi and Yukizome and The Evil, who is the one behind the Final Killing Game. [[spoiler:As time goes on, it delves more into a MoralityKitchenSink. Munakata goes into SanitySlippage after Episode 5, and his actions seem to be a lot more within the Evil range, until episode 10 when it's revealed Yukizome was a Despair and manipulating him (placing her in the Evil category), and Naegi manages to get through to him, and he ends the series in between Good and Bad. Gekkogahara is revealed to be a robot duplicate of the real person placed into the game by Monaca, who really just wanted to observe; however, considering her [[VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls past actions]] (and the fact that she killed the real Miaya), she's pretty clearly in the Evil category, even if the most she does is pretend to kill Hina. Tengan is also placed into the Evil category when it's revealed he masterminded the killing game, seemingly for the sake of pushing Mitarai to the breaking point in order to get him to brainwash the world.]]
25* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', whoever attains each role often varies. For the first section of the story: [[IncorruptiblePurePureness Soichiro]] is the Good, [[AntiHero L]] is the Bad, and [[VillainProtagonist Light]] is the Evil. After [[spoiler:[[MemoryGambit Light loses his memories]], Light and Soichiro are the Good, L is the Bad, and [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Higuchi]] is the Evil...until Light regains his memories in which [[HijackedByGanon he reclaims his position as the Evil.]]]] Finally, [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins L is defeated by Light]] and a timeskip occurs where for the remainder of the story: [[TheHero Near]] is the Good ([[PragmaticHero tenuously]]), [[NominalHero Mello]] is the Bad, and [[BigBad Light]] is the Evil.]] An unusual example where the protagonist themselves occupies the role of the Evil for a majority of the story.
26* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
27** The first third of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'''s Frieza Saga is a three-way war between Gohan and Krillin (the Good), previous saga villain Vegeta (the Bad), and BigBad Frieza and his army (the Evil). The good and the bad end up joining forces when Frieza summons the Ginyu Force. The exact words of the trope were used by Creator/CartoonNetwork to advertise it at one point, referring to Goku, Vegeta and Frieza respectively.
28** It comes up again in the Cell Saga, with the Z Fighters as the good, Androids 16, 17, and 18 as the bad, and Cell himself as the evil.
29* ''Manga/FairyTail'':
30** Tower of Heaven arc: Fairy Tail is the good, Erza's old friends are the bad, Jellal (possessed by Zeref) and Trinity Raven are the evil.
31** In the Tenrou Island arc, Fairy Tail is the Good, and while [[ArcVillain Grimoire Heart]] or [[GreaterScopeVillain Zeref]] could possibly be considered the Evil, there is [[EvilerThanThou a far greater Evil than them]] in play, that being [[TheDreaded Acnologia]].
32** The title guild enters the Grand Magic Games to reclaim the reputation they lost [[spoiler: during the TimeSkip]]. Sabretooth, the current #1 guild, [[SmugSuper isn't very nice]] to [[GoodIsNotNice anyone trying to unseat them]], but at least they aren't cheating like [[EvilCounterpart Raven Tail]].
33** Erza is one of the few people who knows the true story behind [[spoiler: Jellal's]] crimes. Kagura is in the dark, only knowing that [[spoiler: Jellal killed her brother, Simon]]. So when Kagura sees Erza talking to [[spoiler: Jellal]], Minerva uses Kagura's rage (and [[spoiler: holds Millianna hostage]]) to goad her into fighting Erza so she doesn't have to face them both herself.
34** The three God Slayers. [[BlowYouAway Sherria]] (Good) is a cute, clumsy LittleMissBadass who quickly befriends her Dragon Slayer counterpart. [[ShockAndAwe Orga]] (Bad) is an arrogant {{Jerkass}}, but is a member of a legal guild and [[EveryoneHasStandards is horrified when his Guild Master seemingly killed one of their own]]. [[PlayingWithFire Zancrow]] (Evil) is an AxCrazy sociopath who [[UnfriendlyFire kills his own men]] and is a member of the aforementioned Grimore Heart one of the Darkest Guilds in the series.
35** Another example from the Sun Village arc: Fairy Tail is the Good, trying to save the frozen village and revive the Eternal Flame; the treasure hunters are the Bad, not caring about the village and trying to steal the flame for themselves; and Succubus Eye is the Evil, trying to kill Fairy Tail, the treasure hunters, and destroy what's left of the frozen village.
36** In the Alvarez Empire arc, Fairy Tail and all of the other Fiore guilds are the Good; the invading [[TheEmpire Alvarez Empire]] and its [[BadassCrew Spriggan 12]] are the Bad; and [[TheDreaded Acnologia]] is the Evil.
37* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
38** ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'': The [[LaResistance Anti-Earth Union Group]] is the Good, the [[StateSec Titans]] are the Evil, and [[TheRemnant Axis Zeon]] are the Bad that both sides want to court.
39** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'', Haman claims this to Judau, claiming to be the Bad while [[spoiler: Glemmy Toto's splinter faction]] are the Evil. He rejects her argument, saying that yes, he's evil, and so is she.
40** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' had this with the Three Ships Alliance as the Good, the two warring factions of ZAFT and OMNI collectively as the Bad, and [[spoiler:OmnicidalManiac Rau le Creuset, who is PlayingBothSides in an attempt to have them wipe each other out and drive humanity extinct]] as the Evil.
41** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'': the Three Ship Alliance which retains most of its membership, the [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well Intentioned]] ZAFT forces under [[DarkMessiah Chairman Durandal]], and the Blue Cosmos/LOGOS forces under Lord Djibril, who are pretty much evil.
42* Played with in ''Manga/GushingOverMagicalGirls''. Tres Magia is inarguably the Good and Enormeeta under Baiser are firmly the Bad, but the third faction tends to be complicated. Lord's Legion was absolutely the Evil, but only ever fought Enormeeta on-screen, with Tres Magia getting involved at the last possible second. Meanwhile, [[spoiler:their successors the Shio-chans]] claim even internally to be magical girls of Justice that only want to tear down Enormeeta even as they engage in behavior of very questionable morality.
43* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' has the Hellsing Organization ([[{{Antihero}} mostly good]]), the Iscariots ([[KnightTemplar bad]]), and Millennium ([[ThoseWackyNazis evil]]). At the end of the series, the Iscariots briefly leave Hellsing alone to fight Millennium [[spoiler: but when Maxwell goes off the deep end and crosses the MoralEventHorizon by ordering the people of London killed for being Protestants, they end up being annihilated along with Millennium by Alucard.]]
44* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' features more morally grey characters than previous parts, many of whom are young people just discovering their powers and have not yet been tempered by [[DefeatMeansFriendship a good ass-kicking]]. The only truly evil characters are [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil Angelo]] and [[SerialKiller Kira]], who have been monsters their whole lives, and as such are the only villains never offered redemption.
45* This situation happens at the turning point of ''Anime/KillLaKill'', when [[spoiler:Satsuki betrays Ragyo]]. At this point, Ryuko and Nudist Beach are the Good, [[spoiler:Satsuki and the Elite Four, who had [[ANaziByAnyOtherName been running a brutal fascist dictatorship]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist for the eventual greater good]],]] can be seen as the Bad, while [[spoiler:Ragyo and her minions, [[TranshumanTreachery at the forefront of an]] [[StarfishAliens alien invasion]]]], are the Evil. [[spoiler:Satsuki and the Elite Four do come to regret the atrocities they have committed, and by the end of the anime they are also The Good.]]
46* ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce'' seems to have been heading this way before its untimely cancellation/permanent hiatus, with [[BigGood Hayate]]'s Special Duty Section 6 as the obvious and traditional Good guys, the Hückebein as the (very) mercenary and self-absorbed Bads, and the Vandein Corporation and, in particular, its enigmatic leader Hades Vandein as the Evils. Interestingly, the manga started off by trying to present [=SDS6=] as the Bads by having them pursue the new protagonist trio (Thoma, Lily, and Isis) and the Hückebeins as the Evils, by first introducing their more AxCrazy members. Only later did it turn out that Thoma's gang were pursued for their own good, while the Hückebeins eventually [[RoundedCharacter gained the third dimension]] by showing their more sane (and obviously more influential) members and also their familial interactions with each other and [[MoralityPet Thoma]]. Hades' apparent villainy, meanwhile, wasn't revealed until the last published arc.
47* ''Manga/MuhyoAndRoji'' has the eponymous duo and their friends, the Goryo Group and Ark. The first group [[PerpetualPoverty ekes out a living]] helping send lingering spirits on to the afterlife and is eventually drawn into the fight against forbidden magical law users. Goryo's group is a highly successful and corrupt organization of magical law practitioners that takes possession of Muhyo's office. Ark is a long-standing organization of forbidden magical law users that is allied with [[BigBad Enchu]]. The distinction between the latter two groups becomes clear when the Goryo Group, which is still a legal organization despite its shady dealings, tries to go on the offensive against Ark, only for Ark to set fire to their headquarters and abduct Goryo. Muhyo then [[EnemyMine end up having to save Goryo from Ark]]. Nana, who'd hated Goryo, remarks that Tomas, Goryo's former teacher and abductor, is much more loathsome than Goryo is.
48* In ''AudioPlay/SaintBeast'', the Saint Beasts are the good, Lucifer is the bad, and Zeus is the evil, although initially the latter two seem the other way around. The angels know things aren't right with the missions Zeus is sending them on but reject Lucifer's offer to join him because they know he's responsible for demons attacking humans. However, when they finally decide to rebel against Zeus they end up on the same side as Lucifer without actually agreeing to work together.
49* ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas''; Athena's army is the good, [[spoiler:and Pandora splits up from Alone upon learning that he was never truly possessed by Hades]].
50* The second ''Anime/VampireHunterD'' movie features D and the Marcus Brothers as the good ones, although they're various levels of cynical and mercenary. Meier Link is the bad; he's got [[AntiVillain reasonable motivations but executes his plan via unethical means]]. The evil is the late-introduced [[spoiler:Carmilla the Bloody Countess]], who wants to [[EvilOverlord rule over the area]], created the main conflict, and has no redeeming values whatsoever. Then there are the Barbarois, on the border between bad and evil, since they willingly serve the "creatures of the night" but [[PunchClockVillain take very large payments]] to do so and have a sense of honor about it.
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53[[folder:Comic Books]]
54* In ''ComicBook/{{Legacy}}'', it is finally established for good in ''Franchise/StarWars'' canon. The Empire is split into Darth Krayt's Sith Empire (the evil) and Roan Fel's Empire (dictatorial but not really evil).
55* ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'': Of course Wonder Woman is good and the Nazis are evil, but Ares, who was initially presented as evil does not actually support Nazi dogma and is only promoting conflict because he needs it to survive is bad but not evil, and Zeus, who was initially presented as good is [[spoiler:acually at least as bad if not worse than the Nazis]].
56* In ''Franchise/GIJoe'', this eventually happened in Cobra's ranks. Serpentor's splinter group the Coil fought against Cobra proper. Of course, matters only become more complicated when you realize that Cobra was already a little shaky, being an alliance between Cobra Commander's actual Cobra forces, Destro and his Iron Grenadiers, Zartan and the Dreadnoks, Tomax and Xamot and the Crimson Guard, independent contractors like Dr. Venom, Kwinn, Major Bludd, and Blackout, and Firefly and the Arashikage ninjas, with each group constantly vying for ultimate supremacy… Cobra's got to be one of the least stable factions in all of fiction, really.
57** Marvel's ''GI Joe'' Comics did this fairly often too. The Joes often went up against the Winter Guard (ChummyCommies) or Kwinn the Eskimo (purely mercenary), only for both sides to team up against the much Eviler Cobra.
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60[[folder:Fan Works]]
61* ''Blog/BetterBonesAU'': Done with the three political factions of the Clans. Fire Alone is the "good" ideology that treats outsiders with respect and is willing to change some of the harsher practices of the Clans that lead to constant battles and xenophobia. Thistle Law is the clearly "evil" ideology, accentuating normal Clan obsession with war and discrimination against outsiders, rejecting some of the more merciful parts of the Code like the Queens' Rights and being the cause of much violence and tragedy throughout the series. Traditionalism represents the "bad" middle ground, still seeing Clan loyalty and Code-following as important in a way that has led to much violence and destruction in itself, but respecting softer parts of the Code and not going as far in its violence as Thistle Law. This dynamic is embodied by the Traditionalist Mistystar, who is responsible for cruel actions of her own in enforcing the Code when the Imposter is in power in the rewritten ''The Broken Code'', but nonetheless recognizes Thistle Law as the enemy and does everything she can to root it out.
62* ''Fanfic/TheBridge'' has an arc that more or less is this. The Dark Hunters mercilessly kidnap Princess Twilight, with the Terran Defenders and the Rainbooms trying to save her. [[spoiler: As it turns out they, along with the Sirens, were targeted by the human Twilight Sparkle, who stole Sonata's necklace, and they mistook Princess Twilight for her. She, along with Wallflower Blush, are in league with a psychotically evil group of Wendigos, albeit because the former have convinced the latter that they are fighting for a noble cause. It culminates in a large storyline where each side is fighting one another]].
63* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Act 2 and Act 3's main factions on the Train side consists of the Red Lotus Trio/Quarto as the Good (wanting to stop the Apex for good with Amelia hoping to save Hazel from Grace and Simon), Henry and Walter as the Bad (who wish to enact a ritual in the Fog Car that will trap the Apex for good) and the Apex, particularly Grace and Simon as the Evil (killing and slaughtering denizens). By Act 3, Bad and Evil get swapped when [[spoiler:Simon dies and Grace decides she wants nothing to do with her cult and Henry and Walter ''still'' want the Apex to die despite this.]]
64* ''Fanfic/JauneArcLordOfHunger'': The main conflict boils down to this with Jaune and his friends as the Good, Cinder Fall and her faction as the Bad, and Darth Nihilus as the Evil. Whereas Cinder wants to be feared and powerful, Nihilus seeks to consume all life on Remnant.
65** The overarching conflict is also like this with Ozpin as the Good, Salem as the Bad, and Darth Nihilus (again) as the Evil. Ozpin wants to unite humanity and redeem them in the eyes of the Brother Gods, Salem wants to destroy humanity in order to end her curse of immortality, and Nihilus just wants to kill everything.
66** This dynamic changes up a bit [[spoiler:after Jaune [[FaceHeelTurn falls to the Dark Side]]]]. For the first half of the third act, we have team JNPR and RWBY as the Good, [[spoiler:Dark Side Jaune]] as the Bad, and Cinder Fall as the Evil. [[spoiler:Even under the Dark Side's influence, Jaune still wants to protect his friends, but has become an [[TheUnfettered unfettered]] [[SociopathicHero sociopath]] in the process.]] Unlike [[spoiler:Dark Side Jaune]], Cinder is just plain evil and is driven solely by a lust for power.
67* In ''Fanfic/LeftBeyond'', this is the whole point: whether you think God is Good and Satan is Evil in that universe, or vice versa, the Omega are definitely Bad, and by design: they are a quasi-AI designed specifically to be amoral, all they care about is the survival of enough human beings to propagate the species.
68* ''Fanfic/MarisStella'': Maris Stella, Tenechat, and the Order of the Guardians are the unambiguously good side, fighting to stop Riodinidae and Paravani, [[spoiler:and later Madame Butterfly]]. [[spoiler:Riodinidae and Paravani]] turn out to be the grey side, [[spoiler:{{Anti Villain}}s who seek the Wish for noble purposes, but are a danger to the public in how they do it and are willing to inflict the price on innocents]]. And the unambiguously evil side ends up being [[spoiler:Madame Butterfly, after Alexton manages to take the Butterfly Miraculous for herself, who wants to TakeOverTheWorld solely to feed her own ego]].
69* ''Fanfic/YuGiOh5DsALive'': [[VideoGame/LiveALive The Seven Heroes]] are the Good chosen by the Crimson Dragon to stop the Dark Signers, the Dark Signers are the Bad as they do want to destroy Neo-Domino but are known to have complex and sympathetic backstories, while Odio and Streibough are the Evil who want nothing but total annihilation and entitlement.
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72[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
73* The three parties looking for the Wishing Star in ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'' fall into this moral arrangement.
74** Puss in Boots, Kitty Softpaws, and Perrito are the Good; Puss is a heroic, if arrogant (at first) outlaw, Kitty is a hardened but ultimately good-hearted thief, and Perrito is a cheerful AllLovingHero dog following the former two for support.
75** Goldilocks and the Three Bears are the Bad; even though they're feared criminals, they could qualify as [[VillainyFreeVillain Villainy-Free Villains]], as they're ultimately quite endearing and redeemable, with Goldi having a sympathetic wish and the Bears as her loving adoptive family — and in the end, they help Puss's group take down the badder guy, Jack Horner, by [[spoiler:destroying the Wishing Star map]].
76** And as previously stated, "Big" Jack Horner is the Evil; he's a ruthless crime boss who proves himself repeatedly to be nothing but a selfish, sociopathic monster, and a CardCarryingVillain who will happily disregard the lives of anyone around him just to get the Wishing Star. He has zero redeeming qualities, and could probably count as the ultimate BigBad of the movie, considering his wish would have devastating consequences for the world if he won. [[spoiler:He's given the comeuppance he deserves in the climax.]]
77** The outlier is the Wolf, who's in a category all of his own. In fact, he has no alignment with anyone after the Wishing Star and doesn't partake at all in the conflict surrounding it, showing up only to antagonize Puss. [[spoiler:This is because he's an EldritchAbomination-esque version of TheGrimReaper, so the desirability of the Wishing Star doesn't apply to him — his only reason for following along with the plot is to hunt down Puss for his final life before the latter can wish for his lives back.]]
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80[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
81* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': Mark Russell and Monarch are the Good, seeking to save humanity from the death and destruction that the [[{{Kaiju}} Titans]] awakening will surely cause, and (in Monarch's case) to find ways for humanity and Titans to coexist positively; the eco-terrorist co-leader [[spoiler:Emma Russell]] is the Bad, seeking to bring the aforementioned human-Titan coexistence about by forcibly accelerating the Titans' awakenings herself and deliberately letting the Titans kill millions of people, as well as not considering how she could lose control of the plan; and [[BigBad King Ghidorah]] is the Evil, seeking to dominate the other Titans and [[OmnicidalManiac wipe out all multicellular life on Earth]], and he takes pleasure in the carnage that he inflicts, [[spoiler:with his actions and threat level horrifying Emma herself into siding with the heroes to take him down]]. Emma's fellow eco-terrorists at first appear to be the Bad by default, but they shift towards the Evil end of the scale [[spoiler:when [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Jonah]] decides he's willing to ''let'' King Ghidorah completely destroy the world, and he goes out of his way to hinder Emma's efforts to help the heroes]].
82* ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'' (which is unsurprisingly a partial TropeNamer) has BountyHunter Blondie (The Good) as the (antiheroic) Good, {{Bandito}} Tuco (The Ugly) as The Bad, and ProfessionalKiller Angel Eyes (The Bad) as The Evil.
83* The film ''Film/HardRain'' does this with its three main characters. Tom (Christian Slater)'s security guard is the good, with Jim's (Morgan Freeman) armed robber apparently the bad, as his gang attempts to rob Tom's armoured car, and were responsible for killing Tom's uncle Charlie (Ed Asner). In a twist, the Evil is the corrupt Sheriff who likewise goes after the money from the truck, which Tom had hidden. When Jim is revealed to have been in cahoots with Charlie and had not wanted to kill anyone, he teams up with Tom, kills the Sheriff and Tom lets him escape.
84* ''Film/{{Heat}}'' has a mostly good LAPD squad led by Lieutenant Hanna (who's the grayest among them), Neil [=McCauley=]'s crew who have either [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes loved ones]] or [[EvenEvilHasStandards standards]] as the Bad, and Waingro, a vicious psychopath who has a feud with [=McCauley=] over senseless violence and has serial killings investigated by Hanna as the Evil.
85* ''Film/TheManFromUncle'' has America's best agent team up with Soviet Russia's against the greater threat of an evil crime syndicate building its own nukes. It's pretty subjective whether the American or the Russian is the Bad; indeed, a recurring point is that [[NotSoDifferentRemark they're not that different.]]
86* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
87** ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' does this with an EnemyMine between Thor and AntiVillain Loki. Loki is in prison [[Film/TheAvengers2012 for trying to subjugate Earth]], but Thor [[RecruitingTheCriminal needs his help]] to stop the Dark Elves, [[EvilVersusOblivion who plan to destroy the universe]]. The fact that Loki wants revenge for [[spoiler:his mother's death]] helps, too.
88** The final battle of ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' has this, with The Xandarians and The Guardians as the Good (Stopping Ronan and Securing the power stone), The Ravagers as the bad (Steal and selling the Power Stone), and Ronan with his Armies as the evil (Destroying Xandar).
89* The BMovie ''Redline'' uses this, which has Natasha Martin, Carlo and Infamous (combined with his crew) being the Good, Michael being the (anti-villainous) Bad, and Godfather being the Evil.
90* Similar to "UNCLE", ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' has James Bond pressed into working alongside those DirtyCommies he usually fights to defeat a much more threatening villain.
91* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' franchise, you have the Jedi (usually hooked up with some version of the Republic or the Rebellion) as the white, the Sith (hooked up with the Empire or the First Order) as the black, and an absolutely ''vast'' criminal underworld as the grey, ranging from lovable [[AntiHero antiheroes]] like Han and Chewie, to {{Punch Clock Villain}}s who are OnlyInItForTheMoney like Boba Fett, to total scumbags like Jabba.
92* ''Film/TruthOrConsequencesNM'' On one side, there's a gang of four {{Villain Protagonist}}s who steal drugs from the Mafia and intend to sell them for money. On another side is the FBI chasing the misfits. And on another side is a gang of mobsters led by a ruthless hitman who has no problem torturing an innocent man by cutting off his fingers.
93* ''Film/X2XMenUnited'': The X-Men are the Good, Magneto and his Brotherhood are the Bad, and Stryker and his goals of mutant genocide are the Evil.
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96[[folder:Literature]]
97* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
98** Johnny Marcone turned out to be such an [[BadassNormal intensely awesome]] AntiVillain that he's on Harry's side more often than not. This irritates Harry, who really, really wants to be able to write him off as "criminal scum," but has some trouble with that when Marcone is going to incredible lengths [[spoiler:just to try to get a girl out of a coma.]]
99** The purpose of the Winterfae is to protect humanity from the [[EldritchAbomination Outsiders]]. The purpose of the Summerfae, meanwhile, is to protect humanity from the Winterfae.
100* The later books of the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series sets up this dynamic with the heroic [[LaResistance Order of the Phoenix]], the irredeemably evil [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Death Eaters]], and [[spoiler: the steadily more and more corrupt [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Ministry of Magic]]]].
101* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' does this with the second coup d'etat of Haven, firmly putting the AntiVillain group in control of the government, and a lot of the former SS and power-hungry types out on the run as renegades. Notable for having it simply flip the status quo in a few areas: there're still bad Havenites, but now they're the exception rather than the rule. Even before the second change of government, Haven filled the role of "the bad" when it came to the relationship between Manticore, Haven, and Mesa/Manpower Inc. There were references that Manticore and Haven not only shared a loathing for Manpower, Haven was considered, even by Manticorans, to be the more dedicated opponent to slavery.
102* In ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'' you have several levels of this--Vin, Elend, and Sazed are [[TheHero the good]], Kelsier and most of the skaa rebellion are [[AntiHero pretty good]], the Lord Ruler and most of the human bad guys are [[AntiVillain the bad]], and [[spoiler: Ruin and the Inquisitors are the evil]].
103* In Creator/JRRTolkien 's ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', the Noldor elves under Fingolfin and his and Finarfin's descendants could qualify as Good, showing the most respect towards both the Valar and the rest of the Children of Ilúvatar, while Fëanorians are certainly Bad, being willing to kill innocents to get the Silmarils back, and they both face Morgoth and his minions, who are nothing short of Evil. The individual differences of the members of the house of Fëanor manage to even things out with characters such as Maedros and Maglor leaning more towards the nobler side while Celegorm, Curufin and Fëanor himself have more similarities with the dark forces that they have sworn to fight against.
104** In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', this dynamic appears again between the main characters who [[spoiler:wind up going to Mordor itself]]. Frodo and Sam qualify as the Good (despite [[spoiler: Frodo failing at the end of the quest which was already far beyond what most people would have accomplished]]). Then as the Bad, you get Gollum: treacherous, corrupted, murderous, but ultimately driven insane by the Ring and his dual personality, and a pitiful and sad being with a possible redemption that [[spoiler: sadly doesn't come to be]]. And as the Evil, you have Sauron, the Lord of the Rings, who is nothing but the closest thing to absolute evil, has no redeemable features, and is bent on dominating the entirety of Middle-earth.
105** It also appears among the kingdoms and races and how they come on average. The Elves, Dwarves, and the kingdoms of Rohan and Gondor, plus other wild men like the Drúedain, are clearly on the side of Good, despite the individual defects they might have. The Men of Rhûn and Harad are the Bad; they are servants of Sauron, but they are men, thus capable of moral choices, and many of them are noble and decent people fighting on the wrong side. And then Mordor is the Evil, with its corrupted inhabitants Orcs, Trolls, Nâzgul, Shelob, and of course, Sauron himself.
106* In ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant'', the popularity of southern-fried PsychoForHire Billy-Ray Sanguine means that more often than not his later appearances feature him aiding the protagonists; first in order to contain the [[DemonicPossession Remnant]] [[OurZombiesAreDifferent outbreak]] and later during the [[DividedWeFall War of the Sanctuaries]].
107* After the Emperor's death, the Empire in the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse started breaking up.
108** Various captains and admirals left with their forces and became warlords, sometimes rejoining the Empire later, sometimes the New Republic, sometimes becoming isolationist, and most often fighting everyone. ''Literature/TheCourtshipOfPrincessLeia'' and three books of the Literature/XWingSeries deal with the New Republic's campaign against Warlord Zsinj. In ''Courtship'' he's a cardboard baddie, but in the Literature/XWingSeries he's really clever and nasty. Enough so that both the Empire and the New Republic form task forces to take him down, and surreptitiously they end up working together, both aware that this wouldn't last and if this cooperation was ever reported they'd face treason charges.
109** Warlordism and the attrition that comes from a new leader rising to the fore, striking the New Republic, and getting beat down eventually whittled the Empire down small enough that Captain Pellaeon, who'd patiently served under each leader and picked up the pieces after, was forced to join a warlord. Eventually, during the ''Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy'', Daala talked the various warlords into meeting together to try and get them to join forces; she and Pellaeon sat out their arguing, then put on gas masks and watched the warlords die. Then Daala [[GeneralFailure lost a good portion]] of this newly-replenished Empire and [[YouAreInCommandNow left it to Pellaeon]]. A few years later, and Supreme Commander Pellaeon [[Literature/HandOfThrawn worked to make peace with the New Republic]], while other elements of the [[VestigialEmpire Imperial Remnant]] fought furiously to prevent this. Decades after that, Grand Admiral Pellaeon was one of the heroes' most reliable allies [[spoiler:until he was assassinated by the Sith]].
110* In the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' book ''The Darkest Hour'', [=ThunderClan=] and [=WindClan=], the two [[TheHero heroic Clans]], team up with [=ShadowClan=] and [=RiverClan=], the two villainous Clans, to fight a worse evil; Scourge, who wants to take over their territory.
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114* The second season of ''Series/The100'' has the Arc dwellers aka "Sky People" teaming up with their former adversaries the Grounders to oppose the inhabitants of Mount Weather. Since the show operates on GreyAndGrayMorality it's more muddled than the usual case but Mount Weather is definitely the darkest shade around.
115* ''Series/BigBadBeetleborgs'': Flabber and the children are good, the Hillhurst monsters are bad, and the Magnivores are evil.
116* ''Series/BreakingBad'' has some elements of this, though who's where depends on which season. In the beginning, [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist Hank is The Good]], Walt and Jesse are The Bad, and the various drug lords and cartels that are the antagonists (Tuco, Gus, etc.) are The Evil. Given that the show is the very archetype of the ProtagonistJourneyToVillain arc, this changes a bit in the final season. For the majority of Season 5, Hank is The Good, [[spoiler:Jesse and Mike]] are The Bad, and [[spoiler:Walt]] is the Evil. This changes once again in the final few episodes where [[spoiler: Jesse]] is The Good, [[spoiler:Walt]] is The Bad, while [[spoiler:Jack and Lydia]] are The Evil.
117* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' mostly runs on BlackAndGrayMorality. It has Jimmy and the more honorable criminals like Mike and Nacho dealing with the eviler cartel villains like Hector. Unlike Breaking Bad, there is no heroic lead to play The Good most of the time. In Season 6 however, the trope comes back. Howard becomes The Good, Jimmy, Mike, [[spoiler:and Kim]] are The Bad, and [[spoiler:Lalo Salamanca]] is The Evil.
118* The season 2 finale of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' ends with Buffy teaming up with Spike to [[EvilVersusOblivion stop Angelus from destroying the world.]] As Spike explained it, he ''likes'' the world; lots of fun things to do and [[ToServeMan plenty of humans to eat]].
119* ''Series/TheCape'' now seems to have established something like this with the Cape as the Good, the Carnival of Crime as the Bad, and Fleming[=/=]Chess as the Evil. it may even be a four-way with Scales somewhere between the Carnival and Fleming or as [[EvilVersusEvil Evil, just opposed to Fleming]].
120* Starting in the third season, ''Series/CobraKai'' takes this approach with its three main dojos. The [[AntagonistTitle titular]] ThugDojo is the "Evil", prioritizing aggression over all else; Miyagi-Do is the "Good", focusing on a MartialPacifist philosophy; and the newly-formed [[LaResistance Eagle Fang]] is the "Bad", being an AntiHeroTeam of former Cobra Kai members who try to combine their former dojo's CombatPragmatist approach with a sense of honor and restraint. The third-to-last episode of the season lampshades this trope with its title, "The Good, the Bad, and the Badass".
121* ''Series/{{Continuum}}'' has a variant of this in the third season finale. Good and Bad ([[spoiler:Kiera, Brad, and Liber 8]]) team up to take out, not a bad guy who's EvilerThanThou, but a former good guy ([[spoiler: the original Alec]]) who's sliding down the slippery slope. Overall, the show starts out with Liber 8 as the Evil and Kiera and the police (represented by Dillon) as the Good but shows an increasingly KnightTemplar-ish Dillon sliding into the Evil spot.
122* ''Series/{{Deadwood}}'', once George Hearst shows up in season two. Seth Bullock is the face of the Good; he's not the morally purest person around, but his devotion to justice makes him at least [[AntiHero more heroic]] than others. Al Swearengen's faction, Bullock's antagonists in the first season, are the Bad; they're a pimp and his cronies attempting to prevent the town from rising above the status of OutlawTown so they won't have to deal with the government. Hearst, though, is a NietzscheWannabe mining magnate who will see the town utterly destroyed if it attempts to resist his complete domination.
123* To say ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' uses this trope a lot would be to understate dreadfully. While actives themselves are good, Paul Ballard is good-ish, and the entire LA Dollhouse staff is [[BlackAndGrayMorality deeply grey]]. We all just agree Alpha is evil as are the people in charge of Rossum as a whole. And by the end, this has fragmented even further. [[spoiler: The surviving staff of the LA Dollhouse are firmly on the good side, and so is, surprisingly enough, Alpha. Victor and a few others have gone grayer, but by now the only true evil people are the remnants of Rossum.]]
124* ''Series/TheFlash2014'' has [[TheHero Barry Allen/Flash]] and his friends in Team Flash as the good and speedsters such as [[OmnicidalManiac Zoom]] and [[GodhoodSeeker Savitar]] as the Evil. As the Bad, Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash is a recurring ally and mentor for Team Flash while still remaining a murderous supervillain.
125* In the first two seasons of ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'', this applied. Sibuna and their allies were the good guys, the Secret Society were bad, and then Rufus Zeno was pure evil. In season 2 it's more complicated with another addition to the pure evil side--Senkhara--who was also competing against Rufus and the society as they all wanted the mask, and Sibuna were the ones who had to get it for her. So it was pure evil forcing good to end up fighting against bad and evil again.
126* ''Series/{{Inazuman}}'' has this with its three mutant factions. Inazuman and the Youth League are the "Good" as [[ProHumanTranshuman pro-human mutants]]. The Phantom Army are the "Bad", being [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Fantastic Nazis]] who want to genocide humanity. And the Despar Army are the "Evil", being a RenegadeSplinterFaction of the Phantom Army who split off from them because ''they weren't genocidal and Nazi-ish enough'' for the Despar Army's tastes.
127* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
128** ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' has this, though the roles keep shifting as more and more is revealed. It starts off with Team Gaim as the Good, the rival Beat Rider gangs (particularly Team Baron) as the bad, and the [[MegaCorp Yggdrasill Corporation]] as the "Evil". Later on, as the Beat Riders become more unified and the [[CosmicHorrorStory true stakes]] become apparent, it becomes Kouta as the Good, Kaito as the [[AntiHero more aloof]] Good, Yggdrasill as the Bad and [[spoiler:the [[MonsterLord Overlord Inves]]]] as the Evil.
129** ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'' has this. The Good are the Special Unit, who protect people from the Bad, the Roidmudes, who seek to dominate the humans because of their negative emotions [[spoiler:programmed by the Evil, their inventor, who seeks to TakeOverTheWorld]]. The only thing though is that the Evil doesn't show up until the final leg of the show.
130** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' starts out with the Doctor Riders as the Good, rogue Doctor Rider Taiga Hanaya as the "Bad" and [[BigBadDuumvirate Parado and Kuroto Dan]] as the Evil, but these roles shift as infighting in the villains occurs and greater threats emerge. And then [[spoiler:[[TheManBehindTheMan Masamune Dan]] becomes the ''Eviler'', prompting everyone else to ally against him.]]
131** Similar to ''Gaim'', alignments in ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' continually change as the stakes keep getting bigger.
132*** It starts off with [[ScienceHero Sento]] and co. as the "Good", Faust - the NebulousEvilOrganisation experimenting on people, for [[WellIntentionedExtremist not fully evil reasons albeit]] - as the "Bad" and [[WarForFunAndProfit Namba Heavy Industries]] as the "Evil".
133*** Among the setting's [[BalkanizeMe divided Japan]], Touto is the clear-cut good for their TechnicalPacifist policy, while Hokuto is the [[WarHawk militaristic]] "Bad" and Seito is the militaristic and more cunning "Evil", especially after [[spoiler:they get supplanted by Namba Industries.]]
134*** At the beginning of the third act however, Namba Industries becomes the "Bad", with [[spoiler:[[OmnicidalManiac Evolt]], who was [[TheManBehindTheMan manipulating]] just about everyone else, and his Blood Tribe cronies]] emerging as the new "Evil".
135** Zigzagged in ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'', where the Good are Aruto Hiden and his allies, but multiple antagonists exchange the roles of the Bad and the Evil among them.
136*** For much of the show, [=MetsubouJinrai.net=], a terrorist cell of rogue [=HumaGear=] androids led by one called Horobi, comprise the Bad faction. Like in ''Drive'', the Evil faction only comes into play midway through the series, with Gai Amatsu and his ZAIA Enterprise not only providing an EvilerThanThou foil but is also revealed to be TheManBehindTheMan for [=MetsubouJinrai=].
137*** However, this eventually flips, as [=MetsubouJinrai=] revives their leader AI, the Ark, and becomes far more of a threat; while Gai faces severe VillainDecay as karma for his earlier actions.
138*** But then even [=MetsubouJinrai=] realizes just how insane and hate-filled the Ark is, abandoning its Evil and repositioning themselves as just Bad. Meanwhile, Gai has a HeelRealization and starts trying to be Good.
139*** And in the final story arc, [[spoiler:the Ark is destroyed and its Evil is taken off the table, but now Aruto and Horobi are caught up in a CycleOfRevenge that the rest of the cast (Good and Bad alike) is desperately trying to stop before an all-out war starts.]]
140** ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' starts off with a fairly simple Good vs Evil plot between the [[TheOrder Sword of Logos]] and the [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad Megid]], but in the second arc a split occurs when it's discovered there's a HiddenVillain within the Sword of Logos. [[TheHero Touma Kamiyama]] leaves the SOL to hunt for the traitor and effectively forms a new faction that becomes the "Good", his former comrades in SOL's Northern Base become a reluctant "Bad" after they're convinced he's a traitor, and the Megid stay as the "Evil". Later on, as Touma attracts more and more people to his side, new Bads crop up in [[spoiler:[[FallenHero Kento]] as the [[LegacyCharacter new Calibur]]]], who is determined to avert the BadFuture he saw by any means necessary, and the [[BrotherSisterTeam Shindai siblings]], who are hunting Touma for similar reasons as Northern Base was, but are far more ruthless about it. The Megid meanwhile are joined in the "Evil" category by [[spoiler:[[AxCrazy Master Logos]].]]
141* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': The good faction is represented by Galadriel, the grey faction by Adar and his Orcs, and the evil faction by Sauron. They are all enemies to each other. Galadriel wants to kill Sauron the death for Finrod, but also fights against Adar and the Orcs trying to stop them from conquering the Southlands. Sauron does not hate Galadriel and would rather have her join his side as King and Queen ruling over Middle-earth, but hates Adar for usurping him. Adar doesn't feel exactly strong about Galadriel other than being part of opposed factions, but has a personal enmity with Sauron for how Sauron mistreated the Orcs.
142* During season 4 of ''Series/{{Lost}}'', Ben, AffablyEvil and MagnificentBastard that he is, talks his way into sort of teaming up with the good guys against PsychoForHire Keamy and his men, although Ben [[TheChessmaster still had his own agenda]] the whole time.
143* ''Series/LostGirl'' in spades: the Light (good), the Dark (bad), and the monsters (evil). Though the Light and Dark are actually [[ALighterShadeOfGrey lighter and darker shades of grey]].
144* The Season 2 episode of ''Series/TheMandalorian'' "[[Recap/TheMandalorianS2E7Chapter15TheBeliever The Believer]]" features this in the form of main protagonist Din as the good, former Imperial sharpshooter [[FromCamouflageToCriminal turned criminal]] Migs Mayfeld (who was an enemy in a previous episode who has reluctantly been recruited as an ally), as the bad, and the Empire in general but especially Mayfeld's former commanding officer Valin Hess as the evil. Throughout the episode Din does his usual thing as the badass with a good heart and moral code, while Mayfeld cynically tries to puncture Din's morals and beliefs (sometimes [[JerkassHasAPoint making legitimate points doing so]]), and tries to insist that there's really not much of a difference between the Empire and the New Republic and in general seeing everything as GreyAndGrayMorality. Encountering Hess, however, blows a massive hole in Mayfeld's cynicism and attempts to equate the New Republic and the Empire, as Hess's callousness about ordering the deaths of his men and his ''glee'' at the thought of instigating massive acts of terrorism on the galaxy infuriates Mayfeld into taking a moral stand. Mayfeld kills Hess right in the middle of an Imperial base just to stop the madman and his plans.
145* Season 2 of ''Series/{{Nikita}}'' is shaping up like this, with [[TheHero Nikita]] and her allies as the Good, [[GovernmentConspiracy Division]] and their ManBehindTheMan [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Oversight]] as the Bad, and [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Gogol]] and ''their'' ManBehindTheMan [[MegaCorp Zetrov]] as the Evil. Following the status quo changing events about midway through the season, the list changed: Team Nikita is still the Good [[spoiler: along with the {{Heel Face Turn}}ed last living members of Oversight]], but Zetrov's head Semak is now closer to the Bad, and the Evil can be best represented by Amanda [[spoiler: and her partner Ari (Semak's [[TheStarscream Starscream]])]], with Percy still somewhere between Bad and Evil.
146* In ''Series/OnceUponATime'', Emma and her family are ([[TemporarilyAVillain usually]]) the Good, while Rumplestiltskin is the Bad; he has dark powers and is TheChessmaster, but he has sympathetic motives and is often able and willing to help the good guys...for a price. The Evil of season 1 is Regina, but she herself shifts to gray and then to good as the series goes on, and other characters like Cora, Zelena, Hades, and the Black Fairy take the part of the Evil. Spinoff ''Series/OnceUponATimeInWonderland'' also followed this; Alice and Cyrus were the Good, the Red Queen, Will and the Caterpillar were the Bad, and Jafar was the Evil.
147* ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'' takes this and shifts it a few steps down the morality scale. Through most of the show, the Sons are {{Nominal Hero}}es or {{Anti Hero}}es who team up with local law enforcement and other gangs to take out even worse gangs, like skinheads.
148* In ''Franchise/StarTrek,'' particularly ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine,]]'' the Maquis fill the role of the grey (with the Federation as the white and the Cardassians [=and/or=] the Dominion as the black). The Federation really ''did'' leave them hanging in a terrible situation, making their position feel pretty well justified or at least sympathetic, but they still resort to morally dubious tactics that bring them into conflict with Starfleet on a regular basis. Still, it's highly debatable just how justified the Federation is in its ongoing beef with them. Ensign Ro outright defects to them, and half the cast of ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' are ex-Maquis.
149* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'':
150** ''Series/NinpuuSentaiHurricaneger'': The Hurricanegers are the Good, the Gouraigers (a rival {{Sentai}} duo to the Hurricanegers) are the Bad and the [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad Jakanja]] are the Evil.
151** ''Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger'', sort of. The [=GekiJyuKen=] school is the Good, represented by the heroes and their MartialPacifist teachers. [=RinJyuKen=] school is the Bad -- represented by our heroes' main rivals and some [[TheSocialDarwinist faux-Darwinist teachers]]. [=GenJyuKen=] is the Evil -- not so much a school as a front for an immortal monster who wants to destroy civilization out of boredom.
152** ''Series/KaitouSentaiLupinrangerVSKeisatsuSentaiPatranger'' is set up like this, with the twist that the "Bad" faction, the Lupinrangers, are not actually villains. They're presented as heroes alongside the "Good" team, the Patrangers; but they're AntiHero [[PhantomThief Phantom Thieves]] that clash with the Patrangers on the police force who want to arrest them. Both are against the Evil, the Gangler crime syndicate, for their own reasons -- the Patrangers want to serve justice for their crimes, while the Lupinrangers are after the Ganglers' treasures.
153** The faction dynamic in ''Series/AvataroSentaiDonbrothers'' shapes up as this, with the Donbrothers being genuine heroes even in spite of their personal issues (the Good), the Nōto being TheUnfettered who nevertheless also seek to stop the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Hitotsu-Ki]] like the Donbrothers (the Bad), and the Jūto who are a threat to both humans and TheMetaverse alike (the Evil). It's later revealed that the Jūto are tragic monsters -- leaving the Evil side to be the Nōto Council, TheManBehindTheMan of the main trio.
154** ''Series/OhsamaSentaiKingOhger'' plays with the usual binary morality of the series. The titular Ohsama Sentai use their powers to protect their world, Tikyū (the Good), Racules the king of Shugoddam [[FirstEpisodeSpoiler is revealed to be a power-hungry ruler]] working against them and the Bognaarok alike (the Bad), and the Bognaarok seek to destroy all life on the planet's surface (the Evil). SixthRanger Jeremy/Spider Kumonos later adds a ''fourth'', Neutral side to the conflict during his introduction, serving as an enigma to all other sides.
155** ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'', the first season featured a Nighlock called Deker, who while wasn't strictly evil, wasn't good either. He would sometimes ally with the Rangers to fight against the other Nighlock but he could just as easily oppose them such as when they almost killed Dayu, but ultimately all he wanted was a WorthyOpponent and that was to fight Jayden.
156* ''Series/TheWire'': Starting roughly in Season 3, the cops of the Major Crimes Unit (no angels, but on their side--most of the time) are the Good, the Barksdale Organization and Proposition Joe's Organization (well-established Baltimore drug dealers, willing to use violence but preferring peaceful settlements as better for business) are the Bad, and the Stanfield Organization (run by the utterly ruthless and cold-blooded sociopath Marlo Stanfield, who has zero compunctions about murdering anyone for any reason) is the Evil.
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160* The band Music/{{GWAR}} follows this heavily.
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163[[folder:Podcast]]
164* In the ''Podcast/TheBrightSessions'', Dr. Bright and most of her patients are generally good, Damien is usually bad, and the AM is largely evil. However, there's an element of ''BlackAndGrayMorality'' and ''MoralityKitchenSink'', as Dr. Bright manipulating her patients for personal rescue missions is less than ideal, and Agent Green has good intentions despite being a party to the AM's evil.
165* ''Podcast/DiceFunk'' usually has this in each of its seasons
166** Recap/DiceFunkSeason1Stoneroot has the player characters, aided by Lord Earlan, as the good, though they're still morally dubious, the invading people of Acamoros led by Phiro and the Stonerotten gang led by Tamsin, as the bad, and [[spoiler: the EldritchAbomination Gorfinax]] as the mindless, destructive, evil.
167** Recap/DiceFunkSeason2Lorelei has the crew of the Violet One as the good trying to save as many people as they can from the apocalyptic flooding, most of the people they come in conflict with, including the KnightTemplar SerialKiller [[spoiler: Jem]], the vengeful ManipulativeBastard [[spoiler: Welch the Blue]] and the [[WellIntentionedExtremist Blackhearts]], as the bad and the HiddenVillain [[spoiler: Zavala aka. Billy who cause the flooding]] as the evil.
168** Recap/DiceFunkSeason3Ilium zig-zags this due to all of the conflicting parties but in general the Avant Guards (especially Zoey and Roland) and Warden Light are the good, the Lillies and some of the more evil residents of Ilium are the bad, while the forces of Count Danto, and [[spoiler:Ghaunadaur]] are evil. Veltari slowly transitions from evil to good over the course of the season while Theodora ends up going from [[spoiler: bad to evil]]
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172* This was the premise of Wrestling/{{WCW}} in 1996 with the faces and heels (good and bad, respectively) defending WCW against the Wrestling/NewWorldOrder (evil).
173* Generation Next's original Wrestling/RingOfHonor unit ended up [[HeelFaceTurn turning face]] in the face of the eviler Embassy of Wrestling/PrinceNana and then the invading forces of Wrestling/{{CZW}}. When those were done, however, the remaining members split to form three groups, three face one heel. The heel "No Remorse Corps" of Wrestling/RoderickStrong face trio of Wrestling/AustinAries, Erik Stevens and Matt Cross...which went nowhere thanks to Aries and Strong being scouted by [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]] to start another version Generation Next there, and Jack Evans starting the Vulture Squad to even the odds against established heel threats [=Hangm3m=] and The Age Of The Fall. Age Of The Fall were themselves undone when their heir apparent [[Wrestling/SethRollins Tyler Black]] proved popular enough to turn face.
174* Of the three Women's Extreme Wrestling "Angels", Heaven Sent was always good, trying to "save" the "hos" of the fed, and FallenAngel [[Wrestling/DaffneyUnger Lucy Furr]] was evil, trying to abuse and exploit the hos. [[Wrestling/AngelinaLove Angel Williams]] was merely bad, being a self centered {{jerkass}}. Lucy did eventually [[HeelFaceTurn turn face]], making both Williams and herself "just" bad, but then Amy Lee claimed to be [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels the new devil]].
175* In Summerslam 2010, it was Wrestling/JohnCena, Wrestling/JohnMorrison, [[Wrestling/RonKillings R-Truth]], and [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] (faces) teaming up with Wrestling/ChrisJericho and Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}} (heels) against Wrestling/TheNexus.
176* Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} 2014 had ''[[{{Face}} Tecnicos]]'' (Wrestling/TheColonyWrestling, The Throwbacks [Wrestling/DasherHatfield and [[Wrestling/MarkAngelosetti "Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti]]]], The Spectral Envoy [Wrestling/{{UltraMantis Black}}[=/=]Wrestling/{{Hallowicked}}[=/=]Wrestling/{{Frightmare}}], etc.), ''[[{{Heel}} Rudos]]'' (Wrestling/ChuckTaylor, Wrestling/JuanFranciscoDeCoronado, The Bloc Party, etc.) and...[[Wrestling/{{Deucalion}} The Flood]].
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180* The "core" factions in both of the ''TabletopGame/IronKingdoms'' lines fall roughly into this, although with four categories instead of three - call them Good (...ish), [[KnightTemplar Fanatical]], Bad and Evil for simplicity (whether a given Fanatical faction is better or worse than a Bad faction varies). Typically, the two factions in a given category don't get along either, to ensure grounds for any matchup - Cygnar and the Trollkin (Good) have a lot of bad blood, Khador and the Skorne (Bad) are both expansionistic and imperialistic and so are unlikely to find common ground, the Protectorate of Menoth and the Circle Orboros (Fanatical) worship mutually opposed JerkassGods (and the other major Fanatical faction, the Retribution of Scyrah, want to kill all non-Iosan mages and as such view everyone concerned as potential targets), and Cryx and the Legion of Everblight (Evil) are mutually opposed because the dragons who lead them [[OurDragonsAreDifferent genuinely cannot coexist]].
181* Endemic in the ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness''.
182** ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'': The Traditions (good) and the Technocracy (bad) exhibit TeethClenchedTeamwork against the [[OmnicidalManiac Nephandi]] (evil) and [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds Marauders]] (not evil so much as ''insane'').
183** ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'': [[BadPowersGoodPeople Very human Kindred]] (good) often still support the [[DecadentCourt Camarilla]] (bad) just for protection from the [[AxCrazy Sabbat]] and the [[ReligionOfEvil infernalists]] (evil).
184** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'': The Wyld (closest thing the setting has to 'good') must frequently work with the mad Weaver (bad) to oppose the [[EldritchAbomination Wyrm]] (evil). On a less cosmic level, the Garou tribes are politically divided; [[ActualPacifist Children of Gaia]] and [[NominalHero Wendigo]] (good) are forced to work with [[ManipulativeBastard Shadow Lords]] and the [[ThoseWackyNazis Get of Fenris]] (bad) because, again, the Wyrm is just that evil.
185* In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', the Tau Empire, Harlequins, the Imperium, and the Craftworld Eldar are the Bad; the Necrons and Orks are the Evil; and Chaos, Dark Eldar, and Tyranids are the Really Really Evil. The Tyranids are a threat to everyone so huge that all the other factions would unite and fight them in a united front if needed. Of course, the alliance won't last long, but still. Tyranids can also account for BlueandOrangeMorality as the Hive Mind is not capable of higher thought other than strategy, tactics, and its imperative of evolution. The Orks and some Necrons can also have a case of being Really Really Evil, as the former are simply incapable of understanding why other races don't consider war super awesome fun and some Necron dynasties are [[OmnicidalManiac dedicated to destroying all life]]. Additionally, some Chaos worshippers are in near-constant blind rages and don't really care about such pathetic concepts like self-preservation or common sense and will happily throw themselves at an Imperial trenchline as Tyranids are eating the planet.
186** Its fantasy counterpart, ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', has a similar setup. The Empire, Bretonnia, the High Elves, the Wood Elves, the Dwarfs, Kislev, Grand Cathay, and the Lizardmen are the Good ([[BlackAndGrayMorality At least as good as they can be]]); the Dark Elves, the Greenskins, the Ogre Kingdoms, the Vampire Counts and the Tomb Kings are the Bad; the Chaos Daemons, the Warriors of Chaos, the Beastmen, the Chaos Dwarfs and the Skaven are the Evil.
187** ''Warhammer'''s sequel/successor ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'' has a similar set-up, with each faction falling under one of four "Grand Alliances." The Alliance of Order are, relatively speaking, the Good, as their main goals are the spread of civilization, the protection of their peoples, and the defeat of Chaos (and the other two alliances when they cause trouble). Death and Destruction are the bad; the former is made up of undead creatures, and although they oppose Chaos and protect their own as well, are ruled by the tyrannical Nagash who wants to dominate all the Realms for himself. The latter is comprised of such savages as the Orruks, Ogors, and Grots, who pretty much only care about fighting and eating, and will happily do both to whatever or whoever is in their way. And as always, Chaos is the evil, with very little about them having changed.
188[[/folder]]
189
190[[folder:Video Games]]
191* ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'' has the forces of Good led by King Alteon being The Good and the forces of Evil led by Gravelyn being The Bad joining forces in order to fight the forces of Chaos led by Drakath.
192* ''VideoGame/AlienVsPredatorCapcom'': The humans are the Good, [[Franchise/{{Predator}} the Yautja]] are the Bad, and [[Franchise/{{Alien}} the Xenomorphs]] are the Evil. Both of the former two sides [[EnemyMine gang up on the latter]] out of mutual self-interest.
193* Creator/BioWare games often feature this setup:
194** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIIShadowsOfAmn'' has the FeaturelessProtagonist as the Good ([[WordOfGod canonically]]), the [[ThievesGuild Shadow Thieves]] as the Bad, and [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Bodhi's vampires]] as the Evil. To emphasize how Evil the latter are, some [[NonPlayerCompanion party members]] will flat-out leave your party [[PermanentlyMissableContent forever]] if you deal with them.
195** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' had the Warden (the Good), Teyrn Loghain and his posse (the Bad), and the Darkspawn Horde (the Evil). In-universe, mages and templars see themselves as the Good, each other as the Bad, and Abominations as the Evil.
196** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has Paragon Shepard, his/her crew, and Anderson as the only spots of good, the politicians and people like Aria in the grey area, and various mercenary groups, the Collectors, and the Reapers as evil.
197** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' has Shepard, Anderson, and Hackett as the Good, Cerberus and particularly the geth ([[spoiler:who can be pulled over to the Good side]]) as the Bad, and the Reapers as the Evil.
198** ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': The Republic as "good" and the Empire as "bad," though it's usually a case of BlackAndGrayMorality or GreyAndGrayMorality since the Sith Empire has some {{Noble Demon}}s in their ranks and the Republic has some astonishingly corrupt officers and officials. From "Return of the Hutt Cartel" to the Ossus arc, this has been in play with a variety of "evil," ranging from greedy Hutts to {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s.
199* ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' also adheres this, although there's no pure Good or Bad due to the rather [[GreyAndGrayMorality gray moralities of both sides]]. Oppositions of the NOL (Ragna, Sector Seven) is the Good. NOL is the Bad. Hazama/Terumi and Relius Clover are the Evil.
200** ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueChronophantasma Chronophantasma]]'' mucks things up within it. The NOL and Sector Seven at large are Bad; some individual members of both groups, and all known entities unaffiliated with either, are Good. Terumi and Relius are still Evil. Things change at the end, however:
201*** [[spoiler:The Good: Jin, Noel/Mu, Makoto, Tsubaki/Izayoi, Hakumen, Jubei, Celica, Kagura, Rachel, Valkenhayn, Taokaka, Tager, Bang, Platinum (if Luna and Sena survive; Trinity is dead)]]\
202[[spoiler:The Ambiguous: Bullet, Amane, Carl, Litchi.]]\
203[[spoiler:The Bad: Azrael, Relius, and Nu]]\
204[[spoiler:The Evil: Imperator Saya/Izanami, Phantom/Nine by extension]]\
205[[spoiler:The Mindless: Arakune and Ragna]]
206** ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueCentralFiction Central Fiction]]'' once again shuffles the alignments up. Most of the cast is established as the Good, so it's better to note the exceptions. [[spoiler: [[{{Yandere}} Nu]], [[WildCard Hazama]] and [[BloodKnight Azrael]] are definitely Bad. [[OmnicidalManiac Izanami]] and [[SatanicArchetype Terumi/Susanoo]] are definitely Evil. [[MadScientist Relius]] is Bad, if only because he decided ScrewThisImOutOfHere. [[ProtagonistJourneyToVillain Carl]], due to Relius's influence, has the potential to become either Bad or Evil. [[WellIntentionedExtremist Nine]] is Bad for most of the plot, but ultimately performs a HeroicSacrifice in order to aid the Good. [[MaskOfSanity Hibiki]] straddles the line between Good and Bad. And finally, Arakune is ultimately ambiguous.]]
207* ''VideoGame/BugFables'': The hideout sequence has this dynamic. The Explorer's Association are the Good, as a group of heroes helping out people and defending the kingdoms. The Bandits are the Bad, a gang of thieves who will attack people in the desert unprovoked, but they have a sense of honor and standards. The Wasps are the Evil faction, full of ruthless soldiers who will attack anyone in order to get the Everlasting Sapling for the Wasp King, and have no standards. [[spoiler:While the Wasp soldiers are being mind controlled by the King, the King himself is very much on the Evil side and finds those soldiers disposable]]. When the Bandit leader lets Team Snakemouth go after his defeat and gives them a key item they need because the Wasps didn't hold up their side of a deal with the Bandits, Vi even wonders if he can be called a good guy or a bad guy.
208* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' tends to dabble in this whenever a third faction comes into play, with the later-introduced faction acting as the Evil to the former antagonistic faction's Bad, starting with Yuri in ''Red Alert 2'', CABAL in ''Tiberian Sun'', and the Scrin faction in ''Tiberium Wars'' (double the fact that the Brotherhood of Nod has received even more fandom by this time). Not so much in Red Alert 3, as the Soviets debatably still function as the Evil and the Empire of the Rising Sun acts as the Bad. And while the Global Liberation Army in ''Generals'' is undeniably the Evil, the USA is generally on the side of Good, and China, while sharing the same enemy as the USA, is on a shade of Bad due to their draconian rule towards the occupied Central Asian territories (not to mention their penchant for collateral damage).
209* In the ''VideoGame/DuneII'', ''Dune 2000'' and ''VideoGame/EmperorBattleForDune'' games you have 3 playable factions (minus the subfactions, you can be allied to those) that fit this trope, the good House Atreides, the insidious House Ordos that is willing to do nasty things if necessary for its endless pursuit of wealth and probably drugs its citizens to make them more submissive, vs. the evil House Harkonnen who are a royal house consisting almost entirely of perverted, deranged psychopaths who enslave, backstab, and a lot of other nasty things and their soldiers are more afraid of them than their enemy.
210* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'''s {{Civil War}} storyline, the [[TheGoodKingdom Empire]] and the [[LaResistance Stormcloaks]] are the Good and the Bad, which one is which depending on whose side you choose to support. However, the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]]-led [[AntiHumanAlliance Aldmeri]] [[TheEmpire Dominion]] is definitely the Evil, one of the few things both sides agree on. Whichever side wins will inevitably [[GreaterScopeVillain have to deal with the Dominion down the line]]. And that's without considering [[OutsideContextProblem Alduin and the return of the Dragons...]]
211* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
212** Something like this happens in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' with the Enclave splitting up. An interesting variation, as the player is actually given the option of siding with the ''more'' evil faction, but not the lesser one, so the game's final confrontation will always be against the same guys, regardless of moral choice.
213** In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' the Courier gets to choose whose side he or she can join: the New California Republic, Caesar's Legion, Mr. House, or none of them. Which ones are the good, bad, and evil depends on the player's perspective, but most characters in the game generally agree that the Legion are the worst of the three.
214** And in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', we have four major factions, all of which the player can join. The Minutemen, the Railroad, the Brotherhood of Steel, and the Institute. Again, which ones are the good, the bad and the evil depend on your perspective, though the Minutemen are pretty unambiguously good, and most characters in the game are opposed to the Institute.
215* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
216** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': The main character is a mercenary employed by [[WellIntentionedExtremist eco]]-[[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters terrorists]]. Your enemy is a MegaCorp whose [[PoweredByAForsakenChild fuel usage]] is ''literally killing the planet''. That becomes less important when this other guy comes along and [[OmnicidalManiac plans to kill everyone]] via ColonyDrop to [[GodhoodSeeker ascend into Godhood]]. (Said MegaCorp dedicates its operations to stopping said guy from that point onward.) You can count the named characters who have not killed many, many people (directly or indirectly) on one hand, and by far the most prominent one [[ItWasHisSled dies a third of the way through]]. [[CrapsackWorld Yeesh]].
217** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'': The protagonists ([[DefectorFromDecadence Ramza]] and his allies) are the Good, the [[CorruptChurch Church of Glabados]] and most of the nobility are the Bad, and [[spoiler:[[OmnicidalManiac the Lucavi]]]] are the Evil, though the Church and nobility never get together enough to take any kind of concerted actions against the latter. [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Delita]] is in an ambiguous space between Good and Bad, and is largely allied with Ramza against the Bad guys.
218%%** ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'' has this going on from beginning to end with Ashley, Sydney, and Romeo. (ZCE - how?)
219** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': An unusual case of a faction that was The Evil in the past but has swapped to being The Bad currently, with Limsa Lominsa and its treatment of the kobolds. Limsa had signed a peace treaty with the native kobolds, under the ambiguous principle, “To men shall go the bounty of the sea; to kobolds shall go the bounty of the land.” Admiral Merlwyb exploited the ambiguity and knowingly triggered violence between the two groups. Yet, while Limsa is clearly in the wrong, the Warrior of Light is forced to oppose the kobolds, as they take the almost literally nuclear option by summoning their deity Titan as a primal, as summoned primals threaten ''all'' life. Later events help break the cycle, but the kobolds are very clear that the injustices done to them have not yet been forgiven.
220 * In the ''VideoGame/{{Freespace}}'' strategy guide, it describes the Terrans as the "Good Guys," the Vasudans are the "Bad Guys," and the Shivans are the "Really Bad Guys."
221* ''VideoGame/HalfLife'': The hero Gordon Freeman and the Black Mesa staff are innocent people trying to escape a hostile situation involving aliens, making them the good. The [=HECU=] are a military faction sent in to stop the aliens and save Earth, but they have also been ordered to cover up the incident and ensure the public never learns of it...by silencing the Black Mesa staff...with bullets. While many of them feel remorse about this and are only doing it out of fear of being executed themselves, other soldiers are portrayed as sadistic assholes who ''enjoy'' killing innocent people, making them the bad. The aliens are hostile creatures who want to either wipe out everyone in the facility (and possibly the Earth) so they can use it as an outpost to hide from even more violent aliens called the Combine (as is the case with the Xen aliens), or harvest the planet for all of its resources and kill everyone in the process (as is the case with the Race X aliens), making them the evil. The Black Ops could fall into either the bad or the evil. On one hand, they are trying to stop the aliens and protect the world, but on the other hand, they are cold, merciless, cruel assholes who feel absolutely no remorse for killing the staff, resort to ''torture'' to get information, and intend to kill the [=HECU=] [[YouHaveFailedMe because they failed to cover up the invasion themselves]]. They are so cold and brutal that they make the [=HECU=] look noble by comparison. At best, the Black Ops would be sociopathic [[NominalHero nominal heroes]].
222* In the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series, an EnemyCivilWar ends up dividing the Covenant between the honor-bound Elites and the vicious Brutes. Many Elites, having already respected humanity as a WorthyOpponent, join forces with the humans against both the Covenant and the Flood, and eventually make peace with humanity when the war ends, with several Elites fully becoming the Good in their own right.
223* ''VideoGame/Injustice2'': We have Batman's team as the Good (they want to rebuild after the events of [[VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs the first game]] and bring justice back to the world), the remnant of Superman's Regime as the Bad (who seek to TakeOverTheWorld again and bring peace and order at the cost of basic freedoms) and Gorilla Grodd's group and Brainiac as the Evil (who stand in as different degrees of kill-happy maniacs: the one that wishes to TakeOverTheWorld and kill millions along the way and the OmnicidalManiac, respectively).
224* In the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series, Sora and his many friends act as the Good, often allying with fellow keyblade wielders and heroes from the various worlds he travels to. The Bad are represented by Maleficent, either accompanied by her [[TheDragon second]] Pete or whatever Disney Villain (Hades, Jafar, Ursula, Captain Hook and Oogie Boogie) she allies with in their attempts at conquering their worlds, though their limited perspective pale in comparison to the GreaterScopeVillain Master Xehanort and the rest of his 13 Seekers of Darkness, TheChessmaster who possess a universe-spanning threat through his intimate understanding of its cosmology and mastery over the TimeyWimeyBall. All three factions are in constant battle with each other, Maleficent and Xehanort both wanting control over Kingdom Hearts and the godlike power it possesses and the warriors of light are out to stop them.
225* ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'': Zero, Ciel, and LaResistance are the Good; [[KnightTemplar Copy-X]], [[HeroAntagonist the Guardians]], and Neo Arcadia in general (or rather what Neo Arcadia has become) are the Bad; and Dr. Weil and [[AxCrazy Omega]] are the Evil.
226* ''VideoGame/MonsterCrown'': IdealHero David is Good, though unintended collateral damage and the rest of the setting's cynicism make most people wary of him. The Gangsters are Bad, as they're trying to maintain peace through fear and manipulation. However, both David and the Gangsters hate Beth, the Evil, given that she's a SocialDarwinist colluding with dangerous entities in order to gain absolute power, [[spoiler:though she's revealed to be a sympathetic UnwittingPawn of the true Evil, the three Philosopher Kings, who ruled as tyrants in the backstory and want to return to power.]]
227* ''VideoGame/Persona4'' has the three main players in the plot. The Investigation Team is obviously the Good since they're fighting to save people's lives and find the killer. The Bad is [[spoiler:Taro Namatame, a well-intentioned but misguided person who throws the party members and Nanako into the TV with the intention of protecting them from the real killer]]. The Evil is the real killer, [[spoiler:Tohru Adachi]], who killed two people, inspired a copycat killing, manipulated [[spoiler:Namatame]] into throwing people in the TV, and was willing to watch [[spoiler:the fog engulf the world]] merely ForTheEvulz.
228* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has this setup pop up in the endgame. The Phantom Thieves are The Good, [[spoiler:[[BastardAngst Akechi]]]] is The Bad, while [[spoiler:[[GloriousLeader Shido]] and [[AngelicAbomination Yaldabaoth]]]] are The Evil. The Third Semester subverts it by having the former Bad, [[spoiler:Akechi,]] join the Good, and the new Evil [[spoiler:turn out to be an AntiVillain and WellIntentionedExtremist.]]
229* ''VideoGame/Pikmin4'': The Good are the Rescue Corps, who venture out to PNF-404 in order to rescue Captain Olimar alongside many other castaways. The Bad are the various wildlife inhabiting PNF-404, who are of great danger to the Rescue Corps and their Pikmin but are mostly attacking out of hunger and/or self-defense. The Evil is [[spoiler:Louie, a rogue Hocotatian who is actively hostile towards the Rescue Corps, as he wants to stay on PNF-404 and tend to his own hedonistic desires]].
230* The three factions of ''VideoGame/{{Planetside}}'': the New Conglomerate, a RagtagBunchOfMisfits fighting for independence after the Terran Republic's massacre of Liberty's Call protesters; the Terran Republic, the totalitarian regime back on Earth seeking to retake control of Auraxis; and the Vanu Sovereignity, a cult of scientists "touched" by {{Precursor|s}} technology and looking to "enlighten" the rest of humanity [[TranshumanTreachery whether it wants to be enlightened or not]]. ''2'' makes the New Conglomerate less sympathetic and the Terran Republic moreso, while keeping the Vanu crazy as ever, making the game BlackAndGrayMorality.
231* ''VideoGame/PsychicForce'', by the second game, exemplifies this. The Good is Anti-NOA (no official leader, the closest is [[TheHero Burn]]), the Bad is NOA (led by [[DarkMessiah Keith]]), and the Evil is the Army (led by Wong). There are other forces such as magicians (Genma/Genshin) that don't take sides and instead be a KnightTemplar and just target all three sides because they're Psychiccers and Psychiccers are EVIL (in their head).
232* In the ''VideoGame/{{Rosenkreuzstilette}}'' series, Spiritia Rosenberg and Lilli are the Good who want to preserve peace between humans and Magi; meanwhile, the two opposing factions, the titular RKS rebellion and the Schwarzkreuz, are the Bad who want to protect Magi and humans, respectively, but resort to violence to do so; and finally, [[spoiler:Iris Zeppelin]] is the Evil for the RKS side who started the war by [[spoiler:manipulating the members into striking against the humans]], while the Pope is the Evil for the Schwarzkreuz as their founder who orders the persecution of Magi [[spoiler:and is actually [[RunningBothSides Iris herself]] using a homunculus]].
233* ''VideoGame/ToothAndTail'''s factions more or less run on this, though with a healthy dose of BlackAndGrayMorality, given that they all engage in EatingTheEnemy when it's not actually necessary. The Longcoats are an alliance of bourgeois upper-class types who want to abolish the LotteryOfDoom, replacing it with a society [[KillThePoor where the unproductive are eaten instead]]. The Commonfolk want to institute [[ChummyCommies democratic socialism instead]]... But the democracy they envision will be [[EatTheRich weighted heavily in their favor through sheer numbers]] (the Longcoat-Commonfolk alliance starts out as the "good", in that while their end goals are incompatible they're able to put it aside for cooperation's sake). [[StateSec The KSR]] is brutal and wants to institute a return to status quo under a military dictatorship, but they have some standards and their reason for their brutality is to end the war as quickly as possible while civilization can still be salvaged (the "bad"). The "evil" is provided by the [[CorruptChurch Civilized]], the faction that made the war inevitable by promoting meat-eating and instituting (and rigging) the LotteryOfDoom, and prolong the war in order to exhaust the other factions to make their position even more secure at the end. [[spoiler:When the other three factions agree to form a compromise government, the Civilized destroy it because they can't be a part.]]
234* In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'', Mario and Olivia (good) [[EnemyMine team up with]] Bowser and his army, usually the series' primary antagonistic force but consisting mostly of [[PunchClockVillain Punch-Clock Villains]] (bad), to defeat King Olly, the Legion of Stationery, and their origami minions (evil).
235* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'''s expansion introduced a greyer-moralled faction of Undead: the Forsaken, led by Sylvanas after she was freed from the Lich King's control. When ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' started, they were part of the Horde, so in theory just as good as the others... [[spoiler:but as time went by Sylvanas went full Evil.]]
236* In VideoGame/SonicFrontiers, the three major parties seem to follow this scheme:
237** The Good is the titular Sonic, TheHero of the franchise, who is simply trying to rescue his friends from the Cyberspace.
238** The Bad is Sage, Eggman's new AI, who costantly antagonizes Sonic and acts as TheHeavy of the game. [[spoiler: It's eventually revealed that she is simply trying to protect everyone from the real threat listed below. Unfortunately, due to [[PoorCommunicationKills poor communication]] and her programmation by Eggman, who refuses to work with Sonic, she isn't really successful to stop the threat from getting unleashed.]]
239** The Evil is [[spoiler: THE END, a sadistic entity intentioned [[OmnicidalManiac to eliminate all of existence]], [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating everyone else to achieve its goals]], who is also responsible for the destruction of the Ancients' original world. Needless to say that this forces the other two parties to form an EnemyMine against it.]]
240* In the ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' campaigns, the players serve as agents of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, the defacto good guys who defend Inkling civilization from all threats. Then there's the bad guys with DJ Octavio and his Octarian Army who ultimately wish to defeat the Inklings and retake the surface world for themselves (even if they're currently stuck at just stealing Inkopolis's power supply), but still have understandable motives, given that their underground habitats are steadily deteriorating. Indeed, from ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' onward, numerous Octolings (more or less the "core" Octarian subrace) end up abandoning Octavio to live in peace among the Inklings instead. [[spoiler:Then, you have Commander Tartar from ''2''[='s=] ''Octo Expansion'' who believes neither society deserves to live and begins blending kidnapped test subjects down into an ooze that he uses to "sanitize" living Octarians into zombies that are completely under his command, with his plan being to completely annihilate the inhabitants of the surface and replace them with his own "supreme" life forms created from the aforementioned ooze. You also have Mr. Grizz in ''VideoGame/Splatoon3'', who steals Octavio's army and forcibly turns them into Fuzzy Octarians in a ploy to coat the Earth in fuzzy ooze and kill all marine life so mammals can rise again. Neither Tartar nor Grizz care for either the Inklings or Octarians, and are more than willing to kill both sides to push their agenda. In Tartar's case, he's done in by a combined group of Inklings and Octolings. In Grizz's case, this actually results in an EnemyMine situation where Octavio himself joins the fight against Grizz alongside the new Agent 3.]]
241* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has this in the Neutral and Pacifist routes. The Fallen Human is the Good who either wants to defend themselves or is actively trying to spare every monster they come across and help them with their problems. King Asgore and his minions are the Bad who are intent on killing all humans who enter the Underground, but they all have redeeming qualities and are capable of doing a HeelFaceTurn. [[spoiler:The Evil is [[SoulFlower Flowey the Flower]], who is manipulating the protagonist into killing Asgore so he can steal the Human Souls and attain godlike power, then kill everyone in the Underground over and over again for his amusement, and he has to be turned into his original NiceGuy self, Asriel Dreemur, to stop his rampage.]]
242* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' turns out to be this. The Good are the Shulk and the main party, as well as their allies across Bionis [[spoiler:and the Machina in Mechonis]]. The Bad are the [[KillerRobot Mechon]], who are waging a RobotWar on the life forms of Bionis, but their leaders (with the exception of [[TokenEvilTeammate Metal Face]] all have sympathetic qualities and [[spoiler:are either BrainwashedAndCrazy or trying to defend themselves]]. The Evil is [[spoiler:[[DemiurgeArchetype Zanza/the Bionis]] and his followers (with the exception of [[TokenGoodTeammate Alivs]]), who started the war by attacking Mechonis and ''also'' want to exterminate all life on Bionis.]]
243[[/folder]]
244
245[[folder:Webcomics]]
246* ''Webcomic/{{Blip}}''. Heaven is run by {{Knight Templar}}s willing to ruin the lives of humans for the sake of preserving order. Hell is run by a genuinely nice guy, who nevertheless wants to plunge the world into chaos by amplifying the titular blip in God's plan. The real good guys aren't allied with either side.
247* Save for a few independent characters with their own goals, most of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' can be sorted into these three camps. The "Good" would be Agatha Heterodyne and her companions, although it's worth mentioning that many of her companions were originally with one of the two other factions. The "Bad" would be the TheEmpire of Baron Klaus Wulfenbach who mostly wants to enforce peace whatever the cost, and who fears Agatha might secretly be in the "Evil" team (though Gil, the Baron's son, is both on the empire's side ''and'' Agatha's). The "Evil" would be the network of those people who swore loyalty to the Other (aka [[spoiler:Lucreizia Mongfish]]); but since the Other is currently a GreaterScopeVillain frantically clawing their way over to BigBad territory, those on their side are very fractured and prone to infighting.
248* ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}'':
249** Although Bec Noir is incredibly powerful and is responsible for over half of the deaths seen so far, Lord English is powerfully evil, threatening the very existence of paradox space itself.
250** In the "Game Over" MeleeATrois, naturally, our protagonists are the "Good"; [[spoiler:Aranea]], a WellIntentionedExtremist who does want to defeat Lord English, but goes to horrifically KnightTemplar levels in doing so and kills several heroes in the process, is the "Bad"; and [[spoiler:the Condesce]], a genocidal fish-lady tyrant, is the "Evil". Played with, though, in that when the "Evil" kills the "Bad" at the end of the fight, the former is the more sympathetic one in this case. Gamzee, who plays a smaller role and is on his own side, also counts as an "Evil" here until he gets killed off fairly early into the skirmish.
251* Rather than splitting the evil, ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'' splits the good. GodAndSatanAreBothJerks, but Buddha acts as a neutral figure in the conflict, ironically acting more "good" than the supposed good faction. (The protagonists themselves are all over the place--Slick in particular has declared allegiance to all three factions ''simultaneously''.)
252* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' has Torg and [[TrueCompanions his friends]] (the Good) sabotaging Hereti Corp, No Fun, and other ruthless organizations (the Evil) by working for the supervillain Minion Master (the Bad).
253[[/folder]]
254
255[[folder:Web Originals]]
256* In ''WebVideo/TalesFromMyDDCampaign'', Humans are the Good, the Illud are the Bad, and the Deluvians are the Evil.
257* ''WebVideo/ThereWillBeBrawl'': Red, Peach and Luigi are Good; Link and the remaining mob bosses are Bad; and Kirby, [[spoiler: along with Ness and Lucas,]] is completely batshit ''evil incarnate''.
258* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', there are the heroes and villains, who generally spend all their time fighting against each other, but who will (usually) drop everything in order to team up against [[spoiler:the Endbringers]] or [[spoiler:the Slaughterhouse Nine]]. However, in the end, even [[spoiler:the Endbringers]] eventually ally with everyone else in order to fight against [[spoiler:Scion]].
259[[/folder]]
260
261[[folder:Western Animation]]
262* The three main factions of ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' fall into this dynamic.
263** The Good is represented by Wartwood and the frogs, who are overall well-intentioned and kind.
264** The Bad is represented by Toad Tower and the toads, most prominently their leader Grimes. They are cruel [[SmallTownTyrant robber-barons]] who enforce the laws of Amphibia and collect taxes, and even try to overthrow the king. In the end though they're just doing what's best for their own species.
265** The Evil is represented by [[spoiler:Newtopia and the newts, especially their leader, King Andrias. Newtopia appears to be a ShiningCity, but is truly the former capital of a ruthless empire. Also, unlike the soldiers of Toad Tower, many of who have unique faces, names, and personalities, Newtopia's guards are all masked FacelessGoons.]]
266* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
267** Most of the series has this dynamic, with Aang and friends consistently being the good from beginning to end, [[AntiVillain Zuko]] being the bad for most of the series, and the evil changing depending on the season. In Season 1, the evil is [[StarterVillain Zhao]]; [[TheDragon Azula]] takes over as the evil in Seasons 2 and most of 3, with [[BigBad Ozai]] joining in starting in Season 3. At the end of the second season Zuko would subvert the opportunity for a HeelFaceTurn, but eventually do it in the third. After this the system breaks down, though at the very end, you have Team Avatar as the good, Azula as the vicious yet pitiable evil, and Ozai as the stone-cold irredeemable sadistic evil.
268** This even shows up among the main firebenders in the first season. Iroh is the Good, being GoodAllAlong whose main motivation is to help Zuko and the world at large, Zuko is the Bad, chasing the Avatar [[NobleDemon while having a lot of standards in the chase and willing to reach out a hand to help his uncle or crew]], and Zhao is the Evil, a {{Jerkass}} who is willing to cross the MoralEventHorizon if he deems it necessary.
269* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' turned into this pretty early on and kept building on it. It used to be that Team Phantom was the good and the [[RoguesGallery various ghosts he fought]] were the evil. Now, Team Phantom is good, Vlad and Valerie (along with a few more sympathetic ghosts) are the bad, and most of Danny's RoguesGallery is the evil. By the end, however, Vlad is the evil and most of the RoguesGallery is the bad.
270* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' did this often in the second season, most notably with Goliath and Xanatos (who may be the king of self-interest trumping morality, but isn't ''evil'' per se) teaming up against the out-of-control transformed Fox in "Eye of the Beholder" and the serial-killing Demona in the "City of Stone" arc.
271* Season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/HuntikSecretsAndSeekers'' has the Huntik team as the Good, the remnants of the [[TheSyndicate Organization]] as the Bad, and the [[ApocalypseCult Blood Spiral Brotherhood]] as the Evil. The Huntik team wants to SaveTheWorld. The Organization wants to [[AvengingTheVillain avenge]] the Big Bad of the first season and eventually TakeOverTheWorld. Lastly, the Blood Spiral Brotherhood serves a race of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and wants to bring about the apocalypse in their name.
272* In the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', Darkseid was inadvertently revived by a ritual Lex Luthor intended for Brainiac but was sabotaged by Tala as payback. Luthor rather sensibly went straight to the League and explained there was going to be an alien invasion now and the planet needed saving, let us help. The League [[MercyLead gave them a five-minute head start]] afterward.
273** Darkseid's role as the Evil of this trope was cemented early on in the series (even as far back as ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''), in that he's the only one to whom Superman will show no mercy in battle, even to the point that he's fully prepared to sacrifice himself if it means that Darkseid goes down with him.
274* In the fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', AffablyEvil Dr. Drakken and his DeadpanSnarker [[TheDragon dragon]] Shego developed into "the bad". First by toning down their evil throughout the season and in the final episode by putting them in an EnemyMine position against a race of AlwaysChaoticEvil alien invaders.
275* ''WesternAnimation/ObanStarRacers'' has the Earth Team(Eva Wei/Molly, her father, and their friends) as the good characters racing to save Earth with the "Ultimate Prize"(and in Molly's case, bring back her mother), though Don is admittedly a stubborn jerk at first. Other aliens like Satis, Prince Aikka, and Rush are heroic as well and offer some aid to the humans they're competing with. The other alien racers, like Sul, Spirit, Muir, Lord Furter, and Ning and Skun are the "bad", being ruthless and [[PunyEarthlings intolerant of humans]], but they're not truly malicious and have their own legit reasons for being in the Great Race. The only two truly evil factions are General Kross, representing [[AlwaysChaoticEvil the Crogs]], and Canaletto, the monster manipulating the tournament to his own ends. Both are genocidal fiends whose victory would mean untold devastation, and come to brutal {{KarmicDeath}}s while most of the racers survive.
276* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' Spidey is the good and most of his RoguesGallery are the evil, with [[BigBad Tombstone]] as the bad- he's unquestionably a villain and a very ruthless one, but he sees his criminal empire as a business first and foremost and tends to avoid pointless cruelty. He (briefly) teams up with Spidey on a couple of occasions against the blatantly psychotic Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus.
277** It's not just him, either - Sandman, Black Cat, and (to a much lesser extent) Rhino are just in it for the money, and don't really go out of their way to hurt anyone (except Spidey himself, in Rhino's case). Sandman even gets to team up with Spidey for [[spoiler:RedemptionEqualsDeath in the course of saving a little girl]].
278** And Molten Man was working for the truly psychotic Green Goblin, but against his will - it was a pretty clear set-up for a HeelFaceTurn, but [[ScrewedByTheNetwork the show was canceled just two seasons in]].
279* The season three premiere of ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' does this, with Star briefly joining forces with her usual foe and HarmlessVillain Ludo in her quest to defeat Toffee, who aims to [[spoiler:destroy all magic in the multiverse]]. If only because [[spoiler:Toffee has been using Ludo's body on-and-off as a MeatPuppet since the middle of season two]], thus making this the only way to get close to him.
280* In the fifth season of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', Darth Maul tries to deal with other rogue factions in the galaxy:
281** In the first episode of the arc, Maul (Evil) tries to take control of Hondo Ohnaka's pirate gang (Bad) while the Jedi (Good) are hot on their tail.
282** By the end of the arc, Maul has teamed up with the Mandalorian Death Watch, and a split in the ranks has caused a civil war between the Evil faction loyal to Maul and a Bad one that opposes him. And then the Even More Evil gets involved, as the fighting catches the eye of Darth Sidious, who goes to beat some sense into Maul. While Good does have a part in the conflict, its presence is minimal; with Duchess Satine caught in the crossfire and Obi-Wan intervening to rescue her. Even so, the merely-Bad Death Watch does come to Obi-Wan's aid at the end.
283** This continues into ''ComicBook/DarthMaulSonOfDathomir'', a set of unproduced scripts which were adapted into a comic book. In this case, Maul and Mother Talzin are {{Villain Protagonist}}s and just the Bad; going up against the Evil of Sidious, Dooku, and Grievous. The Jedi are once again the Good and only briefly involved, though in a reversal of the usual situation their intervention causes the Bad and the Evil to team up against them for a time (instead of Good and Bad fighting off the Evil).
284* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'' had an alliance with [[ArchEnemy Slade]] against Trigon that lasted all of 2 episodes. In season 4, Red X also temporarily sided with the Titans, without accomplishing a full HeelFaceTurn. He originally competed with the Titans and every other villain involved, just to get a Macguffin for himself, but apparently had [[AbortedArc hidden reasons]] that made him let Robin win.
285* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'': The characters are mostly either good or evil, Karai (when she isn’t obsessed with AvengingTheVillain) and the AffablyEvil Dr. Chapman are criminals, but significantly less evil than Shredder. Bishop is a WellIntentionedExtremist who has committed countless amoral acts but is genuine in his desire to protect humans from alien threats.
286* By the end of ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama: [[WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace The Ridonculous Race]]'', the hosts consisted of Don (good), Chef Hatchet (bad), and Chris [=McLean=] (evil).
287* In ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' there are varying degrees of bad and evil, while the Monks are unquestionably good, though they dip their toes in the darkside sometimes, there is Jack on the bad side but he wants to be the BigBad. Chase could be considered bad also as he spends most of his time helping the monks while trying to fulfill his own goals. There is Wuya who is evil, but mostly harmless except when she reveals herself to be a NotSoHarmlessVillain, and finally Hannibal Bean who is very evil.
288* ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' had one of the most memorable and sympathetic portrayals of Magneto ever to exist, out to defend mutantkind from its human oppressors, who were generally portrayed as pretty heavily bigoted. Of course the show couldn't have him be ''too'' evil with such a sympathetic cause, so he got thrust into EnemyMine situations in all but his ''very first'' appearance against villains who were [[EvilerThanThou more evil than]] [[EvenEvilHasStandards him at his worst]].
289* Season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' shifted to this with Wander as the good, Lord Hater as the bad, and the VilerNewVillain Lord Dominator as the evil.
290[[/folder]]

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