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4
5[[WMG:[[center:[-'''CharacterAlignment'''\
6LawfulGood | NeutralGood | ChaoticGood\
7LawfulNeutral | '''True Neutral''' | ChaoticNeutral\
8LawfulEvil | NeutralEvil | ChaoticEvil-]]]]]
9
10[[quoteright:298:[[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/true_neutral_embassy_1933.jpg]]]]
11[[caption-width-right:298:"What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?"]]
12
13->''"Now, I'm told y'all are hired killers. Also, I wanna make it clear that this is ALL I've been told. Ol' [[VideoGame/Left4Dead2 Whitaker]] don't pass judgment, and he don't take sides. RED, BLU — your money's all green here."''
14-->-- [[http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=4441 This]] ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' blog
15
16The best known CharacterAlignment system has two axes: Good—Evil and Lawful—Chaotic. But some characters just don't fit either end of either axis: they're not selfless enough to be Good, but not exploitative enough to be Evil; they're not rule-abiding enough to be Lawful, but not arbitrary enough to be Chaotic. They could be described as morally bland. These characters are True Neutral, also known as "Neutral Neutral"[[note]]as in "Neutral-with-respect-to-law-and-chaos and Neutral-with-respect-to-good-and-evil"; this is not [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment redundant]], it's using the same word with two different meanings[[/note]] or just "Neutral".
17
18A True Neutral character or organization can be introduced as a WildCard, neither aligned with the Hero nor the BigBad. On the other hand, they may well be on one side or the other, at least nominally. Perhaps they care little for the conflict and have their own goals, which are neither particularly good or evil. A True Neutral scientist may work for the good guys because it furthers their research, but they may also work for the bad guys for the same reason. They could also be on whichever side their friends are, just because of that. True Neutral characters can seem somewhat selfish, but they can also seem rather happy-go-lucky in comparison to more responsible characters. While most of them could be selfish, the whole point of them being this way is to avoid working with or helping others that are deemed malevolent at all costs, otherwise they'd might accidentally further a villain's goals. However, if individuals try to at least make them earn their trust, this can result in them going out of their element to befriend them, which also works on those who are LawfulNeutral to ChaoticNeutral.
19
20It should be noted that alongside Chaotic to Lawful Neutral, there are no guarantees that they will be considered as Wild Card characters, most are simply static and don't have any interest in joining either side, namely good and evil.
21
22True Neutral is the base alignment of animals, which prompts Druids to be of the True Neutral alignment in {{RPG}}s (though later editions changed this to Unaligned). Robots that do not come with an ethical system are also True Neutral by default (although this doesn't stop them having a personality). {{Muggles}} and {{Punch Clock Villain}}s are often the "don't care" variety of True Neutral. Many {{Byronic Hero}}es fit True Neutral as well. A True Neutral is somebody whose first solution to any dilemma is 'what would a bear do?'. However, non-sapients and BlueAndOrangeMorality may be described as not being even True Neutral; this is done when one wants to emphasize that something can't be judged or described by our moral terms at all.
23
24True Neutral makes a good 'transition' alignment -- if a NeutralEvil character is going through some serious CharacterDevelopment, they may reach a point where they're not doing so much evil, but not consistently doing good just yet either, and similarly when they do have something they want done, have no particular preference on whether to do it by obeying rules or breaking them. This can make for a particularly ruthless WildCard character. Another unique case is that True Neutral beings are well known for viewing things on all angles and keeping said angles in balance.
25
26Some True Neutral characters subscribe to neutrality or "balance" as an active philosophy, which taken far enough is a form of BlueAndOrangeMorality (and StupidNeutral). This is not very realistic, though, and usually Neutrals are just indifferent or uncommitted. As such, few are neutral enough to be okay with knowingly working for an evil cause. However, they are prone to seeing actual Good alignments as zealotry, at least when they make demands of the Neutral -- except if the Neutral character in question is a self-acknowledged coward or similar and admits that there is a better way to live than how she actually does. Further, a Neutral character or organisation may work with an Evil party more easily than a Good character could, because the Neutral cares less and can more easily dismiss things that are only wrong "in principle" according to those overzealous Good characters for some silly reason, ie. where the nasty stuff happens somewhere out of sight or to someone the Neutral doesn't care about. These same reasons are among why they can easily refrain from taking any sides at all. (See also: BystanderSyndrome.) True Neutrals may still DefaultToGood, because often it's just blatant how nasty the evil side is. See also NeutralNoLonger, which is about finally taking sides. If they didn't, they could face a NeutralityBacklash.
27
28'''See Also''': LawfulGood, NeutralGood, ChaoticGood, LawfulNeutral, ChaoticNeutral, LawfulEvil, NeutralEvil, ChaoticEvil.
29----
30
31If you have difficulty deciding which alignment a neutral-aligned character belongs to, the main difference between LawfulNeutral, True Neutral, and ChaoticNeutral is not their lack of devotion to either good or evil, but the methods they believe are best to show it:
32
33* LawfulNeutral characters believe the best way is to have a specific, strict code of conduct, whether self-imposed or codified as a law. Their first impulse when making a moral decision is to refer back to this code; those with externally imposed systems (codes of laws, hierarchies, etc.) will try to work within the system when those systems go wrong. They will refuse to break the code even though it would hurt someone.
34* True Neutral characters are indifferent to OrderVersusChaos, and their only interest is in living their own lives. They simply live their lives, whether that means tearing down a code of laws, following a code of laws, creating an orderly society, causing the breakdown of some kinds of order, or staying away from society altogether. They have no particular objective. This may be observed that true neutral characters are completely different from either lawful neutral or chaotic neutral: While one believes in a "orderly" society, the other believes in free will or choice above all, the desire of the individual to pursue self-interest. In the true neutral point of view, these are both extreme axis of the "balanced" view of the true neutral character, whereas both are more of a defensive sort of world view whereas the true neutral is content in simply being, being more of a supportive version to characters or what-not.
35* Most ChaoticNeutral characters don't constantly break the law, but they cannot see much value in laws. They believe that their own consciences are their best guides, and that tying themselves to any given code of conduct would be limiting their own ability to do what they want. They do not get along with anyone who tries to instill any kind of order over the ChaoticNeutral character, believing these people to be restricting their freedom. ChaoticNeutral characters often focus very strongly on their individual rights and freedoms, and will strongly resist any form of oppression of themselves.
36
37-----
38
39The division between a True Neutral character of the "unthinkingly amoral and selfish" type and a NeutralEvil character may also be questionable, especially if the work spends a lot of time depicting the negative effects that the selfish actions have on others. A good guideline is that a True Neutral character will have basically innocent objectives and motivations like self-preservation, or pleasures that don't inherently damage others, while a Neutral Evil one will be motivated by actively unpleasant desires like dominating others or taking pleasure in cruelty.
40
41-----
42
43True Neutral character types include:
44* Those who have an AboveGoodAndEvil mentality.
45* Some ActualPacifist characters.
46* AllPowerfulBystander (They are Infinity Neutral due their [[TheOmnipotent Nature]]).
47* {{God}} (Since [[GodIsNeutral God being Neutral]] in many stories and being above good and evil. Alternatively keeping cosmos in balance via creating something).
48* TheAntiGod (Keeping the cosmos in Balance via destroying certain corrupted Creation).
49* TheAlmightyDollar: Wealth deities as neutral as money itself.
50* {{Animal|Tropes}}s (though 4E and 5E has shifted this into Unaligned).
51* The more orderly AntiHero (if not [[LawfulGood any]] [[NeutralGood other]] [[LawfulNeutral alignment that]] [[LawfulEvil isn't]] [[NeutralEvil on the chaos axis]]).
52* A fair amount of {{Anti Nihilist}}s.
53* Some [[AntiVillain Anti-Villains]].
54* ApatheticCitizens.
55* Many of those who believe in the concept of BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil.
56* BlackKnight (neutral examples).
57* Those with BlueAndOrangeMorality.
58* Some {{Byronic Hero}}es.
59* People with BystanderSyndrome.
60* Morally neutral [[TheDitz ditzes]].
61* TheDrifter.
62* {{Druid}}s when their goal is to preserve the balance of nature.
63* TheDitherer.
64* TheEgo of a neutral-aligned FreudianTrio.
65* {{Eldritch Abomination}}s (of the neutral variety, due to their BlueAndOrangeMorality).
66* The EmptyShell if still able to interact with the world.
67* An apathetic EnigmaticMinion.
68* Morally neutral versions of the ExtremeDoormat (when not LawfulNeutral).
69* Can be any of the [[FourTemperamentEnsemble Four Temperaments]] potentially.
70* The parties in a conflict with GreyAndGrayMorality.
71* HazyFeelTurn characters.
72* Those who continuously walk through the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor.
73* TheHermit.
74* An ImpartialPurposeDrivenFaction until and unless it serves their purpose to pick a side.
75* IneffectualLoner.
76* Those InHarmonyWithNature such as a Hippy or NatureHero, who embraces both the good and [[NatureIsNotNice evil]] of natural life.
77* {{Lazy Bum}}s
78* LovableCoward[=/=]Morally neutral DirtyCoward.
79* Morally neutral versions of TheUnfettered.
80* {{Neutral Female}}s.
81* NoBiologicalSex (They are Infinity Neutral Gender like Spirit Beings).
82* NeutralitySue.
83* NominalHero.
84* NonMaliciousMonster (of AntiVillain variation).
85* Amoral variety of NiceGuy.
86* Those OnlyInItForTheMoney, such as HiredGuns, [[BountyHunter Bounty Hunters]], [[ProfessionalKiller Professional Killers]], and PrivateMilitaryContractors, who typically are motivated by neither a righteous nor diabolical cause, and are both non-affiliated and unprejudiced.
87* OmnicidalNeutral (if neutral aligned).
88* Characters or groups who are PlayingBothSides.
89* {{Punch Clock Villain}}s or [[PunchClockHero Heroes]].
90* UsefulNotes/{{Solipsism}} (Neutral Consciousness which Reality comes from).
91* TheQuietOne.
92* Any [[HeroicComedicSociopath non-heroic]] [[TheSociopath sociopath]] that doesn't actively do evil, almost by definition, since they don't care enough to be an evildoer but don't understand good either. MoralSociopathy leans closer to LawfulNeutral however, in the "lives fanatically by their own personal code" sense, while the HeroicComedicSociopath and SociopathicHero are ChaoticNeutral.
93* TheStoner.
94* TheSlacker.
95* SuperStoicShopkeeper.
96* TheStoic (if amoral).
97* Those who choose to be TeamSwitzerland.
98* TruceZone: Powers and characters responsible for maintaining neutral ground.
99* The {{Ubermensch}} may count as this, if they reject both good and evil equally.
100* Those that believe VictoryIsBoring and just want entertainment.
101* More tempered [[VigilanteMan Vigilante Men]].
102* Those who sincerely ask WhatIsEvil.
103* The WildCard when some of them aren't morally static (if not ChaoticNeutral).
104* TheWildHunt.
105* [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies Zombies]] are often of this alignment due to their mindless nature.
106
107Compare DarthWiki/CrowningMomentOfIndifference. For the different types in which this alignment may manifest, check Analysis.True Neutral.
108
109----
110
111!!Examples:
112'''When dealing with the examples of specific characters, remember that assigning an alignment to a character who doesn't come with one is pretty subjective. If you've got a problem with a character being listed here, it probably belongs on the discussion page. There will be no RealLife examples under any circumstances; it just invites an Administrivia/EditWar. Plus, real people are far too complex and multi-dimensional to really be classified by such a straightforward alignment system.'''
113
114'''On works pages: Character Alignment is only to be used in works where it is canonical, and only for characters who have alignments in-story. There is to be no arguing over canonical alignments, and no Real Life examples, ever.'''
115
116[[foldercontrol]]
117
118[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
119* Ymir from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' is a rather special example. At first she was a rather uncooperative character, with only a [[LesYay heart for Krista.]] But as the story unfolds she's actually fairly nice, even if she is [[spoiler: a Titan Shifter. Though the shock of becoming a monster surprised her like any normal person would be. Thus after unintentionally eating Marcel and willingly aiding her friends, she [[ApologeticAttacker pleaded for a pardon for her carnage]], then disappeared to live her own life without regrets.]]
120* Guts from ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' is so burned out with all the political maneuvering and demonic atrocities that mark his world that he no longer cares about good, evil, law, chaos, or anything outside his own survival and the well-being of his TrueCompanions. Back when he was with the Band of the Hawk, he was closer to Lawful Neutral due to his respect for Griffith, but that's ''long'' gone now thanks to the events of the Eclipse. In addition to all of that, he also has to contend with a ChaoticEvil SuperpoweredEvilSide that acts as his EnemyWithin.
121* Charden Flamberg of ''Manga/BlackCat''. Unlike his comrades, he has genuine reasons for hating Chronos and follows the BigBad to do so, but he leaves when he realizes that Creed's ego has taken over.
122* Benny from ''Manga/BlackLagoon''. Ultimately, he isn't willing to cross the line entirely into the villain territory occupied by most of the rest of Roanapur, but he's certainly no charity case either and merely ''associating'' with Revy is probably soul-staining enough to keep him off the straight and narrow.
123%%** Rock, as of El Baile de los Muertos, has become this.
124%%** Roberta fits this before and after her breakdown.
125* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': [[HeroicNeutral Ryuuken's]] apparent alignment, for at least the past several years. He outright refuses to support any major faction—Shinigami, Quincy, or otherwise—and while he clearly prefers things orderly he is willing to break rules (his own and other people's) to get things done. He was apparently NeutralGood, or even LawfulGood, as a teenager...and recent events may be pushing him to a NeutralNoLonger fate.
126* Nathan Mahler from ''Anime/BloodPlus'' is BigBad Diva's chevalier but he is completely apathetic to her organisation's plan to replace humanity with chiropterans. Not only does he refuse to take orders from TheDragon Amshel, he often prevents other villains from killing Saya despite the fact that Saya is the major threat to Diva's plan. The only thing he is concerned with is the happiness of Diva, which in the end turns out to be completely irrelevant to her plan to turn all humans into chiropterans. Throughout the series, Nathan remains a distant observer of how the two queens of vampires struggle against each other and where that struggle leads to.
127* Papillion of ''Manga/BusoRenkin''. He doesn't want to kill humans and burn the world to ash, but he's not going to help anyone out unless he gets something out of it.
128* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'':
129** [[Characters/ChainsawManDenji Denji]], the first protagonist, is a fundamentally selfish individual whose only real GoalInLife is to find some kind of happiness, and his loyalty is easily won by any amount of kindness or generosity. While he eventually [[spoiler: becomes a superhero]], he's too morally flexible to be truly called "good" (such as prioritizing [[SkewedPriorities a cat's life over a teenager and a car full of the elderly]]) and doesn't particularly care about following or defying an established order; Denji fights devils and learns to live a better life, and that's just fine with him.
130** The second protagonist, Asa Mitaka, is the same breed from a different angle. Her entire life has been spent suffering for and because of others, and she can barely muster the energy to care about other people or even herself most of the time. She barely even believes her own thoughts saying that GoodFeelsGood, and is [[TheDitherer too indecisive]] to commit to being evil like [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Yoru]] wants her to; all she wants is to survive and [[GuiltComplex soothe her endless well of guilt]].
131* ''Literature/ClassroomOfTheElite'' has its protagonist Kiyotaka Ayanokouji. Despite acting kind, if somewhat aloof around others, [[spoiler:his true motive is only to maintain his current lifestyle and not be sent back to the facility he was raised. Deep down, he only views most of his classmates as tools, and the few people he is close to can be best classified as either 'people whom he does not want to make tools out of' or 'people who are too useful to let go'. He gains attraction from the girls mostly through calculated moves to earn their trust and make them easier for him to manipulate. He's fairly amoral and only wants to protect himself and will only help people if it advances said goal.]] Though in the novel, that last one is considerably toned down compared to the anime.
132* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', there's Lloyd Asplund, C.C., and Diethard Reid. C.C. is practically moral apathy personified.
133* Despite what Junko Enoshima [[UnreliableExpositor would have you believe]], Izuru Kamukura of ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'' falls squarely here. After the whole "lobotomized to create a {{Transhuman}}" thing, he has almost no emotion besides soul-crushing boredom and only loosely associates with Enoshima because she told him she could liven up his life with the unpredictability of despair. Even then, he prefers to passively observe what she does rather than participate. His only motivations are having his boredom relieved, protecting himself, and [[spoiler:getting revenge for his LoveInterest Chiaki Nanami, whose murder at Enoshima's hands is the only reason he turns on her, not any sense of moral goodness]].
134* Hei and, in fact, most Contractors in ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''. The reason being that becoming a contractor means losing most of your emotions. They can only look at everything in the world from a completely indifferent standpoint, and simply do not care about anything going on around them. For this reason alone, most contractors become mercenaries, willing to work for the highest bidder. Not having any emotions or caring about anything doesn't mean they can't turn against you if they think you're trying to bully them or do them wrong though. They'll kill you in a heartbeat if you anger them.
135* ''Manga/DeathNote'':
136** Although Near tries to emulate the LawfulNeutral L, it is obvious that he doesn't have anywhere near as much of a sense of justice. Indeed, he's only chasing after Kira because [[LaserGuidedTykebomb he's the guy who chases after Kira]], and ethics and motivations have nothing to do with it.
137** Ryuk, and apparently the Shinigami in general. He leans a little towards Chaotic Neutral due to him dropping the title ArtifactOfDoom into the human world just because he's bored and wants to see [[ItAmusedMe what will happen]]. Other than that, though, he just watches what happens, and makes it clear that he has no sense of loyalty or emotional attachment to the person who finds the notebook (Light, in this case), and rarely interferes with anything. Still, Ryuk doesn't seem to be evil or overly malicious, and he has enough decency to call Light out when he's emotionally abusive to Misa.
138* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
139** Vegeta is a very... ''unique'' case. For the majority of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', it was damn near impossible for anyone to know exactly ''who'' he was truly fighting for, as his motivations would seemingly change at the drop of a hat. It got to the point where his alignment was questioned and lampshaded by several characters InUniverse, especially Z-Fighters, considering that they were usually the ones that would end up having to clean up all the messes he creates. As far as how the show depicts him and how he develops, this is how he aligned himself throughout the show: Saiyan Arc -- ChaoticEvil, Namek Arc -- NeutralEvil, Freeza Arc -- NeutralEvil[=/=]LawfulEvil/True Neutral, Android Arc -- True Neutral, Cell Arc -- True Neutral[=/=]ChaoticNeutral[=/=]ChaoticGood and Majin Buu Arc -- ChaoticGood/[[spoiler:ChaoticEvil]][=/=]NeutralGood[=/=]LawfulGood. Yeah, Vegeta was a ''very'' complicated and conflicted character.
140** Android 17 and 18, despite being programmed to murder Goku, show little to no interest in actually doing so, despite the constant reminder from Android 16 that their mission was to kill Goku. When they ''did'' show interest, it was out of pure boredom. Android 17 even states himself that killing Goku was not a priority for him and was nothing more than "a chore" or "a game".
141** Shenron is this. If you have the Dragon Balls and summon him, you get a wish and he'll grant it if he's able. Hence why arcs involving them were focused on keeping the Dragon Balls out of the hands of evil beings like early Vegeta and Frieza.
142* ''Manga/FairyTail'':
143** Ultear Milkovich is an interesting example. She only turned to evil for comfort and compensation for her horrible past. However, after being betrayed by said evil, she made a HeelFaceTurn and joined LawfulNeutral Jellal to better herself.
144** Mystogan from the same series also fits. His own life is of top priority but when push comes to shove, he will step in to help if he was needed.
145** Kagura Mikazuchi is this to a fault. Unlike Erza, she is quite anti-social and only seeks revenge against [[spoiler:Jellal]] through the death of her brother Simon. [[LadyOfWar From everything we know about her, she is still quite a mystery, but deep down we learn she isn't a cold-hearted person]], [[YamatoNadeshiko just a strong and shy woman.]]
146* Truth, the closest thing that the ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''-verse has to a deity, is best understood as this alignment. He has no active involvement in human life, neither rewarding the good nor punishing the bad. However, if an alchemist infringes upon the laws of nature and comes before Truth, he upholds the laws of EquivalentExchange by taking an organ or limb from them (which he does with sadistic glee), but in exchange, they gain the ability to do alchemy without a transmutation circle. While he's certainly a [[JerkassGods jerkass]], Truth ultimately shows just enough benevolence to not fit any evil alignment. As stated in the series, his purpose is to discourage the humans who try to enter the domains of God. He can also be seen as the AnthropomorphicPersonification of the world (which is how he describes himself if asked). Neither good nor evil, but a representation of the natural laws of the universe, which take no sides.
147** Yoki, a former CorruptBureaucrat is also True Neutral, but in a different way. He's a coward that initially acts cruelly to subordinates but ends up being brought low and eventually figures out that he won't get his ass kicked so often if he acts like less of a jerk. He's not evil, good, lawful, or chaotic enough to be anything but True Neutral.
148%%** Hohenheim, Lust and Sloth in [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003 the 2003 anime version]] also count.
149* Shiki Ryougi of ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' fame. Especially true of her so-called "third personality", which makes an appearance near the end of the story. [[spoiler:It is a personification of the Origin. That is to say, the beginning and end of anything and everything. It is both omnipotent and omniscient... but for that reason is also absolutely neutral, completely uncaring about ''anything'' and unwilling to bother to do anything either. Probably for the best, all things considered...]]
150* ''Manga/{{Golgo 13}}''. Duke Togo seems to live by one single rule: if someone meets his hefty fee and explains their motives for wanting another person dead, Golgo 13 will put a bullet in said person's head in a laughably improbable manner. [[ContractOnTheHitman As long as you do NOT double-cross him]]
151* The ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' series has many great examples.
152** Anaheim Electronics is probably the quintessential example. THE mobile suit manufacturer in the UC-verse, they sell their products to anybody willing to pay for them, and often end up supplying multiple opposing factions in the same conflict.
153** Oliver May of MS Igloo is probably an example, too. In spite of being aware of everything happening in the forces of Zeon, he could do very little to change the course for them.
154** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'': Lalah Sune prefers to ride the fence than take a stance.
155** Wu Fei Chang in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]'', after a FreakOut, starts attacking everybody in space who possesses weapons regardless of what side they're on. Treize Kushrenada is probably another good example; though he uses one assassination or the other to serve his purpose, he mainly uses his charisma and intellect to legally govern the OZ organization, and his ultimate plan was to [[spoiler:start a war so terrible that it would make both Earth and the space colonies give up war forever, while giving up his own life in the process.]]
156** The ORB Union from the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Cosmic]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Era]] timeline established themselves as a neutral nation. They allow naturals and coordinators to live in their country, and they have a non-discrimination policy to ensure coexistence. Their national motto also reflects their global-political standings;
157--->''"ORB will not attack another nation, will not allow another nation to attack them, and will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations"''.
158** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' is ''filled'' with this:
159*** Celestial Being is a paramilitary organization created to eradicate war, that will attack any nations or factions whom they see causing tensions. Founder Aeolia Schenberg is dedicated to keeping the peace, irrespective of other moral issues; members Lockon Stratos [[spoiler:(the first)]], Sumeragi Lee Noriega, and Feldt Grace follow along without as much personal conviction.
160*** Regene Regetta of the Innovators cares about her own goals and has no moral stance.
161*** {{Ordinary|HighSchoolStudent}} HighSchoolSweetHearts Saji Crossroad and Louise Halevy spend most of the first season as unaligned {{Innocent Bystander}}s until their TearJerker WhamEpisode.
162%%*** Azadistan first princess Marina Ismail, thanks to being an ActualPacifist.
163** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamAge'': Asemu Asuno, whose main concern as a young soldier is to become stronger so that he can defeat his X-Rounder former friend in battle, even disregarding the rules of his father's military at times.
164** Char Aznable, while in his "Quattro Bajeena" phase, probably qualifies as True Neutral. He's trying to be a good guy, but lacks the necessary empathy and ethical character to pull it off, and he's mostly fighting on the AEUG's side because it gives him somewhere to play soldier and forget about the responsibilities of vengeance and politics.
165* The Data Overmind from ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'', which seeks to maintain the status quo so that it can monitor the series' eponymous character. Yuki, the android interface which it uses to interact with the show's characters initially follows this alignment as well, but as she develops a more independent personality, she drifts more towards NeutralGood.
166** And then we have Kyon. Sure, he saves the world and genuinely cares about the Brigade members, especially Yuki, but then he also likes to be a cynical jerk. Above all is his sheer apathy to everything. With his CharacterDevelopment, though, he becomes more compassionate, and is easily NeutralGood at the end of the day.
167%%** Sasaki from the same series. How close she is to becoming NeutralEvil is anyone's guess.
168%%* Ai Enma, the titular ''Anime/HellGirl''.
169* Switzerland and Liechtenstein from ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers''. Switzerland shoots and yells at people when they disturb him, mostly, and hides his care for others except for his younger sister. Liechtenstein is sweet and gentle like a NeutralGood but doesn't generally go out of her way to help others. This actually becomes a plot point in ''[[TheMovie Paint it White]]'' where their very neutrality (among other things) actually ''saves'' them from the AlienInvasion going on elsewhere. [[spoiler:They even spend an intimate, seemingly quiet picnic for most of the movie, unaware of the mess outside.]]
170** Some fanworks portray Austria post-[=WW2=] as a reluctant example of this trope (given how Austria was essentially forced into it as a UsefulNotes/ColdWar buffer in real life). In the series itself, he seems to bene more LawfulNeutral: he objects to UsefulNotes/MariaTheresa's orders and isn't thrilled when Germany comes for him under instructions, but follows them anyway.
171** Canonically, one could place [[EnigmaticMinion Egypt]] here. He doesn't have much of a role, outside hanging around Turkey and Cyprus from time to time. Egypt mostly keeps to himself, appearing only for historical significance (that is whenever someone interacts with him). As a character, Egypt is [[EnsembleDarkhorse quite underdeveloped]] but that only makes him all the more endearing.
172%%* Sesshomaru from ''Manga/InuYasha'' falls here after his HeelFaceTurn.
173%%* Roger Dunstan, his doji Milleiu and Fushimi Agari from ''Manga/KarakuridoujiUltimo''.
174* Kino of ''Literature/KinosJourney'' is interested in traveling and observing the world. Period. She's pretty adamant about not interfering; it takes some pretty special circumstances for her to do so. [[spoiler:She once listened to a man explain to her how he killed a woman's family and then decided to become TheAtoner and protect her... Kino then passively watched as said woman shot him dead.]] She makes company with villains and heroes, and contemplates what drives both. ''Do not'', however, think that this means she's submissive; she will kill anyone who attacks her or stops her travels without hesitation and without remorse.
175* Though there are also arguments for ChaoticEvil, ChaoticNeutral, LawfulNeutral, and LawfulEvil, the way Majima describes himself in ''Anime/LycorisRecoil'' points to a belief he falls completely in the middle; he doesn't believe in malice or benevolence, order or disorder, or much else on the morality spectrum. All he wants is to bring out the truth of what's going on and balance out the world so no faction comes out ahead. This belief is the foundation of his plan with his terrorist attacks, because he believes the Japanese government, through DA, has tipped the scales in their favor too far and thinks terrorism and crime need to equal things out. Majima is potentially even a deconstruction of people who knowingly and willingly follow the idea of True Neutral, as his focus on maintaining neutrality, which he attributes with what is ''right,'' gets a lot of people hurt in the process that wouldn't be if he didn't work so hard to maintain what he believes to be the status quo.
176* Meguro, the title character of ''Manga/MeguroSanWaHajimeteJanai'', is such an [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggerated]] version of the ExtremeDoormat and the EmotionlessGirl that she practically [[EmptyShell has no will or personality at all]]. She never speaks unless answering a direct question, and, because she has no desires, will do whatever is asked of her without ever questioning it.
177* Lucoa from ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'', while formerly LawfulGood, [[AllPowerfulBystander tends to distance herself]] from the OrderVersusChaos conflict among other dragons in the present. Most of the other dragons also start leaning this way the longer they stay on Earth. She justifies this stance because she ''used'' to be a god who has directly influenced the course of human progression numerous times in the past, and in dragon form, her powers still surpass ''every other dragon by leagues''.
178* Shizuru from ''Anime/MyHime'' starts out taking a relaxed approach to everything (her official bio states that one of her pet peeves is "being rushed") but eventually becomes NeutralEvil when [[spoiler:she receives her powers and comes to feel that [[LoveMakesYouEvil violence is the only way to keep her from being separated from Natsuki]].]]
179* Haku of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' typically defines his existence as serving as the NeutralEvil Zabuza's tool and assisting in his evil doings, but unlike Zabuza, has a conscience and has, on at least one occasion, rendered his opponents unconscious to avoid having to kill them.
180** Similar to Haku, Juugo is incredibly loyal to Sasuke (who ranges from ChaoticEvil to True Neutral for much of Shipppuden), is willing to kill when necessary, and has a propensity for random bouts of violence due to a hereditary disorder, but is also the TokenGoodTeammate of Team Taka, regularly seen playing with the wildlife and expressing true remorse over every kill.
181** Mifune and the Land of Iron are characterized as a "Neutral State". They agreed to the Five Kage Summit for no benefit of their own; Mifune himself participated but only as the decision maker [[spoiler:punishing Danzo for brainwashing him.]]
182** Mizukage Mei Terumi is this despite being one of the recent leaders. She commands authority, is very powerful, and follows the rules (to a certain degree), but unlike the rest of the Kages she is the most open-minded and very kind [[BerserkButton (just don't mention marriage).]]
183%%** Konan of the Akatsuki fits True Neutral as well.
184* Shinji Ikari from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. While he saves the world on a regular basis, he has no idealistic reason for doing so (unlike the NeutralGood Misato or ChaoticGood Kaji). He's only interested in being an EVA pilot because his father told him to and he sees it as a way to get recognition from both his dad and the people he works with. He very nearly quit the job twice for no other reason then the fact that the terror of being a pilot wasn't worth such a long-shot reward. In spite of having very selfish motivations, he manages to keep a layer of sympathy by having a truly terrible life and having not even wanted to be an EVA pilot in the first place. However, with time he gradually becomes TheAntiNihilist (especially in ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'') and develops a genuine desire to protect humanity.
185** All three of the EVA pilots are True Neutral to some extent (though Rei leaning more towards LawfulNeutral and Asuka leaning more towards ChaoticNeutral). All three of them don't really have any selfless reason for being an EVA pilot, with Asuka doing it for [[GloryHound some sort of recognition]] and Rei doing it [[MyMasterRightOrWrong because Gendo tells her to]], though they all have some layer of sympathy to refrain from being entirely selfish.
186** All of the Angels fall into True Neutral. They don't express any malice or sadism towards humanity, they simply follow their one objective: to unite with Lilith. The fact that it will destroy the world is merely a byproduct of that union. Kaworu Nagisa, especially, holds no malice.
187* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
188** Dracule Mihawk doesn't seem to really care about anything short of finding someone who can surpass him in swordsman skills. He takes a passing interest in Zoro and Luffy, which is why he doesn't kill the former after their [[CurbStompBattle hopelessly one-sided duel]]; as for Luffy, during the Whitebeard War saga he decides to attack him without holding back just to see if [[BecauseDestinySaysSo fate]] will really somehow miraculously save his life despite his best efforts.
189%% ** Crocodile starts out somewhere in the NeutralEvil range: posing as a legitimate businessman and government-sanctioned "hero" of a country his secret organization is working to overthrow so that he can found a new military regime (also, [[LostSuperweapon superweapon]]). After his defeat, he passes on an opportunity to escape prison out of sheer disinterest, only to escape later on [[EnemyMine by joining our heroes]] to fight in the War of the Summit, wherein he was on the side of [[WildCard exactly no one]]: He started out wanting to take Whitebeard's head, rebuffed an offer to join forces with Donquixote Doflamingo, and then saved both Ace and Luffy, just to spite the Marines. What he's up to next is anyone's guess.
190** Nico Robin was this when she used to be an AntiVillain whose only goal was survival and was Crocodile's right hand. Later on, when she joins the Straw Hats, she becomes NeutralGood.
191* Fred Lou from ''Manga/OutlawStar''. His business policy is "Don't ask questions" and (with exception to Gene, whom he's in love with) "Don't take credit." There's even a scene where Fred calls in to alert Gene about the Kei Pirates' arrival. How does he know they're on Sentinel? Because he ''sold them their weapons''. Twilight Suzuka also falls into this trope, mainly due to her wavering between LawfulNeutral and ChaoticNeutral in the series and her apathy. She adheres to strict codes about assassination, but is willing to twist the letter, if not the spirit, of her code when it suits her purpose. She travels with the Outlaw Star and is a loyal crew member in crisis, but in everyday life walks alone from the others, neither contributing money towards the expenses, nor racking up further expenses.
192* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', [[spoiler:Kyubey is one of these. Despite behaving in an extremely creepy manner at all times, he's only watching for the well-being of the universe, even though during the main plot that causes a huge amount of death and suffering. After the finale, it can be seen that he keeps the same personality but behaves in a much friendlier manner. But that's not because he changed, he still has the same goal, it's just that in the new universe the most straightforward way of achieving it looks friendlier.]]
193* So Touma from ''Manga/{{QED}}'', who prefers to be laid back than getting involved in cases. But LawfulGood Kana makes him do it anyway.
194* ''Literature/RecordOfLodossWar'' has the fourth variant down pat in the form of Karla, whose goal seems to be the preservation of balance -- when two kings clash in the battlefield and one falls, she quickly blasts the other from afar.
195* Aoshi Shinomori of ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' during the Kenshin-gumi's first encounter with him. He and his men are former shinobi currently serving as mercenaries to a drug lord, though what they really want is to [[BloodKnight fight the epic battle they didn't get to during the revolution]] due to their lord choosing negotiated surrender instead. After a whole lot of CharacterDevelopment he switches to NeutralGood.
196%%* The eponymous Lain Iwakura from ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain''.
197* ''Anime/{{Texhnolyze}}'': Ichise, who has an obsessive drive to survive and doesn't care whose side he's on.
198%%** Also Doc, who wants to research and experiment with Texhnolyzation.
199* [[spoiler:Fai D. Flowright, [[SpellMyNameWithAnS or however you choose to spell it]]]] from ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle''. While he bears no actual malice to any of the main characters--and, indeed, repeatedly demonstrates that he's grown close to all of them--the fact remains that he knows a lot more than they do about what's on from the very beginning of the series and doesn't say anything because [[spoiler:he's technically working for the BigBad]]. He becomes NeutralGood when all of his dirty secrets come out and his friends help him move beyond his [[TheWoobie many, many personal issues]].
200** [[spoiler:Clone!Syaoran]] belongs here too. It's true that he does a large number of absolutely ''horrible'' things once he appears on the scene, but this is less due to him being "evil" and more because he's a moral-free construct programmed to complete the task he was made for [[ImplacableMan by any means necessary]]. [[spoiler:He also performs a HeroicSacrifice-slash-HeelFaceTurn for the protagonists when he attacks his creator Fei Wong Reed, demonstrating that he's developed a heart of his own]].
201* Kevin Mask in ''Anime/UltimateMuscle'' entered the stage as NeutralEvil (beating up or killing [[KickTheDog humans and superhumans alike]] for kicks and joining the dMp [[FreudianExcuse to spite his overbearing father]]), but soon left for the True Neutral camp (only beating up worthy adversaries in the ring, but not shying away from dirty tricks and killing opponents). Come the Demon Seed arc, he appears to have completed the switch to NeutralGood -- or at least ChaoticGood (challenging the Devil Superhumans to save Meat, all for the good of humanity).
202* Lambdadelta from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' seems to be the fourth variety seeing as she does whatever she can to make sure both sides are equal or close to it, [[spoiler:like in episode 6 where she throws popcorn to prevent one character form killing/denying another]].
203%%* Thorfinn of ''Manga/VinlandSaga''.
204* Genkai of ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' holds a tournament to determine her successor, and is willing to train whoever wins, even if it is an assassin or a demon. In the Dark Tournament, she admits that she is not a champion of justice, but she fights against those she dislikes, which includes [[spoiler:her former teammate Toguro]].
205[[/folder]]
206
207[[folder:Comic Books]]
208* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': Kite Man is probably this, as despite ostensibly being a villain, other than robbing a few places he [[HarmlessVillain never seems to actually do anything villainous]], and indeed is usually [[ButtMonkey looked down on by other supervillains]] due to his lame power (he has a giant retractable guide which allows him to sort of glide but not truly fly) and lack of menace.
209* {{Creator/Marvel}}'s ''ComicBook/{{Civil War|2006}}'' arc had characters that fell firmly in the number 7 group. In particular, [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Ben Grimm]] (The Thing) -- who ran off [[UnfortunateImplications to France]] rather than choose a side and end up fighting one teammate (Mr. Fantastic, Pro-Reg) or the other two (Sue and Johnny Storm, Anti-Reg).
210* ComicBook/DeathsHead, Freelance Peacekeeping Agent. He'll do anything as long as he's paid, and paid well.
211-->''...I didn't care about their cause in the slightest. If the king had hired me, I'd have happily killed the rebels!''
212* ComicBook/DonaldDuck and [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Uncle Scrooge]], DependingOnTheWriter. Creator/CarlBarks noted that their ability to serve as either the hero or villain of a story made them infinitely more interesting to write for, as opposed to the generally moral ComicBook/MickeyMouse.
213* The Qaron from ''ComicBook/{{Empire}}'' come across as this. Their agenda is alien to the characters they're dealing with, and their [[OmniscientMoralityLicense ability to see the future]] causes them to behave in a way that seems amoral.
214* Frau Totenkinder from ''{{ComicBook/Fables}}''. She's kind to those who show her respect and good manners, but more than willing to crush her enemies or those who treat her rudely. She also gains power from the blood of babies. Ultimately, she's on no one's side but her own.
215* ComicBook/{{Galactus}} is beyond your petty morality and insipid human judgement: He is what he is. And what he does is ''hunger''.
216* [[{{God}} The One-Above-All]] in the Creator/MarvelComics is the end-all, be-all of all creation, omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. He has been shown in the forms of Creator/JackKirby (one of the leading heads behind Marvel for many years) and at one point appeared to Peter Parker as a homeless man. In both instances, he acts in a manner of benevolence and patience, but he still makes it clear that even he does not quite understand human nature. When Peter asks if the One could rewrite history so as to make someone else Spider-Man, the latter merely says that Peter is the one for the job, and thoughtfully muses that the only thing one can do in times of utter crises is to simply hope for a better future.
217* [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse The Watcher]] watches. That's it! (That and host all the "ComicBook/WhatIf" comics, but still.) His job is the universe's biggest voyeur!
218* Metron of Franchise/TheDCU's ''ComicBook/NewGods'' is more concerned with seeking out knowledge than taking part in the huge cosmic war that the rest of his people are engaged in, and has aided both sides over the years. However, has a very definite role as a mediator in the Cold War between Apokolips and New Genesis, which is dependent on both sides being ''convinced'' of his neutrality. If he crossed the line to help New Genesis one too often, {{ComicBook/Darkseid}} would no longer use him, which would increase the chance of another outbreak of violent conflict. Really, he's closer to LawfulNeutral or even LawfulGood, as he generally sides and sympathises with heroic characters, and less so with the local GodOfEvil who is rather upfront about his ultimate ambition to enslave or kill everything in the universe, including Metron himself.
219* ''ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}}'': Scarab has a reputation as an assassin but she's more of a combatant for hire who will without question take a job where one of her directives is to avoid killing or doing any serious damage and doesn't care who her employer is so long as they pay.
220* In ''ComicBook/TheSagaOfCrystarCrystalWarrior'', the conflict is OrderVersusChaos, with the [[CrystallineCreature Crystal Warriors]] on Order's side and the [[MagmaMan Magma Men]] on the side of Chaos. Neutrality is officially represented by the character Feldspar, who is crystalline from the waist up and made of magma from the waist down.
221%%* ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'': Death, Desire, and Despair are True Neutral.
222* ComicBook/{{Spawn}} switches between this and NeutralGood, DependingOnTheWriter. Understandably so; caught between the LawfulEvil KnightTemplar [[LightIsNotGood angels]] and ChaoticEvil LegionsOfHell, he's bound to express some apathy. He still helps people but mostly wants to [[HeroicNeutral be left alone]].
223* Peter Parker in ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' starts out just wanting to be left alone, until his indifference towards a criminal results in the death of his uncle. Afterwards, he becomes the NeutralGood Spider-Man we know today.
224* ''ComicBook/SubMariner'': Namor of Creator/MarvelComics doesn't ''quite'' qualify; at any given time he can fall into any of the alignments by virtue of having drastically different motives from most of the Marvel Universe and a disorder that manifests as drastic character changes due to his HalfHumanHybrid biology. He goes here because he averages out as True Neutral, and he's the only person who can effectively have a reputation as both good and evil without anyone giving him lip about it (if only because he could kick the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]'s ass). He's a member of Professor X's Illuminati (good) and ComicBook/NormanOsborn's Cabal (evil), ''at the same time''. And he's not acting as TheMole for either group, since neither knows that he's a member of the other.
225* Marvel's ComicBook/{{Taskmaster}} has AwesomenessByAnalysis powers; that being the case, he trains anyone who will pay him, be it villain or hero. He'll happily work for ComicBook/RedSkull one second and then take a job from ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} the next. It has been recently revealed in his own miniseries that Taskmaster was [[spoiler:originally a SHIELD agent, thus a good character]]. The reason why he's neutral now is because of his ability's drawback of overwriting his personal memories due to the sheer amount of moves he memorizes causing him to forget who he was.
226* There are several neutral characters in the Franchise/{{Transformers}} universes:
227** In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel'', Neutrals are hunted down for spare parts for the Decepticons.
228** In the [[ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise ''Robots In Disguise'']] and [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye ''More Than Meets The Eye'']] comics of IDW's Transformers comics, they are called [=NAILs=] -- Non-Aligned-Indigenous Lifeforms. They're a sizable group and include many former Autobots and Decepticons who grew disgusted enough with the war that they deserted. Following the end of the war and dissolution of both armies, the [=NAILs=] effectively form the largest 'faction'.
229** A Neutral Femme once flirted with Barricade in the Movie comics letters page with an offer of Bad cop/Bad cop pretending to be Good Cop, and he warned her that Starscream calls Neutrals "Target Practice" -- although that didn't stop him from flirting right back with her.
230** Flatline in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW2019'' is so dedicated to the Cybertronian version of the Hippocratic Oath that he treats ''everyone'', being seen treating terrorist leader Shockwave (whose existence was kept under strict secrecy) in one issue and later seen tending to wounded civilians in another. During the Decepticon coup, he stands alongside Ratchet in attempting to stop a group of Decepticons from barging into their hospital to hunt down Autobot sympathisers, and later still is to be shown to be the only medical officer who ''didn't'' abandon Iacon to join Optimus Prime (unlike his fellows Ratchet and Hoist).
231* Doctor Manhattan from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', to the absolute extreme. He's just stopped viewing life from a human perspective altogether and cares almost nothing for anything else than observing pretty physics. It helps that he's a NonLinearCharacter, meaning that he already knows everything he's ever going to do and has no free will.
232[[/folder]]
233
234[[folder:Comic Strips]]
235* Most characters in ''ComicStrip/BeetleBailey''. Beetle's main motivation is to sleep as much as possible. Killer's main motivation is to sleep ''around'' as much as possible. Plato would prefer to just sit and think or use his smarts to get out of doing anything. Cosmo is only there to make money. Officers like Captain Scabbard and Lt. Flapp impose some order on the privates but are ready to break the rules to slack off themselves. This also applies to Sgt. Snorkel and his DistaffCounterpart Sgt. Lugg, who also have a lot of other weird personality kinks that nevertheless at least cancel each other out for alignment purposes. The General is a self-centred wuss. The Major only trails him around. Ms. Buxley just goes to work (although it varies whether she actually does anything) and occasionally has some fun, as well as constantly acting as a sex object, which doesn't exactly require a lot on her part. Otto is just a sarcastic dog with dog motives. Dr. Bonkus just wants to analyse people.\
236It would perhaps be as illustrative to list the few exceptions: Rocky seems rebellious and Cookie capricious enough to be ChaoticNeutral. Lt. Fuzz is probably bureaucratic enough for LawfulNeutral, and Ms. Blips might be dutiful enough. Corporal Yo is idealistic and [[GenkiGuy frantically]] organised enough for LawfulGood. Zero and the Chaplain are {{Nice Guy}}s, NeutralGood or LawfulGood.
237* Wally from ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' is completely apathetic, as are most of the others after overexposure to management; when someone dies while working in the office, Dilbert does nothing because that way someone else has to do the paperwork.
238%%* ComicStrip/{{Wormy}} the dragon is true neutral in increasingly complex ways.
239[[/folder]]
240
241[[folder:Fan Works]]
242* Andy of ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'' doesn't really care much about good or evil, mostly just playing video games and going along with Calvin's misadventures.
243* Harry Potter in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8527691/27/An-Incomplete-Potter-Collection The Devil Ashikabi]]'' doesn't really care about good or evil and only cares about laws to the extent necessary to keep himself out of prison. He keeps Karasuba on a leash because it's his job to and when it's no longer his job, he doesn't bother. His only reaction to her killing someone/something is annoyance that she always makes sure to splatter him with the blood. Even choosing to go to Hogwarts is something he does because he's becoming bored with ordinary school.
244* ''Manga/{{Evangelion 303}}'': Seele does not care about good or evil. They only care about keeping balance between countries, often supporting the military and political underdog, and they can help a country and plot its obliteration the next day.
245* The entity that empowers Mercy Graves in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2565609/165/Odd-Ideas Have Mercy]]'' only has a single goal: protecting Harry Potter. Instructing Mercy to commit murder, theft, or any other crimes are done with the purpose of helping protect Harry; WordOfGod claims that arranged the gang-rape it saved her from to make her more agreeable to becomes Harry's protector in exchange for power.
246** Harry and Mercy tend to stop great evils but each case is done to either earn them money, remove a threat to themselves, or distract others from something else they're doing (usually to earn money).
247* {{Deconstruct|ion}}ed in ''Fanfic/ItsOverIsntItItsOnlyJustBegun'': Kurogiri, who effectively retired to run his BadGuyBar after [[BigBad All For One]]'s death, goes out of his way to remain "neutral" in anything outside of his bar, and running off anyone that might bring trouble down on his head. Tenko [[ReasonYouSuckSpeech furiously tells him]] that all he's really doing is "rolling over for whoever's winning" and turning a blind eye to their victims. [[spoiler: It affects Kurogiri so deeply, he starts [[NeutralNoLonger using his bar to shelter young people on the run from villains and gangs]]]].
248* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': InUniverse, in the sequel ''Diplomat at Large'', Luna describes the Judge, the only Power without an Opposite, as this by name.
249-->'''Luna''': "They can't be bargained with. They can't be reasoned with. They don't feel pity or remorse or fear. All they do is judge, determining a soul's fate upon its entrance to the afterlife. And their decision is final."
250[[/folder]]
251
252[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
253* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', Timon and Pumbaa start off with the motto of ''"Hakuna Matata"'' (No Worries), living without any responsibilities and simply breezing through their own little corner of life. They convert Simba into this temporarily before he decides [[LawfulGood to recognize his duty as a king]]. When the two do decide to fight the BigBad Scar, it isn't out of any real desire to take a moral stand, but rather personal loyalty towards their friend.
254* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'', Metro Man is ultimately True Neutral. He puts on a good front of being a perfect hero who always saves the day, but deep down he just wants to retire and pursue his own modest dream of a music career. While he's implicitly not selfish enough to completely abandon Metro City until he's absolutely sure Megamind isn't going to go completely off the rails without himself to keep his old rival in check, neither is he selfless enough to put aside his own petty interests for the greater good if it can be avoided.
255* Aisling from ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfKells'' is a HeroicNeutral type of true neutral. She tries to ward off Brendan when they first meet, but not out of any malicious or antagonistic intentions, but rather so she and her forest can be left alone. She warms up to Brendan shortly after they meet, however.
256* Franchise/{{Shrek}} is a prime example of true neutral. He's a mixture of "BystanderSyndrome" and "HeroicNeutral" (with a bit of BlueAndOrangeMorality). In [[WesternAnimation/Shrek1 the first film]], the main conflict is started because he was driven out of his house, not for any noble goals like justice for the fairy tale creatures who were driven to his swamp. The rest of the movies conflicts start either ''[[DeconstructedTrope because]]'' of his true neutral morality, [[VillainsActHeroesReact because he was driven to do things]], or [[TakeAThirdOption both]].
257[[/folder]]
258
259[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
260%%* The Xenomorphs from ''Franchise/{{Alien}}''.
261* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
262** Luke Skywalker, as with many other young heroes in fiction, also starts as True Neutral -- a typical youngster serving his family at home until he meets Obi-Wan Kenobi.
263** Anakin Skywalker. He just as easily makes friends with the NeutralEvil Chancellor Palpatine as the LawfulGood Obi-Wan. While he dislikes restrictions and laws, he still follows orders because it's all he's known. The only people he cares about are his immediate friends, and his goals are related only to solving an immediate problem (saving Padmé, avenging his mother, becoming the most powerful man in the galaxy). He skirts between good and evil, law and chaos, before finally settling on LawfulEvil.
264** The Kaminoans from the prequel trilogy seem to not care about the rest of the galaxy. [[PlanetOfHats They just want to clone, and research new ways to clone, and raise their clones, and...]]
265** Like previous protagonists before him, Finn from ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' starts off here. While his MookFaceTurn is brought about by an onset of EveryoneHasStandards, he is not initially interested in making a moral stand against the First Order and simply wants to find some peaceful corner of the galaxy to hide in. When circumstances force him to make a stand against his former authorities in ''Film/TheLastJedi'', he shifts into NeutralGood, as shown when he's willing to commit an (ultimately unsuccessful) HeroicSacrifice to protect his friends. At that point, he's in the conflict for the long haul.
266** Most Bounty Hunters (with the exception of [[NeutralEvil Cad Bane]]) are merely [[ProfessionalKiller Professional Killers]] and hunt mostly for credits. Other than completing a job, your typical hunter doesn't care, as long as they [[OnlyInItForTheMoney get paid]]. [[ColdSniper Fennec Shand]] is proof, that it's not impossible to befriend a Bounty Hunter. Provided you can keep their interest.
267* Agent Sands (Depp's character) in ''Film/OnceUponATimeInMexico''. He actually says "restore the balance" when he explains his purpose. It includes summarily executing cooks who are too good.
268* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'': Captain Teague (aka Jack's father) may be a respectful character, but not to the point of being lawful. Unlike Jack, he isn't crazy enough to be qualified as chaotic and is barely good or evil.
269%%** Captain Barbossa. He has enough respect for the traditions of piracy in ''[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd At World's End]]'' to cement his place in non-chaotic ground.
270* Most of John Anderton's temporary allies in ''Film/MinorityReport'' fall under this heading: Rufus Riley and [[BackAlleyDoctor Dr Solomon Eddie]] are grey-market salesmen who are only interested in Anderton's money, while Dr. Iris Hineman has no interest in anything outside her GardenOfEvil.
271* ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'': Captain Renault seems to be having just as much fun when he's collaborating with the Nazis as when he's resisting them. He even flat-out says at one point that he "blows with the wind."
272%%** Rick ''acts'' like this, but is barely able to fool himself. And as the ending shows, Capt. Renault wasn't really neutral either.
273* Due to never receiving instructions on anything from their state legislature, the New York delegates in ''[[Film/SeventeenSeventySix 1776]]'' never vote on anything, always abstaining. Courteously. In the end, they decide to sign the Declaration anyway.
274* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' in some timelines is True Neutral, the Heisei series most clearly; he simply wants to survive, then, when he has his son, take care of him. However, invade his turf or [[PapaWolf hurt his son]] and you're in trouble. However, its [[Film/{{Gojira}} original (1954)]] and [[Film/{{ShinGodzilla}} most recent (2016)]] portrayals intend the monster to be ChaoticEvil.
275* Sefton in ''Film/{{Stalag 17}}'' is a dickish guy disliked by the other American prisoners for trading with the German guards. Though he finally [[spoiler: proves that he is not [[TheMole the mole]] and rescues Dunbar]], he admits that he did it for money that would come his way after the war's over, landing him in True Neutral territory.
276* The robots in ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' are severely limited by their programming. Whether they try to KillAllHumans or protect them depends on who's giving the orders.
277* Jules from ''Film/PulpFiction'' likes to quote scripture to justify his more violent actions, but is mostly [[TheUnfettered out for himself]].
278* The titular ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''. A [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits little band]] of {{Heroic Comedic Sociopath}}s who love killing and scalping Nazis--why? Because they're mostly American Jews [[PayEvilUntoEvil hungry for revenge]] and it's just plain ''[[BloodKnight fun]]''. Because they fight [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazis]], they can't be pure evil, but they're far from being good. They also seem to have something of a [[WellIntentionedExtremist moral standard]] and have some sense of honor, but Raine is entirely willing to violate direct orders if it suits him. Thus, their Good, Evil, Lawful, and Chaotic traits almost balance out.
279%%** BrokenBird Shoshanna Dreyfuss also lies here.
280* Django from ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' is only motivated by revenge and getting his wife back, and is willing to commit deeds good and evil, lawful and chaotic to do so, landing him in True Neutral territory.
281%%* Martin Blank, the HitmanWithAHeart from ''Film/GrossePointeBlank''.
282%%** And by extension, Brad Hauser of ''Film/WarInc''.
283* Benny of ''Film/{{The Mummy|1999}}'' personifies the coward type. He sticks like glue to O'Connell in the opening until he can't guarantee his safety anymore (he then shuts him out of his hiding place in order to save his own life). When he returns to Hamunaptra, he does so only for profit, caring nothing about the people who have brought him there. When his life depends on being spared by Imhotep, his loyalties shift again and he helps him hunt down the very people who he was just working for -- all for the promise of gold. In the end, he tries to cling to O'Connell again when Imhotep is gone and unable to save his life as Hamunaptra crumbles.
284* Jill Tuck, from the latter half of the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise. It's made clear that she at least knew what her husband was [[SadisticChoice doing]] to those he judged as "unworthy of life". Though she never aided him in his tests, she didn't do much to stop him, either, or try to turn him in to the police.
285* The HandsomeLech Graverobber of ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera''. He's a drug dealer who opts to stay out of the main conflict throughout the movie and is probably the smartest character to do so. He even comes out alive at the end.
286%%* ''Film/Drive2011'': The Driver is pretty much the textbook example of this.
287* [[Film/JamesBond M]] as portrayed by Creator/JudiDench is a morally ambiguous spy chief who is more focused on getting the job done than on legal or ethical issues. Though she thinks that Bond is a [[ChaoticNeutral loose cannon]], she isn't exactly by the book either. With [[spoiler:Creator/RalphFiennes taking on the mantle at the end of Film/{{Skyfall}}]], M might be LawfulNeutral later on.
288%%* Big Daddy from ''Film/KickAss''. His goal is to just take down Frank D'Amico for what he has done to his life.
289* Dom Cobb of ''Film/{{Inception}}''. A fugitive who is on the run from authorities for [[spoiler:apparently murdering his wife ([[MetaphoricallyTrue which he arguably actually did by manipulating her into waking up from the dream world and driving her insane]]).]] He readily accepts work from LawfulEvil {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s, and breaks into people's dreams for a living, but is a thief because circumstances force him to be. During the Inception mission, [[spoiler:he wasn't motivated by a desire to see justice done in stopping a powerful international monopoly from controlling the world's economy; he just wanted to see his children again, and the business deal he made with resident NobleDemon Saito would have allowed him to see his children again.]] [[ManipulativeBastard He is also quite manipulative]], but genuinely cares about the people he loves, and watches out for his FireForgedFriends.
290%%* The Majority of the [=McCallister=] Family from ''Film/HomeAlone'' with the exceptions of Kevin who is more {{Chaotic Neutral}} bordering on {{Chaotic Good}}, Frank who is {{Neutral Evil}} and Buzz who is {{Lawful Evil}}. The rest of the minor characters fall under this with the exceptions being: Old Man Marley being {{Neutral Good}}, The Bird Woman {{Chaotic Good}}, and The Hotel Concierge being {{Lawful Neutral}}.
291* Grandpa Fred from ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'' sees monsters attacking people and responds by becoming a reporter. He and Mr. Katsuji never try to stop or help the gremlins.
292* Max Rockatansky from the ''Film/MadMax'' movies. After his wife and son are killed, Max's only goal is to survive.
293* ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'': Blondie is the "Good" in the title, [[BlackAndGrayMorality but only because everyone else is worse]]. He's still a brutal, greedy, treacherous scoundrel, but he gets enough PetTheDog moments to keep from being outright evil, in contrast to Angel Eyes, [[NeutralEvil "The Bad"]], and Tuco, [[ChaoticEvil "The Ugly"]].
294* The Dude from ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' is a perfect example of TheSlacker-type true neutral. He is only loyal to his own petty interests (going bowling and replacing a damaged rug). While he does show some moral scruples, such as reining in the volatile Walter or mourning Bunny when he thinks she's been killed, he will rarely take a stand for any principle on his own and seeks to coast through life with as little effort as possible.
295* Morla from ''Film/TheNeverEndingStory'' doesn't even care whether or not he cares.
296[[/folder]]
297
298[[folder:Literature]]
299* ''Literature/HarryPotter''
300** Mundungus Fletcher works with the good guys, but it doesn't stop him from being a petty criminal. He doesn't intentionally harm people much but is always looking for illicit profits.
301** Wormtail [[IFightForTheStrongestSide fights for the strongest side]], starting out with James Potter (who was ChaoticGood or ChaoticNeutral in his adolescence and drifted more toward NeutralGood as he matured), but ultimately ending up on the side of Voldemort (NeutralEvil).
302** To the wizarding world, a lot of non-wizarding magical species such as goblins, centaurs, giants, etc. come off as this, but they're really more a case of BlueAndOrangeMorality. Wizarding issues aren't their issues and, if they get involved at all, it's for reasons that have nothing to do with those of wizards and witches. The giants choose the side of the Death Eaters because they appeal to the giants' desire for more rights, not because the giants have any preference for purebloods or animosity toward Muggles and Muggle-borns.
303* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
304** {{Death}} is all over the place, really. [[Literature/TheColourOfMagic To begin with]], he's totally amoral and can even be malicious. CharacterizationMarchesOn quickly after that, but it still leaves him undecided. It seems like he should theoretically be LawfulNeutral or at least True Neutral for caring about his duty above all else. But he makes exceptions to this several times, sometimes in a NeutralGood ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight way, sometimes because the stress of it gets the better of him and [[DeathTakesAHoliday he runs off somewhere]]. These are all shown as exceptions to his millennial faithful service, but they get too many to ignore. He can also be seen as going from a friendly amoral True Neutral to an odd combination of Lawful and Chaotic Good. For example, he has rules he ''has'' to follow, but nothing stops him from, say, "hinting" to his granddaughter that something ought to be done, or twisting a rule to do the right thing. In the early books, he would sometimes "have a talk" with the gods. So, decidedly undecided, he can only be called True Neutral, with separate ([[ToBeLawfulOrGood somewhat opposite]]) Lawful and Good tendencies.
305** The justice system in Ankh-Morpork is a somewhat haphazard affair. The Guilds punish offenders against their rules, and the Guild of Lawyers sells its services to anyone with cash. At least the police force is not corrupt (aside from the occasional small exchange of favours) or incompetent, although that's only a recent development. Although Vetinari (who alone has the final say on most matters) often intervenes in favour of the little guy, he tends to vacillate between being either Lawful or Neutral, although he has expressed views that tend toward being Chaotic, and he's certainly not in favour of any Evil, except of the necessary sort.
306** Also from ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', Rincewind, the CosmicPlaything [[TheChewToy Chew Toy]] of the Disc, ''tries'' to be a prime example of the "doesn't care about Good or Evil" variety, despite having saved the world about half a dozen times (against his will, mostly). He is by no means a ''bad'' person either but would love it if the world just decided to forget all about him. However, the number of times that he's disregarded his overwhelming cowardice in the pursuit of the greater good (even ending a magical war that could have destroyed the Disc with a half-brick in a sock) indicates that despite his best efforts, he retains some NeutralGood impulses. His enemies, funnily enough, probably perceive him to be more ChaoticGood, whether he likes it or not.
307** Death from ''Literature/GoodOmens'' might be an even better example than his ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' counterpart. He really doesn't care.
308%%* Raistlin of the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' saga started out as this, as [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience signified by his red robes]], but wasn't exactly [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope content to stay that way...]]
309* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
310%%** Titania & Thomas Raith.
311** Mother Winter and Mother Summer are essentially {{Physical God}}s of their respective Faerie Courts, and are most constrained in what they can do without accidentally ruining the world. Kindness, malice, orthodoxy, and caprice have no place in their decisions.
312** The Erlking is also considered to be of this alignment. He's explicitly stated to not be evil, but as the embodiment of the ideal of the hunt, while he's after prey the Erlking is merciless and vicious. Later on in [[spoiler:''Changes'']], he's actually quite friendly, polite, and gracious when [[spoiler:Susan and Harry burst into his castle-cave.]] On the other hand, the Erlking ''is'' the ruler of goblins, who are most definitely ''not'' this alignment.
313** The White Council of Wizards is also officially of this alignment. Their primary goal is the regulation of magic as a whole, to ensure that wizards do not abuse their power by breaking one of the Seven Laws of magic. Justice and morality do not factor into the regulation of magic, only whether or not the wizard has violated one of the Laws. Harry and Luccio actually engage in a bit of a debate on this in ''Turn Coat'', where Luccio makes a good case for why wizards as a whole stay out of mortal affairs, noting that GreyAndGrayMorality complicates efforts to determine who is right and who is wrong. On the other hand, the Council is quite willing to violate the same Laws in the defense of itself and humanity, as evidenced by the office of the Blackstaff, which serves as the Council's assassin and wetworks specialist.
314** Bob the Skull, who is explicitly a moral blank slate defined by his current owner when they take possession of him. In Harry Dresden's possession, Bob is snarky, insubordinate, and obsessed with sex, but ultimately pretty harmless-but when he belonged to [[EvilSorcerer Heinrich Kemmler]], he was cold-bloodedly malevolent and deeply creepy. Were Bob to change hands again [[spoiler:(well, in ''Ghost Story'' Butters got him, but since he first met Harry's Bob, Butters' Bob is almost identical)]], he would get a new, likely completely different, personality.
315* The Dealy Lama [[spoiler:AKA Gruad the Grayface]] from The ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' Trilogy. His philosophy is summed up best by an old koan which tells about a duckling that is placed in a glass bottle and allowed to grow until it is too big to fit through the bottleneck, and asks how to remove it without breaking the bottle. The answer, of course is [[spoiler:to let it continue to grow until it is big enough to break out of the bottle on its own]]. However, he denies being uninvolved in world affairs, stating that [[spoiler:"someone needs to feed the duckling while it grows"]].
316* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'''s Asmodeus could fall into either this trope or NeutralEvil. He eats good and bad characters alike, bears no grudge or sympathy to either side, and doesn't actively try to make his victims suffer (in fact, his habit of hypnotising them beforehand could be seen as making them suffer ''less''). He's definitely dangerous, but a snake's got to eat something.
317* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuf_Voyaging Tuf Voyaging]]'' by Creator/GeorgeRRMartin stars Haviland Tuf, a quiet, modest space trader/ecological engineer who just happens to be sole owner/operator of a 30-km-long 'seedship' filled with all manner of LostTechnology. He hires out indiscriminately, but if your ecosystem is out of balance, he'll cooperate with your demands in finest druidic style by ensuring that whatever you're doing to destabilize it will eventually be corrected. By ''him''. His character development via his interactions with humanity leads to him, in the last story in the book, [[spoiler:enforcing a peace by dispassionately saying "I go now to destroy your respective homeworlds. Rest assured, I hold no ill will against you."]]. Then, just after that, he reveals that the new wonder plant that will feed an overpopulated world that he had helped earlier [[spoiler:''also'' induces widespread sterilisation. He compares it to neutering cats]].
318* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Jaime Lannister shows signs of this. Before the series begins, he joined the Kingsguard against his LawfulEvil father's wishes, then murders his king when [[TheCaligula the man's lunacy goes too far]]. Faced with scorn for his oath-breaking ways, he embraces the arrogant and amoral personality people expect from him, [[spoiler:even crippling a child to protect his sister and himself]], but comes to [[TheAtoner try to make amends]] for some of this.
319** Tyrion Lannister alternately [[PetTheDog pets]] and [[KickTheDog kicks]] the dog, and is just as likely to work with authority as to bring things down out of spite, landing him squarely in True Neutral territory.
320%%** The Faceless Men's philosophy seems close enough to True Neutral.
321* The B'omarr Monks in ''Literature/TalesFromJabbasPalace'' have absolutely no interest in anything besides achieving their own form of enlightenment and putting their [[BrainInAJar brains in jars when they do]]. Even having their monastery converted into a palace and occupied by crime lords doesn't matter to them [[spoiler:until the ending, in which they reclaim it following Jabba's death.]] Meanwhile, the Rancor is a semi-sentient giant pit bull of sorts: it's only vicious because Jabba refuses to feed it properly, and its keeper is trying to get it out of the palace.
322* Orddu, Orwen, and Orgoch are three fantastically powerful witches in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' who claim that they are incapable of caring about any particular individual. They don't give anything for free to anyone, and they'll trade with the evil as easily as the good.
323* Tom the Merchant in ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'' is a happy shopkeeper to both the Evil Overlord's forces and the Resistance members, giving different discounts and preferential treatments to both, only discriminating against the neutral adventurers.
324* Though she's a benign character in the movie adaptation, the original novel ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'' gradually reveals the Childlike Empress to be an inhuman and almost unfathomably neutral entity, with her sole concern being the preservation of Fantasia's existence. Atreyu attempts to invoke her authority to save Falkor from a monster, only for it to reply that, since she transcends good and evil, the Empress would never forbid it from acting on its own evil nature. Later, he's shocked to learn that, now that Bastian's served her purpose in saving Fantasia, she has no further interest in his well-being. Being heroically good himself, Atreyu renounces his loyalty to her and swears to help Bastian anyway.
325* In ''Literature/TheWormOuroboros'' by Eric Rücker Eddison, there is a character who seems to be the ultimate expression of 1st Edition AD&D's definition of True Neutral, Lord Gro. He is pathologically obsessed with "the Underdog" -- to the point where he even switches sides to the losing side in the middle of a battle. He's also a bit of a CombatPragmatist, to the point of suggesting to his (temporary) liege that he attack under a flag of truce to ensure victory. He is also the most nuanced and otherwise fully developed character in the book.
326* The Seers of Kell in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' are supposed to cultivate being on the fence so they can make an unbiased decision between good and evil. Though [[spoiler:traveling with the good people and being courted by and eventually ''marrying'' one of them]] might just possibly have influenced her decision.
327* The Ents in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. "I am not altogether on anybody's side, because nobody is altogether on my side," quoth Treebeard. Same goes for Tom Bombadil, who is so disassociated with the concept of good and evil that he is completely unaffected by the One Ring, and, in turn, is unable to interact with it in any meaningful way either.
328* Creator/TomHolt's ''The Better Mousetrap'' has Frank Carpenter, who limits himself to this alignment because he knows the kind of havoc that would result if someone who [[NeutralGood Only Wants To Make The World A Better Place]] or [[NeutralEvil Someone Who Only Wants To Screw People Over]] had the time-travelling Portable Door he inherited. He uses it to save people...thereby making himself 10% of the money an insurance company would have had to pay out if they were dead. (Most other Holt protagonists are either this or a particularly screwed-up variant of NeutralGood).
329* Literature/CiaphasCain, '''[[FakeUltimateHero HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!]]''' maintains his heroic public persona in a mostly unsuccessful bid to keep himself out of trouble.
330* An example of this alignment is found in one of the most famous books of Italian literature, ''Literature/TheBetrothed'', in the character of Don Abbondio. He is a cowardly priest who, threatened by the men of SmugSnake Don Rodrigo, refuses to marry the two protagonists, coming across as the PunchClockVillain of the first chapters. Throughout the whole book, he is painted as a basically decent, but spineless and mediocre old man whose only purpose in life is avoiding troubles.
331* From the Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse, specifically ''Literature/StarTrekNewFrontier'', there's the Boragi. They're infamous for their lack of concern for anything but their own needs. Always neutral, they have a habit of stirring up trouble, setting other races against each other (all the time remaining suspiciously uninvolved), and then coming in to pick up the pieces once their neighbours have blown each other to smithereens. Any alliance with a Boragi is nothing of the kind- they honour only their own needs and will always, always, turn away when it bests suits them.
332* ''Franchise/{{The Witcher}}''s have a professional code of neutrality. Geralt, in any media, seems to suffer just as much for breaking it as maintaining it. It's later revealed that [[spoiler:there actually is no "Witcher's code"; it's simply something Geralt made up to excuse himself out of contracts he would really prefer not to take,]] which explains why Geralt and other witchers are never seen facing any kind of outer persecution while taking up a cause, only their own regrets after making a bad call.
333* ''Literature/TheLeftHandOfDarkness'': The Ekumen as a whole. They do persuade inhabited worlds to join them, but they're mostly interested in observing, and almost never interfere, even if a member planet does something against Ekumenical code. If that happens, the Ekumen will usually just withdraw and wait (for hundreds of years if necessary) for the planet's inhabitants to sort it out themselves.
334%%* Irial from ''Literature/WickedLovely''.
335* Hawk from the ''Literature/{{Spenser}}'' series by Robert Parker. Early on, Hawk appears (at a casual first glance) to be an AffablyEvil legbreaker. However, Spenser's evaluation of Hawk in the book "Hush Money" identifies him positively as a True Neutral character: "You're completely pragmatic...you don't care what people call you...you don't care about color. You don't get mad, you don't get sentimental. You don't hate anyone. You don't love anyone. You don't mind violence. You don't enjoy violence." (As an aside, Hawk responds only to disagree with the "you don't love anyone" statement, remarking that he "kind of like[s]" Spenser's girlfriend, Susan.)
336* Meursault from ''Literature/TheStranger'' can't really be considered either good or evil by virtue of the fact that he doesn't seem to have any particular goals. He is ambivalent towards almost everything to the point of bordering on TheSociopath, but at the same time bears no real malice towards anyone. He'll generally do whatever he is asked to, but avoids being LawfulNeutral since he doesn't make a point of following orders; it's just that he doesn't usually care enough to consider disobedience.
337* Hades from ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' quite consistently for the first four books refuses to take a stance on the war between The Gods (even though he is one) and The Titans. This is probably because he was on the receiving end of quite a bit of abuse from both parties and feels the conflict doesn't affect him as his realm, the underworld, isn't in threat. [[spoiler:Subverted as of book 5, though he's still kinda bitter about taking a side and does so only because Nico wouldn't stop nagging him for it. By the end of the book he's back to giving the finger to both sides.]]
338* ''Literature/{{GONE}}'' series:
339** Diana turns into more of a HeelFaceRevolvingDoor though as time goes on, but she starts off this way.
340--->'''Caine:''' I need to know whose side you're on.
341--->'''Diana:''' I'm on my own side.
342* Henry Rearden from ' 'Literature/Atlas Shrugged' ' flat-out says that his "only goal is to make money." Rearden however is content to run his business ethically and honestly and does not harm anyone in this pursuit. He simply wants to be left alone. He also is loyal to those he cares about, including Dagny Taggart, Francisco D'Anconia, and his abusive mother, free-loading brother, and shallow, materialistic, and abusive wife.
343* Atticus O'Sullivan from the ''Literature/IronDruidChronicles'' only wants to be left alone, and for the better part of two millennia avoided involving himself as much as possible. He only gets involved when the Earth is threatened, something so vile even he cannot stand it is going to take place on a large scale, or he is threatened. Otherwise, he prefers to run. On the flip side, he often acts like an immature jerk prone to abusing his powers in petty ways or not giving a fig who gets hurt due to his actions. Atticus does what is best for Atticus with little thought to anyone else.
344* ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'': The druids, who as keepers of balance sided with the forces of Good and then Evil depending on who was winning. Neither side liked this naturally, and both slaughtered the druids.
345* The Ghost of Christmas yet to come from ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' makes a meaningful point here. Perhaps the most morally impacting spirit of the three, in truth all of us die someday. Yet for Scrooge being a villain, his death was seen as a celebration or opportunistic for the in-laws he so coldly brushed off. His destiny wasn't sugar-coated this time, which was one of the reasons he feared this spirit most. Not only by its appearance but perhaps the grim truth that the future isn't so kind to the mean and greedy.
346* Creator/NKJemisin's ''Literature/InheritanceTrilogy'': Of the three [[TheOldGods Old Gods]] who created the universe, Enefa embodies [[MotherNature Life]], [[TheGrimReaper Death]], and the balance between her [[GodOfOrder lawful]] and [[GodOfChaos chaotic]] siblings. Although she created and loved all life in the universe, she was also just as ready to end her "experiments" when they served their purpose.
347* Highlighted more in the ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'', Gray Jedi deviate from the pure ways of the Jedi Order, without completely falling to the Dark Side. True Grays believe there is necessity in both Force opposites, however this enlightened state of mind, secluded them from both conflicting factions. You can suspect that the life of a Gray Jedi, is perhaps a fairly lonely one. Since mutual-minded individuals are known to be very rare in a universe rife with debate and conflict.
348* In ''Monster'', (the Creator/FrankPeretti novel, not [[SimilarlyNamedWorks any of the many other works of fiction with the same name]]), Adam Burckhardt is probably the only fully human and sapient character in all of fiction who is Unaligned in precisely the way an animal is. He conducts cruel and horrific experiments on animals only [[EvilutionaryBiologist to prove evolution]], and when exposed by the heroes he threatens to kill them, not out of any malice, but because he has to survive at any cost. In other words, [[AppealToInherentNature he has completely abnegated his moral reasoning and acts only for short-term survival]]. The heroes can only talk him down by [[LivingIsMoreThanSurviving appealing to his humanity and reason]], but he [[EvilCannotComprehendGood literally cannot understand this]], acts more on bestial instinct, and gets killed. This is because the book is a creationist AuthorTract and [[{{Strawman}} the author really believes that evolutionary biologists are like this]], because [[ArtisticLicenseBiology evolutionary theory forces them to be]]. The character would be ChaoticNeutral or ChaoticEvil, or even potentially NeutralEvil, if it weren't for this anti-evolution subtext.
349[[/folder]]
350
351[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
352%%* ''Series/DeadLikeMe'': This is apparently why George was picked to be a reaper.
353* Hades, as portrayed in ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', considers himself above the petty squabbles of god and man, and pays little attention to them one way or the other. This sort of indifference makes him a sometimes-ally, sometimes-foe to the heroes.
354** Zeus as well. While Zeus may care for Hercules or humanity he hardly gets involved for good or ill preferring to look after his own self-interest.
355* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
356** The Ferengi would seem to be the "Just Don't Care" version on the whole. They'll happily do business with anyone. Though some (Quark after his CharacterDevelopment, for instance) do have scruples, and others [[CoughSnarkCough (*cough* Nog *cough*)]] [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch ditch True Neutral completely]].
357** The Vulcans are famous for their impartiality, as exemplified in their mantra "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one" (which includes the individual Vulcan himself or herself).
358** And then there's the Borg, who seem to be a mix of machines doing what they're programmed to and BlueAndOrangeMorality.
359** Garak from ''Series/DeepSpaceNine'' is an excellent example. He's far too cynical to believe in ''anything''.
360* Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}:
361** Wesley starts out as LawfulGood, he drifts into NeutralGood territory after undergoing CharacterDevelopment--however, some of that CharacterDevelopment then takes him down a darker path into this area.
362** Another possible example would be Lorne, who often seems to see himself as morally obliged to lend his powers to anyone who asks, even if they're very evil, on the grounds that he's just an instrument of fate.
363* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'':
364** Crais explicitly identified his outlook as True Neutral selfish during the period after he gave up his quest for vengeance on John, and repeatedly demonstrated that his sole real care was his own survival and that of [[LimaSyndrome his initially stolen]] SapientShip ''Talyn''. He finally dropped his neutrality in the last moments of his life to perform a HeroicSacrifice.
365** The True Ancients are [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien godlike aliens]] that live in another dimension, they have no interest in the affairs of the main characters. In fact, the only reason they took an interest in John Crichton was due to his wormhole knowledge, which could endanger the very fabric of reality if used incorrectly- one of the reasons they honestly considered killing him to save time.
366* Sheldon Cooper from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' could have been made for this archetype; he's occasionally actively malicious or well-intentioned, but usually just does whatever will help him achieve his own goals or improve his personal quality of life. Although at first glance, with his fondness for complicated contracts and numerous personal rules and quirks he appears LawfulEvil, all such agreements are written specifically to benefit him, and he is willing to obey or disobey Federal, State, and scientific ethical conduct laws depending on what brings him the most short-term benefit. That said, he most likely ''considers'' himself LawfulGood (since anyone who doesn't follow ''his'' rules or values gets a rant about how chaotic and/or evil they are acting).
367* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'':
368** Malcolm Reynolds tries to come off as True Neutral, only looking out for himself and his crew in any way he can, neither sticking his neck out ForTheGreaterGood without being paid nor accepting jobs that involve crossing a MoralEventHorizon. But this is mostly the result of losing the war against the (mostly LawfulEvil) Alliance in the backstory. His true nature leans towards ChaoticGood, and it shows up in his actions and choices just a bit too much for him to count as this trope.
369** [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Depending on who you ask]], Jayne Cobb could be considered True Neutral, showing surprising loyalty to Mal (even when he could make more money betraying him) and to the rest of the crew, and only turning on River and Simon when both offered a lot of money ''and'' River attacks him and presents a danger to the rest of the crew.
370** Zoe Washburne is fiercely loyal to her crew and respects Mal's brand of order on the ''Serenity''. However, she is ruthlessly pragmatic, despises the Alliance, and displays contempt for bureaucracy and authoritarian order.
371%%* Frankie from ''Series/LipService''.
372* Possibly John Locke from ''Series/{{Lost}}'', although it's a tough call. He's definitely not a bad guy, but he commits several acts that are apparently selfish and even amoral. He seems to alternate between law (doing everything the Island says) and chaos (he has a long history of losing his faith, changing his mind, shifting allegiances...). He's also something of a WildCard.
373** Given the GreyAndGrayMorality of almost every conflict of the series, one could argue most of the characters are some shade of Neutral or another. Most think they have good intentions ([[JadeColoredGlasses or once did and are now past caring]]) and almost all end up doing pretty [[ShootTheDog morally]] [[SadisticChoice ambiguous]] [[DirtyBusiness things]], but their actions are rarely outright evil.
374%%* Hank Moody, The {{Antihero}} of ''Series/{{Californication}}''.
375* Cameron from ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' is a sapient machine, but nonetheless is bound by her programming to protect John Connor, no matter the cost. [[spoiler:Or her programming to ''kill'' him, no matter the cost.]] This tends to result in her doing terrible things to people her programming dictates are threats or being apathetic toward others' plights if they do not concern her. In the second season, she even discusses her blank morality with John, pointing out that even though Terminators like her are killing machines, that "we aren't cruel."
376* Dr. Smith from ''Series/LostInSpace'' occasionally falls into this alignment. For example, in one episode he travels back in time to avoid going on the Jupiter II, but upon learning that by staying behind he'll condemn the Robinsons to death, he can't quite bring himself to stay behind -- he's self-interested, certainly, but not a straight-out bastard.
377* Deb from ''Series/DropDeadDiva'' is an airhead model who [[FirstEpisodeResurrection dies in the pilot episode]]. The angel who evaluates her status as a "good person" tells her that "you've never done a single good deed or bad action in your life, [[TheBrainlessBeauty you're just shallow]]."
378* The Observers in ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' seem to clearly fall into this category. True to their name, they merely observe and refuse to interact except under very specific conditions, in which case the goal also appears to be unknown. Until "letters of transit" that is, in which they seem to have switched to LawfulEvil
379* Gaius Baltar in ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'', whose changes over the course of the show can be seen as maintaining a constant alignment, but becoming more philosophically conscious and compassionate as he moves from True Neutral selfish to True Neutral "philosophy of balance".
380* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'':
381** The Cleaners are this alignment as their sole objective is to clean up any mess created by other magical beings in order to prevent the existence of magic from being revealed to the mostly unaware human population. They will not hesitate to take any and all measures they deem necessary to pursue this objective regardless of who they come into conflict with or what alignment those others might be. [[FridgeLogic Not that they did anything before their formal introduction to the series, even in situations where their intervention would have been warranted...]]
382** The Hollow, as Zankou and the sisters said. When invoked, it couldn't choose between the sisters' good magic and Zankou's evil. It went into Leo instead, who, while good-aligned, had no more magic.
383** The Angel of Death is both this and AboveGoodAndEvil, treating ''both'' sides with clear disdain.
384** The Avatars are militantly neutral, scheming to bring about a {{utopia}} by getting rid of both evil and good.
385%%* Edmund ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' in his 1st, 2nd, and 4th incarnations.
386* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The First Doctor seems to have started like this, not wanting to interfere at all. He comes close to NeutralEvil at times, kidnapping schoolteachers from 1963 when they find out he is an alien, before moving toward NeutralGood. [[http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/doctor-who/images/23303780/title/good-neutral-evil-doctors-ranks-photo This image]] shows how the First to Tenth Doctors (save the Eighth) have varied between the ranks.
387* Miles Matheson from ''Series/{{Revolution}}'' exemplifies True Neutral. He has run the gamut from what most would consider "good" actions, such as deciding to help Charlie find Danny, to "bad" actions such as [[spoiler:being the co-creator of the Militia and causing the deaths of many innocent people]]. He's not particularly swayed by morals either way, but instead opts to do what seems best—and smartest—for himself and the people around him, and when he does risk his life for others, he doesn't do it so much willingly as out of a frustrated love for them. Even now, it's clear that he'd rather be back drinking a bottle of scotch and ignoring everything.
388* The Replicators of ''Series/StargateSG1'' are a rare example of a True Neutral BigBad since they're robotic organisms whose only concern is [[GreyGoo self-replication]]. Unfortunately, they're so good at it (and at improving on existing technology) that in season 8 they become a bigger threat than the [[EnergyBeing half-ascended]] OmnicidalManiac Anubis ever was.
389* The Rock of Ages in the ''Series/{{Merlin 1998}}'' miniseries, who spends most of his time sleeping and being mistaken for a mountain. Since he's one of the few immortals that don't [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly require human belief to survive]], he isn't troubled by Christianity's arrival in Britain, and only helps Merlin because his role requires the least amount of work-holding Excalibur.
390* The Druids in ''Series/{{Merlin 2008}}'' just want to be left alone to practice their magic. When Arthur discovers the location of the Cup of Life, the Druids "guarding" it surrender it without a fight, although not without first telepathically informing Merlin that they are entrusting him to safeguard it for them. There's a reason why they're considered ''[[GoodIsNotDumb wise]]''.
391%%* Joey Tribbani and Rachel Green of ''Series/{{Friends}}''.
392%%* Jerry Seinfeld's eponymous character on ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' is usually this. Although he also veers into ChaoticNeutral and LawfulNeutral territory at times.
393%%* Piper Chapman from ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack''. She is pretty much a one-person MoralityKitchenSink
394%%* All the main characters on ''Series/{{Girls}}'', except perhaps Jessa (who's more ChaoticNeutral).
395* [[TheGrimReaper Death]] from ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. As a result of being awakened by Lucifer, the Winchesters are convinced he's evil before they even meet him. As it turns out, he's been bound to Lucifer instead, whom he considers being a bratty child throwing a tantrum, and willingly gives up his ring to Sam and Dean in order to send Lucifer back to the Cage. Subsequent appearances reinforce this alignment, as his main interest is shown to be preserving the natural order, though he does aid the Winchesters on occasion. Overall, Death's not evil nor is he good. He's just rather grumpy.
396* From ''Series/Babylon5'' we have the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. Essentially a grab-bag of all the minor space-faring aliens with any diplomatic bent and little screen time, they're primarily interested in staying out of the way of the five more combative races.
397* [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist Eleanor Shellstrop]] from ''Series/TheGoodPlace'' counts as somewhere between this and ChaoticNeutral. She's not exactly evil, just ''very'' selfish and [[CompulsiveLiar usually feels no qualms about lying]]. As such, she's shocked that she made it to the Good Place [[spoiler: though she gets better with further CharacterDevelopment, and it turns out she [[ThisIsntHeaven isn't in the Good Place after all]]]]
398[[/folder]]
399
400[[folder:Music]]
401* ''Music/OzzyOsbourne'' is usually this, with some songs ("Flying High Again," "Crazy Babies," etc.) falling more under ChaoticNeutral. Despite what many MoralGuardians (at least used to) think, his music rarely falls into "Evil" territory. Granted, the subjects of some songs, such as "Mr. Tinkertrain" and "No More Tears" are definitely ChaoticEvil. But they're never depicted in a sympathetic or positive manner. Most of Ozzy's more autobiographical songs, meanwhile, are simple pleas for acceptance and understanding without any real moral agenda one way or another.
402%%* ''Music/{{Nirvana}},'' ''Music/AliceInChains,'' and most other grunge / post-grunge bands are generally True Neutral.
403%%* ''Music/{{Tool}}'' also usually falls into this category.
404* The Music/PetShopBoys B-side "In the Night" is about ''Les Zazous,'' Parisians who, during the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII German occupation,]] weren't on the side of the Nazis or LaResistance. They just wanted to listen to jazz music and be left alone. This earned them hatred and suspicion from both sides.
405* Music/DepecheMode's "Get the Balance Right" reads like an instruction book for how to be True Neutral.
406[[/folder]]
407
408[[folder:Oral Tradition/Religion and Mythology]]
409* [[GrimReaper Anthropomorphic personifications of Death]] are usually True Neutral (or LawfulNeutral; see that alignment page), although a rare few are actively malicious. [[EverybodyHatesHades A lot of fiction doesn't pick up on this.]]
410* Odin from Myth/NorseMythology in a self-interest way. He upholds the universal order, the laws of hospitality, and has done a lot of good things for the gods and mankind. On the flip side, he willingly violates social customs, commit vile acts to get his way, and is sometimes a jerk just to be a jerk. He fights against giants only to mate with or tolerate them only to go back to fighting with them. Some of his acts can be read as NecessarilyEvil for the greater good and he [[OmniscientMoralityLicense has the wisdom to break social taboos that limit others]] leaning him toward ChaoticNeutral or ChaoticGood, but much of it easily comes across as self-interest to protect / increase his own power.
411* Hestia from Myth/ClassicalMythology does not take sides in the feuds of the Olympians or have much of a role in myth at all.
412** Speaking of the Olympians, Hades isn't as evil as one may imagine. Despite being God of the Underworld, the top dog himself is just satisfied ruling over the undead even if it's not the most [[{{Pun}} lively]] of jobs.
413* Anubis from Myth/EgyptianMythology cares only for the dead and the souls of the deceased, to help him decide who to punish and who to spare he uses a set of scales. Whoever's soul was lighter than a feather gains their right to the afterlife, but if they fail they get eaten; besides this fact he is only doing his job and nothing else.
414[[/folder]]
415
416[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
417* In Pro-Wrestling fandom, these characters are called [[WildCard "Tweeners"]] (as in "between a {{Heel}} and a {{Face}}"). Traditionally, Wrestling/KevinNash's Diesel character is viewed as being the first modern version of the character, though they became increasingly popular during the Attitude era.
418** Ur-example: Wrestling/TheUndertaker. He goes by the rules, but he doesn't mind breaking them if he needs to. He doesn't hold back in beating-up wrestlers who are in his way but will leave them alone unless they piss him off.
419%%** Wrestling/BobHolly.
420* When a PowerStable is feuding with another PowerStable, the chances are fairly good a True Neutral character will be in there somewhere. Everybody wants them on their side but they're not really willing to pick a side for whatever reason. In [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]], [[Wrestling/{{Christian}} Christian Cage]] was this during the beginning of the Main Event Mafia-Frontline feud. Usually, said character will eventually slide to one side of the fence or another.
421* A face will sometimes become a Neutral character by default if they're feuding with a bigger face and haven't officially turned heel. Examples include [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} X-7'' against Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin and Wrestling/ShawnMichaels at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} XXIII'' against Wrestling/JohnCena.
422[[/folder]]
423
424%%[[folder:Roleplay]]
425%%* [[Roleplay/WeAreOurAvatars Yasmin]] is True Neutral because she believes that people have GreyAndGrayMorality, though she doesn't like poor reasoning behind people's actions.
426%%[[/folder]]
427
428[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
429* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''
430** In 1[[superscript:st]] and 2[[superscript:nd]] editions, druids had to be True Neutral, implied to be of the balance-keeping rather than the dispassionate variety. In 3[[superscript:rd]], druids have to be no more than one step away from True Neutral, supposedly to retain at least ''some'' of "nature's dispassion".
431** 2[[superscript:nd]] Edition, describes True Neutral as always siding with the underdog, sometimes even switching sides when one is winning. It goes on to explain that "Clearly, there are very few true neutral characters in the world". This may be because of old enemies killing them when they [[StupidNeutral show up at the door and claim they want to help]].
432** In the 2nd Edition setting of ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'', each alignment has an "exemplar" race that represents it. The rilmani are the True Neutral exemplars and have whole castes dedicated to preserving the Balance by any means necessary. Mentioned once and then never again were also the kamerel, who were displaced by the rilmani when their apathetic isolationist tendencies proved detrimental.
433*** In Planescape, each alignment also had a corresponding plane of existence. For the True Neutral plane was simply the city of Sigil, a city on the inside of a torus hovering over the apex of an infinitely tall tower, sitting at the heart of the multiverse. At the center of everything, Sigil was something of a crossroads, a place with portals practically everywhere, though the means to unlock them could be an object or something more abstract, meaning hapless and lost refugees, well-informed travelers of all sorts, and the descendants of both rubbed shoulders there. Sigil is a strange, often alien place, and a recognized neutral ground. To enforce this, the city's ruler, the Lady of Pain (who is in fact ''not'' evil, despite her title), has outlawed worship within the city, lest a god gain influence there and compromise the city's neutrality; and Ao help you if you try to worship the Lady herself. (Funnily enough, godless religions, like some forms of Buddhism, would be allowed by exclusion.)
434** Mordenkainen, the Lord Mage of ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'', has a philosophy of either aiding or sabotaging the forces of both good and evil to ensure that neither side wins supremacy, which he believes would lead to a devastating war (like the Greyhawk Wars, which he was unable to prevent). TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness which he founded, the Circle of Eight, works along the same lines. This led to an angry schism between him and his former companion, the LawfulGood archmage Tenser, who blames Mordenkainen for the deaths of several of their friends.
435** Gond, the god of smithing and technology in ''Forgotten Realms'' does not care if new weapons and machinery are used for either good or evil, as long as they work efficiently.
436** LizardFolk: territorial, ruthlessly isolationist, and sometimes [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalistic]], but not malicious when not provoked. They have a high number of druids as religious leaders.
437** In Fourth Edition, True Neutral was folded into Unaligned alongside LawfulNeutral and ChaoticNeutral. Fifth Edition reversed this decision, but it kept Unaligned for creatures without the capacity for moral decisions, such as animals and mindless automatons.
438* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' has a few characters that fit this alignment. Urabrask the Hidden could be considered this due to his passive (even apathetic) attitude towards the Mirrans. Sorin Markov ([[spoiler:pre-Innistrad]]) seems to fit this as well, trying to save Zendikar simply because he had an obligation to.
439* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has two races of True Neutral outsiders. The aeons are mysterious beings spawned by the universe like antibodies to balance dualities (creation and destruction, freedom and fate, logic and emotion, etc.). The psychopomps, rather than worrying about balance, instead enforce the natural flow of souls into the afterlife on behalf of the goddess of death.
440* The Wood Elves of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' are described as true forces of nature, Wild Hunt included, who don't get involved in anything unless it directly threatens their forest.
441** The Tomb kings are generally feared by many because of their undead natures, but most of the time, they just want to be left alone and have nothing to do with the wars of the living.
442* The Tyranids of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' are a swarm of aliens guided by a HiveMind that is so far beyond human comprehension that its raw psychic presence is lethal to telepaths across the span of light years. They are, above all else, hungry.
443** The Leagues Of Votann; unlike pretty much every other faction in the setting (with the exception of the aforementioned Tyrnaids) they aren't driven by hatred, fanaticism, sadism, or a sense of racial superiority. They spent most of their history ''ignoring'' the rest of the galaxy, and would be content to continue doing so if circumstances hadn't forced them into the open. They're simply determined to survive at all costs, and if that means taking valuable materials from others at gunpoint, they're willing to do that, and can be quite terrifying when that happens, but would rather be left alone otherwise.
444* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', the Guild is an organization that cares for nothing except getting rich, and they are almost frighteningly honest and open about that. They basically fit the archetype of the GreedyAmoralMerchant, but they are much more devious, plotting, and better organized than most of them. They aren't good, although their trading was instrumental to the rebuilding of the world communication infrastructure after the centuries of civil war, invasion, and plagues it went through. They aren't evil, although they deal in slaves and will gladly sell some even to the Fair Folk, who use them for horrible ends. They don't care about the law, using it or working around it to make more money. They don't care about chaos, although they will be the first to trade weapons and mercenaries in wartime. In a world where almost anyone is (knowingly or not) the pawn of an Exalt, god, deathlord, demon, or some other supernaturally-led faction, they remain independent. They just mind their own business and they are freaking good at that.
445* The Balance in ''TabletopGame/{{Anathema|2011}}'' creates shrouds and forces them to kill, but it only does this strictly out of necessity. If it fails to do this, the world will become so overpopulated that humanity will destroy itself. It makes no claims to be either good or evil and is entirely impersonal. All it cares about is keeping the human population at a level that the planet can sustain.
446* The party game "Mafia" may sometimes have a role that is basically this. (Sometimes called the Survivor) Their only goal is to be alive at the end of the game - with ''every'' faction. Sounds simple, right? [[SurpriseDifficulty Think again]]. Because removing the True Neutral player is a genuine waste of time, it's a common claim by evil players to make the town leave them alone while they pick them off; or [[WoundedGazelleGambit by "Killing" roles to goad them into being attacked,]] thus receiving either a counterattack to eliminate the attacking player from the game or accidentally exposing their role. Other times, they're seen as a risk because their True Neutral nature means they can just as easily side with the town or the scum to win.
447[[/folder]]
448
449[[folder:Theatre]]
450* The title characters of ''Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead''. Rosencrantz leans more towards NeutralGood and Guildenstern towards NeutralEvil, but on the whole, they don't care about good, evil, order, or chaos-they just want to find ''something'' that will allow them to make sense of the world they're in.
451[[/folder]]
452
453[[folder:Video Games]]
454* The Gatekeeper in ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' puts it succinctly.
455-->'''The Gatekeeper:''' The gate opens, the gate closes. It does not ''help''.
456* Geralt from ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'' at least claims to be this, as part of "The Witcher's Code"; however it is nearly impossible to truly live up to it in the game.
457* Bill from ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' fits the [[{{Pun}} bill]] best. While he genuinely cares for his fellow survivors and sticks his neck out for them on a regular basis, on one of the many occasions when the team was escaping to a rescue vehicle (in this case, a train) he deliberately refuses to do so much as stop for two seconds to save a hapless doctor behind them from being eaten alive. Zoey [[WhatTheHellHero chews him out]] on this later. His response? [[BadassBoast "We look after our own!"]] Justified, since the doctor had possibly zero combat experience against the infected (Zoey, Bill, Louis, and Francis had been engaging the infected for 2 weeks) and would become TheLoad to the team. On top of this, it would be likely that Bill or someone else would be yanked off the train by the incoming horde if the train had slowed down or stopped. Bill had also said to the doctor and two other people earlier that if they fell behind, they were on their own.
458* Archer's alignment in the ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' VisualNovel is listed as simply "Neutral". Though summoned as a Servant in the game, his typical role is a Guardian, a heroic spirit periodically summoned by The World to slaughter any humans, good or bad, who pose a threat to humanity's existence as a whole. This (un)living hell has left him bitter and uncaring towards humans.
459* The Silencer of the ''VideoGame/{{Crusader}}'' games just doesn't care about the morality of his allies' cause or the ethics of killing indiscriminately anyone who works for the [[MegaCorp WEC]]. He kills out of a desire for vengeance against those who betrayed him, and that is all.
460* Theoretically ''you'' are this alignment in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' -- the story is that you are being paid for your mercenary services and that you are working for the highest bidder. You will sometimes even switch teams (and objectives) in the middle of a battle. With regards to the characters' canon personalities, the Sniper fits this specific alignment particularly well; he sees himself purely as a professional hired assassin, with no genuine attachment to killing other than job satisfaction and money. However, most of the playable characters are one of the three Neutral alignments.
461* Gen from ''Franchise/StreetFighter''. Except for maybe Dorai and Chun-Li, he shows no attachment to anyone, and if you annoy him enough, he'll kill you without an ounce of remorse.
462** Crimson Viper comes off as uncaring and [[TheUnfettered Unfettered]].
463* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' has three interesting variants of True Neutral:
464** As a blank slate, the Nameless One, the amnesiac protagonist, starts out True Neutral, with his actions in-game determining his alignment. [[spoiler:The Good Incarnation, despite the name, also counts. He was the one that committed whatever act damned them all to Hell and later was so horrified he tried to atone in any way he could, even seeking immortality just to have enough time to do so. But Neutral is as far as he ever got, in terms of avoiding evil and approaching good]].
465** The Lady of Pain, despite her evil-sounding title, is completely apathetic towards morality and is utterly inscrutable. The only motive she seems to have is that of protecting Sigil's existence.
466** The [[spoiler:Transcendent One]] is also True Neutral, which is an unusual alignment for [[spoiler:the final boss]]. All he wants is to be left alone, but so long as [[spoiler:the Nameless One seeks his true identity]], that is impossible.
467* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', Mr. Platform/GameAndWatch has no comprehension of good and evil. [[ExploitedTrope This allows him to be very easily tricked by Tabuu]], and all it takes for him to defect to the heroes is [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny Peach's parasol]].
468* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
469** The [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Princes]] are AboveGoodAndEvil {{Eldritch Abomination}}s with [[BlueAndOrangeMorality motives and morality far beyond mortal understanding]]. While some (Azura, Meridia) are typically considered "good" and others (Molag Bal, Mehrunes Dagon) are typically considered "evil" in the eyes of mortals, even scholars in-universe will contend that applying concepts of mortal morality to the Daedra operates on flawed assumptions. Those Princes who seem "good" are only that way because their actions more often than not are benevolent toward mortals, while those who are "evil" are typically more malevolent. Additionally, the majority of Princes have at times shown both good and bad aspects. For example, Mehrunes Dagon, [[DestroyerDeity Prince of Destruction]], has repeatedly attempted to take over and destroy Mundus, which most mortals would agree is a very bad thing. However, "change" also falls within his sphere, and without forces of change, there could be no mortal world.
470*** Azura, the Daedric Prince of Dawn and Dusk and typically considered one of the universally "good" Daedra, in particular makes for an interesting case. Behind her veil of benevolence and pleasing female form, there are hints that Azura may be something much...''more''. There are in-game hints, heavily supported by WordOfGod, that she is more of a cosmic force of true neutrality who is more concerned with maintaining a metaphysical balance in the universe. Her perceived "benevolence" is merely the result of her actions benefiting mortals more often than not (such as in the main quest of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]''), and that particular delusion is said to be very, ''very'' unhealthy.
471*** Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of [[MadGod Madness]], is another peculiar example. While not inherently malevolent, the nature of his sphere and his unpredictability make him one of the most ''dangerous'' of the Daedric Princes, and thus he is near-universally considered to be one of the "bad" Daedra throughout Tamriel. As a drastic MoodSwinger, he can go from an almost benevolent deity who [[PetTheDog genuinely cares for his followers]] to a completely AxeCrazy [[KickTheDog dog-kicker]] and [[ColonyDrop hurler of planetoids]] in the drop of a hat. All of it tends to balance out, with the actions he takes depending on [[ItAmusedMe what amuses him]] in the moment.
472** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''
473*** The [[OldMaster Greybeards]] are this alignment; an ancient order of monks that live in seclusion on the tallest mountain in Tamriel, spending their entire time meditating and studying the [[LanguageOfMagic Thu'um]], safeguarding the knowledge for mankind. Despite this, they utterly refuse to get involved in any crisis threatening the world or use their mastery of the Thu'um to intervene, even if it means lives will be lost. Arngeir explains that this is because they believe their role is merely to ''protect'' the knowledge, whereas the Dragonborn was chosen by the Divines to actually ''wield'' it. Another example of their absolute neutrality is when the Dragonborn arranges for a peace conference to take place at High Hrothgar. Despite being the first steps in securing a peace treaty and potentially ending the bloody CivilWar gripping Skyrim, the Greybeards only reluctantly agree to host it and refuse to take part in the proceedings.
474*** It is possible to role-play the Dragonborn into this alignment. Considering how messed up Skyrim is at times, defeating evil and completing quests can purely be from a reactionary standpoint. For example, a True Neutral would decide to attack a Dragon out of survival like any wild animal would. Killing evil creatures would also be purely coincidence considering you're only protecting yourself or simply curious on the treasures deep within. As for killing innocent or good folk is again all down to survival or a job if you count The Dark Brotherhood.
475* The ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' universe:
476** [[http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/Kerrah_photos/TRUENEUTRAL.jpg Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider]] was True Neutral in ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII''. His only aim was the survival of his people, no matter the cost.
477** On a similar note, [[http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/Kerrah_photos/TRUENEUTRAL-1.jpg Orgrim Doomhammer]], the warchief of the Horde during the second game of the franchise, has been {{Retcon}}ned into this alignment. He wished to save his people, the orcs, by conquering Azeroth from the humans, knowing that their own home could no longer support their numbers. To achieve this goal, he betrays his own chieftain to assume command and lead his people.
478** Goblins in general are of this alignment, neither favoring the Horde nor the Alliance when selling their goods and tend to mostly stay out of conflicts enough to profit them as much as possible. However, they are usually found more associating with the horde due to past alliances with them and are commonly seen working for the horde with their maintaining of the zeppelins they use for travel, not to mention the playable goblin faction of the Bilgewater Cartel joining the Horde in Cataclysm. In general, however, they really only care for money and profit in the most lucrative way possible, as exemplified by the Steamwheedle Cartel of goblins that are usually seen in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.
479* Several of the characters who can join your group in the ''Franchise/BaldursGate'' series:
480** Jaheira the {{druid}} is this alignment in accordance with 2e D&D rules.
481** Faldorn is a Shadow Druid, who are generally NeutralEvil in behaviour, alignment notwithstanding, but thanks to the limited characterisation of the first game and the differences between her and Jaheira, she ends up feeling closer to this alignment. In the sequel, she undergoes a personality transplant and becomes an antagonist.
482** Branwen is a cleric of Tempus, [[WarGod Lord of Battles]]. She does have a warrior code of sorts but probably ended up under this alignment because she's simply too underdeveloped to be anything else.
483** Another druid, Cernd, is a far better example of the balance-between-all-sides, compromising kind than either of his druidic contemporaries. He is noted for often making comments about balance and some unusual metaphors, but otherwise, he's a little flat.
484** The thief Yoshimo is an advocate of intelligent decisions, getting a lot of money through means both honest and dishonest and rational levels of self-interest and non-involvement.
485** It is possible for Viconia [=deVir=] to change her initial evil alignment to this. If this happens, she'll be of the "Don't bother me and I won't bother you" variety. Which makes sense, because this is her actual philosophy even when she's NeutralEvil; don't try and mess with her, she won't mess with you. At least in the sense that she won't ruin your life or kill you unprovoked. She may still take the time to make [[{{Jerkass}} rude comments]] about you or [[KickTheDog say something really cruel and petty]] just because she feels like it. That's why she doesn't become Good-aligned -- she hasn't so much reformed as decided to be less mean-spirited and pass-remarkable.
486* In the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' setting, the Grey Wardens as an order are like this, with certain individuals like Duncan seeming to actually be True Neutral on a personal level, while other Wardens can be worse or more decent folk depending on the individual. They take no sides, obey no kings, and every action they take somehow must make progression towards relieving the world of the threat of Darkspawn. In the first game, it's difficult to pick this, as most of the tasks you have to do to stop the Blight end up saving people or quelling chaos in Ferelden anyway, but in the sequel, you directly run across a group of Grey Wardens [[spoiler:during the Qunari assault on Kirkwall]]. Though they help you briefly, they immediately admit their primary goal is basically to cut themselves free of the chaos surrounding the city so they could go back to doing their job, namely hunting darkspawn: they even give the same line of "a greater menace than the Qunari threatens the world", despite the most recent Blight being over, reinforcing that literally every goal they ever have somehow is geared towards this. Helping people is a happy accident, if it happens at all.
487** Fenris in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' ends up here, since his main concern is pursuing a personal vendetta rather than any kind of moral position -- and he doesn't even do that very often, since the target of said vendetta lives on another continent. While his hatred of slavery would incline him towards a good alignment, he almost never actually ''does'' anything about it unless he's in Hawke's active party. In fact, he almost never does anything at all, generally preferring to lurk in his former master's mansion [[TheAlcoholic drinking wine in huge quantities]] and brooding.
488-->'''Fenris:''' You are too willing to involve yourself in the affairs of others, Hawke. Each time you put yourself at risk. One day you will not be so lucky.\
489'''Hawke:''' You have a better idea?\
490'''Fenris:''' Guard what you have. Keep your head low.
491** One of the Fraternities of Enchanters, known as the Isolationists, holds the belief that mages should separate themselves from civilisation altogether and live as hermits in the wilderness, where they can practise magic without fear of collateral damage and witch-hunts. Niall is one such mage-probably the only Isolationist met in the entire game.
492* The AI Thoth in ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}} 2'' always tries to help the underdog. This means he helps you from the point where [[spoiler:you reactivate him]], and then [[spoiler:turns on you and Durandal when you're winning against the Pfhor.]] Thoth isn't very successful when [[spoiler:trying to stop you though, as the Pfhor completely ignore his offers of assistance.]]
493** For that matter, Durandal. He honestly doesn't care one way or the other about humanity, the Pfhor, the S'pht, or anything else. His goal is to prolong his existence, and he will team up with, betray, or manipulate ''anyone'' if it means furthering that goal.
494* Big the Cat from the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games; generally wanting to be alone so he can fish in peace. When he does fight, it's because of Froggy, curiosity, or for survival.
495* Beckett in ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' a [[DeadpanSnarker deeply sarcastic]] vampire scholar with no allegiance to any side in the Jyhad, and motivated entirely by his archaeological interests.
496** The PC can choose to become True Neutral close to the end of the game, when [[spoiler:Cain]] offers you "the path of legends and pariahs." In this decision, you assassinate Ming-Xiao, slice the Prince to ribbons, and [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome give Nines Rodriguez a middle finger]] before strolling off into the night.
497* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'':
498** Cloud initially holds this position in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', going on record as saying that he doesn't care about Shinra, SOLDIER, AVALANCHE, or the Planet; he's just here to get paid. This doesn't last all that long, however, and proves to be rather more complicated than it first appears. [[spoiler:Subtle mind control and multiple personalities are involved. And much of it is a plot version of GuideDangIt]]. He reveals to be actually NeutralGood and a brave and heroic young man.
499** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', the Arbiters of Fate qualify [[BlueAndOrangeMorality as far as human morality can be applied to them]]. They don't give a hoot about right, wrong, order, or chaos, their only objective is [[spoiler:to ensure that the events of [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII the original game]] proceed exactly as scheduled, and they will just as happily murder Jessie and ensure the destruction of Sector 7 as they will resurrect Barret and protect AVALANCHE from Shinra forces.]]
500** Squall Leonhart in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' was raised as a mercenary and, as a result, doesn't particularly believe in the concepts of "good" and "evil." He accepts that any given side of a conflict has its own reasons, and believes that one's stance on any subject is shaped by one's point of view. Accordingly, when he gets involved in stopping TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, he does so less out of any moral impulse and more as a means of ensuring the safety of the girl he loves -- and because the government of Esthar is paying him to do it. By the end of the game, he has arguably [[NeutralNoLonger developed]] more towards NeutralGood, but his personal morality is still defined more as "AlwaysSaveTheGirl" than anything else[[note]]He ''does'' do generally altruistic things, though, such as saving his fellow students, organizing a mission to destroy an enemy missile base, and so on. He's neutral, but he's not an asshole[[/note]]. This is extended into ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia]]'', where he will fight anyone who interferes with his mission of "get crystal, go home," but never initiates a battle unless provoked.
501** Amarant from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. He doesn't care about things. His battle strategy involves letting his opponents kill each other. Toss Quina from the same game here. [[AmbiguousGender His/her]] only concern is literally where the next meal is coming from.
502** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', Sin and [[spoiler:its creator Yu Yevon]] qualify as this. [[spoiler:Yu Yevon, created Sin to act as armor to protect him while he kept alive his lost homeland by summoning a dream of it.]] Unfortunately, the strain of [[spoiler:continually summoning Sin and Zanarkand]] has destroyed [[spoiler:Yu Yevon's]] sentience, making the main antagonist of the game "neither good, nor evil" in the words of the Fayth.
503** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', which deals predominantly with the effects the machinations of a CorruptChurch and an evil aristocracy are having on the general populace, the only neutral characters are two robots. In fact, they are ''so'' neutral, their particular alignment has been transmuted into a StatusEffect.
504* Lara Croft of the ''Franchise/TombRaider'' franchise is described in the D&D supplement Complete Scoundrel as True Neutral. This makes sense since she's less concerned with being a hero than just being an adventurer. This holds true of her in the 2013 reboot as well. Her primary concern prior to the shipwreck is finding Yamatai (mostly ForScience), and afterward, she focuses first on her own survival, then that of her surviving shipmates. Noble a cause as [[spoiler:going through Hell and back to rescue Sam]] can be, Lara fights dirty, kills a couple dozen people, and shows no moral qualms about doing so in order to make sure she gets what she wants and gets off the island alive.
505* Vincent in ''VideoGame/SilentHill3''. He wants nothing to do with Claudia's plans to unleash a monster on the world, but neither does he care enough to intervene directly, preferring to manipulate a seventeen-year-old into doing it for him. Perhaps as a result, he is by far the most cheerful and well-adjusted character in the entire series (although that isn't particularly difficult).
506* ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'': The Keepers are True Neutral because they strive to preserve neutrality, via the [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil balance of power]] between the LawfulNeutral Hammers and ChaoticNeutral Pagans. Garrett is neutral because he doesn't ''care'' about the Balance, or any 'ideal'. Garrett leaves them because of his Chaotic leanings and his refusal to listen to their prophecies. That changes once he becomes the leader of the Keepers himself.
507* Jack Cayman from ''VideoGame/MadWorld'' could certainly be considered True Neutral, for reasons similar to Guts above. [[spoiler:He seems to work for the government, is sent to rescue a well-to-do in danger and, when it turns out she was taking part in orchestrating Death Watch, Jack may have struck her, but he notably didn't kill her (although he expressed regret at sparing her). However, the brutality of his kills certainly doesn't fall under any "Good" category I care to think of, he claims "I don't work for justice, and I'm certainly not its bitch", and he has a habit of doing things his own way when the situation calls for it]]. In short, Jack's the living proof against True Neutral being a wuss or wishy-washy class: if he's on the fence, it's probably so that he can decide how to kill you with it.
508* This is the alignment of choice for Niko Bellic of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''. He doesn't really care about gang wars, drugs, mobs, or anything, and will kill anyone or steal anything as long as you pay him. The only things he really does care about are the few friends whom he keeps close to himself and settling the score with the man who had his mercenary buddies sold out. You just better make damn sure you don't cross him or anybody he cares about, or he will make you pay.
509* Several of the ghosts encountered in ''VideoGame/TheSuffering.'' For example, the ghosts of Torque's family seem unable or unwilling to interfere with the plot; Horace Gage swings wildly between lashing out in pain and providing rudimentary assistance; finally, the utterly amoral Dr Killjoy has taken it upon himself to cure Torque of his insanity [[WellIntentionedExtremist by any means necessary]].
510** Sergei, one of the corrections officers on Carnate, has decided to spend what will probably be the last hours of his life as happy and stoned as possible.
511** Kyle is a darker variant: he's a teenage heroin addict with almost no objective besides surviving the invasion of Baltimore long enough to find his next fix. He only follows the PC because he appears to believe that Torque is his father.
512%%** Torque himself can be a True Neutral if he wishes.
513* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'': Travis Touchdown is a brutal BloodKnight, but he's [[ThisLoserIsYou too pathetic]] to be called evil. Mostly, he's just unable to separate reality from fantasy; he lives for the fight, to reach the next rank in the UAA, and is utterly oblivious to the repercussions of his actions. He won't [[WouldntHitAGirl kill any woman]] [[ChivalrousPervert he'd like to have sex with]], but otherwise is completely fine with finishing off his enemies. He doesn't enjoy killing, as he tells [[PsychoForHire Bad Girl]], he just likes the battle. It's all a great big game to him, one that he doesn't even try to understand.
514* Saya, the eponymous EldritchAbomination in the extremely gory visual novel ''VisualNovel/SayaNoUta''. While obviously sentient, she doesn't seem to even have a clear concept of morality, and even at her worst, she comes across as ObliviouslyEvil. Her only real goal is to understand her own purpose and propagate her species. Her love for Fuminori is [[TearJerker heart-wrenching]].
515* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'': Rachel is a vampire that acts out of boredom rather than any real malice. She has NeutralGood tendencies, however.
516%%* Pete Wheeler from ''VideoGame/BackyardSports''. Because he's too stupid to think otherwise.
517* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
518** M.A.R.Go.T. the transit system CPU in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}: Broken Steel''. She is the only robot in the game (besides [[spoiler: John Henry Eden]]) who seems to know that a war happened 200 years ago, and humanity is struggling today but is solely concerned with (literally) making the trains run on time. She only helps the player because you help her.
519** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has Yes Man, an A.I. that's programmed to be helpful to anyone without any restrictions to who he's allowed to help. Even though he's intelligent enough to recognize when a course of action is highly questionable or even outright idiotic, he cannot directly criticize and the most he can do is to warn the player and be somewhat passive-aggressive about it.
520** ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' It is possible to role-play your character towards this alignment much like you can in the previous games. Searching for your son and doing everything you can to survive is the general idea. Working with good or evil folk is only optional, all that matters in the end is who you decide to ultimately "assist" for the rewards.
521* Cothineal in ''VideoGame/ShogoMobileArmorDivision'' is a force of nature. While it is technically responsible for starting a terrorist movement on Cronus [[spoiler:and brainwashing Toshiro]], it only does so to protect itself [[spoiler:as the source of kato]] and doesn't seem bound by human standards of morality.
522* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'':
523** Altaïr Ibn La'Ahad introduced in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' only kills the [[KnightTemplar templars]], but won't hurt innocents, based on his tenets. He does however always kill criers and orators that have information about the Templars, despite not being Templars themselves. He also spares Maria Thorpe because she wasn't his target, even though she is a high-ranking Templar.
524** Ezio Auditore da Firenze introduced in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' starts as Chaotic Neutral, as his RoaringRampageOfRevenge consumes almost thirty years of his life, but by the time of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'', he's much closer to True Neutral: while he still guides the brotherhood in the unending battle against the Templars, he's content to let others fight that battle whenever possible, and seeks simply to educate himself and recover secrets long lost. [[spoiler:By the end of the game, he doesn't even care about that anymore, retiring from the brotherhood and living in peace.]]
525* The colossi from ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus''. They're just ''there'', attacking only in self-defense. It's possible that they're living manifestations of the land itself.
526* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'':
527** It's Reimu's job to be True Neutral, and while she tends towards Neutral Good most of the time, she'll {{avert|edTrope}} ThouShallNotKill with ''frightening'' DissonantSerenity if it's what's required in order to preserve the balance of Gensokyo -- as [[TheQuisling the Fortune Teller]] learned [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe the hard way.]]
528** Yukari actively [[BrilliantButLazy tries not to get involved]] in things unless the situation is too out of balance.
529** Hermits like Ibara Kasen usually stay away from mundane affairs.
530** In theory, fairies are the physical manifestations of nature and [[LawfulNeutral meant to be bound to its needs]], not unlike the druid examples earlier on this page. In practice, "nature" doesn't actually seem to give them instructions on how to fulfill its will, and Cirno and the other fairies of Gensokyo are True Neutral by the non-virtue of being ''extremely dumb'' and without guidance.
531* In ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'', John Marston's only goal is to capture or kill the surviving members of his former gang so that his family will be released. He has few other moral stances; he just wants his family back and to live his life peacefully on his ranch, and he's willing to do anything from helping the local town marshal clean up crime to [[spoiler:helping the local dictator root out LaResistance]] to achieve that goal. He does display clear disapproval of some of the more morally objectionable things he's made to do throughout his quest, but he still does them.
532* Huitzil / Phobos in ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}''. His only duty is to protect the human boy he encountered.
533* The Pkunk from the ''VideoGame/StarControl'' universe attempt to be this in an effort to avoid becoming so good they flip right around to evil. [[PokeThePoodle They do this by playing pranks and being insulting sometimes.]] This turns into a form of [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Gameplay And Story Integration]], as their way of recharging energy is to toss out mild insults.
534* ''VideoGame/RecordOfAgarestWar'': Nemesis plays this trope straight in the fact that during the war of the gods, she sided with the darkness just because they were outnumbered. Even though her name and her title "Goddess of Revenge" would suggest otherwise.
535* Augustus Sinclair in ''VideoGame/BioShock2'', who cares mostly only about his own profits but nevertheless shows sincere generosity to you (yes, YOU!) over the entire game.
536* NOVA from Milky Way Wishes in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''. All he does is grant wishes, no matter what they are.
537* The players' Virtuaroids in ''VideoGame/VirtualOn'' are designed solely for players to control and are not capable of independent thoughts.
538* From the ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' series, Naomi Hunter, who tries to kill Solid Snake by injecting the FOXDIE virus [[ItsPersonal to avenge her "brother" Frank Jaeger]], but later shows regret for what she has done. She also defects from Otacon to Ocelot in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' of her own free will in order to eliminate the Vamp to atone for her own sin.
539* Steve and Alex, or in general, The Player from ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', as given, they aren't actual characters with fixed personalities and appearances, their characteristics mostly come from the one who are controlling them. They can choose to do good things like protecting innocent mobs from the hostile environment and mobs or defend villagers from sieges and raids. Both of them are generally neutral by default, as they never actually did something good or bad, and it simply comes from the actual player, thus making them one of the most neutral characters in video game history. They were simply portrayed as the player's avatar and can choose to do whatever the player wants. Given also the fact that they are Gender Neutral, meaning their genders are also dependent on the players themselves. They can be roleplayed by countless people and can either turn them into heroes or become villains. The game itself is widely open to the imaginative. Also, the default characters as a character, represents all humanity in the real world, and everything in real life is neutral.
540* WordOfGod has stated that the Von Neumann of ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'' are merely nonsentient expert systems that exist to catalogue systems and harvest resources. When they go after your ships, it is not out of malice. Unfortunately for all involved, if their motherships fail to report back, they will clear obstacles with extreme prejudice.
541* The Norgard faction in ''VideoGame/{{Brigandine}}'': The ruler Vaynard is merely a pragmatic opportunist warlord, not as goody-two-shoes as Lance of New Almekia or Cai of Caerleon or Lyonesse from Leonia, but he cares about his people, more than Dryst of Iscalio (or of course Zemeckis of Esgares), and wants to build a strong nation under his rule. Vaynard himself has some genuine PetTheDog moments and is quite fond of his sister Esmeree... who's in Esgares.
542* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'':
543** Scorpion is essentially this. He's seen as the series' icon for an anti-hero. He'll usually end up doing things in unethical and questionable ways that may involve tackling an evil and assisting the greater good, but it's usually for his own personal gains. The first time we see him, he has no allegiance and rises from hell simply to avenge his previous death by killing his murderer from a rival clan (who he also believed murdered his family and clan); then, when his killer appears again, he returns back from hell to finish the job. His non-allegiance continues as he serves as a wild card in future battles when he's accidentally released from hell a third time. He's recruited the fourth time by the evil forces, not because he was evil or opposed good, but because the evil side promised him his life restored as a reward. When the same evil is revealed to have killed his wife and son (as well as his clan), Scorpion switches allegiances and turns on that evil instead, but not because he wants to adhere to the good side, but again to pursue a personal vendetta. Afterwards he is recruited by the Elder Gods to tackle a force that threatens to destroy all the realms, in which he works for the greater good, but only in return for the promise to restore his family and clan. Later he joins the forces of darkness in the final battle of Armageddon, but only so he can get closer to the evil that originally killed his family and clan in the first place, again for his own personal reasons. In regards to law vs chaos, he may seem at first glance to be a hot-headed and free-spirited individual, that will only ever do his own thing, but he has been seen to take orders when offered rewards, and remains loyal to the tradition and honor of his clan. Scorpion passes as a True Neutral because he's logically too difficult to place in any of the other categories.
544** Kronika is an antagonist example in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', as she's a strong adherence to BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil and is willing to manipulate both villains and heroes alike to achieve her goal.
545* Ethan Mars in ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'' is this. He doesn't care if his life is endangered by the Origami Killer's trials, only about saving his son.
546** Captain Perry appears to care about the press more than the investigation of the Origami Killer.
547* From ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'':
548** Neeshka is listed as True Neutral: she's a thief, and a tiefling[[note]]A race of half-demons, usually falling prey to the evil, which says something about her[[/note]], but while she's generally selfish, she's also genuinely selfless, going along with the player to stop the King of Shadows without much incentive to do so.
549** The Construct, being a non-sentient golem.
550** Safiya from ''Mask of the Betrayer'' cares mostly about learning and teaching, unlike the other Red Wizards' drive for personal power.
551* The Necromancers in the ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' franchise are a clan of magi dedicated to the principle of maintaining the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil. In practice, this usually means they fight on the side of good, only because evil seems to always have the upper hand.
552* This is Lee Chaolan's alignment in ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}''. His main goal is to take control of the Mishima Zaibatsu; for this purpose, he has become TheDragon of two [[BigBad Big Bads]] (Kazuya and Heihachi) but also, when the occasion demanded, worked against them, and helped TheHero Lars and the resistance on his quest to take down Jin Kazama.
553** This could also be considered Jin Kazama's alignment. His main goal leans towards good: he wants to rid the world of the Devil Gene, which includes killing his father, his grandfather, and, presumably, himself. As the forces he works against are villainous, he falls into the heroic side in Tekken 4 and 5... But, as we see, when his quest leads him to [[WellIntentionedExtremist throw the whole world into war]] so he can summon Azazel and kill himself along with it, he shows he's not above villainous actions himself if they suit his goals.
554* Wolf O'Donnell in ''VideoGame/StarFox''. He's clearly out to gun down Fox in ''VideoGame/StarFox64'' like a rivalry, but Assault and beyond show he's not interested in Fox or any other side, but the preservation of himself, his teammates, and his bandits. He truly doesn't really hate or like the Star Fox team, and only dislikes the villains because they're a direct threat to himself and his team.
555* Forest Hunters, The covenant of Alvina, the white Cat of the Forest in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls''. She has lived since the early Age of Fire and was a trusted friend of Knight Artorias and the Great Wolf Sif. Those who join this covenant will be called upon to fight off any grave-defiling intruders that dare to set foot in the forest.
556** The task of the player character, the chosen undead, is to run around slaying demons and also former gods and heroes who have basically gone insane or are evil, or because they view the Undead as something to be exterminated. And then there's Gravelord Nito, who spends most of the game sleeping because he truly could not care less about the state of the dystopian world, and while he's not necessarily causing problems for anyone, he's not exactly trying to fix things, either. He isn't even benefiting from the post-apocalypse either, because he's not particularly fond of undead either because it opposes true death, his domain. In any case, you fight him for his soul not because he's a bad guy, but because he has what you need and he's not really offering to help you out.
557* In ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'', The Outsider is a god-like entity that has zero involvement with people beyond occasionally granting superpowers to a select few. In-game, he does not interfere in any way beyond giving his opinions, opting to simply observe how Corvo uses his new abilities; at one point, he even admits he doesn't appear to the good or evil, but to the ''[[BlueAndOrangeMorality interesting]]''.
558* ''VideoGame/{{X}}-Universe'':
559** The Xenon, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/XBeyondTheFrontier'' and continuing antagonists during the later games, are a race of terraforming drones doing what they're programmed to. Unfortunately thanks to a buggy (or deliberately sabotaged, [[FlipFlopOfGod depending on the source you read]]) shutdown command, their [[AIIsACrapshoot programming]] [[ChaoticEvil has them "terraforming" all biological life out of existence]].
560** The Teladi fit this trope more effectively; they do not care so much about space politics as they do in one thing: [[ProudMerchantRace profit]][[SnakeTalk sss]]. Because of this, they get along well with many of the other races, even the SpacePirates.
561* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'': Guthix, the God of Balance. To preserve the balance of the world, he hid underground and slept for millennia, hoping mortals would forget he existed.
562** The player character, in both continuities. In the Fifth Age content (all of ''Old School'' and up until The World Wakes in ''Runescape 3''), they're shown to prefer to do good, but they aren't above doing morally questionable things simply because they can be rewarded for it. The quest Song of the Elves even gives you dialogue options to admit this if you play that way. In the Sixth Age content, the blessing of Guthix and the presence of the second God Wars have had the player fade from this to become Neutral Good because of all the suffering the gods cause to you and your fellow mortals.
563* If you choose to play with the Romulan Republic in ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'', you start out as this, living on Virinat, not wanting to get caught up in the Federation/Klingon War or dealing with the crap of the Romulan Star Empire and the emerging Romulan Republic. Then, General Hakeev and the Elachi come by and [[WhereIWasBornAndRazed bomb the shit out of your colony]] and toss this to the four winds.
564* ''VideoGame/EndlessSpace'' has the RobotRepublic of the Sowers, a race of ancient terraforming robots. Their only desire is to terraform worlds for the supposed return of their [[PreCursors lost creators]]. Because of this, they are generally neither hostile nor friendly to other empires, as they simply land on a world, then set up terraforming infrastructure before moving on. However, they do engage in occasional wars of conquest to gain new worlds to terraform.
565* Bastion from ''{{VideoGame/Overwatch}}'' is more or less this. A discarded robot with peaceful intentions, Bastion shows no prejudice or much personality other than simply "Doing what must be done". When it's time to battle, Bastion can be a formidable character in the right hands, having two forms to aid his comrades both deadly and useful.
566* Conker from ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' is [[OnlyInItForTheMoney mostly driven by self-interest]], but he never really goes out of his way to get rewarded, instead, people just approach him and take advantage of his materialism, with Conker not really opposing doing the dirty work they need as long as he gets paid (and sometimes, characters just force him to do stuff, under his protest). He's also neither particularly good nor evil, reacting like any grumpy OnlySaneMan would to all the {{Jerkass}}es and {{Cloudcuckoolander}}s he ends up meeting, with just an occasional sociopathic streak here and there. The ending also points out that [[spoiler:being king and filthy rich doesn't satisfy Conker as much as his (dead) beloved one would]].
567* On the inside, Sirin from ''{{VideoGame/Tyranny}}'' falls into the HeroicNeutral category. Being forced to serve [[EvilOverlord Kyros]] led her to put on a NeutralEvil SpoiledBrat JerkassFacade, but she never really wanted anything to do with Kyros and turns out to actually be a rather compassionate person (mostly). How the PlayerCharacter treats her can affect her alignment in the epilogue:
568** High Loyalty and low Fear will result in her [[spoiler: [[TheAtoner atoning]] for her role in Kyros’ conquests by using her powers to spread happiness, effectively becoming NeutralGood]].
569** Having low Loyalty and Fear will result in her becoming a [[spoiler: HermitGuru of sorts, remaining True Neutral and isolating herself from the rest of the world.]]
570** High Fear and low Loyalty will result in her [[spoiler: becoming Type 3 NeutralEvil and starting a maniacal cult whose practices are rumored to include HumanSacrifice]].
571* The [[PlayerCharacter Material Defender]] from the ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}''. Even after being rescued by the Red Acropolis team, he makes clear he is [[NominalHero just in it for the money and revenge on Dravis]]. That said, he does have some PetTheDog moments such as saving hostages in the first two games and rescuing a trapped medical frigate in the third, as well as helping HoldTheLine during the attack on the Red Acropolis so the rest of them can escape.
572* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'':
573** Any space empire labeled as Xenophobic Isolationists will be this by default. While clearly not the nicest people around, caring little about whatever threats may be looming in the galaxy that other empires in the galaxy deal with, they also are explicitly pacifist in nature and generally will never invade other empires, not to mention that they neither practice slavery nor purges to other species. This generally makes them some of the most obviously neutral empire types found in the game, caring little to nothing about the doings of the other empires unless it directly affects themselves.
574** If the game's attempt to randomly generate an empire's ethics encounters an error, it's possible for them to generate with ''no'' ethics whatsoever as "Despicable Neutrals". While they gain no benefit from ethics, they also don't have any ethic-based problems with other empires.
575* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' has the {{Player Character}}'s mentor Kreia. She is completely immune to the Exile's ability to influence the morality of their companions, and her alignment is always precisely in the middle of the light/dark scale. She is just as critical of mindless charity as she is of mindless violence, and she holds the Jedi and Sith in equal contempt.
576* Revan from ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' and in general, makes a strong case here. He was once a promising Jedi, and the best friend of Alek even during their time as Sith Lords. However even after they broke free from their initial [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashing]], Revan's ambition to create an empire, was merely to strengthen the Republic. Revan delved deeply on both the Light and Dark side of the Force, to the point where even the Mandalorians were [[CombatPragmatist no match for him]]. Though he remained a Sith, Revan wanted to destroy the Sith Emperor for the torture [[TheDogBitesBack inflicted on him]].
577* Among the ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'', [[GothGirlsKnowMagic Catalyst]] and [[TheSmartGuy Crypto]] are perhaps the only competitors, taking part in the games to re-establish an identity. [[NeutralEvil Revenant wants to die]], [[LawfulNeutral Ballistic wants to relive his past glory]], but the latter two, just want to [[ThePowerOfFamily support their family]]. Crypto was nothing more than a Hacker, framed for a crime he didn't commit. Catalyst felt the conformity of her people was unnecessary, seeing the neglect of the neighboring moon as [[InHarmonyWithNature far more important]].
578* ''VideoGame/GoonyaMonster'': [[spoiler:The members of Orcinus have never attacked any Busters while transformed into Monsters.]]
579* The Triforce in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', being an IntelligentArtifact but also TrueNeutral, is this. Like [[Anime/DragonBallZ Shenron,]] the one to possess all three pieces will get their wish. Ironically, it was the wish of a ''good'' character in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' that destroyed the original land of Hyrule in the Adult Timeline.
580[[/folder]]
581
582[[folder:Web Comics]]
583* In ''Webcomic/DungeonCrawlInc.'' the Archdruid, and later, the Archdryad are major opposition to the main characters because the forces of good, in his opinion, have grown too strong.
584* Ronson from ''Webcomic/TheGodsOfArrKelaan'' is the God of Apathy (and Beer), and because he's the leader of the gods his attitude manages to temper the other gods and prevent them from twisting the mortal world in their image.
585* Rose Lalonde of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' actually ends up here by the time Act 4 closes. She [[OffTheRails gives the middle finger to the rules of Sburb]] and doesn't really give a shit about any of the [[GambitPileup conflicting factions in the game]] except for herself and her friends. She's also willing to consult with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and use some seriously powerful BlackMagic in order to find the answers she wants.
586* Antimony Carver from ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt''. She's respectful towards the school staff even when she disagrees with them and she won't break rules needlessly, but she doesn't hesitate to break them when the need arises, either. She seems to hold to the philosophy that [[NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught "It's not breaking the rules if you don't get caught"]], yet she criticizes Eglamore for suggesting the same. She's capable of [[ChronicHeroSyndrome great selflessness]] (see her entire career as a spirit medium) as well as petty selfishness (such as cheating on a test or stealing from her best friend's parents). Overall, it seems Annie's neutrality isn't really a choice on her part; rather, she's young and confused, and her moral compass simply hasn't stabilized.
587* Spoofed in ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'', when the title character says she has no "evil" twin because "The opposite of neutral is still neutral!" She's supposed to be a [[TheCape good guy]] but falls into the "Just Don't Care" variant, above... or rather slumps apathetically into it.
588* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
589** [[invoked]] Vaarsuvius is explicitly described as this alignment per WordOfGod -- not so much out of apathy but devotion to their goals: saving the world and gaining magical power. The former might seem to be an obviously "Good" goal, but V is dedicated to saving the world simply because they are ''in'' the world, as are all of their friends and family. V also has a habit of CuttingTheKnot, whether it's ethical, legal, or otherwise, as long as it gets the job done. Their character arc is largely based around them making an absolutely ''horrible'' mistake and subsequently trying to desperately atone for their crime, and they freely admit to Roy that afterwards, the only reason they're continuing along with the Order in fighting Xykon is that they need the world to continue standing if they can ever have a chance at redeeming themselves.
590*** Their familiar, Blackwing, also counts as this alignment, albeit closer to NeutralGood; after both he and V go through significant CharacterDevelopment, Blackwing has tasked himself with serving as V's ''ersatz'' conscience, calling them out on their {{Jerkass}}ery, helping them reign in their crueler tendencies, and inspire and encourage them on their path to becoming TheAtoner along with showing more empathy for their fellow mortals. However, as Blackwing is ultimately still a {{Clever Crow|s}}, he's also very greedy (with a love of shiny objects), was ''[[InLoveWithYourCarnage really]]'' [[InLoveWithYourCarnage enthused about seeing a hungry dinosaur rampage around a gladiatorial arena]] and eat a bunch of guards since he's "proud of his heritage", and his SnarkToSnarkCombat with Vaarsuvius can sometimes come across as InnocentlyInsensitive.
591** The Oracle of the Sunken Valley sells information to anyone who asks, to the best of his ability, whether it helps or hinders the OOTS. Silly humanoids think the story revolves around them. However, he does try to avoid politics, which he appears to define as anyone life-threatening, as he was not there when Xykon showed up.
592** There's also Therkla, who in one strip claims she's "fed up with good guys and bad guys" and just wants everyone she cares about to be safe. Her entire character arc is about her being largely torn between her LawfulEvil [[EvilMentor Mentor]] Kubota and ChaoticGood LoveInterest Elan, and her fruitless struggle [[GoldenMeanFallacy to find a happy medium between their diametrically opposed outlooks]] [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceDoorSlam ultimately results in her death]]]].
593** The Monster in the Darkness is of this alignment as well. They're pretty good-natured, but work for the bad guys because they have the mentality of a child and so [[ObliviouslyEvil hardly understand what's going on]].
594** Gannji the lizardman and Enor the dragon/ogre hybrid, the bounty hunters who capture Elan, are also True Neutral since all they care about is doing their job and keeping each other alive.
595** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0343.html Roy's sister Julia]].
596--->'''[[BrattyTeenageDaughter Julia]]:''' Uh, hello, [[BaldOfAuthority Roy]]'s [[LawfulGood LG]], not me. I'm True Neutral. [[DoubleEntendre I go both ways]].\
597'''[[StalkerWithACrush Pompey]]:''' [[VillainousCrush That is]] '''[[VillainousCrush so]]''' [[VillainousCrush hot]].
598* Rocky and Lenny from ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure''. Rocky doesn't seem to care about good and evil or law and chaos, and though Lenny's a nicer person than Rocky, his drive on the adventure centers around [[BattleButler protecting]] and [[ExtremeDoormat helping]] his wife.
599* The Conclave of the ''Magical People'' in ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'' averages out on this with some hint of [[BlueAndOrangeMorality bright colors]]. For being the closest thing to a government they have, it might be LawfulNeutral if it didn't have the law that you ''[[ChaoticNeutral don't need to follow the law]]'', just [[WrittenByTheWinners be sure to win or else]]...
600* Tagon in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', who is OnlyInItForTheMoney. He's loyal to his soldiers and will try and complete the contract until such time as it becomes impossible/suicidal, but at the same time, he tends to treat local and occasionally galactic laws as trifling inconveniences and doesn't care much about what happens after the job's done as long as he gets paid.
601* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'':
602** Of the main characters, Gwynn is selfish and has a love-hate relationship with everyone. She's often shallow and concerned mainly with petty things and her own interests rather than the morality of anything, and frequently acts like a jerk (though, in fairness, often in retaliation when others have been thoughtless first). Yet she's loyal to her friends deep down, and isn't really a bad person -- well, at least not much so, nowhere near Evil.
603** Chaz, in spite of its EvilWeapon vibes. "I am neither good nor evil. I am just a sword. Wield me as you will, master."
604** Dr. Schlock, at least until about 2007. He wasn't evil or willing to take ''too much'' advantage of others, [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/19990628 though most certainly at least a moderate amount]], and he could certainly feel sorry for them, but he primarily cared about his own skin and wasn't keen on heroics, preferring to run away or think [[BystanderSyndrome it was somebody else's problem]]. Eventually, though, he was forced to take sides in a way that led him away from being Neutral.
605** Father Time. "I only care that time runs smoothly. Beyond that I am indifferent." Also parodied with a nonsensical qualification: "...Except for the Dutch. They tick me off. You're not Dutch, are you?"
606** Ironically, Riff's [[GoodAngelBadAngel shoulder angel and shoulder devil]] ''both'' appear to be True Neutral. They don't usually even have anything to comment other than a dual "I dunno," and when they do, they represent rival points of view, neither of which is obviously good or evil, and end up deciding they're doing it the wrong way around and try to switch shoulders. Riff himself is more like ChaoticGood, but he displays an apathy and reluctance to actually think that makes this understandable.
607** Bert, Torg's weird, crotch-obsessed artist friend. All he cares about is art -- well, actually, crotches -- and he goes around '''loudly''' expressing weird opinions about things and does little else.
608--> '''[[ItMakesSenseInContext "They took my first crotch, they shan't take my second!"]]'''
609** The group of Black-Ops Christmas elves led by Squishydodo can't really afford any other alignment. They originally worked for Santa Claus, keeping tabs on everyone being naughty or nice, but split off when Santa started to lose it during his conflict with the evil and incredibly badass mini-lop rabbit Bun-bun. Then Bun-bun showed up at their headquarters and demanded that they work for ''him''. They refused at first on the reasonable basis that he was about the worst person in the world (he tried to kill Santa Claus every Christmas, for a start), but he threw anyone who protested out of a high window until he was left with Squishydodo, who bowed to his will and led the elves in an operation to hunt down Bun-bun's "friends" to inflict gruesome revenge on them for wiping out his collection of ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'' tapes. When they caught them, though, Bun-bun wasn't around, and Squishydodo made the judgement call that it was enough for them to apologise and they could go free after that. From then on, the elves acted as occasional good guys, even persuading Bun-bun to help them in that on one occasion, but they were still potentially under Bun-bun's thrall (and had some weird StockholmSyndrome like affection for him) and refused to go against him when he started a war against the other {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of the holidays, acting like it was a case of GrayAndGreyMorality even though he was slaughtering others in an effort to TakeOverTheWorld, and ultimately even helping him.
610** The gray aliens in "Oceans Unmoving". It's not that their personalities are gray, [[CloudCuckoolander quite the opposite for some of them]], but they'll work with a NeutralEvil {{space pirate|s}} captain just as willingly as a semi-heroic resistance leader later on because they drift along with the situation and are more concerned with their own weird preferences and personal relationships than the morality of what they're doing.
611* ''WebComic/TowerOfGod''
612** Rak Wraithraiser originally just entered the Tower looking for worthy opponents to fight. He'd look for a fair fight, but he wasn't worried about attacking without provocation. He's egoistic, grumpy, and potentially violent, but also honourable in some sense, a loyal friend, and far less devious than a lot of others in the Tower.
613** [[MagnificentBastard Khun Aguero Agnes]] is a schemer and manipulator who's almost a NeutralEvil {{sociopath}}, except that in practice he doesn't ever do very bad things, especially after, like Rak, he ends up befriending the protagonist and affected by his niceness. He's ruthless and you don't want to end up competing against him -- or, to be safe, anywhere in the same game -- but there are limits to his nastiness, and he's also loyal as a friend.\
614\
615As far as order and chaos go, Khun looks down on people letting themselves be controlled by "rules", and he prefers to [[TakeAThirdOption make his own rules even in a situation where rules have been imposed from above.]]
616** Phonsekal Laure: You can't even get him to do anything unless you take away his pillow. He's certainly not keen on taking sides.
617** Anaak Jahad: She's here for revenge. Don't get in her way.
618[[/folder]]
619
620[[folder:Web Original]]
621%%* Cro-Marmot from ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends''.
622* Bladedancer, in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse, is '"The Handmaiden", the one chosen by The Tao to uphold balance no matter what. She might have to kill a demon. She might have to slay a superhero. Whatever it takes to maintain "balance". Several of her teammates have figured out the consequences of this, in terms of their own health, should they ever unbalance things by being too successful as BigDamnHeroes.
623* ''Website/SCPFoundation'' has SCP-2662, a teen[[BizarreAlienBiology (ish)]] EldritchAbomination who doesn't want anything to do with his {{cult}}s and generally just wants to be left alone.
624* ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'': Dr. Horrible likely drifted into the Just-Don't-Care variant after [[spoiler:Penny's death]]. He is seen robbing banks and attending Evil League of Evil meetings, but his heart isn't in it.
625* ''[[Creator/LilyPeat Rather Vocalized Illusion]]'' has several episodes praised as being objective and fairly looking at both sides of an issue. Bhaalspawn even made a two-parter to analyze the good traits and negative traits of Bronies (a group he admittedly hates).
626* [[SelfDemonstratingArticle Tropes.]] They are neither [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Good nor Bad]].
627[[/folder]]
628
629[[folder:Western Animation]]
630* The Neutral Planet from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' is a spoof of the Just Don't Care type.
631--> "If I don't survive, tell my wife...hello."
632** Scruffy the Janitor doesn't seem to have much of an interest in doing anything other than slack off and read porn magazines. Mmm-hmmm.
633* [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderZuko Prince Zuko]] in the first season of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' technically served the Fire Nation but, being banished, was totally ostracized from the rest of them, meaning he and his crew stood as their own individual force.
634** Mai is a candidate for this as well. Despite working for Azula [[spoiler:at least until "The Boiling Rock"]], she [[VictoryIsBoring really doesn't care what happens]] as long as she's not bored.
635** Lots of spirits, including Wan Shi Tong from the great Library and Koh the Face Stealer. Thoroughly nonpartisan and supportive only of knowledge for knowledge's sake... and please don't be stupid and lie to him. Bad idea, that.
636%%** Jun, the Combustion Man, and various other mercenaries.
637* Charles Foster Ofdenson from ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}''. Sure, he rules a lawful business empire, but he also associates with the ChaoticNeutral Dethklok and is not above using them to achieve his own ends. And ultimately, the only rule he lives by is that no one fucks with his bread and butter.
638* Gaz of ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' is a self-centered, uncaring version rather than apathetic, so unconcerned with anything not directly related to her that she casually dismisses an alien obsessed with enslaving and/or incinerating Earth (who, while admittedly LordErrorProne, is still capable of causing massive death and destruction), and the only time we see any real emotion from her is when she tries to have dinner with her father, something that happens once or twice a year for their family. Gaz's entire life revolves around empty threats directed at people, playing video games and desperately trying to get her father to pay attention to her. WordOfGod has it she uses video games to shut out reality because [[CrapsackWorld reality sucks.]] She's not a good character, but she's not necessarily bad either. She tries to get everything that she wants, but she'll let go of the person that takes her stuff after they give it back to her (i.e. Iggins). In the "Bloaty's Pizza Hog" episode, she gives a reason why she ignores Zim's efforts:
639--> '''Dib:''' Don't you care that Zim is trying to destroy all mankind? Huh?
640--> '''Gaz:''' But he's so ''bad'' at it.
641* Equinox from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' fights for the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil. In his first appearance, he has Gorilla Grodd and ComicBook/TheQuestion suspended on gigantic scales, intending to kill both, stopping only when Batman interferes.
642* Merklynn, from the short-lived MerchandiseDriven '80s cartoon ''WesternAnimation/{{Visionaries}}'', would repeatedly [[StatusQuoIsGod rescue the bad guys from jail after the good guys had won]]. Of course, he gave both sides their powers so they'd be able to carry out tasks for him, so he was probably just protecting his investment.
643* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'':
644-->'''Dark Wizard:''' Now, as one last, ''last'' trial... ''Slay this ant!''\
645'''Finn:''' Is it evil?\
646'''Dark Wizard:''' Well, no... But it's not good either! It's, uh, neutral.\
647(...)\
648'''Dark Wizard:''' SLAY THIS UNALIGNED ANT!
649* [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Vanessa]] from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb,'' of the Selfish Variety -- she clearly finds her PunchClockVillain father's plans annoying, but she never actively helps his nemesis Perry stop him either. She becomes closer to ChaoticNeutral as time goes on, though, despite expressing at least some misgivings:
650-->'''Ferb:''' Well, sometimes if you love somebody, you have to meet them halfway.\
651'''Vanessa:''' Halfway, huh? Hmm... You mean like, maybe I should take an interest in his work? I would, but it's actually evil. I just can't---Ferb?
652* On ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', Samy cares very little whether the people of Miseryville are suffering [[ForTheEvulz like his boss does]], he's only interested in two things: his acting career and, according to WordOfGod, [[TheStarscream overthrowing Lucius]].
653%%* Shifty Dingo from ''WesternAnimation/BlinkyBill'' is this sometimes.
654%%* Gwen from the ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' series.
655%%** Noah was this in Island.
656%%** Heather becomes this in World Tour.
657* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'': Anubis, a spirit of death [[SadlyMythtaken in this series]], demonstrates this when the Emir tries to force him to resurrect his dead child.
658-->'''The Emir''': Hear me, guardian of the gate, I demand a favor!\
659'''Anubis''': I grant but one boon, mortal, and it will be given to you as it is given to everyone; when your time has come.\
660'''The Emir''': You took from me my only son, Anubis. Two years ago, in a pointless car accident.\
661'''Anubis''': Death is ''always'' pointless. ''That'' is the point.\
662'''The Emir''': I ''demand'' reparation! My son was cruelly and unfairly taken from me!\
663'''Anubis''': On the contrary, death is the ''ultimate'' fairness. [[AllAreEqualInDeath Rich and poor, young and old, all are equal in death.]] You would not like to see the jackal god play favorites.
664%% ** MagnificentBastard David Xanatos (Post HeelFaceTurn) and AntiVillain Macbeth.
665* ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'': This is Lucifer's alignment by the start of the series. In his backstory, he was [[ChaoticGood a revolutionary who rebelled against Heaven in order to give humanity free will]], and was banished to Hell as punishment. Witnessing humanity's worst side for so long thanks to the gift he gave them has caused him to give up hope in his own subjects, the Sinners, believing that they deserve everything they bring upon themselves, and stays in power through fear while not giving a damn about what they do. By the series proper, he stays in a reclusive depression and spends his time making tricked-out rubber ducks, while only contacting his daughter if he needs something. Seeing Charlie's efforts to redeem Sinners rekindles some of his idealism, however, and by the finale of Season 1, he can be safely called NeutralGood.
666* Eustace in ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' cares more about making a profit, whether it means working with the law or outside of it. Despite this, he's not the type of character who will rob banks, though he occasionally slides towards NeutralEvil when he's dealing with problems involving Courage and has no qualms about harming him if necessary.
667* In later seasons, ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' characters, by and large, tend to be this or ChaoticNeutral, being a cast of {{Wild Card}}s fueled ''entirely'' on RuleOfFunny. Few are malicious enough to be considered outright evil, but even fewer are caring enough to be considered lawful. In other words, if the joke fits, anyone can go from thoughtful to selfish to unnecessarily chaotic, context be damned. That being said, some characters, like LawfulGood Joe Swanson, NeutralEvil Glenn Quagmire, and ChaoticNeutral Adam West do have their places on the chart.
668%%* Agents Frances and Epsilon from ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretSaturdays'' are the epitome of this trope.
669* Abradolf Lincler in ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', who is a being born of the combined DNA of Abraham Lincoln and Hitler in an attempt to make the most morally ambiguous leader possible.
670* [[Characters/StevenUniverseLapisLazuli Lapis Lazuli]] from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' stands in the middle in every sense. She chafes at the idea that the needs of other species should be considered before her own, yet clearly and strongly disagrees with the EvilEmpire her race has become. She’s willing to hurt others to fulfill her own goals but does her best to accomplish them bloodlessly if she can. Unfortunately, this has made her an enemy of pretty much every faction, who all find themselves unable to trust someone who will not commit to their cause. While she does put down roots on Earth, she's still not allied with the Crystal Gems or their rebellion, only sticking around because she enjoys the company of [[KidHero Steven]] and (eventually) [[SixthRanger Peridot]]. [[spoiler: When she discovers Earth might once again get caught in the crossfire of a war with Homeworld, she regretfully decides its best to abandon the planet and flee into deep space rather than select a side.]]
671* Spirit from ''WesternAnimation/ObanStarRacers''. Initially believed to have been the cause of [[spoiler:Maya Wei's death]], he was regarded by Molly as a murderer, but after Molly's failure to kill him out of [[RevengeBeforeReason revenge]] throughout the race he harboured no grudge or emotion. Instead, he mentally told her the truth and even shed a tear of guilt before departing.
672* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone", the griffons in Griffonstone are all apathetic, indifferently rude, and only motivated to do anything by money.
673* The Goths, Crimson, and Ennui from ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace'' are as neutral as reality show contestants could be. They stay out of inter-team dynamics for the most part, making neither friends nor enemies among the other racers. [[spoiler: They do end up being an enemy of the Ice Dancers, but not through any actions of their own.]]
674* Chris in ''WesternAnimation/DanVs''. He's clearly not evil and has no desire to be a criminal, but he usually doesn't have enough of a backbone to avoid getting caught up in Dan's deranged plans, which are usually both very unethical and flagrantly illegal.
675* In the second half of season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', [[spoiler:Glossaryck is revealed to be this. He only assists the current owner of the spell book to reach their true potential, regardless of their alignment.]]
676* The Bendu from ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' describes himself as this, being the one in between the light and dark sides of the Force. He believes in the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil and doesn't take sides in others' wars. When TheEmpire attacks the rebel base on Atollon, the Bendu responds by attacking both sides until they leave the planet.
677* [[Characters/TheSimpsonsHomerSimpson Homer Simpson]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' defaults to this. Given no other motivators, he generally just wants to laze about watching TV and drinking a beer. The few things he actually does are usually out of self-interest or a feeling of duty as a husband and father (though he makes it clear he doesn't enjoy it). When truly motivated, he runs the gamut of NeutralGood, ChaoticGood, and ChaoticNeutral.
678* Arguably this was [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Sea Hawk's]] alignment when he first appeared in ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower''. Not really caring about the battle between the Horde and Rebellion, Sea Hawk simply wanted to live his life freely and gather as much gold as he could, only helping the villains to keep them off his back (and because they pay better). Fortunately Adora is able to make him realize the Horde does not tolerate things it doesn't control, causing him to shift more towards NeutralGood.
679** In the reboot, ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'', Seahawk shifts to more ChaoticGood and the main True Neutral character is Entrapta. Her goal in life is to research [[{{Precursors}} First One]] tech ForScience, and she doesn't much care about anything else. While she starts out technically allied to the Rebellion, she is more or less indifferent to the actual conflict, and when she gets accidentally left for dead in Horde territory she defects over the course of one conversation because the Horde is willing to let her do more or less whatever she wants in her research, even - ''especially'' - if it causes mayhem (as it does in, for example, her experiment with the Black Garnet). At the same time, she remains essentially very friendly and even somewhat kind, just unable to generalise that beyond her immediate circle of acquaintances - she's even able to touch [[BigBad Hordak's]] softer side.
680* The Father in ''WesternAnimation/TheCloneWars''. Whereas the Daughter represents the [[NeutralGood Light Side]], the Son represents [[NeutralEvil the Dark Side]] and, if you prefer Legends, the Mother represents [[ChaoticEvil Chaos]], the Father represents absolute balance. So much, in fact, that his existence is the only thing keeping his children from killing each other.
681[[/folder]]

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