Jupiterian Local
There doesn't seem to be any problem with the definition that I can see. The point is that a Morality Chain keeps a character from becoming more evil than they currently are. Whether it's the difference between being a Hero and an Anti-Villain or the difference between being a Noble Demon and a Complete Monster doesn't really matter. Without their Morality Chain, the character would be eviler than they are now.
edited 4th Jan '12 11:13:15 PM by NativeJovian
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
But that would imply that every single person character X cares about is a Morality Chain, and that feels like too broad a definition. Implicit in both definitions listed is the idea that the "chain" makes a unique and categorical difference to X's moral alignment: from there, it's a matter of deciding what our categories are.
edited 5th Jan '12 12:08:26 AM by BigglesTh9
Rabid Fujoshi
A character can care about someone without them being a Morality Chain. I don't see how Jovian's explanation suggests otherwise.
SPATULA, Supporters of Page Altering To Urgently Lead to Amelioration (supports not going through TRS for tweaks and minor improvements.)
A Morality Chain is a person that keeps another person from going a step down on the morality level. It doesn't matter what that step is. Just that the person chains them to their current morality rating.
You can care about people without them keeping you from being a bad person. In fact there are a lot of characters in fiction that becomes bad people because they care about other people.
edited 5th Jan '12 6:14:59 AM by shimaspawn
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
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A good definition. If no-one disagrees, I might touch up the article to reflect it.
My beef is that there are two competing definitions of this trope; the introduction suggests one and the laconic text the other.
A Morality Chain is someone who either:
- Keeps character X on the good side of the moral spectrum (making the difference in character X between Hero and Villain); this what the main text suggests.
or
- Keeps character X from crossing the Moral Event Horizon (making the difference between Anti-Villain and Complete Monster); this what the laconic text suggests.
As one definition would deal with heroes and the other with villains, the distinction does matter. A split would be one plausible option. But I think that the two can be accommodated in one article, provided it's clear that that's what we're doing, and the main text and laconic text are in agreement.
edited 4th Jan '12 10:42:20 PM by BigglesTh9