History Administrivia / TheGreatCharacterAlignmentDebate

It is for these reasons that, on Wiki/TVTropes, we ask that you resist the temptation to assign an alignment to every character you see. Sooner or later someone will disagree with you, and then you'll see the escalating cycle of Administrivia/{{Natter}}, Administrivia/ThreadMode, and {{Flame War}}s. Even if nobody disagrees, seeing the NeutralGood label attached to a character is irresistible to some people, and before you know it, characters as diverse as [[Franchise/TheLittleMermaid Ariel]] and ComicBook/LexLuthor will become the subject of what we uncharitably refer to as [[{{Fanwank}} alignmentwank]].

The classic ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' Lawful[=/=]Chaotic, Good[=/=]Evil CharacterAlignment matrix. The great debate. There are a large number of tropers who feel that every character in fiction (and many people in RealLife) should be assigned a place in this grand moral/ethical classification system, and that this place can be determined with a great degree of accuracy from their observed actions and their stated beliefs. However, we have a firm rule on Wiki/ThisVeryWiki about ''not'' adding alignments to characters who do not have them in {{canon}}. Why is that?

It is for these reasons that, on Wiki/TVTropes, we ask that you resist the temptation to assign an alignment to every character you see. Sooner or later someone will disagree with you, and then you'll see the escalating cycle of Administrivia/{{Natter}}, Administrivia/ThreadMode, and {{Flame War}}s. Even if nobody disagrees, seeing the NeutralGood label attached to a character is irresistible to some people, and before you know it, characters as diverse as [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Ariel]] and ComicBook/LexLuthor will become the subject of what we uncharitably refer to as [[{{Fanwank}} alignmentwank]].

It is for these reasons that, on Wiki/TVTropes, we ask that you resist the temptation to assign an alignment to every character you see. Sooner or later someone will disagree with you, and then you'll see the escalating cycle of Administrivia/{{Natter}}, ThreadMode, and {{Flame War}}s. Even if nobody disagrees, seeing the NeutralGood label attached to a character is irresistible to some people, and before you know it, characters as diverse as [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Ariel]] and ComicBook/LexLuthor will become the subject of what we uncharitably refer to as [[{{Fanwank}} alignmentwank]].

The classic ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' Lawful[=/=]Chaotic, Good[=/=]Evil CharacterAlignment matrix. The great debate. There are a large number of tropers who feel that every character in fiction (and many people in RealLife) should be assigned a place in this grand moral/ethical classification system, and that this place can be determined with a great degree of accuracy from their observed actions and their stated beliefs. However, we have a firm rule on ThisWiki about ''not'' adding alignments to characters who do not have them in {{canon}}. Why is that?

It goes on. There's a reason someone created [[http://seekersofthebat.com/wp-content/uploads/TWbMo.jpg an alignment chart with Batman in each position]] -- it's because [[CharacterDepth characters are rarely so simplistic as to be easily assigned to a bucket on a 3x3 grid]]. Further, alignments only make sense for certain series where there is a neat sorting of good vs. evil (or order vs. anarchy). In works where morality is relative, or never discussed at all, even the definitions of the alignments are up for debate, never mind who qualifies.

It is for these reasons that, on TVTropes, we ask that you resist the temptation to assign an alignment to every character you see. Sooner or later someone will disagree with you, and then you'll see the escalating cycle of Administrivia/{{Natter}}, ThreadMode, and {{Flame War}}s. Even if nobody disagrees, seeing the NeutralGood label attached to a character is irresistible to some people, and before you know it, characters as diverse as [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Ariel]] and ComicBook/LexLuthor will become the subject of what we uncharitably refer to as [[{{Fanwank}} alignmentwank]].

It is for these reasons that, on TVTropes, we ask that you resist the temptation to assign an alignment to every character you see. Sooner or later someone will disagree with you, and then you'll see the escalating cycle of Administrivia/{{Natter}}, ThreadMode, and {{Flame War}}s. Even if nobody disagrees, seeing the NeutralGood label attached to a character is irresistible to some people, and before you know it, characters as diverse as [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Ariel]] and SelfDemonstrating/LexLuthor will become the subject of what we uncharitably refer to as [[{{Fanwank}} alignmentwank]].

* He [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight flaunts and outright ignores the rules when they don't suit him]]. He's wanted by police for his brand of vigilantism. He's unquestionably moral but the individual freedom to carry out his crusade seems far more important to him than mere laws. Okay, that's ChaoticGood. But wait...

Okay, so what are the rules exactly? '''CharacterAlignment is only to be used in works where it is {{canon}}ical, and only for characters who have alignments InUniverse. There is to be no arguing over canonical alignments, and [[NoRealLifeExamplesPlease no Real Life examples, ever]].''' Any examples not meeting these criteria should be deleted.

It is for these reasons that, on TVTropes, we ask that you resist the temptation to assign an alignment to every character you see. Sooner or later someone will disagree with you, and then you'll see the escalating cycle of {{Natter}}, ThreadMode, and {{Flame War}}s. Even if nobody disagrees, seeing the NeutralGood label attached to a character is irresistible to some people, and before you know it, characters as diverse as [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Ariel]] and SelfDemonstrating/LexLuthor will become the subject of what we uncharitably refer to as [[{{Fanwank}} alignmentwank]].