History Main / BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Galadriel insists that Celebrimbor needs to craft three rings to create a balance. Of course, she doesn't tell anyone why.
-->'''Galadriel''': One will always corrupt. Two will divide.
-->'''Celebrimbor''': But with three...there is balance.

** In ''Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming'', there is an organized competition between the forces of heaven and hell over who will control fate for the next thousand years.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'': the main characters think they are doing this at first between the "good" Vorlon (and the races under their influence) and the "evil" Shadows and their servers, yet later in the series it's clear that both are kind of {{WellIntentionedExtremist}}s and AbusivePrecursors as they both follow extreme opposite philosophies. According to Creator/JMichaelStraczynski the conflict between Order (the Vorlons) and Chaos (the Shadows) like in Babylonian cosmology was an important part of the series mythos.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': God and his "sister" [[TheAntiGod Amara]] were once the only two entities in existence to emerge from the primordial void before he built the rest of the universe. While Amara embodies destruction and God embodies creation, one cannot exist without the other, and either being killed by their sibling would cause a RealityBreakingParadox. However, they're not strictly Good vs. Evil, as they both have shown propensities for either despite claiming to be AboveGoodAndEvil. [[spoiler:When they separated, [[CausedTheBigBang the universe was created]], and while neither of them can die without screwing up reality, they ''can'' remerge into one entity.]]

** This is also {{inverted|trope}} by the Avatars, a third faction devoted to [[TrueNeutral neutrality]] who want to create a {{Utopia}} by removing both good an evil ([[TheEvilsOfFreeWill as well as anybody who gets into any sort of conflict for any reason]]).

** The balance is preserved by a MirrorUniverse -- if good wins in one universe, evil wins in the other and balances it out. Traveling between them disrupted the balance and made the normal universe "too good" -- the sun never sets, everyone is freakishly happy all the time, and [[DisproportionateRetribution minor crimes like leaving your cell phone on in a library are punished by mutilation]] In the similarly-disrupted evil balance, the same sort of [[DisproportionateRetribution mutilation]] was enacted for such trivial niceties as saying "Gesundheit" when someone sneezed. Essentially, the point being made was that Good and Evil cannot tolerate the others' existence, and therefore in a world dominated by one, any act (no matter how minor) that runs contrary to the ideals of either is punished harshly. It is the mix of the two that provides tolerance and temperance.

* ''Fanfic/TheUltimateEvil'': In addition to the established examples of this trope shown in [[WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures canon]] (like the [[LiteralSplitPersonality Tiger Talisman]] and the world's balance), there is a new form of balance included: the concept of an "Other" (an abbreviation to "Other half of one's self"). Two people who are each other's Other strengthen each other by balancing their conflicting chi [[WonderTwinPowers by touch]], because then [[YinYangBomb their chis attempt to merge]]. If the Demon Sorcerers were to encounter their Others and bind them to themselves, they'd become sheer forces of nature. As it is, the plot is driven by Valerie being Shendu's Other, while [[spoiler: Jade]] is later revealed to be [[spoiler: Hsi Wu]]'s Other.

* The ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' campaign setting's backstory shows us why this whole balance business is necessary. After a hero wielding the eponymous weapon [[SealedEvilInACan defeated and banished]] the evil goddess Takhisis, things improved quickly, but with no real bad guys to fight, the [[CrystalDragonJesus Church of Paladine]] began persecuting anyone who wasn't good ''enough''. Then, their Pope-analog decided that to purge evil from the world completely, he needed to become a god. The gods' answer to this was to throw a mountain down on [[HolyCity Ishtar]], causing the [[WorldSundering Cataclysm]], sending Ishtar to the bottom of the sea and reshaping much of the world. The gods then disappeared from the world. In short, if there's no Evil, some of the Good ''becomes'' Evil to compensate. If there's too much Evil, then the Evil turns on itself and kills itself off. It's a kind of self-maintaining balance. There are also forces of Neutral that work to maintain that balance, most visibly the neutral gods of the pantheon and the red-robed wizards of the towers of high sorcery.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'': Subverted. At the beginning of the universe, everything ''was'' in balance. The three Primordial Dragons came together to create the world, which would be balanced between them. Then Khyber murdered her brother Syberis, and Eberron bound Khyber in her coils while creating the world. The most immediate side effects is that there are far more demons and fiends (the children of Khyber) in the mortal realm than there are angels and celestials (the children of Syberis); the first age of the world was the Age of Demons, with immortal fiends running rampant over the world, toying with mortals while the celestials tried and failed to fight back. Eventually, the couatl, the native celestials, sacrificed the vast majority of their number to create the Silver Flame, which mortals could use to fight evil. This sets up one of the most core themes of ''Eberron''; the world needs heroes, and they are empowered by the great forces of the world rather than those forces being able to handle everything themselves.

* ''Fanfic/JWITCHSeason1'': [[spoiler: The Oracle suggests that the creation of [[SixthRanger the sixth Auremere]] when Will cures Jade of [[TheCorruption being the Queen of the Shadowkhan]] is the Universe's way of strengthening the Forces of Light to meet the increased opposition from the Forces of Darkness, a result of Phobos and Tarakudo's VillainTeamUp. After seeing Jade's first transformation, Jackie has a similar theory that some SentientCosmicForce worked through the Heart of Kandrakar to create a new Auremere to restore balance.]]

A limited understanding of Eastern philosophy often results in this balance being confused with the concept of Yin and Yang, which is actually not about Good and Evil at all but rather about maintaining the balance between opposite but morally neutral forces like night and day, male and female, or hot and cold.

You can substitute [[LightDarknessJuxtaposition Light and Darkness]], [[HeavenVersusHell Heaven and Hell]], [[OrderVersusChaos Order and Chaos]], [[DreamsVsNightmares Dreams and Nightmares]], or any Yin and Yang for Good and Evil with the added bonus of making more sense -- [[BothOrderAndChaosAreDangerous a balance between Order and Chaos is better than either extreme]]. These especially hold ground when the work asks (or answers) the heady question if [[UsefulNotes/{{Epicureanism}} good and evil exist at all and if they do, whether or not they are subjective]].

* Aerodactyl (a.k.a. Lord Amber) is the god of this, according to LetsPlay/TwitchPlaysPokemon lore.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'': Subverted. At the beginning of the universe, everything ''was'' in balance. The three Primordial Dragons came together to create the world, which would be balanced between them. Then Khyber murdered her brother Syberis, and Eberron bound Khyber in her coils while creating the world. The most immediate side effects is that there are far more demons and fiends in the mortal realm than there are angels and celestials; the first age of the world was the Age of Demons, with immortal fiends running rampant over the world, toying with mortals while the celestials tried and failed to fight back. Eventually, the couatl, the native celestials, sacrificed the vast majority of their number to create the Silver Flame, which mortals could use to fight evil. This sets up one of the most core themes of ''Eberron''; the world needs heroes, and they are empowered by the great forces of the world rather than those forces being able to handle everything themselves.

** [[ComicBook/{{Warlock}} Adam Warlock]] got a hold of the Infinity Gauntlet, a MacGuffin that granted the user [[TheOmnipotent control over all of existence]]. His desire to become the "perfect" God caused him to subconsciously expunge both good and evil from himself completely. This backfired, as he became anthropomorphized; the evil side tried to take over the Universe and the good side tried to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy]] it. Warlock also refused to kill Comicbook/{{Thanos}}, on the account that the Universe would be incomplete without him. This paid off later, when Thanos helped him deal with said good and evil sides, and eventually sacrificed himself to fix the Universe.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode ''The Enemy Within'', Captain Kirk gets split into his good side and his evil side. In the end, it's shown why the pair need each other: Evil Kirk has the confidence to make decisions but is aggressive and cruel, stealing alcohol and attempting to rape Yeoman Rand. On the other hand, without his confidence Good Kirk was left so timid and indecisive he couldn't serve as Captain.

** In-game materials and the guidebook make it clear that necromancers are TrueNeutral or ChaoticNeutral. It's just that when the world is completely full of AlwaysChaoticEvil demons, and there are not one but ''three'' Satan {{Expy}}s running loose, True or Chaotic Neutral is right there side by side with LawfulGood.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': According to WordOfGod, Sophia (an {{Expy}} of the Goddess deity who is one third of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'''s "Warring Triad) is a deity that demands balance in all things. She is neither benevolent nor evil, and will actively aid either one depending on which currently has more power or influence. Her theme song, "Equilibrium", demonstrates this as the lyrics tell the story of a girl who lost her father in a war and was then beaten by her grief-stricken mother. Praying to Sophia for help, the goddess told her that in order to restore balance, the girl had to kill her mother. She did so, and then Sophia said the balance still needed correction, requiring the girl's suicide. And once again, the girl obeyed.

Works as a SubTrope for UpsettingTheBalance, in which a character upsets a more general type of balance. In other words, a balance that isn't necessarily tied to the type of balances listed above.

* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', the Mortis arc introduces The Ones who are [[PhysicalGod living embodiment of the force]]. While the Daughter represents the Light Side, and the Son represents the Dark, the Father is the balance between both sides. While on the surface it might seem a fairly standard case of the trope, with both the Father and Son expressing the sentiment that there's no light without dark, upon closer investigation of the story, it becomes clear it's a deconstruction. The Father might claim to be the Balance, but in reality, all he does is keeping the the selfish Son leashed, because the Daughter, who's selfless, doesn't want to upset the Balance of the Force and the Galaxy in the first place. Father refuses to see this, due to his emotional attachment to both his children, and instead tries to use this trope rationalise letting Son live, despite knowing the repercussions of Son getting free. In other words, Father himself is being selfish, both towards the Son, by imprisoning him agaisnt his will, and towards the Galaxy by letting a selfish creature who'd wreak havoc on it live. Father then tops off his mistake, by dragging Anakin into it, hoping to push the responsibility of keeping Son in-check onto him. Anakin's own selfish refusal to accept said responsibility, results in Son seizeing the opportunity to rebel, killing Daughter (who took the blow for the Father) in proccess. Balance is ultimately restored by Father commiting suice, thus sealing away Son's power (since the Force is created by life, if all life is destroyed, there's no Force and no Dark side), allowing Anakin to mortally wound him.

Another line of reasoning is that since ''some'' Evil is [[NecessarilyEvil necessary to prevent something worse]], then that extends to "Evil" in general. However, a "necessary evil" by definition has "Good" qualities, and it's those good qualities that are valuable. The moment the necessary evil no longer provides those qualities, or its destructive characteristics supersede them, it becomes intolerable.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Epic}}'': The forces of the forest (good) and the forces of rot (evil). Rot is necessary for continued growth, but too much can doom the whole forest.

You can substitute [[LightDarknessJuxtaposition Light and Darkness]], [[HeavenVersusHell Heaven and Hell]], [[OrderVersusChaos Order and Chaos]], or any Yin and Yang for Good and Evil with the added bonus of making more sense -- [[BothOrderAndChaosAreDangerous a balance between Order and Chaos is better than either extreme]]. These especially hold ground when the work asks (or answers) the heady question if [[UsefulNotes/{{Epicureanism}} good and evil exist at all and if they do, whether or not they are subjective]].

* The UltimateEvil in ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'' embodies the balance and so it follows that the only person capable of defeating it ''also'' embodies the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil. Luckily, the protagonist is just AntiHero enough to do that.

* Zoroastrianism has [[TheAntiGod two equal Gods of good and evil]] but it's quite clear that in the end [[{{God}} Ahura Mazda]] will triumph over [[TheAntiGod Angra Mainyu]], so Zoroastrianism isn't of the "balance for balance's sake" school of thought.[[note]] To elaborate, traditional Zoroastrian thought holds that good and evil are, more or less, balanced in the present age of "mixing", in which good and evil forces are present in the world in roughly equal amounts. However, Zoroastrians hope and work towards an ultimate triumph of good over evil and the permanent banishment of Angra Mainyu from the universe. Angra Mainyu loses not because he's less ''powerful'' than Ahura Mazda ''per se'', but because the nature of evil is inherently [[EvilCannotComprehendGood ignorant]] and [[EvilWillFail self-defeating]].[[/note]]
* Manichaeism had the same idea, influenced by UsefulNotes/{{Gnosticism}}, with the material world being created by {{Satan}} who trapped souls in physical bodies. Mani, the prophet that the religion was named after, had come to reveal the truth that would free people from this to reunite with God.

* [[SadlyMythtaken Contrary to popular belief]], not present in Daoism or anything else that uses the yin-yang symbol. Yin and Yang represent harmony through complementary opposites like [[DarkIsNotEvil dark]]/[[LightIsNotGood light]], female/male, earth/sky, etc. In such philosophies, morality is seen as a social construct rather than a cosmic absolute (like in Zoroastrianism). The closest thing to 'evil' in the western sense is anything that ''disrupts'' harmony, i.e., not part of yin or yang.

* ''How to Write Badly Well'' recommends using this trope in the article [[http://writebadlywell.blogspot.com/2011/01/base-your-plot-on-unsupported.html Base Your Plot on Unsupported Assertions]].

* Deconstructed in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11''. Kronika, the BigBad, believes in preserving balance between her two children: Cetrion commanding the forces of virtue and life, and Shinnok in charge vice and death. When Shinnok gets taken out of the picture, she goes to extreme measures to correct it. However, Raiden points out the "balance" just amounts to both sides fighting each other [[ForeverWar senselessly for eternity]], and nobody is better off because of it. In Geras's ending, [[spoiler:he points out that Kronika's endless attempts to create the perfect timeline have driven her to insanity]].

* ''VideoGame/LaPucelleTactics'' has a goddess of light (Poitreene), goddess of dark (the fallen angel Calamity), and another supernatural being in charge of keeping things in balance (Hermes).
* Played with in ''VideoGame/SecretOfEvermore'', where, after defeating the BigBad, the hero learns that he's destroyed the balance between good and evil and that he needs to get himself and the others that came from his home universe out of the world of Evermore before it collapses.
* The Keepers of ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' give "the balance" as the reason they try not to interfere. This turns out to be more than just talk: after a major blow is dealt to a force of Chaos in the first game, a force of Order gets uppity and becomes the major villain in the second.
* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire''
** [[spoiler: The bad guys stole a goddess' power [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans to end a major drought]]. But because of the need for balance, while the Empire has water in abundance, another land goes thirsty. The Emperor has drained the goddess' corpse like a vampire to make himself immortal, at the cost of preventing the dead from entering the afterlife, driving them insane.]]
** One of your followers is a good demon named Chai Ka who exists in the mortal realm by inhabiting the body of a little girl. He's been charged by the heavens with aiding you in your quest. An evil demon named Ya Zhen also inhabits her body, put there intentionally by the CelestialBureaucracy, and the reason given is always the need to "preserve the balance". One more cynical observer claims that nothing gives the heavens more pleasure than watching mortals deal with just these sorts of problems.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLongestJourney''
** The worlds of [[AnotherDimension Stark and Arcadia]] are the order and chaos halves of what was once one world. They are kept from reemerging destructively by the Guardian of the Balance; said guardian's absence triggers the events of the game.
** One of the villains had his chaotic essence separated from him, turning him into a cold-hearted and purely rational being while the swirling chaos was released to terrorize Arcadia. It also turns out that [[spoiler:he's the next Guardian, whom the villains caught and separated in an attempt to control him, and before you can have him take up his proper job you have to reintegrate both sides. Once you do that, he becomes a surprisingly NiceGuy.]]
** [[VideoGame/DreamfallChapters And in the final part of the trilogy]], it's revealed that ''existence itself'' has been unbalanced from the very beginning, because the Dreaming (Creator) won the initial victory over the Undreaming (Destroyer), and spent eons sealing them away to keep them from destroying absolutely everything. [[spoiler:At the end, the events of the game cause the Dreaming to accept merging with the Undreaming. On one hand, this further balances the multiverse and it's implied this is what causes the {{CrapsackWorld}}s of Stark and Arcadia to finally begin to pull themselves together. On the other hand, this means that absolutely nothing will ever exist forever; not the worlds, not the stories, not even the dreamers themselves.]]
* The UltimateEvil in ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'' embodies the balance and so it follows that the only person capable of defeating it ''also'' embodies the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil. Luckily, the protagonist is just AntiHero enough to do that.
* ''VideoGame/{{Primal}}'' features a balance between Order and Chaos, in which Order mostly functions as Good and Chaos functions as Evil; the game's plot involves the balance being tipped towards Chaos, requiring the protagonist to even things back out.

* In ''VideoGame/OverlordII'', [[spoiler:Rose, the Overlord's mother]] states that when one force gets too powerful another must rise to stop it, meaning that Darkness is occasionally needed to triumph when heroes eventually [[FallenHero fall from grace]]. [[EvilOverlord That Darkness is]] '''[[VillainProtagonist You]]'''.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Darksiders}}'' series: The Charred Council is charged with keeping Heaven and Hell "balanced", at least until Man can stand toe-to-toe with them, and are granted significant freedom on how to do so. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, they've gone uncontested for so long that they turned corrupt[[note]]other than the council member(s) who defected[[/note]], and now seek to throw the universe into Chaos so that they may stay on top.]]

* In the late 80's rpg ''VideoGame/DungeonMaster'', the backstory is that a magical experiment gone awry separated The Grey Wizard into Lord Chaos and Lord Librasulus (obviously an order counterpart). The protagonist, the Wizard's now ethereal apprentice, has to guide a group of heroes to obtain the Firestaff (which caused the incident) for Lord Librasulus. However, on the way you find several scrolls about how dangerous the staff is in the wrong hands, how neither order nor chaos is truly balanced, and so on. If you take the staff back to Lord Librasulus, he rewards you... [[spoiler: with death. Instead you have to complete the original experiment, then use the staff to trap Lord Chaos and fuse the two sides together into a balanced whole again.]]
* In ''Videogame/RuneScape'', there are three major gods. One of law, one of chaos, and one of balance. Law and chaos aren't necessarily good, [[AvertedTrope but neither is balance.]]
** Further complicating this, the god of balance, Guthix, created the Guthixian Edicts (which are this trope) to prevent a repeat of the god wars, which lasted 5000 years, and would’ve gone on longer if Guthix himself didn’t directly intervene and forcibly end it. To do this, crusades or religious wars aren’t allowed, forcing anyone who would attempt to instead convert peacefully. The part about balance not necessarily being good means that no side can directly stop problems arising by followers of different gods (such as the law-aligned White Knights being one opportunity away from staging a coup, or the chaos-aligned vampires kidnapping humans for blood tithes), instead needing to rely on mercenaries.

* This is what kicks off the plot in ''VideoGame/ShiningSoul'' as the defeat of the BigBad in the last game has left Light stronger than darkness; thus causing a sudden resurgence in evil.
* In ''VideoGame/ImmortalSouls'', the supernatural [[MegaCorp Isis Corporation]] serves as a mediator between the hordes and gangs of shadow creatures that attack the humans and the holy warriors that protect the humans, doing whatever is needed to keep the two forces evenly matched. They attack the former only as needed to keep them from doing major damage and overrunning things, and the latter only in self-defense and when needed to remove any major advantage they happen to gain. The normal humans themselves are treated as collateral damage.
* ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'': Soul Edge was originally too evil to simply exist by itself, so Algol created Soul Calibur to act as its balance from a fragment of the cursed sword[[note]]Although this was a reactionary move to the evil sword corrupting his son and forcing Algol to slay him.[[/note]] Unfortunately, [[spoiler:creating a holy sword from a cursed sword causes the holy sword to think that "Balance Between Good and Evil" really means "freeze everyone so no one can hurt one another ever again". It is kind of a "balance" but in functional terms all you get is a world of carnage or a world of nothing, neither of which help the people caught in the middle.]]
* [[DefiedTrope Defied]] in ''VideoGame/UltimaIV'', where the main goal of the game is to prove that good can still exist even in the absence of evil.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Infernal}}'', the [[AllThereInTheManual introduction in the manual]] states that Lennox is hired to "restore the balance between Good and Evil", and although the concept of balance isn't made too explicit in the actual game, that's more or less how things end up — Lennox's actions do indeed prevent either heaven or hell from using Wolf's mind-control machine (which is the only course that leaves humanity free).
* In the ''{{VideoGame/Bayonetta}}'' series it's less about Good and Evil, and more about Light and Darkness being in balance, due to LightIsNotGood and DarkIsNotEvil being in full effect here. Despite this, the angels of light do decide to say screw it to the balance in the first game in an attempt at a power play to obliterate the Trinity of Realities so they can remake it in their own visage. In the [[{{VideoGame/Bayonetta2}} second game]] the balance is actually shown to be off due to the events at the end of the first game, causing natural disasters on Earth, and both angels ''and'' demons attacking indiscriminately.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'', both Light and Darkness are shown to be capable of world-ending devastation: long before the events of the game, the world stood to be annihilated by a torrent of light, and four Warriors of Darkness rose to combat it. This time, it's darkness that threatens to overwhelm the world, with four Warriors of Light to oppose it. In the end, both the Warriors of Light and the Warriors of Darkness join forces to defeat the Cloud of Darkness, who despite her name does not embody darkness itself, but rather annihilation and oblivion.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' riffs on ''Final Fantasy III'''s plot in Patch 3.4: Soul Surrender. [[spoiler: As it turns out, the Warriors of Darkness who have been doing the bidding of the [[BigBad Ascians]] were in fact once another world's Warriors of Light: having defeated every evil which stood before them, they inadvertently unleashed a tide of overwhelming light that threatened to consume their world and consign all its inhabitants to a FateWorseThanDeath.]] The later ''Shadowbringers'' expansion revolves around [[spoiler:visiting their world and fixing things by becoming its Warrior of Darkness, which turns out to be just the same sort of heroic things you did as the Warrior of Light on the Source but under a different flag. The "Sin Eater" enemies you fight in several dungeons and trials of the expansion even heavily resemble the Voidsent of the rest of the game, which are essentially demons created after a different world succumbed to a similar flood of darkness.]]
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'': The four elemental Empyreans want to help humans progress, while the Empyrean of Suppression, Innominat, wants to crush all free will. The problem is that the elemental Empyreans are so powerful that when they are awake, their mere existence destabilizes the world; Innominat is needed to suppress their power and keep the world stable. Thus the world is locked in a vicious cycle; the elemental Empyreans work for centuries to help human civilization prosper, then Innominat is summoned to devour Malevolence and force the elemental Empyreans to sleep. Once all the Malevolence is gone (because it's produced by human emotions and Innominat has suppressed that), then Innominat returns to slumber and the elemental Empyreans awaken again. By the time of the game, Innominat has found a way to break this cycle and rule humanity forever by having a "farm" filled with trapped dragons, immortal monsters that will produce Malevolence for him to feed on. When he is finally defeated, the elemental Empyreans inform the heroes that without him, they will end up destroying the world. [[spoiler:They find a loophole by empowering a malak with massive power, creating a new Fifth Empyrean who can suppress the elemental Empyreans without crushing human freedom]].
* Many of the games in the ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei'' series are a neverending struggle between [[OrderVersusChaos Order And Chaos]], with YHVH's forces seeking to eradicate free will and bring about a uniform utopia where every being devotes their existence to worshipping him, and Lucifer seeking to bring about a MightMakesRight society where only the strong survive. In all the games exist an option to reject both sides and go on the OmnicidalNeutral path to protect humanity from these encroaching outside forces.
* Deconstructed in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11''. Kronika, the BigBad, believes in preserving balance between her two children: Cetrion commanding the forces of virtue and life, and Shinnok in charge vice and death. When Shinnok gets taken out of the picture, she goes to extreme measures to correct it. However, Raiden points out the "balance" just amounts to both sides fighting each other [[ForeverWar senselessly for eternity]], and nobody is better off because of it. In Geras's ending, [[spoiler:he points out that Kronika's endless attempts to create the perfect timeline have driven her to insanity]].
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': According to WordOfGod, Sophia (an {{Expy}} of the Goddess deity who is one third of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'''s "Warring Triad) is a deity that demands balance in all things. She is neither benevolent nor evil, and will actively aid either one depending on which currently has more power or influence. Her theme song, "Equilibrium", demonstrates this as the lyrics tell the story of a girl who lost her father in a war and was then beaten by her grief-stricken mother. Praying to Sophia for help, the goddess told her that in order to restore balance, the girl had to kill her mother. She did so, and then Sophia said the balance still needed correction, requiring the girl's suicide. And once again, the girl obeyed.
* Discussed in the ''[[VideoGame/{{Bionicle}} Mata Nui Online Game]]'', where the sleeping "god" Mata Nui represents Creation and his evil "brother" Makuta represents Destruction. Turaga Nuju tells the player the two forces work in tandem and that the world is in constant flux. The Makuta itself also says as much when it finally appears, arguing that no matter what the Toa do to stop him, he cannot be destroyed "for he is nothing". The game developers compared Makuta to people taking apart their Lego toys to make something else -- a necessary act of destruction that allows for creation. And in the game, Makuta is indeed made up of discarded ''Bionicle'' pieces that coalesce into whatever it wills. This portrayal of Makuta was however abandoned outside of the game. Other media presented him as an egomaniac villain who was not a primal force of the universe, but was still powerful enough to cause whatever destruction he wanted and indeed expressed the belief destiny isn't about "good and evil" so much as "creation and destruction".

** ComicBook/AdamWarlock got a hold of the Infinity Gauntlet, a MacGuffin that granted the user [[TheOmnipotent control over all of existence]]. His desire to become the "perfect" God caused him to subconsciously expunge both good and evil from himself completely. This backfired, as he became anthropomorphized; the evil side tried to take over the Universe and the good side tried to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy]] it. Warlock also refused to kill Comicbook/{{Thanos}}, on the account that the Universe would be incomplete without him. This paid off later, when Thanos helped him deal with said good and evil sides, and eventually sacrificed himself to fix the Universe.

* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', the Mortis arc introduces The Ones who are [[PhysicalGod living embodiment of the force]]. While the Daughter represents the Light Side, and the Son represents the Dark, the Father is the balance between both sides.