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There are several challenges to writing this trope believably, mostly because it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Works may employ it without examining it too closely, because [[GoldenMeanFallacy balance is always good, right?]] Yet the actual implications are pretty horrifying. For example, if there's too much goodness and peace, would "balance" mean that one should allow a healthy dose of rape and murder in the world? The general line of reasoning is that if Good were allowed to triumph, there would be no-one to check its power and it would become despotic, as it's otherwise a bit difficult to explain why a world of eternal benevolence, peace and prosperity is a bad thing -- except, by definition, that would mean it had become Evil and was no longer Good.
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There are several challenges to writing this trope believably, mostly because it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Works may employ it without examining it too closely, because [[GoldenMeanFallacy balance is always good, right?]] Yet the actual implications are pretty horrifying. For example, if there's too much goodness and peace, would "balance" mean that one should allow a healthy dose of rape and murder in the world? The general line of reasoning is that if Good were allowed to triumph, there would be no-one no one to check its power and it would become despotic, as it's otherwise a bit difficult to explain why a world of eternal benevolence, peace and prosperity is a bad thing -- except, by definition, that would mean it had become Evil and was no longer Good.
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* The underlying plot of the ''Series/KamenRiderOutsiders'' mini-series involves two opposing artificial intelligence that represent the "good" (Zein) and "evil" ([[Series/KamenRiderZeroOne Ark]]) in the unified Heisei-Reiwa ''Franchise/KamenRider'' universe. Zein exists as a being of benevolence and all of humanity's positive traits that seeks to purge all evil in the world, which draw the attention of Ark and its creator, Gai Amatsu. In the light of Zein's presence, [[Series/KamenRiderDouble Foundation X]] began recruiting active villainous Riders or even revive villains that were dead at the end of their respective series to counteract Zein's influence. [[spoiler:However, Zein also turned out to be [[LightIsNotGood nowhere as benign]] as it claims to be, as it enacts a witch hunt against every villainous Rider in existence before it can eliminate humanity and {{Take Over The World}}.]]
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* The underlying plot of the ''Series/KamenRiderOutsiders'' mini-series involves two opposing artificial intelligence that represent the "good" (Zein) and "evil" ([[Series/KamenRiderZeroOne Ark]]) in the unified Heisei-Reiwa ''Franchise/KamenRider'' universe. Zein exists as a being of benevolence and all of humanity's positive traits that seeks to purge all evil in the world, which draw the attention of Ark and its creator, Gai Amatsu. In the light of Zein's presence, [[Series/KamenRiderDouble Foundation X]] began recruiting active villainous Riders or even revive villains that were dead at the end of their respective series to counteract Zein's influence. [[spoiler:However, Zein also turned out to be [[LightIsNotGood nowhere as benign]] as it claims to be, as it enacts a witch hunt against every villainous Rider in existence before it can eliminate humanity and {{Take Over The World}}.]]]] In episode 4, that balance is ultimately broken when [[spoiler:[[Series/KamenRiderBlade Kamen Rider Garren]] singlehandedly destroyed the weakened Ark. With the Ark completely off the grid comes someone far worse taking its place, which is [[EvilAllAlong none other than Zein itself]].]]
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* Creator/StephenKing's novel ''Literature/{{Insomnia}}'' reveals that his Multiverse is ruled by four theoretically-equal forces: Life, Death, the Purpose and the Random. The Random is responsible for much suffering and chaos, and is the closest equivalent to Evil. Earthquakes that kill a hundred thousand people can be part of the the Purpose, but the higher beings of the purpose are good and want to maintain balance. The highest being of the Random is the Crimson King, who was described as the embodiment of evil; he wanted to destroy everything and rule the hellscape that remained forever.
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* Creator/StephenKing's novel ''Literature/{{Insomnia}}'' reveals that his Multiverse is ruled by four theoretically-equal forces: Life, Death, the Purpose and the Random. The Random is responsible for much suffering and chaos, and is the closest equivalent to Evil. Earthquakes that kill a hundred thousand people can be part of the the Purpose, but the higher beings of the purpose Purpose are good and want to maintain balance. The highest being of the Random is the Crimson King, who was described as the embodiment of evil; he wanted to destroy everything and rule the hellscape that remained forever.
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* ''Literature/TheScholomance'': Balance is a major factor in how the magical world works. According to main protagonist El, the Principle of Balance states anything magical that upsets things too much will cause a countering effect. This doesn't just apply to good and evil, just everything in general. The primary example is El and her love interest, Orion. Approximately one or so years before they were born, a coven of maleficers slaughtered an entire year of students to gain enough power to escape the Scholomance. El believes that Orion, a dark wizard-slaying hero, was born in response to this, to save the lives of students in the Scholomance and pay off that "debt". In return, El was born in response to ''him'', as a dark sorceress prophecized to bring death and destruction to the magical world (and certainly, her mother being a [[IncorruptiblePurePureness incorruptible and selfless]] EarthMother didn't help). [[spoiler:It's only in the third book that it's revealed to be the ''reverse'': Orion is actually a half-maw-mouth LivingWeapon engineered by his mother using the sacrifices of all those students who died the year before his birth, who is destined to lose control of his HorrorHunger and destroy the world. El is TheChosenOne that the universe deliberately engineered to be born in order to stop him and to change the world and make it a better place by resurrecting the Golden Enclaves]].
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** The Doublet System prevents gods and demons from slaughtering each other by imposing a Mutually Assured Destruction scheme on both sides. Small conflicts are allowed, even encouraged, but outright celestial warfare is forbidden.
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** The Doublet System prevents gods and demons from slaughtering each other by imposing a Mutually Assured Destruction scheme on both sides. Small conflicts are allowed, even encouraged, but outright celestial warfare is forbidden. And in those small conflicts, the use of lethal force is strictly forbidden.
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** The final arc of ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' is half this trope, half PhlebotinumOverload. Every wish made with the Dragon Balls produces an energy that is counter to the nature of the wish, i.e. good-natured wishes produce negative energy and vice versa. This energy was meant to dissipate between each use of the Dragon Balls, but due to the frequency of their use, there wasn't enough time for that to happen. This eventually led to the creation of seven dragons, born from the built-up energy. Because the majority of wishes were made by the heroes, the dragons were born from negative energy and therefore were evil, though one did have NobleDemon tendencies from the few wishes made by the villains.
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** The final arc of ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' is half this trope, half PhlebotinumOverload. Every wish made with the Dragon Balls produces an energy that is counter to the nature of the wish, i.e. good-natured wishes produce negative energy and vice versa. This energy was meant to dissipate between each use of the Dragon Balls, but due to the frequency of their use, use (on account of the Dragon Radar turning it into a trivial task to gather the Dragon Balls for a wish), there wasn't enough time for that to happen. This eventually led to the creation of seven dragons, born from the built-up energy. Because the majority of wishes were made by the heroes, the dragons were born from negative energy and therefore were evil, though one did have NobleDemon tendencies from the few wishes made by the villains.
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* 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.
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* 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. It's implied (and in some adaptions outright stated) that the flood of light in the distant past was also her doing.
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* ''Series/BabylonFive'': the main characters think they are doing this at first between the "good" Vorlons (and the races under their influence) and the "evil" Shadows and their servitors, yet later in the series it's clear that both are kind of {{WellIntentionedExtremist}}s and AbusivePrecursors as they 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.
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* ''Series/BabylonFive'': the main characters think they are doing this at first between the "good" Vorlons (and the races under their influence) and the "evil" Shadows and their servitors, yet later in the series it's clear that both are kind of {{WellIntentionedExtremist}}s {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s and AbusivePrecursors as they 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.
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* ''Literature/MirrorDreams'' has the Kingdoms of the Void, divided into the kingdoms linked to Haven, which contain all good dreams, and the kingdoms linked to Nightkeep, which contain all nightmares. Balance between the two is stated to simply be the rules. The problem? The lords of Nightkeep aren't into sticking to those rules and have a tendency to keep attempting to take over Haven.
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* ''Literature/MirrorDreams'' has the Kingdoms of the Void, divided into the kingdoms linked to Haven, which contain all good dreams, and the kingdoms linked to Nightkeep, which contain all nightmares. Balance The balance between the two is stated to simply be the rules. The problem? The lords of Nightkeep aren't into sticking to those rules and have a tendency to keep attempting to take over Haven.
* Averted in ''Literature/NoNeedForACore'', for while evil is looked upon as the inevitable result of free will, it is not welcomed, and the creator deities have tilted the balance of the world to give benign entities an edge in luck, and malign entities a slight malus of bad luck. Not enough to violate the freedom to make their own choices, but enough of a subtle edge to make sure that evil is eventually overcome. But given that this can work on time scales relevant to immortal beings that created the world, it may not always be noticeable in the day-to-day lives of mortals.
* Averted in ''Literature/NoNeedForACore'', for while evil is looked upon as the inevitable result of free will, it is not welcomed, and the creator deities have tilted the balance of the world to give benign entities an edge in luck, and malign entities a slight malus of bad luck. Not enough to violate the freedom to make their own choices, but enough of a subtle edge to make sure that evil is eventually overcome. But given that this can work on time scales relevant to immortal beings that created the world, it may not always be noticeable in the day-to-day lives of mortals.
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** This is further reinforced in ''Series/PowerRangersCosmicFury'' regarding Lord Zedd's attempt to replicate his version of Zordon's Z-Wave, where it instead wipes out all that is good. [[spoiler:Zayto, now a Morphin Master, and his teammates reason with him that Zedd will only bring harm to himself than good if he wipes out all good in the universe.]]
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* 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.
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* Many of the games in the ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei'' ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series are a neverending never-ending 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.
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* The underlying plot of the ''Series/KamenRiderOutsiders'' mini-series involves two opposing artificial intelligence that represent the "good" (Zein) and "evil" ([[Series/KamenRiderZeroOne Ark]]) in the unified Heisei-Reiwa ''Franchise/KamenRider'' universe. Zein exists as a being of benevolence and all of humanity's positive traits that seeks to purge all evil in the world, which draw the attention of Ark and its creator, Gai Amatsu. In the light of Zein's presence, [[Series/KamenRiderDouble Foundation X]] began recruiting active villainous Riders or even revive villains that were dead at the end of their respective series to counteract Zein's influence. [[spoiler:However, Zein also turned out to be nowhere as benign as it claims to be. As both it and the Ark share a similar goal of seeking to eliminate all good and evil Kamen Riders of their respective sides.]]
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* The underlying plot of the ''Series/KamenRiderOutsiders'' mini-series involves two opposing artificial intelligence that represent the "good" (Zein) and "evil" ([[Series/KamenRiderZeroOne Ark]]) in the unified Heisei-Reiwa ''Franchise/KamenRider'' universe. Zein exists as a being of benevolence and all of humanity's positive traits that seeks to purge all evil in the world, which draw the attention of Ark and its creator, Gai Amatsu. In the light of Zein's presence, [[Series/KamenRiderDouble Foundation X]] began recruiting active villainous Riders or even revive villains that were dead at the end of their respective series to counteract Zein's influence. [[spoiler:However, Zein also turned out to be [[LightIsNotGood nowhere as benign benign]] as it claims to be. As both be, as it and the Ark share enacts a similar goal of seeking to witch hunt against every villainous Rider in existence before it can eliminate all good humanity and evil Kamen Riders of their respective sides.{{Take Over The World}}.]]
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* The ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequel trilogy has a Jedi prophecy about [[TheChosenOne Anakin Skywalker]] bringing "Balance to the Force". The Council had noticed that the Force had gone out of balance some 200 years before this, and by that point the Galactic Republic was mired in corruption. The lines from the movies that make the viewer think the Jedi misunderstand the prophecy are set as true by WordOfGod. Anakin fulfills the prophecy at the end of the original trilogy, when he as a Sith finally turns on his treacherous master and proves the death of them both. [[spoiler:A few decades later, a new Dark Side order rises to replace the Sith, and in response the Force creates new heroes to oppose them.]]
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* The ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequel trilogy has a Jedi prophecy about [[TheChosenOne Anakin Skywalker]] bringing "Balance to the Force". The Council had noticed that the Force had gone out of balance some 200 years before this, and by that point point, the Galactic Republic was mired in corruption. The lines from the movies that make the viewer think [[ProphecyTwist the Jedi misunderstand the prophecy prophecy]] are set as true by WordOfGod. Anakin fulfills the prophecy at the end of the original trilogy, when he as a Sith finally turns on his treacherous master and proves the death of them both. [[spoiler:A few decades later, In the ContinuityReboot, [[TheRemnant a new Dark Side order order]] rises to replace the Sith, and in response the Force creates new heroes to oppose them.]]them.
** According to WordOfGod, what the Jedi failed to understand is that while the Sith upset the balance, like with UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}} TheDarkSide [[HumansAreFlawed is just as integral to life as the Light]]. In ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'', [[BigGood Luke Skywalker]] sought to reconcile the two with his OrderReborn, balancing the Sith's passions with the Jedi's discipline by allowing members to marry and raise families, and encouraging individual self-education alongside more regimented learning.
** According to WordOfGod, what the Jedi failed to understand is that while the Sith upset the balance, like with UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}} TheDarkSide [[HumansAreFlawed is just as integral to life as the Light]]. In ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'', [[BigGood Luke Skywalker]] sought to reconcile the two with his OrderReborn, balancing the Sith's passions with the Jedi's discipline by allowing members to marry and raise families, and encouraging individual self-education alongside more regimented learning.
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** It’s been suggested that ComicBook/{{Lobo}} was born to balance out how sickeningly perfect and good Czarnia was. [[GoneHorriblyRight It worked a]] [[LastOfHisKind little TOO well]]
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* The underlying plot of the ''Series/KamenRiderOutsiders'' mini-series involves two opposing artificial intelligence that represent the "good" (Zein) and "evil" ([[Series/KamenRiderZeroOne Ark]]) in the unified Heisei-Reiwa ''Franchise/KamenRider'' universe. Zein exists as a being of benevolence and all of humanity's positive traits that seeks to purge all evil in the world, which draw the attention of Ark and its creator, Gai Amatsu. In the light of Zein's presence, [[Series/KamenRiderDouble Foundation X]] began recruiting active villainous Riders or even revive villains that were dead at the end of their respective series to counteract Zein's influence. [[spoiler:However, Zein also turned out to be nowhere as benign as it claims to be. As both it and the Ark share a similar goal of seeking to eliminate all good and evil Kamen Riders of their respective sides.]]
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* In ''ComicBook/BlackHammer'', there is an explicit balance between the powers of Good and Evil which must be maintained. The breaking of that balance is what caused the heroes' predicament: [[spoiler:Black Hammer killed the evil Anti-God during the Cataclysm, tipping the balance too far toward Good. The universe tried to correct this imbalance by bringing Anti-God back to life, which would mean the end of the world. To prevent this, the heroes banished themselves to another dimension where the balance doesn't hold sway, restoring balance by taking Good ''and'' Evil off the table altogether: so long as they never leave, Anti-God will never return.]]
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** Also in the same game, [[Literature/{{Cinderella}} The Fairy Godmother]], in a conversation with Aqua seems to be a believer in this, in that one creates the other (Cinderella's "light" creating Lady Tremaine and the stepsisters' "darkness") and you can't have one without the other. This is to encourage her to find a solution to Cinderella's problem that doesn't include "killing the evil step-family", which would be a disproportionate response (after they step up their game by summoning a heartless to outright kill Cinderella, they become fair targets).
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** Also in the same game, [[Literature/{{Cinderella}} The Fairy Godmother]], in a conversation with Aqua seems to be a believer in this, in that one creates the other (Cinderella's "light" creating Lady Tremaine and the stepsisters' "darkness") and you can't have one without the other. This is to encourage her to find a solution to Cinderella's problem that doesn't include "killing the evil step-family", which would be a disproportionate response (after they step up their game by summoning a heartless an [[TheHeartless Unversed]] to outright kill Cinderella, they become fair targets).Aqua steps up to kill it).
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* ''Series/GoodOmens2019'': Aziraphale and Crowley are Heaven and Hell's, respectively, most active agents on Earth. The two realize during the King Arthur years that all they're doing is thwarting each other, with the end result being neutral. They come to what they call "the Arrangement," where they either both do nothing (and tell their bosses they were thwarted by the other side), or occasionally one of them goes off to do both of their jobs to save them some time. Because of this, the vast majority of human history, for good and ill, is entirely the fault of humans.
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* ''Series/GoodOmens2019'': Aziraphale and Crowley are Heaven and Hell's, respectively, most active agents on Earth.Earth - and long-time friends. The two realize during the King Arthur years that all they're doing is thwarting each other, with the end result being neutral. They come to what they call "the Arrangement," where they either both do nothing (and tell their bosses they were thwarted by the other side), or occasionally one of them goes off to do both of their jobs to save them some time. Because of this, the vast majority of human history, for good and ill, is entirely the fault of humans.
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** 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 using your cellphone in a hospital 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.
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** 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 even minor crimes like using your cellphone in a hospital are punished by mutilation]]. In the similarly-disrupted evil balance, the same sort of [[DisproportionateRetribution mutilation]] 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.
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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]], whereas things being too good is an oxymoron. 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]].
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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]], whereas things being too good is an oxymoron. These especially hold ground when the work asks (or answers) the heady question if [[UsefulNotes/{{Epicureanism}} good and evil exist at all and and, if they do, whether or not they are subjective]].
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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 a necessary evil no longer provides those qualities, or its destructive characteristics supersede them, there's no reason to tolerate it further.
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Another line of reasoning is that since ''some'' Evil is evils are [[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 a necessary evil no longer provides those qualities, or its destructive characteristics supersede them, there's no reason to tolerate it further.
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** 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 cellphone 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.
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** 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 using your cellphone on in a library hospital 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.
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* ''Literature/MirrorDreams'' has the Kingdoms of the Void, divided into the kingdoms linked to Haven, which contain all good dreams, and the kingdoms linked to Nightkeep, which contain all nightmares. Balance between the two is stated to simply be the rules. The problem? The lords of Nightkeep aren't into sticking to those rules and have a tendency to keep attempting to take over Haven.
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* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' runs on this heavily. The TopGod is [[GuardianOfTheMultiverse The Lord of Nightmares]] who is neither good nor evil. She made four worlds, each ruled and balanced by one Shinzoku ("godly race") lord and one Mazoku ("evil race") lord. Each group has its own set of generals and henchmen. The Mazoku [[AlwaysChaoticEvil will act and upset the balance of power when they can.]] The Shinzoku act against them to mantain the balance.
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* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'' runs on this heavily. The TopGod is [[GuardianOfTheMultiverse The Lord of Nightmares]] who is neither good nor evil. She made four worlds, each ruled and balanced by one Shinzoku ("godly race") lord and one Mazoku ("evil race") lord. Each group has its own set of generals and henchmen. The Mazoku [[AlwaysChaoticEvil will act and upset the balance of power when they can.]] The Shinzoku act against them to mantain the balance.
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* Louise Cooper's ''Literature/TimeMaster'' is PlayingWithATrope. The trilogy opens thousands of years after the Gods of Order have banished the Gods of Chaos from the universe. At the end, [[spoiler: the Gods of Order don't care at all about their followers, and the Gods of Chaos decide to establish a balance rather than banish the Gods of Order in revenge.]]
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* Louise Cooper's ''Literature/TimeMaster'' trilogy is PlayingWithATrope. The trilogy opens thousands of years after the Gods of Order have banished the Gods of Chaos from the universe. At the end, [[spoiler: the Gods of Order don't care at all about their followers, and the Gods of Chaos decide to establish a balance rather than banish the Gods of Order in revenge.]]
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* In ''Amos Daragon'', a person (the "mask wearer") is chosen to keep a balance on good and evil and both sides are more nuanced than they appear. The series is filled with LightIsNotGood and DarkIsNotEvil. There are plenty of "Dark" creatures which don't want to massacre humans, yet get hunted down for no other reason than they exist. In fact, the last couple books involve [[spoiler:stopping a crusade to wipe out the creatures of the night]]. The protagonist's job is to [[spoiler:Stop the war between the gods]], not kill all evil creatures.
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* In ''Amos Daragon'', ''Literature/AmosDaragon'', a person (the "mask wearer") is chosen to keep a balance on good and evil and both sides are more nuanced than they appear. The series is filled with LightIsNotGood and DarkIsNotEvil. There are plenty of "Dark" creatures which don't want to massacre humans, yet get hunted down for no other reason than they exist. In fact, the last couple books involve [[spoiler:stopping a crusade to wipe out the creatures of the night]]. The protagonist's job is to [[spoiler:Stop the war between the gods]], not kill all evil creatures.
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* ''The High House'' series by James Stoddard uses this, but substitutes good and evil with order and chaos (most likely because the author doesn't seem to have any problem with the presence of good overwhelming the presence of evil). Too much order is portrayed as tyranny and a lack of free will; too much chaos is portrayed as anarchy and a lack of personal safety. Arguably, this makes the books the perfect fantasy series for libertarians.
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* ''The High House'' ''Literature/TheHighHouse'' series by James Stoddard uses this, but substitutes good and evil with order and chaos (most likely because the author doesn't seem to have any problem with the presence of good overwhelming the presence of evil). Too much order is portrayed as tyranny and a lack of free will; too much chaos is portrayed as anarchy and a lack of personal safety. Arguably, this makes the books the perfect fantasy series for libertarians.
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* ''Literature/MermaidsSong'': Most species find it easier to be evil than good. The Seadragons are the only species that has more good than evil, so their well-being is crucially important to maintaining the Balance, without which nothing could survive under the sea.
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* Louise Cooper's ''Time Master Trilogy'' is PlayingWithATrope. The trilogy opens thousands of years after the Gods of Order have banished the Gods of Chaos from the universe. At the end, [[spoiler: the Gods of Order don't care at all about their followers, and the Gods of Chaos decide to establish a balance rather than banish the Gods of Order in revenge.]]
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* Louise Cooper's ''Time Master Trilogy'' ''Literature/TimeMaster'' is PlayingWithATrope. The trilogy opens thousands of years after the Gods of Order have banished the Gods of Chaos from the universe. At the end, [[spoiler: the Gods of Order don't care at all about their followers, and the Gods of Chaos decide to establish a balance rather than banish the Gods of Order in revenge.]]
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There are several challenges to writing this trope believably, mostly because it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Works may employ it without examining it too closely, because [[GoldenMeanFallacy balance is always good, right?]] Yet the actual implications are pretty horrifying. For example, if there's too much goodness and peace, would "balance" mean that one should allow a healthy dose of rape and murder in the world? The general line of reasoning is that if Good were allowed to triumph, there would be no-one to check its power and it would become despotic -- except, by definition, that would mean it had become Evil and was no longer Good, as it's otherwise a bit difficult to explain why a world of eternal benevolence, peace and prosperity is a bad thing.
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There are several challenges to writing this trope believably, mostly because it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Works may employ it without examining it too closely, because [[GoldenMeanFallacy balance is always good, right?]] Yet the actual implications are pretty horrifying. For example, if there's too much goodness and peace, would "balance" mean that one should allow a healthy dose of rape and murder in the world? The general line of reasoning is that if Good were allowed to triumph, there would be no-one to check its power and it would become despotic -- except, by definition, that would mean it had become Evil and was no longer Good, despotic, as it's otherwise a bit difficult to explain why a world of eternal benevolence, peace and prosperity is a bad thing.
thing -- except, by definition, that would mean it had become Evil and was no longer Good.
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** Whistler from "Becoming" Parts 1 and 2 identifies himself as an agent of the Balance, although some fans argue that he was an agent of Good who identified himself as Balance because he worked to counteract other "demons" who were predominantly evil.
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** Whistler from "Becoming" Parts 1 and 2 identifies himself as an agent of the Balance, although some fans argue that he was an agent of Good who identified himself as Balance because he worked to counteract other "demons" who were predominantly evil. The canonical comics later establish that Whistler is a hybrid born from a [[StarCrossedLovers forbidden relationship]] between an angel and a demon, so the Powers That Be decided he was uniquely suited to maintain balance between good and evil.
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Large and important project means the need for small tweaks is inevitable.
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* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': Far from a mere vampire, Dracula is the Dark Lord, an equal opposite to {{God}}. In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'' duology, a cult seek to resurrect him after his final defeat not because they worship him, but because they believe that in order for God to be perfectly good, there ''must'' be a being of perfect evil to stand against him. Whether this is true isn't known, but in the good ending one character speculates that if a Dark Lord is needed, then the universe will provide; no one person ''has'' to be evil.
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* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': Far from a mere vampire, Dracula is the Dark Lord, an equal opposite to {{God}}. In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'' duology, ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'', a cult seek seeks to resurrect him after his final defeat not because they worship him, but because they believe that in order for God to be perfectly good, there ''must'' be a being of perfect evil to stand against him. Whether this is true isn't known, but in the good ending one character speculates that if a Dark Lord is needed, then the universe will provide; no one person ''has'' to be evil.
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* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': Far from a mere vampire, Dracula is the Dark Lord, an equal opposite to {{God}}. In the ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Sorrow]]'' duology, a cult seek to resurrect him after his final defeat not because they worship him, but because they believe that in order for God to be perfectly good, there ''must'' be a being of perfect evil to stand against him. Whether this is true isn't known, but in the good ending one character speculates that if a Dark Lord is needed, then the universe will provide; no one person ''has'' to be evil.
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* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': Far from a mere vampire, Dracula is the Dark Lord, an equal opposite to {{God}}. In the ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Sorrow]]'' ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'' duology, a cult seek to resurrect him after his final defeat not because they worship him, but because they believe that in order for God to be perfectly good, there ''must'' be a being of perfect evil to stand against him. Whether this is true isn't known, but in the good ending one character speculates that if a Dark Lord is needed, then the universe will provide; no one person ''has'' to be evil.
