History Main / ChaoticNeutral

* ''Manhwa/{{Laon}}'': The titular character only cares about finding its missing tails [[BigEater and stuffing itself.]]

* Wrestling/{{Kane}} is another good example. He's been a face for a good portion of his career, but he's clearly not a case of DarkIsNotEvil. What makes him so popular with the crowds is simply because he's such an effective badass -- that, and also the fact that he has often been bullied and tormented by even more evil wrestlers (not to speak of his near-death by burning at the hands of his "brother," Wrestling/TheUndertaker), resulting in him becoming a most unusual version of TheWoobie. (Most notably, it was hard not to sympathize with Kane during his feud with Evolution in 2003, during which Wrestling/TripleH dressed up as him and... well, if you've been to the wrestling section of the horrible thread, you know the rest). While Kane is undeniably a sadist and a monster, he only attacks people who actually deserve to have their ass kicked. He finally turned heel again in the summer of 2008 when he tortured Wrestling/ReyMysterioJr and stole his mask, although he seems to get cheered by the fans even now.

* Dian Cecht of Myth/CelticMythology deserves special mention here; on the one hand, he saved all of Ireland by drowning a dragon and created a mystical spring that could heal all wounds, on the other he killed his own son for out doing him and scattered the healing herbs his daughter created.

* Sienna Fuegonasus from ''Videogame/TheEndTimesVermintide'' is the feisty and pyromaniac member of the Uberseik Five. A rather capricious Bright Wizard who is addicted to the adrenaline rush of setting things on fire and always in search for an excuse to use her flaming spells. However,she has some level of compassion and dry sense of humor that prevents her from going into ChaoticEvil territory, and most of the time her team mates direct her spells towards vile Skaven.

* Ryuga from ''Anime/MetalFightBeyblade'' feel into this after his HeelFaceTurn. Despite not being evil anymore and often keeps to himself, Ryuga is still urges to get stronger and can be still merciless toward his opponents in battle. This was especially shown toward the end of ''Metal Masters'' where he sides with [[TheHero Gingka]]'s team against Hades Inc.'s team but [[ItsPersonal only because of their personal involvement with the Dark Nebula organization]] and the fact that they were indirectly responsible for Ryuga becoming corrupted by Lightning-L Drago. He also is the one that personally destroys Spiral Tower causing a lot of collateral damage in the process (which actually almost kills Gingka and Masamune but Ryuga probably didn't know they were in there at the time). Ryuga's Chaotic Neutral status is even more prominent in the third season, ''Metal Fury'', where he is [[TheChosenOne one of the Legendary Bladers]] that is tasked to take down [[GodOfEvil Nemesis]]. When Gingka tried to convince Ryuga to fight for their cause instead of the Nemesis Bladers (who were, at the time, also trying to recruit Ryuga), Ryuga turns both sides down saying he and he along will absorb the power from the other Legendary Bladers and become the strongest blader in the world. And while he was still making good on that promise, Ryuga was still fighting against the evil forces at the time and even ''dies'' in the process. He later then transfers his power to [[MoralityPet Kenta]].

* ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'': Izaya Orihara believes his love of all humans (minus Shizuo) is reason enough to manipulate anyone and everyone. He's also TheSociopath and a PsychopathicManChild. However, despite his highly immoral acts, he is directly stated to neither be good nor evil. Izaya will only help or harm someone to see their reaction, and is on no side but his own. He's just a [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]], [[{{Jerkass}} arrogant]], and all around crazy bastard whose general motivation in the series is to [[spoiler:cause Ragnarok so that he'll have a place to go when he dies.]]

* Characters/{{Deadpool|WadeWilson}} became this thanks to the writing of Creator/JoeKelly and Creator/GailSimone. Early on, he didn't care so much about killing innocents. He'll still hurt them though, even his friends, though now they fall into the AmusingInjuries category.

* Kid!Loki was this by design. The regular NeutralEvil [[Characters/MarvelComicsLoki Loki]] realized that because he was evil and bound by his own neuroses and anger with [[Characters/TheMightyThorThorOdinson Thor]] (that he alluded to being irrational), he could not be a true God of Mischief since he was so darn predictable (try to kill Thor/impress Odin while doing something evil at the same time, fail, rinse, repeat) So he got himself killed and made it so if Thor reincarnated him he'd come back as a boy without all the mental baggage that kept making him evil/predictable. Kid!Loki's only out to save Thor and himself and try not to be the monster he sees his older self as quite possibly having been. He even admitted that he'd rather have stayed dead (if Thor had not reincarnated him) than stay as he was. Later Lokis (with the exception of King Loki from the future who is back to NeutralEvil) generally average around this alignment too. Teen!Loki (the weapon that killed the Kid) was more of the cynical type with self-destructive tendencies, while the next one, Loki -- the God(dess) of Stories,... let's just say for them ''turning their best friend into magical jewellery'' [[ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime seemed like a good idea at the time]]. Apparently Loki decided that slipping back into evil is best avoided by periodically destroying and remaking himself to [[NeverGrewUp never get that old]].

* Snake Plissken, protagonist of ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'' and ''Film/EscapeFromLA''. He's a career criminal who only goes to rescue the President because he's coerced. At one point he comes across two punks passing an obviously drugged girl between them... and doesn't step in to rescue her or defend her, but just keeps on walking. While selfish, he does have strong opinions on right and wrong. In the end of both films, he takes a principled stand.

** Rachel is a BloodKnight extrodinare and sometimes borderline SociopathicSoldier, but her sense of honor and loyalty keep her from being straight up ChaoticEvil.

* The dwarfs in ''The Last Battle'', the final instalment of ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia''. When King Tirion sets them free, expecting them to join his cause in fighting the Calormenes that are enslaving fellow Narnians, he is shocked to see them shrug their shoulders and walk away. In the eponymous last battle, the dwarfs stand alone and shoot at both the good Narnians and the evil Calormenes alike, trying to ensure neither side has an advantage so they will wipe each other out and leave the dwarfs to govern themselves.

'''Kevyn:''' But that's not what you ''would'' have done. If you'd had {{Plasma Cannon}}s, you would have [[NoKillLikeOverkill hit his window with a two-meter blast, vaporising him and setting the room on fire]]. Am I right?\\

* For all his attempts to join the Evil League of [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Evil]], [[WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog Dr. Horrible]] really comes off as this rather than ChaoticEvil. [[WellIntentionedExtremist While he has good intentions]], most of his disrupting of the status quo benefits him.

* The Collector from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is what would happen if godlike powers were granted to a young child. In fact, WordOfGod from [[https://www.instagram.com/p/CeXgiaputl9/?hl=en Dana Terrace]] described the Collector as a "morally grey, neutral chaotic kind of mother[fucker]." While originally presented as part of a BigBadDuumvirate helping Emperor Belos' [[spoiler:genocidal]] plans, the Collector is eventually shown to be [[spoiler:a naive, ObliviouslyEvil character whom Belos manipulated and eventually betrayed to gain the power he wanted]]. Most of the harm that the Collector inflicts on people is out of childish obliviousness, and [[spoiler:when he learns how bad his actions were, [[HeelFaceTurn he redeems himself anyways]].]]

* The Collector from ''WesternAnimaton/TheOwlHouse'' is what would happen if godlike powers were granted to a young child. In fact, WordOfGod from [[https://www.instagram.com/p/CeXgiaputl9/?hl=en Dana Terrace]] described the Collector as a "morally grey, neutral chaotic kind of mother[fucker]." While originally presented as part of a BigBadDuumvirate helping Emperor Belos' [[spoiler:genocidal]] plans, the Collector is eventually shown to be [[spoiler:a naive, ObliviouslyEvil character whom Belos manipulated and eventually betrayed to gain the power he wanted]]. Most of the harm that the Collector inflicts on people is out of childish obliviousness, and [[spoiler:when he learns how bad his actions were, [[HeelFaceTurn he redeems himself anyways]].]]

* Two characters from ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' are very different forms of Chaotic Neutral:

* Sam Starfall of ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' would qualify. Laws mean nothing to him, and he enjoys breaking them, stealing things and blackmailing people far more than he should, but there's no actual ''malice'' behind his actions -- he seems to steal for the fun of it rather than the profit, and cheerfully helps NeutralGood Florence save the robots of the world because screwing with Ecosystems Unlimited and the mayor is more fun than his usual petty crime.

* Gamer and Twitch-streamer, ''LetsPlay/UberHaxorNova'' (aka James Richard Wilson Jr.) is part The Hedonist and The Nutter type, depending on the circumstances. Particularly in games where morals matter, Nova doesn't pay attention to them much. Hell he'll absolutely screw-up the environments, just for laugh or two. Everything, from extorting glitches to harassing characters (sometimes outright killing them), there's not much that Nova won't do in a game for fun.

** Toph borders the line between ChaoticGood and Chaotic Neutral. She shows affection through mild violence.
** Zuko spends most of season 2 as a Chaotic Neutral. After being fully betrayed by his homeland, he's reduced to WalkingTheEarth with his uncle trying to find himself.

** Eccentric businessman Varrick from the sequel, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', is the very definition of the trope. He'll help or screw over the good guys or the bad guys depending on where he'll benefit.

* Kenny is often this in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. While he does right by his friends most of the time and will save the world if pressed to do so, he is nothing short of TheHedonist, has no problem shooting animals on sight, would much rather play video games, doesn't care about saving the whales, and gets it on with the school slut while still in 4th grade (and dies of an STD). He'll even go along with some of Cartman's schemes in the earlier seasons. It is notable that his superhero persona, Mysterion is ChaoticGood of the vigilante variant.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Despite having a reputation as an EvilOverlord, Eclipsa Butterfly "The Queen Of Darkness" is more this trope: she has no qualms about abusing her magic to get what she wants, and was ultimately a very flighty, irresponsible, and careless queen, but she never goes out of her way to hurt others or cause needless harm; she proves a valuable ally for Star and [[TheHighQueen Moon]], but she's not always a good influence either. She gets better after some CharacterDevelopment [[spoiler: when Star abdicates the throne to her]].

** When the ChaoticGood CloudCuckooLander GenkiGirl Pinkie Pie uses the Mirror Pond to make copies of herself, they turn out to be more extreme versions of herself. They are not very intelligent and endlessly poing around happily looking for fun -- heedless of the mess, bother and inconvenience they cause to others.
** Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony, was originally a ChaoticEvil archetype. However, he eventually becomes friends with one of the ponies and realizes he can't go on wreaking random havoc everywhere now that he actually cares about someone who can't agree with that. However, he's still fickle, unhelpful and lacking in empathy, and his moral compass is largely limited to what will and will not make his one permanent friend happy. In season seven it's revealed that he ''has'' to be chaotic, or else -- to everyone's surprise, including his own -- he will simply disappear.

* Bart Simpson from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' definitely qualifies. All he cares about is doing his own thing, and he doesn't follow any rules.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Peter Griffin probably fits this alignment best, at-least pre-{{Flanderization}}. Although his actions often cause large-scale destruction, he is rarely genuinely malevolent; rather, he is just stupid and impulsive. He is a lunatic with the [[AttentionDeficitOOHSHINY attention-span of a goldfish]] and performs the most random acts for his [[ItAmusedMe personal amusement]].
* Amethyst from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' is going through her ‘difficult teenager’ phase and constantly chafes at any kind of control over her behaviour, reveling in her ‘wild child’ nature and using it to annoy the others. It also requires some pretty major danger to make her take things seriously, and she’s spent several episodes standing on the sidelines providing commentary without doing ''anything'' to help. She openly admits to Steven that she gives terrible advice and that he should never listen to her.

* Rick Sanchez in ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' has an open disdain for government, authority, rules, and order. While extremely reckless and amoral, he has ''just'' enough PetTheDog moments to not ''quite'' qualify for ChaoticEvil. Morty [[DiscussedTrope all but outright names this alignment]] when talking to Summer about Rick in the Season 3 premiere, describing Rick as [[BlueAndOrangeMorality neither a hero nor a villain, but "more like a super fucked-up god".]]

** Sterling Archer is the world's most dangerous spy... [[ExactWords and he's equally dangerous whether you're with him or against him]]. How moral Archer is fluctuates wildly depending on his mood (as well as how much alcohol is in his system). When he's angry, he'll let innocent people die without a second thought; however, he's also capable of being shockingly kind, and not just towards those close to him. For example, in "Placebo Effect", he's less concerned with the fact that he was given fake [[spoiler:cancer]] medication than that the same thing had happened to Ruth, a woman whom he had met earlier that day. Notably, he's much more consistently kind towards animals than humans: in one episode, Cheryl's ocelot Babou tears a hole in his suit, which is ordinarily one of his biggest {{Berserk Button}}s, but instead he's more concerned that Babou is lonely in his room. Archer similarly sympathizes with a tiger that gets shot in "El Contador". In "Honeypot", Archer helps a distraught Dominican man bury his prized rooster in the Everglades after it was killed in a chicken fight for no personal gain, despite other episodes establishing that alligators are his biggest fear.

* Helga from ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold''. While her default persona is being a pretty big {{Jerkass}}, she's really [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold a LOT nicer than she acts]] and has some pretty massive PetTheDog moments, though she usually works behind the scenes as she [[HiddenHeartOfGold doesn't want people to realize she's actually a nice person.]]
* Season 4 of ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'' introduces Double Trouble, a shape-shifting nonbinary mercenary who thrums with dangerously intense theatre kid energy and may well fit under here. While they lean a bit towards evil, they have no particular loyalty to [[LawfulEvil the Horde]] or [[NeutralGood the Rebellion]], instead being motivated solely by the opportunity for mischief and pay. [[spoiler:In particular, after the Rebellion captures them, they're hired to ruin the Horde's day, which they do with every indication of glee, luring their armies into a trap, mashing Hordak's BerserkButton so he tries to kill Catra, then [[BreakThemByTalking verbally ripping Catra to pieces and feeding them into a paper shredder]] "for [her] own good".]]
** Entrapta is an unusual and somewhat ''unintentional'' version of this trope: whereas a normal ChaoticNeutral just doesn’t care about the sides in a conflict, like Double Trouble, Entrapta doesn’t really seem to grasp that there ''are'' sides. She effectively [[spoiler: defects to the Horde in Season 2 because they let her play with the more advanced tech, and because she thinks her friends left her behind]], but when she encounters [[spoiler: Bow and Glimmer again]], she acts like absolutely nothing has changed, and greets them like they’re just friends she hasn’t seen in a while. Entrapta doesn’t ''get'' the war, or the conflicts, or connect them to anything tangible. Therefore, she'll switch sides on a whim, because she doesn't understand why anyone would think she ''shouldn't''.

* The EvilCounterpart or TheRival to a NeutralGood or ChaoticGood {{Hero}}, if they aren't all that evil.

* Annah, the fiercely passionate, mercurial young tiefling from ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', is a thief, a guttersnipe, and a corpse-seller--but while she has a sharp tongue she doesn't have a genuinely mean bone in her body.

* Some VigilanteMan.

* Coyote of ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', in keeping with his nature as TheTrickster. He is quite mischievous, and seems to have an agenda that is opposed to the Court, but he is not actively malicious, shows a great fondness for Ysengrim and Reynardine (the latter of which he regards as a cousin), as well as towards Antimony and her dead mother (even going so far as to hug Antimony after seeing her sadness while he reminisces about Surma).

* The Yes Man/Independent Vegas track in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' can be this depending on how the player plays the rest of the game; its intrinsic WildCard nature makes this the most common Courier alignment on that track.

%%* Vezon, from ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' although he teeters toward both ChaoticGood and ChaoticEvil from time to time. It helps that he's completely insane.

* '''The Nutter''' -- You don't have to be crazy to be this alignment, but it helps! More or less insane, these characters might behave as the ChaoticStupid stereotype, or they might be unstable in some other way. Either way, they are too caught up in themselves to be good or evil. They can be a simple Jester-like character, or they can be a deep investigation into the minds of those with mental illnesses, but either way their actions don't follow regular logic.

* ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'': Yuji becomes this towards the end of the series. He originally began as NeutralGood, and with an idealistic desire to build a new world where denizens can live without consuming humans to survive, he may be considered ChaoticGood. However, [[JadeColoredGlasses the ruthless pragmatism]] he implements in his plans place him into this alignment. He probably hangs between Chaotic Neutral and ChaoticGood.

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'':

* The titular ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya''. She ''might'' help you out if you've got some problems which might be super natural in nature, and gets a couple of subtle PetTheDog moments plus CharacterDevelopment in the "nicer" direction; on the other hand...

* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'': Oh, Claire Stanfield. Only you can massacre dozens of not-very innocent people for both money and a bizarre interpretation of train etiquette, only to go completely (well, ''[[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique almost]]'') straight by sunrise. Granted, his real alignment is probably "HOLY SHIT" but this is the closest the D&D system can get.

* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': Izaya Orihara believes his love of all humans (minus Shizuo) is reason enough to manipulate anyone and everyone. He's also TheSociopath and a PsychopathicManChild. However, despite his highly immoral acts, he is directly stated to neither be good nor evil. Izaya will only help or harm someone to see their reaction, and is on no side but his own. He's just a [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]], [[{{Jerkass}} arrogant]], and all around crazy bastard whose general motivation in the series is to [[spoiler:cause Ragnarok so that he'll have a place to go when he dies.]]

* Naofumi Iwatani, the titular protagonist of ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', is generally ChaoticGood, but is still morally grey and has shades of this alignment. He's mostly motivated by keeping himself and his loved ones alive, and doesn't care much about what happens to the world he was summoned to. He will not hesitate to use morally questionable means to obtain what he wants, though he has lines he will not cross; he is not actively malevolent, except towards those who have wronged him, and he is willing to aid others, but he wants to be rewarded for his good deeds, though he is reasonable and will try to negotiate a profitable agreement for both parts.

[[caption-width-right:350:"Good? Evil? Who cares, {{pass the popcorn}}!"]]

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': Seto Kaiba challenges anybody and everybody, regardless of what side they're on (though he seems inordinately obsessed with battling Yugi) and [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney screws the rules, because he has money...and lots of it]].