History Main / GoodWitchVersusBadWitch

* In ''WitchHunter'', two-thirds of the world has been conquered by [[WitchSpecies witchkind]] after they suddenly started a war against humanity. Humanity's only hope lies in the international defense organization known as [[TitleDrop the Witch Hunters]], made up of {{Badass Normal}}s , [[BadassAbnormal some abnormals]], [[EmpoweredBadassNormal people empowered through various means]], and [[ProHumanTranshuman the witches]] [[HunterOfHerOwnKind that sided with them.]] Among the witches themselves though, two examples stand out prominently: one is [[WomanInWhite Edea Florence,]] [[PosthumousCharacter the late teacher of]] [[TheProtagonist Tasha Godspell]], who at one point was considered the strongest WH of all. The other example is [[RedBaron The Great Witch West]], [[WorldsStrongestWoman the strongest witch]], ''ever'', and also TheParagon who [[ProHumanTranshuman is fully on the side of humanity]]. Notably, both have white as their motif, in contrast with the [[BigBadDuumvirate Great Witches North and South]], who has black as theirs.

* In ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', Brentilda is a FairyGodmother who assists Banjo and Kazooie in their quest to rescue Tooty by revealing secrets about her sister, Gruntilda, [[ChekhovsClassroom which come in handy during the Grunty's Furnace Fun mini-game]]. This makes sense, as Brenty and Grunty were [[ShoutOut based]] on [[Film/TheWizardOfOz Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West]], respectively.

* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Melissa is the good witch, and Melinda, her former master, is the bad witch.
** Melissa underwent a HeelFaceTurn and uses her powerful magic destroy evil instead of causing it.
** Melinda was sealed away because of her dark powers, which she tried to use to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

* In ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'', Aqua Regina [[SealedEvilInACan sealed]] the entire Panthalassa race under the ocean for the ambiguous crimes of their EvilOverlord. The first main villain, Gackto ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS or Gakuto, or Gaito...]]), is the prince of the Panthalassa, escaped from the seal and seeking revenge... or that's what we're supposed to think. [[spoiler:Actually, although he was miserable under the sea and glad to be free, his real motivation is revenge for someone else, someone who happens to be from the previously "all good" mermaid race.]] Around the time of this [[TheReveal reveal]], we also learn that there are good Panthalassa, too. Aqua Regina punishes those that went against her for the destruction that they caused, but she finally realizes after thousands of years that there are good and bad members of all races.

* In ''WitchHunter'', two-thirds of the world has been conquered by [[WitchSpecies witchkind]] after they suddenly started a war against humanity. Humanity's only hope lies in the international defense organization known as [[TitleDrop the Witch Hunters]], made up of {{Badass Normal}}s , [[BadassAbnormal some abnormals]], [[EmpoweredBadassNormal people empowered through various means]], and [[ProHumanTranshuman the witches]] [[HunterOfHerOwnKind that sided with them.]] Among the witches themselves though, two examples stand out prominently: one is [[WomanInWhite Edea Florence,]] [[PosthumousCharacter the late teacher of]] [[TheProtagonist Tasha Godspell]], who at one point was considered the strongest WH of all. The other example is [[RedBaron The Great Witch]] [[TheParagon West]], [[WorldsStrongestWoman the strongest witch]] ''[[WorldsStrongestWoman ever]]''. Notably, both have white as their motif, in contrast with BigBad apparent Great Witch [[MagnificentBitch North]], who has black as hers.

* Order of the Phoenix vs Death Eaters in ''Literature/HarryPotter''.

* The two brothers in ''Series/VampireDiaries'' are a clear example. Stefan is a FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire while his brother Damon is going around killing people.

* Granny Weatherwax from ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' is a Good Witch with some of the personality of a Bad one. ''Discworld/WitchesAbroad'' reveals that she was ''supposed'' to be the Bad Witch, until her "good" older sister Lili went evil and started calling herself [[MeaningfulName Lilith]]. Granny has never forgiven her for it, and lives in fear of "[[TheDarkSide turning to the bad]]" herself.

* In ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'', Gandalf is a good wizard and Saruman is an evil wizard. Along with Sauron and the Saruman they are not even mortal but more powerful creatures that are split between the benign ("advise and assist") and the evil ("destroy and conquer")

* All witches in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' tend to zigzag between good and bad. Beatrice begins as cruel in [=EP=]s 1-4 [[spoiler: but turns out to be good in [=EP5=]]]. Maria, despite her creepy happiness to the imminent death of the whole family (including her mother) and the fact that she helps and supports Beatrice, is still to be considered a good witch because she sincerely believes that with death all of them will achieve eternal peace and happiness in the Golden Land. Lambadelta zigzags several times and [[WildCard chooses either side depending on which will entertain her most]]. Bernkastel begins as a quiet MysteriousWatcher who initially seems to be there to help Battler and Ange [[spoiler:but turns out to be the cruelest character in the series]]. EVA-Beatrice begins as evil but changes somewhat [[spoiler:with the reveal that Human!Eva really did care about Ange]]. And finally Ange, who is a good witch [[spoiler: except in [=EP8=] when she refuse to accept the truth that Battler shows her and joins the bad guys]].

* All witches in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' tend to zigzag between good and bad. Beatrice begins as cruel in [=EP=]s 1-4 [[spoiler: but turns out to be good in [=EP5=]]]. Lambadelta zigzags several times and [[WildCard chooses either side depending on which will entertain her most]]. Bernkastel begins as a quiet MysteriousWatcher who initially seems to be there to help Battler and Ange [[spoiler:but turns out to be the cruelest character in the series]]. EVA-Beatrice begins as evil but changes somewhat [[spoiler:with the reveal that Human!Eva really did care about Ange]]. And finally Ange, who is a good witch [[spoiler: except in [=EP8=] when she refuse to accept the truth that Battler shows her and joins the bad guys]].

[[folder]]

%%* Jedi versus Sith in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' movies.

** One of the Ruth Plumly Thompson novels upgrades Mombi to the former Wicked Witch of the North, defeated by the Good Witch of the North.

* In the fanfic webcomic ''[[http://www.cheshirecrossing.net/ Cheshire Crossing]]'', Dorothy had believed that Glinda was a Good Witch. Then she figures out that Glinda had actually manipulated her into killing the Wicked Witch for her. Overlaps with GrayAndGreyMorality.

* In ''MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'', Aqua Regina [[SealedEvilInACan sealed]] the entire Panthalassa race under the ocean for the ambiguous crimes of their EvilOverlord. The first main villain, Gackto ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS or Gakuto, or Gaito...]]), is the prince of the Panthalassa, escaped from the seal and seeking revenge... or that's what we're supposed to think. [[spoiler:Actually, although he was miserable under the sea and glad to be free, his real motivation is revenge for someone else, someone who happens to be from the previously "all good" mermaid race.]] Around the time of this [[TheReveal reveal]], we also learn that there are good Panthalassa, too. Aqua Regina punishes those that went against her for the destruction that they caused, but she finally realizes after thousands of years that there are good and bad members of all races.

* Jedi versus Sith in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' movies.

* Yubaba and Zeniba from ''Anime/SpiritedAway''.

[[folder:General]]
* Dark Elves are evil or require specific qualifers, especially because "Elf" tends to have [[OurElvesAreBetter a more specific meaning nowadays]]. Ironically, the "modern" [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarf]] is probably more faithful to the original Norse idea, and don't need specific moral qualifiers; ''drow'', often conflated with dark elves in modern fantasy, were originally a goblin-like fairy of Scottish folklore.
* Most oni (a sort of Japanese ogre) who appear in {{anime}} tend to be rather nasty creatures, even though this isn't part of the original mythos. "Good" oni tend to be just dumb brutish creatures.
* Modern stories set in WizardingSchool handily remove the need for moral qualifiers by making Wizarding academic. (You don't ban physics classes because it makes {{Mad Scientist}}s, after all.)
[[/folder]]

* In ''MahouSenseiNegima'' Magister Magi help people as his job, still most of them seem do it because of good will. By contrast [[NobleDemon Evangeline]] states, that when you ask an evil mage for help, you have to pay a price.

[[AC:General]]

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]

[[AC:{{Fanfic}}]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:VisualNovels]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

In many of the original myths and legends, spirits and monsters are not explicitly said to be good or evil. Often, they're just mischievous or powerful with a weird sense of humor, and reasonable people give them lip service but otherwise leave them alone. After centuries of [[MemeticMutation modifying]], [[MoralGuardians demonizing]] and [[AdaptationDecay adapting]] the stories, sometimes certain terms became associated with [[CharacterAlignment certain deeds]]. Sometimes this is a simplification to appeal to or educate young audiences, who supposedly [[ViewersAreMorons require clear morality in characters]].