History Main / HeroicNeutral

* Knuckles from the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series is a loner who is destined to guard the Master Emerald at Angel Island, but he usually joins Sonic and the gang in their battle against Dr. Eggman when the situation calls for it.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Ryuuken Ishida is a [[ArcherArchetype Quincy]] of exceptional power who utterly [[IJustWantToBeNormal refuses]] to use his power and wants his clan to be declared extinct with his (deceased) father's generation. He refuses to have anything to do with either Quincies or Shinigami, and won't even hunt Hollows. When he [[ParentExMachina restores his son's self-destroyed power]], it's the very first time that the 15-year-old Uryuu has ever seen Ryuuken use his power. Why Ryuuken's teenage WideEyedIdealism transformed into JadeColouredGlasses is all part of his only partially explained MysteriousPast. The final arc [[spoiler:that directly relates to said MysteriousPast]]; however, seems to be pushing him to being NeutralNoLonger.

* Godzilla from Legendary's ''Monsterverse''. He is a powerful force of nature, indifferent to humanity, and is content to simply rest on the ocean floor and leave humans in peace. However, time and again human action causes the balance of nature to be disrupted, and so Godzilla rises to the action to set things right, retreating to his undersea lair once his job is done.

* This is the attitude of the Upper Planes -- the actual, card-carrying ''angels'' -- in ''TabletopGame/PlaneScape''. Despite being vastly more powerful than most {{Player Character}}s and at least ostensibly on the same side, the supposed great warriors of Good stay on their own planes and act superior unless ''personally'' attacked. The Upper Planar major campaign [[NonPlayerCharacter [=NPCs=]]] consist of a racist demagogue, a Machiavellian schemer, a condescending academic, an egomaniacal merchant, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking a couple of ordinary merchants]]. The only exception, Unity-of-Rings, performs small acts of charity -- but adamantly refuses to do anything that would actually require his incredible angelic powers.

A common flaw for the Forces of Evil is that Evil [[EvilCannotComprehendGood just cannot understand]] that Alice wouldn't get in their way if they [[PragmaticVillainy just left her alone]] -- sometimes, even when Alice explicitly tells them as much. Granted, the bad guys cannot simply overlook a WildCard who could [[BadassBystander kick their asses]]. But in their haste to [[DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs 'solve' the problem of Alice before she becomes a problem]], they [[SelfFulfillingProphecy do exactly the thing to motivate her to come after them]]. ''Now'' [[NeutralNoLonger Alice is a problem]]... and the Forces of Evil have [[CreateYourOwnHero no one to blame but themselves]].

Alice's indifference can be {{justified|Trope}} if she's already spent her life fighting the forces of evil and [[RetiredBadass feels she's earned her retirement]]. From her perspective, it's time for someone else to step up. In this case, she may break neutrality only to provide indirect assistance: handing over the FreeSamplePlotCoupon, giving them her MacGuffin, serving as MsExposition, etc. The protagonists will still have to do the heavy lifting, but Alice at least got them started.

A common flaw for the Forces of Evil is that Evil [[EvilCannotComprehendGood just cannot understand]] that Alice wouldn't get in their way if they [[PragmaticVillainy just left her alone]] -- sometimes, even when Alice explicitly tells them as much. Granted, the bad guys cannot simply overlook a WildCard who could [[BadassBystander kick their asses]]. But in their haste to [[DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs 'solve' the problem of Alice before she becomes a problem]], they [[SelfFulfillingProphecy do exactly the thing to motivate Alice to come after them]]. [[NeutralNoLonger Now Alice is a problem]], because [[CreateYourOwnHero the Forces of Evil have made her into a problem]].

* In the first movie, the titular ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' just wants to live in his swamp by himself. He ends up going on a quest to rescue Princess Fiona for the sake of getting all of the fairy tale creatures out of his swamp after Lord Farquaad sends them there. While Farquaad keeps his end of the bargain, CharacterDevelopment along the way on Shrek's part meant that [[LonelyAtTheTop he abandoned the few people who genuinely liked him to get his swamp back]], making Shrek realize how desperately lonely he really was.

** The X-Men are quickly becoming this to the rest of the Marvel Universe, most noticeably during the events of the ComicBook/CivilWar. Of course, a community on the verge of extinction isn't likely to get very proactive about concerns outside their own community. However, the team is largely still composed of decent people, so if things ''really'' hit the fan, they'll pitch in regardless.

* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'':
** The "Inward Perfection" civic turns your empire into one, giving bonuses to unity and population growth at the cost of restricted political options.
** In general, Pacifist empires will stay within their own borders, and out of everyone else's affairs.
** Fallen Empires are these in most cases. Being HigherTechSpecies who have no interest in the affairs of the younger empires. That is of course unless something gets their attention, like colonizing a world they consider holy, or they decide to awaken. Either of which will be [[CurbStompBattle catastrophic for whoever they have their sights on...]]

** In general, Xenophobic empires will stay within their own borders, and out of everyone else's affairs.