History Main / HeroicNeutral

* Played with in ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' with both of the main protagonists.

* Kino of ''LightNovel/KinosJourney'' is the episodic version. Kino doesn't care about fairness, innocence, revenge, war, or any of that. The only rule is to never stay in one land for more than three days, regardless of what the plot or the newest BusFullOfInnocents tries to do to prevent that. On rare occasions, she does float the idea of staying a bit longer, only for OffscreenInertia or InferredHolocaust to get involved and make any decision moot or justified anyway.

The irony is that the Forces of Evil [[EvilCannotComprehendGood just cannot understand]] that Alice wouldn't get in their way if they [[PragmaticVillainy just left her alone]] -- not even when Alice ''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]]. [[NeutralNoLonger Now Alice is a problem]]. Uh oh.

* ''LightNovel/BanishedFromTheHerosParty''

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/Portal2'', [[spoiler:by the end of the single-player campaign, SelfDemonstrating/{{GLaDOS}} gives up on killing [[ActionSurvivor Chell]] and decides she simply wants to be left in peace.]] the song [[Music/JonathanCoulton "Want You Gone"]] is all about what it is to be ''Villainous Neutral''.

* ''Webcomic/ErikaAndThePrincesInDistress'' : Erika very much acts this way. She usually sees no reason to help out others unless it is part of her mission or benefits her in some way and concurs with [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority her people's belief]] that everyone needs to strive out for themselves. When Pita makes the argument that they're "the good guys, not the bad guys", she angrily proclaims that she is neither one nor the other.

->''You know, some days...maybe you just can't save the whole world. Some days you're better off just getting your own house in order.''

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': In the first couple of seasons, Clark Kent is like this. He just wants to marry Lana Lang and be [[IJustWantToBeNormal normal]] Clark Kent, Kansas farm boy. Of course, [[YouCantFightFate destiny]] has [[Franchise/{{Superman}} other ideas]].... Between Seasons 5 & 8 he becomes NeutralNoLonger.

*** Hawke's father, Malcolm, was a mage who fled the [[MutantDraftBoard Circle]] and risked a life on the run from the Templars...so he could have a family with the woman he loved. WordOfGod basically describes him as this - while he believed in mage freedom, he just wanted a quiet life with his wife and kids. The ''Legacy'' DLC reveals he was once [[spoiler: blackmailed by Grey Wardens into helping them reinforce the prison of a powerful darkspawn through murky means. They had to threaten Leandra's life to make him give in. He retaliated by extorting both safe passage ''and'' as much cash from them as he could.]]

** Red is completely, emphatically uninterested in the idea of rising up the ranks of the world's adventurers, let alone defeating the Demon Lord. He would very much rather continue his life as a simple apothecary in Zoltan, but will still not hesitate to get involved if a situation involves any of his friends or loved ones. Even before his titular banishment, the main reason he remained in the party was because he felt the need to look after his younger sister.
** The only person that Ruti actually gives a damn about is her older brother. The only reason she isn't Heroic Neutral is because her ability is ''literally'' TheHero. Meaning [[KidnappedByTheCall she's mentally compelled]] to fight the Demon Lord's army at all times, with her body being [[PerpetualMotionMonster hardwired to not need food or sleep]] and [[EmotionSuppression suppress all emotion]] in service of this goal. [[spoiler:Once she's able to disable this aspect of her ability, she's instantly abandons the quest to reconnect with her brother instead, and falls squarely into Heroic Neutral, making her a double subversion.]]
* Guts in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' develops into this over time. [[ByronicHero As]] [[DarkAndTroubledPast messed]] [[EverythingTryingToKillYou up]] [[SuperPoweredEvilSide as]] [[BloodKnight he]] [[TheBerserker is]], Guts truly cares about his TrueCompanions and ends up inspiring other people to lead their lives with more optimistic outlook, most of which Guts does by accident.
* ''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.

** You'd never know it to look at him now, but ''[[CardCarryingVillain Accelerator]]'' used to be like this before the story started. Long before he joined the Level 6 Esper project, Accelerator was a frequent target of assassinations and unscrupulous researchers because of his tremendous psychic powers and was forced to kill to protect himself. This simple desire to be ''left the hell alone'' eventually led him to join the Level 6 experiment, under the reasoning that since his powers won't go away the only way the get people to leave him be is to become so powerful that the idea of fighting him is an absurdity. After [[TheHero Touma]] beats the snot out of him, he becomes a slightly more traditional example, being mainly concerned with [[MoralityPet Last Order]] and a small group of his closest associates.
** The aforementioned Touma thinks of himself like this, as he never goes seeking trouble but trouble always finds its way to him, and he'll fight tooth and nail to protect those he calls his friends. However, it's also pointed out that multiple times he's gone out his way to help total strangers or even the very villains who've been targeting him, to lengths far beyond what a normal Heroic Neutral will. His sense of righteousness has even inspired villains to stand by his side, and many consider him an IdealHero with HeroicSelfDeprecation.

* Kino, of ''LightNovel/KinosJourney'', is the episodic version. Kino doesn't care about fairness, or innocence, or revenge, or war, or any of that. The only rule is to never to stay in one land for more than three days, regardless of what the plot or the newest BusFullOfInnocents tries to do to prevent that. On rare occasions, she does float the idea of staying a bit longer, only for OffscreenInertia or InferredHolocaust to get involved and make any decision moot or justified anyway.

** To a lesser extent, this also involves anyone who has the same goals that they do. Luffy stood opposed to Hody Jones not because Hody wanted to kill all humans, or because of the FantasticRacism involved, or because Hody was going to turn Fishman Island into a fascist dictatorship. Luffy stood opposed to Hody Jones because they both wanted to be King of the Pirates. Luffy didn't care about the fact that beating the tar out of Hody was also a heroic act in the slightest; he just wanted to make sure nobody but him was going to be King of the Pirates, and that was it.
** Luffy was perfectly content to let Bellamy throw food on him, punch him, insult him, and generally humiliate him because Luffy had nothing to gain by beating up Bellamy. But once Bellamy robbed Cricket of his gold, Luffy stopped playing around and [[OneHitKO took out Bellamy with one punch]].

* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': Genkai is largely this or at least claims to be. Known throughout the Demon World as the more or less their boogeyman despite only being human, Genkai is implied to have an extensive body count and known as a killer of demons. In her fight against Shishiwakamaru during the Dark Tournament, he loudly claims her to be some hero of justice and when she thoroughly beat his ass to the floor she informs him that her techniques were meant as a means to an end and a way for her to get what she wanted and unfortunately a large number of the people that stood in her way happened to be Demons. This is also largely hinted at in her introduction to the series when during her tournament she claims that she'll teach her techniques to whoever happens to win regardless of their moral standings. As she puts it "[she's] a Psychic not a Saint".

** The reason given by Emma Frost for the X-Men not joining the Civil War is that the non-mutant teams themselves generally don't get involved with the mutant problems (either the rampant racism, actual government oppression or the then-current decimation), which would later be acknowledged by Captain America at the end of the ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen event.

* Mori Tanaka from ''Film/ThreeNinjas'' is offered a chance to make big money by [[APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil his former student]], the crime boss Snyder is he will train his henchmen. Mori refuses, but also makes no attempts to tell the authorities about the incident, even though the FBI officer investigating Snyder is Mori's own son-in-law. Then Snyder has Mori's grandchildren kidnapped, and Grandpa suits up to confront him.

** The Eagles are another example: they make it clear to Gandalf in ''The Hobbit'' that although opposed to evil in general, they are seldom willing to cooperate with Men (as they feed on flocks of sheep tended by Men and Men have attacked them for it). This was also mentioned in the common objection to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' by many viewers (why they didn't just get the Eagles to fly them in) -- as Tolkien himself put it, they are not Middle-earth's taxi service. Which is one among other more practical reasons.
** Beorn, in ''Literature/TheHobbit'', is generally on the side of good, but he's also a habitual loner and strongly dislikes visitors, and seems to have a particularly low regard for dwarves. He will oppose the goblins and wargs if nothing else and was willing to come fight them at the Battle of the Five Armies, but most of the time he prefers to be left to mind his own business and for other people to mind their own problems and leave him alone.

* "Want You Gone" by Music/JonathanCoulton is about a character who is [[InvertedTrope Villainous Neutral]]. The song is about how the singer wanted someone to stay, but "now I only want you gone". In-context, [=GLaDOS=] has decided that the most [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic thing to do]] is to [[GracefulLoser just let protagonist Chell leave her testing grounds]]. All [=GLaDOS=] wants to do is test her subjects with Aperture Science devices. As much as [=GLaDOS=] can't stand Chell, letting her go is the best option, so that's what she does.

* From the ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'' series we have two odd examples, Koudelka Iasant, the main protagonist from the first game in the series, and Roger Bacon, a recurring character throughout the entire series. In between games the manga tie-in saw Koudelka gain god-like powers, a side-effect of which is she sees humanity as insignificant on a cosmic scale. In ''Shadow Hearts'' Koudelka is being tortured by the Big Bad to help summon Eldridge Horrors, but is so uninvested she goes into a meditative trance imitating a coma just to mess with him. However the second he threatens her son, [[PersonOfMassDestruction she breaks her restraints, starts glowing the walls start shaking]] and the normally unflappable Big Bad starts getting very serious. Once her son is out of danger, she is back to giving exactly two craps about humanity and only because her son is among them.
** Roger is the one who penned the Eldridge Tome Koudelka read to get her godling power-boost so obvious he has a similar view of humanity. However in Roger’s case it comes with a does of religion. Since Roger knows God is the Eldest of Elder Gods but was Christian beforehand he considers directly interfering in the fate/nature of the world blasphemy. He is willing to do basically everything other than ''directly'' interfering though, which is why he is a heroic side character. The one time Roger directly uses his reality warping insights, it is to bring back a friend of his and love interest from the main protagonist from the dead - which he expects to be smote for. It only briefly works and Roger refuses to try again because he is fairly certain God is already pissed off at him for trying and is just grateful the attempted resurrection didn’t result in a TragicMonster or him getting smote. But the experience gives us a fairly good insight into why an ultra ethical person like Roger doesn’t go using his reality warping powers to more directly help humanity - humanity simply is not worth his time, only individual friends are, and even then, he uses a light touch.

* ''Webcomic/ErikaAndThePrincesInDistress'' : Erika very much acts this way. She usually sees no reason to help out others unless it is part of her mission or benefits her in some way, and concurs with [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority her people's belief]] that everyone needs to strive out for themselves. When Pita makes the argument that they're "the good guys, not the bad guys", she angrily proclaims that she is neither one nor the other.

* Arthur of ''[[http://www.applevalleycomic.com Apple Valley]]'' frequently displays signs of this; after triggering a doomsday prophecy back in late 1999, he goes on a heroic adventure... briefly... then returns home and essentially ignores the entire prophecy for nearly another decade [[spoiler: as reality falls apart around him]]. It's only after an army of furries from the dimension next door invade his home town [[spoiler: and disrupt his television watching]] that his brother and girlfriend manage to coax him into even trying to set things right, and even then only just barely.

** Torg in "That Which Redeems" is an interesting example in that he ''becomes'' this after attempting to lead LaResistance against the DemonicInvaders. It turns out the locals are such PerfectPacifistPeople there is no chance leading them in resistance, causing Torg to decide to just to hide out living relatively happily with his new girlfriend and pet rabbit as long as they can survive.

* 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 ends 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.

* Iran during the 1991 Gulf War. At that time, they just recently earned their peace after they cornered Iraq to bankruptcy during UsefulNotes/IranIraqWar, and was not interested in joining the NATO-dominated coalition (it does not help that members of that coalition were supporting Iraq during the UsefulNotes/IranIraqWar). For Saddam's part, he knew better than to provoke his long time nemesis.

* ''Literature/ThePostman'''s [[RetiredBadass George Powhatan]] just wants to be [[{{Cincinnatus}} left alone to run his farm and brew some good beer]]. In a mild twist on this trope, that would suit the villains just fine -- if his settlement insists on its neutrality, it's in an ideal position to keep their opponents from linking up.

* ''Literature/InstantDeath'': As long as he and Tomochika are not the target, Yogiri doesn't care what happens around him.

** [[Franchise/MonsterVerse San and to a lesser extent Vivienne]] generally fit this trope. San is concerned about his and his [[BalefulPolymorph formerly-human]] "[[TwoBeingsOneBody sister]]"'s welfare (and [[{{Protectorate}} eventually puts Vivienne's specific welfare first]]), and beyond his curiosity, he generally holds neither malice nor generosity towards humans if they've neither earned his UnstoppableRage nor helped them out. Vivienne is TheConscience of the duo for this reason.

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 MrExposition, etc. The protagonists will still have to do the heavy lifting, but Alice at least got them started.

* ''LightNovel/InstantDeath'': As long as he and Tomochika are not the target, Yogiri doesn't care what happens around him.

Oh, she'll get angry if you mess with [[{{Protectorate}} her friends and loved ones]]. She 'might'' even take an interest in what is happening in her neighborhood. But going beyond that is just "meddling".

A Heroic Neutral is a character who has the qualities of a protagonist but no motivation to enter the plot. The defining characteristic of the Heroic Neutral is simple: don't mess with them and they won't mess with you.

Oh, she'll get angry if you mess with [[{{Protectorate}} her friends and family]] or any {{Love Interest}}s she may have. She 'might'' even take an interest in what is happening in her own neighborhood. But going beyond that is just "meddling".

It is the [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive job of the plot to make Alice care]]. Heroic Neutral types usually DefaultToGood, but that's because Evil is usually [[VillainsActHeroesReact the side that provokes them]]: kidnaps their loved ones, threatens their home village, kicks their dog, etc. When Evil starts it, Alice will [[NeutralNoLonger finish it]]. And once she's put everything back to normal, she'll go right home and stay there until some idiot messes with her again.

The irony is that the Forces of Evil [[EvilCannotComprehendGood just cannot understand]] that Alice wouldn't get in their way if they [[PragmaticVillainy didn't bother her]] -- not even when Alice ''tells them'' as much. Granted, the bad guys cannot simply overlook someone 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]]. [[NeutralNoLonger Now Alice is a problem]]. Whoops.

Alice's indifference can be {{justified|Trope}} if she's already spent most of her life fighting the forces of evil and [[RetiredBadass now feels she's earned the right to sit this one out]]. From her perspective, it's time for younger heroes to take up the slack. In this case, she may break neutrality only to provide indirect assistance: handing over the FreeSamplePlotCoupon, giving them her MacGuffin, serving as MrExposition, etc. The protagonists will still have to do the dirty work, but Alice at least got them started.

* The most iconic incarnation of the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk is the simple-minded green version; although he's quick to anger, left to his own devices both he and Banner just seek isolation, possibly making friends along the way. There's a reason "HULK JUST WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE!" is one of the character's catchphrases. But if anything happens to either of their friends, the Hulk really gets angry, and whoever is at fault will get the worst of the rampage.
* On that note, everyone in the initial lineup of ComicBook/TheDefenders. Apart from Dr. Strange, you had the Hulk (mentioned above); the ComicBook/{{Submariner}}, who was more concerned with affairs in his home country than anything beyond it; and the ComicBook/SilverSurfer, who just wants to go home. Each was massively powerful, mostly a loner, and a bit of a misanthrope, but would spring into action if the threat was big enough.

* [[Film/TheBourneSeries Jason Bourne]] would love nothing more than to be left alone by the CIA and enjoy a peaceful life in which he doesn't have to kill anyone anymore. He only ever shows any interest in exposing their corruption when they are stupid enough to come after him while he is in hiding, either to kill him or frame him for their own misdeeds.

It is the [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive job of the plot to make Alice care]]. Heroic Neutral types usually DefaultToGood, but it's only because Evil is [[VillainsActHeroesReact more likely to earn their ire]]: kidnap their loved ones, threaten their home village, kick their dog, etc. And once they do, Alice will do whatever it takes to return things to the way they were. If Evil started it, she'll [[NeutralNoLonger finish it]]. And then she'll go right back home until some idiot tries to mess with her again.

The biggest irony is that the Forces of Evil [[EvilCannotComprehendGood can't seem to get it into their heads]] that Alice wouldn't get in their way if they [[PragmaticVillainy just left her alone]]. Sometimes, Alice will outright say that [[StatingTheSimpleSolution she just wants to go back home and be left to her own devices]], yet Evil never takes the hint. Granted, the bad guys cannot simply overlook someone who could [[BadassBystander easily 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]]. [[NeutralNoLonger Now Alice is a problem]]. Oops.

KarmicTricksters are often Heroic Neutral. May also be a KnightInSourArmor. If this happens not just once or twice but continually, chances are they're a WeirdnessMagnet. See NeutralNoLonger for when they finally lose the neutrality.

* ''LightNovel/BanishedFromTheHerosParty:'' Red is completely, emphatically uninterested in the idea of rising up the ranks of the world's adventurers, let alone defeating the Demon Lord. He would very much rather continue his life as a simple apothecary in Zoltan, but will still not hesitate to get involved if a situation involves any of his friends or loved ones. Even before his titular banishment, the main reason he remained in the party was because he felt the need to look after his younger sister.
** Speaking of, said younger sister technically falls under this trope as well, as the only person that Ruti actually gives a damn about is her older brother. The only reason she isn't Heroic Neutral is because her ability is ''literally'' TheHero. Meaning [[KidnappedByTheCall she's mentally compelled]] to fight the Demon King's army at all times, with her body being [[PerpetualMotionMonster hardwired to not need food or sleep]] and [[EmotionSuppression suppress all emotion]] in service of this goal. [[spoiler:Once she's able to disable this aspect of her ability, she's instantly abandons the quest to reconnect with her brother instead and falls squarely into this trope.]]
* Guts in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' develops into this over time. [[ByronicHero As]] [[DarkAndTroubledPast messed]] [[EverythingTryingToKillYou up]] [[SuperPoweredEvilSide as]] [[BloodKnight he]] [[TheBerserker is]], Guts truly cares about his TrueCompanions and ends up inspiring other people to lead their lives with more optimistic outlook.

The biggest irony is that the Forces of Evil [[EvilCannotComprehendGood can't seem to get it into their heads]] that Alice wouldn't get in their way if they [[PragmaticVillainy just left her alone]]. Granted, the bad guys cannot simply overlook someone who could [[BadassBystander easily 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]]. [[NeutralNoLonger Now Alice is a problem]]. Congratulations.

A Heroic Neutral character has the qualities of a protagonist, but no motivation to enter the plot. The defining characteristic of the Heroic Neutral is simple: if you don't mess with them, they won't mess with you.

Oh, she'll get angry if you mess with [[{{Protectorate}} her close family and any]] {{Love Interest}}s she might have. Occasionally, she ''may'' even take an interest in what is happening in her own neighborhood. But intervening beyond that is just "meddling".

Alice is principled and skilled, and she'd make a great hero. But all she wants is to [[HomeSweetHome live in peace]]. Out there, the Forces of Good and Evil may be fighting to the death, but she doesn't care. She'll turn down HeroesRUs ''and'' Villains "R" Us, and she'll give both of them the same reason: she just doesn't want to get involved.

It is the [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive job of the plot to make Alice care]]. Heroic Neutral types DefaultToGood not so much because of inherent valour as because Evil is [[VillainsActHeroesReact more likely to earn their ire]]: kidnap their loved ones, threaten their home village, etc. And Alice will do whatever it takes to return things to the way they were. If Evil starts it, she'll [[NeutralNoLonger finish it]]. And then she'll go right back home until some idiot tries to mess with her again.

The biggest irony is that the Forces of Evil [[EvilCannotComprehendGood can't seem to get it into their heads]] that Alice wouldn't oppose them if they [[PragmaticVillainy just left her alone]]. Granted, the bad guys cannot simply overlook someone who could [[BadassBystander easily 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]]. [[NeutralNoLonger Now Alice is a problem]]. Congratulations.

The biggest irony is that Evil [[EvilCannotComprehendGood can't seem to get it into its head]] that Alice would not be a problem for them if they just stopped bothering her. If they employed a little PragmaticVillainy about the whole thing, they would realize that Alice would be out of their hair if they just let her go home and have her own way. But Evil being what it is, the bad guys cannot simply overlook someone who has [[BadassBystander more than enough power to kick their asses]]. If Alice is not recruited or killed, they think, [[DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs surely she'll bring all of their plans to ruin]]. So they poke the metaphorical beehive, thus [[SelfFulfillingProphecy causing the very defeat they were trying to prevent]], because ''[[NeutralNoLonger now]]'' Alice is motivated to destroy them.

It can be {{justified|Trope}} if Alice has already spent most of her life fighting the forces of evil and [[RetiredBadass now feels she's earned the right to sit this one out]]. From her perspective, it's time for younger heroes to take up the slack. In this case, she may break neutrality only to provide indirect assistance: handing over the FreeSamplePlotCoupon, giving them her MacGuffin, serving as MrExposition, etc. The protagonists will still have to do the dirty work, but Alice at least got them started.

Certainly, Alice will get angry if you mess with [[{{Protectorate}} her close family and any]] {{Love Interest}}s she might have. Occasionally, she ''may'' even take an interest in what is happening in her own neighborhood. But intervening beyond that is just "meddling".

Alice is principled and skilled, and she'd make a great hero. But all she wants is to [[HomeSweetHome live in peace]]. Out there, the Forces of Good and Evil may be fighting to the death, but she doesn't care. She'll turn down HeroesRUs and [[RefusalOfTheCall refuse the call]] as easily as she'll turn down Villains "R" Us, and turn them both down for the same reason: she doesn't want to get involved in the conflict.

It is the [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive job of the plot to make Alice care]]. Heroic Neutral types DefaultToGood not so much because of inherent valour as because Evil is [[VillainsActHeroesReact more likely to earn their ire]]: kidnap their loved ones, threaten their home village, etc. And Alice will do whatever it takes to return things to the way they were. If Evil starts it, she [[NeutralNoLonger will finish it]]. And then she'll go right back home until some idiot tries to mess with her again.

** In the mini-series ''ComicBook/RenewYourVows'', an alternate timeline where Peter Parker remained married and fathered a daughter with Mary Jane, he segues back into this when [[spoiler: the choice is forced on him to save his family from Venom or help the Avengers stop a new villain named Regent. He chooses the former, and the Avengers are almost wiped out by Regent. Regent takes control of the world and Peter tries to keep his and his family's heads down so that they aren't bothered by the villain; unsurprisingly, it doesn't stick once his daughter starts displaying her own powers.]]

* The Runaways of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice''. They can't trust anyone, and those they trust would only be put in harm's way if they went to them, so they tend to stay on the sidelines. They did pay their debt to the Team when they rescued them in "The Hunt", and they also helped stop [[spoiler: the Reach apocalypse in the finale]], but ultimately they aren't interested in playing heroes as much as getting their own lives in order. [[spoiler:Virgil counts as NeutralNoLonger when he joins the team after the Reach apocalypse, deciding that he likes being a hero.]]

* ''LightNovel/BanishedFromTheHerosParty:'' Red is completely, emphatically uninterested in the idea of rising up the ranks of the world's adventurers, let alone defeating the Demon Lord. He would very much rather continue his life as a simple apothecary in Zoltan, but will still not hesitate to get involved if a situation involves any of his friends or loved ones. Even before his titular banishment, the main reason he remained in the party was because he felt the need to look after his younger sister]].
** Speaking of, said younger sister technically falls under this trope as well, as the only person that Ruti actually gives a damn about is her older brother. The only reason she's fighting against the Demon Lord's army is because her ability is ''literally'' TheHero: [[KidnappedByTheCall she's mentally compelled to accomplish this goal]], with her body being [[PerpetualMotionMonster hardwired to not need food or sleep]] and [[EmotionSuppression suppress all emotion]] in service to this goal. [[spoiler:Once she's able to disable this aspect of her ability, she's instantly abandons the quest to reconnect with her brother and likewise only continues to involve herself when it directly threatens her new peaceful life.]]

* ''LightNovel/BanishedFromTheHerosParty:'' Red is completely, emphatically uninterested in the idea of rising up the ranks of the world's adventurers, let alone defeating the Demon Lord. He would very much rather continue his life as a simple apothecary in Zoltan, but will still not hesitate to get involved if a situation involves any of his friends or loved ones. Even before his titular banishment, the main reason he remained in the party was because he [[BigBrotherInstinct felt the need to look after his younger sister]] (who is the hero in question) moreso than fighting evil.

* Kino, of ''LightNovel/KinosJourney'', is the episodic version. Kino doesn't care about fairness, or innocence, or revenge, or war, or any of that. The only rule: never to stay in one land for more than three days. The plot and various BusFullOfInnocents then work to provide reasons to get Kino's attention anyway. Averted in some episodes where the plot fails and OffscreenInertia or InferredHolocaust get involved.

* Painfully deconstructed in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. The protagonist, Shinji Ikari, has no desire to pilot a cybernetic mecha monstrosity and save the world from eldritch horrors. He's a deeply depressed kid who drifts through life on autopilot, doing whatever people tell him to so they'll stop bothering him. [[GoMadFromTheRevelation This goes about]] [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome as well as]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds you would expect.]]

** In the mini-series ''ComicBook/RenewYourVows'', an alternate timeline where Peter Parker remained married and fathered a daughter with Mary Jane, he segues back into this when [[spoiler: the choice is forced on him to save his family from Venom or help the Avengers stop a new villain named Regent. He chooses the former, and the Avengers are almost wiped out by Regent. Regent takes control of the world and Peter tries to keep his and his family's heads down so that they aren't bothered by the villain; unsurprisingly, it doesn't stick.]]

* ''LightNovel/BanishedFromTheHerosParty:'' Red is completely, emphatically uninterested in the idea of rising up the ranks of the world's adventurers, let alone defeating the Demon Lord. He would very much rather continue his life as a simple apothecary in Zoltan, but will still not hesitate to get involved if a situation involves any of his friends or loved ones.