History Main / LawfulGood

* The heroes of "MobilePolicePatlabor", full stop!

* InspectorZenigata from LupinTheThird is typically this, although since the series is a LongRunner it can vary DependingOnTheWriter. He has good reason to try to catch the ChaoticNeutral protagonist, but never hesitates to change focus when a much worse criminal gets involved, and will even ally with his archnemesis in order to save lives (but never lets him off the hook for long, due to his Lawfulness).

* [[BadassGrandpa Henry Walton Jones Senior]] in [[IndianaJones Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade]].

* Paksenarrion and Duke Phelan from TheDeedOfPaksenarrion by ElizabethMoon. Other paladins and marshals, and also sergeant Stammel are most likely of this alignment too.

* Giles from BuffyTheVampireSlayer started out LawfulGood, attempting to keep Buffy in line with the Council's wishes. Didn't take him long to cross over to NeutralGood, and that alignment was pretty much solidified by the time Buffy told the Council to stuff it.
* Seeley Booth from [[Bones]] is the character from said show that fits this alignment best (it makes sense, seeing as he works for the FBI and takes his job very seriously).

* [[HotAmazon Chun]] [[ActionGirl Li]] from ''StreetFighter''. She works hard to bring [[BigBad M.Bison]] and Shadaloo to justice, [[ActionMom adopted several children]], and [[ApologeticAttacker hates inflicting harm on her opponents]].

* CommandAndConquer:

* Sasha Nein of {{Psychonauts}}. His air of complete disinterest may make him seem more LawfulNeutral at first, but what else do you expect from TheSpock?
* Anyone from the Belmont clan in {{Castlevania}} (save for [[CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow Gabriel]], who is totally unrelated and is NeutralGood) can be categorized as LawfulGood, as they carry their duty from the vampire killer bloodline to hunt down Dracula to protect mankind. Alucard fits as well, as he fights in part because of his loyalty to his mother and her people.

* In SpongeBob has Sandy, Krabs (Pre-movie), Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, and Neptune.

* [[YourMileageMayVary One could argue]] that PhineasAndFerb count as this alignment--they break the rules ''constantly,'' but only because their mother never bothered to tell them that they weren't allowed to go into outer space/build [[HumongousMecha giant robots]]/construct their own town/etc. They do, however, get building permits (written in crayon) and taking zoning laws into account, while also fudging the rules occasionally (if the family car is being controlled by a remote, does it really count as underage driving?)

Alternatively, too much weight on the "Law" side and too little on the "Good" can easily inspire a KnightTemplar, though those tend to be LawfulNeutral. This leads to unceasing debates over whether these people are playing the alignment "right", or whether they should belong to one of the other lawful alignments. Seriously, just check out any given ''{{Dungeons and Dragons}}'' forum. We're not kidding about "[[InternetBackdraft unceasing]]".

Lawful Good can be the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion. Lawful Good can be a dangerous alignment because it restricts freedom and criminalizes self-interest.

* Anyone from the Belmont clan in {{Castlevania}} (save for [[CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow Gabriel]], who is totally unrelated and is TrueNeutral) can be categorized as LawfulGood, as they carry their duty from the vampire killer bloodline to hunt down Dracula to protect mankind. Alucard fits as well, as he fights in part because of his loyalty to his mother and her people.

* In ''TalesOfTheAbyss'', Jade Curtiss (of all people) clearly demonstrates this alignment if you delve into the game's numerous sidequests. He even gets a title calling him "Lawman".

** Less questionably, [[EverythingsBetterWithPlatypi Perry]] and the rest of the O.W.C.A.

** Most Xanth protagonists arguably have this as their alignment, with only occasional Chaotic examples like Metria. They are typically very noble, honest, kind, and will keep their word no matter what. In fact, they adherance to keeping bargains has caused a couple of them to verge on LawfulStupid territory. The most notable example is probably Grey Murphy, who found himself bound to serve the evil RealityWarper Com Pewter simply because of a vow ''his parents'' made. And he was going to go through with it! Some comments from the author have suggested this is actually what he believes is right.

'''Character archetypes particularly prone to this alignment includes:'''

* GalaxyRangers - Zachary is pretty much a dictionary definition of LawfulGood...unless you [[BerzerkButton threaten his wife]] or [[PapaWolf kids]].

** [[IllGirl Hotaru]] [[ApocalypseMaiden Tomoe]] a.k.a Sailor Neptune could count as well.

* Uncle Iroh from ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is this alignment, amongst others. He is polite and friendly even to his enemies, and does not use violence without warrant. He also uses his firebending lawfully, using passion and drive to power it as opposed to anger and hate, he also only uses it when completely necesarry. He also recognizes and respects Aang, the avatar, and Zuko, who he regards as the true Firelord, despite the fact he himself could assume the throne if he wanted to.

** Will Turner ''tires'' to be this through most of the series, but since piracy is InTheBlood, he pretty much realizes by the end that trying a lawful approach isn't going to do him any good in the long run, since pirates have a natural drive towards chaos.

* Most of the crew of ''CowboyBebop'' seem to be ChaoticNeutral, but Jet Black, the ship's owner, is a fairly realistic portrayal of Lawful Good. Dedicated, in his own way, to the pursuit of law and justice (the reason why he became a bounty hunter after quitting the force), he was known as an exemplary example of an honest cop during his days as the Black Dog of Ganymede. Of course, his willingness to use violence and intimidation (threatening to gouge out a man's eye with a broken bottle in Asteroid Blues, or snapping a defeated opponent's neck because he had no bounty in Boogie Woogie Feng Shui), plus his general cynicism, might bump him to LawfulNeutral instead.
** I'd lean toward Chaotic Good for Jet, since he relates in the movie that he left the police force because people were either corrupt or too concerned about their careers to worry about things like JUSTICE. Arguably he just took up a new code when the one he'd been following came up wanting.

** Nanoha's "devilish" behaviour tends to move her more towards NeutralGood, since she cares about the people rather than their acts. Fate however, definitely is more interested in being "the cop".

*** He has more shades of NeutralGood, with his wish to change the Hokuto Shiken marital arts from a combat art, as it has traditionally been for 2000 years, into a healing art, and is one of the most indisputably good persons in the whole wasteland, and is willing to sacrifice himself on several occasions to help the people of the wastelands.

*** [[http://read.mangashare.com/Naruto/chapter-252/page016.html She mentions it in passing in the Gaara arc]].

** Despite this, he still assisted in having the innocent people on Ohara killed, so he's not significantly better than Akainu.
** But it is shown that he didn't believe in what he was ordered to do by sparing Nico Robin.

** That particular example was ambiguous, as it could be seen as [[spoiler:Captain Marvel was somewhat naieve, believing Lex's statements without confirmation, and Superman was reacting to what he felt was an actual threat, not believing the unrepenting supervillain's protests]]
** Whether the Captain was being naive or not (and we do know that [[spoiler:Lex was counting on Superman to spot the 'bomb' and react and thus can hardly be considered wholly innocent]]), in this case his actions arguably reflected the lawful good 'gold standard' better than Superman's kneejerk response did.
* The [[{{Batman}} Adam West days]] of ''{{Comicbook/Batman}}'' tended to lean towards Lawful Good. He was less of a vigilante who broke the laws and only had his one true rule, to a detective on the force that just really liked bats.
** As always, Batman's portrayal has varied so much over the years, one could make the case that [[http://kundor.org/pub/batman-alignment.jpg for any alignment, there's some incarnation of the Bat who fits.]] (Warning for dial-up users: BIG picture.)
** Batman is ''canonically'' LawfulGood ([=DnD=] canonical, not DC canonical). ''Complete Scoundrel'' lists him as an example of how a LawfulGood scoundrel will act (scoundrel, in this sense, being based around quick thinking and flexibility, rather than being CiaphasCain).
** Arguably, one of the factors which make Batman LawfulGood rather than ChaoticGood is his adherence to his "never kill" code. Confront with ThePunisher.
*** Of course, adherence to one rule is not always enough to label somebody as LawfulGood, especially if there are a lot of rules that the character does ''not'' adhere to, like social rules and such. Because Batman has varied a lot in methods between interpretations, while still maintaining that rule, this means he can flip-flop through any of the good alignments depending on the author, while still maintaining that one golden rule. Actually, he has been all around the whole alignment chart at one point or another, as can be seen in the chart linked to above.
** Batman picks and chooses a lot of the rules that he follows. For example, he insists on leaving justice to the law and he would never steal, but he's more then happy to hack any computer, including police ones, break and enter,take evidence from a crime scene, resist arrest, break out of jail when he does get arrested, and use some mild amounts of torture to get his information. This is pretty evident in all of his incarnations, so nine times out of ten he's almost all chaotic good.

** Bigby might be closer to LawfulNeutral, due to his willingness to be ruthless in the name of protecting Fabletown. King Cole, Snow White, Beast, and Flycatcher are more clearly LawfulGood.

** It's said in a one strip-gag that she's heavily in denial about her Artax and Yeagar.
*** But, like Captain Carrot, it ''works'' for her. For bonus, she's the cleric ''and'' TeamMom for a bunch of {{Heroic Sociopath}}s, and Heaven ''help'' you if you make their MoralityPet cry.

** Debatable, especially in the 2009 film, where the Vulcan motto "Live long and prosper" never sounded so much like "Fuck you" when spoken from ''Spock'' himself. And he was talking to the Vulcan High Council.
*** Lawful Good doesn't [[GoodIsNotNice mean Lawful Polite]].
**** But it does mean ''Lawful''. Defying cultural expectations (especially in an emotional way in a logic-driven society) is not a lawful act. Nor is later when he beats the tar out of Kirk after being provoked, or earlier when he takes on the Vulcan bullies. He's a NeutralGood character who tries desperately to live up to his LawfulNeutral / LawfulGood society but stumbles repeatedly on his human half. Arguably for the better.

** Although Vimes does possess an attitude that is VERY common amongst ChaoticGood characters. Vimes is one of the few different ways to successfully play LawfulGood without venturing into Lawful Stupid territory and Carrot does seem to be learning from him. Vimes is is one of the most underhanded, cunning people in fiction, yet he is ''still'' a legend across the Disc for his commitment to justice. There are some laws and rules he refuses to break, because he knows that once you break a rule for a good reason, it's much easier to break it for a bad one.
*** In fact, Vimes doesn't ''trust'' himself to be Chaotic Good - he can see himself becoming a WellIntentionedExtremist very easily, and holding to the Law keeps him honest.
*** There's a motivational poster floating around the internet with a sketch of Vimes by Paul Kidby and the caption, "This is how you play Lawful Good you bastards." [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/Gojira/automotivator.jpg]]
**** Vimes is the ''embodiment'' of Lawful Good! "Who watches the Watchmen?" "I do." "Ah, but who watches you, Commander Vimes?" "I do."
*** The conflict between Lawful and Good is hinted at being why Vimes always becomes more determined if someone tries to kill him, because there is no conflict after that happens.

** In MarionZimmerBradley's ''The Firebrand'', he was more of a ChaoticNeutral JerkAss.
** Subverted in Books 16-18 of the ''Iliad'' in which he strives to defile Patroclus' dead body, corpse dishonor being a big unwritten rule violation back then.

** That's a little too biased towards lawful in the fellowship. Many would argue that all of the hobbits are NeutralGood simply due to the nature of their race, with Merry and Pippin leaning in a chaotic direction, maybe Sam leaning lawful. Gandalf too is NeutralGood, since he goes beyond his sense of duty to, well, hang out with hobbits, and because he does oppose Saruman when it becomes clear he is corrupted. Aragorn most definitely ''starts off'' as NeutralGood, but moves to LawfulGood over the course of the books when he realizes he cannor fight his fate as the heir of the throne of Gondor. Gimli and Boromir, however, are LawfulGood all trhough, despite their distinctive personalities.
*** Just to clarify, in the books, Aragorn ''never'' has any doubts about his right to the throne of Gondor. He knows it is his heritage and he ''seeks'' it and not only because Elrond demanded it as a condition for marrying Arwen to him. The 'doubt' part was only in the films.

** The best way to describe Elliot Stabler is probably "ChaoticNeutral who wants to be Lawful Good." Take, for example, the time he saw a school photo of his underage daughter appear on a pedophile's website (he had offended teh man who ran the website earlier in the episode). He beats the man who posted the picture to a bloody pulp, demanding he remove the picture, and nearly lost his job for it. Still, he does try to uphold the law, when it [[PapaWolf doesn't get in the way of protecting his family]].
*** Neutral? No, Stabler genuinely wants to help people (and does), he just chafes under the system at times and has a temper. Sounds suspiciously like a ChaoticGood person with some genuine character flaws

** An interesting example in that we get to watch him become a KnightInSourArmor over the course of the series, CharacterDevelopment bought about by both losing faith in said superiors and thereby asserting his own authority.

*** This is made problematic at several points; most notably, the fact that the Colonials are the protagonists sometimes unduly sways analysis of the morality of her character. Her all-consuming concern is the survival of the human race, which is not a morally good goal but a neutral one (*everyone* wants to survive), and she tears ass through rules and ignore protocols, as well as stacks up a hefty supply of dead bodies (mostly though a sudden an non-consensual exit through an airlock) in pursuit of that goal. The only thing that prevents her from slipping into NeutralEvil territory is her indications on a couple of points that there are lines she will not cross, and her willingness to compromise with other authorities.

** A desire for, and taking actions towards creating order and discipline in the universe are lawful actions, and even if they are caused by OCD, they are still a part of his personality, and his upholding of law and tradition and huge list of actions take to compulsively "organize" his world make him ''definitely'' lawful.
*** How does the compulsive need to arrange everything in tens make Monk lawful? It's not his OCD, it's his drive to see justice done, to see the killer caught and doing so within the system that makes Monk Lawful Good.

** Compared to the everyone else, the Tau smell like roses and give cookies to children. Sterilization cookies, but cookies none the less.

*** ''Most'' draenei, at any rate. [[IronWoobie Farseer Nobundo]] is more NeutralGood. And while it ''might'' be possible to file [[ExaltedTorturer Interrogator Khan]] (who is a [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique scary, scary guy]]) under GoodIsNotNice, let's not even ''talk'' about the Auchenai. Or, for that matter, [[AxCrazy Setaal Darkmender]].

** Starting in ''SonicTheHedgehog3'', repeated in ''SonicAdventure'', and occasionally lampshaded after that, Knuckles was so thickheaded that Eggman was able to constantly slide him into the LawfulStupid role by telling him that Sonic wanted to steal the Master Emerald. Putting the two at each other's throats was naturally part of Eggman's plan to steal the emerald himself, and it seems Knuckles was notoriously slow to wise up to this.
** Lately it seems like Knuckles is veering in a vaguely Chaotic Good direction, especially because more and more it seems like he's recognized the futility of hanging out next to the Master Emerald waiting for some punk to try something (he's gotta sleep sometime, which seems to be when most of the thefts occur), and so he does his own thing until he gets word that it's been stolen again, whereupon he goes back and gets it.
** After spending several games being the "borderline KnightTemplar" version of LawfulNeutral, GUN has started to shift to this after the events of ShadowTheHedgehog.

** Probably borderline NeutralGood on her during the course of the original game however, mostly because of her association with the ChaoticGood AVALANCHE, and her general attitude towards Shinra, which she constantly has to deal with due to their interest in her. Red XIII, however, is a better example, due to his high respect towards his elders and ancestors (at least eventually), and initially only follows the party to get back home to his adoptive grandfather.

** Indeed, most of Gil's problems derive from the way he hovers between his father's [[LawfulNeutral order]] and Agatha's [[NeutralGood general benevolence]].

** However he does '''[[MemeticMutation WANT YOUR FACE!!]]'''

'''When dealing with the examples of specific characters, remember that assigning an alignment to a character who doesn't come with one is pretty [[SubjectiveTropes subjective]]. If you've got a problem with a character being listed here, it probably belongs on the discussion page. ''There will be no RealLife examples under any circumstances; it just invites an EditWar.''
'''

When dealing with the examples of specific characters, remember that assigning an alignment to a character who doesn't come with one is pretty [[SubjectiveTropes subjective]]. If you've got a problem with a character being listed here, it probably belongs on the discussion page. ''There will be no RealLife examples under any circumstances; it just invites an EditWar.''

* Laurence in Naomi Novik's ''Temeraire'' series which sometimes leads to disagreements and misunderstandings with his NeutralGood[=/=]ChaoticGood dragon.