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4[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/00blueandorangemoralitybutactuallyorange_1.png]]
5[[caption-width-right:349:''Ye who walk the Path of Bacon[softreturn] shall be [[YourFavorite with dinner blessed]].[softreturn] Yet ye who walk the Way of Necktie[softreturn] shall be [[SharpDressedMan for dinner dressed]].'']]
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7%% Caption chosen by caption repair thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900&page=3
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9%%
10
11->''"For one of dragon's blood to not take up weapons, to not prepare night and day to slaughter any enemies that would come against them--it is unthinkable. It is--one who does such a thing, who believes the world will not be dangerous, will not strive to kill him… That is what we call insane."''
12-->-- '''Shidan''', ''Fanfic/EmbersVathara''
13%% Quote changed per General Page Quote Discussion Thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1327331003042025100&page=114#2838
14
15To say that questions of morality are thorny and [[GreyAndGrayMorality filled with gray]] when they aren't being [[BlackAndWhiteMorality hammered]] between stark absolutes is putting it mildly. Because of this there can be great drama when characters who [[ShadesOfConflict represent a wide range]] of moral viewpoints come [[TeethClenchedTeamwork together]] or into conflict.
16
17The strangest of these characters are those who espouse Blue and Orange Morality. These characters have a moral framework that is so utterly alien and foreign to human experience that we can't [[AboveGoodAndEvil peg them as "good" or "evil"]]. They aren't a ChaoticNeutral [[TheUnfettered Unfettered]], though they may seem to act [[CloudCuckooLander terrifyingly randomly;]] nor are they necessarily a LawfulNeutral [[TheFettered Fettered]], because their understanding of "law" as a concept may not even be equivalent to ours. There might be a [[InsaneTrollLogic logic]] behind their actions, it's just that they operate with entirely different sets of values and premises from which to draw their conclusions. It's also worth noting that such cultures are just as likely to be something we'd find appalling as they are to be something we'd find benign and/or weird. [[HumansThroughAlienEyes They may also find us appalling, benign, or weird even if we don't see them that way,]] and although they are often likely to commit acts we would see as horrific, some are unusually [[HarmlessVillain benign]]. Either way they tend to act as if nothing were the matter. Because in their world/mind, [[ItsWhatIDo that's just what they do]]. This trope is one of the trickier to pull off well, because MostWritersAreHuman, and it's often hard to portray alien and ''truly'' foreign. Because of this, it's not uncommon for audience members to [[MisaimedFandom label]] these characters as [[DesignatedHero Designated Heroes]] or [[DesignatedVillain villains]] due to human audiences often [[HumanityIsYoung lacking the experience]] or [[HumansAreMorons knowledge]] that these fictional characters have. Audiences must remember that these characters are meant to be Morally Ambiguous.
18
19This is similar to ValuesDissonance, but the main difference is that societies with ValuesDissonance can, at least on a basic level, generally measure one another by the same concepts of Good and Evil, or even Order and Chaos. With Blue and Orange Morality, the values are so foreign that such concepts can no longer be applied. They may not even know what these things are, or even if they do, may find them confusing or unworthy of consideration. That is not to say these characters are amoral or devoid of any sense of right and wrong, mind you, but that their ideas of right and wrong can't really be understood using the aforementioned concepts. Conversely, they may have these concepts, but apply them in vastly different ways-- such as regarding motionlessness as the epitome of evil, or viewing exploration as an element of chaos. In short, Blue and Orange Morality isn't just about ''what'' a character(s) view as right or wrong, it's also about ''why'' and ''how'' they judge that it as such.
20
21Note that cases solely involving [[PoorCommunicationKills a misapprehension of facts and consequences]] do not count here, no matter how alien the reasons; if, for example, a race of aliens thinks [[ImmortalLifeIsCheap killing is okay]] because its own members [[HealingFactor respawn within a day]] with no harm done, and [[IThoughtEveryoneCouldDoThat mistake humans as working the same way]], that doesn't mean they wouldn't balk at killing if they realized the degree of harm it causes to other creatures. In this case, they may be working by comprehensible moral standards and just gravely mistaken about the implications of their actions. This is not to say that trope can't still apply if the culture remains this way with no grasp of the reasons behind it. If, say, such a race of aliens really do exist, and really did come to believe killing is okay as ''a side effect'' of the reasons above, but don't apply this to their thought processes when killing, and thus, think just as little of killing mortals who ''don't'' respawn, then this trope can still apply.
22
23Likely candidates for this trope are TheFairFolk, who follow rules of their own making; {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that are beyond comprehension; the more exotic StarfishAliens; [[RobotRollCall AIs and robots]], [[SlidingScaleOfRobotIntelligence especially]] when [[SuperIntelligence super smart]] and/or [[TheSpock incapable of emotion]]; TheAntiGod and {{God}} via TimeAbyss and AboveGoodAndEvil. Another candidate is the power of money or TheAlmightyDollar. An individual human (or a single member of any species whose majority falls into [[BlackAndGrayMorality darker morality]]) who operates on this is the {{Ubermensch}} of [[Creator/FriedrichNietzsche Nietzschean philosophy]] (a ''human being'' who has developed their ''own'' Blue/Orange set of morals). A NominalHero may have this motivation as well. MoralSociopathy overlaps strongly with this trope [[LackOfEmpathy for obvious reasons]], though this is not always the case.
24
25See also these tropes, which include or are connected to this kind of Morality System: {{Xenofiction}}, HumansAreCthulhu, HumanityIsInfectious (all often involving this), InsaneTrollLogic (when the set of values is still rooted in our world but just doesn't make sense to us), AboveGoodAndEvil, AffablyEvil[=/=]FauxAffablyEvil (they sometimes can come across as this), EvenEvilHasStandards (when handled poorly or bizarrely), EvilCannotComprehendGood (less elaborate forms that resemble this in practice), NonMaliciousMonster (which occasionally requires this), and ObliviouslyEvil (when a villain thinks that their actions are acceptable or helpful). When two sides go to war, and nothing will stop them except total annihilation, that's GuiltFreeExterminationWar. If the character genuinely knows everything will turn out okay, allowing the plot to treat them as a good guy no matter how cruel, irresponsible, or inhuman this makes them by our standards, that's OmniscientMoralityLicense.
26
27See also {{Morality Tropes}} and {{Philosophy Tropes}} for other Morality and Philosophy Systems.
28
29Not to be confused with OrangeBlueContrast (though the fact that there's a contrast between those colors ''does'' help this trope's name make more sense).
30
31Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease.
32
33%%If you have time, please take time to put examples in alphabetical order. This page Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings should help you with that.
34----
35!!Examples:
36
37[[index]]
38* BlueAndOrangeMorality/AnimeAndManga
39* BlueAndOrangeMorality/CardGames
40* BlueAndOrangeMorality/ComicBooks
41* BlueAndOrangeMorality/FanWorks
42* [[BlueAndOrangeMorality/LiveActionFilms Film — Live-Action]]
43* BlueAndOrangeMorality/{{Literature}}
44* BlueAndOrangeMorality/LiveActionTV
45* BlueAndOrangeMorality/TabletopGames
46* BlueAndOrangeMorality/VideoGames
47* BlueAndOrangeMorality/{{Webcomics}}
48* BlueAndOrangeMorality/WebOriginal
49* BlueAndOrangeMorality/WesternAnimation
50[[/index]]
51
52[[foldercontrol]]
53
54[[folder:Comic Strips]]
55* ''ComicStrip/{{Candorville}}'': Roxanne [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad views villains as heroic and vice versa]], but there are usually qualifiers for it--for instance, she views eating meat as immoral, but wearing fur as a way of eternally preserving an animal's beauty. That said, with the exception of her own mother, ''nobody'' in the comic thinks this gives her a pass for [[ItsAllAboutMe her behavior]]. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even multiple murderers think she's scum]].
56[[/folder]]
57
58[[folder:Film — Animation]]
59* ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'': Baymax's sole motivation is the survival and physical health of his patients, making him hard to work with at first. He becomes much more co-operative when he adds mental health to the list and is convinced that helping Hiro will improve his mental health. He also considers just about everyone he encounters a potential patient, even scanning the Big Bad and determining (among other things) his blood type during their first encounter.
60* ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings'': According to the hero's mother, the Moon Kingdom functions on this. Kubo's aunts and grandfather do care for him and want him happy, but their way of going about it and view of the human world is monstrous to humans - forcibly abducting him from his parents (after [[spoiler:hideously disfiguring one into a beetle]]) and plucking his remaining eye out to make him blind to the mortal realm, which the celestials consider impure and sinful.
61* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'', Mantis mentions that he never knew his father, because his mother ate his head before Mantis was born. Being, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a praying mantis]], Mantis doesn't consider this unusual, and later on when it looks like they're about to die, he's actually ''disappointed'' that he never got the chance to settle down with a nice girl and have his head eaten.
62* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie2TheSecondPart'': It turns out that the residents of Bricksburg/Apocalypseburg are this to the Sistarians, who don't really understand the tough and gritty facade the former have been putting up and therefore have no idea how to effectively communicate their desire for peace.
63* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'': Tampering with the mail is a big enough offense in the eyes of monsters to merit lifelong banishment to the [[spoiler: supposedly]] lethal human world. With no supplies, as is suggested in the original film. In human terms, that's like being dropped in the middle of DarkestAfrica without any food, water, protection, clothing, or contact with the rest of humanity. For the rest of your life.
64* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'':
65** Halloween Town citizens scare children for a living, but do it because [[PunchClockVillain it's their job]] and they simply enjoy it. Subverted in that they're still kind and unwilling to intentionally harm others. Oogie Boogie is the only citizen who is sadistic or murderous. Interestingly, they (including Jack) can't comprehend the basics of Christmas, and when they try to replicate it... well, things go horribly wrong.
66---> "Life's no fun without a good scare."
67** It's debatable how canon this is (for obvious reasons), but in the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series, Jack tends to think of new experiences (such as the Heartless) in terms of how he can repurpose them into new Halloween surprises, but also tends to become quite disillusioned with them if it should ever come to light that they can actually cause people harm ([[EvilIsNotAToy such as, again, the Heartless]]). This is why Oogie Boogie is the villain of the original film: he's the only citizen of Halloween Town who [[EveryoneHasStandards actually wants to do harm to the people he scares]].
68** The official sequel comic, ''Manga/TheNightmareBeforeChristmasZerosJourney'', implies that Lock, Shock, and Barrel's troublemaking is ''legitimately'' how they play. It's confirmed in issue 13.
69[[/folder]]
70
71[[folder:Franchise]]
72* [[Franchise/TheAddamsFamily The Addams Family]] seems to have a moral code that makes sense only to their family. They happily engage in murder, arson, torture, poisoning, destruction, cruel jokes, and seem to find pain (both theirs and other people's) hilarious. At the same time, they are a family of polite, friendly people who clearly care about one another and have some lines that they won't ''ever'' cross (i.e. the couples always ask each other for consent, the parents ''never'' beat or abuse the kids, they never throw anyone out for being different, and they think that betraying your family is an unforgivable act). Exactly how good/evil the family is portrayed heavily DependsOnTheWriter.
73[[/folder]]
74
75[[folder:Manhwa]]
76* ''Manhwa/SoulCartel'': Mephisto the demon has this in regards to his appearance. He finds his small, rather SuperDeformed state to be much cooler than his more powerful and [[PrettyBoy tall and attractive]] state. Apparently they are a "devil's aesthetics" as he puts it. He even calls the AloofDarkHairedGirl Su-In ugly because of her long legs.
77[[/folder]]
78
79[[folder:Music]]
80* ''Music/EvilliousChronicles'' has [[HangingJudge the Master of the Court,]] whose main goal for the series is implied to be [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroying the world.]] Except that ''[[ObliviouslyEvil she doesn't seem to see this as a bad thing.]]'' {{Justified|Trope}} as the only human she saw for most of her life was completely insane.
81[[/folder]]
82
83[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
84* ''Literature/{{Mahabharata}}'': The river goddess Ganga bears King Shantanu several children... and [[OffingTheOffspring drowns them.]] When he berates her, she explains that it's NotWhatItLooksLike. The children are reincarnations of holy souls that need to transcend reincarnation (they committed [[PokeThePoodle a minor offense]] in a past life, and so were forced to be reincarnated as mortals, so Ganga lets that happen and then kills them while they're [[ChildrenAreInnocent still young and innocent so they can be released from reincarnation]]). Because she knew that there was no way King Shantanu would be able to comprehend this, she had asked him to [[ThePromise never question her...]] and since ''he just did'', she left him shortly afterwards.
85[[/folder]]
86
87[[folder:Podcasts]]
88* ''Podcast/BrimstoneValleyMall'': The main demons all fall into this, to some degree. They were sent up to Earth to lead people into sin, but they rarely actually do that -- not for any moral reasons, but because they like life on Earth and don't want to go back to Hell. While they rarely actively antagonize anybody (except for Misroch), they have no qualms about murder, stealing, assault, or cannibalism. However, they're not totally amoral, either; they all value loyalty and friendship, and they [[EqualOpportunityEvil are decidedly not bigoted in any way]]. Murdering a bystander because HeKnowsTooMuch? Totally fine. Flaking out on band practice or degrading your friend's ambitions? Absolutely not!
89[[/folder]]
90
91[[folder:Theatre]]
92* There's a play called ''Blue/Orange'' that deals with people of this sort of morality, although the name ostensibly comes from a mental disorder one of the characters has that causes him to, among other things, see the insides of oranges as blue. Not the outside, nothing else orange, just the insides.
93[[/folder]]
94
95[[folder:Visual Novels]]
96* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'':
97** [[spoiler:Junko Enoshima]] straddles the line between this, BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad, and CardCarryingVillain. Yes, most of her schemes are just to satisfy her sadomasochistic tendencies, but there's also an element of her thinking that it's a ''good'' thing to spread despair to others, as it's the one emotion that never bored her, and she considers boredom to be the worst possible thing. So she genuinely cares for her classmates... which is why she sticks them into the killing game; to treasure the despair she fosters in them. She does have enough of an understanding of conventional morality to know this is immoral, but she just doesn't care.
98** [[spoiler:Nagito Komaeda]] has a very bizarre outlook on morality. To him, hope is good and despair bad, but because his life has been [[UnluckilyLucky a long roller coaster of disaster followed by windfalls]], he believes that bad things will always ''lead'' to good things, and therefore it's okay to cause despair so long as that's not your end goal (like [[spoiler:Junko]]), because doing that [[MiseryBuildsCharacter will lead to more hope]]. He condemns one of the murderers because they did it out of despair and a twisted love for [[spoiler:Junko]], but he will cause various problems for his classmates and shows NoSympathy for things like Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu mourning [[spoiler:Peko Pekoyama]]'s death, because to him all these things are just stepping stones to the victims having a more hopeful situation in the end. His classmates think he's creepy because of it.
99** In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'', there's Korekiyo Shinguji, the Ultimate Anthropologist. He sees himself as a passive observer of humanity and is excited by any chance to study "Humanity's Beauty"... which to him means any expression of character or skill, including a murderer's attempt to cover up their crime. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that he's also a SerialKiller who sees nothing wrong with killing people he sees as especially admirable, since he's a firm believer in the afterlife and he sees it as introducing his dead sister to new friends.]]
100* In ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'', [[spoiler:Dr. Mosely/Zeta does her best to protect her test subjects whenever possible and believes in the underlying morality of what she does. However, she runs illegal experiments that mainstream science considers unethical, and she has no problem killing anyone who becomes a “liability” to her — sometimes with pleasure.]]
101* ''VisualNovel/SayaNoUta'': [[spoiler:Saya herself]] is not conventionally evil and does not take delight in killing humans, helps mental patients if they wish so, and only exists to fulfill a mission. [[spoiler:Sadly, all of this still means she'll go around killing (and eating) humans both as a conventional food source and for studies, her healing skills can drive people even more insane than before, and her mission is to "bloom" and release spores to convert the entire population of the planet into more beings like her.]]
102[[/folder]]
103
104[[noreallife]]

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