Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context PlayingWith / GoodVersusGood

Go To

1'''Basic Trope''': Good characters oppose each other.
2* '''Straight''': [[KnightInShiningArmor Kelvin]] and [[PluckyGirl Maria]] are unambiguously good people, but are on different sides.
3* '''Exaggerated''': [[AllLovingHero Kelvin]] and [[ScienceHero Maria]] are both [[IncorruptiblePurePureness incorruptibly pure]], [[HeadbuttingHeroes except when they're at each other's throats]].
4* '''Downplayed''':
5** Kelvin and Maria are on different sides... of a pickup basketball game.
6** WhiteAndGreyMorality: Both sides are sympathetic, and while one side is clearly good, the other side isn't truly good, but not truly evil either or halfway decent at least.
7** [[ALighterShadeOfGrey A Lighter Shade of]] GreyAndGrayMorality.
8* '''Justified''':
9** They have different ideas of what constitutes goodness (for example, Kelvin is [[invoked]]LawfulGood whereas Maria is ChaoticGood).
10** Kelvin and Maria are both searching for the same MacGuffin that they plan to use for different but equally good purposes.
11** There are two conflicting factions that run on MoralityKitchenSink, so Kelvin and Maria have found themselves on opposing sides even though they're genuinely good.
12** Kelvin means well but is [[NiceJobBreakingItHero unwittingly about to cause a disaster]], so Maria has to go out and foil his plan before it's too late.
13** Maria thinks Kelvin is evil, but he's really [[NotEvilJustMisunderstood just misunderstood]].
14** The show focuses on a friendly competition such as a sport, and Kelvin and Maria are on rival teams.
15** A massive famine has left not enough food and water to go around. Kelvin and Maria are fighting over resources for their people because splitting the resources would ensure both would die.
16** [[BigBad Evulz]] has convinced each of them that the other one is evil, thus [[LetsYouAndHimFight setting them against each other]].
17* '''Inverted''': EvilVersusEvil
18* '''Subverted''': At first it seems like both Kelvin and Maria are both equally good people, but then we learn later that Maria is an evil bastard who was only pretending to be good.
19* '''Double Subverted''': ...But lo! Maria was good all along; it was a misunderstanding either on Kelvin's part or the audience's that lead them to think she was evil.
20* '''Parodied''': Every single character in the universe is objectively good, and they all hate each other.
21* '''Zig Zagged''': At first it seems like both Kelvin and Maria are both equally good people, but then we learn later that Maria is an evil bastard who was only pretending to be good. But lo! Maria was good all along; it was a misunderstanding either on Kelvin'spart or the audience's that lead them to think she was evil. Turns out, Kelvin was the BigBad and framed Maria but it was truly [[GambitRoulette Maria framing Kelvin to frame her]] because neither one of them wants to come to blows.
22* '''Averted''':
23** All good characters get along well.
24** Everyone is [[GreyAndGrayMorality morally ambiguous]] [[BlackAndGrayMorality if not]] [[EvilVersusEvil outright evil]].
25** [[BlackAndWhiteMorality Everyone is either good or evil]].
26* '''Enforced''':
27** "Let's make it so that the audience [[BothSidesHaveAPoint can see the point of view of both sides]]."
28** The author writes a story with only heroes and no villains as a SelfImposedChallenge to see their writing's strength, and if done right, the conflict between heroes can be [[DifficultButAwesome more satisfying and interesting]] than a story involving [[EvilVersusEvil conflicts between villains]], while exploring other HeroTropes, such as TheCape or TheParagon.
29* '''Lampshaded''': "Should we really be doing this? We're both good people."
30* '''Invoked''': The villains decide to pit the two good factions against each other, or divide the good faction against itself.
31* '''Exploited''': [[ManipulativeBastard Damian]] waits until Kelvin and Maria have exhausted each other, then wipes the floor with both of them.
32* '''Defied''': Despite their differences, Kelvin and Maria work together.
33* '''Discussed''': Kelvin to Maria (or vice verse): "Damn, it's a lot harder to fight someone when you understand where they're coming from."
34* '''Conversed''': "You ever think that this could all come to an end if they just start talking?"
35* '''Implied''': The show runs on GrayAndGreyMorality, so pretty much any conflict can become this.
36* '''Deconstructed''':
37** Kevin and Maria are both heroic characters... but their followers are not. They largely believe a [[StrawmanPolitical strawman version of their leader's respective argument]] and [[IRejectYourReality carry out a ruthless crusade that fits their worldview.]] So while it may seem that both sides have points, they are undermined by the destruction caused by their underlings.
38** If both sides have valid points, why fight at all? By fighting, you make your side look worse. So Kevin and Maria both realize that they have to debate their ideas without resorting to violence.
39* '''Reconstructed''':
40** Kevin and Maria watch as a [[TakeAThirdOption third faction]] forms that is specifically going to destroy both of their forces just to prove that their moral integrity is stronger than that of either opponent. When this happens, Kevin and Maria drop the heroic facade and simply become a tag team of villains after their followers make their fights violent and savage.
41** Kevin and Maria use their roles to highlight important conversations about various ideologies and worldviews in order to learn what works best and what doesn't taking the opportunities to have conversation in order to learn from one another.
42* '''Plot Foundation''': Good people still fight, all the time. The entire point of this work is to display how senseless it can get and how detrimental to the overall cause of "good" it can be.
43----
44Back to GoodVersusGood
45----
46%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
47%%
48%%
49
50%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???

Top