Editing Alignment (section)

==The iconic D&D alignments (and why your party should kill them)==
[[File:Alignment Demotivational.jpg|thumb|right|350px]]The title of the section alone should be a giant neon sign to take its contents with a shaker full of salt grains (or a vat of [[skub]], we're not picky).

===Lawful Good===
{{Topquote|Where men gather, a bustle of chaos ensues. I would save them all if I could.|Keldorn Firecam}}
Truth, justice, apple pie, and curbstomping. Based on a combination of honor and compassion, they believe that law should be used to further the public good, compassion for others beside oneself is required, that order is separate from goodness but a vital part of it, and that no one is above the law — including themselves, so they practice what they preach. And sometimes [[Story:Powder Keg of Justice|they see large displays of violence as necessary to protect what is good/defeat what is evil, and act accordingly]].

On the downside, they tend to cause conflict when party members take actions that are less moral or more chaotic ("You are not doing good, then you must be doing evil! Taste my blade, evildoer!"). As a result, they can slip into, or get get conflated with, [[Lawful Stupid]] due to their rigid morality codes. While Lawful Stupid is a potential pitfall for any lawful characters, Lawful Good gets tarred with this brush the most, as the other Lawful alignments get written off as evil and treated accordingly when conflict arises. The difference between Lawful Good and Lawful Stupid is that Lawful Good can see the bigger picture and be intelligent. 

Despite popular stereotypes, Lawful Good can be reasoned with if the party does something against the law, depending on the personality and which code they follow. Or if they're a threat to the party, have the rogue engineer an "accident" for them, [[Dwarf Fortress]] style.

:;''Example(s)'': A textbook Paladin who combats evil wherever they see it, to uphold their religion's core beliefs.

:;''Iconic Character(s)'': The Man of Steel himself - [[Superman]], Optimus Prime, [[Discworld|Carrot Ironfoundersson]], (Sam Vimes as well, but in Vimes case, it's usually a very tarnished Lawful Good, closer to True Neutral than Carrot), [[The Dresden Files RPG|Michael Carpenter]], most interpretations of King Arthur.

:;''Expected Personality'': A bold, brave, sincere, honorable, empathetic, and all-loving paladin good guy/girl at best. A stuck-up condescending prig and Chief of the Fun Police at worst.

===Neutral Good===
{{Topquote|I don't care if it is legal; it's wrong.|Ava Fontaine, ''Lord of War''}}
The quintessential "nice guy". Unlike the Lawful Good types, Neutral Good types draw their morality from simply being a good person, not because a book or the law told them to. It’s vague and usually boils down to trying to do whatever helps the most people, ignoring but not acting against traditions and laws. They differ from Chaotic Good in that they don't go out of their way to shake things up or "stick it to the man."  Perhaps the simplest form of good, as it doesn't have as many complications as Chaotic or Lawful variants... except when you have Variant 1 (good actions no matter the consequences) [[Stupid Good]] who will try to <s>negotiate</s> ''talk things out'' with the [[BBEG|big bad]] (let them do it, but be sure to stay out of the blast radius). Another weakness of Neutral Good is that it requires the person to have a strong conscience to begin with; no doctrines to stop you also means no doctrines that can confront you with your flaws or show you how to improve yourself. A subjective morality is (more) easily warped by internal hypocrisy or temptations. Given how much debate there is about what constitutes "good", especially without going to the "Lawful" or "Chaotic" side, Neutral Good is the hardest alignment to maintain.

:;''Example(s)'': A peace-loving cleric who is against the mere thought of violence, or a wandering adventurer who visits small towns and helps with various problems.

:;''Iconic Character(s)'': A certain Friendly Neighborhood [[Spider-Man]], Sherlock Holmes (who was dedicated to justice, but also more than happy to break the law or let a justified killer go in order to achieve said justice), Gandalf (who did his best to advise and support kings, but avoided being beholden to them)

:;''Expected Personality'': [[This Guy|An easy-going, earnest nice guy/girl]], a friendly childlike caped/masked hero, or an all-loving cleric at best. At worst, they're a compassionate but indecisive fence-sitter.

===Chaotic Good===
{{Topquote|A vigilante is just a man lost in the scramble for his own gratification. He can be destroyed, or locked up. But if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can't stop you, then you become something else entirely.|Ra's Al Ghul}}
{{Topquote|I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... ''stupid''.|Jack Sparrow}}

Essentially adopting the credo of: "If you want peace, prepare for war", they will do good deeds and actions using rather unorthodox methods. Though this alignment can respect the law, they mostly break it in efforts to protect people, since to them the "Good" comes before the "Law". This tends to have [[skub|mixed results]]. Sure, that cop beat his wife or took drug money... and maybe that bank was run by the mafia. But the fact remains he broke rules — he broke them for good reasons, but he broke them. His well-intentioned extremism is going to get you in deep shit with the man, so be sure to betray him to the establishment at first opportunity. For an apt summary, think Robin Hood. Beware of variant 2 (good consequences no matter the actions) [[Stupid Good]].

A variation that also falls under this category is the "thief with a heart of gold" — people like Han Solo who were thrust into a life of crime by circumstance and generally aren't above harming people, but have kept their moral compass intact and will, for example, outright refuse to steal a valuable artifact if they see that its value to its owner far exceeds its material worth (think of a precious silver locket that holds a picture of a deceased relative, for example) or harm people that are vulnerable or defenseless. The easiest way to establish this credibility is showing a general scumbag who robs and loots his way through the area immediately going quiet and drawing his gun the moment he sees [[Slavery|slavers]]. Same goes for people that like to boast about their badness, but actually are big softies at heart that will go out of their way to protect their friends, even if that runs against their self-image.

:;''Example(s)'': A freedom fighter, combating an oppressive regime to free their people, or a dashing rogue who feeds the poor from the money he stole. 
 	
:;''Iconic Character(s)'': [[Batman|The Goddam Batman]]<ref>Although there's a famous chart arguing that Batman has occupied ''every'' alignment.</ref>, Han Solo, Captain Jack Sparrow, Robin Hood, [[Sonic the Hedgehog]]

:;''Expected Personality'': A plucky and fun-loving rule breaker with a heart of gold at best. A hot-blooded asshole with a barely-functioning moral compass, or a merciless vigilante at worst.

===Lawful Neutral===
====Obstructive bureaucrat====
{{Topquote|Justice is not blind, for I am her eyes.|Vhailor ''Planescape Torment''}}

Think Paladins without the morality. Lawful Neutral characters are essentially the law-made-manifest. They uncompromisingly enforce the law down to the letter and do not give any unofficial leeway regardless of the circumstances. Stole some food to feed your starving family? One year, isocubes. Stole a car to save the lives of hundreds? '''Five years.''' Robbed the bank to buy a cure for your dying sister? '''TWENTY YEARS!''' And code thirty six thirteen, the first degree murder of a street judge... Death. Court's adjourned.

If they aren't actively enforcing the law, they are instead following it to the letter and will insist that other people must do the same. The reasoning varies, but it usually boils down to them respecting and upholding order, which the law represents. Upholding order isn't always simple or easy, sometimes you have to make the hard call and have morality take a back seat a few times for the bigger picture (what the "bigger picture" actually is will vary from character from character, of course).

At best, they're obstructive bureaucrats who will get through almost anything by ruthlessly exploiting every legal avenue and loophole they can find (they probably legally ruined a few lives along the way, but the law's the law, not their problem). At worst, they're insufferable [[Rules Lawyer]]s given the license of roleplay, and will bitch even more about the rules than the lawful goods. They're going to turn on you the second you jaywalk across the street to stop a mugger, so as soon as you get out of town, leave them in a shallow grave. Beware even harder of [[Lawful Stupid]].

That being said, there are settings where they're justified. Judge Dredd, the Adeptus Arbites,... Chicago or California on a weekend... Whatever it may say about human nature, it's pretty easy to worldbuild a scenario where hard-nosed lawgivers are the last bastion of morality and justice. On non-[[grimdark]] settings, though, they could end up being the actual villains of the story in the absence of an outright [[BBEG]].

One risk over with this alignment is how easily it can quickly seep over into Lawful Evil and a lot of this seems to come from the (likely accidental) enabling of evil deeds. At times, it makes them come off over as a sort of of passive Lawful Evil rather than actually Lawful Neutral. Then again, this may speak more to the nature of morality on a systemic level vs individual level. 

====Unfeeling machine====
{{Topquote|Once i understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me.|[[Adeptus Mechanicus]]}}
Another, also somewhat common, archetype are literal machines or inhuman aliens who are instead ruled by cold logic and numbers, and are downright unable to think in terms of morality and emotions, or even comprehend them, because it is just not part of their nature, and are only ever able to make decisions based on what's a more efficient use of available resources. In some cases, they have sapience, but not sentience. You'll rarely be able to reason with these, so might as well whack 'em and toss their metal bodies into a rubbish pile... unless cooperating with them is required (e.g. unfeeling [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] members are the only people capable of preventing Imperial tech from becoming possessed or broken). Or if their programming just so happens to be beneficial to you and detrimental to the [[BBEG]], and/or you can control/reprogram/manipulate them (perhaps, ''you'' are the one who programmed them), in which case they'll be your most trusted allies/tools.

:;''Example(s)'': An uncompromising judge who dispenses justice as their codex demands, for better or worse. The [[Modron|Modrons]] from Planescape for the "unfeeling machines" archetype.

:;''Iconic Character(s)'': Good old [[Judge Dredd]]. Or Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory when he isn't scheming (Lawful Evil) or being Lawful Good to his friends. 

:;''Expected Personality'': A driven yet impartial arbiter of order and stability at best. The first half of the neutral jerkass duo, who wants to stop people from having fun at worst.

===True Neutral===
====Dedicated to Balance====
{{Topquote|So you remove excess of both good and evil? How can you tell which is which?|Yoshimo}}
They are types who are not concerned about the morality of their choices, but rather how it will affect the status quo (although what that status quo ''is'' is dependent on the character in question, and considering the cosmology of many settings, the status quo may not be something good). This means that a true neutral character may allow things like war, suffering, or disasters to continue, if it ensures that the balance of power is maintained. They are not necessarily malevolent in theory, as they see their actions as a completely necessary act for the greater good that would benefit everyone in the long run (paradoxically defeating the purpose of their supposed moral neutrality) — but then again, they're insufferable dickbags who see the entire universe as one big chequebook to even out, who will sell you out in a heartbeat if it meant maintaining the status quo, and just how would you balance out a place that has an excess of good? [[Derp|By committing evil acts, of course!]] In actuality, these fucks are just [[Neutral Evil]] (sometimes, [[Lawful Evil]] or [[Chaotic Evil]]) in disguise and [[BLAM|should be treated accordingly]].

The "Adequate Dedicated to the Balance" are a lot rarer, and it's hard to distinguish them from "Bad Dedicated to the Balance" — so don't expect ever meeting them. The first variant is a less brain-damaged version of "universal chequebook", that helps Good guys if they're losing — but ''doesn't help Evil when Evil is losing'', instead just sitting there and ranting in melancholy about times when Balance wasn't ruined, not daring to commit evil acts; this type acts like conventional "Good" when Good is losing, and "Detached Outsider" when Good is winning. The second variant is one that thinks that ''"Balance" and "Good" are one and the same'', and Evil is bad because it ruins Balance — and therefore wants the world where "Everything is overrun by Good, and Evil doesn't exist"; this one is conventional Good disguised as a member of a horrible lunatic alignment or a smart selfish man who lacks the ambition to go to the top like Lawful Evil or Neutral Evil and is content to remain in a generally just society (or at least one that is stable).

===="Don't Care"====
{{Topquote|Good, bad... I'm the guy with the gun.|Ash Williams}}
These types are either extremely uninspired roleplayers, NPC villagers, or [[Bear Lore|bears]]. However, they'll usually do what seems like a good idea at the time. This means you should kill them, because chances are they're reading this at the same time as you and will try to kill you preemptively. Most NPCs fit this mold simply because trying to come up with a billion personalities is hard for a GM.

====Amoral Animal====
{{Topquote|Nature is what she is, persistent and amoral.|Stephen Jay Gould}}
The "amoral animal" types (Unaligned in 5e <u>D&D</u>) are those whose actions lack any type of moral motivation behind them and instead act upon their own pre-programmed instincts like how an animal in the wild would. Typically reserved for non-sapient enemy NPCs (and gods forbid you actually play as one), these types do what they do, because it’s just their nature. There are some rare cases where the "amoral animal"-type is actually sapient — yet has absolutely indescribable and alien moral system and psychology. Some are dumb machines — what differentiates them from "Lawful Neutral" machines is what ''these'' are '''so dumb''' that they don't have even rudimentary understanding of morals ("Law=Good, Disorder=Bad"), and just mindlessly do what they are programmed to — being to "Strong" sapient AIs, what animals are to humans.

They don't really see anything as good or evil nor rationalize that to any extent, they just do it for their own survival. (Murdered a man for food? It's just prey like that goat I slaughtered earlier, only less hairy. Me and my brood have to eat to survive, don'tcha know?) The main distinction between these and the "don't care" True Neutrals is the fact that they genuinely lack the capacity to normalize or rationalize in any direction, rather than refusing to acknowledge their ability to. Overall, show them the business end of your weapon as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Since they lack moral alignment/motivation, they think in simplistic terms, and the same way as you can scare a shark off just by punching it in the nose, you can just wave your sword, hoot, and it scares off most animals. If they have some other motivation, like mama bear with cubs or are known for being aggressive (think boars or hippos), adjust your behavior accordingly, that behavior being "run the fuck away".

Even then, it actually can be divided in multiple categories — such as aggressive (those who want to kill you; e.g. vicious predator, territorial animal) and non-aggressive (those who mind their own business, and don't harm until provoked; e.g. predator too small to eat you, calm herbivore, something very tiny, big-but-gentle creature). Therefore, actual behavior varies based on ''what the creature in question is''.

====Detached Outsider====
{{Topquote|All my life needed was a sense of someplace to go...|Travis Bickle}}
This dude is often a character who has become so desensitized or disconnected to the world that they often become little more than passive observers to events happening around them, either to not rock the boat or that it's not worth it to get involved. While it often veers into more amoral or sociopathic personas, there is some wiggle room where it stays in that stasis. Often they act like ''non-aggressive and even more passive'' version of "Can't be Bothered to Care".

Beware of both variant 1 (passive/don't care) and variant 2 (active/cosmic checkbook fanatic) [[Stupid Neutral]]. Given the many [[Derp|Derpy]] problems (roleplaying-wise and setting-wise) and [[RAGE|implications]] that arise from the True Neutral Alignment itself, it is [[Squat|generally for the best to remove it from your system/setting]]. That being said, you can have fun with a character whose motivations are "I don't care, but I keep my stuff in the world, so I'll fight, I guess.", but it takes a good player to do it.

:;''Example(s)'': "Amoral" <small>(read: evil)</small> druids for the first, filler NPCs and/or civilians for the second, and a literal wild animal for the third.

:;''Iconic Character(s)'': Mordekainen for the cosmic checklister variety, Spawn for the Don't Care type, Galactus for a rare "amoral animal" type that isn't an actual animal. Travis Bickle from ''Taxi Driver'' for the detached outsider.

:;''Expected Personality'': A disillusioned wanderer or outsider struggling to keep up with/stay out of the moral turmoil swirling all around them at best. The most bland and uninteresting person you can meet, a really weird sociopath, or a literal animal at worst.

===Chaotic Neutral===
{{Topquote|Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!|Rage Against the Machine}}

The actual alignment of most Gamers, the original interpretation was the agent of chaos. Characters of this alignment were often random and completely inconsistent as long as chaos was achieved. Anarchistic and individualistic, AD&D 2e notes that they are extremely difficult to deal with due to their unreliable nature. This interpretation was abandoned from 3.X onwards when everyone realized that no-one could ever play this alignment for longer than 5 minutes before suffering a forced change for the sake of adventure. That is, of course, if the character wasn't killed thanks to AD&D's high character mortality rate.

The current interpretation of this is a perfectly amoral and self-serving character. One who isn't necessarily evil, as they don't actively plot to screw people over for some higher cause (it just so happens they need to, given the circumstances), but instead believe in maintaining their own self-interest (or cause) above all others. As far as they're concerned, they gotta watch out for numero uno and everyone else is just a tool and stepping stone to keep numero uno alive.

The player interpretation of this is "whatever the fuck I want, whenever the fuck I want". [[The Henderson Scale of Plot Derailment|Usually used directly ''after'' the DM bans evil alignments and directly ''before'' the DM ragequits]]. They're alright to have ''so long as your goals align with each other'', but as soon as that changes, it's highly recommended you introduce them to the business end of your weapon and throw their corpse in a ditch. Best-case scenario they'd just abandon you, worst-case scenario they'll backstab you if they think it helps them.

Also, the alignment of 13-year-old [[edgelord]] characters with KEWL powers if they aren't Neutral/Chaotic/Stupid Evil, because the rebellious asshole who doesn't play by the rules is totally kewl. Beware of [[Chaotic Stupid]].

:;''Example(s)'': A lone, thrill-seeking rogue fighting for his own gains and enjoyment.

:;''Iconic Character(s)'': A Merc with a Mouth that doesn't shut up — [[Deadpool]], Tyler Durden, most 90's comic protagonists (or characters like them, such as [[World of Warcraft|Illidan Stormrage]] for a particularly violent, high collateral damage example).

:;''Expected Personality'': A hellraising live wire that is the life of the party at best. The other half of the neutral jerkass duo, this time having fun at the expense of everyone else at worst.

===Lawful Evil===
====The Corrupt Tyrant====

{{Topquote|Our strategy is to exploit the value in our huge and extensive (nearly 40 years) library of IP across multiple markets globally and in multiple categories for both direct income and increased brand awareness and engagement.|Games Workshop 2021 Financial Report}}

You have your [[/pol/|Fascists]], Corporates, Social Darwinists, contract killers, organized crime, corrupt officials, corporate/business sharks, and anybody else who can be reliably and systematically counted on to be a [[Eldrad|dick]]. In real-world terms, Lawful Evil would be corrupt politicians, [[Games Workshop|ridiculously wealthy plutocrats who play the system in obviously self-serving ways]], and/or [[Loren L Coleman|high-functioning sociopaths]] (ones who are good at hiding their evil and selfish tendencies). Most do it in a socially acceptable manner that others might applaud as clever tricks; sometimes you might never even know that a person is Lawful Evil, since they usually do their utmost to appear integrated in societies. The endgame is almost always multidimensional domination, so be sure to kill them before they get ''too'' powerful. Alternatively, kill them before they get the chance to screw you over/enslave you/bind you to some contract that will suck for you.

====The Honorable Villain™, AKA the Bipolar Dick====
{{Topquote|When your enemies defy you, you must serve them steel and fire. When they go to their knees, however, you must help them back to their feet. Elsewise no man will ever bend the knee to you.|[[A Song of Ice and Fire|Tywin Lannister]]}}
Think of a ruthless warrior that nonetheless holds himself up to some sort of code; they might despise weakness and will show no hesitation at slaughtering innocents, burning villages, etc., but will sometimes let those innocents arm themselves first, as they consider killing an unarmed opponent "dishonorable". While they might care little for virtues such as mercy and compassion, they still take giving their word very seriously, and once they've been forced to make a promise, you can usually count on them keeping it. However, as soon as the innocent picks up that sword, their opponent shows cowardice, or they've fullfilled their word, they’ll show no pity or hesitation and immediately resume slaughtering. Usually they are dedicated to some cause higher than themselves, and often that cause is serving the Corrupt Tyrant Lawful Evil villain; just as often, they are also the type of disgruntled servant that will turn on said villain once they've developed some sort of respect for the hero's strength and/or realize that their boss is a dick with [https://pics.me.me/you-have-no-honor-like-a-woman-no-rrrip-your-21799641.png no honor.] There's a 50/50 chance of them either switching teams or taking the BBEG's spot for themselves, and they tend to do a better job at it. Kill them as soon as you can, because in either case, you'll have to put up with a cliche redemption arc or you'll have to deal with a more dangerous bad guy leading the opposing team later on. 

====Overlap section====
Honorable Villains tend to be more prone to [[Lawful Stupid]]. Both types can borrow elements from the other to make for a more complex character, such as a Corrupt Tyrant who behaves Honorable Villain because they believe that kind of behaviour better serves them personally or a Honorable Villain who behaves Corrupt Tyrant because they think selfish behaviour is what they must do, probably because their culture, religion, philosophy, or simple life circumstances dictate so. 

:;''Example(s)'': Corrupt Tyrant: A corrupt Baron with an eye for the throne. Honorable Villain: A dark knight in the service of an evil god. Corrupt Tyrant borrowing from Honorable Villain: A Barbarian Chieftain who wishes to keep his authority and not be labeled a tyrant while doing so. Honorable Villain borrowing from Corrupt Tyrant: An orphan who did what they had to in order to survive and would have ended up as a good man if they had a better upbringing.

:;''Iconic Character(s)'': For Corrupt Tyrant: Lex Luthor, Tywin Lannister (who, despite providing Honorable Villain's quote, is a Corrupt Tyrant on account of his hypocrisy on that count), Magneto for Honorable Villain, Doctor Doom for Corrupt Tyrant>Honorable Villain mix, Darth Vader for Honorable Villain>Corrupt Tyrant mix

:;''Expected Personality'': A savvy, scheming head honcho with ambitious big visions of grandeur, an iron-fisted "Dura lex, sed lex" ruthless dictator, or a smart, principled asshole (who was likely fucked over by more evil people/the uncaring establishment/the dark lord grooming his new chief minion) at best. A mustache twirling prick that's more than willing to be a hypocrite and hide behind laws and customs to get away with his own crimes at worst.

===Neutral Evil===
{{Topquote|I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.|Patrick Bateman, ''American Psycho''}}

The asshole alignment. <strike>Follows</strike> ''Hides behind'' the law as long as it helps them, then breaks it when it doesn't. Ingratiates themselves to people, before betraying them. Does good deeds, until they cease to elevate them. Social acceptance never really comes into it with these guys. There's some variety in how willing they are to act on their evil impulses; on one hand, you can have someone that slits people's throats and purses for a living, but on the other, you can actually have a NE individual that goes through his entire life without directly killing someone, not because they haven't thought about it, but because they know the circumstances they find themselves in make getting away with murder flawlessly more trouble than it is worth. The latter are also the reason why Paladins can't just go around using their "[[Detect Evil]]" ability and throwing everyone that tests positive into jail; not everyone who has the potential to be a murderer will do it (in fact, most won’t, they'll just be garden variety assholes instead). Generally speaking if a particularly evil bastard is in charge of a bad guy faction and it isn't a case of genuine believer like Magneto or violent psycho like, well, a lot of them; you can bet your ass it will be a Neutral Evil hypocrite who doesn't practice what is preached or is a restrained psychopath who has enough restraint to play the long game of [[Pretend]] and stay on the top (or as high as one can climb without feeling pressured to somewhat care if they also lack personal discipline to some degree). Basically, NE rulers of equivalent influence are like LE rulers in their ability to read the room and adapt to it, but with a far more selfish and opportunistic mindset. The LE ruler will stick to their guns no matter what and uphold their codes and laws like their Evil Democracy; the NE ruler alternates between telling you what you want to hear or gaslighting you, and will drop their acts the moment they can get away with it, like doing away with their Evil Democracy.

If he's being an insufferable prick, you should probably just kill him; nobody will question you. If he's generally acting like a good guy, you should definitely just kill him, ''he's up to [[Just as planned|something]]''. Beware of [[Stupid Evil]] if they are of the more impulsive variant or are arrogantly confident in the current situation.

:;''Example(s)'': A greedy merchant that would rather let someone die on his doorstep than give away his coin for the more restrained version, a serial killer putting on a facade to continue his deeds for the more unhinged one, and a lowlife thug who doesn't have any moral qualms about murdering people for money but is restrained enough to know that doing this is a bad idea most of the time for a more balanced variant.

:;''Iconic Character(s)'': A merc with an eye that got shot up — Deathstroke (in the comics and the TV series), Gordon Gekko, Emperor Palpatine (who was a hypocrite/psycho who never cared about his Lawful Evil minions and was only in it for himself, instead of the Sith Lord variants who were Lawful Evil warlords devoted to the Sith Empire), and Cersei Lannister from ''Game of Thrones'', who unlike her Lawful Evil father Tywin is much more conniving and petty in her evil deeds while still scheming and plotting.

:;''Expected Personality'': High-functioning (selfishness helps prevent impulsiveness to some degree) sociopath, or narcissistic personality disorder when not currently in a rage.

===Chaotic Evil===
{{Topquote|Let their blood RAIN FROM THE '''SKY'''!!!|Jeremy Irons, ''Dungeons & Dragons (2000)''}}
{{Topquote|Gold... Prisoners... I don't care about such things. All I wish to see are humans within a fiery apocalypse. Trying to escape. All I wish to hear is the sound of snapping bones crushed under the hooves of horses. I don't even need an excuse. None at all...|The Snake Baron, ''[[Berserk]]''}}

A psychopath who's evil for the sake of being evil. There's no redeeming/remotely sane factor why they're Satan-incarnate — someone didn't betray them, no-one is threatening their survival, they're not aiming to set things right in their own misguided way; they only care about themselves and relish hurting others. They will murder people for kicks, [[rape]] and torture people to get their willies on, and hates everyone else, just because they were there. Some people just want to watch the world burn; those are Chaotic Evil people.

Always on a feud against society and will piss on a book of law just because he likes it, and fuck you, and fuck your law too, and I’ll eat your babies. This alignment has little-to-no depth at all and is very dangerous to keep around; its only real purpose is to make a quick 2D villain for your party to murder without any qualms, show the absolute nadir of morality resulting from someone's corruption, or a fun psycho-type character in a non-serious game. It is highly recommended you give them a good stomping and throw their corpse off the ramparts as soon as possible, because they will be troubling the moment their attention shifts to you. If you start out your party with one, you kinda deserve it, once the inevitable happens. 

It should be mentioned, however, that being Chaotic Evil has nothing to do with being a fucking idiot (though many are very susceptible to falling into one of the "Stupid" alignments as is mentioned below). They might want to brutalize everyone in the room, but as long as the room has people who can stop them immediately at the ready or the people there are otherwise useful for the CE character's schemes, they'll play along; be ready for them coming back and painting said room red with blood as soon as any of those changes, though. And, as explained in "Evil Self-Preservation Failsafe" below, they usually don't attack Evil things - rather, they would team up with Evil guys in the room and go brutalize '''another''' room full of non-evil things.

Beware of [[Stupid Evil]] or worse, someone who ''alternates'' between [[Chaotic Stupid]] and [[Stupid Evil]].

Things with Evil alignment — especially those of Chaotic Evil kind — have a phenomenon that could be called "'''Evil Self-Preservation Failsafe'''". Apparently, Evil things can subconsciously detect Evil, and cooperate with other Evil things, due to «If we cooperate, we can do more Evil - and i love doing Evil!» and «Harming Evil is "Good"-sided thing - and i hate doing "Good"-sided things!». That allows Evil to cooperate without fulminating violently; it allows, for example, specialization and somewhat functioning society and strategy (though, less functioning and proper than what Good or Neutral people could do); or, for example, allows for an Evil monster to accept being ridden by an Evil soldier; Evil things will still prioritize themselves over others, even if said "others" are also Evil (e.g. Chaotic Evil monster-mount acts on its own, uncontrolled by rider; "commands" are merely '''recommendations'''). Basically, they can sometimes engage in somewhat altruistic behavior towards other Evil, as long as it doesn't penalize or harm their egoistic tendencies towards themselves — doing the "right" thing for ''grievously wrong'' reasons. In the case of [[Stupid Evil]], or a person ''alternating'' between [[Chaotic Stupid]] and [[Stupid Evil]], "Evil Self-Preservation Failsafe" [[Derp|usually fails]].

:;''Example(s)'': An insane doomsday cultist who fights and kills just for the sake of fighting and killing. A bloodthirsty warlord indiscriminately spilling the blood of whomever is unlucky enough to be in their visual range, just to constantly feel the thrill of taking people's lives. The disfavored creations of Gods (the trope of the fallen favored son going emo dates back to antiquity). Creations of — and things corrupted by — Dark Gods and similar global absolute supernatural «Forces Of Evil» in general.

:;''Iconic Character(s)'': [[Mark Hamill|The Joker]], Failbadon, Freddy Kruger, The Biblical/Quranic Satan... there's a million of these.

:;''Expected Personality'': Low-functioning (impulsiveness is completely unchained) sociopath, constantly scheming bloodthirsty sadist, NPD whilst triggered into a narcissistic rage, bloodthirsty beast/brute in [[Rip and tear|constant rage]]. "For the Evulz!" in full effect.