Ivy Explains Alignments

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

So I updated the site statistics again, and I was thinking about character alignments. I just use the ones you put on your apps to track that but, without pointing fingers, I can tell that some of you don't know what you're doing. I actually find being able to classify a character's alignment in this way to be helpful, so I decided that I'd randomly explain what they mean in the simplest way possible in case anyone cares to read my ramblings.

Lawful vs. Chaotic
This was hard for me to wrap my mind around when I first was introduced to this system, but it goes like this:

• Lawful - A person who believes in order or in having rules. This often, but not always, means that they follow the laws of the land, though sometimes it means that they have a strict personal code they refuse to deviate from, even if there are other compelling reasons not to.
• Neutral - A Neutral person in this measure is usually indistinguishable from a Lawful person until push comes to shove: while they believe that the rules are a good idea and usually follow them, they're happy to break them if they feel the situation warrants it.
• Chaotic - A Chaotic person, on the other hand, believes that rules are a bad idea and either go out of their way to break them whenever possible or simply pay no attention to the fact that there are rules to begin with and simply follow whatever impulse strikes.

Good vs. Evil
This one tends to be easier to understand but can be hard to define. Here's how I like to explain it:

• Good - A person who goes out of their way to help people or shows a large amount of selflessness. They often do things because 'it's the right thing to do'.
• Neutral - A person who mainly looks after themselves. They may help or hurt others, but they generally don't do so if it would be a lot of effort unless they would directly benefit.
• Evil - A person who goes out of their way to hurt people even beyond being selfish or gets a particularly large amount of enjoyment out of it.

Leaning

[/i] of the time. For example, if your character looks after themselves most of the time, but every once in awhile does something incredibly selfless, that doesn't make them 'Good'. And even Lawful characters are known to break the rules sometimes. But if these 'sometimes' happen frequently enough to be noteworthy, it's described as 'leaning'. For example, my character Nina Stenet is Neutral Good because she's quite happy to break the law and even her own principles when she thinks she has a good reason but she's also very selfless. However, she leans Lawful because of how tough the situation has to be before she thinks she has good reason, and she does have a strict, if short, list of things she doesn't do even when she's breaking all sorts of other rules.[/ul]
The 9 Categories
What these look like when combined:

• Lawful Good - These characters are selfless and play by the rules. The poster child for a 'hero' or 'good guy', they often face the problem of having to choose between doing what's right and doing what's legal.
  Obvious example: Superman
• Neutral Good - These characters are selfless and usually play by the rules but are quite happy to break them if they feel the situation warrants it. Most vigilantes.
  Obvious example: Wonder Woman
• Chaotic Good - These characters are selfless but don't follow the rules. Usually those doing 'bad' things but have very good reasons for doing them.
  Obvious example: Green Arrow
• Lawful Neutral - These characters follow the rules, end of story; they don't stop to think about whether or not the rules are good or bad. Often a traditionalist.
  Obvious example: Harvey Dent (but not Two Face)
• True Neutral - This can mean many different things. They could care about nothing but themselves, literally not care about anything, care only for some intellectual pursuit, or have a compulsion to always fight for the losing side.
  Obvious example: Metron
• Chaotic Neutral - These characters simply do whatever they feel like without worrying about the consequences. They have a real problem with authority, are often the ones who pull pranks, and may seem to pick which side they're on at random.
  Obvious example: Catwoman
• Lawful Evil - These characters play by the rules, but do so in the most malicious way possible. They often seek to be in a position of authority, if they aren't already, so that they can make the rules. Or they can simply take a great deal of pleasure in punishing those who break the rules already in place.
  Obvious example: Darkseid
• Neutral Evil - These characters are generally those who are out for themselves but also take a particular pleasure in harming others. Or sometimes they have a particular evil goal they're trying to accomplish.
  Obvious example: Lex Luthor
• Chaotic Evil - These characters are not only evil, but they're also often crazy or in a powerful enough position that they see no need to play by anyone's rules. They're often willing to even harm themselves in order to reach their evil goals - if there's a point to what they do at all.
  Obvious example: the Joker