History Main / BlackAndGrayMorality

* ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' are the world's only hope against some of the worst villains imaginable, the kind of bastards who love to create mass genocide just for kicks. The Authority members themselves are borderline sadistic towards evildoers, and sometimes "[[IncrediblyLamePun authoritarian]]" conquerors if they don't approve of a nation's government.

Obviously, the heroes of such settings tend to be {{antihero}}es. In such a world, any characters who appear to be good in any way will eventually be revealed as a KnightTemplar in disguise, a DarkMessiah inches from the edge, or a [[MoralDissonance deeply flawed]] AntiHero. And if there ''are'' any [[WideEyedIdealist genuinely good]] characters on the show, they'll either 'come around' to TheDarkSide, [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth die horribly]], remain a figure of [[ButtMonkey perpetual mockery]] or, if ''very'' lucky, [[KnightInSourArmor grow a protective shell of cynicism]].

* In''WebAnimation/TheFrolloShow'', nearly every major character is a bitter, rude and neutral individual. The titular protagonist is widely considered to be [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame one of the most despicable villains ever to appear in a Disney film]], as well as an extremely perverted, manipulative and brutish person on the show, but he also saves Paris from [[ZombieApocalypse a horde of zombies]], and he [[HeroicSacrifice heroically sacrifices]] himself to destroy a nuclear device his Arabian cousin was planning to detonate over America (he gets better). His best friend [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Gaston]] is an arrogant, childish JerkJock who blasts a guy's head off for giving him 9.8 instead of 10 points in a contest. [[Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt Panty and Stocking]] are... well, [[AntiHero Panty]] [[SirSwearsALot and]] [[ReallyGetsAround Stocking]]. The people they fight are, amazingly, even worse than they are.

* In ''WebAnimation/DrCrafty'', the titular character is depicted as a VillainProtagonist, but he's actually quite AffablyEvil and a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Even his self-proclaimed evil deeds fall under the realm of CartoonishSupervillainy and end up being rather harmless in the grand scheme of things, [[LaughablyEvil even played for laughs]] most of the time. On the other hand, there's the show's BigBad Doctor Mindstein. Unlike Crafty and his friends, she's a KnightOfCerebus with ''truly'' evil ambitions, including [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]], [[MindRape mind-raping]], and [[MeatgrinderSurgery mutilation]]. Also, while she talks politely to her victims, she comes across as FauxAffablyEvil in contrast to Crafty's genuine kindness.

* [[BlackAndGrayMorality.AnimeAndManga Anime and Manga]]
* [[BlackAndGrayMorality.{{Film}} Film]]
* [[BlackAndGrayMorality.{{Literature}} Literature]]
* [[BlackAndGrayMorality.LiveActionTV Live-Action TV]]
* [[BlackAndGrayMorality.TabletopGames Tabletop Games]]
* [[BlackAndGrayMorality.VideoGames Video Games]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Outsider}}'': Humanity is very close to being swept into an interstellar war between the [[SpaceElves Loroi]] and [[BigCreepyCrawlies Umiak]], and is faced with a tough choice of which side is best to join, as neither is appealing. The Umiak are imperialistic and enslave everybody they come across to feed their demand for ships and munitions. The Loroi, on the other hand, have many willing allies and treat them fairly and diplomatically, but this is undercut by their [[AmazonBrigade military]] having a "join us or die" mentality, having twice committed [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill xenocide]] against neutral or Umiak-aligned species. The main character, in a flashback, is interviewed by his future commanding officer shortly before graduation, with the "who should we join" question posed to him. He chooses the Loroi, using the Umiak's imperialism as his justification. He also notes in a monologue in the comic's prologue that humanity is not looking for the side which shares or acts most accordingly with human values, but the side which is most likely to win since aligning with the loser will almost certainly result in extinction.

* ''ComicBook/StarWarsLegacy'' has [[TheEmpire the Fel Empire and Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire]]. The Fel Empire was a reorganization of TheRepublic spearheaded by Jagged Fel, a veteran of the Vong War and the Second Galactic Civil War, and his wife, Jedi Master Jaina Solo. The Fel Empire shared many characteristics with Darth Sidious' Galactic Empire including some xenophobia (albeit to a much milder extent than its predecessor) and [[AmbitionIsEvil valuing power above all else]], but the Fels were ultimately ReasonableAuthorityFigures who set constitutional limits on their power and were loyal to the Light side of the Force to the point that their Gray Jedi bodyguards [[MercyKillArrangement had orders to kill them should they ever irrevocably fall]] to the DarkSide. After they were overthrown by Krayt, the galactic citizenry immediately went back to suffering under the same harsh dictatorial conditions and genocide they had under Sidious.

* ''ComicBook/StarWarsLegacy'' has [[TheEmpire the Fel Empire and Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire]]. The Fel Empire was a reorganization of TheRepublic spearheaded by Jagged Fel, a veteran of the Vong War and the Second Galactic Civil War, and his wife, Jedi Master Jaina Solo. The Fel Empire shared many characteristics with Darth Sidious' Galactic Empire including some xenophobia (albeit to a much milder extent than its predecessor) and [[AmbitionIsEvil valuing power above all else]], but the Fels were ultimately ReasonableAuthorityFigures who set constitutional limits on their power and were loyal to the Light side of the Force to the point that their Gray Jedi bodyguards had orders to kill them should they ever irrevocably fall to the DarkSide. After they were overthrown by Krayt, the galactic citizenry immediately went back to suffering under the same harsh dictatorial conditions and genocide they had under Sidious.

* ''ComicBook/StarWarsLegacy'' has [[TheEmpire the Fel Empire and Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire]]. The Fel Empire was a reorganization of TheRepublic spearheaded by Jagged Fel, a veteran of the Vong War and the Second Galactic Civil War, and his wife, Jedi Master Jaina Solo. The Fel Empire shared many characteristics with Darth Sidious' Galactic Empire including some xenophobia (albeit to a much milder extent than its predecessor) and [[AmbitionIsEvil valuing power above all else]], but the Fels were ultimately ReasonableAuthorityFigures who were loyal to the Light side of the Force to the point that their Gray Jedi bodyguards had orders to kill them should they ever irrevocably fall to the DarkSide. After they were overthrown by Krayt, the galactic citizenry immediately went back to suffering under the same harsh dictatorial conditions and genocide they had under Sidious.

!!Examples:

* In ''Machinima/HalfLifeButTheAIIsSelfAware'', in one corner you have the Science Team, a group of dangerously unhinged and amoral weirdos who range from merely odd to downright psychotic who, whether accidentally or intentionally, kill any civilians they run across without fail, and even Tommy and Gordon, the most traditionally heroic of them, have moments of amorality and [[AxCrazy Ax Craziness]], but have redeeming qualities, genuinely care about each other, and will at least try on occasion to save the civilians they run across, even if they always fail and wind up killing them themselves. In the other hand, you have the US Military, a bunch of idiots whose strategies consist of killing every civilian they run across and even their own men and [[spoiler:may have sold out humanity to an EldritchAbomination]], the aliens, who are AlwaysChaoticEvil and attack everything on sight for no reason, and the BigBad [[spoiler:Benrey, a delusional EldritchAbomination MadGod who also acts like a total {{Jerkass}} and tries to destroy the world because he didn't get to play on the PlayStationPlus.]]
* In {{WebVideo/Jreg}}, Ancap is a sleazy businessman who purchases child sex slaves and owns recreational nukes, in addition to being a wealthy snob, and he is the only one of the extremists who refuses to kill his moderate counterpart.

** ''Comicbook/NemesisTheWarlock'' verges on EvilVersusEvil. BigBad Torquemada, leader of the human race (in the ''Nemesis'' universe, something like a cross between the heretic-burning medieval Catholic church made even worse and the Nazis), is a psychotic genocidal religious fascist god-dictator pledged to exterminate all non-human life -- but Nemesis himself, who's ''essentially Satan'', has done things like openly lust for genocide right back at humanity and, at his worst, [[WouldHurtAChild intentionally kill a school bus full of children]]. Afterwards, he doesn't even seem to understand why it was a bad thing to do. Meanwhile, Nemesis' uncle Baal has a hobby of vivisecting humans and performing Mengele-ish experiments on them and his son Thoth hates and wants to destroy everything, including his father. Nemesis' allies, the ComicBook/ABCWarriors, are also extremely morally shady, given they've conducted massacres and frequently display genocidal urges towards humanity as well.

* In ''Roleplay/TheInsaneQuestOfUnfathomableRandomness'', it quickly becomes apparent that the members of Smoosh are not so much heroes as they are bystanders caught in the middle of a petty fight between two selfish gods. While their enemy, Segami, destroys planets, harms innocents, and causes mayhem to accomplish his goals, their leader, Nintendoki...[[NotSoDifferent destroys planets, harms innocents, and causes mayhem to accomplish his goals]]. The only real thing that sets Smoosh apart from their enemies is the fact that they realize when Nintendoki is telling them to do something wrong.

** ''Comicbook/NemesisTheWarlock'' verges on EvilVersusEvil. BigBad Torquemada, leader of the human race (in the ''Nemesis'' universe, something like a cross between the heretic-burning medieval Catholic church turned UpToEleven and the Nazis), is a psychotic genocidal religious fascist god-dictator pledged to exterminate all non-human life -- but Nemesis himself, who's ''essentially Satan'', has done things like openly lust for genocide right back at humanity and, at his worst, [[WouldHurtAChild intentionally kill a school bus full of children]]. Afterwards, he doesn't even seem to understand why it was a bad thing to do. Meanwhile, Nemesis' uncle Baal has a hobby of vivisecting humans and performing Mengele-ish experiments on them and his son Thoth hates and wants to destroy everything, including his father. Nemesis' allies, the ComicBook/ABCWarriors, are also extremely morally shady, given they've conducted massacres and frequently display genocidal urges towards humanity as well.

* ComicBook/ThePunisher (especially ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX, which was mostly written by the aforementioned Ennis). Frank Castle is a sociopathic, cruel, KnightTemplar, BloodKnight, mass-murdering VigilanteMan, but is constantly pitted against UpToEleven versions of the worst sorts of people reality has to offer -- {{Serial Killer}}s, {{Serial Rapist}}s, WesternTerrorists, TheMafia, HumanTraffickers and many, many other types among them. Most Punisher villains neglect fancy costumes or entertaining gimmicks and don't seem to even have any character traits besides malice, greed, sadism, and selfishness, justifying his PayEvilUntoEvil approach to the Negative Zone and beyond. Garth Ennis writes the character as 100% aware of this, often repeatedly stating that his only reason to continue living is to punish those worse than himself.

As always, it is important to remember that Administrivia/TropesAreTools. It ''can'' be taken to an extreme, where the choices are between Pure Evil and [[DesignatedHero Good Because the Writers Say So]]. This can make the protagonist difficult to sympathize with and lead to SoBleakItsBoring.

->'Nobody seems to mind, because there is literally not a single rule regulating any of these events. This might explain why the nerds were allowed to sell pornography acquired via illegal surveillance in the next part of the competition, the charity fundraising booth. There are no good guys in this film.''

->Nobody seems to mind, because there is literally not a single rule regulating any of these events. This might explain why the nerds were allowed to sell pornography acquired via illegal surveillance in the next part of the competition, the charity fundraising booth. There are no good guys in this film.

* In ''WebVideo/DrCrafty'', the titular character is depicted as a VillainProtagonist, but he's actually quite AffablyEvil and a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Even his self-proclaimed evil deeds fall under the realm of CartoonishSupervillainy and end up being rather harmless in the grand scheme of things, [[LaughablyEvil even played for laughs]] most of the time. On the other hand, there's the show's BigBad Doctor Mindstein. Unlike Crafty and his friends, she's a KnightOfCerebus with ''truly'' evil ambitions, including [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]], [[MindRape mind-raping]], and [[MeatgrinderSurgery mutilation]]. Also, while she talks politely to her victims, she comes across as FauxAffablyEvil in contrast to Crafty's genuine kindness.

* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel ''runs'' on this trope. The only exception is spider-man

* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel ''runs'' on this trope.

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': While most of the heroes tend to be more straight up heroic and try not to commit morally questionable acts unless they have to, Batman has no problems doing that and while he is better than most of his rogues gallery, tends to have problems such as trusting issues, being too harsh and using brutal methods to get what he needs to stop them while keeping to his no-killing rule most of the time.

As always, it is important to remember that Administrivia/TropesAreTools. It ''can'' be taken to an extreme, where the choices are between Pure Evil and [[DesignatedHero Good Because the Writers Say So]]. This can make the protagonist difficult to sympathize with and lead to DarknessInducedAudienceApathy.

[[folder:Mythology]]

* The Kori No Tatakai in Myth/JapaneseMythology is a battle between two groups of {{Youkai}}: the ChaoticEvil Kitsune and the ChaoticNeutral [[TheTrickster trickster]] Tanuki.

* In {{WebVideo/Jreg}},Ancap is a sleazy businessman who purchases child sex slaves and owns recreational nukes, in addition to being a wealthy snob, and he is the only one of the extremists who refuses to kill his moderate counterpart.

* In ''HalfLifeButTheAIIsSelfAware'', in one corner you have the Science Team, a group of dangerously unhinged and amoral weirdos who range from merely odd to downright psychotic who, whether accidentally or intentionally, kill any civilians they run across without fail, and even Tommy and Gordon, the most traditionally heroic of them, have moments of amorality and [[AxCrazy Ax Craziness]], but have redeeming qualities, genuinely care about each other, and will at least try on occasion to save the civilians they run across, even if they always fail and wind up killing them themselves. In the other hand, you have the US Military, a bunch of idiots whose strategies consist of killing every civilian they run across and even their own men and [[spoiler:may have sold out humanity to an EldritchAbomination]], the aliens, who are AlwaysChaoticEvil and attack everything on sight for no reason, and the BigBad [[spoiler:Benrey, a delusional EldritchAbomination MadGod who also acts like a total {{Jerkass}} and tries to destroy the world because he didn't get to play on the PlayStationPlus.]]