History Main / BlackAndGrayMorality

** Many of the Shinigami are [[GoodIsNotNice not the sorta people you'd normally wanna deal with]]. Their ruler, the Spirit King, is a reclusive enigma, preferring to stick around in his realm than to dabble in politics. Their PraetorianGuard, Squad Zero, doesn't care about what's happening in the Soul Society; all they want is to keep the Spirit King safe. Their judicial branch, Central 46, is filled with arrogant, paranoid hypocrites who authorized the extermination of four captains and four lieutenants, purely because of [[TheHeartless what they were turned into]], even when it wasn't their fault. Their military, the Gotei 13, is stacked with psychotic {{Mad Scientist}}s who practice in human experimentation; battle-loving {{Blood Knight}}s who follow HonorBeforeReason; LawfulNeutral {{Knight Templar}}s who would KickTheDog if it's against law-breakers; calculating, secretive {{Guile Hero}}es who coldly manipulate their allies if it's advantageous to their goals; and otherwise good people who nonetheless practice in [[CombatPragmatist dirty, underhanded tactics]] [[IDidWhatIHadToDo if it meant winning]]. To be fair, after the GovernmentConspiracy, CharacterDevelopment truly kicks in for a lot of them, namely in Byakuya being more willing to bend the rules, Renji going from a cocky thug into a loyal friend, Soifon loosening up on her harsher methods, Central 46 finally getting called out for their transgressions, and Yamamoto restoring Ichigo's powers in direct violation of tradition. Even the members of Squad Zero come across as JerkWithAHeartOfGold in certain cases.
** On the other hand, Arrancars ''really'' make the Shinigami look like saints. Violent, sadistic psychos whose former lives included cannibalism, Arrancars brutalize their opponents in every way they can, regardless of their age, gender or social status. They're known for various forms of torture, mass murder, dismemberment, decapitation, friendly fire, BodyHorror and one instance of rape. They hold a vicious hierarchy predicated on AsskickingEqualsAuthority, so they have no qualms over killing one another if it meant proving their strength. Very few are truly portrayed as honorable people. However, several are portrayed sympathetically, invoking both AlasPoorVillain and JerkassWoobie points to show that they're not AlwaysChaoticEvil.
** Quincies had a legit beef with [[TheHeartless Hollows]] - payback for losing their loved ones (among other things). However, their penchant for RevengeBeforeReason disrupted the chain of reincarnation within the verse, due to their abilities leading to the complete decimation of the Hollows' souls. It was the backdrop of a war between themselves and their Shinigami rivals, which led to the near-destruction of their race as a result. Another knock against the Quincies would be their apparent desire for "blood purity"; they look down on mixed breeds, to the point where they'd rather inbreed than split their heritages. While we've seen a couple of sympathetic Quincies, the majority of named Quincies are affiliated with the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Vandenreich]], a xenophobic, imperialist organization with allusions to NaziGermany and ImperialJapan. Almost as if to highlight the moral ambiguity of Soul Society, there is a holy knights theme to be observed in the Vandenreich's robes, contrasted with the rather demonic motif seen amongst the various Shinigami.

* The bread and butter of ''{{Drakengard}}''. The protagonist is a bloodthirsty psychopath with a penchant for vengeance; your allies are a pedophile, an insane infertile child killer, and a dragon with an unbridled hatred for all of humanity; your former "friend" goes nuts with jealousy and grief; and the most innocent character, your sister, wants to jump your bones and because of this she [[spoiler:kills herself]] sfter revealing that. This is all much less clear in the American version, where they greatly toned down these quirks, but they're still there... and to think, you're the ones trying to save the world. The rest of the world is trying to kill you. In the sequel ''Drakengard 2'', this is much less so.

* In AndrewVachss's Burke books, Burke and his TrueCompanions are mostly ex-cons who skirt or break the law frequently. They cross paths with pedophiles and other worse scum from time to time.

** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'' is probably the only UC series that falls more into BlackAndWhiteMorality, with the [=AEUG=] as a whole being more heroic than the Federation in the other series, and the Titans being just as bad as Zeon.

* AdversaryCycle: In ''The Keep'', it's Rasalom vs. Nazis. Guess who's worse. Also, the Otherness vs. the Ally in general. The Ally isn't evil for the sake of being evil, but it certainly does horrible things. However, Earth needs the Ally to win because the Otherness would be much, much worse.

* Many writings of RobertSheckley.

* The Renegade playthrough of ''MassEffect'' seems to take this light. While that's not to say there isn't a decent amount of [[GreyAndGreyMorality grey]] in the Paragon playthrough, Shepard and his/her crew are, for the most part, pretty clear-cut good guys. In the Renegade playthrough on the other hand, Shepard is portrayed as a WellIntentionedExtremist [[TheUnfettered who will go to any lengths]] to stop Saren and, later, [[spoiler:Sovereign.]] Though this can be justified by Saren being a monster, and [[spoiler:Sovereign being an OmnicidalManiac]].

* Creator/JKRowling was very fond indeed of doing this with her characters in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series. WordOfGod says that there were concerted efforts made to remind the readers that Harry is a flawed person (see his ''[[HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'' "{{wangst}}ing", and is certainly no saint (his ready use of [[spoiler: the Cruciatus curse on Amycus]], and before then, Bellatrix). James (and specifically Sirius) are shown to have very good hearts overall, but could definitely be {{Jerkass}}es at times (Sirius and his treatment of Snape/Kreacher, his recklessness). Ron (who never went through what Harry did but accomplished more than most Hogwarts students could ever admit to) [[spoiler: left Harry and Hermione in the woods.]] Dumbledore, of whom so many people "thought the sun shone from every orifice", made plans in his youth with another to take [[spoiler: siege of the general Muggle population, during which time he neglected his remaining family.]] Paradoxically, Regulus [[spoiler: turns out to have been not as Black as first painted- same for Snape.]] Draco is a tricky one, who at first [[spoiler: doesn't turn Harry in, but then later tries to capture him, accompanied by his old henchmen who, by now, are not just brainless brawns and are unafraid to kill.]] Hermione enchanted the D.A. list to give scarring acne to any member who betrayed them. even if the person had limited options. She also tricked [[LoveToHate Umbridge]] into going into the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night and getting [[TakeThatScrappy attacked by centaurs]].

** Jesse is a wannabe punk and small-time meth cook who introduces Walt to the business and (initially) loves the increased fame and profit that comes from working with him.

{{Being Human}}: Mitchell and Herrick were basically this every time they were fighting, but the final series kicks it up a notch. The only properly white character remaining is Alex. Hal is an Old One and when he reverts he makes Herrick look like an ineffectual wimp, and Tom has basically been turned into a weapon for destroying vampires by his adoptive father. When they start going at it, the only things making them seem like the 'good guys' is their friendship with Alex and the fact that their enemy is Satan himself, trapped in human form.

** Mike views killing and drug-dealing as just another chore in his line of work, he does them without hesitation without even considering morality.

** Walt [[TookALevelInBadass goes from mild-mannered chemistry teacher to meth dealer in the first few episodes]], and loses his objections to murder almost as quickly.[[YourDaysAreNumbered His stage III-A lung cancer]] makes him sympathetic at first, but his increasingly evil behavior means he crosses into VillainProtagonist territory by Season 5.

** Walt's wife Skyler does everything in her power to keep her kids safe, both from Walt and the rest of the drug industry, but she covers Walt's involvement in the drug trade and ends up laundering his meth profits.
** Hank Schrader, a DEA agent & Walt's brother-in-law, is no hero either, given his KnightTemplar and GoodIsNotNice qualities. His wife Marie is a caring woman, but she is horrifically naive and something of a CloudCuckoolander.
** There's Saul, a sleazy money-grubbing attorney more concerned with profiteering off the meth trade than anything else.

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': Protagonist Walter White [[TookALevelInBadass goes from mild-mannered chemistry teacher to meth dealer in the first few episodes]], and loses his objections to murder almost as quickly.[[YourDaysAreNumbered His stage III-A lung cancer]] means he has to pay for the cancer treatment & provide for his family in the time he has left, making him sympathetic, but an AntiHero in the pilot & a VillainProtagonist by Season 5. Hank Schrader, a DEA agent & Walt's brother-in-law, is no hero either, given his KnightTemplar and GoodIsNotNice qualities. The distributors who sell Walt's product provide enough contrast to prevent the show from being EvilVersusEvil or GreyAndGrayMorality, while the rest of the characters range from hopelessly naive and caught in the middle of something they don't understand (Skyler, Marie, Ted) to decent men who don't realize that EvilIsNotAToy (Gale, Jesse) to every bit as nasty as Walt or the drug lords (Todd, Mike, Lydia).

* ''{{Copper}}''. The protagonists are prostitutes, cheaters, and murderers. Corky and Francis often go above the law and use unnecessarily violent means to get information. Elizabeth Haverford [[spoiler: sends a child home to her abusive "father"]] without a second thought, and Chief Sullivan is corrupt, focusing on his own goals rather than fighting crime.

** On the other hand, Arrancars ''really'' make the Shinigami look like saints. Violent, sadistic psychos whose former lives included cannibalism, Arrancars brutalize their opponents in every way they can, regardless of their age, gender or social status. They're known for various forms of torture, mass murder, dismemberment, decapitation, friendly fire, rape and BodyHorror. They hold a vicious hierarchy predicated on AsskickingEqualsAuthority, so they have no qualms over killing one another if it meant proving their strength. Very few are truly portrayed as honorable people. However, several are portrayed sympathetically, invoking both AlasPoorVillain and JerkassWoobie points to show that they're not AlwaysChaoticEvil.

*** Farnsworth, an amoral crackpot whose total disregard for human life has lead to the death of several of his crews,

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', so. Freaking. Much.
** In fact, the only reason why Cartman is the good guy, it's because the antagonists are even ''worse''.

* Generally a SignatureStyle of FrankMiller, especially in ''SinCity''. All his heroes are fascists, sociopaths or both, but the villains they face are even worse. His take on {{Batman}} was controversial at best, as Batman was depicted as extremely violent and abusive to Robin.