History Main / BlackAndWhiteMorality

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

** The true exception to "sympathetic motivation" is ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'', where Hopper says that keeping the ants under control is more important than just getting food from them. No FreudianExcuse is also given in ''Westernanimation/Cars2'' (the villains are motivated by greed and a desire to prove superiority), ''Westernanimation/{{Coco}}'' ([[spoiler:Ernesto is a GloryHound who not only stole his partner's compositions but poisoned him to prevent the truth from coming out]]) and ''Westernanimation/{{Luca}}'' (the BarbaricBully has no qualms in [[WouldHurtAChild hurting child competitors]] to keep his winning streak alive). ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' only has one of its villains being [[WellIntentionedExtremist justifiable]] (as opposed to Randall being a jerk bent on one-upping rival Sulley, [[spoiler:Waternoose wants to solve an energy crisis, even if through a hurtful method that also requires kidnapping]]).

* Izuku in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/29961147/chapters/73753926 Izuku Midoriya the Rabbit]]'' doesn't believe in this trope so much that he can't understand any concepts or beliefs beyond it; [[GoodCannotComprehendEvil he literally cannot comprehend]] [[NominalHero "Heroes" who only do their job for selfish reasons]] and not because it's the right thing to do. This, however, is {{Justified|Trope}} by the fact that Izuku [[AdaptationSpeciesChange is a rabbit]] with a minor case of BlueAndOrangeMorality who has a hard time understanding the more complex parts of human morality and behavior.

* Characterization: [[IncorruptiblePurePureness The good guys are good]], and [[ObviouslyEvil the bad guys are bad]]. If there are any morally ambiguous or grey characters around (such as an AntiHero or WorthyOpponent), they will often eventually shift firmly to one side or the other. They'll either [[FaceHeelTurn switch]] to the side that matches their [[HeelFaceTurn actual perceived alignment]], or turn [[BadassDecay fully good]] or [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope fully evil]]. Minor characters may maintain some degree of neutrality, but the major characters will all be on one side or the other. Occasionally there will be a short scene explaining the [[AccompliceByInaction neutrality is inherently evil]] (or, very rarely, good). To avoid an AuthorTract, some writers prefer to claim that being neutral is similar to [[IFightForTheStrongestSide supporting the stronger side]]. However, as the TrueNeutral page on this Wiki will show, the reasons for being neutral number in the double digits, not including Lawful Neutral and Chaotic Neutral, or any combination thereof.

Stories using this trope usually have a HeroProtagonist and a VillainAntagonist, though this is not always the case. They're also where you're most likely to find BeautyEqualsGoodness, although there are stories with black and white morality where appearance doesn't reflect morality.

** Alan Moore's [[Characters/WatchmenRorschach Rorschach]] is a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype for Ditko's characters, and to a lesser extent, Franchise/{{Batman}}. Rorschach is also a BadassNormal detective who subscribes to a strictly Objectivist viewpoint, but his worldview falls apart when it meets reality and he continually engages in PsychologicalProjection, {{Hypocri|te}}sy, denial and a certain degree of [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity madness]]. For example, Rorsachach [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil despises rapists]] and [[WifeBeaterBeater often kills them in horrible, torturous ways without mercy]]... but earlier he has nothing but excuses for the [[HateSink Comedians']] own rape of [[MsFanservice Sally Jupiter]]; according to him, the Comedian was an upstanding American patriot and war veteran (he was in reality a SociopathicSoldier to the nth degree) who just suffered a "temporary moral lapse", [[MadonnaWhoreComplex and Jupiter is a "whore" and therefore had it coming]]. He also decries Ozymandias' plan to [[spoiler:wipe out New York City in a gambit that will end the Cold War]] as evil while previously praising [[spoiler:Harry Truman for dropping nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki for bringing a swift end to World War II]]. Rorsachach holds a worldview that is both rigid and arbitrary at the same time, and it makes him a terrible detective and a terrible person as a result.

* In "Fanfic/LadyLuck(MiraculousLadybug)", [[spoiler:Marinette]] actually suffers from this, wholeheartedly believing in those she considers good and being distrustful of anyone she considers bad. She gets better as the story progresses.

* ''Fanfic/OniGaShikuSeries'': Discussed. Majima comments that children tend to see the world in black and white after Izuku, who is very young at the time, asks him why the hero in a movie decided to save the villain's life. While Majima and Inko try to explain to him that people have both "good" and "bad" traits and that some people turn to evil because bad things happened to them or having good intentions (bringing up the villain in the movie as an example), it's obvious that the entire discussion flies over Izuku's head. Several years later this worldview comes to bite Izuku in the ass when [[spoiler:the news announces that Uncle Majima is dead, and specifically refers to him as a Yakuza Patriarch. Izuku is incapable or even refuses to see how the man who trains him to be a Hero and is always at his side being connected to a criminal organization and spends the whole week thinking they mean a different Goro Majima or that it's a nasty prank]]. It's a mark of Izuku's CharacterDevelopment when by the end of that story arc [[spoiler:he [[TakingTheBullet takes a bullet]] to SaveTheVillain, much like the hero in the movie.]]

** The true exception to "sympathetic motivation" is ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'', where Hopper says that keeping the ants under control is more important than just getting food from them. No FreudianExcuse is also given in ''Westernanimation/Cars2'' (the villains are motivated by greed and a desire to prove superiority), ''Westernanimation/{{Coco}}'' ([[spoiler:Ernesto is a GloryHound who not only stole his partner's compositions, but poisoned him to prevent the truth from coming out]]) and ''Westernanimation/{{Luca}}'' (the BarbaricBully has no qualms in [[WouldHurtAChild hurting child competitors]] to keep his winning streak alive). ''Westernanimation/MonstersInc'' only has one of its villains being [[WellIntentionedExtremist justifiable]] (as opposed to Randall being a jerk bent on one-upping rival Sulley, [[spoiler:Waternoose wants to solve an energy crisis, even if through a hurtful method that also requires kidnapping]]).

* TheThemeParkVersion of Christianity usually runs on this trope, regarding God and Satan as equal and opposite forces of good and evil respectively, often with human beings falling in one camp or another unless they decide to [[{{Naytheist}} buck the system entirely]]. In reality, dualism of this nature is contrary to what actual Christians believe, largely because it would require a belief that God and Satan are equals, but also because it requires a belief in evil as a positive force, which would mean it was put into place by God himself, which would mean that God is not omnibenevolent. "Classical" Christianity doesn't actually believe in evil as such, but rather regards it as a lack, misuse, or distortion of something good.[[note]]Even Satan supposedly fits this category, being an angel who rebelled against God and refuses to repent, deciding to simply [[TakingYouWithMe drag humans down with him instead.]][[/note]] Regardless, the Hollywood version is still a very enduring idea in pop culture, largely because [[RuleOfCool it makes for a better story]].

* The RPG ''TabletopGame/OverTheEdge'' is very much BlackAndGreyMorality, but a drug in the setting called "Zorro" (short for "Zoroaster") induces delusions of black and white morality in the user.

* "WebVideo/DharMann" videos usually have the protagonists as kind-hearted paragons that will usually not accept any help or money donations out of kindness to show how pure they are, while the antagonists are usually complete deplorable bullies or just assholes in general who go out of their way to bully and harass the protagonist until they either redeem themselves by the end or are [[AintTooProudToBeg reduced to groveling]] by a chain of contrived situations.

* ''Webcomic/HarkAVagrant'' parodies this trope as it's used in classic literature with the character of [[http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=388 Goodman Brown]]. Anytime Goodman sees another character doing something remotely bad he chalks them up as purely evil. He gets called on it but ignores them.

* ''Fanfic/OniGaShikuSeries'': Discussed. Majima comments that children tend to see the world in black and white after Izuku, who is very young at the time, asks him why the hero in a movie decided to save the villain's life. While Majima and Inko try to explain to him that people have both "good" and "bad" traits and that some people turn to evil because bad things happened to them or having good intentions (bringing up the villain in the movie as an example), it's obvious that the entire discussion flies over Izuku's head. Several years later this worldview comes to bite Izuku in the ass when [[spoiler:the news announces that Uncle Majima is dead, and specifically refers to him as a Yakuza Patriarch. Izuku is incapable or even refuses to see how the man who trains him to be a Hero and is always at his side being connected to a criminal organization and spends the whole week thinking they mean a different Goro Majima or that it's a nasty prank]]. It's a mark of Izuku's CharacterDevelopment when by the end of that story arc [[spoiler:he TakesABullet to SaveTheVillain, much like the hero in the movie.]]