History Main / ShadesOfConflict

And finally:

* '''[[MoralityKitchenSink White and Grey and Black vs. White And Gray And Black]]''': For those works trying to be "realistic" while still having distinct "good guys" and "bad guys".

With that in mind, it's inevitable that the combinations of conflict will be well charted and mapped. A fight may be between [[IdealHero a too-good-to-stand hero more wholesome than Mom and apple pie]] and a [[CutLexLuthorACheck serial bank robber who uses a gun that turns things into gold]]. It may be [[TriangRelations a pair of teenaged brothers who like the same girl]]. But there is a certain tenor to the conflict that goes hand in hand with whether or not one of the participants is, in fact, a horrible person. Maybe there are actions that can be taken against ThoseWackyNazis that would be extreme against the WellIntentionedExtremist. Maybe the KnightTemplar goes about his war in a different way from the DarkMessiah. The stakes are certainly higher when TheHero is up against an OmnicidalManiac rather than an IneffectualSympatheticVillain, and so the tension is heightened.

Also not to be confused with ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' (which technically falls under Grey vs. Grey);. The names of the kinds of conflicts listed above probably comes from the convention that LightIsGood and DarkIsEvil (or [[LightIsNotGood vice]] [[DarkIsNotEvil versa]]). Contrast NoAntagonist. See also AlikeAndAntitheticalAdversaries.

** '''White vs. Grey vs. Black''': Where the conflict is a MeleeATrois between a good faction, a morally grey faction, and an evil faction who don't ever (or at least rarely ever) team up with each other.

* '''[[EvilVersusEvil Black vs. Black]]''': EnemyCivilWar, TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}. The most cynical and dark works often fall here. If handled poorly, tends to lead to TooBleakStoppedCaring due to it being impossible to root for anyone in the story.

Also not to be confused with ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' (which technically falls under Grey vs. Grey);. The names of the kinds of conflicts listed above probably comes from the convention that LightIsGood and DarkIsEvil. Contrast NoAntagonist. See also AlikeAndAntitheticalAdversaries.

* '''[[EvilVersusEvil Black vs. Black]]''': EnemyCivilWar, TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}. The most cynical and dark works often fall here. If handled poorly, tends to lead to DarknessInducedAudienceApathy due to it being impossible to root for anyone in the story.

* Grey vs White and Black: Sometimes due to their ambiguity, both White and Black picks on Grey separately.

* '''[[GoodVersusGood White vs. White]]''': LighterAndSofter

** '''Grey vs. Grey and Black''': A subgroup of GreyAndGrayMorality. Basically, both sides are handled with great moral ambiguity, but the enemy side is made clear by there being also some Black individuals in place along with the AntiVillain, WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, WellIntentionedExtremist, KnightTemplar, etc. Only recently put up and worth serious contemplation, especially in regards to the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism.