History Main / BlackAndWhiteInsanity

** Daenerys Targaryen has a fair bit of difficulty understanding that not all of the people who rebelled against her father and usurped her family's throne are faithless, power-hungry traitors. In particular, every time she hears anyone say anything good about Eddard Stark (who the readers know as one of the only genuinely heroic characters in the series), she refuses to listen and continues believing him to be a cold-hearted villain. [[spoiler:She starts to grow out of this after finding out from Barristan Selmy that her father really was TheCaligula. She's also not as quick to condemn Eddard for his association with Robert Baratheon when she realizes that by the same logic that she uses to condemn him (essentially guilt by association), she is a child killer like her dragon]].

** Demona's relationship with Macbeth also proves that she suffers from this line of thinking. He was one of the few humans who she actually liked and trusted (albeit extremely reluctantly), as he showed her nothing but respect and honor for her skills as a warrior. However, when one of Macbeth's allies suggested betraying the gargoyles, Macbeth remarked that he'd think about it--even though it was clear he would ''never'' do so and only made that claim because, in his own words, "a wise king considers all options." But in Demona's eyes, anything other than a complete and violent display a loyalty to her was a sign of treachery, and so she turned on Macbeth with a hateful vengeance.

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/43468338 Prompt: Self Destruction]]'': Chat Noir believes that those that help Marinette and stop [[ManipulativeBitch Lila]] are good and those that fail to so are Marinette's enemies, a line of thinking that concerns Marinetteherself. Just to emphasize the insane part, he applies this morality to ''himself''. He sees his hero self as good since he help Marinette exposed Lila and his civilian self as Adrien as "evil" because his high roar advice [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom nearly led Marinette to be framed and expelled by Lila]], despite not knowing how bad Lila was until after the attempt. Plagg points out to him how unhealthy and insane that line of thinking is.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': [[spoiler:Belos/Philip operates under the assumption that all witches and demons are inherently evil and [[FinalSolution must be eradicated]], and that all humans are inherently good and must be protected, but can be corrupted through association with witches, [[MurderIsTheBestSolution at which point it's best to]] MercyKill them. He's so committed to this line of thinking that on top of the genocide of the Boiling Isles he spent 300 years planning, he murdered ''[[SiblingMurder his own brother]]'' for falling in love with a witch, and was fully ready to turn 14 year-old Luz to stone for sympathizing with witches.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/KippAndTheAgeOfWonderbeasts'': [[BigBad Dr. Emilia]] believes humans are inherently good and [[UpliftedAnimal mutes]] are inherently evil, and thus works to create a "cure" to devolve mutes into normal animals so humanity can go back to being the dominant species of Earth.

* Count [[MaliciousMisnaming Vulgar, uh, Vegar]] from ''Videogame/Jak3Wastelander'' certainly qualifies. His vision of the world boils basically to: anything related to Light Eco -- good, anything related to Dark Eco -- bad. Even if the person ''unwillingly'' (though he was against it) pumped by Dark Eco is a [[DarkIsnotEvil hero]] that defeated the Metal Head leader. Predictably, the war goes to hell after Jak is banished, which probably contributed to his demotion by Ashelin.

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'': Some Stormcast Eternals, although not all or even most, can slide into this over time; unfortunately, the process that allows them to come BackFromTheDead when killed in battle has the side effect of shaving off a sliver of their humanity each time. Those who've gone through the process ''many'' times -- and that number is growing as the war against Chaos continues -- slowly lose the ability to discern shades of grey in morality, ruthlessly hunting any who stray even slightly from Sigmar's doctrine, in spite of the fact that Sigmar himself doesn't approve of such behavior, and is trying to find a way to fix this flaw.

** [[spoiler:Fleet-]]Admiral Sakazuki of the Marines, who will ''execute'' people who so much as know certain criminals. A ship full of refugees met a fiery end due to the fact that a criminal ''might'' have gotten aboard (treating criminal tendency there as though it were Mad Cow Disease, if you will).

* In ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'', the titular character ends up falling into a twisted version of this trope to support his KillEmAll philosophy. He "reasons" that there are only two kinds of people in the world -- the manipulative and destructive upper class and their poor, downtrodden victims. As such, he decides to murder anyone and everyone who crosses his path -- it will be karmic justice for the former and a sweet release for the latter.

* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', most spirits have a bad case of this. They see anyone who happens to be their target as completely evil and deserving of death or some other horrific fate, no matter what the victim had actually done; all that matters is making them suffer. The most obvious example of this is Bloody Mary, who would kill anyone with a DarkSecret that involved someone's death; however, this results in her going after people who only feel responsible for a death since, in her eyes, they’re guilty.

* ''Arcane'' has [[ManicPixieDreamGirl Jinx]]; a trauma-filled girl/woman/child that [[spoiler:turns on her sister after she discovers she's been working with an enforcer]] due to her black/white perception of allies and enemies. She also [[spoiler: turns on her adoptive father]] for this same reason.

* ''Franchise/DanganRonpa'':
** In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' you have [[spoiler: Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student]], who believes hope is good and despair is bad, therefore, [[WellIntentionedExtremist all actions done in the sake of hope are good.]] The problem is their [[BlueAndOrangeMorality twisted perception of hope]] that leads them to [[spoiler: create an opportunity to murder on Chapter 1 and masterminding his own death in Chapter 5 on a ThanatosGambit to kill everybody on the island.]]
** The FanGame ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaAnother'' has Tsurugi Kinjo, the "[[TheAce Ultimate]] [[ByTheBookCop Policeman]]" whose KnightTemplar mindset gradually has him go from TheLeader to TheFriendNobodyLikes. At the very start of the game he [[LeeroyJenkins nearly gets himself killed for attacking]] [[KillerGameMaster Monokuma]], and his attempts to prevent more [[DeadlyGame deaths]] get more and more desperate as he [[WellIntentionedExtremist enacts harsh rules to try to keep everyone out of trouble]] while alienating everyone with his WithUsOrAgainstUs attitude, labeling everyone who refuses to submit to him "potential killers". He also outright refuses to empathize with any of the killers despite the impossible situation they're in, [[spoiler:such as [[BreakTheCutie labeling Taira an attempted murderer]] for not immediately coming clean about her self-defense stabbing or lashing out at Kinji for using the same TheNeedsOfTheMany logic he does. In the fourth chapter, he's even more mentally unbalanced after Kinji pointed out his [[{{hypocrite}} hypocrisy]], and when the others point out further inconsistencies with his thought process in the next trial, he stammers like a robot that's been handed a LogicBomb & [[HeroicBSOD bluescreens so badly that he passes out and gets excused from the courtroom]]]].

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** ComicBook/TwoFace is sometimes portrayed as having this as the root of his multiple personality disorder. His original character concept was even more so. Originally he was actually supposed to do good deeds when the coin landed unscarred face up. This is particularly obvious in his post-''Year One'' characterizations, where the "good" persona believes in fairness and the hope of goodness in people, while the "evil" side sees unfairness and cheating everywhere. To quote his revised origin:

** Batman himself occasionally comes into this DependingOnTheWriter, usually in stories in which it's pointed out how close to insanity he often walks. ComicBook/TheJoker in particular seems very fond of calling him out on this, most famously in ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke''.

* Rorschach in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', meant deliberately as a comment on Creator/SteveDitko's [[WithUsOrAgainstUs more fanatically Objectivist]] characters. This is clearly reflected in his ExpressiveMask, where the black and white never mix. [[spoiler: This also led to his death, as he refused to compromise and decided to tell the world the truth despite knowing it would [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans only make all the deaths from the plan meaningless and will put the world on the brink of nuclear annihilation]]. Which is why Dr. Manhattan killed him in order to prevent him from doing so]].
--> '''Rorschach''': No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. ''Never compromise.''
** PlayedWith by Rorschach's {{foil}} [[spoiler: Ozymandias]] who was just as bad, if not worse. [[spoiler:Both Dan and Rorschach initially assume that Adrian must be insane, finding his description of his own master plan too ludicrous to believe. He assures them that he is more than rational. However, Adrian's views of the world are rather unrealistically binary. To him, there's the savagery of the past (and present) where chaos and unrest run rampant, and the utopian unity of the future where humanity's flaws will magically cease to exist. He is [[TheExtremistWasRight seemingly vindicated by the ensuing world peace]] brought about by his act of destruction, but Jon leaves him with a margin for doubt that the peace will last. Jon is eventually proven right in the sequel ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'', but Ozymandias doubles down and refuses to admit he was wrong even as he tries to clean up the mess he caused.]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Oxymoron}}'': How Oxymoron perceives the world since he's obsessed with contradiction. For instance, he murders a ganglord who has some PetTheDog policies, since in Oxymoron's eyes there is no such thing as a bad man with some good in him or a good man with some bad in him. He also assassinates various public servants who were corrupt in some way.
* One time Spider-Man Extremist had a black and white view of the world and was opposed to what he argued as "The Grey" which tried to confuse the lines between them. He saw heroes as entirely good and critics as existential threats to that and so used his powers of invisibility, intangibility, and AuraVision to assassinate them. He was eventually defeated when he got a literal look in the mirror and saw with his aura reading that his motivations weren't altruistic, but motivated by a selfish desire to be special.

** Goh's descent is fueled by his [[NeverMyFault refusal to admit]] that he helped push Chloe away. Instead, he blames her for not trying hard enough to reconnect, [[AllTakeAndNoGive feeling SHE should have done all the work]] while HE kept chasing after Mew. He also develops a WithUsOrAgainstUs mentality wherein he gets ''furious'' over the notion that people are worried about ''anyone else'' who's '''also''' stuck on the Train -- despite how logically, helping them might lead to more help for Chloe.

* Vhailor, the SixthRanger in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', takes this UpToEleven. He's a [[AnimatedArmor haunted suit of armor]] who's the patron saint of the [[VirtueIsWeakness Mercykillers]], a faction of KnightTemplar {{Bounty Hunter}}s who believe in punishing evil at any cost without mercy (hence the name). Through sheer force of will alone, he [[PurposeDrivenImmortality cheated death]] by becoming the [[AbstractApotheosis embodiment of justice]]. This would be great if not for the fact that his personal definition of justice is batshit insane, as the slightest misstep in conversation with him will make him turn on half the party. Even in a universe where good and evil are actual physical forces as real as gravity and magnetism, Vhailor's fanaticism renders him close to non-functional and the rest of your party consider him equal part crazy and terrifying.

* ''WesternAnimation/Arcane'' has [[ManicPixieDreamGirl Jinx]]; a trauma-filled girl/woman/child that [[Spoiler turns on her sister after she discovers she's been working with an enforcer]] due to her black/white perception of allies and enemies. She also [[Spoiler turns on her adoptive father]] for this same reason.

** The FanGame ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaAnother'' has Tsurugi Kinjo, the "[[TheAce Ultimate]] [[ByTheBookCop Policeman]]" whose KnightTemplar mindset gradually has him go from TheLeader to TheFriendNobodyLikes. At the very start of the game he [[LeeroyJenkins nearly gets himself killed for attacking]] [[KillerGameMaster Monokuma]], and his attempts to prevent more [[DeadlyGame deaths]] get more and more desperate as he [[WellIntentionedExtremist enacts harsh rules to try to keep everyone out of trouble]] while alienating everyone with his WithUsOrAgainstUs attitude, labeling everyone who refuses to submit to him "potential killers". He also outright refuses to empathize with any of the killers despite the impossible situation they're in, [[spoiler:such as [[BreakTheCutie labeling Taira an attempted murderer]] for not immediately coming clean about her self-defense stabbing or lashing out at Kinji for using the same TheNeedsOfTheMany logic he does]].

* In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' you have [[spoiler: Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student]], who believes hope is good and despair is bad, therefore, [[WellIntentionedExtremist all actions done in the sake of hope are good.]] The problem is their [[BlueAndOrangeMorality twisted perception of hope]] that leads them to [[spoiler: create an opportunity to murder on Chapter 1 and masterminding his own death in Chapter 5 on a ThanatosGambit to kill everybody on the island.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' you have [[spoiler: Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student]], who believes hope is good and despair is bad, therefore, all actions done in the sake of hope are good. The problem is their [[BlueAndOrangeMorality twisted perception of hope]] that leads them to [[spoiler: create an opportunity to murder on Chapter 1 and masterminding his own death in Chapter 5 on a ThanatosGambit to kill everybody on the island.]]

* Heroes in ''TabletopGame/BeastThePrimordial'' represent the dangerous end-result of mixing this trope with AxCrazy; they are defined as [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]] who will seek out and destroy all [[DesignatedVillain Beasts]], even those who [[PokeThePoodle choose pretty innocuous methods]] of sating their HorrorHunger. In fact, Heroes see the universe in terms of "me as good; Beast as evil" that they easily slide into delusions of ProtagonistCenteredMorality, allowing them to effortlessly justify ''anything'' they do to themselves as being ForTheGreaterGood.
* The [[BigBad Oracles]] from ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression'' have this as their defining character flaw. They've rejected any sort of possible nuance or greyness in morality, and act on very old and simplistic moral philosophies, being ''quite'' proactive in righting all the supposed wrongs they find. And no matter what you say, they always think they're the ones in the right.
* In ''Tabletopgame/MagicTheGathering'', this is [[LightIsNotGood White]]'s main flaw, which is why {{Knight Templar}}s are fairly easy to create. A specific example were the Loxodons from Mirrodin (metal-covered anthropomorphic elephants), which were mentally incapable of accepting the concept of moral shades of grey. The white [[AlwaysChaoticEvil phyrexians]] that took over Mirrodin were even worse in that regard.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' went in for the "LawfulStupid KnightTemplar" presentation of Lawful groups a bit much, at least those that weren't overtly LawfulEvil. The Harmonium and Mercykiller factions were especially bad, presented as draconian monsters -- the courts often had to throw out cases where someone was arrested by the Harmonium for minor infractions like membership in a "wrong" faction. This came from being in a setting where belief is power and strong belief is ''more'' power, leading factions to resort to dogmatic extremism to get and keep their power.
** In an interesting subversion, it also suggested that for creatures who are born from and composed of the pure force of Good (or Law, or whatever), that to ''cease'' to see the world in the black-and-white terms of their alignment was a sign of mental instability. The main example being a group of celestials (beings of pure Good) who conspired to keep the fiends (demons and devils) wrapped up in their EnemyCivilWar by running arms to both sides. Some seemed to be close to losing their grip from seeing things in shades of gray. In other words, shades-of-gray is a healthy and mature view for mortals but unhealthy for immortals, and black-and-white absolutism is the reverse.
* In ''Tabletopgame/Warhammer40000'', pretty much every single sentient being is afflicted by this, due to FantasticRacism. Except the AlwaysChaoticEvil ones. Of course, this being ''[[CrapsackWorld Warhammer 40000]]'', the only mistake most of them make is [[BlackAndGreyMorality assuming there's a "white"]].

** This is Zamasu's primary problem. He has a very black and white view of mortals and gods. Namely, mortals are evil and need to be cleansed, while the gods are good, if not a bit [[TheGodsMustBeLazy lazy]] for not taking care of the mortals. His inability to understand that mortals can learn and grow, and the gods themselves are also [[GodIsFlawed flawed]] and needs to learn from their mistakes is a point of tension between Gowasu and him. [[spoiler: He eventually jumps off the slippery slope when Goku proves that mortals can overpower gods, and decides to murder ''everyone'' in Future Trunks' timeline to create what he sees as a truly just world. Once he's cleaved in twain by Trunks, he loses what little sanity and mind he had left and tries to [[OmnicidalManiac kill everything and everyone, everywhere]].]]

* Akoya Seishu of ''Manga/KenganAshura'' was a police officer and a martial arts master who dedicated his life to "justice", becoming a vigilante who slaughtered criminals with his bare hands. Over time he [[HeWhoFightsMonsters slowly devolved into a psychotic]] KnightTemplar SerialKiller and extended his brand of "justice" to his victims' families and any rival fighters unlucky enough to get in his way. He [[DomesticAbuse beats his lover and]] MoralityChain Hiyama for not giving him the results he wants as his MissionControl, and Adam Dudley accuses him of having "Film/DirtyHarry Syndrome". Without Hiyama's influence, he quickly becomes a sadistic monster who deliberately tries to inflict a CruelAndUnusualDeath on anyone who dares to [[IAmTheNoun stand against him]]. By the time of ''Kengan Omega'' he's been suspended from future tournaments for being too extreme even by the Association's low moral standards.