History Main / TrueNeutral

* The titular ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''. A [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits little band]] of {{Heroic Comedic Sociopath}}s who love killing and scalping Nazis--why? Because they're mostly American Jews [[PayEvilUntoEvil hungry for revenge]] and it's just plain ''[[BloodKnight fun]]''. Because they fight [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazis]], [[AcceptableTargets they can't be pure evil]], but they're far from being good. They also seem to have something of a [[WellIntentionedExtremist moral standard]] and have some sense of honor, but Raine is entirely willing to violate direct orders if it suits him. Thus, their Good, Evil, Lawful, and Chaotic traits almost balance out.

* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': Scarab has a reputation as an assassin but she's more of a combatant for hire who will without question take a job where one of her directives is to avoid killing or doing any serious damage and doesn't care who her employer is so long as they pay.

* Among the ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'', [[GothGirlsKnowMagic Catalyst]] and [[TheSmartGuy Crypto]] are perhaps the only competitors, taking part in the games to re-establish an identity. Revenant wants to die, Ballistic wants to relive his past glory, but the latter two, just want to [[ThePowerOfFamily support their family]]. Crypto was nothing more than a Hacker, framed for a crime he didn't commit. Catalyst felt the conformity of her people was unnecessary, seeing the neglect of the neighboring moon as [[InHarmonyWithNature far more important]].

* Among the ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'', [[GothGirlKnowsMagic Catalyst]] and [[TheSmartGuy Crypto]] are perhaps the only competitors, taking part in the games to re-establish an identity. Revenant wants to die, Ballistic wants to relive his past glory, but the latter two, just want to [[ThePowerOfFamily support their family]]. Crypto was nothing more than a Hacker, framed for a crime he didn't commit. Catalyst felt the conformity of her people was unnecessary, seeing the neglect of the neighboring moon as [[InHarmonyWithNature far more important]].

* ''Anime/ClassroomOfTheElite'' has its protagonist Kiyotaka Ayanokouji. Despite acting kind, if somewhat aloof around others, [[spoiler:his true motive is only to maintain his current lifestyle and not be sent back to the facility he was raised. Deep down, he only views most of his classmates as tools, and the few people he is close to can be best classified as either 'people whom he does not want to make tools out of' or 'people who are too useful to let go'. He gains attraction from the girls mostly through calculated moves to earn their trust and make them easier for him to manipulate. He's fairly amoral and only wants to protect himself and will only help people if it advances said goal.]] Though in the novel, that last one is considerably toned down compared to the anime.

* ''LightNovel/ClassroomOfTheElite'' has its protagonist Kiyotaka Ayanokouji. Despite acting kind, if somewhat aloof around others, [[spoiler:his true motive is only to maintain his current lifestyle and not be sent back to the facility he was raised. Deep down, he only views most of his classmates as tools, and the few people he is close to can be best classified as either 'people whom he does not want to make tools out of' or 'people who are too useful to let go'. He gains attraction from the girls mostly through calculated moves to earn their trust and make them easier for him to manipulate. He's fairly amoral and only wants to protect himself and will only help people if it advances said goal.]] Though in the novel, that last one is considerably toned down compared to the anime.

* ''LightNovel/ClassroomOfTheElite' ' has its protagonist Kiyotaka Ayanokouji. Despite acting kind, if somewhat aloof around others, [[spoiler:his true motive is only to maintain his current lifestyle and not be sent back to the facility he was raised. Deep down, he only views most of his classmates as tools, and the few people he is close to can be best classified as either 'people whom he does not want to make tools out of' or 'people who are too useful to let go'. He gains attraction from the girls mostly through calculated moves to earn their trust and make them easier for him to manipulate. He's fairly amoral and only wants to protect himself and will only help people if it advances said goal.]] Though in the novel, that last one is considerably toned down compared to the anime.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', Timon and Pumbaa start off with the motto of ''"Hakuna Matata"'' (No Worries). They convert Simba into this temporarily before he decides [[LawfulGood to recognize his duty as a king]].

%%** Hohenheim, Lust and Sloth in [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]] also count.

* UsefulNotes/{{Solipsism}} (Neutral Consciousness which Reality cames from).

* Most of John Anderton's temporary allies in ''Film/MinorityReport'' fall under this heading: Rufus Riley and [[BackAlleyDoctor Dr Solomon Eddie]] are grey-market salesmen who are only interested in Anderton's money, while Dr Iris Hineman has no interest in anything outside her GardenOfEvil.

%%** And by extention, Brad Hauser of ''Film/WarInc''.

%%* The Majority of the [=McCallister=] Family from ''Film/HomeAlone'' with the exceptions of Kevin who is more {{Chaotic Neutral}} bordering on {{Chaotic Good}}, Frank who is {{Neutral Evil}} and Buzz who is {{Lawful Evil}}. The rest of the minor characters fall under this with the exceptions being: Old Man Marley being {{Neutral Good}}, The Bird Woman {{Chaotic Good}}, and The Hotel Concierge is {{Lawful Neutral}}.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Jaime Lannister shows signs of this. Before the series begins, he joined the Kingsguard against his LawfulEvil father's wishes, then murders his king when [[TheCaligula the man's lunacy goes too far]]. Faced with scorn for his oathbreaking ways, he embraces the arrogant and amoral personality people expect from him, [[spoiler:even crippling a child to protect his sister and himself]], but comes to [[TheAtoner try to make amends]] for some of this.

* Theoretically ''you'' are this alignment in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' -- the story is that you are being paid for your mercenary services and that you are working for the highest bidder. You will sometimes even switch teams (and objectives) in the middle of a battle. With regards to the characters' canon personalities, the Sniper fits this specific alignment particuarly well; he sees himself purely as a professional hired assassin, with no genuine attachment to killing other than job satisfaction and money. However, most of the playable characters are one of the three Neutral alignments.

* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'': [[Characters/ChainsawManDenji Denji]], the protagonist, is a fundamentally selfish individual whose only real GoalInLife is to find some kind of happiness, and his loyalty is easily won by any amount of kindness or generosity. While he eventually [[spoiler: becomes a superhero]], he's too morally flexible to be truly called "good" (such as prioritizing [[SkewedPriorities a cat's life over a teenager and a car full of the elderly]]) and doesn't particularly care about following or defying an established order; Denji fights devils and learns to live a better life, and that's just fine with him.

* Rose Lalonde of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' actually ends up here by the time Act 4 closes. She [[OffTheRails gives the middle finger to the rules of Sburb]]and doesn't really give a shit about any of the [[GambitPileup conflicting factions in the game]] except for herself and her friends. She's also willing to consult with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and use some seriously powerful BlackMagic in order to find the answers she wants.

** In the [[ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise ''Robots In Disguise'']] and [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye ''More Than Meets The Eye'']] comics of IDW's Transformers comics, they are called NAILs -- Non-Aligned-Indigenous Lifeforms. They're a sizable group and include many former Autobots and Decepticons who grew disgusted enough with the war that they deserted. Following the end of the war and dissolution of both armies, the NAILs effectively form the largest 'faction'.

* Kino of ''LightNovel/KinosJourney'' is interested in traveling and observing the world. Period. She's pretty adamant about not interfering; it takes some pretty special circumstances for her to do so. [[spoiler:She once listened to a man explain to her how he killed a woman's family and then decided to become TheAtoner and protect her... Kino then passively watched as said woman shot him dead.]] She makes company with villains and heroes, and contemplates what drives both. ''Do not'', however, think that this means she's submissive; she will kill anyone who attacks her or stops her travels without hesitation and without remorse.
* The Data Overmind from ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', which seeks to maintain the status quo so that it can monitor the series' eponymous character. Yuki, the android interface which it uses to interact with the show's characters initially follows this alignment as well, but as she develops a more independent personality, she drifts more towards NeutralGood.

* Shiki Ryougi of ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' fame. Especially true of her so-called "third personality", which makes an appearance near the end of the story. [[spoiler:It is a personification of the Origin. That is to say, the beginning and end of anything and everything. It is both omnipotent and omniscient... but for that reason is also absolutely neutral, completely uncaring about literally ''anything'' and unwilling to bother to do anything either. Probably for the best, all things considered...]]

* On the inside, Sirin from ''{{VideoGame/Tyranny}}'' falls into the HeroicNeutral category. Being forced to serve [[EvilOverlord Kyros]] led her to put on a NeutralEvil SpoiledBrat, but she never really wanted anything to do with Kyros and turns out to actually be a rather compassionate person (mostly). How the PlayerCharacter treats her can affect her alignment in the epilogue:

** Altair Ibn La'Ahad introduced in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' only kills the [[KnightTemplar templars]], but won't hurt innocents, based on his tenets. He does however always kill criers and orators that have information about the Templars, despite not being Templars themselves. He also spares Maria Thorpe because she wasn't his target, even though she is a high-ranking Templar.

* Bastion from {{VideoGame/Overwatch}} is more or less this. A discarded robot with peaceful intentions, Bastion shows no prejudice or much personality other than simply "Doing what must be done". When it's time to battle, Bastion can be a formidable character in the right hands, having two forms to aid his comrades both deadly and useful.

** If the game's attempt to randomly generate an empire's ethics encounter an error, it's possible for them to generate with ''no'' ethics whatsoever as "Despicable Neutrals". While they gain no benefit from ethics, they also don't have any ethic-based problems with other empires.

* ComicBook/DonaldDuck and [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Uncle Scrooge]], DependingOnTheWriter. Creator/CarlBarks noted that their ability to serve as either the hero or villain of a story made them infinitely more interesting to write for, as opposed to the generally moral MickeyMouse.

* ‘’Literature/AesirCrossWars’’: [[WorldsStrongestMan Siegfried]] started out in this alignment. While he was killing demons primarily in the name of revenge, it is established that they’d been a problem even before the Second Cross War, so he was doing good for a reason that wasn’t entirely altruistic.
** A better fit for this alignment would be [[TheRival Nafir]] after his debut chapter. He’s clearly graduated from his NeutralEvil {bordering on LawfulEvil) ways, being a more heroic individual overall, but given his general sour, selfish demeanour, choosing the cruelest way possible to surface Azrael’s HiddenDepths, and his ‘’still’’ trying to become the protagonist (he’s just not trying to kill Azrael over it anymore), it’s safe to say that he’s not ‘'quite’’ ready for the NeutralGood card yet.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' has SCP-2662, a teen[[BizarreAlienBiology (ish)]] EldritchAbomination who doesn't want anything to do with his {{cult}}s and generally just wants to be left alone.

If you have a difficulty deciding which alignment a neutral-aligned character belongs to, the main difference between LawfulNeutral, True Neutral and ChaoticNeutral is not their lack of devotion to either good or evil, but the methods they believe are best to show it:

* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', there's Lloyd Asplund, C.C. and Diethard Reid. C.C. is practically moral apathy personified.
* Nathan Mahler from ''Anime/BloodPlus'' is BigBad Diva's chevalier but he is completely apathetic to her organisation's plan to replace humanity with chiropterans. Not only does he refuse to take orders from TheDragon Amshel, he often prevents other villains from killing Saya despite the fact that Saya is the major threat to Diva's plan. The only thing he is concerned with is the happiness of Diva, which in the end turns out to be completely irrelevant to her plan to turn all humans into chiropterans. Throughout the series, Nathan remains as a distant observer to how the two queens of vampires struggle against each other and where that struggle leads to.

* So Touma from ''Manga/{{QED}}'', who prefers to be laid back than get involved in cases. But LawfulGood Kana makes him do it anyway.

* Switzerland and Liechtenstein from ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers''. Switzerland shoots and yells at people when they disturb him, mostly, and hides his care for others except for his younger sister. Liechtenstein is sweet and gentle like a NeutralGood, but doesn't generally go out of her way to help others. This actually becomes a plot point in ''[[TheMovie Paint it White]]'' where their very neutrality (among other things) actually ''saves'' them from the AlienInvasion going on elsewhere. [[spoiler:They even spend an intimate, seemingly quiet picnic for most of the movie, totally unaware of the mess outside.]]
** Some fanworks portrays Austria post-[=WW2=] as a reluctant example of this trope (given how Austria was essentially forced into it as a UsefulNotes/ColdWar buffer in real life). In the series itself, he seems to bene more LawfulNeutral: he objects to UsefulNotes/MariaTheresa's orders and isn't thrilled when Germany comes for him under instructions, but follows them anyway.
** Canoncally, one could place [[EnigmaticMinion Egypt]] here. He doesn't have much of a role, outside hanging around Turkey and Cyprus from time-to-time. Egypt mostly keeps to himself, appearing only for historical significance (that is whenever someone interacts with him). As a character, Egypt is [[EnsembleDarkhorse quite underdeveloped]] but that only makes him all the more endearing.

** Really, all three of the EVA pilot's are True Neutral to some extent (Though Rei leaning more towards LawfulNeutral and Asuka leaning more towards ChaoticNeutral). All three of them don't really have any selfless reason for being an EVA pilot, with Asuka doing it for [[GloryHound some sort of recognition]] and Rei doing it [[MyMasterRightOrWrong because Gendo tells her to]], though they all have some layer of sympathy to refrain from being entirely selfish.

* Truth, the closet thing that the ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''-verse has to a deity, is best understood as this alignment. He has no active involvement in human life, neither rewarding the good or punishing the bad. However, if an alchemist infringes upon the laws of nature and comes before Truth, he upholds the laws of EquivalentExchange by taking an organ or limb from them (which he does with sadistic glee), but in exchange, they gain the ability to do alchemy without a transmutation circle. While he's certainly a [[JerkassGods jerkass]], Truth ultimately shows just enough benevolence to not fit any evil alignment. As stated in the series, his purpose is to discourage the humans who try to enter the domains of God. He can also be seen as the AnthropomorphicPersonification of the world (which is how he describes himself if asked). Neither good nor evil, but a representation of the natural laws of the universe, which of course take no sides.
** Yoki, a former CorruptBureaucrat is also True Neutral, but in a different way. He's a coward that initially acts cruelly to subordinates, but ends up being brought low and eventually figures out that he won't get his ass kicked so often if he acts like less of a jerk. He's not evil, good, lawful, or chaotic enough to be anything but True Neutral.

* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', [[spoiler:Kyubey is one of these. Despite behaving in an extremely creepy manner at all times, he's only watching for the well-being of the universe, even though during the main plot that causes a huge amount of death and suffering. After the finale it can be seen that he keeps the same personality, but behaves in a much friendlier manner. But that's not because he changed, he still has the same goal, it's just that in the new universe the most straightforward way of achieving it looks friendlier.]]

* ''Anime/{{Texhnolyze}}'': Ichise, who has an obsessive drive to survive and doesn't care who's side that he's on.

** Ultear Milkovich is an interesting example. She only turned to evil for comfort and compensation for her horrible past. However after being betrayed by said evil she made a HeelFaceTurn and joined LawfulNeutral Jellal to better herself.

** Kagura Mikazuchi is this to a fault. Unlike Erza she is quite anti-social and only seeks revenge against [[spoiler:Jellal]] through the death of her brother, Simon. [[LadyOfWar From everything we know about her, she is still quite a mystery, but deep down we learn she isn't a cold-hearted person]], [[YamatoNadeshiko just a strong and shy woman.]]

* Ymir from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' is a rather special example. At first she was a rather uncooperative character, with only a [[LesYay heart for Krista.]] But as the story unfolds she's actually fairly nice, even if she is [[spoiler: a Titan Shifter. Though the shock of becoming a monster, surprised her like any normal person would be. Thus after unintentionally eating Marcel and willingly aided her friends, she [[ApologeticAttacker pleaded for a pardon for her carnage]], then disappeared to live her own life without regrets.]]

** In the [[ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise ''Robots In Disguise'']] and [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye ''More Than Meets The Eye'']] comics of IDW's Transformers comics, they are called NAILs -- Non-Aligned-Indigenous Lifeforms. They're a sizable group, and include many former Autobots and Decepticons who grew disgusted enough with the war that they deserted. Following the end of the war and dissolution of both armies, the NAILs effectively form the largest 'faction'.

** Flatline in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW2019'' is so dedicated to the Cybertronian version of the Hypocratic Oath that he treats ''everyone'', being seen treating terrorist leader Shockwave (whose existence was kept under strict secrecy) in one issue and later seen tending to wounded civilians in another. During the Decepticon coup, he stands alongside Ratchet in attempting to stop a group of Decepticons from barging into their hospital to hunt down Autobot sympathisers, and later still is to be shown to be the only medical officer who ''didn't'' abandon Iacon to join Optimus Prime (unlike his fellows Ratchet and Hoist).
* Metron of Franchise/TheDCU's ''ComicBook/NewGods'' is more concerned with seeking out knowledge than taking part in the huge cosmic war that the rest of his people are engaged in, and has aided both sides over the years. However, has a very definite role as a mediator in the Cold War between Apokolips and New Genesis, which is dependent on both sides being ''convinced'' of his neutrality. If he crossed the line to help New Genesis one too often, {{ComicBook/Darkseid}} would no longer use him, which would increase the chance of another outbreak of violent conflict. Really, he's closer to LawfulNeutral or even LawfulGood, as he generally sides and sympathises with heroic characters, and less so with the local GodOfEvil who is rather up front about his ultimate ambition to enslave or kill everything in the universe, including Metron himself.
* Doctor Manhattan from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', to the absolute extreme. He's just stopped viewing life from a human perspective altogether, and cares almost nothing for anything else than observing pretty physics. It helps that he's a NonLinearCharacter, meaning that he already knows everything he's ever going to do and has no free will.

%%* ComicBook/TheSandman; Death, Desire and Despair are True Neutral.

* ''Manga/{{Evangelion 303}}'': Seele does not care about good or evil. They only care for keeping balance between countries, often supporting the military and political underdog, and they can help a country and plot its obliteration the next day.

* Franchise/{{Shrek}} is a prime example of true neutral. He's a mixture of "BystanderSyndrome" and "HeroicNeutral" (With a bit of BlueAndOrangeMorality). In the first film, the main conflict is started because he was driven out of his house, not for any noble goals like justice for the fairy tale creatures who were driven to his swamp. The rest of the movies conflicts start either ''[[DeconstructedTrope because]]'' [[DeconstructedTrope of his true neutral morality]], [[VillainsActHeroesReact because he was driven to do things]], or [[TakeAThirdOption both]].

** Luke Skywalker, as with many other young heroes in fictions, also starts as True Neutral -- a typical youngster serving his family at home until he meets Obi-Wan Kenobi.

** Like previous protagonists before him, Finn from ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' starts off here. While his MookFaceTurn is brought about by an onset of EveryoneHasStandards, he is not initially interested in making a moral stand against the First Order and simply wants to find some peaceful corner of the galaxy to hide in. When circumstances force him to make a stand against his former authorities in ''Film/TheLastJedi'', he shifts into NeutralGood, as shown when he's willing to commit an (ultimately unsuccessful) HeroicSacrifice to protect his friends. At that point he's in the conflict for the long haul.

* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'': Captain Teague (aka Jack's father) may be a respectful character, but not to the point of being lawful. Unlike Jack he isn't crazy enough to be qualified as chaotic and is barely good or evil.

* The HandsomeLech Graverobber of ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera''. He's a drug-dealer who opts to stay out of the main conflict throughout the movie and is probably the smartest character to do so. He even comes out alive at the end.

* [[Film/JamesBond M]] as portrayed by Creator/JudiDench is a morally ambiguous spy chief who is more focused on getting the job done than on legal or ethical issues. Though she thinks that Bond is a [[ChaoticNeutral loose cannon]], she isn't exactly by-the-book either. With [[spoiler:Creator/RalphFiennes taking on the mantle at the end of Film/{{Skyfall}}]], M might be LawfulNeutral later on.

** {{Death}} is all over the place, really. [[Literature/TheColourOfMagic To begin with]], he's totally amoral and can even be malicious. CharacterizationMarchesOn quickly after that, but it still leaves him undecided. It seems like he should theoretically be LawfulNeutral or at least True Neutral for caring about his duty above all else. But he makes exceptions to this several times, sometimes in a NeutralGood ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight way, sometimes because the stress of it gets the better of him and [[DeathTakesAHoliday he runs off somewhere]]. These are all shown as exceptions to his millennial faithful service, but they get too many to ignore. He can also be seen as going from a friendly amoral True Neutral to an odd combination of Lawful and Chaotic Good. For example, he has rules he ''has'' to follow, but nothing stops him from, say, "hinting" to his granddaughter that something ought to be done, or twisting a rule to do the right thing. In the early books he would sometimes "have a talk" with the gods. So, decidedly undecided, he can only be called True Neutral, with separate ([[ToBeLawfulOrGood somewhat opposite]]) Lawful and Good tendencies.

** Also from ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', Rincewind, the CosmicPlaything [[TheChewToy Chew Toy]] of the Disc, ''tries'' to be a prime example of the "doesn't care about Good or Evil" variety, despite having saved the world about half a dozen times (against his will, mostly). He is by no means a ''bad'' person either, but would love it if the world just decided to forget all about him. However, the number of times that he's disregarded his overwhelming cowardice in the pursuit of the greater good (even ending a magical war that could have destroyed the Disc with a half-brick in a sock) indicates that despite his best efforts, he retains some NeutralGood impulses. His enemies, funnily enough, probably perceive him to be more ChaoticGood, whether he likes it or not.

** The Erlking is also considered to be of this alignment. He's explicitly stated to not be evil, but as the embodiment of the ideal of the hunt, while he's after prey the Erlking is merciless and vicious. Later on in [[spoiler:''Changes'']], he's actually quite friendly, polite and gracious when [[spoiler:Susan and Harry burst into his castle-cave.]] On the other hand, the Erlking ''is'' the ruler of goblins, who are most definitely ''not'' this alignment.

* The Dealy Lama [[spoiler:AKA Gruad the Grayface]] from The ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' Trilogy. His philosophy is summed up best by an old koan which tells about a duckling that is placed in a glass bottle and allowed to grow until it is too big to fit through the bottle neck, and asks how to remove it without breaking the bottle. The answer, of course is [[spoiler:to let it continue to grow until it is big enough to break out of the bottle on its own]]. However, he denies being uninvolved in world affairs, stating that [[spoiler:"someone needs to feed the duckling while it grows"]].

* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuf_Voyaging Tuf Voyaging]]'' by Creator/GeorgeRRMartin stars Haviland Tuf, a quiet, modest space trader/ecological engineer who just happens to be sole owner/operator of a 30-km-long 'seedship' filled with all manner of LostTechnology. He hires out indiscriminately, but if your ecosystem is out of balance, he'll co-operate with your demands in finest druidic style by ensuring that whatever you're doing to destabilize it will eventually be corrected. By ''him''. His character development via his interactions with humanity leads to him, in the last story in the book, [[spoiler:enforcing a peace by dispassionately saying "I go now to destroy your respective homeworlds. Rest assured, I hold no ill will against you."]]. Then, just after that, he reveals that the new wonder plant that will feed an overpopulated world that he had helped earlier [[spoiler:''also'' induces widespread sterilisation. He compares it to neutering cats]].

* The B'omarr Monks in ''Literature/TalesFromJabbasPalace'' have absolutely no interest in anything besides achieving their own form of enlightenment and putting their [[BrainInAJar brains in jars when they do]]. Even having their monastery converted into a palace and occupied by crime lords doesn't matter to them [[spoiler:until the ending, in which they reclaim it following Jabba's death.]] Meanwhile the Rancor is a semisentient giant pit bull of sorts: it's only vicious because Jabba refuses to feed it properly, and its keeper is trying to get it out of the palace.

* Though she's a benign character in the movie adaptation, the original novel ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'' gradually reveals the Childlike Empress to be an inhuman and almost unfathomably neutral entity, with her sole concern being the preservation of Fantasia's existence. Atreyu attempts to invoke her authority to save Falkor from a monster, only for it to reply that, since she transcends good and evil, the Empress would never forbid it from acting on its own evil nature. Later, he's shocked to learn that, now that Bastian's served her purpose in saving Fantasia, she has no further interest in his well being. Being heroically good himself, Atreyu renounces his loyalty to her and swears to help Bastian anyway.

* From the Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse, specifically ''Literature/StarTrekNewFrontier'', there's the Boragi. They're infamous for their lack of concern for anything but their own needs. Always neutral, they have a habit of stirring up trouble, setting other races against each other (all the time remaining suspiciously uninvolved) and then coming in to pick up the pieces once their neighbours have blown each other to smithereens. Any alliance with a Boragi is nothing of the kind- they honour only their own needs and will always, always, turn away when it bests suits them.

* Hades from ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' quite consistently for the first four books refuses to take a stance on the war between The Gods (even though he is one) and The Titans. This is probably because he was on the receiving end of quite a bit of abuse from both parties and feels the conflict doesn't effect him as his realm, the underworld, isn't in threat. [[spoiler:Subverted as of book 5, though he's still kinda bitter about taking a side and does so only because Nico wouldn't stop nagging him for it. By the end of the book he's back to giving the finger to both sides.]]

* The Ghost of Christmas yet to come from ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' makes a meaningful point here. Perhaps the most morally impacting spirit of the three, in truth all of us die someday. Yet for Scrooge being a villain, his death was seen as a celebration or opportunistic for the in-laws he so coldly brushed off. His destiny wasn't sugar-coated this time, which was one of the reasons he feared this spirit most. Not only by its appearance, but perhaps the grim truth that the future isn't so kind to the mean and greedy.

* Highlighted more in the ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'', Gray Jedi deviate from the pure ways of the Jedi Order, without completely falling to the Dark Side. True Gray's believe their is necessity in both Force opposites, however this enlightened state of mind, secluded them from both conflicting factions. You can suspect that the life of a Gray Jedi, is perhaps a fairly lonely one. Since mutual-minded individuals are known to be very rare in a universe rife with debate and conflict.

* Hades, as portrayed on ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', considers himself above the petty squabbles of god and man, and pays little attention to them one way or the other. This sort of indifference makes him a sometimes-ally, sometimes-foe to the heroes.

* Sheldon Cooper from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' could have been made for this archetype; he's occasionally actively malicious or well-intentioned, but usually just does whatever will help him achieve his own goals or improve his personal quality of life. Although at first glance, with his fondness for complicated contracts and numerous personal rules and quirks he appears LawfulEvil, all such agreements are written specifically to benefit him, and he is willing to obey or disobey Federal, State and scientific ethical conduct laws depending on what brings him the most short-term benefit. That said, he most likely ''considers'' himself LawfulGood (since anyone who doesn't follow ''his'' rules or values gets a rant about how chaotic and/or evil they are acting).

** Malcolm Reynolds tries to come off as True Neutral, only looking out for himself and his crew in any way he can, neither sticking his neck out ForTheGreaterGood without being paid nor accepting jobs which involve crossing a MoralEventHorizon. But this is mostly the result of losing the war against the (mostly LawfulEvil) Alliance in the backstory. His true nature leans towards ChaoticGood, and it shows up in his actions and choices just a bit too much for him to count as this trope.

* Cameron from ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' is a sapient machine, but nonetheless is bound by her programming to protect John Connor, no matter the cost. [[spoiler:Or her programming to ''kill'' him, no matter the cost.]] This tends to result in her doing terrible things to people her programming dictates are threats, or being apathetic toward others' plights if they do not concern her. In the second season, she even discusses her blank morality with John, pointing out that even though Terminators like her are killing machines, that "we aren't cruel."

** The Hollow, as Zankou and the sisters said. When invoked, it couldn't choose between the sisters' good magic, and Zankou's evil. It went into Leo instead, who, while good-aligned, had no more magic.

%%* Edmund ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' in his 1st, 2nd and 4th incarnations.

* The Replicators of ''Series/StargateSG1'' are a rare example of a True Neutral BigBad, since they're robotic organisms whose only concern is [[GreyGoo self-replication]]. Unfortunately, they're so good at it (and at improving on existing technology) that in season 8 they become a bigger threat than the [[EnergyBeing half-ascended]] OmnicidalManiac Anubis ever was.

%%* Piper Chapman from ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack''. She is pretty much a one person MoralityKitchenSink

* [[TheGrimReaper Death]] from ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. As a result of being awakened by Lucifer, the Winchesters are convinced he's evil before they even meet him. As it turns out, he's been bound to Lucifer instead, whom he considers to be a bratty child throwing a tantrum, and willingly gives up his ring to Sam and Dean in order to send Lucifer back to the Cage. Subsequent appearances reinforce this alignment, as his main interest is shown to be preserving the natural order, though he does aid the Winchesters on occasion. Overall, Death's not evil nor is he good. He's just rather grumpy.

* [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist Eleanor Shellstrop]] from ''Series/TheGoodPlace'' counts as somewhere between this and ChaoticNeutral. She's not exactly evil, just ''very'' selfish and [[CompulsiveLiar usually feels no qualms about lying]]. As such, she's shocked that she made it to the Good Place [[spoiler: though she gets better with further CharacterDevelopment, and it turns out she [[ThisIsntHeaven isn't in The Good Place after all]]]]

* Odin from Myth/NorseMythology in a self-interest way. He upholds the universal order, the laws of hospitality, and has done a lot of good things for the gods and mankind. On the flip side he willingly violates social customs, commit vile acts to get his way, and is sometimes a jerk just to be a jerk. He fights against giants only to mate with or tolerate them only to go back to fighting with them. Some of his acts can be read as NecessarilyEvil for the greater good and he [[OmniscientMoralityLicense has the wisdom to break social taboos that limit others]] leaning him toward ChaoticNeutral or ChaoticGood, but much of it easily comes across as self-interest to protect / increase his own power.

** Speaking of the Olympians, Hades isn't as evil as one may imagine. Despite being God of the Underworld, the top-dog himself is just satisfied ruling over the undead even if it's not the most [[{{Pun}} lively]] of jobs.

** Ur-example: Wrestling/TheUndertaker. He goes by the rules, but he doesn't mind breaking them if he needs to. He doesn't hold back in beating-up wrestlers who are in his way, but will leave them alone unless they piss him off.

** 2[[superscript:nd]] Edition, describes True Neutral as always siding with the underdog, sometimes even switching sides when one is winning. It goes on to explain that "Clearly, there are very few true neutral characters in the world". This may because of old enemies killing them when they [[StupidNeutral show up at the door and claim they want to help]].
** In the 2nd Edition setting of ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'', each alignment has an "exemplar" race that represents it. The rilmani are the True Neutral exemplars, and have whole castes dedicated to preserving the Balance by any means necessary. Mentioned once and then never again were also the kamerel, who were displaced by the rilmani when their apathetic isolationist tendencies proved detrimental.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', the Guild is an organization that cares for nothing except getting rich, and they are almost frighteningly honest and open about that. They basically fit the archetype of the GreedyAmoralMerchant, but they are much more devious, plotting and better organized than most of them. They aren't good, although their trading was instrumental to the rebuilding of the world communication infrastructure after the centuries of civil war, invasion and plagues it went through. They aren't evil, although they deal in slaves and will gladly sell some even to the Fair Folk, who use them for horrible ends. They don't care about the law, using it or working around it to make more money. They don't care about chaos, although they will be the first to trade weapons and mercenaries in wartime. In a world where almost anyone is (knowingly or not) the pawn of an Exalt, god, deathlord, demon or some other supernaturally-led faction, they remain independant. They just mind their own business and they are freaking good at that.
* The Balance in ''TabletopGame/{{Anathema}}'' creates shrouds and forces them to kill, but it only does this strictly out of necessity. If it fails to do this, the world will be come so overpopulated that humanity will destroy itself. It makes no claims to be either good or evil and is entirely impersonal. All it cares about is keeping the human population at a level that the planet can sustain.

* The title characters of ''Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead''. Rosencrantz leans more towards NeutralGood and Guildenstern towards NeutralEvil, but on the whole they don't care about good, evil, order, or chaos-they just want to find ''something'' that will allow them to make sense of the world they're in.

* Bill from ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' fits the [[IncrediblyLamePun bill]] best. While he genuinely cares for his fellow survivors and sticks his neck out for them on a regular basis, on one of the many occasions where the team was escaping to a rescue vehicle (in this case, a train) he deliberately refuses to so much as stop for two seconds to save a hapless doctor behind them from being eaten alive. Zoey [[WhatTheHellHero chews him out]] on this later. His response? [[BadassBoast "We look after our own!"]] Justified, since the doctor had possibly zero combat experience against the infected (Zoey, Bill, Louis, and Francis had been engaging the infected for 2 weeks) and would become TheLoad to the team. On top of this, it would be likely that Bill or someone else would be yanked off the train by the incoming horde if the train had slowed down or stopped. Bill had also said to the doctor and two other people earlier that if they fell behind, they were on their own.

* The Silencer, of the ''VideoGame/{{Crusader}}'' games, just doesn't care about the morality of his allies' cause or the ethics of killing indiscriminately anyone who works for the [[MegaCorp WEC]]. He kills out of a desire for vengeance against those who betrayed him, and that is all.
* Theoretically ''you'' are this alignment in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' -- the story is that you are being paid for your mercenary services, and that you are working for the highest bidder. You will sometimes even switch teams (and objectives) in the middle of a battle. With regards to the characters' canon personalities, the Sniper fits this specific alignment particuarly well; he sees himself purely as a professional hired assassin, with no genuine attachment to killing other than job satisfaction and money. However most of the playable characters are one of the three Neutral alignments.

** As a blank slate, the Nameless One, the amnesiac protagonist, starts out True Neutral, with his actions in-game determining his alignment. [[spoiler:The Good Incarnation, despite the name, also counts. He was the one that committed whatever act damned them all to Hell, and later was so horrified he tried to atone in any way he could, even seeking immortality just to have enough time to do so. But Neutral is as far as he ever got, in terms of avoiding evil and approaching good]].
** The Lady of Pain, despite her evil sounding title, is completely apathetic towards morality and is utterly inscrutable. The only motive she seems to have is that of protecting Sigil's existence.

*** The [[OldMaster Greybeards]] are this alignment; an ancient order of monks that live in seclusion on the tallest mountain in Tamriel, spending their entire time meditating and studying the [[LanguageOfMagic Thu'um]], safeguarding the knowledge for mankind. Despite this, they utterly refuse to get involved in any crisis threatening the world or use their mastery of the Thu'um to intervene, even if it means lives will be lost. Arngeir explains that this is because they believe their role is merely to ''protect'' the knowledge, whereas the Dragonborn was chosen by the Divines to actually ''wield'' it. Another example of their absolute neutrality is when the Dragonborn arranges for a peace-conference to take place at High Hrothgar. Despite being the first steps in securing a peace-treaty and potentially ending the bloody CivilWar gripping Skyrim, the Greybeards only reluctantly agree to host it and refuse to take part in the proceedings.
*** It is possible to role-play the Dragonborn into this alignment. Considering how messed up Skyrim is at times, defeating evil and completing quests can purely be from a reactionary stand point. For example, a True Neutral would decide to attack a Dragon out of survival like any wild animal would. Killing evil creatures would also be purely coincidence considering you're only protecting yourself or simply curious on the treasures deep within. As for killing innocent or good folk is again all down to survival or a job if you count The Dark Brotherhood.

** Goblins in general are of this alignment, neither favoring the Horde or the Alliance when selling their goods, and tend to mostly stay out of conflicts enough to profit them as much as possible. However, they are usually found more associating with the horde due to past alliances with them, and are commonly seen working for the horde with their maintaining of the zeppelins they use for travel, not to mention the playable goblin faction of the Bilgewater Cartel joining the Horde in Cataclysm. In general, however, they really only care for money and profit in the most lucrative way possible, as exemplified with the Steamwheedle Cartel of goblins that are usually seen in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.

** Faldorn is a Shadow Druid, who are generally NeutralEvil in behaviour, alignment notwithstanding, but thanks to the limited characterisation of the first game and the differences between her and Jaheira, she ends up feeling closer to this alignment. In the sequel she undergoes a personality transplant and becomes an antagonist.
** Branwen is a cleric of Tempus, [[WarGod Lord of Battles]]. She does have a warrior-code of sorts but probably ended up under this alignment because she's simply too under-developed to be anything else.
** Another druid, Cernd, is a far better example of the balance-between-all-sides, compromising kind than either of his druidic contemporaries. He is noted for often making comments about balance and some unusual metaphors, but otherwise he's a little flat.

* In the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' setting, the Grey Wardens as an order are like this, with certain individuals like Duncan seeming to actually be True Neutral on a personal level, while other Wardens can be worse or more decent folk depending on the individual. They take no sides, obey no kings, and every action they take somehow must make progression towards relieving the world of the threat of Darkspawn. In the first game it's difficult to pick this, as most of the tasks you have to do to stop the Blight end up saving people or quelling chaos in Ferelden anyway, but in the sequel you directly run across a group of Grey Wardens [[spoiler:during the Qunari assault on Kirkwall]]. Though they help you briefly, they immediately admit their primary goal is basically to cut themselves free of the chaos surrounding the city so they could go back to doing their job, namely hunting darkspawn: they even give the same line of "a greater menace than the Qunari threatens the world", despite the most recent Blight being over, reinforcing that literally every goal they ever have somehow is geared towards this. Helping people is a happy accident, if it happens at all.

* Beckett in ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' a [[DeadpanSnarker deeply sarcastic]] vampire scholar with no allegiance to any side in the Jyhad, and motivated entirely by his archaelogical interests.

** Cloud initially holds this position in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', going on record as saying that he doesn't care about Shinra, SOLDIER, AVALANCHE or the Planet, he's just here to get paid. This doesn't last all that long, however, and proves to be rather more complicated than it first appears. [[spoiler:Subtle mind control and multiple personalities are involved. And much of it is a plot version of GuideDangIt]]. He reveals to be actually NeutralGood and a brave and heroic young man.

** Squall Leonhart in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' was raised as a mercenary and, as a result, doesn't particularly believe in the concepts of "good" and "evil." He accepts that any given side of a conflict has their own reasons, and believes that one's stance on any subject is shaped by one's point of view. Accordingly, when he gets involved in stopping TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, he does so less out of any moral impulse and more as a means of ensuring the safety of the girl he loves -- and because the government of Esthar is paying him to do it. By the end of the game he has arguably [[NeutralNoLonger developed]] more towards NeutralGood, but his personal morality is still defined more as "AlwaysSaveTheGirl" than anything else[[note]]He ''does'' do generally altruistic things, though, such as saving his fellow students, organizing a mission to destroy an enemy missile base, and so on. He's neutral, but he's not an asshole[[/note]]. This is extended into ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia]]'', where he will fight anyone who interferes with his mission of "get crystal, go home," but never initiates a battle unless provoked.

* Lara Croft of the ''Franchise/TombRaider'' franchise is described in the D&D supplement Complete Scoundrel as True Neutral. This makes sense, since she's less concerned with being a hero than just being an adventurer. This holds true of her in the 2013 reboot as well. Her primary concern prior to the shipwreck is finding Yamatai (mostly ForScience), and afterward, she focuses first on her own survival, then that of her surviving shipmates. Noble a cause as [[spoiler:going through Hell and back to rescue Sam]] can be, Lara fights dirty, kills a couple dozen people, and shows no moral qualms about doing so in order to make sure she gets what she wants and gets off the island alive.

* Jack Cayman from ''VideoGame/MadWorld'' could certainly be considered True Neutral, for reasons similar to Guts above. [[spoiler:He seems to work for the government, is sent to rescue a well-to-do in danger and, when it turns out she was taking part in orchestrating Death Watch, Jack may have struck her, but he notably didn't kill her (although he expressed regret at sparing her). However, the brutality of his kills certainly don't fall under any "Good" category I care to think of, he claims "I don't work for justice, and I'm certainly not its bitch", and he has a habit of doing things his own way when the situation calls for it]]. In short, Jack's the living proof against True Neutral being a wuss or wishy-washy class: if he's on the fence, it's probably so that he can decide how to kill you with it.

** M.A.R.Go.T. the transit system CPU in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}: Broken Steel''. She is the only robot in the game (besides [[spoiler: John Henry Eden]]) who seems to know that a war happened 200 years ago, and humanity is struggling today, but is solely concerned with (literally) making the trains run on time. She only helps the player because you help her.

* Cothineal in ''VideoGame/ShogoMobileArmorDivision'' is a force of nature. While it is technically responsible for starting a terrorist movement on Cronus [[spoiler:and brainwashing Toshiro]], it only does so to protect itself [[spoiler:as the source of kato]], and doesn't seem bound by human standards of morality.

** Altair Ibn La'Ahad introduced in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' only kills the [[KnightTemplar templars]], but won't hurt innocents, based on his tenets. He does however always kill criers and orators that have information about the Templars, despite not being Templars themselves. He also spares Maria Thorpe because she wasn't his target, even though she is a high ranking Templar.

* In ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'', John Marston's only goal is to capture or kill the surviving members of his former gang so that his family will be released. He has few other moral stances; he just wants his family back and to live his life peacefully on his ranch, and he's willing to do anything from helping the local town marshal clean up crime to [[spoiler:helping the local dictator root out LaResistance]] to achieve that goal. He does display a clear disapproval of some of the more morally objectionable things he's made to do throughout his quest, but he still does them.

* Steve and Alex, or in general, The Player from ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', as given, they aren't actual characters with fixed personalities and appearances, their characteristics mostly comes from the one who are controlling them. They can choose to do good things like protecting innocent mobs from the hostile environment and mobs, or defend villagers from sieges and raids. Both of them are generally neutral by default, as they never actually did something good or bad, and it simply comes from the actual player, thus making them one of the most neutral characters in video game history. They were simply portrayed as the player's avatar, and can choose to do whatever the player wants. Given also the fact that they are Gender Neutral, meaning their genders are also dependent on the players themselves. They can be roleplayed by countless people, and can either turn them into heroes, or become villains. The game itself is widely open for the imaginative. Also, the default characters as a character, represents all humanity in the real world, and everything in real life is neutral.

** Scorpion is essentially this. He's seen as the series' icon for an anti-hero. He'll usually end up doing things in unethical and questionable ways that may involve tackling an evil and assisting the greater good, but it's usually for his own personal gains. The first time we see him, he has no allegiance and rises from hell simply to avenge his previous death by killing his murderer from a rival clan (who he also believed murdered his family and clan); then, when his killer appears again, he returns back from hell to finish the job. His non-allegiance continues as he serves as a wild card in future battles when he's accidentally released from hell a third time. He's recruited the fourth time by the evil forces, not because he was evil or opposed good, but because the evil side promised him his life restored as a reward. When the same evil is revealed to have killed his wife and son (as well as his clan), Scorpion switches allegiances and turns on that evil instead, but not because he wants to adhere to the good side, but again to pursue a personal vendetta. Afterwards he is recruited by the Elder Gods to tackle a force that threatens to destroy all the realms, in which he works for the greater good, but only in return for the promise to restore his family and clan. Later he joins the forces of darkness in the final battle of Armageddon, but only so he can get closer to the evil that originally killed his family and clan in the first place, again for his own personal reasons. In regards of law vs chaos, he may seem at first glance to be a hot headed and free spirited individual, that will only ever do his own thing, but he has been seen to take orders when offered rewards, and remains loyal to the tradition and honor of his clan. Scorpion passes as a True Neutral, because he's logically too difficult to place in any of the other categories.

** This could also be considered Jin Kazama's alignment. His main goal leans towards good: he wants to rid the world of the Devil Gene, which includes killing his father, his grandfather and, presumably, himself. As the forces he works against are villainous, he falls into the heroic side in Tekken 4 and 5... But, as we see, when his quest leads him to [[WellIntentionedExtremist throw the whole world into war]] so he can summon Azazel and kill himself along with it, he shows he's not above villainous actions himself if they suit his goals.
* Wolf O'Donnell in ''VideoGame/StarFox''. He's clearly out to gun down Fox in ''VideoGame/StarFox64'' like a rivalry, but Assault and beyond show he's not interested in Fox or any other side, but the preservation of himself, his team mates, and his bandits. He truly doesn't really hate or like the Star Fox team, and only dislikes the villains because they're a direct threat to himself and his team.
* Forest Hunters, The covenant of Alvina, the white Cat of the Forest in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls''. She has lived since the early Age of Fire, and was a trusted friend of Knight Artorias and the Great Wolf Sif. Those who join this covenant will be called upon to fight off any grave-defiling intruders that dares to set foot in the forest.
** The task of the player character, the chosen undead, is to run around slaying demons and also former gods and heroes who have basically gone insane or are evil, or because they view the Undead as something to be exterminated. And then there's Gravelord Nito, who spends most of the game sleeping because he truly could not care less about the state of the dystopian world, and while he's not necessarily causing problems for anyone, he's not exactly trying to fix things, either. He isn't even benefiting from the post-apocalypse either, because he's not particularly found of undead either because it opposes true death, his domain. In any case, you fight him for his soul not because he's a bad guy, but because he has what you need and he's not really offering to help you out.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'', The Outsider is a god-like entity who has zero involvement with people beyond occasionally granting superpowers to a select few. In-game, he does not interferes in any way beyond giving his opinions, opting to simply observe how Corvo uses his new abilities; at one point, he even admits he doesn't appear to the good or evil, but to the ''[[BlueAndOrangeMorality interesting]]''.

** The Teladi fit this trope more effectively; they do not care so much in space politics than they do in one thing: [[ProudMerchantRace profit]][[SnakeTalk sss]]. Because of this, they get along well with many of the other races, even the SpacePirates.

* Bastion from {{VideoGame/Overwatch}} is more or less this. A discarded robot with peaceful intentions, Bastion shows no prejudice or much personality other than simply "Doing what must be done". When its time to battle, Bastion can be a formidable character in the right hands, having two forms to aid his comrades both deadly and useful.

* The [[PlayerCharacter Material Defender]] from the ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}''. Even after being rescued by the Red Acropolis team he makes clear he is [[NominalHero just in it for the money and revenge on Dravis]]. That said, he does have some PetTheDog moments such as saving hostages in the first two games and rescuing a trapped medical frigate in the third, as well as helping HoldTheLine during the attack on the Red Acropolis so the rest of them can escape.

* Spoofed in ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'', when the title character says she has no "evil" twin because "The opposite of neutral is still neutral!" She's supposed to be a [[TheCape good guy]], but falls into the "Just Don't Care" variant, above... or rather slumps apathetically into it.

** [[invoked]] Vaarsuvius is explicitly described as this alignment per WordOfGod -- not so much out of apathy but devotion to their goals: saving the world and gaining magical power. The former might seem to be an obviously "Good" goal, but V is dedicated to saving the world simply because they are ''in'' the world, as are all of their friends and family. V also has a habit of CuttingTheKnot, whether it's ethical, legal, or otherwise, as long as it gets the job done. Their character arc is largely based around them making an absolutely ''horrible'' mistake and subesquently trying to desperately atone for their crime, and they freely admit to Roy that afterwards, the only reason they're continuing along with the Order in fighting Xykon is that they need the world to continue standing if they can ever have a chance at redeeming themselves.

** The Oracle of the Sunken Valley sells information to anyone who asks, to the best of his ability, whether it helps or hinders the OOTS. Silly humanoids think the story revolves around them. However, he does try to avoid politics, which he appears to define as anyone life threatening, as he was not there when Xykon showed up.

** Gannji the lizardman and Enor the dragon/ogre hybrid, the bounty hunters who capture Elan, are also True Neutral, since all they care about is doing their job and keeping each other alive.

* Tagon in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', who is OnlyInItForTheMoney. He's loyal to his soldiers and will try and complete the contract until such time as it becomes impossible/suicidal, but at the same time he tends to treat local and occasionally galactic laws as trifling inconveniences and doesn't care much about what happens after the job's done as long as he gets paid.

** Of the main characters, Gwynn is selfish and has a love--hate relationship with everyone. She's often shallow and concerned mainly with petty things and her own interests rather than the morality of anything, and frequently acts like a jerk (though, in fairness, often in retaliation when others have been thoughtless first). Yet she's loyal to her friends deep down, and isn't really a bad person -- well, at least not much so, nowhere near Evil.

** The group of Black-Ops Christmas elves led by Squishydodo can't really afford any other alignment. They originally worked for Santa Claus, keeping tabs on everyone being naughty or nice, but split off when Santa started to lose it during his conflict with the evil and incredibly badass mini-lop rabbit Bun-bun. Then Bun-bun showed up at their headquarters and demanded that they work for ''him''. They refused at first on the reasonable basis that he was about the worst person in the world (he tried to kill Santa Claus every Christmas, for a start), but he threw anyone who protested out of a high window until he was left with Squishydodo, who bowed to his will and led the elves in an operation to hunt down Bun-bun's "friends" to inflict gruesome revenge on them for wiping out his collection of ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'' tapes. When they caught them, though, Bun-bun wasn't around, and Squishydodo made the judgement call that it was enough for them to apologise and they could go free after that. From then on, the elves acted as occasional good guys, even persuading Bun-bun to help them in that on one occasion, but they were still potentially under Bun-bun's thrall (and had some weird StockholmSyndrome like affection for him), and refused to go against him when he started a war against the other {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of the holidays, acting like it was a case of GrayAndGreyMorality even though he was slaughtering others in an effort to TakeOverTheWorld, and ultimately even helping him.
** The gray aliens in "Oceans Unmoving". It's not that their personalities are gray, [[CloudCuckoolander quite the opposite for some of them]], but they'll work with a NeutralEvil {{space pirate|s}} captain just as willingly as a semi-heroic resistance leader later on, because they drift along with the situation and are more concerned with their own weird preferences and personal relationships than the morality of what they're doing.

** Rak Wraithraiser originally just entered the Tower looking for worthy opponents to fight. He'd look for a fair fight, but he wasn't worried about attacking without provocation. He's egoistic, grumpy and potentially violent, but also honourable in some sense, a loyal friend, and far less devious than a lot of others in the Tower.

As far as order and chaos goes, Khun looks down on people letting themselves be controlled by "rules", and he prefers to [[TakeAThirdOption make his own rules even in a situation where rules have been imposed from above.]]

* ''[[Creator/LilyPeat Rather Vocalized Illusion]]'' has several episodes praised as being objective and fairly looking at both sides of an issue. Bhaalspawn even made a two parter to analyze the good traits and negative traits of Bronies (a group he admittedly hates).

* Zuko in the first season of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', who technically served the Fire Nation but, being banished, was totally ostracized from the rest of them, meaning him and his crew stood as their own individual force.

%%** Jun, the Combustion Man and various other mercenaries.
* Charles Foster Ofdenson from ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}''. Sure, he rules a lawful business empire, but he also associates with the ChaoticNeutral Dethklok, and is not above using them to achieve his own ends. And ultimately, the only rule he lives by is that no one fucks with his bread and butter.
* Gaz of ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' is a self centered, uncaring version rather than apathetic, so unconcerned with anything not directly related to her that she casually dismisses an alien obsessed with enslaving and/or incinerating Earth (who, while admittedly LordErrorProne, is still capable of causing massive death and destruction), and the only time we see any real emotion from her is when she tries to have dinner with her father, something that happens once or twice a year for their family. Gaz's entire life revolves around empty threats directed at people, playing video games and desperately trying to get her father to pay attention to her. WordOfGod has it she uses video games to shut out reality because [[CrapsackWorld reality sucks.]] She's not a good character, but she's not necessarily bad either. She tries to get everything that she wants, but she'll let go of the person that takes her stuff after they give it back to her (i.e. Iggins). In the "Bloaty's Pizza Hog" episode, she gives a reason why she ignores Zim's efforts:

* Equinox from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' fights for the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil. In his first appearance he has Gorilla Grodd and ComicBook/TheQuestion suspended on a gigantic scales, intending to kill both, stopping only when Batman interferes.
* Merklynn, from the short-lived MerchandiseDriven 80s cartoon ''WesternAnimation/{{Visionaries}}'', would repeatedly [[StatusQuoIsGod rescue the bad guys from jail after the good guys had won]]. Of course, he gave both sides their powers so they'd be able to carry out tasks for him, so he was probably just protecting his investment.

* Eustace in ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' cares more about making a profit, whether it means working with the law or outside of it. Despite this, he's the not the type of character who will rob banks, though he occasionally slides towards NeutralEvil when he's dealing with problems involving Courage and has no qualms of harming him if necessary.

* Lapis Lazuli from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' stands in the middle in every sense. She chafes at the idea that the needs of other species should be considered before her own, yet clearly and strongly disagrees with the EvilEmpire her race has become. She’s willing to hurt others to fulfill her own goals, but does her best to accomplish them bloodlessly if she can. Unfortunately, this has made her an enemy of pretty much every faction, who all find themselves unable to trust someone who will not commit to their cause. While she does put down roots on Earth, she's still not allied with the Crystal Gems or their rebellion, only sticking around because she enjoys the company of [[KidHero Steven]] and (eventually) [[SixthRanger Peridot]]. [[spoiler: When she discovers Earth might once again get caught in the crossfire of a war with Homeworld, she regretfully decides its best to abandon the planet and flee into deep space rather than select a side.]]

* The Goths, Crimson and Ennui from ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace'' are as neutral as reality show contestants could be. They stay out of inter-team dynamics for the most part, making neither friends nor enemies among the other racers. [[spoiler: They do end up being an enemy of the Ice Dancers, but not through any actions of their own.]]

* The Bendu from ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' describes himself as this, being the one in between the light and dark sides of the Force. He believes in the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil and doesn't takes sides in others' wars. When TheEmpire attacks the rebel base on Atollon, the Bendu responds by attacking both sides until they leave the planet.

** Crocodile starts out somewhere in the NeutralEvil range: posing as a legitimate businessman and government-sanctioned "hero" of a country his secret organization is working to overthrow so that he can found a new military regime (also, [[LostSuperweapon superweapon]]). After his defeat, he passes on an opportunity to escape prison out of sheer disinterest, only to escape later on [[EnemyMine by joining our heroes]] to fight in the War of the Summit, wherein he was on the side of [[WildCard exactly no one]]: He started out wanting to take Whitebeard's head, rebuffed an offer to join forces with Donquixote Doflamingo, and then saved both Ace and Luffy, just to spite the Marines. What he's up to next is anyone's guess.

* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'': Denji, the protagonist, is a fundamentally selfish individual whose only real GoalInLife is to find some kind of happiness, and his loyalty is easily won by any amount of kindness. While he eventually [[spoiler: becomes a superhero]], he's too morally flexible to be truly called "good" and has no real leaning toward order or anarchy; Denji fights devils and learns to live a better life, and that's just fine with him.

* In ''[[ComicBook/CrystarCrystalWarrior The Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior]],'' the conflict is OrderVersusChaos, with the [[CrystalineCreature Crystal Warriors]] on Order's side and the [[MagmaMan Magma Men]] on the side of Chaos. Neutrality is officially represented by the character Feldspar, who is crystalline from the waist up and made of magma from the waist down.

*** In Plancescape, each alignment also had a corresponding plane of existence. For the True Neutral plane was simply the city of Sigil, a city on the inside of a torus hovering over the apex of an infinitely tall tower, sitting at the heart of the multiverse. At the center of everything, Sigil was something of a crossroads, a place with portals practically everywhere, though the means to unlock them could be an object or something more abstract, meaning hapless and lost refugees, well-informed travelers of all sorts, and the descendants of both rubbed shoulders there. Sigil is a strange, often alien place, and a recognized neutral ground. To enforce this, the city's ruler, the Lady of Pain (who is in fact ''not'' evil, despite her title), has outlawed worship within the city, lest a god gain influence there and compromise the city's neutrality; and Ao help you if you try to worship the Lady herself. (Funnily enough, godless religions, like some forms of Buddhism, would be allowed by exclusion.)