Lawful Neutral Narrator

MEDIA EXAMPLES

Segata Sanshiro. It doesn't matter if you're a naughty kid, or a normal man, but you'd be best to be ready to get your ass kicked if you don't play Sega Saturn. "Sega Saturn Shiro!" Byakuya Kuchiki is willing to let his sister be executed because it was a lawful decision by Soul Society's ruling body and he personally believed that if nobles like him don't uphold the law, no one will. Though he shifts a little towards Lawful Good later on. Genryusai Yamamoto almost personifies this alignment: "No personal justice takes precedence over the world's justice". Sui-Feng has some tendencies toward this alignment, but has an almost Lawful Evil stance when dealing with lawbreakers, and despite knowing what Yoruichi did, is primarily upset over her not taking her with her when she left Soul Society. Sajin Komamura is primarily motivated by sheer loyalty to Yamamoto, and is willing to do anything he asks, even lay down his life for him. Death Note: L. His pursuit of Kira is more about "winning" than stopping him because it's the right thing to do. At the same time, he also goes to extreme lengths to secure solid evidence that Light is Kira, despite everything that his intuition is (correctly) telling him; he doesn't go outside the law and stays firmly on the line. Near. Despite the fact that his situation is made personal by the death of his mentor, he appears to be a lot more neutrally inclined than L. He does tell a few lies and manipulates circumstances to get his own way, though seems a lot more neutral and collected in his approach to situations. He also seems to be very mature in terms of ideals with a pragmatic, existentialist point of view on justice. NPA Director Kitamura has the police stop investigating the Yotsuba Kira on orders from the government after the Yotsuba Kira starts influencing politicians. He disagrees with the order, but follows it, noting that "if the government is destroyed, so is the country", being less concerned about letting a mass murderer go free. Light Yagami himself might be this at best before he receives his Death Note, given that he hates all criminals in the world who may or may not be villains in nature. Uniquely among the Shinigami, Rem probably falls under this alignment. She doesn't care about good or evil as such, and her only loyalty is to Misa, who is one of the villains. She also expresses personal disgust for most of the humans fighting over the Death Note and despises their petty and callous murders for the sake of power. Neon Genesis Evangelion: Gendo Ikari. This is particularly up for debate, because he's really morally ambiguous, and half the fanbase sees him as a general asshole, while the other half sees him as a Well-Intentioned Extremist, especially when contrasted with SEELE. Natarle Badgiruel of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, probably the most by-the-book person in the series. Johan Trinity of Mobile Suit Gundam 00, as his concern seems to be more about "bringing about the change to the world" and he cares little about everything else. He has to keep check on his Chaotic Neutral siblings, Michael and Nena. Tieria Erde, also from 00, is this at first. He obeys everything Veda tells him and is willing to kill his fellow Meisters if they break the rules or become a liability to the group. But after Veda ditches him, and his interactions with True Neutral Lockon, he became Neutral Good in season 2. Flit Asuno, in his 2nd-Generation portrait, working to save the Earthlings by planning the genocide of all the people of Vagan. Might end up as Lawful Evil instead. In Lyrical Nanoha, it seems that the higher you climb the Space/Time Administration Bureau's ladder, the more you shift from Lawful Good to Lawful Neutral. For example, the Bureau founders have become so obsessed with keeping the peace that the Combat Mages under them are little more than convenient tools to be used and discarded as necessary for this goal. General Regius goes from being Lawful Good and wanting to change the system to being Lawful Neutral and helping back several of the more ethically dubious actions of the TSAB, like the Combat Cyborg program. He despises Section 6 for being run by the "criminal" Hayate Yagami, in addition to his preference for the ground forces, and tries to get it shut down. The Wolkenritter start out as this, presumably obeying their masters' orders in order to increase their power. In contrast to Lawful Good Signum and Neutral Good Shamal and Vita, Zafira retains this alignment after coming into Hayate's service, stating that as a guardian beast, he does what is best for his master regardless of whether it is right or wrong. Nina Wang of My-Otome, as a perfect foil for Neutral Good Arika. Disciplined, never questions orders — even though she might not like them — and respectful of Garderobe's rules. While she's definitely not a bad person, she is utterly unable to take a decision that is unbiased by her love for her adoptive father Sergei, and because of this she is easily manipulated by Big Bad Nagi into doing his bidding when he mortally injures Sergei. Maria Graceburt has some Lawful Neutral tendencies, as she believes that Otome must obey their masters even if doing so results in them fighting against their friends, but later on, questions some of those beliefs as a result of what Arika said on that matter. One Piece: Bartholomew Kuma He is the most obedient member of the Shichibukai (Considering the rest of group members, that's admittedly not saying much) to The World Government, and is usually bad news for the Straw Hat Pirates, but isn't a Knight Templar and is observant about the way the world is starting to play out. When ordered to obliterate the Straw Hats, he opted to spare them, with the exception of one, and later, when they were about to be defeated by Kizaru and Sentoumaru, he teleported them to different locations, not only saving their lives, but apparently giving Luffy an opportunity to save his brother Ace, and stop the impending war between the World Government and the Whitebeard Pirates. Admiral Kizaru is a pretty nice guy as long as you're not a criminal — but if you've broken a law (any law, from murdering hundreds to spitting on a nobleman), he will kill you. Fleet Admiral Sengoku probably falls here. He's willing to enforce the law even if it means killing children, but unlike most followers of Absolute Justice, he believes equally in the duty to protect the innocent and obey the law, and resigns rather than support a World Government coverup. Rossiu from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, who believes in the preservation of order and the human race above all else. This causes him to sentence Simon to death to stop a riot. His beliefs also cause him to be forced to save himself and the thousands he evacuated on time, but leave everyone else to die. Ogami Itto from Lone Wolf and Cub. Not a nice guy (he was perfectly willing to kill his 1-year-old son if the baby hadn't "chosen" to come along on his mission of revenge), but not really evil either, just devoted to an ultra-inflexible code of honor. Saitou Hajime in Rurouni Kenshin. Once a Bakufu loyalist in The Shinsengumi, after the Meiji victory in the Meiji Revolution, he goes to work for the Meiji government as an agent and policeman so long as he can dispense his strict code of justice: Slay Evil Immediately. His alignment is best illustrated by one portion of the manga where Senkaku, an Elite Mook, is unconscious and a kid whose entire family was killed by Senkaku is going to kill him. Saitou coldly informs the kid that revenge killings are illegal, so if the kid does it, Saitou will arrest him too. Saitou then "reassures" the kid by telling him that Senkaku will probably be executed and tortured for information first, which would be much worse for him than dying painlessly. Major case of Good Is Not Nice, and that's without mentioning his Jerkass tendencies towards supporting characters. Casca from Berserk. She might seem Lawful Good because she cares about The Band of Hawk, but she will follow Lawful Evil Griffith's orders without question and even kill her own comrades if they disobey them. Even after she falls in love with Guts, she still chooses to be loyal to Griffith. That is until the Eclipse; she has likely become Unaligned or True Neutral due to her impaired mental state. Detective Lunge of Monster has almost no concern either way for the well being of others, willingly and remorselessly driving away even his own family if it brings him a step closer to catching a criminal. Naruto: Kakashi in the Kakashi Gaiden side-story believes that orders and rules are absolute, partly as a result of his father suffering greatly for abandoning a mission to save his friends, but develops toward being Neutral Good. Homura and Koharu appear to follow this alignment, wanting to confine Naruto to the village to keep the nine-tailed fox out of the Akatsuki's hands, despite Tsunade's argument it would not necessarily deter the Akatsuki from invading, as they seem to want what's best for the village as a whole, but don't necessarily care for the welfare of individuals going so far as to orchestrate the massacre of the Uchiha clan. Most Siberian Railroad agents in Overman King Gainer — and, in fact, most opponents the Chaotic Good Yapan Exodus face — are this alignment, being Punch Clock Villains who are in it for the pay. The few exceptions are Neutral Evil Asuham Boone, who will go to extremes to pursue his Disproportionate Retribution against Gain; Lawful Evil Smug Snake Kashmir Valle; and Chaotic Neutral Enfant Terrible Cynthia Lane. Death the Kid from Soul Eater. His belief that good and evil should be kept in balance, keeping with his desire for symmetry, seems more of a True Neutral idea, but the fact that he wants good and evil to be so strictly kept in equal moderation leans him toward the lawful alignment. That's not to mention all other aspects of his obsession with symmetry, which, much like any lawful-abiding character, often seeks to order and organize things to the annoyance or detriment of others. However, he does occasionally have Lawful Good tendencies, especially where his friends or innocent lives are concerned, but, more often, his obnoxious, usually debilitating need for symmetry swings him toward the Lawful Stupid side of things. King Yama appears to be like this in YuYu Hakusho, given his desire for order above all else, but in the manga, it's revealed that he had demons captured and brainwashed to attack humans to justify keeping up the barrier and make the Spirit World seem good, making him Lawful Evil. Ohtake of the Special Defense Forces has a similar alignment, but shifts to Neutral Evil near the end of the manga, when he becomes part of a group of terrorists that takes over the Gates of Judgment and threatens to destroy part of the human world unless the demons are returned to the demon plane. Code Geass: Suzaku Kururugi only cares about order, and thinks that's the only way to peace. Cornelia's knight Guilford is a good example of Lawful Neutral, since he's following his loyalty to her. Jeremiah Gottwald also qualifies, only caring about loyally following his master, following his Heel–Face Turn to Lelouch's side once he learns he's Zero. The Truth from Fullmetal Alchemist, which trades with alchemists for the right to gaze into the vast collection of all knowledge it serves as the guardian for. But the trade is usually in body parts, or even souls, and Truth rarely tells alchemists before pushing them in, and clearly takes immense sadistic delight in the whole process, so it may be considered to be evil. However, because its actions are meant to punish the arrogance of humans who would tread in God's domain, and teach people that alchemy isn't everything, it is this. The angel in A Certain Magical Index. It's pretty clearly not pleased with the situation going on and would really prefer not to destroy the world to get home. It does try for the quicker, less violent method first, but it isn't an option as it would involve Touma's father. But hey, if that's what's necessary. Hellsing: Father Alexander Anderson considers himself an instrument of God and violently slaughters enemies of the church. However, he sternly believes that violence is only to be used against monsters and heretics. Major Matoko Kusanagi and Section 9 in general from the Ghost in the Shell franchise. Their job as police officers is to uphold the law for the betterment of society. This means busting criminals by normal means, but also going to lengths such as torturing criminals, hacking the information right out of their brain, using viruses or political influence to prevent the media from obtaining information on an event happening, causing "accidents" to corrupt politicians, district attorneys, and corporate executives, or even uprooting the government's own ruling administration. Nobody is exempt, but they fight to maintain peace for the betterment of Japan. They aren't breaking the law themselves though, due to loopholes that allow them to exist outside of public knowledge. The Magic Council from Fairy Tail can be somewhat jarring when compared to the titular guild, who regularly employ Defeat Means Friendship. For those who don't hate him, seeing Jellal arrested was justified but not pleasant. And of course, they're willing to fire Frickin' Laser Beams at their own people or at mages of Fairy Tail if it means killing a greater evil. Austria and Germany from Hetalia: Axis Powers. Both object strongly to their bosses's orders at some point, but no matter what they think of them, they follow said instructions in the end. They also offer nice contrasts to the characters around them: Neutral Good North Italy, Chaotic Good Hungary, and Chaotic Neutral Prussia. Norway has one foot in Lawful Good and one in here. He's normally levelheaded, almost always follows rules strictly, and except for Iceland (and Denmark, when Den pisses him off), he doesn't seem to show much open emotion about anything. Yami Yugi from the early chapters of Yu-Gi-Oh! plays Penalty Games with anyone who harms Yugi, with the loser suffering Disproportionate Retribution. He mellows out later on. In Haruhi Suzumiya, the Student Council President is meant to invoke this. The nameless President uses whatever power he has to eliminate the SOS-Brigade (an unauthorized club riding the coattails of the existing Literature Club), because of its unsanctioned presence within the school, but allows the members to work with whatever bare minimum requirements exist to keep it afloat. Of course, as it turns out, the councilman is more True Neutral than anything else, and the entire bit is just a plot cooked up by Koizumi to appease Haruhi with a temporary antagonist, whom she certainly believes is a Lawful Evil Inspector Javert. Kill la Kill: Ira Gamagoori believes in Equality Under the Law, as evidenced by his willingness to serve Satsuki but also aid Ryuko when she needs it. He constantly says that he only does the latter because it is required of him by the rules of his post as the head of the Student Disciplinary Committee, but never displays much outward animosity when doing so. Satsuki Kiryuin...okay, this one gets complicated. She normally acts as a Lawful Evil villain, running Honnouji Academy under a tyrannical regime and ruthlessly executing those who can't keep up. However, it turns out that she's got very good reasons for her actions; namely, to rebel against her wicked family and save the world from being eaten by their Life Fiber-infused clothing. This doesn't make her any less ruthless or manipulative, though; she has good goals but is not really a good person. Character Development pushes her more toward Lawful Good in the end. Henry Henderson, the uptight House master of Eden Academy from Spy X Family. In his early appearances, he had low expectations and prospects for the families of new students. With a somewhat quirky nature, Henry upheld traditional values, believing elegance was a prime example of them. When the Forger Family proved to impress him, he was astounded, going so far as to punch his snobbish cohort, for his insufferable bullying of Anya. He still allowed the Forger child to attend school, despite the failed interview.