Personality Alignment

Was a little bored and started thinking about this. What characters fall into place? Berserk is far from black and white and I thought to make a personality alignment chart. Anyone want to take a shot?
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Salem said:
Berserk is far from black and white and I thought to make a personality alignment chart.

That sounds contradictory. Like you said, Berserk isn't black & white, but it's also not Loyal / Neutral / Chaotic or Good / Neutral / Evil. The concept itself is pretty reductive IMHO.
 
Sure, there are 9 categories to fill. The themes behind them are are in depth. This is all from some older d and d terminology, but I see it applied to many different series.

The Nine Alignments

Nine distinct alignments define all the possible combinations of the lawful-chaotic axis with the good-evil axis. Each alignment description below depicts a typical character of that alignment. Remember that individuals vary from this norm, and that a given character may act more or less in accord with his or her alignment from day to day. Use these descriptions as guidelines, not as scripts.

The first six alignments, lawful good through chaotic neutral, are the standard alignments for player characters. The three evil alignments are for monsters and villains.

Lawful Good, "Crusader"

A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished.

Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion.

Lawful good can be a dangerous alignment when it restricts freedom and criminalizes self-interest.

Neutral Good, "Benefactor"

A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them.

Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order.

Neutral good can be a dangerous alignment when it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.

Chaotic Good, "Rebel"

A chaotic good character acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect of him. He makes his own way, but he's kind and benevolent. He believes in goodness and right but has little use for laws and regulations. He hates it when people try to intimidate others and tell them what to do. He follows his own moral compass, which, although good, may not agree with that of society.

Chaotic good is the best alignment you can be because it combines a good heart with a free spirit.

Chaotic good can be a dangerous alignment when it disrupts the order of society and punishes those who do well for themselves.

Lawful Neutral, "Judge"

A lawful neutral character acts as law, tradition, or a personal code directs her. Order and organization are paramount to her. She may believe in personal order and live by a code or standard, or she may believe in order for all and favor a strong, organized government.

Lawful neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you are reliable and honorable without being a zealot.

Lawful neutral can be a dangerous alignment when it seeks to eliminate all freedom, choice, and diversity in society.

Neutral, "Undecided"

A neutral character does what seems to be a good idea. She doesn't feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to good vs. evil or law vs. chaos. Most neutral characters exhibit a lack of conviction or bias rather than a commitment to neutrality. Such a character thinks of good as better than evil-after all, she would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. Still, she's not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way.

Some neutral characters, on the other hand, commit themselves philosophically to neutrality. They see good, evil, law, and chaos as prejudices and dangerous extremes. They advocate the middle way of neutrality as the best, most balanced road in the long run.

Neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you act naturally, without prejudice or compulsion.

Neutral can be a dangerous alignment when it represents apathy, indifference, and a lack of conviction.

Chaotic Neutral, "Free Spirit"

A chaotic neutral character follows his whims. He is an individualist first and last. He values his own liberty but doesn't strive to protect others' freedom. He avoids authority, resents restrictions, and challenges traditions. A chaotic neutral character does not intentionally disrupt organizations as part of a campaign of anarchy. To do so, he would have to be motivated either by good (and a desire to liberate others) or evil (and a desire to make those different from himself suffer). A chaotic neutral character may be unpredictable, but his behavior is not totally random. He is not as likely to jump off a bridge as to cross it.

Chaotic neutral is the best alignment you can be because it represents true freedom from both society's restrictions and a do-gooder's zeal.

Chaotic neutral can be a dangerous alignment when it seeks to eliminate all authority, harmony, and order in society.

Lawful Evil, "Dominator"

A lawful evil villain methodically takes what he wants within the limits of his code of conduct without regard for whom it hurts. He cares about tradition, loyalty, and order but not about freedom, dignity, or life. He plays by the rules but without mercy or compassion. He is comfortable in a hierarchy and would like to rule, but is willing to serve. He condemns others not according to their actions but according to race, religion, homeland, or social rank. He is loath to break laws or promises.

This reluctance comes partly from his nature and partly because he depends on order to protect himself from those who oppose him on moral grounds. Some lawful evil villains have particular taboos, such as not killing in cold blood (but having underlings do it) or not letting children come to harm (if it can be helped). They imagine that these compunctions put them above unprincipled villains.

Some lawful evil people and creatures commit themselves to evil with a zeal like that of a crusader committed to good. Beyond being willing to hurt others for their own ends, they take pleasure in spreading evil as an end unto itself. They may also see doing evil as part of a duty to an evil deity or master.

Lawful evil is sometimes called "diabolical," because devils are the epitome of lawful evil.

Lawful evil creatures consider their alignment to be the best because it combines honor with a dedicated self-interest.

Lawful evil is the most dangerous alignment because it represents methodical, intentional, and frequently successful evil.

Neutral Evil, "Malefactor"

A neutral evil villain does whatever she can get away with. She is out for herself, pure and simple. She sheds no tears for those she kills, whether for profit, sport, or convenience. She has no love of order and holds no illusion that following laws, traditions, or codes would make her any better or more noble. On the other hand, she doesn't have the restless nature or love of conflict that a chaotic evil villain has.

Some neutral evil villains hold up evil as an ideal, committing evil for its own sake. Most often, such villains are devoted to evil deities or secret societies.

Neutral evil beings consider their alignment to be the best because they can advance themselves without regard for others.

Neutral evil is the most dangerous alignment because it represents pure evil without honor and without variation.

Chaotic Evil, "Destroyer"

A chaotic evil character does whatever his greed, hatred, and lust for destruction drive him to do. He is hot-tempered, vicious, arbitrarily violent, and unpredictable. If he is simply out for whatever he can get, he is ruthless and brutal. If he is committed to the spread of evil and chaos, he is even worse. Thankfully, his plans are haphazard, and any groups he joins or forms are poorly organized. Typically, chaotic evil people can be made to work together only by force, and their leader lasts only as long as he can thwart attempts to topple or assassinate him.

Chaotic evil is sometimes called "demonic" because demons are the epitome of chaotic evil.

Chaotic evil beings believe their alignment is the best because it combines self-interest and pure freedom.

Chaotic evil is the most dangerous alignment because it represents the destruction not only of beauty and life but also of the order on which beauty and life depend.
 
Aazealh said:
That sounds contradictory. Like you said, Berserk isn't black & white, but it's also not Loyal / Neutral / Chaotic or Good / Neutral / Evil. The concept itself is pretty reductive IMHO.

I can get behind that. Just thought the idea was fun enough to try and scratch my head at.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Personally I find these kinds of charts pretty degrading to the characters. Just as it would be degrading to do this to people, to stick them in certain roles seems to go against the way Miura crafted his characters,
 

Aulë

Studying Electrical engineering.
I was wondering for this as well. As I googled I found a pic on the internet but it contains only a few characters as a sample. Any thoughts? I think some of these characters are debatable.

tumblr_o039phJDkY1v2pbq0o1_500.jpg
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Aulë said:
I was wondering for this as well. As I googled I found a pic on the internet but it contains only a few characters as a sample. Any thoughts? I think some of these characters are debatable.

Senseless and pointless.
 

Aulë

Studying Electrical engineering.
Aazealh said:
Senseless and pointless.

Well... for the most part yes ... but for example Guts:

He is not a hero. He is not going to help somebody weak or innocent which he doesn't care, know or like. He is not gonna fight a bad guy just for the sake of justice. If the bad guy doesn't affect him in any way he is gonna leave him alone. He won't kill for pleasure but he won't hesitate one bit to kill... So from a moral point of view he is completely neutral.
Also he sees no value in laws or customs. When he makes a decision he doesn't care about order or any authority. In that sense you could put him under the "chaotic neutral" alignment.

You could do the same process for others as well.

I know it's kind of subjective some times ,or as you said "senseless", but I find it kind of fun to compare character's morality and personality based on decisions they have made, categorize them in order to vaguely know what will be their reaction in any kind of situation and how do they behave in general.

Well you may find all this just philosophical bullshit :p ... I guess I am the kind of guy how wants everything to be in "boxes" to understand it. hahahaha ;)
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Aulë said:
He is not a hero. He is not going to help somebody weak or innocent which he doesn't care, know or like. He is not gonna fight a bad guy just for the sake of justice. If the bad guy doesn't affect him in any way he is gonna leave him alone.

Guts has helped weak people for no reason in more than one occasion. Like Theresia, Jill, Farnese, Isidro... And while his stated goal isn't to defend orphans and widows, I don't think you can argue that he's completely indifferent to evil.

Aulë said:
He won't kill for pleasure but he won't hesitate one bit to kill...

He did hesitate to kill Rochine, among others.

Aulë said:
Also he sees no value in laws or customs. When he makes a decision he doesn't care about order or any authority. In that sense you could put him under the "chaotic neutral" alignment.

That's not really true, he's played by the rules in many occasions. See his behavior when the group arrived in Enoch, for example.

Aulë said:
Well you may find all this just philosophical bullshit :p

I know I'm being blunt, but I think it's plain bullshit, with no philosophy involved. I find it very reductive to try and categorize complex characters into simplistic models that were created for a different purpose. D&D's morality system is great for what it is, but it's just not appropriate in this case.
 
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