{"id":6845,"date":"2012-02-07T14:00:53","date_gmt":"2012-02-07T19:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/?p=6845"},"modified":"2012-01-23T14:36:26","modified_gmt":"2012-01-23T19:36:26","slug":"trope-tuesday-chaotic-evil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/trope-tuesday-chaotic-evil\/","title":{"rendered":"Trope Tuesday: Chaotic Evil"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZRG1tWQN6e8\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"500\" height=\"284\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>If a character in a story <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/HighOctaneNightmareFuel\" target=\"_blank\">scares the hell out of you<\/a>, chances are he&#8217;s a <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/ChaoticEvil\" target=\"_blank\">Chaotic Evil<\/a>. \u00a0From <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/AxCrazy\" target=\"_blank\">ax-crazy psychopaths<\/a> to <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/MonsterClown\" target=\"_blank\">nightmarish clowns<\/a>, from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/AxCrazy\" target=\"_blank\">cold-hearted monsters<\/a>\u00a0to <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/EldritchAbomination\" target=\"_blank\">eldritch abominations<\/a>, these guys are known for their <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/LackOfEmpathy\" target=\"_blank\">complete lack of empathy<\/a>, their\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/NietzscheWannabe\" target=\"_blank\">nihilistic outlook on life<\/a>, and their\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/ForTheEvulz\" target=\"_blank\">sick sense of humor<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>From <a href=\"http:\/\/easydamus.com\/alignment.html\" target=\"_blank\">the easydamus character alignment page<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>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&#8230;it represents the destruction not only of beauty and life but also of the order on which beauty and life depend.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>According to tvtropes, characters who fall under this alignment can be categorized by five types, in decreasing order of redeemability:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/ChaoticGood\" target=\"_blank\">Chaotic Good<\/a> who <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/WellIntentionedExtremist\" target=\"_blank\">took things a little too far<\/a> and inadvertently <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/KnightTemplar\" target=\"_blank\">fell into evil<\/a>. \u00a0Can usually be brought back with a <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/HeelRealization\" target=\"_blank\">heel realization<\/a> if they haven&#8217;t already crossed the <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/MoralEventHorizon\" target=\"_blank\">moral event horizon<\/a>. \u00a0<span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Scar<\/span> from Fullmetal Alchemist is a good example of this type (incidentally, he&#8217;s also my favorite character from that series).<\/li>\n<li>A character with a very feral nature who believes that <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/EverythingTryingToKillYou\" target=\"_blank\">everyone is out to get him<\/a> and thus ends up killing everyone in order to protect himself. \u00a0Often manipulated by the <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/BigBad\" target=\"_blank\">Big Bad<\/a> to <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork\" target=\"_blank\">do his dirty work<\/a>. \u00a0He doesn&#8217;t really kill out of malice, though, so there may still be a possibility of redemption.<\/li>\n<li>Committed to chaos before evil. \u00a0Can be convinced to team up with the heroes, if only because they <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/EnemyMine\" target=\"_blank\">happen to share the same enemy<\/a>. \u00a0For these characters, their freedom is the most important thing&#8211;though don&#8217;t trust them too much, or else you&#8217;re liable to end up with a knife in your back.<\/li>\n<li>Committed to evil before chaos. \u00a0These guys will never team up with the heroes, but they may team up with the Big Bad, even becoming one of his <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/Mooks\" target=\"_blank\">mooks<\/a> if it gives them more opportunities to unleash fiery mayhem of death on the world.<\/li>\n<li>True Chaotic Evil. \u00a0These are the most dangerous, because they have absolutely no loyalties and absolutely no compunction. \u00a0The best you can hope for is to kill them before they <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/OmnicidalManiac\" target=\"_blank\">wipe out your entire civilization<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Fortunately, the Chaotic Evil&#8217;s weakness is his inability to put together a competent organization. If he has any plans, they&#8217;ll usually fizzle out because they&#8217;re too haphazard. \u00a0When the Chaotic Evil overlaps with <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/TheChessmaster\" target=\"_blank\">the Chessmaster<\/a>, however, things can get really, <em>really<\/em>\u00a0dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>My favorite Chaotic Evil is definitely the Joker from the Dark Knight. \u00a0He is, without a doubt, the most dangerous incarnation of this trope that I&#8217;ve ever seen. \u00a0Running a close second is Kefka from Final Fantasy VI. \u00a0Best final fantasy villain of all time, hands down&#8211;he <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lPaW5PO83oE\" target=\"_blank\">totally owns Sephiroth<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I have to admit, I haven&#8217;t used this trope much in my own work yet. \u00a0Gazan from <strong>Bringing Stella Home<\/strong>\u00a0probably falls under this character alignment, but he&#8217;s more of the third type than a true Chaotic Evil. \u00a0As a race, the Hameji initially fall under this trope, but they have reasons for everything they do, so once they overthrow the established order, they shift more to <a href=\"http:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/ChaoticNeutral\" target=\"_blank\">Chaotic Neutral<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>One day, though, I&#8217;m going to write a character with this alignment. \u00a0One day&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If a character in a story scares the hell out of you, chances are he&#8217;s a Chaotic Evil. \u00a0From ax-crazy psychopaths to nightmarish clowns, from\u00a0cold-hearted monsters\u00a0to eldritch abominations, these guys are known for their complete lack of empathy, their\u00a0nihilistic outlook on life, and their\u00a0sick sense of humor. From the easydamus character alignment page: A chaotic&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/trope-tuesday-chaotic-evil\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Trope Tuesday: Chaotic Evil<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[68],"tags":[687,112,690,343,693,458,100,641,565,626],"class_list":["post-6845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bsh","tag-batman","tag-character","tag-character-alignment","tag-final-fantasy-6","tag-fullmetal-alchemist","tag-good-and-evil","tag-the-hameji","tag-trope-tuesday","tag-tropes-and-cliches","tag-tvtropes","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iXK-1Mp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6845"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6917,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6845\/revisions\/6917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}