While the base rules of Dungeons & Dragons have changed over the years, one character creation rule has remained constant - players must choose some manner of moral alignment for their characters before game-play can begin. Yet the rules behind the alignments, and exactly what they mean, is a frequent source of confusion for players and game-masters alike.
The 1st edition of D&D in 1974 had a simple alignment system based on Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné saga, with players describing themselves as Lawful, Neutral or Chaotic. Lawful characters were inclined to follow tradition whereas Chaotic characters followed their own whims. This idea was expanded in 1977's Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set, which introduced a second axis of Good versus Evil. Good was defined by acts of altruism and thinking of others before yourself, whereas Evil was defined by selfishness and a lack of respect for lives beyond your own.
This two-axis system of Law vs. Chaos and Good vs. Evil gave rise to 9 core alignments which defined the D&D ethics system for several decades. The game's 4th edition, released in 2008, attempted to streamline the classic alignments, but the simplified system proved unpopular. The current 5th edition restored the classic 9 alignments, while adding a 10th Unaligned designation for animals and other creatures that lacked the intelligence to make moral judgments. Here is a rundown of the classic 9 Dungeons & Dragons alignments, with examples of characters who define each alignment.
Lawful Good
Lawful Good characters in King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, who tried to turn the court of Camelot into a beacon of hope in a dark time. Lawful Good heroes often find their idealism tested, but they stand firm in their righteousness, making the world move around them rather than yield their principles.
Neutral Good
Like Dungeons & Dragons characters fall into the Neutral Good category.
Chaotic Good
Mark Twain once wrote "Laws control the lesser man. Right conduct controls the greater one." This could be the mission statement for the Chaotic Good alignment, who believe that freedom is more important than security and that laws are more often a weapon of the wicked than a shield of the weak. Chaotic Good heroes, like Oliver Queen on Robin Hood, work outside the strictures of society to see justice done. Rebels, iconoclasts, lovable rogues and anti-heroes of all stripes may be found among the ranks of the Chaotic Good in Dungeons & Dragons.
Lawful Neutral
Lawful Neutral characters are devoted to structure and the systems that uphold them as a means unto themselves. Good and evil do not enter into the world view of a Lawful Neutral person - the Law is the Law and that is that. For Lawful Neutral characters in Judge Dredd, including Dredd himself, are fantastic examples of the Lawful Neutral alignment in action.
True Neutral
True Neutral is perhaps the most varied and complicated of the 9 core alignments of Tomb Raider games and movies is a good example of a True Neutral protagonist, as Lara's chief concerns are acquiring artifacts and outlasting her enemies, but she does not go out of her way to break the law or kill people to get what she wants.
Chaotic Neutral
"The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can't do." Such is the philosophy that Captain Jack Sparrow imparted to Will Turner in the first Dungeons & Dragons' Chaotic Neutral characters believe in freedom for the sake of freedom and fight anything that would impose limits upon them.
Lawful Evil
The Lawful Evil character in Star Wars is perhaps the most famous Lawful Evil villain in cinematic history, giving all to maintain the strength of the Empire.
Neutral Evil
Neutral Evil characters in Harry Potter novels and films is a prime example of their philosophy. While other villains from the series used Voldemort's reign of terror to satisfy their own love of mindless killing or to twist the government of wizard society into something reflecting their own elitist values, Voldemort cared only for Voldemort. So long as he was feared and was allowed to do whatever he wished in the pursuit of extending his life, Voldemort didn't care what crimes were committed in his name.
Chaotic Evil
"Some men aren't looking for anything logical... Some men just want to watch the world burn." When Alfred Pennyworth spoke those words in The Joker, but he may as well have been describing the Chaotic Evil alignment. It vastly oversimplifies Chaotic Evil characters in Dungeons & Dragons to dismiss them all as lunatics and anarchists who want to tear down the establishment because it is there. The alignment also includes soldiers who revel in destruction and enjoy killing for the sake of killing and petty tyrants who seek power for their own sake.
