by AJ Focht
The Dungeons and Dragons Alignment chart is an essential piece to forming a well rounded character. The beautiful thing about it is how easily each alignment can fit any scenario. Lawful Good is one that can be particularly hard to pinpoint. In concept, lawful good is one of the easiest alignments to grasp. In practice, a lawful good character can be very hard to pin down and can cause rifts within the “party”.
In theory a lawful good character has a strong moral code and always does what is right. Superman has become the iconic face of lawful good. Outside of the world of comics it becomes a lot harder to find a true lawful good character. In real life, some would argue, it is near impossible to find one. Ideally authority figures should be lawful good but they are often observed as lawful evil or lawful neutral. A lawful good character is one who would never lie, never take for self gain, and never harm an innocent.
The lawful good character’s morals often ruin the plans of their comrades. Their strong moral code and need to do good helps to make these characters an interesting plot device but they are not suited to be main characters. In modern writing characters with such devote personal codes are only main characters in Disney movies and comics. Lawful good characters often take the passenger seat alongside a neutral good or chaotic good character. As a main character their values are so unwavering that it becomes difficult to put them through the ordeals that develop a main characters life. These characters are often better suited as mentors and colleagues that help to keep the main character in check.
Most often the lawful good character is a mentor who has learned to accept the laws after years of rebellious youth. These characters are used as a mechanism to keep the main characters from swaying off their path. If the lawful good character has not learned from experience then they are often righteous characters. Righteous characters also have their place in stories but it is still on the side lines. Being self righteous and devoted in your ways often means that you are better at handing out lessons than receiving them.
Overall the lawful good characters are just to set in their ways to develop as a character through time. This makes them a rarity and often casts them in to niche roles. Many neutral good characters are passed off as ‘lawful’ good but would be likely to break the laws and adjust their morals for the greater good. Simply put, a lawful good character would not give a patient surgery if their insurance didn’t cover but they would try to help and raise the money. A neutral good character would find a way to get them on the surgery with or without the money.
With lawful good characters sitting out as main characters where does that leave them? Comedy. Yes comedy is a big venue for lawful good characters. Their values can be picked fun of and they can always come out with a good, light hearted, cheesy ending. Beyond comedy lawful good characters are bound to comic books and mentorships. In real life… well we always have firemen.
Who is your favorite Lawful Good character? Who is your favorite lawful good main character?
