# Are the best villains Lawful Evil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-best-villains-lawful-evil/699262 "2014-09-22T19:28:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-best-villains-lawful-evil/699262/41 "2014-09-26T00:54:48Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t think I’d call the creature from _Alien_ evil. Particularly in the first film, it’s essentially just a dangerous animal. It’s not killing the crew out of maliciousness, or cruelty, or to advance any agenda other than “eat and reproduce.” That would make it True Neutral, like other animals. I can’t remember where I’ve seen this, but I like the use of “Neutral Hungry” in this case. The True Neutrality of a, for example, kodiak bear is a different thing than that of someone too apathetic to care about anything. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-best-villains-lawful-evil/699262/42 "2014-09-26T02:02:26Z")
Organized Chaos Cults is an oxymoron, yet they’re pretty much a trope. The only way they are even mildly rational is if (as is usually the case), they’re just causing chaos so they can sweep into power. In which case they’re not really chaotic, they’re only using chaos as a weapon. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-best-villains-lawful-evil/699262/43 "2015-01-14T20:37:10Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > When I think of Lawful Evil, my first though was Mr. Potter in _It’s a Wonderful Life_. I wonder if they had him hide away the $10 grand (which he _found_ and didn’t steal) just to make him unambiguously evil… Nitpick: It was eight grand. > **[Mr. Potter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Potter)** > > Henry F. Potter (commonly referred to as Mr. Potter or just Potter) is a fictional character, a villainous robber baron and the main antagonist in the 1946 Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life. He was portrayed by the veteran actor Lionel Barrymore. > Lionel Barrymore was cast as Mr. Potter. Dan Duryea and Charles Bickford were also considered for the role. Although Barrymore won an Academy Award for Best Actor in A Free Soul in 1931, in the 1940s he was best known as the voice of Ebenezer Scroo... > **[At the end of It's a Wonderful Life, what happens to the money that the bad...](https://www.quora.com/At-the-end-of-Its-a-Wonderful-Life-what-happens-to-the-money-that-the-bad-guy-stole)** > > Answer (1 of 13): I’d write the ending like so. After the missing money is covered, the bank examiner convinces them to report the loss to the police. Because of the serious sum of money involved, Bert has a trained detective come in who interviews... > **[Lost Ending To "It's A Wonderful Life" - SNL Transcripts Tonight](https://snltranscripts.jt.org/86/86hlife.phtml)** > > Lost Ending To "It's A Wonderful Life" HAL 9000 is a computer, yes, but is artificially intelligent, seems to have free will as much as any human, and makes choices. It is determined to go forward with the mission and tries to deal with (as Clarke wrote in _2010: Odyssey Two_, and as was shown in the movie sequel inspired by it) contradictory programming by murdering the _Discovery_ astronauts who might stand in its way. I think we may fairly give it an alignment, and that is Lawful Evil. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-best-villains-lawful-evil/699262/44 "2015-01-14T21:19:03Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > That being said, I think Magneto at his “best” is neutral evil. He does not generally revel in causing misery, but he’ll stop at nothing to secure the future of his people, even if that involves going back on his own word or betraying a trusted ally - so long as it’s all in furtherance of his cause. Agree - definitely NE in my book. For my credentials I submit that my father owned a comic book store when I was kid. I read mostly Claremont / Lee era X-Men (mostly pre-Blue/Gold, some after), although I was more into the Liefeld New Mutants / X-Force and Claremont / Davis Excalibur (as far as mutant stuff goes). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-best-villains-lawful-evil/699262/45 "2015-01-14T22:33:41Z")
GLaDOS is an interesting case. She does seem to have rules that she operates under, and will not or cannot break, but those rules are so twisted and mangled that it’s impossible for anyone, probably including her, to tell what they are. Neutral Evil is probably the best bet for her (and I don’t think there’s any dispute that she’s Evil). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-best-villains-lawful-evil/699262.md?page=2)