On a moral alignment scale, how would you rate Brio, the girls, or any other character on GG? I'll start with Nick. I'll say Lawful Evil. What do you think?
What a fun question! Thanks, anon! Descriptions pulled from here.
LAWFUL GOOD
Lawful Good characters always do the right thing as expected by society. They always follow the rules, tell the truth and help people out. They like order, trust and believe in people with social authority, and they aim to be an upstanding citizen, however, they can be irritatingly inflexible in their beliefs. They can come across as arrogant and self-righteous.
Stan's desire to go into law enforcement and "be one of the good guys" fits this archetype. While he does have a moral slide in the show, it wears him down in a way that I think is even distinct from Ruby. Stan desires to do good in all areas of his life, and he's rigid in his beliefs, going as far as to consider Ruby's descent into crime as "cheating." I'd say he hits the notes of arrogant and self-righteous, too, when he confronts Beth and forces Ruby to choose between the two of them.
Other Lawful Good characters: Nancy (who often comes across self-righteous and is nitpicky about rules like hair oils on the couch), Lucy (who balks at Beth duping her into creating counterfeit cash but naively trusts Rio's authority)
NEUTRAL GOOD
Neutral Good characters do their best to help others, but they do it because they want to and believe it will lead to good outcomes, not because they have been told to by a person in authority or by societyās laws. A Neutral Good person will break the rules if they are doing it for good reasons and they will feel confident and justified in their actions.
Ruby's iconic "I'm this bitch" speech places her, I think, solidly in the Neutral Good category. She refuses to feel guilty about robbing from the grocery store because she did it for a noble reason, but she's always been the best about having lines and some actionsāsuch as dumping Boomer's bodyādeeply shake her.
Other Neutral Good characters: Max (who justifies hiring a hitman to avenge Lucy), Greg (who justifies an affair because of the legitimacy of his feelings for Annie)
CHAOTIC GOOD
Chaotic Good characters do what their conscience tells them to for the greater good. These people will rebel and break the rules to do whatās right and may even try to bring about societal change. Chaotic Good characters may appear strange to others because they do not abide by societal expectations to fit in.
Phoebe is driven by noble goals, but rankles under traditional rules, sidestepping them to continue working on the case after the FBI pulls them from it. She also slyly moves the chess board to advance her agenda when she creates a fake shortage of nail polish because nobody will recognize the possibility that women are craft enough to pull off this crime. Of course, Phoebe also struggles to fit in and make friends because of her sloppy appearance and awkward social behavior, so her blooming friendship with Beth creates conflict for her in terms of choosing what's right.
LAWFUL NEUTRAL
The Lawful Neutral character does not care about what others think of their actions, they only care about their actions being correct according to their code. But they do not preach their code to others and try to convert them. Moral decisions donāt come into the equation for them so even if they hurt others in carrying out their duty, they feel no guilt, remorse or anguish.
Turner's fixation on Beth is driven by a lawfulness, but his tactics to pursue her definitely align more with a personal code than an ethical or morally good oneāparticularly with the way that he blackmails Eddie and Ruby. Additionally, as we saw in the interrogation scene with Stan, he's willing to lie and pay off who he needs to achieve his aims.
TRUE NEUTRAL
True Neutral characters donāt like to take sides. They are pragmatic rather than emotional in their actions, choosing the response which makes the most sense for them in each situation. On the negative side, True Neutral characters can come across as apathetic and indecisive. They can be frustrating to work with because they donāt want to commit to any side.
As a survivalist, Beth is always looking out for herself first, and that drives her to make decisionsāand justify themāeven if they aren't really the decisions she wanted to make in the first place, like turning Rio into the Secret Service. Beth frequently shuts off her emotions to make practical decisions, coming across cold and callous in the process, and she becomes incredibly indecisive when she's split between situations that will be good for her in radically different waysālike choosing Nevada to keep her family in tact, or choosing crime (and Rio) for her own personal happiness.
Other True Neutral characters: Mary Pat (who will work with Boomer against the girls, the girls against Boomer, and then the FBI against the girls), Mick (who makes deals with Beth to subvert Rio but then seems to tell Rio about them, but then goes against what he knows Rio's wishes are to serve Nick, who offers either a stronger incentive or a bigger punishment)
CHAOTIC NEUTRAL
These individuals donāt like being told what to do, following traditions, or being controlled. That said, they will not work to change these restrictions, instead, they will just try to avoid them in the first place. Their need to be free is the most important thing.
Annie does have a desire to do good and be helpful to people, but she's also in many ways the most flippant about crime and she chafes against anyone in a position of power over her, whether that's Boomer or Beth. Her desire to do good is also very dependent on how she feels about the person at handāi.e. she pushes for paying Rio to off Mary Pat, although the idea is horrible to Ruby and Beth.
LAWFUL EVIL
Lawful Evil characters operate within a strict code of laws and traditions. Upholding these values and living by these is more important than anything, even the lives of others. They may not consider themselves to be Evil, they may believe what they are doing is right. These characters enforce their system of control through force. Anyone who doesnāt follow their code or acts out of line will face consequences. Lawful Evil characters feel no guilt or remorse for causing harm to others in this way.
Nick is so obsessed with social power that he'll do anything to get itāeven sacrificing his own cousin to the criminal justice system. Nick leaves Rio to one side of the law while he occupies the other, chasing after influence over money. The second Rio tries to disrupt that system in any way, threatening Nick's job? He takes a wooden chair to Rio's eye.
NEUTRAL EVIL
Neutral Evil characters are selfish. Their actions are driven by their own wants whether thatās power, greed, attention, or something else. They will follow laws if they happen to align with their ambitions, but they will not hesitate to break them if they donāt. Characters with a Neutral Evil alignment will hurt others if it furthers their agenda but they will not harm people for no particular reason.
Interestingly, despite how different they are, I would place both Rio and Dean in this category. Rio is selfish and driven by his desire for money and power; Dean is selfish and is driven by his impulses and his ego. Dean mostly follows the laws of society, even if he breaks his marriage vows, but that changes when Rio suddenly becomes too much of a disruption to him and he tries to hire a hitman. Rio doesn't kill senselessly and is for the most part pragmatic about it (changing his mind after Beth's initial speech), however, he does kill Lucy just to further his agenda of hurting Beth.
Other Neutral Evil Characters: Gayle (she's nice until she blackms and blackballs of Dean when he rejects her advances)
CHAOTIC EVIL
Chaotic Evil characters care only for themselves with a complete disregard for all law and order and for the welfare and freedom of others. They harm others out of anger or just for fun. They may be driven by their desire to spread Chaos and Evil or because they enjoy it. They are unpredictable and freely express wild and intense emotions because they see no reason to control or suppress them.
Fitzpatrick falls into this category. While at first he seems carefully precise and like he follows a rigid system of rulesāeven if they are separate from society'sāwe see how his lines change over time, like when he assaults the chef for cooking Beth's salmon. His pursuit of Beth, too, reveals how much he prioritizes himself and has intense emotions because he ignores all of her signals and explicit disinterest.
