: Re: How to write a chaotic neutral protagonist and prevent my readers from thinking they are evil? I've come across a problem with one of the main characters in my book. The "heroine" of my story

This coordinate system of Good through Neutral to Evil along one axis, and Lawful through Neutral to Chaotic along the other, is actually pretty specific to gaming. I'm sure the concept has spread beyond Dungeons and Dragons, but Googling "lawful evil wiki" takes you to the article "Alignment (Dungeons and Dragons)."

Many of your readers will not think of the world that way, and I would argue that perhaps you shouldn't either. Having a coordinate system in which to place the values of the characters is useful in a game, where it helps to have an somewhat abstractly described framework, almost a jungle gym on which to play the game. When you become sufficiently abstract to describe it in a game rulebook, you lose nuance. You have to treat your character as an individual who is, as we all do, making it up as she goes along.

Having said that, your question still stands. It's not like you have a dramatis personae at the beginning where each character has their alignment specified. Readers will decide what they think of your character whether or not they apply the label "chaotic neutral." And some will definitely dislike her for being selfish (probably myself included), but I think the only thing you can do is be true to your vision of her. You might think about why you believe that selfishness is not at least a mild form of evil, and try to embody your reasons in the story.

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: Re: How to write a chaotic neutral protagonist and prevent my readers from thinking they are evil? I've come across a problem with one of the main characters in my book. The "heroine" of my story

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