In my honest opinion, the Chaotic Neutral alignment is one of the most complicated ones of all the standard alignments in DnD 5e, second only to True Neutral. Let me explain. Chaotic Neutral characters don’t concern themselves with what’s right or wrong nor do they idealize good or evil. So they’ll do something only if it’ll benefit them personally. They can convince you they’re good guys, but then turn around and do something villainous too, you’ll never know what to expect from them. That’s pretty much the reason they are called “Free Spirits”.
If you want to learn more about this alignment, see a few examples of Chaotic Neutral characters in fiction and read about how they would behave in certain situations, stay tuned!
Chaotic Neutral Characters in Pop Culture
One of the best examples of this alignment is Jack Sparrow. The only thing consistent about this pirate is that he hates authority and wants to be in charge of his own life and free to do whatever he wants. Even though we love him and his funny antics, we as viewers know that he is flighty and selfish above all. Throughout the Pirates of the Caribbean series, he has sold out his friends multiple times, murdered people, sent his friend Will Turner to Davy Jones in order to pay off his debt, and helped Blackbeard, the world’s most ruthless pirate, become immortal. But he had his good moments too, he saved Elizabeth from drowning, risked his life to defeat the Kraken, and also let Will stab the heart of Davy Jones in order to survive, losing the chance for immortality he would’ve gained if he did it himself. Jack also worked with the good guys for most of the series, even though it was for selfish reasons. That makes him a truly complex character and also one of the best representations of Chaotic Neutral on screen.
The next character that I believe truly fits this alignment is the Punisher. This vigilante who kidnaps, tortures, or straight-up murders criminals started doing so after the wrongful death of his wife and two children. You could argue that he is a good character since he only kills bad guys and his heart seems to be in the right place, but he seems to take pleasure in it a bit too much in order to be a good guy, at least in my book. Additionally, he has obvious contempt for laws and those who enforce them which makes him truly chaotic.
If you’re a big fan of the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer like me, then you’re probably pretty familiar with Spike, a villain turned anti-hero and even a love interest at one point. Well, if I had to choose an alignment for him, I’d probably classify him as Chaotic Neutral. Spike goes through a lot of development over the seasons, but the one thing that stays consistent (at least until the series finale) is that he is truly selfish. He sides with the bad guys because he can do whatever he wants that way, but also works with good guys if it suits him more. A great example of this behavior is when he sided with the Scooby Gang against Angelus in order to get Drusilla back (and maybe also save the world in that process).
Bronn, from Game of Thrones, is also a good representation of this alignment. He is a sellsword who will follow anybody that pays him well. When we first meet him he volunteers to be Tyrion’s champion, not out of the goodness of his own heart, but because he knows he will be properly compensated. Later, when Jaime promises him a large castle if he helped him rescue Myrcella from Dorne, he jumps at that opportunity.
I know that this might be very controversial since I’m going to try to tackle one of the age-old MCU questions – what is Deadpool’s alignment? I would personally put him in the Chaotic Neutral category since he does good and bad things and sometimes acts out of his own interests, but compelling arguments can be made for both Chaotic Good and Chaotic Evil either. One thing that’s certain, he is definitely not lawful.
The last example of a Chaotic Neutral character I’ll mention is Venom, especially the version when the symbiote bonds with Eddie Brock. I think we can all agree that Venom is not your typical hero, in fact, he started out as one of Spider-Man’s top three archvillains (next to Otto Octavius and Green Goblin), but nowadays I believe that he can tentatively be considered an antihero. Still, Venom wreaks too much havoc and is too happy to murder people in order to be classified as Chaotic Good, so I would rather put him in the Chaotic Neutral category.
What makes Chaotic Neutral different from Lawful or True Neutral?
If there’s one thing these three alignments agree on, it’s that they don’t care about what’s right or wrong, only what suits them. Their main difference is why they believe that. To really highlight how much Chaotic Neutral, Lawful Neutral, and True Neutral vary, I’ll give you a hypothetical situation and we can examine how these alignments behave in it together.
Let’s imagine that these three neutral characters found out that a thief who stole a very valuable and rare possession from them is staying in a nearby inn. They are sitting around a campfire in their camp and trying to decide how to deal with him. The Lawful Neutral character suggests letting the authorities know about the thief and letting them deal with him (since they hold the law in the highest regard). The Chaotic Neutral character scoffs at that suggestion. They have an obvious disdain for authority and believe that they shouldn’t get involved. They suggest paying the thief a visit and roughing him up until he reveals the whereabouts of the magic item. The True Neutral character doesn’t prefer law or chaos, so they will probably try to go the easier route – maybe alert the authorities first, but if that didn’t work, they would definitely kidnap the thief and get the information the hard way too.
Chaotic Neutral vs Chaotic Good vs Chaotic Evil
Okay, we’ve talked about the differences between Chaotic Neutral and the other neutral alignments, but let’s see what the situation looks like on the other axis. How does Chaotic Neutral compare to Chaotic Good and Chaotic Evil?
To really show the contrast, let’s use the same situation from the previous section. If they were in that situation, I believe that the Chaotic Good character would try to get the item back (if it was very important to them), but they wouldn’t cause harm to the thief doing it. A Chaotic Evil character, on the other hand, would just wreak havoc. They would come in – guns (or other weapons) blazing, rough the thief up, and take the item back in any way they had to, probably steal the thief’s other things too and them maybe even kill him.
Best Class Options in DnD 5e
Some alignments are a better fit for certain classes than others, so I’m going to give a few examples of what I believe works well for Chaotic Neutral characters. Just a disclaimer – this is simply my opinion and what I believe would make sense thematically. That said, you could probably make most classes work for a Chaotic Neutral character in DnD 5e if you made a really good backstory and chose an appropriate background.
My top pick would be a barbarian since the members of this class are typically just a touch chaotic (usually way more than a touch, especially if you go for a berserker). You could go with a short-tempered mercenary who does whatever he is paid to do, no questions asked.
Do you know who also has the potential to be an awesome Chaotic Neutral character? A bard. Imagine an impulsive and unpredictable traveling entertainer who
Also, if you want to play a thief and pickpocket who steals for their own gain, but also shares his wealth with poor people, why not make a rogue? I believe this class is everything but lawful, and playing a neutral character might give you an opportunity to make them a bit more nuanced and morally grey than the straight-up good guy.
The last class I’m going to mention is one that is always chaotic, at least in my book – the sorcerer. You can create a spellcaster who always follows his whims and is basically a mage for hire – they will work for anybody, as long as it suits him.
Best Backgrounds for Chaotic Neutral Characters
Just like classes, I believe that some backgrounds thematically work better for certain alignments than others. Because of that, I’m going to name a few examples of good backgrounds for Chaotic Neutral characters in DnD 5e, but keep in mind that this is just my opinion and you are free to choose others too.
Oftentimes, I like to group the charlatan and entertainer backgrounds together because they are kinda similar if you really think about it. People who come from both seem like free spirits who put on a bit of an act during their line of work. Since they don’t necessarily have to sway to the good or evil side, I believe these two backgrounds are great options for a Chaotic Neutral character.
If you want to embody Jack Sparrow in your next campaign, you can play a character with a pirate background. Imagine a kooky, individualist sailor who excels in sleight of hand, but can work with the good guys when he has to too.
Lastly, I would suggest trying an outlander. These characters have grown up away from civilization, so it would make a lot of sense for them to value their freedom above everything else and not care for the laws and regulations of civilized society. You can roleplay him as a bit distrustful of other people and kind of a lone wolf.
Frequently Asked Questions About Chaotic Neutral
To round off this guide, let’s go through a few misconceptions that players have had about this alignment by checking out the top googled questions on Chaotic Neutral that I haven’t already covered.
Is Loki Chaotic Neutral?
I believe that the MCU version of Loki can be considered Chaotic Neutral. His actions depend on what serves him at that point and he has been the villain, but also kind of an antihero when he worked with Thor.
Is Rick Sanchez Chaotic Neutral?
If you’ve ever watched Rick and Morty, the one thing that should be obvious from the very first episode is that Rick Sanchez is definitely chaotic. But even among the hardcore fans of this show, there is still a discussion on where he stands on the good/evil axis. I know this is controversial, but I can’t see Rick as anything but Chaotic Evil. I mean he committed murder, slavery, genocide, treason, and abuses his family on a daily basis – need I say more? He has his good moments too, but they are too far apart to make me reconsider.
