Your Shades of Conflict

[unknown_user]

Which conflicts do you prefer to depict in your work?

• White vs. Black (Good vs. Evil)
• White vs. White (Good vs. Good)
• White vs. Grey (Good vs. Not So Good)
• Grey vs. Gray (Both sides are Something between Good and Bad)
• Black vs. Gray (Evil vs. Not So Evil)
• Black vs. Black (Evil vs. Evil)
• Blue vs. Orange (One or more of the sides is not so much good/evil/neutral as alien or just bizarre)
• Something else?

Vote now!Show results

Note: By Evil, Good and Something in Between I understand something which has this meaning in your cultural context.

Additional question: Which ones do you like to see in works of others and why?

Connection with my previous topic

In my previous topic I've told (maybe a bit too emotionally and toughly), why I don't like "white" (super-)heroes. Several people, who seemingly like superheroes, objected to my reasonings with different observations. Particularly, they pointed out, that:
- The hero, who was represented as White in one series, can be represented as Light Grey in another one. It depends on specialty of concrete series - particularly, what is prefferable for their target audience.
- People need white heroes in fiction, when they want to rest from tough reality.

So I've started to think, how many people actually need to see White side of conflict at all?

P.S. Sorry if I've spawned too many topics recently. If they are not interesting and feel like noise, tell me.

[Azifri]

I have a hard time assigning categories, but I guess the closest is grey/grey. I prefer to see conflict as the clash between personal principles/points of view. If they are well grounded, then I really don't care if they are morally acceptable from my perspective. That's kinda what I look for in a story, to see the world through someone else's eyes.

[Kann]

Grey/gray, I guess.

With black and white it's easy to distinguish wchich side of conflict is right, while both sides being in between makes the conflict more interesting. You can't instantly pick a side, because both are somewhat right/wrong.

I might have more of a black/white thing going on in my comic, but I think of conflicts that way. XD

[FenneFox]

Really depends on which story or idea I'm working with. I think often times I fall into a white vs grey territory, with the grey being more so that the villain feels justified. For instance one idea I've had has a physical and emotional struggle between 2 heroes and a main villain who at first seems just purely evil, but is simply deluding themselves. I also tend to have some classic good versus evil stories, such as the one I'm currently thinking of developing more. I guess it just depends on which conflict would serve the story best (or I that I think would be most interesting in the story).

[OliviaMerteli]

Grey vs Gray.
For me it's the more natural to write.

In other people work, I like to see all the choice (minus the Black vs White).

[Mimicry25]

Grey vs. Black, mostly due to the he who fights monsters and utopia by any means phenomena. That and I like unreliable narrators and psychological horror so those don't really lend themselves to black vs. white morality.

[vothnthorvaldson]

Grey-Grey. I like my character to be realistic. And generally rather light grey.

How would White-White conflict works?? Even if you put yourself in a theoretical universe where 100% 'Good' can exist, I have the feeling that if you have conflict, you'll have to admit you are in a way in a light Grey-light Grey case.

[unknown_user]

Hah, this is a good question! TVtropes answers it this way:

Good vs. Good - TV Tropes

P.S. It's very interesting, that all options in the poll have found their supporters, and, in the same time, Grey vs. Gray is confidently leading.

[IdiotWithPencil]

I try my best to keep both sides not as evil but as greys and whites, in real life most people aren't monsters or saints and I try to show that, I try to make the good guys struggle to do good and make the bad guys not really bad but part of their nature or the necessary evil type (Like we need to kill 1 person we really like to save 10.000 people we don't know or care about). More human moral vs nature is what I like to write.

Now for what I like to read, I like to read normal Black V White stories either side can be the protagonist I just like to see people who have an ideal and fight to protect or change that ideal. though if I agree with the outcome that's another matter altogether.

@vothnthorvaldson
An example of White V White would Cap civil war movie, both sides are doing what one could consider good, Roger protecting his friend is a troupe of the side of good(loyalty even in the worst of situations), and Tony following the law and trying to protect the world is also part of the side of good(you must do your duty as a civilian and not break the law).
both are on the side of good but both have different approaches and philosophies about good.

Neutral good Vs Lawful Good.

[Shelby_A]

Hmm! I think I like it when the conflict itself evolves with the story. So what starts out as a Grey versus Grey turns into a Grey Versus Black, or a Black Versus White. It's a great opportunity to see the world change with the characters.

[DiegoPalacios]

In my current comic the main conflict is good vs evil, but i may focus on different types depending of the story i am telling.

Other types of conflicts that i find interesting, if written well, are conflicts with more than 2 sides. Those can be tricky to approach, specially with too many sides.

Blue vs Orange is kind of rare to see, because the good-evil and/or law-chaos axis are mostly explored.

The blue and orange morality is often saved for abominations, aliens, or excentric and/or crazy characters. They often serve as antagonists because of their actions.

2 sides fighting each other, each with a bizarre moral compass that doesn`t fit our morality system can be too weird and confusing. But just like any trope, if written well it can make something unique and fascinating.

[JBrentonParker]

If anyone wants to read a totally crazy and really good Black versus Not-QUITE-as-Black, I recommend "The Sad Tales of the Brothers Grossbart".
Warning: not for the faint of heart. It's a trip, and I remember feeling so conflicted when I actually started rooting for the main characters XD

[RiidDisBuk]

Chaotic Good vs Lawful Evil

[baasinsimple]

Definitely Blue vs Orange. I don't really try to assign a moral thing to it it just happens, I much rather say 'fuck it' and just draw what I want.

[ButterflyEmpress]

I know grey/gray are more realistic, but that just makes my brain hurt, especially in Tokyo Ghoul.

[TJSchongar]

I chose gray/gray.

I do tend to have identifiable protagonists and antagonists, but the main conflict TENDS to be (hu)man vs. self. So yeah, my protagonists do often have some challenge posed to them by outside forces, but they can't overcome that challenge without facing their personal demons first. Sometimes (re: often) those personal demons do put them in a less than perfect light. Also, the people posing challenges have demons, goals, and some laudable reasons as well, making them less evil and more the other side of a coin.

[JackOfArtAndProse]

The conflict could be good-natured(a sports contest, for example), as opposed to being a violent conflict. That could allow for a white-white conflict.