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The Pure Good hero is a type of hero that is considered to be the most incorruptible character in the story with no corrupting qualities. A hero who is pure good is completely good.

Pure Good (PG for short) goes by different names, such as Pure Good Hero, Pure of Heart, and / or rarely Complete Angel (CA for short).

Basics

For a hero to be Pure Good, the hero must:

  • Have no corrupting qualities (like killing for fun, killing in self-defense as a last resort with remorse is acceptable)
  • Must have complete / full redeeming and good qualities (like being doing heroic acts, selfless, forgiving, etc.).
  • Must cross Goodness Zone at least once.

Character's Traits

A Pure Good hero must have a clearly defined personality and character. Simple one-dimensional characters like a destroyer with no clearly defined personality cannot be considered Pure Good.

Admirable Standards

A Pure Good hero must go above and beyond the general admirable standards and the in-story admirable standards. In addition, for Pure Good heroes who are a part of a benevolent system they must also go beyond the system standard as well. A Pure Good hero must meet these standards to qualify:

  • General Standard: This is the standards that separates the average hero or character from the Pure Good hero. At this point, going against the villains and committing justices such as rescue is basic heroism but with this standard the hero must go above simple basic acts to something uniquely noble. At this point, comparisons to heroes across other works are important when deciding the hero passes the General Standard.
  • In-Story Standard: This is the standards that are unique to the story the hero is from. Here, this separates heroes and characters within the story's work from those that are Pure Good. Nominees have to compare with other heroes who pass the admirable standards, regardless of personality.
  • System Standard: This is the standards that are unique from members of a just system. Generally, given they are part of a specific system with certain morals, they do not commit actions that are beyond the basic admirable standard and meet the norm. Such character can qualify if the hero is the one that started said system and meets all criteria, or commits actions that go beyond the systems' standards-also proving that they would be capable of committing superb actions, even if they were not a member of said system.
General list of baselines per genre, occupation and age. (Note: This is merely a generalization to give you an idea on how admirable one must be for most genres, judge admirable standards on a case by case basis.)
Genre Baseline for Adults Baseline for Teens and Children
General 5-6 lives saved
Disaster 50+ lives saved 5-6 lives saved
Hospital Drama 20+ lives saved 10+ lives saved
Superhero (localized to a city) 50+ lives saved 20+ lives saved
Superhero (global level) Thousands+ lives saved
Any multiverse story that involves destruction of a reality Billions+ lives saved
Fantasy Hundreds+ lives saved
Science Fantasies and Space Operas Millions+ lives saved
Slice of Life Must go beyond what you'd expect from a real life person. These characters may not be that powerful, but they must go beyond what you'd expect from day to day activities.
Horror/Slasher They need to do more than simply try to survive and should most likely the to save at least a couple lives

Admirable Standard notes

  • In some cases, nominees may not even need to save lives but those situations are few and far between and require candidates to do something extraordinary nonetheless.
  • If a character has limited screen time, they should not be given a “get out of jail free card” for instantly qualifying for Pure Good, especially if said nominee fails the admirable standards.
  • A person who saves the world once while another person saves the world 5 times with similar resources or less will give the former very little chance of qualifying.
  • Doing just 1-2 actions isn't enough to qualify in most cases with rare exceptions. Quantity and quality of actions need to be judged. Quality more so but quantity is important.
  • Being necessary in good outcomes isn't always going to make a candidate admirable enough as there are Necessary Evils and there can always be people that outshine them in terms of quantity and quality of actions.
  • Just because someone sacrifices themselves to save the world and millions doesn't mean they'll pass the standards if they are outdone by others.

Goodness Zone

A Pure Good hero must cross the Goodness Zone, usually more than once as it emphasizes how admirable they are. Although rare exceptions of those that have crossed it only once can count if said action is admirable and superb enough by the standards of the story, and they meet all criteria.

Individual Capability

This goes over the what the character is capable of by themselves. This means what good acts a character is capable of committing on their own with the resources they have. Resources can mean a character's role, access to resources in their setting, powers and skills for example. With a character's individual capability, it is also possible for a Freedom Fighter and a Benevolent Ruler to apply as Pure Good despite having access to different types of resources that has varying scope. This means how good a certain type of hero can be under a certain setting. Remember, that if a certain hero is better than another, then only the best can qualify. Pure Good heroes have to be as good as they can be with the resources they have.

Bear in mind, One-Shot Heroes have very minimal chance of qualifying as they often have to be compared to main characters in terms of noble deeds.

Moral Agency

The Pure Good Hero must have a clear moral agency. They must know what is right and wrong but choose to do what is right and stay good. In many cases such as a hero being mentally insane, possessed / brainwashed, or just does not know what is right from wrong, then the hero cannot qualify. In addition, heroes who are incarnations of lightness and good itself are likely to not count as Pure Good as they only know how to be good and cannot understand what is right or wrong. Or do understand right and wrong but have no free will to do wrong. Exceptions do exist to incarnations of light who explicitly have free will and can do evil but choose not to.

No Groups

No single group can qualify to be Pure Good because a group does not have moral agency. Only individuals have moral agency and the individual capability to stand out. Groups like organizations, corporations, teams, families, and entire species, for example, cannot be considered Pure Good. However, single individuals within a group or Partners in Justice can qualify.

No Corrupting Qualities

A Pure Good Hero must have no corrupting qualities. Pure Goods can be angry and hate others within reason, such as a villain who has killed someone. However, they must not let their anger get the best of them.

  • Vengeance should be avoided in most cases. Avenging could be fine. If the vengeance kill was done alongside the fact that they would have to be killed, it could be fine.
  • Lack of or vague/one-dimensional personality. If a character doesn’t really show much emotion, then that would be a clear corrupting factor. For instance, mutes should generally show emotion and motives through body language, facial expressions and actions.
  • They may be tempted or manipulated to do bad things by people but ultimately, they don't give into it. If they do, they must learn from their mistakes and fix them as well as doing other actions to make them go up and beyond their mistakes.
  • Killing should be a last resort thing, usually in self defense or war time situations.
  • Mass Murder/Being too lethal should be an automatic disqualification for the category. Killing in self-defense or if absolutely necessary will be exceptions. Additionally, attempting to murder dozens will most likely lead to disqualification.
  • Redeemed villains should be treated with scrutiny and should have redeemed themselves for a significant amount of time in most cases. They should also do more than just atone for their actions, they must go up and beyond merely fixing their mistakes.
  • If a villain is sentenced to death by a court, the Pure Good nominee may or may not try to stop him from being executed. Such as if the death sentence is unjust. However, they may also not stop the villain from being executed if the villain goes too far like killing millions. Judge by a case by case basis.
  • PGs shouldn't be sadistic.
Brainwashing
Type of brainwashing Notes
Fully brainwashed, with no memory of what they did while being brainwashed If they have no memory of being brainwashed after snapping out of it, usually there's no consequences or anything to affect their status. If they learn later on, they must atone for their actions and/or feel remorse for them.
Fully brainwashed, and conscious of everything that's going on, or has some memory after snapping out of it. Must atone and/or feel remorse for their actions while being brainwashed.
Unable to control parts of their body but can control other parts such as limbs. Sometimes, usually via demonic possession, heroes lose control over some of their limbs, which usually attack them, heroes should make sure their corrupted body parts don't harm others.
Able to control themselves but literally can't do a specific thing, likely due to corrupting influences and/or spells preventing them from doing something. They should find ways to get around these influences to achieve noble ends. For instance, The One Ring literally prevents people from swinging a hammer onto it in some audio dramas and the books, but Frodo nevertheless perseveres to destroy it. Pure Good should find ways around these influences.
Able to control themselves but are subject to corrupting influences that tempt them into doing specific things, block certain thoughts or prevent certain thoughts from forming, Pure Goods must snap out of it, if they don't by themselves, they must realize their faults and atone for their actions. Spider-Man is often subjected to the Venom Symbiote, which is implied to block him from thinking certain thoughts and removing it, but removes it when he knows it's made him go to far.
Other Bear in mind how many people have been brainwashed and compare your candidate and how well they fared compared to others brainwashed. In addition, bare in mind their actions while being brainwashed and how bad they are.

No Unfeeling

Pure Goods should be able to sympathize and empathize with people and understand them.

Screen Time

The Pure Good Hero's acts must be presented on-screen. If all the best acts of a hero are only off-screen, then they cannot qualify. Unless said off-screen actions have visible effects or if the character has a long history of committing good acts, then the hero can count. Offscreen actions need to be confirmed or implied via dialogue, subtle visuals, or something similar. Additionally, limited screentime will not always help nominees if they aren't as admirable as other heroes in the story.

Story Type

The type of story the Pure Good Hero appears in is important to the portrayal of the hero and what they are capable of.

  • If a hero appears in a comedy type story where their good acts are not taken seriously, then they cannot count. The story makes it clear that the actions of the hero was not to be taken completely seriously which goes against the rule.
  • Stories that are purposefully over-the-top appalling, are not likely to have a Pure Good hero, since the story itself is intentionally designed for shock value. Making it hard for someone exceptionally notable. The characters of Rick and Morty are subject to this.
  • If a story is completely innocent where no one stands out from each other as they all stand out equally, no one will qualify. A franchise like Teletubbies falls under this.

Categories

Categories That Cannot Apply

This is a list of categories that absolutely cannot apply to the Pure Good hero. Some of these categories either stands as a corrupting quality or simply cannot be applied to the Pure Good hero.

  • Anti-Heroes: A Pure Good hero cannot be an Anti-Hero as an Anti-Hero is not a traditional hero in the sense that they are not always good and may have dishonorable goals. Pure Good heroes are always good and have no dishonorable goals that will not damage anyone in the story.
  • Assassins: Assassins usually kill another person in an audacious manner, but all of them have corrupting qualities, whereas Pure Good heroes are completely incorruptible.
  • Arrogant/Egomaniacs: Pure Goods aren't overly prideful of anything they do. Pure Good heroes are not self-centered and put others first.
  • Chaotic Neutral: The type of Pure Good hero that falls under the chaotic character alignment always falls under Chaotic Good. Chaotic Neutrals have no sense of law and order and are almost always exclusively out for themselves.
  • Extremists: Extremists believe they must go to terrible lengths and often don't mind going out of their way to kill people or commit terrible actions. Pure Goods always have a strict code of honor that prevents them from doing something except for very specific exceptions.
  • Fallen: Pure Goods don't fall to villainy. They may be manipulated into doing villainous deeds or get brainwashed but they don't do evil of free will.
  • True Neutral: Pure Good heroes are not truly neutral, that fully take the side of good.
  • Incompetent: The Pure Good hero is capable of committing wonderful acts and causing serious advantages in a story which actually makes them competent and very formidable.
  • Jerks: A Pure Good hero would never behave in a very vulgar, rude, or unpleasant fashion to most. They may not be nice to villains who commit vile deeds though. However, Pure Goods must not take their insults to villains too far. Additionally, they can tease other characters as long as they don't go too far.
  • Lawful Neutral: The type of Pure Good hero that falls under the lawful character alignment always falls under Lawful Good. Lawful Neutrals believe that the law has no faults and should be followed by the letter, as such, they may be subject to doing wrongs if the law is not as good as they think. Commodore Norrington thought that Beckett's law had no faults and served him willingly despite Beckett killing children and others who were only remotely involved in piracy.
  • Lethal: Pure Goods will never wound or kill anyone needlessly. Even in moments where they are angry, they must have self restraint.
  • On & Off: Pure Goods don't swing from good to evil and back so frivolously, they must remain good. Unless they get manipulated or brainwashed.

Special Cases That Can Apply

This is a list of categories in which under certain circumstances Pure Good can apply.

  • Animals: While true animals do not have moral agency as they lack sapience, animals with human-like sentience and understanding or morality and consequences can qualify. Sometimes they are depicted as regular animals with human like intelligence like Gromit, or anthropomorphic like Po.
    • Predators: Pure Goods in this category can qualify if they only hunt non-sapient animals for food in a similar fashion to humans.
  • Antagonists: Pure Goods opposing the protagonist of certain stories do exist, such as when there is a protagonist villain (e.g. Soichiro Yagami) or there is a misunderstanding, leading to a Good vs Good scenario (e.g. Vision and Spider-Man antagonizing Captain America in Captain America: Civil War).
  • Artificial Intelligence: These heroes almost never qualify as they generally only do what they're programmed to by others. Though exceptions can be made if they show they have free will and commit actions on their own.
  • Comic Relief: A Pure Good hero's appearance in a story does lighten the mood of the story. Comic Relieves have some funny moments, but can qualify as Pure Good if they are competent and manage to achieve positive outcomes and their actions are generally taken seriously in-universe.
  • Contradictory: Eldritch abominations in general are hard to count as they generally only know how to do good and may not have an understanding of what is evil, although exceptions can be made if they show they have a full understanding of what is right and wrong and willingly choose to do good while meeting all criteria.
  • Dissociative: Heroes with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) generally don't count given they have multiple different personalities and memories. However, there are two different scenarios where a person with DID can qualify if at least one alter meets the criteria (such as Mr. Knight in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) or all personas meet the criteria.
  • Friend of a Villain: The Pure Good hero can qualify to be a friend of a villain when the character was once the friend of a villain before they realized said friend was a villain and reject them or try to redeem them.
  • Inconclusive: If the story ends prematurely or ends up being cancelled, it leaves questions as to how the hero would have developed if the story was complete. However, they may qualify if they met the criteria before the work ends prematurely such as Gandalf in Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings or Spider-Man from The Spectacular Spider-Man.
  • Kids and Teenagers: Juveniles may not fully understand ethical concepts. However, if they show that they have clear understanding of what they are doing and why they can't do certain things, they may count.
  • Love Rivals: The Pure Good hero can be a love rival, a hero competing with a villain, or another character for a specific love interest. For a Pure Good hero, they can be competing with another character because they have genuine love or care for their love interest, but will respect their competition because they respect who they are competing for.
  • Mentally Ill: They may suffer from anger, delusions and may not comprehend reality as most do. However, their mental illness shouldn't affect their morality and any delusions or behavior that some may consider unconventional won't hinder them.
  • Mute: Pure Goods can be mute, as long as it's clear they have personality and good motives through their actions, body language and what they write or try to communicate.
  • Partners in Justice: Groups or two or three can qualify as long as they all meet the criteria. Anymore than four characters shouldn't be considered.
  • Redeemed Villains: Former villains can only count if they fully redeem themselves, fix their mistakes, go beyond fixing their mistakes and be redeemed for a long time. Not doing anything too heinous or irreversible like doing theft and not killing helps. See the above rules covering corrupting factors.
  • Reluctant: If a hero doesn't want to become a hero at first, but later accept themselves as one, they may qualify such as Aang.
  • Vengeful: There are instances in which a vengeful hero can be Pure Good, if they are avenging someone, and not killing the perpetrator except as a last resort, they may qualify.
  • Wrathful: Pure Goods can have anger, but they must be able to control themselves and not let it get out of hand. They must calm down and if they have offended someone they shouldn't have, they must apologize.


Additional Notes

  • If users feel that a candidate should not be subjected to a certain rule, they must give a detailed explanation as to why. Additionally, exceptions should only be made as scarcely as possible.
  • If the hero does something superb that wasn't on purpose, they can still qualify if they become aware of it and show good thoughts on said action.
  • The author's words or opinion on the character is not applicable on whether or not the hero can qualify to be Pure Good unless there is explicit proof in-universe for it to be true.
  • An all around loved character either by the work's fandom, by characters in the story itself, or from both the fandom and the story itself is not indicative of a character qualifying as Pure Good. While delight from the characters in the story and the audience is an important factor to consider, if the hero does not meet the criteria to be Pure Good but is simply loved, then that hero cannot count.
  • Ensemble Pure Goods must be handled with scrutiny since there's a lack of consistent continuity in their appearances. Generally, they should meet the criteria in most appearances.
  • Candidates should normally be proposed when the story arc or season they are a part of is over. If the Pure Good category is added before the arc/season is over, there is a possibility the hero could have a corrupting quality, corrupt themselves, or another much more admirable hero might appear that may outdo that specific hero; in all three scenarios, the hero cannot count. Since the part of the story where the hero appears is not complete, it is best practice to wait until it is complete to consider nominating the hero.
  • A hero from a different continuity or version can end up counting if the original version did not. The same can also apply, if the original version of the character ends up counting, but other versions of the character do not.
  • Parodies are only done for comedic purposes and are not meant to be taken seriously and as a result cannot qualify to be Pure Good. Homages, however, can qualify as Pure Good as they can be taken seriously in the work they appear in.
  • If the Pure Good hero is portrayed as comedic/comical and light-hearted, it has to go hand-in-hand with their heroism, not detract from it.
  • If a hero uses profanity in their respective work(s), it does not automatically disqualify them from the category. However, if they use it intentionally in the form of racial/offensive slurs, or with rude or harmful intent in general, then it counts as a disqualification.
  • If a hero once had corrupting factors that are disqualifying, but have since renounced them later on, they can still be Pure Good, but only if they do not return to committing the traits. However, raping someone, killing dozens or more without resurrecting them or being unfaithful to one's spouse despite there being no abuse will automatically forfeit their chances. Additionally, they should have subverted said qualities for a long period of time in most cases. For instance, if a hero is a jerk early in the work, then they should stop being one relatively early in the story.
    • In fact, attempting to kill dozens to hundreds in itself is likely to jeopardize any chances for nominees.
Other factors
Factors to consider if they are: Notes
Parents Must explicitly be willing to help out more than just their children
Children They may not have a lot of things going on for them. They generally don't have to save as many lives as you'd expect from an adult.
Children with superpowers Generally, if they have powers on par with others in the work, they should do almost as much. Though they may not be as intelligent as adults.
Breaking legal laws They may break legal laws if the leader or ruler of the setting is a tyrant. However, they must have personal standards to uphold like not murdering people and respecting others' rights. Should they break legal laws in a setting where the leader or ruler is a good and trustful one, they must be doing so because the law is limiting them. For instance:
  1. If a villain is launching a missile at a town that would kill thousands of people yet have diplomatic immunity from the government the hero is breaking the laws from, and if the diplomatic immunity allows said villain to doing so.
  2. If a hero is misunderstood and/or framed by someone, likely a villain, and the government with no corrupt officials is hunting said hero.
Rules, standards and laws of settings Certain settings may have different ideals to ones generally considered acceptable in real life, for instance, some settings allow men to have multiple wives. Things like having multiple wives in settings isn't necessarily a bad thing, just remember that we still have certain standards that must always be held in place such as not being too harsh on slaves.
Supreme Beings or other makers of a world or universe This is a murky area since free will, sickness, hunger and natural disasters are often allowed by them, supreme beings (like Aslan) and others who make entire worlds (like Liu Kang, who took over the role of maker of the universe from its original creator, Kronika) may have minds, reasons and motivations that can't be fully comprehended. Judge supreme beings and the like on a case by case basis with extreme caution.
Saving people from a fate worse than death Doing this is a generally favorable act and can help nominees severely like Coraline Jones in the book and graphic novel.
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