The caution, however, should be remembered, as these characters also respond poorly to Bad Bosses and Dirty Cowards, note not that a Dirty Coward who is themselves Lawful Evil is something unheard of, far from it, as well as simple incompetence that could lead them to deciding to either find a more worthy master, or take over 'for the good of the cause'. Though they lack any moral scruples that may impair their work, a cautious villain will find they respond well to concepts like 'loyalty', 'duty' and 'honour'. Though Lawful Evil characters are often found in charge, these characters also make good henchmen or mooks.

However, there is also the Knight Templar variant, who believes their rules actually make them the good guy - when they and their rules have in truth ended up at the lower end of the slippery slope to evil and tyranny. They will obey the letter of the law, but not the spirit, and are usually very careful about giving their word. They believe in order, but mostly because they believe it is the best way of realizing their evil wishes. One reason for this was the slightly odd but not all that rare case of characters who are clearly evil, but nevertheless organised, consistent, rule-abiding, or maybe even trustworthy and reasonable in their own limited way - in other words, Lawful Evil.Ī Lawful Evil character is an evil character who either tries to impose or uphold a lawful system on others without regard for their wishes, and/or adheres to a particular code.

Eventually, Good/Evil was introduced as a separate parameter. The Dungeons & Dragons Character Alignment system originally defined characters' moral dispositions only on a Law/Chaos axis, with Law seen as usually involving moral goodness, and Chaos, evil.

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