The award-winningBaldur’s Gate 3, continues to be a beloved game. In part, this is down to their translation of Dungeons and Dragons mechanics, lore, and atmosphere into a video game format. One element of DnD that they don’t transfer, at least mechanically, is alignment.
In DnD, alignment is used to determine where a character’s personality sits regarding order versus chaos and good versus evil. This can be such a handy categorization that it is often applied to other media. Chaotic neutral typically describes characters who act on their own personal whims, often going against the grain, without much ill intention or any particular desire to help others.
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10 Buthir & Grukkoh
Have Little Motives Besides…Primal Urges
- Act: 1
- Location: Blighted Village
- Related Quests: N/A
- Role: Hostile NPCs (Determinant)
This unlikely pair have a very minor interaction in Baldur’s Gate 3, but seem to lean towards the chaotic neutral end of the scale. Their motivations seem to be more…primal than logical, and they operate outside the norms of civilization.
This is normal for bugbears like Grukkoh and ogres like Buthir by DnD standards. The only reason they have been categorized as chaotic neutral as opposed to chaotic evil is because their only interest seems to be their intimate relations as opposed to anything too destructive, even leaving the party alone if the player succeeds on a hilarious check.
9 Kar’niss
Acts Out Of Madness As Opposed To Desire To Harm
- Act: 2
- Location: Shadow-Cursed Lands
- Related Quests: Seek Protection From The Shadow Curse
- Role: Hostile NPC (Determinant)
Another character where the line between evil and neutral is very blurred, Kar’niss is a drider that players encounter in the Shadow-Cursed Lands. The failed drow cursed by Lolth to be part spider, driders tend to be driven to chaotic madness, and Kar’niss is no exception there.
While he can be an enemy to the party, he could be considered neutral as opposed to evil, as his actions are driven by loyal madness as opposed to any desire to harm, and players can even deal with him passively if they take caution.
8 Aelis Siryasius
Not Malicious, But Delusions Make Him Dangerous
- Act: 3
- Location: Lower City Sewers
- Related Quests: N/A
- Role: Hostile NPC (Determinant)
This character is in a very similar vein to Kar’niss. Found in the sewers of Baldur’s Gate in act three, he appears to be mourning a dead friend, surrounded by grease elementals. Aelis seems to believe he can communicate with the elementals, and is very paranoid about the party being Absolute cultists.
However, the game suggests that he killed his friend, believing them to also be a cultist. While Aelis’s mentality makes him dangerous and unconventional, he doesn’t seem actively malicious, but it certainly can’t be claimed that he has good intentions either.
7 Filro The Forgotten
Betrayed By Society So Lives In A Hook Horror Pack
- Act: 1
- Location: Dread Hollow
- Related Quests: The Adamantine Forge
- Role: Hostile NPC
Another tragic case of friendships turned hostile, Filro was part of the expedition involving Dhourn and Xargrim to find the Grymforge in the Underdark. Blinded by greed, Dhourn and Xargrim abandoned Filro, who was rescued by a pack of hook horrors and subsequently turned his back on society.
While he is hostile to players, he doesn’t seem driven by any malice in much the same way that a hook horror isn’t driven by malice. He is simply protecting his pack as they protected him.
6 Barnabus
Chaotic Creature Allies With Players Who Free Him
- Act: 2
- Location: Moonrise Towers
- Related Quests: Infiltrate Moonrise Towers
- Role: Temporary Ally (Determinant)
Sticking with the theme of packs, Barnabus and his buddies are a trio of gnolls in Moonrise Towers, under the control of a cultist called Linsella. Gnolls are usually chaotic evil, but perhaps the influence of their tadpoles makes them a little more neutral.
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After all, players who free Barnabus and his friends from Linsella’s control can convince them to stand down. Not only ceasing their aggression towards the party, they can also assist the party in combat when they storm Moonrise later on in the second act, suggesting that at least Barnabus and his friends are capable of following their own whims when magic is not being used to control them.
5 Ellyka
Independent Character With Her Own Goals And Motives
- Act: 1
- Location: Mountain Pass
- Related Quests: Find The Blood Of Lathander
- Role: NPC
Onto a much more normal chaotic neutral character, the independent tiefling, Ellyka, fits the bill. Ellyka can assist the party to an extent, aggressively warning them about the githyanki at the Mountain Pass.
However, she also shows clear self-serving tendencies, as she is hunting down some valuable loot. She also has a somewhat abrasive personality and is independent to a fault, refusing to team up with the party. Ellyka makes it very clear that her motivations are her own and that she goes her own way regardless of any other factor.
4 Lady Esther
Mercantile Figure Not Above Dubious Practices
- Act: 1
- Location: Rosymorn Monastery Trail
- Related Quests: Steal A Githyanki Egg
- Role: Trader
Lady Esther works for The Society of Brilliance, who aim to prove that no race is inherently violent. While it is a very unconventional outlook, it seems like quite a noble goal. Lady Esther, however, seems a little more neutral.
Esther expresses plenty of doubts about the society’s aims, seeming to be more of a mercenary-like figure as opposed to a devout member. She is also not above unethical practices, namely trying to buy a githyanki egg or recruiting a party to steal it for her when that offer was, understandably, rejected.
3 The Dark Urge
Can Be Evil Or Heroic But Is Undoubtedly Cursed With Chaos
- Act: 1
- Location: N/A
- Related Quests: The Urge
- Role: Origin Character
The Dark Urge is hard to set an alignment for, as they are a somewhat blank slate for a player to control. That is primarily why they are neutral, as Dark Urge player characters can vary from horrifically evil to incredibly heroic. What is set in stone is that all Dark Urge characters have an external and insatiable element of chaos to their personality.
It is certainly not lawful to have deep-set murderous tendencies. The beauty of the Dark Urge’s inherent chaos is that it allows the player character to reach even higher levels of heroism or sink deeper into evil than a standard player character. This situational unpredictability allows players to play a Dark Urge character with a chaotic neutral alignment if they desire it.
2 Oathbreaker Knight
Reminds Paladins That It’s Okay To Serve Their Own Whims
- Act: Determinant
- Location: Camp
- Related Quests: N/A
- Role: Allows oathbreaker paladins to retake their oath
This unique character could be the figurehead for all chaotic neutral characters. Paladins are typically lawful good, upholding a code of honor above all else in the belief that it is for the greater good. The Oathbreaker Knight shows up when a paladin breaks their oath. As a pleasant surprise, it seems he is not there to punish but to comfort.
He shares that he once swore an oath to protect a noble. As the noble began to commit greater sins, the Oathbreaker killed the noble. This Knight reminds players and other oathbreaker paladins that breaking the rules can be for the best, and the only thing that they should be sworn to is their own decisions.
1 Mattis
Young Thief Who Acts As He Pleases
- Act: 1
- Location: Druid’s Grove
- Related Quests: N/A
- Role: Trader
Strangely, one of the best examples of a chaotic neutral character is just a tiefling child. Mattis is as far from lawful as he can get, seeming to have a large disrespect for the law. He is a charismatic thief, swindling and robbing people with the help of his unwilling sister, Silfy.
Despite his blatant disregard for the law, Mattis isn’t exactly evil. He can, in fact, come to like and help the player characters a lot. But he’s also learned from his superior, Mol, not to be a hero. He’s doing what he must to survive, and acting as his own whims dictate.
