Lawful evil

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The lawful evil alignment is the realm of those who know what they want and will manipulate the system (legal, cultural, and so forth) to achieve those ends, no matter the consequence. This can be for personal gain (for example, an evil vizier who seeks to claim the kingdom for himself) or to better society at all costs—an "I know what's best for everyone else"-attitude without any of the compassionate limits to action found in lawful good.[citation needed]

Characters

Abrogail Thrune II, queen of Cheliax, embodies lawful evil rule.
Order is everything, at any cost.
  — Ultimate Campaign, page 136

Lawful evil characters run the gamut of malicious order, from diabolical queens to mercenaries, and from corporate kingpins to devious librarians. They thrive on discipline, punishment, and subjugating others, and are willing to sacrifice anything—and anyone—to achieve their goals, though without resorting to messy chaos.1[citation needed]

Gods

Asmodeus is probably the best example of a lawful evil deity. This diabolic tyrant believes only in his uncompromising vision of the multiverse and shows no mercy to those who do not bow to him.2 The other major lawful evil deity is Zon-Kuthon, a sadist who believes in purging the flesh through pain.3 A host of archdevils and infernal dukes and foul Queens of the Night also serve as lawful evil divine entities that can grant spells to their followers.[citation needed]

Outsiders

The most famous lawful evil outsiders are known as devils, foul creatures that want to hold dominion over the entire multi-verse.4[citation needed]

Other lawful evil outsiders include asuras, velstracs, oni and rakshasas.[citation needed]

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.

  1. Paizo Inc., et al. Ultimate Campaign, 136. Paizo Inc., 2013
  2. Sean K Reynolds. “Gods of Golarion” in Gods and Magic, 6–7. Paizo Inc., 2008
  3. Sean K Reynolds. “Gods of Golarion” in Gods and Magic, 42–43. Paizo Inc., 2008
  4. Paizo Inc., et al. “Monsters A to Z” in Bestiary, 71. Paizo Inc., 2009