What alignment is detective John Munch?

[Captain Merelith]

I can't even begin to guess.

[BigNorseWolf]

Captain Merelith wrote:

I can't even begin to guess.

Chaotic good. A keen sense of justice and drive to catch the bad guys with a distrust of big government.

He's the rare rebel with a clue.

[Xabulba]

BigNorseWolf wrote:

Captain Merelith wrote:

I can't even begin to guess.

Chaotic good. A keen sense of justice and drive to catch the bad guys with a distrust of big government.

He's the rare rebel with a clue.

+1

[Captain Merelith]

Yea, but he's also a cop, so maybe Neutral Good would fit a little bit better?

[Auxmaulous]

Captain Merelith wrote:

Yea, but he's also a cop, so maybe Neutral Good would fit a little bit better?

I would have to go with this.

I think in his heart he is a very CG type of guy (distrustful of power and authority, etc), but he is also practical enough to realize that the powers that be are a necessary evil for society to function (and thus has some value).

So he is about some compromise and I think puts him in the middle (imo).

I wonder if we could get a whole alignment listing for the SVU set of characters?

[Captain Merelith]

That'd be an interesting exercise. I went with Munch because he's my favorite, but we could sure do all the others.

Benson. Lawful Good or Neutral Good? She seems to generally have no problem with authority, but she's broken the rules more than once.

Cabot. Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral leaning towards Good. She's a good person, but she places a lot of emphasis on regulations, and it's gotten in the way a couple times.

Novak. Lawful Good, despite getting disbarred for going against the law.

[Auxmaulous]

Captain Merelith wrote:

That'd be an interesting exercise. I went with Munch because he's my favorite, but we could sure do all the others.

Benson. Lawful Good or Neutral Good? She seems to generally have no problem with authority, but she's broken the rules more than once.

Cabot. Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral leaning towards Good. She's a good person, but she places a lot of emphasis on regulations, and it's gotten in the way a couple times.

Novak. Lawful Good, despite getting disbarred for going against the law.

Good assessments -

Benson - solid LG, even if she gets wobbly she always tries to uphold the law.

Stabler - That's a tough one. I think he is good, I just don't think he falls into the LG category. Too much bending the law and going around procedure. Very much a means to a end type of guy, so LG is out (even though he's a cop). Maybe NG?

Don Cragen -Solid LN, and imo a good role model for how an LN character can actually operate as "good" character without the "G" part in his alignment.

[Captain Merelith]

I like Stabler as NG. Not sure what Cragen should be.

Fin. I'm thinking LG with a bit of conservatism mixed in.

[Nicos]

Captain Merelith wrote:

Yea, but he's also a cop, so maybe Neutral Good would fit a little bit better?

+1

[Eoin Maloney]

Auxmaulous wrote:

Captain Merelith wrote:

Yea, but he's also a cop, so maybe Neutral Good would fit a little bit better?

I would have to go with this.

I think in his heart he is a very CG type of guy (distrustful of power and authority, etc), but he is also practical enough to realize that the powers that be are a necessary evil for society to function (and thus has some value).

So he is about some compromise and I think puts him in the middle (imo).

I wonder if we could get a whole alignment listing for the SVU set of characters?

Well, I'd say that Munch could still be CG. I actually ran a character in 3.p (a Soulborn/Warlock) who was a city guardsman and Chaotic Good. The point was that while he enforced the laws, he enforced them because they were righteous, not because they were laws.

[ggroy]

Would a chaotic good (CG) cop be one that is a "hothead"?

In the Law & Order franchise, one "hothead" was Detective Mike Logan from the first five seasons of the original Law & Order. (Logan was also in Law & Order: Criminal Intent over seasons 5 to 7).

In the last episode of season 5 of the original Law & Order, Det Logan punches a homophobic politician in the face. (Logan was written out of the show).

[Eoin Maloney]

ggroy wrote:

Would a chaotic good (CG) cop be one that is a "hothead"?

In the Law & Order franchise, one "hothead" was Detective Mike Logan from the first five seasons of the original Law & Order. (Logan was also in Law & Order: Criminal Intent over seasons 5 to 7).

In the last episode of season 5 of the original Law & Order, Det Logan punches a homophobic politician in the face. (Logan was written out of the show).

Well, any alignment can be hot-headed. The crusading paladin who beheads heretics first, and asks questions later is just as hot-headed as the wild sorcerer who turns people into rabbits for mistreating serfs.

[Lochmonster]

Detective Jimmy McNulty: Chaotic Neutral

Detective Lester Freamon: Neutral

Detective Bunk Moreland: ????

Detective Kima Greggs: Lawful Good

Anyone else from The Wire?

As an aside, Munch makes a very brief appearance in the last Season of The Wire since that character originally began on Homicide: Life on the Streets which was also set in Baltimore. That puts those 3 cops shows in the same "TV Universe", St. Elsewhere style!

[Kajehase]

Lochmonster wrote:

Detective Jimmy McNulty: Chaotic Neutral

Detective Lester Freamon: Neutral

Detective Bunk Moreland: ????

Detective Kima Greggs: Lawful Good

Anyone else from The Wire?

As an aside, Munch makes a very brief appearance in the last Season of The Wire since that character originally began on Homicide: Life on the Streets which was also set in Baltimore. That puts those 3 cops shows in the same "TV Universe", St. Elsewhere style!

As is the X-Files. One episode opens with Mulder being interrogated by none other than John Munch.

[Trench]

Given that he was originally in the (amazing) Homicide: Life on the Street, before the character moved to Law and Order, I'd say Chaotic Good.. Especially since...

spoiler for those who want to check out Homicide...:

He killed Steve Buscemi, who shot his partner and two other cops, after he was let go. This wasn't confirmed until the final episode/movie, where Meldrick confronted him with it.