Moral alignment test

Where the alignment chart comes from

The alignment chart started in Dungeons & Dragons, the tabletop role-playing game first published in 1974. Players used alignment to describe what their character believed in and how they'd act.

The first rules had only three alignments: Law, Neutrality and Chaos. By the end of the 1970s the game had added a second line, Good versus Evil. Put the two together and you get the 3×3 grid people know today, with nine boxes from Lawful Good to Chaotic Evil.

You don't need to have played the game to get it. The chart caught on because it's an easy way to describe how anyone, real or made up, deals with rules and with other people.

How the 3×3 grid works

The chart asks two separate questions. The first is about rules: do you trust order, promises and the proper way (Lawful), or freedom, instinct and doing your own thing (Chaotic)? Neutral sits in between.

The second is about other people: do you go out of your way for them (Good), or do you look after yourself first (Evil)? Again, Neutral is the middle.

Your box is one answer from each line. Lawful Good keeps the rules because rules protect people. Chaotic Good breaks them to help someone. Lawful Evil uses the rules to win. Chaotic Evil just wants to see what the big red button does. True Neutral, the very middle, weighs it all up and stays out of the drama.

The two lines are independent. You can be very rule-bound and fairly selfish, or wildly free and very kind. That's what makes the chart fun.

The nine alignments in one line each

Lawful Good, the crossing guard: does the right thing, the proper way. Neutral Good, the kind neighbour: helps however works. Chaotic Good, the rebel with a heart: breaks rules to help people.

Lawful Neutral, the referee: rules are rules, for friends and enemies alike. True Neutral, the calm middle: weighs it up and keeps the peace. Chaotic Neutral, the wild card: freedom first, plans optional.

Lawful Evil, the fine-print mastermind: never breaks a rule, always wins by them. Neutral Evil, the opportunist: looks after number one and is good at it. Chaotic Evil, the gremlin: pure mischief, just to see what happens.

The alignment chart meme

Online, the chart took on a life of its own. People fill the nine boxes with sitcom characters, pizza toppings, ways to eat a sandwich, or the people in their group chat. Pineapple on pizza? Chaotic Neutral, probably. Eating the crust first and leaving the middle? Chaotic Evil.

The joke works because everyone has a rough sense of what each box means, even without the rulebook. That's also why this quiz keeps things light. "Evil" here means grabbing the extra change or gaming the system, not being a bad person.

How your alignment is worked out

There are 20 statements: 10 for Law vs Chaos and 10 for Good vs Evil. Each answer is worth 0 to 4 points. Half the statements on each line are worded the other way round. Agreeing with "If I can't see why a rule exists, I feel free to ignore it" counts toward Chaos, not Law. So agreeing with everything won't push you to one corner.

Each line adds up to between 0 and 40 points, which we turn into a Lawful % and a Good % from 0 to 100 (the bar also shows the other side, so 70% Lawful is 30% Chaotic). A Lawful or Good score of 40% or lower (16 points or fewer) counts as Chaotic or Evil. Above 40% up to 60% (17 to 24 points) is Neutral. Above 60% (25 points or more) is Lawful or Good.

Your Law–Chaos letter and your Good–Evil letter together give your box. For example, 72% on Law and 45% on Good is Lawful Neutral. If you're right on a line, like exactly 60%, you go to the Neutral side.

How seriously to take it

This is a quiz for fun. It isn't a moral test, a personality assessment or a judgement on you as a person. The statements were written for this site and haven't been checked by researchers.

Everyday dilemmas also make most people look fairly good. Most of us would hand back a wallet. So if you land in an Evil box, it usually means you're practical about small stuff, not that you're a villain. Keep the extra fries.

If you're curious about the darker side of personality as psychologists study it, try the Dark Triad test on this site. It's still a self-reflection quiz, but it's built on traits from real research.