Since we're speaking English, I think it's safe to bring in the defintion of evil in here so no one, including myself, feels unsure of what they're talking about.
EVIL
• Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant.
• Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful: the evil effects of a poor diet.
• Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous: evil omens.
• Bad or blameworthy by report; infamous: an evil reputation.
• Characterized by anger or spite; malicious: an evil temper.
n.
• The quality of being morally bad or wrong; wickedness.
• That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction: a leader's power to do both good and evil.
• An evil force, power, or personification.
• Something that is a cause or source of suffering, injury, or destruction: the social evils of poverty and injustice
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=good
(It's too damn long to put in here and I don't want to cut out parts, just read that definition for good).
I think though we have to remember this is all on a very moral and humane level. Some of the more complex characters in literature may have evil tendencies but they themselves cannot be classified as evil. A corny but very accurate example of this is in the
Harry Potter series, with the character of Severus Snape. Snape on many occasions has displayed terribely evil, selfish and morally destructive tendencies (culminating with a murder in Book 6) but, as well as that, has shown to be sometimes a kind, thoughtful and on occasion, pitiful character.
Therefore, on some accounts, Snape is most definately consumed by evil working alongside more decent people then himself, and on others he is most definately good working alongside a dark clientele. Whatever the case, there is no complete solid indestructible evidence he is evil, and there is no complete solid indestructible evidence saying that he is good. That's where are own morals, ideas and virtues come into play to say weither or not the things a character like Snape might be doing are right and wrong.
But I think it can be said that evil doesn't just come down to perception and ideas of virtues, because in that sense nothing can be evil-concrete and nothing can be good-concrete, and that in itself contradicts both the words and renders everything assossiated with them obselete. There is a definition for what evil is, and a definition for what good is.
So that means most definately some of the characters in EotA would quite easily fall under the catagory of evil. I would say however that very few characters fall under the complete defintion of "pure evil", which would of course mean that evil itself has manifested with that character, and we could take out the definitive checklist I've presented for you in the above and tick off every single part of the defintion while still being able to relate it all to the character in question.
That all said, evil and good both come handed down in nice crisp packages, but it is very hard to find a character who shows every tendency of evil, or every tendency of good (Snape, Gollum, etc.) These "grey" characters show carrying no more then one trait then the other (and often times they exemplify certain traits ahead of the other, and the revert back again, as to confuse you on what they hell they really want to do).
Just because people are soldiers, they are not necessarily neutral. The RK is also a Paladin-like character, shielding the weak (in the word's truest meaning). The TC is a healer with control over the flow of time. Healing others is usually a good thing, so she can be good, too.
I quite agree. Being a soldier they must have some preference to one side of the spectrum or another. Does killing a man in blue make your cause any more morally acceptable then killing a man in red? That is where morals and virtue come into play and how you percieve the world.
The contradicting evidence however suggests that like in World War II, a Soldier fighting for the American army killing a German soldier was an evil deed for a good cause. Condescending and nonsensical, this is merely a befudding statement that, like being a soldier, is completely up to weither you see the Allies as good or bad.
It is fact however that to kill is an evil deed, regardless of weither it is a good or bad cause. We aren't perfect, and often times we omit that. What do you think? That's really what it comes down to in that situation.
Fenris, IMO, isnt erally evil, he can't be, hes a animal, animals arnt evil :p
Sure, hes intelligent, but still a animal :p
That is not true. Animals are painted in black and white. There are many, many evil animals with many evil, greedy and destructive tendencies. There have been many cases of unprovoked attack in the wild by angry animals, not just towards humans but to all types of wildlife. And it's not always for food.
Some of the classic examples of evil animals are pitbulls. They aren't born evil, they are just generally more violent upon birth and are used lots in gang-related violence and by incompetant owners. They are a very difficult dog to try simply because by nature, they enjoy conflict. Sometimes it's the owner sometimes it is the nature of the dog, regardless like humans, there are some sociopathic dogs, just like there ar some cats, lions, dolphins, gorillaz and crocodiles.
If you wanted to get right down to who is really evil, rather then looking at the colors you have to look at the cause. Since we're without character bios and we only have bits of information on characters pasts and even the status of factions, it's really difficult to say who is evil, who is good, and who's really righteous in this whole war.
When we get more information on that, and I mean detailed information we can really get a good picture of where on the moral hierarchy each hero stands and each faction stands. I wouldn't go so far as to say anyone is truely good, but we have no evidence anyone is truely evil. People like the Rune Knight aren't necessarily good because they protect innocent people, as they must just as well be religious zealots who'd use force to convert them as well.
It's also unfair to say people like the Master of the Hunt, the Sorrow Liege or someone like the Infiltrator are evil too. They may do evil things on behalf of good things, which essentially rips apart your whole sense of good and bad and sends you into again the world of perception, virtue and morals.
Just a thought.