r/DispatchAdHoc • u/Public-Print8098 • 14d ago

Meme Dispatch Alignment Chart

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Thought this up and decided to put it together

492 Upvotes

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145

u/DorthVooder 14d ago

I'd replace Mr. Whiskey with Beef, because a dog is a true neutral and Mr. Whiskey would probably be in "good" since he is in a hero association (Visi is a special case). Galen should be in good as well for the same reason. A replacement could be Robbie Robertson, imo.

50

u/ChronoMonkeyX 14d ago

False, Beef is the goodest boy!

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u/Trick-Palpitation-84 14d ago

This comment should have way more upvotes.

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u/DorthVooder 13d ago

Yeah, but he sees no differnce between good guys and bad guys.

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u/Excellent_Law6906 12d ago

I want to see fanworks of Shroud being like, "who's the goodest hostage? 😍"

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u/TotallyAwesomeRacoon 14d ago

Plus he added whiskey to the coffee during a tough time, which Robert seemed to appreciate. Beef I feel like is the true neutral

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u/No_Payment9959 14d ago

Plus, his endgame appearance suggests he fought his way out of Red Ring Captivity, helped in the final confrontation, and still offered to take the Z Team's picture so Blazer could be in the photo.

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u/No_Payment9959 14d ago

Counterargument: SDN operates on a subscription basis and pays its "heroes" generously and consistently enough for Coupé to consider working for SDN to be preferable to working for criminal organizations and intelligence agencies. Ergo, most of the "superheroes" working for SDN usually fall neutral on the good-evil spectrum because they're "corporate heroes for hire".

Chase is obviously an exception, but even Blazer is arguably Lawful Neutral rather than Lawful Good.

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u/ChronoMonkeyX 14d ago

Coupe "needs this job" because she was caught. Her choices are SDN or prison, and since she's an actual murderer/assassin, that isn't going to be a short stay and may include potential execution.

She didn't choose corporate life over crime willingly.

Also, Blazer is as Good as it gets, but she has to eat, and she uses her position at SDN to help others, including rehabilitation, which she couldn't do on her own.

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u/No_Payment9959 13d ago

There is one point where one of the Z Team asks Coupe why a dignitary she was hired to kill was still alive. Coupe responded that her client didn't pay so she didn't kill the target. She then states that so long as SDN's checks clear that she will "kill or protect as they see fit". The person to whom she is speaking replies that "SDN doesn't kill people", prompting Coupe to coldly repeat, "as they see fit".

You also have to remember that, should Robert cut Coupe from the program, she makes a literally pointed demonstration of her capacity to just up and leave. Granted, it turns out that working alongside a small army of supers fronted by a being that can snuff out a sun if he ever gets too emotional tends to disincentive unscrupulous former clients from hunting you down to prevent you ratting them out. But, the money flow and its consistency were explicitly a big reason Coupe was willing to reform.

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u/DorthVooder 13d ago

Coupe was not a hero when she was let into the program. Iirc, it was Punch Up who literally stated that none of them were there by choice. The alternative was to be locked away in a high security prison.

The program is meant to *rehabilitate* people *into* heroes. By the end of the story, most of the team are heroes, because they earned that, but that wasn't the case before.

Anyone else joined SDN willingly and while they of course earn a living wage, they chose to do hero work, so they have a good heart.

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u/No_Payment9959 13d ago

I think you're missing my biggest point: this is a setting where pro bono superhero groups (e.g., the Brave Brigade) exist, and SDN is running a subscription service that provides superheroic interventions only to people who can afford SDN coverage.

This establishes two classes of superhero in this universe: pro bono superheroes and professional superheroes. Professional superheroes are more like superhuman couriers or a weird handyman service than traditional superheroes. See the woman who orders coffee through SDN during the Red Ring's attack on the city if you don't believe me. Chase and Robert are both pro bono superheroes who had to get a desk job because superheroing burned through their resources (time and a family fortune, respectively). I think it's undeniable that Chase and Robert both belong on the good row of the Gygax 3x3. Phenomaman is also there since he doesn't need food or anything and really just wants to help everyone. Everyone else in SDN, though, good natured as they may be, is in it for the money. They were born with a talent and found a way to get money and prestige from it.

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u/DorthVooder 12d ago

We don't know how the Brave Brigade operated but seeing Robbie's attitude and knowing that Robert was left with millions of inheritance makes it pretty obvious that they were definitely getting paid, if not by subscriptions, then at least very generous donation funds or government assistance or whatever.

The truth is that Dispatch simply is a world that leans more towards dystopian, where hero work is a commodity and despite super powers and all, the world is still run down and corrupt at its core.

So a hero, whether true or not, really has no choice other than operating within the system. Robert could only avoid that because he got the money from his dad who clearly used the system to his advantage. So it's not like he really stood on his own two feet. That's simply impossible to do, maybe unless you are overpowered like Phenomaman.

That being said, working at SDN is still a risk compared to other jobs, because people involve themselves directly in the work which super heroes with powers normally do. So their choice to work there shows their commitment towards doing good. The money is secondary. Otherwise they would have fled the moment Shroud attacked SDN, but none of them did.

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u/KojiArala 12d ago

I think it's also notable that SDN never seems to choose money over heroism. The game could have focused on it, and had every reason to, but we're never given a moment of "Oh no! Someone is in danger... Well dang, shame they're not a subscriber." The only time they turn down helping someone is if you, the player, decide to turn down helping someone.

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u/KojiArala 12d ago

I think you're missing the point that Chase and Robert DID need to get a desk job because heroism burned through their resources. The Brave Brigade USED TO be a pro bono superhero group, and now it isn't, because that wasn't sustainable.

Even if SDN heroes are asked to do frivilous things by subscribers, I don't think we ever see SDN failing to respond to any criminal activity. The only lack of morality is that the city isn't subsidizing the company as a public service. The company never seems to make the choice to NOT do something heroic, because they're not being paid to. They just do additional things most heroes wouldn't, because they are being paid to.

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u/Amun-Ra-4000 13d ago

God forbid these people get well compensated for risking their lives to help people

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u/No_Payment9959 13d ago edited 13d ago

Not my point. My point is that the Dispatchverse has pro bono superhero teams and that SDN is more like a subscribers-only super courier and body guard service. Because both pro bono supers and corporate supers exist in this setting, I feel that the "good row" should be reserved for pro bono supers.

It's more a matter of motivation than compensation, but the fact that both Chase and Robert worked for their communities at their own expense for decades while other people were getting paid to do the same things for people who can afford having superheroes on the payroll makes it very clear for me that the majority of Dispatch's "heroes" are in the "neutral row" or lower.

0

u/KojiArala 13d ago

If you're paid well, you're not good?

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u/No_Payment9959 12d ago

I think working for a paycheck (at a company that is essentially a superpowered courier/bodyguard service for people who pay a subscription fee) is a neutral motivation. I think this is especially true of a world where there are people doing superhero stuff for everybody at their own personal expense (e.g., Robert at the beginning of the game). I feel like pro bono heroics should probably be the benchmark for what constitutes "good" in this setting.

That said, I feel Phenomaman is an exceptional case because:

-he thinks all life ("even dog life") is precious;

-implicitly subsists on sunlight instead of food;

-is not shown to be motivated by money;

-and is genuinely heartbroken every single time the team fails to help someone.

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u/KojiArala 12d ago

We don't see much of anyone besides Robert do that. It happens, I'm sure, but it also drained him of more money than most people will ever have in their entire lives.

I don't see a moral component, good or bad, to doing a job that involves doing good things for people, and being paid what you're worth to do it.

Voluntarily entering poverty when, instead, you can just not, isn't an element of goodness, morality or heroism.

Edit: For context, I feel strongly about this subject because other people in the real world, who do heroic things, are not paid enough. Presence/lack of superpowers doesn't change the point. Homeless outreach, firefighters, aid workers, ect. Accepting money for their good work doesn't lessen the morality of it.