The very opposite of a Cheater, these heroes who fight fairly in battle and never resort to dirty tricks, such as stabbing someone in the back or attacking a defenseless opponent to win battles. They also uphold a promise be they owe a promise to a friend, companion, or even their rivals or enemies. Typically the opposite of Pragmatists, though through character development one can also be the other.

These heroes have a habit of wanting to fight an opponent fairly that they would sometimes allow their opponent to gain an advantage (like Vegeta letting Semi-Perfect Cell achieve his perfect form so the two could have a fair fight). In this category, these heroes tend to also compliment their foes for their abilities. A common theme of this is that they are trying to bring honor to themselves, for others, or even their organizations.

Often, these heroes are respected for their need to play fair by allies and enemies alike and also find a "worthy opponent" to battle against. By default, all Pure Goods are honorable due to them showing respect to everyone including their enemies. Pure Goods would never cheat in order to win UNLESS the cheating isn't for selfish reasons and/or they're facing against people that aren't going to play fair (e.g., Qui-Gon Jinn against Watto so that he can free Anakin).

However, not every hero is honorable. In fact, some of these heroes can forgo their honor if it means completing their goals and aiding their homeland. Likewise, they can use underhanded tactics to gain advantage in the battle. Here are several exceptions to this category where heroes use such ruthless methods to the point of going from “honorable” to “downright pragmatic”:

• Underhanded Heroes: In spite of their code of honor, these characters use their skills of deception, skullduggery, thievery, and manipulation to gain an upper hand, whether be for the good of others, undermining criminal enterprises from within or going after bad guys directly. Puss in Boots, some portrayals of Batman (mainly a comic book version), Nightcrawler, Michael Westen and Garrett (from Thief) are good examples to this rule.
• Unscrupulous Types: Despite their honorable personality, these heroes are usually defined by dark experiences that have made them cold and unforgiving, and due to the settings in which they exist, there will usually be no compunctions to using more extreme methods. L Lawliet, Near, Kiritsugu Emiya, Rorschach, Spider Jerusalem and Shadow the Hedgehog are prime examples to this rule.
• Well-Intentioned Extremists: Despite their good intentions, these characters commit morally dubious acts for good causes and earnestly believe they're doing good for the world. Alister Azimuth, Lelouch vi Britannia, Stan Pines and Satsuki Kiryūin are good examples to this rule.