Animal Kingdom is a show about the Cody family, a crime family who is led by the incredibly intimidating and badass matriarch, Janine Cody (AKA Smurf). And unsurprisingly it’s a show that lives up to it’s name. The animalistic, survivalistic world that the Codys and their friends and family live in is a Machiavellian system that shows very little regard for morality or even basic human decency.
So then, when it comes to analyzing the Dungeons & Dragons character alignments of all of the Animal Kingdom characters, the scale has to be relative to the world that they live in. In terms of normal morality and the laws of the land, the Codys and everyone they know is undoubtedly evil. However when looking at them through the eyes of their own world and the rules and codes that exist within it, there is a considerable amount of gray area. So here are all of the Animal Kingdom characters and their D&D alignments.
Renn Randall - Neutral Good
The way that Renn makes her living is dubious at best, but when compared with the rest of the Animal Kingdom crew’s means of living she seems downright angelic. She may be a drug dealer, but she doesn’t seem to be selling anything that people don’t want to buy, and she’s not particularly brutal about controlling her “turf”, so to speak. And even when she’s been wronged it seems like Renn is exceptionally forgiving, she gave Craig a second chance when he absolutely didn’t deserve one. And while her mothering skills have yet to be seen in full, it’s safe to say she at least isn’t going to be Smurf.
Adrian Dolan - Lawful Good
Adrian is yet another supporting character who exists in the orbit of the Animal Kingdom crew who seems like a much better person than anyone in the Cody family.
For the most part Adrian has been a straight shooter and has played by the rules, but the unfortunate reality of his situation is that when he’s got one foot in the regular world and one foot in the crime world inhabited by his boyfriend Deran then it’s pretty much impossible to play by the rules of both games at the same time. Adrian is still a good person, and has more regard for the rules than anyone else does.
Mia Benitez - Chaotic Evil
Managing to distinguish yourself as an exceptionally cold and cruel person in comparison to the Codys is no easy feat, but J’s lover turned enemy Mia achieved what many would think is impossible. Most of the Codys and their company are willing to do whatever is necessary as a means to their own ends, but they’re not mindlessly cruel. Mia on the other hand seems to pay no mind to anything outside of her own basest impulses. It’s honestly hard to tell if she enjoys hurting people or if she’s just doing it to do it, but either way her only consistency as a character is her intense, completely illogical violence.
Nicky Belmont - Chaotic Good
Nicky Belmont’s ideas about morality are flexible to say the least, but she is at her heart someone who does care about a certain set of people and she’s willing to do whatever she thinks is in their best interest, even if it’s against the rules. Nicky’s relationships with J and then with Craig were a little wild and carefree, but regardless of how she felt about who she was always sure to have their backs when they really needed it. And while she had a good run with the Codys, ultimately she didn’t have the callousness to live their lifestyle permanently.
Baz Blackwell - Lawful Neutral
Baz Blackwell managed to pull himself up from a horrific childhood and create a pretty solid and stable life for himself, at least as much as he could with the circumstances he existed in.
He built that life on a career in crime, but Baz has always demonstrated his adept ability at playing by whatever set of rules he was given in order to advance himself as much as possible. And that was truly always his goal, he has done many good things and many bad things throughout his life but there was no moral choice behind it, they were purely self serving moves.
Craig Cody - True Neutral
Craig Cody’s nearly pure lack of any kind of moral or even thoughtful compass is almost admirable, and it has definitely served him well in the kind of life that he leads. Craig is generally a good person, or at least a person who doesn’t have a lot of cruelty in his nature, but he also doesn’t give a damn about anything besides what he wants in the moment that he wants them. Thinking before acting isn’t really a part of his modus operandi, and thinking after acting isn’t something he’s a big fan of either. Ascribing any kind of normal morality to Craig is nearly impossible.
Deran Cody - True Neutral
Deran and Craig are like two peas in a pod, so it’s no surprise that their Dungeons & Dragons character alignments match up perfectly as well. Deran is a bit smarter and more meticulous than Craig is, but he is also ultimately after his own interests in any given situation and doesn’t put a lot of thought into anything beyond that.
Deran only does things that are morally reprehensible if he feels like he has to, but he isn’t losing a lot of sleep over whatever sins he has committed. Most people have moral convictions, but Deran sees morals as more of an inconvenience than anything.
Pope Cody - Chaotic Neutral
Pope Cody is easily the most viscerally frightening member of the Cody family, but he is basically acting on the most violent impulses of his id at any given moment of the day. He’s not a thinker or a planner, and he usually expresses any and all of his emotions with extreme outbursts. Pope has done many repulsively immoral things, but not with any immoral intent behind them, he either did them because he felt he had to or because he couldn’t control himself. He seems to be lacking any moral compass whatsoever, but he also is pretty much chaos personified.
J Cody - Lawful Evil
The entire Cody family is a formidable squad of criminals, but J is one of the most dangerous members of the family, probably the most diabolical Cody behind Smurf herself. J is determined to become the king of his very own castle and is willing to do absolutely anything to get himself there. He has ingrained himself into his family but he doesn’t seem to care about them at all, he doesn’t even seem to have any residual feelings about his own dearly departed mother. J plays by whatever rules that are set before him, but it’s solely so he can game the system and come out on top.
Smurf Cody - Neutral Evil
Smurf Cody is really the woman who created the entire dynamic of Animal Kingdom. She raised her children to do her bidding and essentially bred her own crime syndicate with them. Smurf has always shown herself as someone who’s willing to do whatever necessary to get what she wants, and whether that includes doing something within the bounds of the rules and laws or outside of them is inconsequential. Smurf makes quite a big to do about loving her family and being the ultimate tiger mom, but she would force her children to do horrible things or even kill them if they got in her way.
