Vigilantism and the Lawful Alignment in OotS

[Porthos]

Tarquin works to bring about an orderly law-driven empire that just so happens to have him at or near the top. He could easily take his vast personal power and run around killing whomever he felt like, racking up loot and living the good life, but he doesn't. He channels his time and energy into building a new social structure out of nothing. Regardless of the tenor of that structure (or whom it benefits), that's still incredibly Lawful.

Compare this to Xykon, who had total control of occupied Azure City and had no interest in governing it at all. Only Redcloak, his Lawful associate, took it upon himself to try and turn that territory into a functioning state.

Pulling this back up for a Compare and Contrast. I think the Xykon/Tarquin comparison is excellent, especially if we want to compare/contrast how demons and devils might view this situation.

Can people really tell me with a straight face that there is little difference between the way Xykon acts and Tarquin does? OK, people still suffer horribly under their respective rule. That's a given. But the way they decide to administer things? Completely and utterly different.

I would also point out that Xykon is the most Chaotic Evil character in the entire strip. Yet he rarely uses manipulation or deceit to accomplish his goals (though when he does, he's quite good at it). In fact, he prefers a straight out smash and grab along a Obey Me Or Else mentality.

But what he is, is capricious. He can change his entire battle plan on little more than a whim. He doesn't bother to go through any legal channels to get rid of his enemies. He just blasts them. He didn't bother to try to manipulate a pre-existing structure somewhere and worm his way through the ranks.
(slight SoD spoilers)

Spoiler

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He just set up camp somewhere and established a 'crownocracy'

One of the few traits Xykon and Tarquin share is the fact that they both get their kicks out of seeing their enemies suffer. Well, and enjoying a good laugh. But neither of those fall along the C/L axis.