STill that's no reason to be proud of it. He was sad when he had to kill. And he did adopt those quaggoth cubs. *shrug*

I've played less idealistic characters, too. So?

People these days seem to watch too much "24". So eager to have the torture option, they don't care for anything else.
See, that's your error. The class specifically states the Grey Guard has to atone, and does not do it more than they have to. He doesn't have to like using unpleasant means to recognize them as necessary. Most people don't like killing, but recognize it is sometimes needed. My dentist isn't going to be proud, watching me winch and tear up as he performs surgery on my gums, but he knows he has to do it. You seem to assume the Grey Guard wants to inflict torture as much as possible, that they enjoy it for it's own sake. The point of the class is it is a paladin who recognizes, with his god's agreement, that sometimes being nice doesn't get the job done. He doesn't like doing it, and has to atone even, but if that is what stopping evil and protecting the innocent requires, so be it.

It has nothing to do with 24. This idea didn't suddenly become popular because of the show. I has everything to do with the moral question of "When do you go too far in defending the innocent, and when have you not gone far enough?" You seem unwilling to actually answer that question, or even propose alternative solutions to the situations I posed.


And yes, greenskins. I am rather fond of Warhammer 40k, in large part because it is in many ways a universe based largely on altruistic morality taken to it's logical conclusion. (Not 100%, but you see it in the logic of the Imperium.) Lots of the fluff is an interesting thought experiment.
You might even look at the inquisitors from that as Grey Guards. Some are more questionable than others, and sometimes their methods go over the edge and they need to be stopped, but when you get down to it they are doing their utmost to protect humanity (which is defined as the good, of course.) If they wipe out a world of 5 billion, it is to save untold billions in the grand scheme. Is that always good? Depends on many things, but it is fertile ground for a huge amount of philosophic thought. Hence the appeal.