Dwight Schrute was a character you loved to hate. He proved himself time and time again to be a horribly self-absorbed, cold, calculated and malicious individual who has a resume full of some of the worst acts a human can manage. However, there are a fair few times that Dwight showed off his human side and pulled off some great acts of kindness.
There are many situations in which he was the bad guy, but also some where he was actually the good guy. Believe it or not, Dwight was capable of heroic acts!
GOOD GUY: He Pepper Sprayed Roy
Now, pepper-spraying someone in the face might not exactly be the number one way to prove your kind-heartedness, but it was the context of Dwight’s pepper spray assault that showed his true intent.
Roy was about to attack Jim, and no matter how often Dwight claims Jim to be his worst enemy, Dwight didn’t want to see his best friend get hurt.
BAD GUY: Had An Affair With Angela
Now, on the one hand, Angela knew she had no interest in Andy and that her true romantic connection was always destined to be with Dwight. She should have called things off with Andy straight away. Having said that, when she didn’t, Dwight should probably have thought twice about having an affair with a woman engaged to someone who sits across the room from him.
GOOD GUY: He Always Supported Pam
No matter how weird Pam thought Dwight was, she was the only person in the office whose attention and affirmation he sought after.
In many situations, it was her approval he was looking for, and in any situations that put her at risk or upset her, he would usually be the one who actually tried to defend her. It didn’t happen every time of course, but she was the only person who he actually seemed to like aside from Michael and Angela.
BAD GUY: He Tricked Angela Into Marrying Him
No matter how perfect for each other Dwight and Angela were, he sure had some strange ways to prove his affection. One of the worst came when he was showing her and Andy their potential wedding venue at Schrute farms, and actually ended up tricking Angela into officially marrying him. This was a low move and Angela didn’t like it one bit.
GOOD GUY: But He Wanted To Be Phillip’s Father
When Angela revealed that she was pregnant, it wasn’t known for certain who was actually the father of her child.
Dwight, however, stated his commitment to acting as Phillip’s father even if it turned out he had no biological connection to it. This proved how genuine his love for Angela was.
BAD GUY: Started A Fire
Dwight was really committed to his role as safety coordinator in the office. He had previously felt that his practices and instructions had fallen on deaf ears, so decided to devise a situation in which a ‘real’ fire forced his colleagues to take the situation seriously. It worked but angered everyone and caused Stanley to have a heart attack. Not cool, Dwight.
GOOD GUY: Made Jim His Bestest Mensch
Despite spending the entire run of The Office claiming that Jim was his sworn enemy, and doing everything in his power to undermine or embarrass him, when it came to Dwight’s wedding, he made Jim the equivalent to his best man: his Bestest Mensch.
BAD GUY: Killed Sprinkles
Dwight was known for his particularly unusual approach to certain situations, and as a skilled and experienced farmer, he had a lot of experience in dealing with animals.
When going to feed Angela’s many cats, he decided to put one out of its misery by freezing it to death. It seems almost impossible to think of a situation in which he thought this was a good idea, but he stuck to his guns.
GOOD GUY: But Bought Angela A New Cat
When he finally realized that he may have gone a little far by, y’know, freezing Angela’s cat to death, he made an attempt to make it up to her. It might not have been exactly what she wanted to happen, but Dwight went out and bought her a new cat in an attempt to replace Sprinkles. The thought was there, even if it didn’t exactly work.
BAD GUY: Tried To Steal Michael’s Job
In one of his most terrible moves ever, Dwight went against his fearless leader and tried to take his job from him. After years of commitment, his sudden change of view of Michael was weird to see, and it was very satisfying to see Michael outsmart him and beat him at his own game. And then Dwight had to do his laundry for a year.