Are necromancers necessarily evil?

[Lufir]

Must the necromancer be someone who raises the dead? Or just a category that has some schools of magic under it? Ice (Frost) is an element often associated with death in many media. Would it be an issue if a school of necromancy focuses on using frost spells instead of utilizing zombie minions? Another example would be blood-themed spells, which focus on stealing the enemies lifeforce to empower your own.

I would say yes, a necromancer has to deal with dead reanimation/undead minions or else why have the prefix of necro? Sure, you can toss them a few ice or blood spells, but their core identity has to be necromancy. Without dealing with the dead, that'd be like a pyromancer who doesn't specialize with fire. It just wouldn't make sense to me, personally.

[RitsukoSonoda]

I would say yes, a necromancer has to deal with dead reanimation/undead minions or else why have the prefix of necro? Sure, you can toss them a few ice or blood spells, but their core identity has to be necromancy. Without dealing with the dead, that'd be like a pyromancer who doesn't specialize with fire. It just wouldn't make sense to me, personally.

Makes about as much sense as killing fire elementals as a Black Mage by casting fire spells on them. :P