Geeky Nerd

The trend of making characters being neither outright good nor evil has been set about thirty years ago and still goes strong. In this post I would like to talk a about what defines a morally grey character, give some advice on what to pay attention to when writing such character and whether or not a story benefits from a morally grey chracter.

If you believe that morally grey characters are not popular nowadays, then, here are some examples: John Wick (John Wick), V (V for Vendetta), captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean), Severus Snape (Harry Potter) from films and comics. From games I can think of Agent 47 (Hitman), John Marston (Red Dead Redemption), Geralt Of Rivia (The Witcher) and Meta Knight (Kirby franchise) to name a few.

Even more modern characters or their interpretations like Harley Quinn (Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) and Kylo Ren (Disney’s Star Wars) have been turned into morally grey characters even though their initial introductions didn’t portray them as such.

What does it mean to be “morally grey”?

In simple terms, a morally grey character is a character who is motivated by one’s own desires and goal. Such character is not driven by the inner “goodness” or “evilness”. It doesn’t necessarily mean that such a character cannot lean towards one side or the other, but unlike a hero, for example, who would fight for the weak and save the day even if it means putting oneself in danger, a morally grey character would rather think about preserving one’s own life if there’s no worthy reason to risk.

Some may say that it makes the character more realistic since in real life has got many nuances which complicate the situation and ultimately can make without a clearly good or bad choice. To that I say that morality is an abstract concept and many people see can see the same situation differently. case and point, the famous Trolley Problem:

In this situation I’d rather kill one person than let five die because I see lack of active action as an action too. That is, if I could do something about the situation but chose to do nothing, it’s a choice and a choice is an action. Some other people may say that choosing is not an action, therefore, you either kill one person or see five die but it’s not your fault. It’s simply a different perspective, neither of them is inherently right or wrong, they are simply different.

If we return to the point of how grey morality makes a character more realistic, then, I personally have to say – not necessarily. It can but the execution is important and my next section is exactly about it.

Tips on how to write moral greyness

When I say “write moral greyness” I mean a character in any piece of media since the character building process is the same for either film or games.

Keep in mind that the main reasons why you may want to insert a morally grey character in your story are as follows:

• Build suspense: if a character can do anything, who knows what they will do next.
• Question societal norms: If you think that some problem in society exists you may try to discuss it through you character’s actions to see how people respond

Yes, there are only two main reasons to insert a morally grey character. So, without further ado let’s start with the tips.

Tip 1 – Grey morality doesn’t mean No morality

By this I mean that a morally grey character should have their own convictions whether they coincide with the norms or nor. If you make your morally grey character an honest person, who gave a vow never to lie, it may be shocking for the audience to see one do so but it will break the character as it goes against one’s convictions. It’s bad writing.

Tip 2 – Either keep the mystery or give explanation

If your morally grey character is a wild card you play to add suspense or use as deus ex machina, well,… it’s your choice but it would be better writing to explain the actions of your characters. It shouldn’t be a thorough explanation of one’s actions but at least a few guidelines for the audience to understand the motivations behind the character’s actions.

Tip 3 – Everything has a purpose

Don’t add a character if one’s presence is not needed. It may be popular or you may want to play with the theme but best keep it simple. If you add a morally grey character, then the character must serve as a device for the plot to develop or for other characters to grow or be explained better. It’s a rather obvious tip but many people forget to use it. Make sure you only have characters relevant to the story you are telling. Additional characters leave for gacha games that prey on it.

So, do we need so many morally grey characters?

Yes and no. Yes, because it’s a good plot device that allows to question our norms and rise moral questions. On the other hand, there should always be a moderation in everything. As much as I find Superman character boring, he is a great example of a hero who fights for greater good and his example is necessary if we want to show what’s it like to be a hero.

In this regard morally grey characters may explore themes like choice and its consequences (Geralt) or whether the aim justifies the means, and what is the line between personal revenge and revolution (V).

Overall, I have to say that it’s a difficult topic to tacle but I wanted to give a few tips on where to start when you write a morally grey character, so the idea doesn’t end up as something that’s there just to appeal to a certain audience. Every idea should have a meaning and weight behind it, so it’s better to think twice and “kill the darlings” as they say.