Okay so, today we are going to be talking about morally gray characters. This isn't going to be
one of my longer "dear authors" because i feel like it's pretty cut and dry. I think that we
can discuss some really good things, but i don't feel like there needs to be a ton of discussion.
Anyway, let's move forward. I'm gonna start off the video by addressing a comment that came up
a lot and will probably come up in the comments a lot if i don't address it at first. There were
so many comments of people saying: "Morally gray characters don't actually exist. We're all morally
gray." Okay, i get it. Yes. No one is perfectly good or wholly evil. Everybody has choices,
everybody makes bad choices sometimes, everybody's selfish sometimes, everybody is on varying degrees
of morally gray. Yes. That's not what we're talking about today. We're talking about a
very specific type of character. Okay, let's get into it. First we're going to talk about how to
not do morally gray characters and then we're going to get into all the wonderful ways to do
them. We'll start on a funny one. "How i define morally gray: A consistent moral code they live
by that deviates from the standard. How bad authors define morally gray: They're super
edgy but they helped out a kitten once and you will never see them making questionable decisions
on page." This is actually the comment that came up the most. I just chose to read that one because
it was funny. But oh my goodness, this came up so often. Basically, don't make someone a jerk,
but they have some tragic backstory or like they pet puppies in their spare time so
they're morally gray. No, you just wrote a jerk. That's what you did, because every jerk has
some redeeming qualities doesn't doesn't really change that they're a jerk. On the opposite side
of the spectrum... "A few things come to mind. Obviously you have the 'show don't tell' aspect.
If a character is morally gray, let us see that in their actions rather than them thinking they're
gray (or even worse) people around them spouting on about the moral grayness of the main character.
Another is that the character doesn't need to pick a side to walk on. Sometimes it's
okay for a character to sit resolutely in the gray without choosing black or white,
especially if that's the most logical answer. 'We have to be better than them'
said the generic side character generically. We've heard it so many times and sometimes it
literally doesn't make sense. Let characters be gray. So a lot of times an author will try to make
a morally great character and they'll end up just making the jerk or the bully who has a couple of
redeeming qualities. That's called the "bad boy" trope. I hate it. A lot of people love it though,
so you know, live your life. But that's not morally gray. But the other side of things is
trying to create a morally gray character by showing them either being super inconsistent,
not done well (which we'll talk about later) or show them being bad, but having these redeeming
qualities so maybe you'll still like them and then i'll just constantly remind you and tell you that
they're morally gray. Really, we don't know. Other characters will let you know or the narrative will
let you know that they're morally gray, but the reader never gets the opportunity to decide for
themselves. These are really shallow executions of a morally grey character. These are um.... timid
executions of the morally grey character. A morally great character that's actually
interesting and compelling to read about is someone that feels incredibly human, not a
formula of some good/some bad so that they're edgy, but they're redeemable too! See? Like them,
too! Let's talk about ways that it's actually really interesting to read about. Actually i'm
just gonna throw out one more comment that kind of illustrates what i was just talking about.
"To me, a judgment by the narrator really destroys the character for me. If there's a gray character,
the fun part is judging them by yourself. Having a judgment served to you, worse yet, one you don't
agree with, takes that away and draws you out of the story. One of the funnest things to do
about morally gray characters; i'm thinking of, oh... okay. I'm gonna keep it spoiler free. I
don't think that this is a spoiler to say... thinking about Dalinar of the Stormlight Archive
and pretty much any character in a Joe Abercrombie book. Characters in Rage of Dragons i think would
fall under that very easily as well. The Lies of Locke Lamora obviously fits in this as well.
What's interesting about this is there's so much discussion to be had about characters,
a lot of times readers will accept, "Okay these are morally great characters. I'm not going to
agree with the things that they do, but i'm gonna go along with it because these are humans that
are genuinely interesting to follow." But what's fun a lot of times is there's a lot of discussion
surrounding it. I know there's a lot of discussion surrounding Dalinar. Is the reader willing to
attach themselves to a character that does such truly evil things in their lifetime? Are they
redeemable and would the character themselves even consider themselves redeemable? A lot of times
morally gray characters do consider themselves redeemable and a lot of times they don't.
A lot of times they've just accepted their lot in life. They've just accepted their role in
life and that's a really human way to look at it. That's a really human response when you look back
at the decisions you've made sometimes. "I think what really makes morally great characters good is
the idea that we are morally gray. Humans aren't perfect and they shouldn't be that way. I'm not
saying humans can't be morally black or white, but when i say 'gray' i like to see real humans,
real human struggle and pain. They're trying to do right, but failing. And sometimes failing into
bad tendencies. If i see a morally gray character, i want to be able to see myself as them or see
how i could truly be like them. That way, it truly explores humanness." I think that that is the key
component to a great morally gray character. It's not just that they've done bad things, but they're
hot so it's fine. It's not their evil, but then their love interest may turn them into a soft
gushy nonsense. No, they truly are doing terrible things. They truly are making horrible decisions,
but it all logically makes sense. It's not because plot dictates, it's not because you want someone
edgy in your story, it's because they are a real human person. They feel like decisions that a real
person would make. I think that that's one of the key components to making a compelling morally grey
person is to make them feel like a person and not like a prop or a device. So how do we create that
person? "Most morally gray characters have been shoved into into the broody outsider stereotype. I
want to see more of truly morally gray. People who view the world through a different lens. Peoples
whose morality changes depending on who's involved and what the situation is and the characters that
rationalize to themselves. We humans, as a whole, can rationalize absolutely everything but it's
rarely delved into correctly. It's usually just dismissed as, "well, it was for the greater good"
rather than actually having the character justify why this situation still suits their moral code
and view of the world. In short, consider that and apply the psychology to your character."
That comment is discussing the kind of morally gray character that just views the world from a
different lens. This comment is going to be discussing a different kind of morally gray
character. "A type of interesting morally gray character to me is the kind that becomes the
'necessary monster.' I love it when a character believes in a certain ideal, or even is faced with
an impossible choice that makes the decision no one else wants to make, even if it means
compromising their humanity. Characters that make the dreaded decision with terrible consequences,
even to protect others from having to take on the responsibility are fascinating to me." So
you have the characters that will make selfish, inhuman decisions, but rationalize it because
we humans often rationalize whatever is convenient to us. Whatever makes sense in the grander scheme
of things. We also have the "necessary monster" kind of morally gray that doesn't necessarily
want to do evil things. They don't get a "kick" out of kicking puppies. They don't get a "kick"
out of genocide. It's not fun for them, but it's the necessary evil. It's the thing they must do
for this "greater good." But the thing is, that doesn't have to be an evil character. This could
be the protagonist, this could be the "good guy." This could be the one that is genuinely trying to
do something great in the world and the thing that they're working towards is objectively good. You
can say this thing that they're working toward is actually something that will benefit this world,
but do the 'means' justify the end? They may be making these horrible, horrible
decisions morally, but their end goal is good. It's just that, "Somebody has to do this and
i'm protecting the people that i care about from having to be this person." That's a complexity of
thought that we can at least understand. It may not be one that we relate to. It'd be one that we
would hope that we wouldn't adopt ourselves, but it's one that we can see how the character got
there and we can also see the levels of kindness in their mindset of: "I'll do the necessary evil
to get to the greater good and so these people don't have to bloody their hands."
There're tons of different types of morally gray characters that you can explore. There're tons
of different types of morally grey characters. The point is, zeroing in on their personality
and their mindset and making it realistic. Making it not, "they're bad because they're edgy
or they're evil" because the plot really needs them to be, but rather a human flaw.
A human reality that any human could start walking down that path and then if they did start walking,
how far could it really go without stripping them of the good sides of their humanity as well?
Lean into the bad, but also lean into the good. What does that look like? That's a true morally
grey character. Not, "Everybody is complex. Everybody has good and bad in them. Everybody
makes bad decisions and good decisions." But really pushing that and what does that actually
look like if you start walking down that path and stripping away some of your conscience, what
would push you back from these bad decisions, but saying: "The end justifies the means." Does it?
That's the discussion we as readers love having. And a lot of times we as readers will easily say:
"No! It doesn't!" But if we can understand how they got there and we can relate to them,
we're gonna follow that character. "Morally grey characters can still be great and learn from
mistakes. We can still see where the lines of their morals are blurred while having character
growth because they aren't necessarily evil (in some cases) just gray. If they keep making the
same mistakes and never learn for the sake of keeping them gray, then they're just not smart,
not morally gray." I really like this because a lot of times a morally gray character; which, by
the way, morally gray characters can fit into any genre. I think that this is relevant to any genre
that anybody writes in, but a lot of times the morally gray character is kind of used as the prop
and they're never really given any sort of arc or development. And the thing is, that morally gray
arc a character that's morally gray and that grows and learns and has consequences and even sometimes
will do the thing and then come out of it feeling just as empty or realizing that no, it completely
wasn't worth it; doesn't mean that they're now going to make the switch and choose a side.
It doesn't mean that now they're going to have a big redemption arc (which they totally can),
but they don't need it. Just because a morally gray character has growth doesn't mean that now
they're going to be good. No, they can still be morally gray. They can still have completely
empathetic world views and only be after their own selfish desires, or they can still think that:
"Okay, so this didn't work out. No, this one wasn't worth it, but still gonna try
to fulfill this goal that i think is good in the end and maybe is good in the end,
but i'm gonna make these choices to get there that are inhumane." There can be
tons of introspection and growth and changing of perspectives while still maintaining that morally
great way because the way they view the world is very different from the way you and i (hopefully)
view the world. "What i'm going to talk about is the mindset of a morally gray character.
See, the biggest thing about these kinds of people is that not only are they flawed,
but they also have an unhealthy mindset. Yes, in their flaws they can be selfish or have a
bloodlust or keep on chasing the avatar, but they can also always be depressed or unsatisfied.
And there needs to be a reason for these actions, but we also need to make them human.
Maybe there's a character who tortures people but cannot kill them. Why? Maybe he lost someone very
young and is horrified by the notion of death even now. So though that person isn't good,
they have vulnerabilities. Now what i just said shows a character that it's pretty clear where
he stands, but what about the character that's meant to be good but unconsciously
are actually maybe selfish or headstrong and then maybe something happens to them that they
reveal their true colors?" Again, just showing the complexities that bring a morally grey character
to life. It's not just that they're bent on evil, but they have some redeeming qualities,
but that the good in them and the bad in them is so closely mingled that it makes them feel
so relatably human. Even if i would never go where they go, i see how they got there
and i feel for them. I'm going to end on this comment. "Morally gray characters allow us to
understand the human condition. It may cause us to realize things about human beings in general,
or things about ourselves we don't want to know. It may cause us to re-evaluate the blurred lines.
There is no black and white. There is no good guy, but only the destruction human beings can cause.
My favorite characters are morally gray ones because they are the most interesting
and complex to analyze. If morally gray characters are not developed fully or consistently blur
the lines of good and evil with questionable acts, then the characters fall flat." To me,
the two main things about creating a truly compelling morally gray character are consistency
and closeness. Really knowing the character as the author and understanding what makes this character
tick, what makes them go down a darker path but be able to justify it or just genuinely not care.
What makes them make these darker decisions and then keeping that consistent with their character,
what is it that's different about the way they rationalize and see the world and knowing that
thing very well and filtering all their decisions through that thing, filtering everything they
do through this personality character trait, keeping that consistent makes them feel real.
But then the closeness i think is a really big part of it as well. A character could be morally
gray because they're truly apathetic about the world and how it affects other people;
they're just very selfish and filter all the decisions they make according to how they,
how the world, how this situation affects them. So they could be on your side one second and stabbing
you in the back the next depending on how this particular situation pertains exclusively to them.
They could be in a really dark world surrounded by terrible people who are manipulating them and who
are really making decisions tough on them and they're doing horrible, inhumane acts because they
genuinely believe they don't have a choice in the world. They don't have a choice but to
go with what all these horrible people are forcing them to do. Even though they do, we the reader can
see that they have a choice, but they have accepted their lot in life. We can empathize with that
feeling of powerlessness while still seeing you're still making these choices even though there are
avenues. You've just accepted that this is the route that you're gonna go down, even if it's
not the one that you believe in. It could be that they don't necessarily enjoy doing any of these
horrendous acts, they just think that this is a necessary evil. This is what they need to do to
do to get to the greater goal that they have. There are a million different ways to play the morally
gray character. There are a million different ways to create them and different personalities to put
on them, different reasonings for why we would call them gray, but i think the biggest point is to keep
them consistent so that they feel real and human and bring them close to us so that we understand
the emotions that they're experiencing along the way; the "whys" of the decisions they're making
and the mindset, the rationale that they have for making these decisions. Bringing us close
to them makes us attached to them and makes us want to follow them and maybe even root for them
(even if we disagree with every decision they make). Naturally i have to recommend some of my
favorite series for this because i happen to love morally gray characters. Naturally, the series that
i'm going to recommend the most are going to be anything by Joe Abercrombie, but you can start
with the First Law Trilogy and the Gentleman Bastard series. Both of these series are dark,
but these authors ability to create compelling, morally gray characters
that you don't want to be anything like, but you want to follow no matter what they do
is just brilliant. If you want something not quite so dark; still epic ,still wonderfully done...
Sanderson is great at morally gray characters in general, but especially Dalinar. Oh my goodness. One
of my favorite characters to discuss because he's so complex and i think that his entire story is
just fantastic. And if you want something that's very easy to read; won't turn your stomach as much
as something like these two do and isn't quite as epic and as massive of a commitment as Stormlight
is; i think Evan Winter does a really good job at morally gray characters and at very complex
characters that make terrible decisions, but you still want to follow along and you still
want to root for them. In Rage of Dragons and in Fires of Vengeance, which is coming out
in November and i'm just gonna say: i'm happy with how this one ended
in regards to internal struggles. That was an internal struggle; how to, how to say that without
spoilers. Anyway, that's some discussion on morally gray characters. There's still
a ton of things to discuss within this topic. As with any "dear authors," we can't cover it all, but
hopefully that will stir up more discussion in the comments section. Be sure to chat with me more
about it there. I post videos every Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I'll see you guys again soon. Bye