Morally Grey Characters

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Tropes and genres
Synonym(s)Morally gray, morally ambiguous
See alsoPoor Little Meow Meow, y’all love the morally gray, snarky, grief stricken characters until it’s a woman., Anti-hero
Related articles on Fanlore.

Morally grey characters are a common trope in both source media and fanfiction, and a source of discussion, debate and conflict in some fandom spaces. The latter often arises over how some characters are perceived as allowed to be morally grey (often celebrated for being so and popular as characters) while other characters are more likely to be critiqued for having the same characterisation.

While there has arguably been a rise in interest in or frequency of morally grey characters in the last decade or so, there have always been morally grey characters in media, and, therefore, in fanworks. In both source media and fanworks, characters might be considered morally grey for their entire arc, they might start out on one side or another and end up in a place considered morally grey, or they might start out as a morally grey character who moves further to one side or the other, losing the 'greyness' or ambiguity of their original moral character. For example, Walter White, main character of Breaking Bad, is considered by many to have started out the series as a morally grey character trying to do right by his family, but over the course of the show, he moves towards a more extreme side where is acts are more often on the side of morally wrong.

Definition

There can be some variations or differences in interpretation of what constitutes a morally grey character (which likely leads to some of discussions and discourse described further down the page). Generally speaking a morally grey character is considered one which is neither 'good' or 'bad' (though broadly there is balance; a character who does a lot of bad and one single act of good is rarely considered morally grey), whose morals are often unclear, and who makes the choice to pursue their own ambitions over the 'greater good' or 'greater evil'.

However, there are different interpretations. Some people have suggested:

  • Morally grey characters do have their own moral code and this may become clear once the character is well defined, but it is not easily categorised into good and evil.
  • They may not be driven by their own ambitions, but may have a larger goal they're striving to achieve and will do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. This can overlap with the anti-hero trope.
  • That a true morally grey character will never let the audience decide if they are good or bad. All characters (and people) have the capacity to do (and often will do) acts of good and evil, but can often be judged as leaning more to one side than the other. A morally grey character will not be so easily categorised.

Examples of morally grey characters in source media

In Fandom

Characters and characterisation

Morally grey characters can be very popular in fandom spaces, leading to them being the focus of a large amount of fanworks. However, not all morally grey characters in source media will necessarily lead to them being popular fandom characters. Sometimes, another character will be written as morally grey; this can be via being written completely out of character or by putting the character through situations where it is feasible that they might become more morally ambiguous, or some combination of the both or somewhere in between.

In addition to simply tagging 'Morally grey X character', some fandoms have tags which are more likely to indicate the character may be of a more morally grey characterisation (e.g. Stiles Stilinksi is So Done).

Discussions, discourse, and controversies

Which characters are celebrated for being morally grey vs which aren't

A common discussion in fandom is around which characters are 'allowed' to be morally grey or are celebrated as being so. Fans have discussed how the acts and morals of many white, male characters which are celebrated as being those of a morally ambiguous and interesting character, are condemned in other characters, such as queer characters, characters of colour, and female characters.

Another, related, topic is that other characters from marginalised communities are rarely written as morally grey because there can be push-back for writing "bad representation" by doing so.

Toning down the moral greyness

Similarly to sometimes occurs with enemies to lovers, some fans 'sand down the edges' of the morally grey characters to make them more palatable or to remove the extent of the harmful impact they might have had on others.

Misunderstandings and different interpretations of what is 'morally grey'

As there can be characters who are both morally grey and anti-heros (as well as other combinations), there can be different interpretations or more general misunderstandings over what constitutes a morally grey character.

Example Fanworks

Further Reading and Links

References

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