Dear Authors... Morally Gray Characters [CC]

WHERE TO FIND ME:

[psyche]

✨ Being morally gray does not make you character automatically interesting ✨

[JoaoPedro-gcmw]

"Morally gray characters"
Zuko: Hey, Zuko here.

[Maren]

The worst "morally grey" character is the hero/heroine that's supposed to be good and we're supposed to totally agree with them and be on their side, but they're actually horrible narcissistic monsters the reader just can't stand - and then the reader starts feeling the same horrified dismay towards the author for them not seeing that they've created a little monster. :-D

[WhitneyDahlin]

A good writer can make a character who does bad things sympathetic and make you root for that character even though you don't agree with what he's doing. I think that's the hallmark of a well written morally grey character.

[Nasser]

Greene Daniel is morally grey character XD

[tomgallier]

OMG, loved the little "morally gray" laugh after saying "He doesn't get a kick out of kicking puppies" I noticed. I appreciated it.

[N.Traveler]

Suggestion: Dear Authors... Humor ??? (Not just actual comedy books, but about writing humor in novels in general.)
Would love a discussion on that! <3

[AnEruditeAdventure]

After rereading Mockingjay, we discovered that Gale is an extremely morally gray character. It’s not that he’s a bad guy or wants to do bad things, just that sometimes (more often than not it seems) his choices and actions are not “good”. They are done with good intentions, but the acts themselves are “iffy” at best.

[imrandomghgh]

The "Sin-eater" is one my favourite grey archetypes. Becoming hard so others can stay innocent is very compelling! The rangers protecting the Shire are a great example.

[aaryasharma]

"Welcome back to yet another episode of Merphy Napier compelling her viewers to read The Gentlemen Bastards and anything and everything by Brandon Sanderson"😂✌️🖤

[nightbreed]

I think the best "morally grey" characters are the ones I wouldn't necessarily disagree with if we were placed in the same situation, or at least don't know what I would do in that situation. The key is making them compelling and their methods believable. Also, continuity and consistency is king. Especially here, because you could easily make him too good or too bad. I would also point out that its fine if he leans closer to morally black, but over the course of the story becomes a better person. Like Joel from "The Last of Us", John Brooder from "Bone Tomahawk", or even you could argue Roland Deschain from "The Dark Tower" by Stephen King.

[littletravelblog]

I mostly don't even define what trope I'm following. I'm just writing different characters (which should feel like real humans).

[sgillespieuk]

I was today year's old when I found out that Americans spell grey different to UK

[hannaaa]

Favorite morally gray character: Kaz Brekker!

[adrienthomas]

My favourite type of morally grey character is the kind that makes you get off your self-righteous high horse and say, "Ok, I know that's technically not a "good" thing to do, but given their situation, I get it; I get where they're coming from. And I'm not sure that I wouldn't do the same thing if I were in their shoes". As opposed to just a usually good character slipping up and making a bad decision once in a while that's easily identifiable as a bad decision. I think what makes the difference is putting the focus solely on the character and what they're feeling, and their motives and circumstances surrounding the questionable choices, rather than the action itself and whether it's a "good" or "bad" one from the audience's perspective.

[DogWalkerBill]

How about a wizard named, Gandalf the Morally Grey?

[anaelisam]

Hot take: uncle Iroh is a morally gray character and really well done one

[sciencystuff]

I think scar from fullmetal alchemist was perfect morally grey character . Things he was doing was actually evil but his motivations was justified.

[paige]

Ahhh I love these dear authors! They help me so much in my writing!

[sarahatwell]

“They don’t get a kick out of genocide, it’s not fun for them, but it’s the necessary evil”

Eren: 👀