Dear Authors... Morally Gray Characters [CC]
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- Опубліковано 25 лип 2024
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► E-mail: merphynapier@gmail.com - Розваги
![Dear Authors... Main Characters [Part 2]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QCIlJJh9ydo/mqdefault.jpg)
![Dear Authors... Writing Emotions [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/51hROECydxs/mqdefault.jpg)
✨ Being morally gray does not make you character automatically interesting ✨
This 100%!
When I try to make a morally gray character, I just end up not liking them personally and think they are just an annoying asshole. It's a really art making them work well.
THANK YOU
I kind of feel like it's hard to make a truly 'gray' character. You need to show flawed behaviors/beliefs... but you also need to make sure the flaws they exhibit aren't bad enough to turn a reader off. But then you also need to make their good traits realistic, and not accidentally create someone whose flaws are grossly overshadowed to a point where why even have flaws at all?
@@majones117 SK had the same problems with Roland after he sacrificed Jake for the dark tower in the Gunslinger. If you've got a real story, it might be worth it to press ahead with it.
"Morally gray characters"
Zuko: Hey, Zuko here.
That's rough, buddy.
I need to find the avatar
I... wouldn't say he was morally gray? For him, he was doing the right thing. Before his turnaround, he had been indoctrinated to believe in the greatness of the Fire Nation, which would make capturing the Avatar, who seeks to stop it, seem like a necessity.
Unless the whole fire nation is supposed to be morally gray.
@@virginiafernandez6846 oh yeah that's true. It's kinda hard to decide tho
Zuko really isn't gray though. The whole reason he gets banished is because he tried to do the right thing and spoke out inappropriately. Even when he's hunting Aang, there are lines he never crosses. Zuko wants to do the right thing, he just starts off misguided as to what the right thing is (pleasing his Dad).
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
Omg yes!
@Evamaren Cough *celaena sardothien* Cough
@@aaryasharma9781 Even her name is infuriating, honestly
@@jagodadelega8130 tell me about it....i seriously *cannot* tolerate her....
Ah yes, this is the reason I can't stand many chinese novels.
Suggestion: Dear Authors... Humor ??? (Not just actual comedy books, but about writing humor in novels in general.)
Would love a discussion on that!
Kind of wonder if humor is a good way to do that. Dark/dirty joke exchanges with a friend or regular at the bar could probably show at least a little of their viewpoint without needing to be an asshole to people.
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.
I don't think every story has to make you root for the protagonist.
@@ceve true. But part of me always sympathizes with the main character. I couldn't read a book with the main character being someone I hate and despise. Just a personal preference.
@@masonroland6396 shameless self promotion.
I'm not really sure about that. In terms of how a character is received, the reader is half of the equation. A good writer may be able to write people who do bad things in a way that makes sense, but being able to understand why someone does bad things isn't necessarily going to make you like them or think they should succeed.
Greene Daniel is morally grey character XD
The disheveled goblin himself 😂😂
Cough *Agent 47* cough
He's such a blank canvas that I don't know what category of morally grey characters he fits in. I hope in Hitman 3 the writers explore his 'good' side.
I thought everyone was morally gray.....
@@priyankvora No, his doppelganger. The real Daniel, Daniel Greene, is friendly. However, Greene Daniel is morally grey.
Actually Greene Daniel is just an alias of the dark lord called Disheveled Goblin
the Picture of Dorian Morally Gray
Dorian is more of a villain than morally grey though
@@marigabyteyssier2279 lord henry is the real villain tho 👀
@@cookiejar.mp3 i blame basil for painting the damn thing
@@apocalypsereading7117 nah, it was henry, he made dorian evil
@@apocalypsereading7117 basil was just being gay and chilling, Henry decided to mess w/ dorian's psyche for fun, I can't vibe w/ henry
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.
Spoilers!
Like blowing up prim
AGREEEEE
@@user-ch9zm8jf6z Spoilers!
But he didn't blow up Prim! He was an inventor! President Coin was the one that made the call to use the device in such a way. I don't know why people hate Gale so much. He's practically the Tony Stark of their world. He makes inventions for a cause that he believed in. It's not entirely his fault that he trusted in the wrong person. (I was team dump both of them, but I found Katniss's reasoning for despising Gale a bit unreasonable.)
I disagree that make him morally grey. Being morally grey is either doing something bad for a good reason or something good for a bad reason. e.g. Snape ends up turning on Voldermort cause his love gets killed... but up until that point, he was OK with the murder of her child and husband. The bomb Gale thinks up isn't used by him. So his intentions are "good", and his actions aren't bad.
OMG, loved the little "morally gray" laugh after saying "He doesn't get a kick out of kicking puppies" I noticed. I appreciated it.
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.
I mostly don't even define what trope I'm following. I'm just writing different characters (which should feel like real humans).
Same here!
Same haha!
That's the same theory that I have. What is my biggest fear is that the characters are stereotypical anyway
@@havewissmart9602 Oh, believe me, I have this fear too)
I do that, too. By the end, I might be able to pinpoint a trope it happens to fit, but I don't go into it thinking "I'm writing this trope". I'm just writing.
I was today year's old when I found out that Americans spell grey different to UK
Me too, I had to Google it because I see it spelled both ways and didn't know what was right
I'm from the US, but have always spelled grey the Queen's way. ;) I used to spell other words like, colors/coloures, but my teachers didn't like that. I think it's from reading a lot of UK writers early on.
Non-native English speaker taught by British teachers: we all know, because grey is right and gray is just... American.
@@pipitameruje 😂
"Whiskey" vs "Whisky": Depends on whether the country producing it has an 'e' in it 😅
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.
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.
This also made me think of Clarke from the 100
I think that Battlestar Galactica is full of morally grey characters like that. I haven't gotten very far in the show, but the characters already made numerous hard choices that likely came at the cost of numerous lives. The best part is, as you pointed out, you feel like you'd have done the same thing, but the show lets you come to your own conclusions.
Zuko!
@@masonroland6396 no
"Welcome back to yet another episode of Merphy Napier compelling her viewers to read The Gentlemen Bastards and anything and everything by Brandon Sanderson"😂✌️🖤
I bought a paperback copy of Lies of Locke Lamora, so it worked.
@@MetalGildarts ikr!!
@@MetalGildarts same XD
How about a wizard named, Gandalf the Morally Grey?
LMAO
He did seem quite willing to send those poor defenseless hobbits off to do his dirty work for him when he had all those magic powers and could probably have done the whole thing without danger.
@@toshomni9478 No actually the "poor defenseless hobbits" actually chose to go themselves.
And no one powerful could take the One Ring or it'd destroy them.
Including Gandalf.
Or the Eagles.
Frodo had to go.
@Mako Cat His love of the Halfling's leaf has clearly slowed his mind.
Gandalf the Morally gay
Favorite morally gray character: Kaz Brekker!
Six of Crows is literally a few steps away from me yet I still forget to get started on the book.
Why am I like this.
My favorite is Punisher.
Ooooooo I love that character too!😃😁
I started six of crows a while ago but only got a chapter in a half in, is it worth it to start again?
@@Abi-tm1fj Absolutely. I’ll admit the first bit of the book can be hard to get through, especially if you’re new to the grishaverse. It was hard for me to get through the first little bit too, but now it’s one of my favourite fantasy books. I would definitely recommend giving it another try.
Hot take: uncle Iroh is a morally gray character and really well done one
I think I get where you’re going, but care to elaborate?
Yes! I feel like most people sort of gloss over the whole "used to be a war lord until he lost his son" thing xD
I think he could have been if they had spent a lot more time on his actual arc and been more honest about his youth, indoctrination, disillusionment, etc. Unfortunately we don't actually SEE him make that many life-altering decisions. By the time he becomes Zuko's mentor, he's already saved the dragons from going extinct, lost his son, traveled in the spirit world, abandoned his claim to the throne, and dedicated his life to loving and guiding Zuko. Most of his character happened before the show began. over the course of the show he goes from being wise and helpful Uncle to officially taking a stance against his nation officially in defense of the spirits and balance in the world. He is clearly a man who's learned a lot from his mistakes, but I don't know if he's morally gray. I can't even think of any times he actually does the wrong thing in the TV show other than arguably the flashback when he's a general laughing about burning down a city.
Uncle Iroh is a lot like Dalinar from SA I feel. Very morally grey but also so likeable it's hard to see them as bad people xD
@@dolphinsky24 Uncle Iroh is a war criminal and a big part of Fire nation's imperialist Conquest. The fact that he was a nice person in his private life doesn't mean that his actions didnt damage the world a lot. And of course, he Works to undo some of the harm he caused by becoming a better person and helping the earth kingdom to retake Ba Sing Se ( in amazing poetic justice and all) but even so,we cant forget he has his fair share of responsability in the destruction of countless lives in the earth kingdom and in the southern water tribe. Because besides being a general he was also part of the Royal fire family and Azulon's heir nevetheless
I think scar from fullmetal alchemist was perfect morally grey character . Things he was doing was actually evil but his motivations was justified.
yes!! fullmetal alchemist is amazing! as is scar
@Mako Cat yeah right , i think in fullmetal alchemist they give so much depth to their characters but we don't get enough time to spent with the characters.
Cause greed was portrayed as morally grey but he never do something which was actually bad or harm someone
@@karlatran9316 me too
@@karlatran9316 me too!! but my favorite characters are edward, alfonse, the teacher, and winry
@@mireilleoppenheimer6662 mine was alfonze, greed , ling armstrong and roy and almost everybody
This kind of reminds me a bit of Teresa from the Maze Runner (especially Scorch Trials and Death Cure). She was willing to sacrifice her friends, the people who saved her life, even the boy she loved, because she was convinced she was doing the right thing. She wanted to save humanity and was willing to use whatever means to get there. Perhaps the methods were inhuman, but she thought she was on the right side. I was so pissed when she betrayed them, but it wasn't a super gut punch because I saw it coming. The writing was on the wall. She was never fully a Glader, nor was she completely supportive of Thomas' decisions. And by the end, she was still sticking to her moral code, spouting the doctrine of WICKD till her death.
I love "necessary monster" type of characters. Especially, when we either grow to understand them through the story or there is a plot twist that's revealing that character we considered "evil" actually has motivations that completely change our view of them. I would give two excellent examples from danganronpa series, but unfortunately spoilers and I don't want to ruin this game to anyone.
YES, I’ve noticed that Danganronpa has really well written characters that have interesting motivations and (for the characters that have confirmed backstories) really interesting backstories that really explain how they got to where they are.
“They don’t get a kick out of genocide, it’s not fun for them, but it’s the necessary evil”
Eren: 👀
LMAO
Ahhh I love these dear authors! They help me so much in my writing!
Yes, so agree!!
A dear authors on anti-heroes would be great.
I just love a thief with a moral compass :)
not Robin Hood like though
Robin Hood it is realy good afcorse.
@@IamnotfromUSA Yes of course :)
I just mean a thief who steals for himself and for fun
@@lufro5353 with that I agree.
10:50
I disagree. A morally grey character who refuses to learn from their mistakes isn't "dumb" nor are they villains either. If anything, a morally grey character who refuses to acknowledge their actions don't match their beliefs is the definition of cognitive dissonance.
People who want to see themselves as good while ignoring the not so good things they do or who justify the not so good things they do have a desire to see themselves as good no matter what they do. It would be fun to explore the intentions of why being seen as good is more important to them than dismissing them as being "dumb".
A good example of this is Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos. People to this day call her a sociopath, a narcissist, and a manipulator after the truth of Theranos was revealed to the public, but if you watch the HBO doc about the people who knew her or gave her funding for Theranos they tell a different story. Many say she was passionate, intelligent, and determined to change the world of health care. Though Elizabeth's actions didn't match her ideals of changing healthcare for the better, there are still some people in her past that think her heart was in the right place and that she got swept up in doing bad things.
Spoiler-ish comment:
Eren Jaeger from SnK is a very well done morally grey character.
no spoilers, but yes, i agree. even though he makes bad decisions, he has a reason.
One of my favorite characters is Jaime Lannister and he ends up explaining how people end up becoming morally grey in the text.
"So many vows...they make you swear and swear. Defend the king. Obey the king. Keep his secrets. Do his bidding. Your life for his. But obey your father. Love your sister. Protect the innocent. Defend the weak. Respect the gods. Obey the laws. It's too much. No matter what you do, you're forsaking one vow or the other.”
Most moral choices are a trade off of sorts and what you judge to be best may have a down side, which might be the only thing you are remembered by, not to mention others may disagree on the up side as well.
You also a lot of times have no choice but to pick between bad options. Obey your king or your rebel lord? Both may be wrong or right on some part, either way you are bringing war to the common people who will suffer and if your side loses you are a traitor and may have to become an outlaw. It's hard to be an upstanding citizen even if you try.
It's always about choices and their consequences, or rather, which consequences a character is more willing/prepared to withstand.
Also: "What could be worse than having to choose between two evils?" (Kamski, Detroit: Become Human)
Yesss, I love Jaime Lannister! Such a great character.
He pushed a 10 year old out of a window
I haven't finished the video yet but there's a very interesting morally grey character in a German book series called "Alea Aquarius" , he follows his own goals and doesn't take a particular side, he's his own side with tendencies that can be in favour of one or the other.
SPOILERS:
He saved the main character's life several times, for the selfish reason of getting something called the Silver Cloak, which lets you see in the future and would finally give him his rightful place as the prince of his folk. It's really interesting because you never know weather you should trust him. In a recent twist he bonded with someone the mc is looking for and this person has become so important to him that he gave up his goal to protect them. I really enjoy watching him shift and evolve, instead of just staying the same.
... I'm really bad at explaining-
Wow, what a coincidence. I've been wanting to find out how to write morally grey characters XD
Or Damon Salvatore from the show The Vampire Diaries. Love him as a complicated morally gray character
I was waiting for someone to mention him XD
And Klaus of course!
Love Damon! He was so much better developed than the surface level Stefan!!
TVD characters have killed way too many people to be gray anything. xD
Everyone is grey in TVD. Well, Matt is white, I think, but only him.
Merphy! You need to start a podcast!!!
rowan damisch from the scythe trilogy is pretty morally grey!
Generally I believe that Grey characters are more closer to the Neutral allignments (lawful, chaotic, true) than others. Characters on the Good or Evil spectrum of allignments have a moral code that is higher than themselves.
The no-judgement from the author is something I HIGHLY agree with. However judgement from other characters are completely fine as long as it comes from that character and not the author using them as a surrogate mouthpiece.
Lawful and chaotic are also moral codes that are higher than the person that holds them.
Thank you for reminding me about alignments! I find these so helpful for characters. Appreciated. 🤩
This video actually helped me construct one of my characters in a better way!!
Thanks....😀
For morally gray characters, I'm gonna recommend HunterxHunter. Only one of the five members of the main cast doesn't fall into any sort of morally gray standpoint, and a lot of the villains are also morally gray.
@Tom Ffrench i would say hisoka is morally grey as well.
@Tom Ffrench The fifth member is Tonpa. Very morally grey character.
@Tom Ffrench How'd you forget the greatness of Tonpa!? Shame on you!
Jk.
@Tom Ffrench I think he meant Leorio, as he's a good guy all around. Hisoka is a scumbag all around, its just his quirks and charisma that keeps him entertaining to watch nonetheless.
Merphy thank you for all the work you put into these videos (reading the comments, summarizing, giving examples etc.)!
Also (not the biggest takeaway from the video) you changed the position of the Austen + Alcott collections and Peter Pan - because that has to be in the centre, agreed (no offense to the other mentioned, amazing authors).
I read the Lies of Locke Lamora this year because of your channel, and I can say it’s amazing and has the best morally gray characters as well. I’m so happy I read it and cannot wait to finish the rest of the series!!
This is one of my favorite dear authors videos! Thank you!
Thanks so much for toning down the beep when a comment or box shows on the screen. My autistic heart is so grateful I can continue watching this amazing series! You guys are amazing
Was excited for this but didn't expect it to be so insightful. Loved it
Fitz chivalry farseer from the farseer trilogy. Thats about as morally grey as it gets lol
The funny thing is - to me - that the people who can end up leaving the most devastation in a person or people's lives, are the good ones, the ones we love, who can truly ruin us. The bad we expect it, and the grey keep it level so that if we start to expect the good, it's soon reminded to us that, while we may like the, we can't rely on them. "If you do good, people expect good" - Damon Salvator The Vampire Diaries, and maybe it's true, the gray people are the damaged people who feel they're just not strong enough to do good, even if they might want to at times, hence why they're shifting between the two worlds.
"I am dishonest. And a dishonest person you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you have to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly stupid."
@@themisha1705 The wise philosopher Jack Sparrow
00:45 "everyone is selfish sometimes..." and some people are fans of Ayn Rand who thinks the self is also a person whose interests are worth serving too.
You must be a Terry Goodkind fan...not that there's anything wrong with that.
@@tbone6924 nope who dat
@@vulkanofnocturne lol....you went from a coherent statement about an obscure philosopher, to "who dat"...did your meds just kick in?
@@tbone6924 YES STOP SHAMING ME FOR MY MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES REEEEE
@@tbone6924 Ayn Rand is not an obscure philosopher lol, she’s more famous than Goodkind
Yesssss! Another Dear Authors video!!!
Ohhh yessss, I was waiting for this video for so long cuz my favorite part about books is when a character is entangled in a weird situation about morals or something special (could be anything)
Can we just stop and appreciate her..she is one of my favorite youtubers.. I think it's something about the way she explains her point....
I was waiting for this video for such a long time... I loved it 😀😃😍
P. S I am out of ideas for books to read so any recommendations , anybody
Thought it said "morally gay" amd was WAY more interested, but gray characters sound good too, lol
bruh lmao
Same. I had to do a double take
Morally gray is popular right now, but morally GAY comes next
What does it even mean to be morally gay 😂? It actually sounds interesting!
I think Fredrik Backman nailed it with his morally gray characters. I’m currently reading Us Against You and I’m loving it!
Every time I watch your "Dear Authors..." video I think you should read the Witcher, because so many things that you mention are done exactly right in these books... The characters are just so human and flawed and feel so real.
A Song Of Ice and Fire: The fictional place where everyone is morally grey.
@Harry Paul Of cource, sorry I meant fiction where everyone is grey...
No the Starks are very clearly white. They have to be because part of Martin's theme is that good guys can't govern well.
@@robertblume2951 while I would agree they are the most like “a good guy” in the story, I don’t think I see them as completely white. They make some horrible/selfish decisions too.
@@Ponderingbooks why does that matter? All heroes throughout time have had flaws. Only saints were morally pure. White/black mortality has to have failures for white/black to even matter. Being good has to be a struggle.
Also like I said they have to be good because part of George's theme is that Good people don't make good rulers.
@@robertblume2951 I think you should look deeper in their POVs...They aren't Dire Wolves for not reason. Martin himself has said that all of his characters are grey even the seemingly evil and the seemingly good. He hates white characters. The TV show made them white, in the books they are all grey. It's very anti Martin to have most of his protagonists as white...
I think most of the really good depictions of morally gray characters utilize the same tool as good depictions of villains: they are still the hero of their own story. They are gray because their idea of "right" does not match the common one in their society and they are thus part of an "ideological" conflict. Historically moral and philosophy is full of situations where one mans "rake" is anothers inspiring hero.
Dalinar partly benefits from this. Through large parts of his backstory he still has good reasons (to him) for doing what he is doing.
Oh my gosh thank you so much for including my comment!!! I love your videos and analysis!! I love this video and everything you touch on is spot on!! Such a big fan thanks so much again!!
I was waiting for this video. Love your channel.
Been WAITING for this!
This really explains why Damon Salvatore is a great grey charecter
Clark: The 100 is my favorite morally gray character of all time..
she is a very well written character indeed
as a brit im disturbed by the spelling of "grey"
Downvoted and reported
As an American, I am disturbed by anyone from anywhere who doesn't have the decency to have a basic grasp of grammar. :)
dude its just for the ✨aesthetic✨ also check your username
I'm American, and I was taught that "Grey" is the color, and "Gray" is the name. Funny difference, huh?
As a French person, I just realized there are two ways of spelling grey/gray. And I was fine with both all this time.
Love this series. Thank you!!
I was thinking about the Sci-Fi TV show - the 100. Everyone there is a morally gray character. They don't start this way but are forced to do terrible things to survive and I loved it.😈☺️ Really recommend it.💛
I totally agree. The 100 is the best when it comes to that.
I totally agree. The 100 is the best when it comes to that.
Clarke from The 100 (show not book) is a morally grey character which I think was done well. She tries to do the right thing and help people but she repeatedly does terrible things but you can always see why she did them :"I bear it so they don't have to."
if a morally grey character meets their love interest and immediately becomes a good person i swear i’ll put the book down every time
It seems like starting with morally grey characters as a goal is somewhat flawed. A better place to start might be to give your characters strong motivations and then pit them against suitable obstacles that challenge their beliefs.
Eren Jager is the definition of morally grey
Love you Murphy thank you for your videos.
Im an aspiring author, and these videos have GREATLY improved on my writing
Merphy my phone autocorrected im sorry
Comes to my mind Lelouch from Code Geass and Fuuma Monou from X. Those 2 OMG!! Some of the BEST MORALLY GRAY CHARCTERS IN MANGA EVER!!
Morally grey characters is just another way to say *human* characters. All humans are morally grey. Even though some might seem more good or bad than others, "everyone's the hero of their own story" is what comes to mind here. Even the most vile of villains will find a way to justify their actions. Just like the most pure and moral characters can have moments where they do something wrong. Being morally grey doesn't always have to mean they're a bad person. It just means they make mistakes and are complex. Which of course makes for more interesting, nuanced characters to read!
"Even the most vile of villains will find a way to justify their actions" - I actually disagree. The "villain is a hero of their own story" is one that often isn't true to life.
Far from justifying their actions, many people who do horrible things will divorce themselves from the need to justify themselves. They'll deny whatever harm they caused, either because they don't care or because they genuinely disassociate from their own actions. Some of the vilest humans on earth did what they did because it felt good to them at the time. Screw the consequences, screw justification, some people genuinely just don't care.
@@jakerockznoodles fair point! I didn't mean that they justify their actions as morally right. Just that they have a justification for their actions. That their actions have a reason behind it, if that makes sense? The Joker creates chaos - and his justifications are that he wants to create chaos and see the world burn. It's not that he sees that as 'right' or 'good' - but it's a motivation, a justification, that suits the ideals of his perspective.
And like your point about vile people doing something because 'it felt good to them at the time' - that's a justification too. So is disassociation and not caring. They're justifications for why they're not acting in a strictly moral sense, but it explains why they act that way.
Anyway, I'm not sure if I explained myself properly haha but thanks for countering my point!
I'd give anything for Merphy to read the book I'm writing and give me feedback.
Really good stuff! As someone who's writing an antihero, thank you.
Moash totally fits this. He is constantly moralizing his actions and is quite rational in how he goes about it.
Less grey now, though. :P
@@thomasjoychild4962 true. I definitely feel a lot less empathy for him now after book 4.
My comment made it in? I’m going to cry!
Thanks, Merph♥️
I love this series so much!
Great morally grey characters I can think of are Captain Flint from Black Sails, and Wei Wuxian from MDZS (or The Untamed). Both people making decisions for understandable reasons (especially from their point of view) and doing truly terrible things in the process. In both narratives, there is a lot of reflection on what it means to be 'good' or 'bad' and what it means to have a reputation and to have other people tell your story. And unsurprisingly I love both characters. So good. Great video!!
a morally gray character that i love is Kaz from Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I would be rlly interested to hear your thoughts about the duology. I really love your channel! Thanks for everything u do in here! xx
Oh my goodness. I love the gray area cat
I’ve never viewed Dalinar as gray, but then I also finished my first read of Oathbringer last week and haven’t been thinking about Dalinar’s character much since then...
I _do_ love his arc, though.
Bad authors make the character either an innocent ball of sunshine that doesn’t do anything bad or their an apathetic edge lord that doesn’t care about humanity, apparently there’s no in between
You could wright such characters for a particular purpose tho
I’d love to see and edge lord that is a huge animal lover
I just love your videos, are amazing
your Dear Authors series always makes me think about my own writing lol
it's probably the most useful series about writing on youtube atm
One of my favorite morally gray characters (or at least one I read as morally gray), is Javert from Les Miserables. He's clearly the antagonist, but he's not a villain. He has a very strong moral code that he adheres to - it's just one that we can see as readers prioritizes The Law over real humanity.
This entire video, when we got to the actual correctly written moral gray characters, I was thinking of characters from the tv show The 100. Clarke and Murphy particularly came to mind.
I'm not going to explain anything, but if anyone here has seen the show, you will understand and probably had similar thinking to me. Murphy being the rationalized one (who makes selfish inhuman decisions but rationalizes them) and Clarke being the necessary monster (who doesn't want to do the evil things but does because it is the necessary evil.
Time stamp: 7:42
Also, I loved this video so much! 💖
Smart Hydra the entire video i was thinking the exact same thing! The end of season 2 had me shook i was like how was i rooting for these people the whole time? I love how the characters in the 100 always have to make impossible decisions
Clarke Griffin is my favourite morally gray character. She's just the perfect shade of gray, you know?
Yes I was thinking if Clarke as well!
I agree with all of u guys! ❤
When you were talking about understanding why a character becomes the “necessary evil” all I could think of was Thanos
She is literally one of my favourite book tubers 🤩 something about the way she talks about books I just like .... there is one thing missing.... more videos about Percy Jackson🤣🤣🤣 srsly though imagine the same kind of hp content she does but its pjo 😲 I do understand if she s not a big fan of the series since it is for younger audience ..... but still 😍😍😍imagine
Aaaaaaah you reminded me of the Lies of Locke Lamora and how much I love it. Father Chains is perhaps the ultimate morally gray charater, no?
The whole opening I was thinking about Dalinar (I'm rereading the books atm), and then he was your first example :p
Love this analysis! And how well a morally grey (the one acting for selfish reasons) character and an anti hero go well together (at least my picture of an anti hero).
I like heros who are snarky and sarcastic like; Dante(DMC), Gabriel Van Helsing, Burt Gummer, and Ash Williams. Somebody who mocks villains, but would still jump into a burning building to save people.
Not related to the video but your voice is so soothing.
I LOVE how sassy you are in this video 😂
I've seen a couple of other comments recommending attack on titan, and I would like to add onto that. Attack on titan is filled to the brim with GREY. Not just the main character, not just the villains, but the world itself is grey. It starts off as a simple shonen, with eren being rather generic, altho slightly unusual even back then. The world starts off as black and white, good guys and bad guys, and the show slowly shifts from that into a complex narrative with sociopolitical undertones. Eren yeager (the MC) is definitely an amazing and layered character, but so are many others, including the ones who we thought were the bad guys. Many stories make the villains sympathetic. AOT makes it so you don't know who tf is the villain. Almost everyone is flawed, and flawed in a way that actually impacts the plot and other characters. No one is innocent, and they are all shaped by the world they live in
One of my favourite fictional characters ever is Dr. Gregory House, a true morally grey character. I relate to him so much in that every one of his flaws is something I have struggled with in some way. Seeing a more unhealthy version of myself has been both fascinating and terrifying, and also helped me to have a better appreciation for the emotions of others. He's funny, he's interesting to analyse, and I think watching him has made me a better person in some ways.
I feel some really good example of shows, specifically anime that are full of morally gray characters are Madoka Magica and Fate / Zero, so many characters with interesting perspectives. It really is interesting to view their characters circumstances from so many different view points
I hope you eventually give the Witcher another shot, there are some great characters to discuss in terms of morality.
Also the Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett do this thing, where they paint the enemy as "Big Bad" in the first book, and in the second book we get his POV, making him much more relatable (yet still disturbing) character.
A great example of moral greyness is in the skullduggery pleasant novels. The main characters tell the world around them that they are violent and fighting the good fight so that others don't have to, but it's constantly toyed with that they actually enjoy the fighting they engage in, as well as their worse acts. They also often compromise, letting someone die to ensure victory, or team up with prior, or even future, enemies.
However they still feel guilt when things go awry and they cause mass destruction and death.
Doctor who also does this a bit, but skullgugggery does it more consistently, probably since it is the result of a single author rather than the vision of many artists.
I find it fascinating that you jump straight to Dalinar as being your go-to Stormlight morally grey example. He’s my husband’s favorite Stormlight character (after just one book). The only other character my husband has ever claimed as a favorite from a series we’ve both read is Davos from A Song of Ice and Fire (one of the most morally good characters in the series). He compares the two a lot, so I’m curious to see how his opinion changes over the later books. 😊
One of my favorite morally grey characters is Jon from the Red Queen series. So well done. He pulls strings that create shady and dangerous plans, and yet uses his ability to keep people safe. I think think the scene in War Storm says it best. Mare hates him, and yet he saves so many people in his own twisted way. Both sides have mixed feelings for him and it’s so interesting to read.
I hate when they make a character that is basically Satan, that has slaughtered countless children and burned down several towns…and then give him a sad backstory (e.g. his parents were abusive) and claim that he’s morally ambiguous.
I read this series (trying to do this WITHOUT spoilers btw) Renegades by Marissa Meyer is the first book, and it had this charater Nova. She had a backstory that lead her to belive the "good guys" were messed up. But then she joins them as a spy, and i can't say more without spoilers but IT WAS SO GOOD
Interesting video. It's the third Dear Authors one I've watched, and I've been mining them for recommendations. Just one nitpicky criticism: it's "angsty" which is derived from the German word Angst (which covers emotions like: anxiety, worry, fear, and dread.) I'll be watching your other videos as well. Keep 'em coming.
Nita and Kovit from Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaffer are really good examples of morally grey characters