Writing Morally Grey Characters: A Fresh Take on Shades of Complexity
Morally grey characters are captivating because they refuse to be boxed into hero or villain roles. Learn five unconventional ways to create unforgettable, layered characters whose choices blur the lines between right and wrong, from shifting morality to justifiable betrayals, and how to make their endings open to interpretation. These tips will help you write characters who feel real and complex.
WRITING & EDITING
Writing Morally Grey Characters: A Fresh Take on Shades of Complexity
In fiction, few things are more compelling than a character who refuses to fit neatly into the categories of hero or villain. Morally grey characters don’t just blur the lines between right and wrong—they walk those lines, stumble over them, and sometimes, intentionally erase them.
But writing a compelling morally grey character isn’t just about giving a hero a dark side or making a villain sympathetic. It’s about crafting layered individuals whose choices feel real, justified, and often unsettlingly understandable.
So, let’s dive into five unconventional ways to make your morally ambiguous characters unforgettable.
1. Make Morality a Moving Target
Most characters believe they are the hero of their own story—but for morally grey characters, that story keeps changing. Unlike purely good or evil figures, their sense of morality is often situational, evolving, and shaped by survival, loyalty, or personal codes.
A compelling morally grey character shouldn’t just break the rules—they should have rules of their own, even if those rules seem questionable. Maybe they’ll kill to protect their family, but they refuse to harm the innocent. Maybe they’re ruthless in business but refuse to betray a friend. Maybe they have a strong sense of honor—until survival demands otherwise.
This shifting morality doesn’t make them inconsistent; it makes them real. Because, in truth, no one is always good or always bad—we justify our actions based on what we believe at any given moment.
How to Do It:
✅ Give your character a personal code of ethics—one that makes sense to them, even if it contradicts societal norms.
✅ Challenge that code throughout the story. Push them to their limits. Will they break their own rules?
✅ Show them rationalizing their decisions—not in a forced, "tragic backstory" way, but in a manner that makes readers stop and think, Would I do the same thing?
Example: Loki (Marvel Comics & MCU)
Loki, the trickster god, plays hero, villain, and everything in between, but he always acts in his own self-interest—until his bonds with family and friends complicate things. His morality isn’t fixed—it bends, stretches, and sometimes snaps, depending on who he’s dealing with.
2. Let Their Flaws Drive Their Strengths
We often think of flaws as something to be overcome. But what if your character’s biggest strength comes because of their flaws?
A morally grey character might be ruthless, but that ruthlessness allows them to protect the people they love. They might be manipulative, but they use that skill to take down corrupt leaders. They might be selfish, but that self-preservation instinct helps them survive in impossible situations.
The key is to ensure that their strengths and flaws are intertwined—one cannot exist without the other.
How to Do It:
✅ Identify their core flaw—greed, pride, distrust, recklessness, etc.
✅ Show how that flaw gives them an advantage—perhaps it makes them strategic, fearless, or untouchable.
✅ Make sure their flaw costs them something—whether it’s relationships, peace of mind, or their own sense of identity.
Example: Kaz Brekker (Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo)
Kaz is a criminal mastermind, ruthless and willing to manipulate anyone. But his inability to trust others—while a flaw—also makes him impossible to deceive. His trauma fuels his brilliance, but it also isolates him.
3. Give Them Justifiable Betrayals
Few things sting more than betrayal—but when done right, a morally grey character’s betrayal can be justified, logical, and even heartbreakingly necessary.
A hero betraying their closest friend for the greater good.
A villain switching sides because they realize they’ve been manipulated.
A rebel abandoning their cause because they see it’s doomed.
The more understandable the betrayal, the more powerful it becomes. Readers don’t have to like it—but they should understand why it happened.
How to Do It:
✅ Give them a reason that makes emotional and logical sense—not just shock value.
✅ Make the betrayal hurt them too—morally grey characters rarely walk away unscathed.
✅ Force the reader to question what they would do in the same situation.
Example: Jaime Lannister (Game of Thrones)
Jaime’s betrayal of his king—breaking his vow as a Kingsguard—is condemned by many. But when readers learn that King Aerys was about to burn an entire city alive, suddenly, the “dishonorable” act becomes heroic in its own way.
4. Use Love as Their Weakness—or Their Weapon
A morally grey character often struggles with vulnerability, and love (whether romantic, familial, or platonic) is the ultimate test of their morality.
Will they soften when faced with someone they care about?
Will they use love as leverage to manipulate others?
Will they abandon their own desires for the sake of another?
Love can be their undoing—or the one thing that saves them from becoming irredeemable.
How to Do It:
✅ Introduce a relationship that challenges their worldview—a lover, friend, or even a child who sees the good in them.
✅ Force them to choose between love and their personal goals—what will they sacrifice?
✅ Let love become a source of tension rather than an automatic redemption arc.
Example: The Darkling (Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo)
The Darkling is powerful, intelligent, and morally ambiguous. His love for Alina is genuine—but also possessive and manipulative. He sees her as both a partner and a tool for his own ambitions. Love, for him, is both his deepest desire and his most dangerous flaw.
5. Keep Their Ending Open to Interpretation
Unlike traditional heroes or villains, morally grey characters rarely get a clean ending.
Their fate should reflect their complexity. Did they find redemption? Did they fall into darkness? Or are they still walking the line, forever balancing between both worlds?
The best morally grey characters leave lingering questions—for themselves, for the readers, and for the story’s world.
How to Do It:
✅ Don’t tie everything up neatly—morally grey characters rarely get perfect closure.
✅ Allow them to remain conflicted—maybe they changed, but not completely.
✅ Let the audience decide—was their ending justified, tragic, deserved?
Example: Walter White (Breaking Bad)
Walter’s story is a perfect example of a morally grey downfall. Did he become a villain, or was he just a man pushed to extremes? Was his fate tragic, or was it justice? There’s no easy answer, and that’s what makes his story unforgettable.
Final Thought: Moral Grey Areas Make Fiction Feel Real
In real life, people aren’t purely good or evil. We justify our decisions. We contradict ourselves. We act selfishly, then heroically, then selfishly again.
The best morally grey characters reflect this human complexity. They make us root for them, question them, love them, and sometimes, fear them.
And that’s what makes them so damn compelling.
Who’s your favorite morally grey character? Let’s discuss!
