Alternate Morality

Many characters have shades of grey, not evil but not law-abiding either. How do writers convey alternate moralities to the reader? How do you write a con-man, mobster, or mercenary and make them sympathic with their own moral code (just different from the legal one?) Who are convincing characters with their own moral system?

A Balticon 57 panel, with John Scalzi, Micaiah Johnson, John Ashmead, Charles E. Gannon, and moderated by Ken Schrader.

What makes a character “morally grey”?

“Grey” is a sliding scale, so there are many ways you can judge a character.

• Within the classic Dungeons and Dragons morality scale, with “Chaotic”, “Neutral”, and “Lawful” as one axis, and “Good”, “Neutral”, and “Evil” on the other axis, one could argue that any alignment other than Neutral-Good, Lawful-Good, Neutral-Evil, and Lawful-Evil could be termed “morally grey”
• Let the reader decide! Some think any character that makes choices they wouldn’t are morally grey… (or wrong), while others draw the line at “harming others”
• With a “territorial” perspective, any boundary crossing would be pushed back violently, while a more “tribal” perspective encourages social norms, with more wiggle room
• Perhaps it’s just a character saying one thing, while doing another — depending on the intent behind the action

Why do we like “morally grey” characters?

As Scalzi says, as humans, we are all morally grey. Tricksters have been in our stories from the beginning: from Coyotee to Bugs Bunny, they show us underdogs with the ability to improvise and make the best of a situation.

Micaiah Johnson reminded us that Bugs Bunny was inspired by the tales of Briar Rabbit. And that we like rooting for the trickster… so long as they’re tricking those in power. When the underdog doesn’t have the ability to face their opponent in a fair fight, due to power or tools or whatever, then trickery and rules bending is the only option.

Charles Gannon pointed out that in the real world, in this information age, the truth is harder to find — as are absolutes. Determining if our actions are all right, or all wrong gets murkier every day, so it’s easy to sympathize with characters in these situations.

John Ashmead objected to the term in general. He prefers the ordinary human with a sense of honor and fair play. But, it’s always enjoyable to watch the scoundrel forced to choose between the right thing and the money.

Has the “morally grey” line moved?

Where once we had stories with Han Solo (of Star Wars), these days, our grey heroes are more like Walter White (of Breaking Bad). Has the line changed? Or are we picking and choosing examples?

The line hasn’t changed. We’ve always had characters we’d trust at our backs, but not want at the dinner table, and vice versa: from Odysseus to Falstaff, from Dirty Harry to Bugs Bunny. These ambiguous characters are often critical for moving the plot forward. Sometimes as the protaganist, and sometimes in the support role, because some characters are fun to watch, and some are those we, as readers, can identify with.

One of the ways things have changed is who we allow to be morally grey — while still being loved. In earlier times, the woman, the minority who was morally grey was the irredeemable villain.

Why are some characters morally grey?

Those characters who are neither all “good” nor all “bad” are termed “morally grey”, because they stand outside of the binary. Likewise, there is no right or wrong way to become morally grey.

• Nature – born that way
• Nurture – made that way — by people, systems, or settings
• By putting characters that seemed to be all good or bad into a situation that tests their beliefs
• Some are what John Ashmead suggests we call “virtue fluid” — with their adherence to a moral code as good as their blood sugar or sleep levels — or circumstances in general
• Because the author needed to keep the story going to pay off their gambling debts
• By comparison — sure, they did horrible things, but horrible things were done to them, so they’re not alone
• Morality is often determined by circumstances + biology + physiology

How to handle conflicting moralities

Author recommendation: Chad Oliver (Short stories, including: Bloods of Rover)

These can be fun stories to explore. Creating (or exploring) how two (or more) different morality systems interact. While ‘first contact’ stories can often end up with colonialist approaches, they don’t have to.

While not all villains are redeemable, most must be able to at least rationalize their actions to themselves. And — while not always the case — the shape of the villain often influences the shape of their protagonist. The more morally ambiguous the villain, the more morally ambiguous the “hero”.

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All of the authors on the panel enjoyed playing with their own morally grey characters.

Do you have any favorite morally grey characters?