Alex Grenn '23
Editor in Chief
Villainous love interests have always existed in literature for all ages and across all genres. I mean, what could be more exciting than characters with rebellious and sometimes villainous traits? These characters have been dubbed “morally gray.” But has morally gray gone too far?
Many readers out there think that morally gray characters are “fun,” “exciting” and “not that bad.” But I believe that it has gone beyond what can be acceptably considered morally gray. Beware, there may be spoilers ahead!
Initially, morally gray characters were created to either get the ball rolling when introducing a new character or starting a new adventure. They were used to give protagonists a new and unique challenge that they had to overcome over the course of the novel. These morally gray characters became instantly popular, especially among teens, young adults and new adults.
This growing popularity of morally gray characters has pushed authors to include them more and more to the point where I believe that morally gray characters are now being used just for the sake of being morally gray. More often, morally gray characters are becoming less and less important to the plot but are still being added because they boost the popularity of the book. It has come to the point where these morally gray characters are becoming unrealistic and unbelievable.
Not only that, but morally gray characters are becoming more extreme in attempts to add some spice to the book. But this additional “spice” is taking the form of a villain disguised as “morally gray.” While a morally gray character was once considered someone who was a little defiant, unruly, sarcastic and at times cruel, morally gray characters are now, among most, murderers. There are a lot of morally gray actions, but I do not consider murder to be one of them.
An example of a character that has been dubbed “morally gray” is the Darkling from the popular book series, now TV show, “Shadow and Bone” by Leigh Bardugo. If you have read the book or watched the show, it is apparent that the Darkling is incredibly cunning and has hurt others in order to achieve his end goal of world domination, including imposing control over the main heroine of the series: Alina Starkov. While some argue that the Darkling is morally gray because he is misunderstood and alone, I do not believe the ends justify the means.
He went about murdering thousands of innocents, dividing a country and enslaving the girl he claims to love and openly desires to possess all in the name of becoming the ultimate dictator of this fictional world. This is not only unhealthy, but it is also plain evil.
This issue can be found with many other popular young adult and new adult series today. Characters that are blatant villains are being given the title “morally gray” undeservingly. This can be incredibly harmful to younger readers digesting these types of novels for the first time.
True morally gray characters present how there are many people in the world who have different backgrounds and experiences which can shape their personality. Although these personalities can border on the line of morality, their ends do justify the means and they turn out to have good intentions in the end. Not only does it open readers’ eyes to some hard realities in the world, it is also a harmless way to add some exciting banter and tension between the morally gray character and the protagonist.
Oftentimes these morally gray characters are marketed as love-interests. However, with the development of more extreme “morally gray” characters that are bordering on being obvious villains, it can be perceived that unhealthy treatment toward a protagonist is a display of ideal love, especially to younger readers.
This is seen in both fantasy and realistic-fiction romance books such as the “Shatter Me” series by Tahereh Mafi and “It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover. Both of these books have love interests that are marketed as morally gray, but are clearly abusive and blatantly cruel to the protagonist. This romanticizes this type of treatment which can lead to younger readers subconsciously associating that type of abusive behavior with love.
I will be honest and say that I am a true lover of morally gray characters. However, I understand the difference between a true morally gray character and a villain. Currently, the guidelines for “morally gray” have been extended and manipulated to the point where it can be harmful to portray such a cruel and abusive character as a reasonable love interest for the protagonist.
Regardless of these flaws, keep loving what you love and reading the books you enjoy to read, but keep in mind—murder is not morally gray, it is just wrong.