How to Write Morally Gray Heroes (AKA Antiheroes)

Last post I discussed how to write a villain that would be considered pure evil while still being realistic. And for today’s post, I really wanted to discuss the idea of writing a morally gray hero and how to write morally gray heroes. These heroes are often called antiheroes as well, because they exhibit neither fully heroic characteristics nor fully villainous characteristics. These are also my absolute favorite type to write because you can get really creative with them. In fact, almost all of my main characters in The Fallen Age Saga are of this character type.

Writing a morally gray hero is actually not super complicated, because you have to think more about how to make your character less like a hero and less like a villain. You’re basically writing a combination of both. However, there’s a few ways you can ensure that your character is a properly written morally gray character.

1. Morally Gray Heroes Work for a Good End Result

The key thing to take away from this point is the idea that the end result they strive to achieve is a good one. Now, that doesn’t mean the antihero will be working towards this result via good methods. Think of Deadpool from the Marvel world for instance: He definitely doesn’t do nice things all the time, but he ultimately works towards a relatively good goal. For the most part anyways.

The morally gray hero will commit immoral actions sometimes, such as murder, in order to obtain what they view to be the most proper end result.

Here’s another example: Azurai from my series, The Fallen Age Saga. Azurai is what I would call a morally gray character because he’s not really evil but he’s not really good either. Azurai is willing to kill a lot of people but he views it all as in good faith because the result he’s trying to obtain is technically the best one for the world.

When you think about it, it’s really tied into the principle of utilitarianism, which you’ll learn about if you take an ethics course. Basically, what benefits the greater good is what you strive to achieve. For example, if you have a sinking boat and you can only save 200 out of 800 people, you’d opt to save the 200 even though 600 will die. The greater good in this case would be to save as many as you can, even if it’s a small fraction. 25% is better than 0% in the eyes of utilitarianism.

Keep this ethical principle in mind when you write your character, as it can help you understand their motivations!

2. Give Your Antihero a Realistic Backstory

I know this might be redundant at this point, but a realistic backstory is the hallmark of a proper character. Without a backstory, why would your character even care to do what they’re doing?

I’ll analyze the main character of Book 2 of my series, Soldat. Joel Vandernord is a former member of the United States Army who joined the private military company called Blackridge. Now, Joel is what you would call a very morally gray character. Joel is very convinced that he is doing the right thing and that he’s fighting the good fight no matter what he does. Even if he tortures and kills, Joel believes that he is in the right spot when it comes to his actions.

But why? What motivates Joel to do all of this? Well, Joel’s family was murdered in front of him when he was just 10. He went through a very difficult time in foster care and had a crippling drug addiction from a young age. Joel latched onto the identity and brotherhood he got with Blackridge and he believed that everything he did there had a purpose. Blackridge gave Joel this sense of ultimate purpose.

It’s important to hone your character’s backstory. If you’re not letting your reader understand why the character is the way that they are, you’re really missing out on a key connection point for your readers.

No anithero is without a history, and you need to make sure the reader knows what you know too.

3. The Morally Gray Hero Will Feel Regret Sometimes

Morally gray heroes may or may not feel regret and apprehension towards their actions. This is why I used the word ‘sometimes,’ because it depends on the characterization you give them.

For instance, if I’m writing Joel’s character in Soldat, Joel is not a psychopath. Azurai from Malware is a psychopath, hence why he’s much less disturbed by his own actions, if he’s ever disturbed by anything he does. However, Joel will have moments where he questions himself and what he’s doing.

However, most writers don’t opt to write psychopaths because they can be a bit complicated and it’s harder to give them likeable qualities (but I’ll explain how you can do that in a later post). Either way, your morally gray hero will sometimes feel like they might be taking things too far.

If they wage war on another country, they might see the horrors of the war and feel regret for what they’ve done. However, that regretful feeling might go away if they see that their actions have caused some sort of chance in the positive direction.

Whatever the action may be, if it’s a violent one, the morally gray hero will likely have instances of regret and remorse, but will ultimately feel that they made the proper decision. Or they might come to change their personalities completely. This just comes along naturally with your character.

Hopefully this helps you understand how to write morally gray heroes and hopefully you’ll try your hand out at writing one too!

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