“ | ♪Now take Sir Francis Drake, the Spanish all despise him. But to the British, he's a hero and they idolize him. It's how you look at buccaneers that makes them bad or good. And I see us as members of a noble brotherhood!♪ |
„ |
~ Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island. |
“ | I'm not evil, I'm nuanced. | „ |
~ Kevin Levin |
The "Grey Zone" is for morally-ambiguous individuals, partners in crime, families, teams, cults, gangs, imperialists, hostile species, corporations and organizations. They can be On & Off villains, Anti-Villains, Anti-Heroes, and Protagonists. It could also be a combination of these.
The main characteristic of a person or group in the "Grey Zone" is that some will consider them dangerous, criminal or "evil" while others may see them as good, scapegoats, or fighting for the right thing (even if their methods are wrong).
Some characters in fiction are deliberately designed to be in the Grey Zone and it is up to the reader, viewer or audience in total to decide if they are a "hero" or a "villain". As a result, each reader or viewer will probably have a different view of the character. V and Ozymandias are two classic examples.
Many grey zone characters are enigmatic. The enigmatic element can range from Lovecraftian horrors who possess alien morality (e.g. SCP-2521), characters whose personalities and motivations are either ambiguous or completely unknown (e.g. The Entity and Cartoon Cat), to characters whose identity is unknown and open to interpretation (e.g. Third Killer).
The most unique case about grey zone characters is that they aren't beholden to good nor evil and they can also be responsible for keeping both moralities in balance, namely both good and evil. However, on the other side of the coin is that they can seek to redeem characters as much as benevolent characters do and they can also seek to put an end to ongoing conflicts and peacefully end them.
On very rare cases, characters who are truly neutral also do exist and, examples of that are personifications of Death, Truth from Fullmetal Alchemist, and Zen-oh from Dragon Ball Super.
HIGHLY IMPORTANT: Villains that are Pure Evil can NEVER be in this category, for they remain completely irredeemable, whereas the Grey Zone belongs to morally ambiguous characters. Neutral alignment Pure Evil villains should instead fall under Neutral Evil. Even if "grey villains" commit crimes heinous enough to cross the Moral Event Horizon, there is usually an understandable reason behind said act. For instance, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Severus Snape murders Albus Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower, but then it later turns out that Dumbledore was already dying from the Marvolo Gaunt's ring curse anyway and begged Snape to give him a mercy killing.
Also, relatable villains such as tragic characters can count unless they are simply evil (Eren Yeager, Kaneki Ken, Reiner Braun). Furthermore, redeemed villains do not necessarily count unless said character was morally ambiguous before their eventual redemption (e.g. Catwoman, Kuvira, and Ajunta Pall).
See Also
All items (3017)
- A.O. Neville (Rabbit-Proof Fence)
- Aaron Burr
- Aaron Davis
- Aarti Kaushik
- Abby Anderson
- Abduwali Muse
- Abhoth
- Abigail Hobbs
- Abilisk
- Abominable Snowman (The Powerpuff Girls)
- Abraham
- Absorbing Man (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
- Absorbing Man (Marvel)
- Abyzou (The Possession)
- Acheron
- Aconcagua
- Acqua of the Back
- Acro
- Acromantula
- Acromantula Colony
- Ada Wong
- Adam "Kane" Marcus
- Adam (Hunt Down the Freeman)
- Adam Claiborne
- Adam Mitchell
- Adelaide Wilson
- Admiral Gregorio
- Adolf Hitler (Reincarnation no Kaben)
- Adrestian Empire
- Adriana Petrescu
- Adu Du
- Aeon Calcos
- AFM
- Agatha Culpepper
- Agent 17
- Agent 33 (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
- Agent 47
- Agent 48's
- Agent Clappers
- Agents Brick and Savannah
- Aggie Prenderghast
- Agâh Beyoglu
- Ahab
- Ahmed & Salim
- Ahzek Ahriman
- Aiden (Beyond: Two Souls)
- Aiden Price
- Aileen Rao
- Aina Sahalin
- Ajax (The Warriors)
- Ajax the Gorilla
- Ajay Narang
- Ajunta Pall
- Akira (Manga)
- Akira Mado
- Akito Hyuga
- Al McWhiggin
- Alan (Alantutorial)
- Alan Blunt
- Alana Bloom
- Alaskan Bull Worm
- Alastor (Hazbin Hotel)
- Albert (A Monster in Paris)
- Albert Arlington
- Albert Wesker (2021)
- Alejandro Burromuerto
- Alex Kralie
- Alex Kryeck
- Alex Romero
- Alexander (Inotia)
- Alexander Anderson
- Alexei (Saint Seiya)
- Alfred Vint Svent
- Alfried Gallant
- Alice Cooper
- Alice Spages
- Alicia Sierra
- Alien Assassin
- Alien Fruit Monster
- Aliens (Attack the Block)
- Aliens (Factorio)
- Alisha Whitley
- Alistair Krei
- Allen Avadonia
- Allen Hale
- Alliser Thorne
- Aloysius Kallig
- Alpha Series (BioShock)
- Alpha Werewolf
- Altaaf Khan
- Alucard (Hellsing)
- Alus
- Alyce
- Amanda Waller (Arrowverse)
- Amanda Waller (DC)
- Amanda Waller (Telltale)
- Amenadiel (Lucifer)
- Americop
- Amir Blumenfeld
- Amnael
- Amnesiac
- Amoeba Boys
- Amon (Legend of Korra)
- Amos Slade
- Amy Sorel
- Amy Squirrel
- Amygdala (Bloodborne)
- Ana (Horror Shop Game's The Child)
- Anan 7
- Anarky (Arkhamverse)
- Anarky (DC)
- Anastasia Tremaine
- Anathar
- Anatoly Knyazev (Arrowverse)
- Ancestral Witches
- AnCom
- Andre (Riverdale)
- Andre Kriegman & Calvin Gabriel
- Andrea Martinez
- Andreas Sanchez
- Andrew Detmer
- Andrew Dorn
- Andrew Glouberman
- Andrew Milton
- Android 16
- Andy & Chris
- Andy (Rent-A-Pal)
- Andy Hamilton
- Andy Strauss
- Angel (Dwarf Fortress)
- Angel (The King of Fighters)
- Angel Dust (Brickleberry)
- Angel Face
- Angel of Light and Shadow
- Angela Wheatley
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- Angelica Pickles
- Angelica Teach
- Angelo Bronte
- Angry Kid
- Angry Video Game Nerd
- Anguished One
- Animal Liberation Front (South Park)
- Animal-Borgs
- Animator (Animator vs. Animation)
- Animatronics (The Banana Splits Movie)
- Anna Morgan
- Anna Nishikinomiya
- Anna Williams (Tekken)
- Anne Maria
- Annie Leonhart
- Anton (Saw II: Flesh & Blood)
- Anton Mogart
- Antonio Salieri
- Anya Ragova and Marta Stevens
- Ao
- Aokiji
- Aperture Science
- Apollo (Saint Seiya)
- April May
- Aquaman (Injustice)
- Aquarius Camus
- Aragog
- Arceus
- Archer (Unlimited Blade Works)
- Archer Fordham
- Archie Andrews (Rivervale)
- Are We Cool Yet?
- Ares (Marvel)
- Argus
- Aria T'Loak
- Aristides Silk
- Arkillo
- Arm Head
- Armagedroid
- Arnold Judas Rimmer
- Aro (Twilight)
- Arthas Menethil
- Arthur Maxson
- Arthur Morgan
- Asanagi Kyutoku
- Asgore Dreemurr
- Ash Crimson
- Ashara Zavros
- Asher Forrester
- Assassin of Red (Fate/Apocrypha)
- Athena (God of War)
- Athrun Zala
- Atlus Arcadium Rex