10 Fantasy Books With Morally Dubious Characters We Can't Help But Love

Many fantasy books chronicle fights between good and evil, but some of the best ones feature casts of morally gray characters that readers can’t help but love. Morally gray characters make up some of the most compelling players in fiction. They present readers with more interesting motivations and choices than full-on heroes, but they're far easier to root for than most villains. And the fantasy genre is full of figures who live in the gray area of morality, with some of the best ones leaning closer to the villain archetype than the hero one.

Written well, these morally dubious characters can still serve as protagonists or have their own POV chapters. This allows readers to connect with them, even if they don't agree with everything they do. There are a number of great fantasy books that get readers invested in the plight of morally questionable characters, ranging from Six of Crows on the milder end to more extreme cases, like Joe Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy.

10 Six Of Crows

By Leigh Bardugo

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Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows differs from her other Grishaverse books, as it follows a group of criminals on a heist mission rather than a more obvious hero, like Alina Starkov. The Crows are on the milder side of morally gray characters, as the majority of them are decent people trying to survive less-than-ideal circumstances. That certainly describes Inej and Nina, though players like Kaz and Matthias are a bit more divisive. But even Kaz's willingness to use violence as a tool and Matthias' initial prejudice won't stop readers from falling for them.

Six of Crows makes sure of that, taking readers on an entertaining ride through the criminal underbelly of Ketterdam and to the Ice Court. The book masterfully uses the banter and relationships between characters to show us how great they all are. By the time Six of Crows' sequel, Crooked Kingdom, comes to a close, readers will be desperate to see them get happy endings — and devastated to learn not all of them do.

9 Mistborn: The Final Empire

By Brandon Sanderson

Mistborn: The Final Empire follows a group of characters overthrowing an oppressive regime, but while the book’s heroes are on the right side of history, they aren’t morally righteous. Vin becomes increasingly more heroic as Brandon Sanderson's series continues, but the supporting cast is made up of a gang of criminals, all of whom have questionable codes. The majority of Mistborn's characters will go to disturbing lengths to see their plans through, even if it means taking lives and stooping to their enemies' levels in the process.

This is especially true of The Final Empire's second lead, Kelsier, who certainly has no qualms about killing noblemen or disrupting ordinary people's lives for the sake of his revolution. Despite his callous approach to his goals, Kelsier remains one of the most charismatic and entertaining characters in the Mistborn books. And his crew are all just as likable, even if they're far from perfect people. That's why it's so easy to root for them and so heartbreaking when they meet early ends.

8 A Game Of Thrones

By George R.R. Martin

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A Game of Thrones is one of the best multi-POV fantasy books out there, and a number of its prominent characters have questionable morals from the start. The Lannisters immediately come to mind, and while they're often cited as "villains," George R.R. Martin's series hardly categorizes its characters in such black-and-white terms. That's part of the reason it's so widely loved: because everyone in A Song of Ice and Fire feels realistic in their varying degrees of decency.

The most prominent characters in A Song of Ice and Fire get more morally dubious as the series goes on, too, as players like Arya and Daenerys are driven to behavior that's pretty disturbing, even when we're rooting for it. Arya's quest for revenge should raise eyebrows, and Dany's willingness to use "fire and blood" to attain power should make her as bad as the Lannisters. Yet we understand the reasoning behind these characters' actions, and such behavior doesn't deter readers from loving them. This is even true of ASOIAF's supporting cast.

7 The Blade Itself

By Joe Abercombie

Joe Abercrombie is the master of crafting believably horrible characters, but readers will find themselves invested after a handful of chapters in their shoes. This is true while reading The Blade Itself, the first installment in Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. Characters like Logen and Glotka shouldn't be as compelling as they are, but Abercrombie writes them in such a way that it's impossible not to get hooked on their stories. Even if readers don't exactly love them, they'll love going on this journey with them.

And combined with enough time to grow attached, the redeeming qualities of The First Law characters may just win readers over in the second and third books. The Blade Itself makes for a gripping opening, but the character work that Abercrombie does throughout the series just gets more and more impressive.

6 Five Broken Blades

By Mai Corland

A great replacement for Six of Crows,Five Broken Blades also follows a group of outcasts on a heist mission — and its characters are probably more controversial than those in Bardugo's duology. While Six of Crows' leads have a basic undercurrent of humanity most of the time, the main characters in Five Broken Blades lose sight of that fairly often. Euyn is the most obvious example, as his dubious moral code hardly registers hunting humans for sport as wrong.

He's not the only character in Five Broken Blades to have major lapses in morality, as Mikail resorts to intense violence, and Aeri has no issues with endangering others with her lies. Even the characters with better morals, like Sora and Royo, are guilty of serious wrongdoing. Despite this, readers will want them to come together to defeat King Joon in Five Broken Blades — and they'll be hoping for a happy ending in the book's sequels as well, even if the characters don't necessarily deserve it.

5 Throne Of Glass

By Sarah J. Maas

While many fantasy series with morally dubious characters see them getting worse as time goes on, Throne of Glass takes its characters in the opposite direction. Most of the series' heroes could be classified as good people by the end of the story, but the first book opens with some seriously flawed individuals at the helm. Celaena Sardothien has a good heart, but being an assassin has forced her to make questionable choices, both within the context of her job and outside of it.

Chaol and Dorian aren't much better when Throne of Glass opens, as both are loyal to Adarlan to a fault, despite the kingdom's obvious corruption. Their blissful ignorance is actively harmful, making it difficult to like them — but readers probably still will by the end of the book. And the good news is that all of Throne of Glass' characters grow in the right direction over the course of Sarah J. Maas' fantasy series.

4 The Cruel Prince

By Holly Black

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black is another fantasy book that's mild about its morally dubious characters, but there's no denying that several of the series' most important players shouldn't be likable. The Cruel Prince's heroine, Jude, is rough around the edges, and her thirst for power and revenge lands her in the morally gray category. She's still easy to fall for though, especially compared to other characters, like Cardan and Taryn.

Cardan is a genuinely questionable love interest, which is difficult to find in so many YA fantasy and romantasy series. Cardan's treatment of Jude could easily make readers write off his character, but he's still charming enough to ensnare them — a sentiment that Jude seems to share. And Jude's family will leave readers frustrated as well, but this just makes The Cruel Prince's world feel more realistic.

3 Vicious

By V.E. Schwab

Readers looking for a morally dubious take on the superhero genre should look no further than V.E. Schwab's Vicious. The story opens with two college roommates, Eli and Victor, trying to unlock extraordinary powers though near-death experiences. They succeed, and it changes both of them forever. And while they spend the book as each other's nemeses, neither of them has particularly admirable morals. Eli comes off worse, as he's dangerous and fanatical. However, Victor is too preoccupied with his vengeance to care about much else, making him nearly as bad.

In fact, it's hard to get a read on Victor's moral code for much of Vicious, but readers will still find themselves eager to know what becomes of him. The back and forth between him and Eli is just too good to pass up, even if both of them aren't people readers would want to run into in real life.

2 The Lies Of Locke Lamora

By Scott Lynch

The Lies of Locke Lamora is a gritty addition to the fantasy genre, and it lives up to that description with its cast of questionable characters. As the book follows a group of thieves and criminals, it's not surprising that its leads aren't morally upstanding. And just like many of the characters who make up this list, Locke is bent on revenge throughout the novel, which pushes him to some questionable decisions throughout its run.

Locke's friends aren't much better, but readers will still find themselves wrapped up in the Gentleman Bastards' adventures. And given that they're better than most of the book's other characters, readers will be happy when they are and devastated when they lose. For a group of con artists, The Lies of Locke Lamora's characters are surprisingly lovable.

1 The Last Magician

By Lisa Maxwell

Heist novels seem to be ripe with morally dubious characters, and The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell is no different. The book follows a thief named Esta back in time to steal a book that could change the course of the future. Esta works with a gang called The Devil's Own to secure the object, but she plans on betraying them the whole time. And she's not the only untrustworthy one in their midst, as most of the characters have their own interests in mind.

Like so many other fantasy books with morally gray characters, The Last Magician highlights the positive and negative qualities of these characters — and readers may find themselves resonating more with the former. Most of them are clearly the heroes of this story, even in spite of their thieving and deceiving. And that becomes more obvious as Maxwell's story continues, giving every member of The Devil's Own a proper chance to shine.