Good vs Evil: Urban Fantasy

If you want to see more of my thoughts on good vs evil in fantasy, click here for my other posts.

I find the concept of good vs evil in urban fantasy novels to be very interesting and complex. In high fantasy, the concept can be fairly black and white; however, when the fantasy story occurs in a version of our world, the concept of right and wrong and good and evil becomes as complicated as the concept is in our own lives.

For starters, characters in urban fantasies are not set in a good and evil box. By that, I mean that it isn’t always clear who is good and who is evil based solely on their actions. Sometimes the character that is set up to look like a very evil and horrible person actually turns out to be a good person and vice versa. There are some characters that straddle the line between good and evil or moral and morally corrupt. Even the main character could be evil or straddling the line. All characters could end up in either category.

Another big factor separating these two concepts is perception and personal beliefs. A character, an act, or an event is often classified as good or evil based on the perception of the person or character witnessing it. This is very realistic to real life. There are many topics or events that people view with different opinions and beliefs which leads to a different classification of what good is and what evil is. Our world has a lot of gray to it because the idea of what is good and what is bad is not set as a universal constant. This translates to urban fantasy novels. 

In fact, there are even layers of different viewpoints to see an act through. The reader or character could be looking from a personal viewpoint, another person’s personal viewpoint, or a societal viewpoint. Each view could lead him or her to interoperate events and characters on different sides of the line or put them in the ambiguous unsure gray area. This can add a lot of complexity to a story. In fact, I believe it is an essential part of urban fantasies’ conflicts.

Compared to epic high fantasy stories, urban fantasies’ plots and conflicts are more focused on multiple smaller scale battles with evil. Each book tends to be a different plot with a different conflict with maybe a more long-term plotline focused in the background over the course of the books. Instead of facing against great manifestations of evil that require an epic journey, a group of companions, and a war to resolve, urban fantasy focuses more on kidnappings, murder, greed, and stealing as their evils. In some cases, the events are big enough to help protect the world, but generally that isn’t the goal for every novel. It is much more of a reflection of our world and merely shows what the world could be like if magic was a part of it.

Here are some examples:

*Just a note. There could be some spoilers in these examples.

Harry Dresden-

In the Harry Dresden series, there is a lot of gray area. In fact, as the books progress, many of Harry’s friends and acquaintances question if he is a good guy or a bad guy. They see what he is doing without the full knowledge of why he is doing it and no longer trust him. Sometimes even Harry himself wonders if he is really doing the right thing or not. There are also a couple of characters that are originally set up as being clearly on the evil side of the board, but as you continue to learn about them, that line isn’t as clear as it once was.

Mercy Thompson-

In the Mercy Thompson series, each book tackles a different fight against some kind of evil. There are dealings with kidnappers, murderers, sexual assault, and a fair amount of other crimes. All of these conflicts are very realistic to evils that could happen in our own world (only showing themselves through the supernatural). Mercy and Adam’s pack are the good guys who charge in to help save those in trouble. However, there is a considerable amount of gray area when it comes to certain characters or paranormal creatures. Stephan, for example, is a vampire. By nature, all vampires are supposed to be evil and heartless, and some actions that Stephan takes supports this. However, there are also many actions that show he might be a good guy despite his nature.

Hidden Legacy-

In the Hidden Legacy series, the idea of what is evil or morally corrupt is front and center through the whole book. One of the main characters in this novel is named Mad Rogan, and he sees nothing morally wrong with killing people if they are unhelpful and in his way. In fact, Nevada Baylor must constantly remind him not to kill people since that is his first instinct. Not only that, but the whole society is run by Houses. Houses are families with a lot of powerful magic users. If you are part of a House, then you have the right to do whatever you want whenever you want. There are laws that say otherwise, but a House can get almost everything swept under the rug with money, influence, and intimidation. Really Nevada and her family are a shining beacon of good in a world that has become very twisted and murky since magic bloomed in it.

If you want to see the class I did on good vs evil in the Academy, click here.