"Morally black" characters in popular culture refer to prominent characters in cinema, television, video games, and books who embrace their villainhood without hesitation - often perceiving selfishness as paramount and key to survival, while altruism is seen as detrimental and unwise. Examples include Breaking Bad's Walter White, Kira from Death Note, Darth Maul and Darth Vader from the Star Wars franchise. "Morally black" characters are distinguishable from "morally grey" characters, with the latter's motivations being merely ambiguous rather than villanous.

Global North and Global South refer to developed and developing/least developed countries, respectively. The Global South broadly comprises Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia (excluding Israel, Japan, South Korea), and Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand). The Global North broadly includes Northern America and Europe, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.