What's your opinion on the "Bad Boy" type?

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Poetoffire

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Just curious.

I know this character is rampant in romance novels, too, but it seems that every YA book I pick up or read about, there's the mysterious, gorgeous dude who flits in and out of the pages, enticing the heroine.

What do you guys think of this cliche? Do you have any "bad boy" characters? And how do you think one can make the bad boy their own?

I know I'm very guilty of having a "bad boy" in the novel I'm currently revising. He's dark, brooding, silent (really, you can't get him to say more than five words in a row), and gorgeous. But the power of healing others he got saddled with goes against his antisocial, I-don't-give-a-damn personality, and it forces him to care, not to mention struggle to let others know he cares.

Anyone read any well-rounded bad boys? Written any?
 

wandergirl

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I am so drawn to bad boys. If the love interests in my books have no edge, I'm not attracted to them as an author. In my first book, the LI is a bad boy turned good boy. In the book I'm revising, the "LI" is a bad girl. In the book I'm plotting, there's a sort of love triangle, in which one is super-bad. But I still have to give the other some edge, or I'll be rooting for the super-bad one. What a tangle.
 

YAwriter72

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They make my heart go pitter patter. All my love interests are about as opposite of my MC as possible.

wandergirl, I LOVE those. I have a bad guy and a really bad guy that the MC is involved with and I love em both. But I already know she ends up with the bad guy cause he's been there for her even though everything that has happened to her is because of him. (Man, that sounds a bit dysfunctional! Its not I promise!)
 

wandergirl

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wandergirl, I LOVE those. I have a bad guy and a really bad guy that the MC is involved with and I love em both. But I already know she ends up with the bad guy cause he's been there for her even though everything that has happened to her is because of him. (Man, that sounds a bit dysfunctional! Its not I promise!)

She ends up with the bad one, or the worse one?
 

Achromasia

Eh, they're okay in moderation. The worst thing for me as a reader is when the "bad boy" type ends up with the really prissy, "goody goody" character. It's so cliche, and usually unrealistic. Especially if you find out the bad boy isn't all that bad. Or, it's even worse when the goody goody CHANGES the bad boy. Blehck.
 

MissKris

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Yummy. I love bad boys. And I'm pretty goody myself, but I always ended up with them in real life. The bad boys on the outside, good guy inside. They exist, they really do. And I love 'em.
 

YAwriter72

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Eh, they're okay in moderation. The worst thing for me as a reader is when the "bad boy" type ends up with the really prissy, "goody goody" character. It's so cliche, and usually unrealistic. Especially if you find out the bad boy isn't all that bad. Or, it's even worse when the goody goody CHANGES the bad boy. Blehck.


All I can picture is Natalie Wood and James Dean!
 

Achromasia

I guess, but I mean more the stuck-up, bleach blonde, Hollister wearing rich girls, not the shy/smart good girl. In my experience, if the guy really is a bad boy, he won't want the first girl for more than a fling.

haha, I was thinking Grease.
 

Indus

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Yeah, I can't write without having a token 'bad boy' lol. He may not be the main LI but they're just so much fun to write lol The 'bad boy' and MC in my current WIP are headed towards a 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' moment.
 

lm728

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I love writing about bad boys. Anti-social bad boy vs. VERY social bad boy. They both like the MC.
But then, the bad boys both have their weaknesses. I love their weaknesses. It makes them imperfect. :)
 

Provrb1810meggy

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I guess I'm the odd man out because I usually don't find the bad boy very attractive. I'm a fan of nice guys. A "bad boy" kind of guy that worked for me was the guy in the movie version of A Walk To Remember.
 

YAwriter72

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I guess, but I mean more the stuck-up, bleach blonde, Hollister wearing rich girls, not the shy/smart good girl. In my experience, if the guy really is a bad boy, he won't want the first girl for more than a fling.

haha, I was thinking Grease.


My all time favorite movie!!!
 

kaitlin008

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I love bad boys, but I hate when people mistake 'emo' for bad boy. Because to me, they're pretty opposite. Just being grouchy, or being some sort of dangerous supernatural being doesn't automatically make someone a bad boy. They have to actually do bad things!
 

Chanelley

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I love bad boys, but I hate when people mistake 'emo' for bad boy. Because to me, they're pretty opposite. Just being grouchy, or being some sort of dangerous supernatural being doesn't automatically make someone a bad boy. They have to actually do bad things!
Agreed. I looove bad boys. Sweet, soppy, romantic guys just make me feel ill. I much prefer the cocky, sexy guy over the dreamy, lovey guy. Any day. I don't know what that says about my future relationships...
 

peachiemkey

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I actually don't like reading or writing about bad boys. Er, I take that back. I don't like writing or reading about bad bad boys, as in, ones that don't really have any redeeming features - they're just cocky, anti-social, whatever, they don't really have a reason for it. The dead-but-present-in-flashbacks romantic interest in my WIP drinks, does drugs etc, but his personality is (usually) very cute and he has a bad past. I love those kinds of characters. My living romantic interest is pretty much nice all over, though he's older, so hopefully that adds to his mystique. :D
 

Fuchsia Flower

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I'm another pitiful specimen who only gets attracted to the bad boys in books. I've got one in mine :)
 

wandergirl

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I don't like writing or reading about bad bad boys, as in, ones that don't really have any redeeming features - they're just cocky, anti-social, whatever, they don't really have a reason for it.

Well, that's just poor writing. Everybody's bad for a reason.
....unless they're PURE EVIL
 

peachiemkey

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Well, that's just poor writing. Everybody's bad for a reason.
....unless they're PURE EVIL

haha, yeah. I guess I mean the boys who are too... inaccessible in their cockiness or hardcoreness. Obviously in YA literature, 90% of the time you're going to have the revelation at the end when the handsome bad boy redeems himself somehow... and then, swoon! But in real life, that doesn't always happen, sadly. (i.e. the 18-year-old rocker "bad boy" my best friend dated for two months who ended up stalking her and threatening later to beat up her new boyfriend. :D)
 

Llayth

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It depends. I hate the good girl falling for the bad guy storyline. And I hate the bad guy being all cocky and misunderstood. If there is going to be a bad boy, I'd like to see a guy who does get into serious trouble and walks the walk instead of being all talk. I'm thinking of having a MC as a bad guy but not in a romance to avoid cliches.
 
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