Ah bad boys. Everyone loves them. What, with their cocky attitudes, sarcastic dialogue, leather jackets, motorcycles, rebelliousness, and all around good lucks, why wouldn't you? They sweep protagonists off their feet, take out several bad guys at once, and look good while doing it.

They're a favorite love interest for YA protagonists everywhere. It's hard to find a Wattpad book without a bad boy written in (usually as the central love interest). But why is that, exactly? And what makes a character a bad boy? Almost every character is sassy and rebellious now, and most urban fantasies have at least one person (usually a guy) in a leather jacket, so what gives?

Well, bad boys aren't necessarily a new concept. The original bad boy was, essentially, a prideful, snarky man. Depending on the genre, he was often rich or represented latent dark desires. Think Lucifer in Paradise Lost and Fitzgerald Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. Two very different characters, but you can see traces of the modern day bad boy in each.

In later years, this archetype evolved. We got Jim Stark (Rebel Without A Cause), Han Solo (A New Hope), Jess Mariano (Gilmore Girls), Damon Salvatore (Vampire Diaries), Captain Hook (Once Upon A Time), Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Jaime Lannister (A Song of Fire and Ice), Jace Wayland (The Mortal Instruments), William Herondale (The Infernal Devices), Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Four (Divergent), Gale (The Hunger Games), Peter Pan, Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights), Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter books 4-6), and Logan Echolls (Veronica Mars). They're more cocky that prideful, and much more rebellious than their early predecessors. However, these are a lot of pretty different characters, which makes actually defining what makes a character a bad boy really hard. To try to encompass all traits, and shed more light on what being a bad boy really means, I've come up with four categories: the Really Bad Boy, the Sympathetic Bad Boy, the Loner Bad Boy, and the Not Really Bad Boy. I'll give a quick list of traits and examples for each, as well as how to break each trope (you know, the actual point of this article).

The Really Bad Boys: Think Christian Grey, Spike, Captain Hook, Draco Malfoy, Jaime Lannister, and Damon Salvatore. They are prideful or cocky, usually rich or powerful, and do some really bad stuff. They kill, womanize, and do things society has deemed awful.

If you could call them a bad guy, this is them. Sometimes they're redeemed later, but often they do some messed up things before a woman (always a woman) redeems then through love. They resemble real life "bad boys" more than the others. Sometimes these character even abuse their loved ones, and/or are criminals. Draco Malfoy, though included above, is an excellent example of several ways to break this trope. 

1. Don't make this character the love interest. As the love interest, the character is subject to more scrutiny. A lot of people don't like how really harmful behavior is glossed over, especially with no real reason. And "he's a hunk" isn't a reason. 

2. Don't redeem them. If you're planning a love triangle, don't redeem the jerk. Let him be the one not chosen. Most people expect the bad boy to come out victorious and the nice guy to be rejected. A Court of Thorns and Roses did a great job subverting this. SPOILERS: Feyre chooses Rhysand over Tamlin because she sees how Tamlin (her original love interest) is violent and controlling. SPOILERS OVER. 

3. Actually address why what they're doing is wrong. Depending on the genre, have them go to counseling. It's great character development, and could become an actual plot.

The Loner Bad Boy includes the types of Jace Wayland, Jess Mariano, Han Solo, and Peter Pan. They're more rebellious than the Really bad boys, and not tragic like the sympathetic bad boys. They don't work well with others. You don't feel sorry for them, because often they weren't forced into their lifestyle by circumstances. They do bad things (killing or stealing), but nothing too terrible in the context of their genre. They really are bad boys. They match Jim Stark version of the bad boy. His backstory wasn't that bad and he didn't do anything too terrible either. It's a happy medium. There's only one subversion of this ive seen. In @cross-warrior 's book, Midnight, her character Caspian fits most of the Loner Bad Boy characteristics, except one. He respects authority. Whether he agrees or not, he obeys the ship's captain, Lorica. He works well with a team/crew, too. He is still sarcastic, rebels against the authority figures he doesn't respect, and is a bit of a loose canon. Therefore, he fits many of the qualifications for being a bad boy. I wouldn't call him a bad boy since he doesn't completely match the typical image, but he's a nice subversion.

The Sympathetic Bad Boy is the bad boy who's rebellious, snarky, and makes some questionable decisions due to backstory trauma. Usually physical or emotional abuse, and usually on the part of the father. Zuko and Logan Echolls come to find. At first, they're played like the first version. Once we learn about their backstory, we are supposed to feel sorry for them. Usually they grow into better people on their own. Then they become the love interest. Whoever is abusing them—be it their father, or another authority figure (always a guy, I think)—is usually the villain. They're a bad person and/or antagonist at least. Something I've never seen done (except in my own works) is that the abused character becomes evil/a bad boy because their father is one of the good guys and he can't support a side that—in his mind—confines that behavior. The closest thing I've seen to it outside my own stories is Divergent, where Four chose Dauntless to get away from his father. I'd love to see something like that done. You could also develop the abuser/manipulator. Don't just make them a generic jerk. Give them some depths. Maybe make their domineering authority figure. But don't encourage or condone abuse from either genre.

Lastly, we have the Not Really a Bad Boy. He might be rebellious or snarky or wear s leather jacket or do questionable things or be a hunk, but he doesn't quite fit the bad boy archetype. Again, Caspian from Midnight or even Harry Potter himself are great examples. Harry is cheeky, rude, and is impulsive/sometimes violent. He doesn't respect a lot of authority figures (practically anyone in the Ministry of Magic and Severus Snape). He is rebellious. Yet I don't think there are many people he would actually call him a bad boy. This branch of the trope doesn't really need breaking, since its barely anything. It basically just encompasses anyone who could technically be a bad boy, but is more subjective.

So, yeah, bad boys are fun to write. Great for character development, love interests guaranteed to make the audience swoon, and truly complex. They generate quite a bit of angst and plug, just remember not to do anything harmful or offensive.

Something to note is that all of these apply to girl characters (not calling them bad girls) as well. Faith Lehane from Buffy for example one; Emma Carstairs for example two; Calaena Sardothian, Vestara Khai, Arya Stark for example three; and Daenerys Targaryen or Phoebe Halliwell for example four.

Anonymous asked: How do I make readers bond to my characters?

Great question! There could be – and have been – whole essays written on this topic, but I'll keep my advice brief.

In order for people to care about your characters, they need to seem like real people. This is done in two major ways: 1) by placing the character in difficulties that we can relate to or imagine ourselves in and 2) by giving them likes, dislikes, fears, and goals that we can relate to – in short, a well-rounded personality.

1) This is the question of the plot. What are you going to do to your character? Or in some situations, it might be: What is your character going to do to himself? Don't we all know how some of the sticky dilemmas we get in are our own fault! Keep your audience in mind here – it needs to be relatable to them. Middle-school boys aren't likely to be interested in romance, or an elderly person in quintessential teenage drama. As for your character himself, feel free to think outside the box when coming up with ideas for what will impact him in a negative or positive way – and let's admit it, much of the impact will be negative. A character's pain elicits sympathy from the readers, after all. Or, it's meant to... which brings us to >>>

2) What will your character do? The reader doesn't want to see a colorless, two-dimensional character who reacts to nothing: the reader wants one that rebounds off the page with life. Passive characters will get nowhere in the face of adversity: active, thwarted, struggling characters will gain the reader's support even when they fail, and the reader's jubilation when they succeed. That doesn't mean your character has to be bold or outgoing, though those are fun to work with. When handled right, readers will root just as hard for a timid or unassuming person – sometimes harder.

A final piece of advice: Don't miss the gold mine of secondary characters in your zeal to develop your MC. Well-rounded secondary characters are the joy of a reader's life, and really make your book come alive and increase the likelihood of hooking people. Sometimes a reader will keep reading just for the sake of one secondary character whom they love, while they couldn't care two straws about the protagonist. Not ideal, maybe... but a compliment all the same!

Hope this was helpful! Add your own opinions in the comments, and please ask the writing faery any and all questions you have about the mystical and glorious process of writing – characters, plot, editing, logistics, grammar, you name it! We love hearing from you!

Here's this month's top five!

Goldsong by italychick 

The Finch and the Woodpecker by CMBWriter

The Dragon's Scale by crosswarrior

After Wonderland by jenalee28

The King's Cursed Bride by elizabethNewsom

Every country has a different climate--- typically warm, typically cold, or maybe somewhere in the middle depending on the season. So, are the people in your fantasy country normally bathing in the sun or layering up?

Best character trait in your main character(s) or side character(s)?

Any special symbols in your book? (Ex: Like the poison apple is to Snow White, or how the spinning wheel is to Sleeping Beauty)

What's the most justifiable reason a villain could have for being...well...evil?

How long does it take you to write an individual chapter of your book? 2 days? 2 weeks? Or if you're a procrastinator like me...2 months?

A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

We are delighted to announce that autumn_sunfire, one of the article writers for this magazine, is having her YA high fantasy novel The Journey published in 2019! Ambassador International is a selective traditional press of nearly 40 years' standing in the publishing industry. Check out Autumn's profile for a preview of The Journey, Chapter 1!