Robin Hood and Marian
I was going to do a ‘Bad Boy Store’, but it wasn’t working out. Didn’t hit the right notes and my own limitations on the topic proved problematic. So, I dusted off the ‘Questions 3’ post even though I did something similar at the end of Monday’s post. Figure it’s a nice time for audience interactions. You can answer in a comment (you don’t have to copy/paste the question) or as a post on your own blog (please pingback), so let’s have some fun.
- Who is your favorite ‘Bad Boy’ from fiction?
- If you had to design a ‘Bad Boy’, what would be a necessity?
- Why do you think the ‘Bad Boy’ is so appealing to audiences?
Enjoy.
Legends of Windemere 
1. Kisten from Kim Harrison’s Hollows/Rachel Morgan series.
2. A motorbike, and a, “too cool to care,” attitude.
3. Because the bad boy represents danger, thrills, and all the similar things we sometimes wish we could have, but don’t dare seek in real life.
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Good answers. Why does a motorbike end up in these scenarios all the time? Never a car or a scooter or a bus pass.
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I think in my case it’s because I like motorbikes, and would love to have one, but the whole lack of sight thing makes it impossible. If I had a bad boy boyfriend, he could take me for rides on his. Probably also why a horse would be an acceptable substitute to me… I’d love one of those too.
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No bulls… Don’t like bulls.
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P.S. Regarding #2, if in a setting where a motorbike won’t work, a horse would be an acceptable ssubsitute… As long as it’s a good quality animal.
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Black Brahma bull?
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1. Who is your favorite ‘Bad Boy’ from fiction?
Probably Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle (Miyazaki’s adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones’s book is really the favorite). His reputation for eating people’s hearts and killing wizards makes a bad boy.
2. If you had to design a ‘Bad Boy’, what would be a necessity?
Past suffering and attitude (these often shape character), but a desire to love and be loved
3. Why do you think the ‘Bad Boy’ is so appealing to audiences?
This person is unpredictable. Willing to fight, but also to pick fights sometimes. People think this person can be tamed, but that’s not true.
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Never thought of Howl that way. Definitely comes in as an unexpected bad boy. Though did he really do those things?
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He didn’t. 😉 He was a lot grumpier in the book–much more of a bad boy in Jones’s novel. Forces people to do things; petty–that sort of thing. But he changes.
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Makes one realize how often bad boys are jerks.
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Bad boy? Humbert Humbert, in Lolita
Essential element – A sense of humor
I think audiences like bad boys because secretly they admire what bad boys can get away doing.
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Bad boys with a sense of humor is an interesting requirement. You don’t see that as often as the brooding type. That tends give characters a softer edge unless it’s a dark humor.
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1. I’m odd, and like the very clever Bad Boys more than the idiots whose arm muscles are bigger than their head.
2. A Bad Boy necessity would be having a piercing look, through the serious focus of his situation, that helps the love interest see his inner soul and vulnerability.
3. My theory is that women want an invincible force so they feel protected; and get hot and bothered over the idea that, as strong and powerful as that man is, she’s influenced some soft part of him. There often seems to be a element of thinking she can change him but truly not wanting that change because then he wouldn’t be a Bad Boy?
My writing got me wondering about Bad Girls, too. What do you think about Bad Girls, Charles?
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I think the clever ones go further too. You don’t really remember the muscle heads because they don’t evolve. Most of them are secondary characters too. Interseting how so many people believe that all bad boys are really vulnerable on the inside. That kind of feeds the belief that they can be changed for the better.
I was thinking about doing something about Bad Girls, but that’s not as common. You do have Femme Fatales and promiscuous types, but those are treated differently. The ‘dark and dangerous’ thing seems to be reserved for male characters, especially when you factor in the common element of someone trying to change them.
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True, but thinking that way got me wondering if things work the same on the flip side. Do men like Bad Girls? Why? Same reasons, or just because they think she’d be fun in bed and that’s the end of it?
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Maybe I’ll make Bad Girls the topic I need for the last week in November. You’re probably right that it’s more for fun and not bringing her home to meet the family.
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1) Madmartigan from Willow. They played him a lot for laughs, skirt-chasing and accidentally being under a love spell.
2) Some sort of combat ability, for when his hijinks anger people. Madmartigan was “the greatest swordsman in the world.” Also a quick wit that can be nasty or just funny. (Hence people getting mad at him.)
3) There’s a certain swagger and charm that draws people to them, although in real life I don’t think I’d have patience with that type.
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Madmartigan is a great example of a fantasy bad boy. Still some honor, but certainly a miscreant most of the time. I’ve met some charming people in real life and they’re not as dull as one would think. The reason they get attention is because they know how to work a crowd.
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Pingback: Fictional Bad Boys: 3 Questions – Staci Troilo
This was fun. Answered on my site (and linked back): https://stacitroilo.wordpress.com/2019/07/06/fictional-bad-boys-3-questions/
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Thanks. 🙂
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Tough one for me, because I’m not into the romance angle these usually have.
1. My favorite currently is Merv from Sin City.
2. I did it and his name is Clovis. He gets things done, sometimes brutally, but he also befriends a dog.
3. Because the audience can see what should be done, but lives within the system. The bad boy operates beyond the system and gets the fantasy results we truly want.
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Marv is a good one. Dwight would work as a bad boy trying to reform himself. Good idea to give him a spot of sensitivity. Dogs make that work extremely well.
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It was really handy as an author trick too. Dialog with loners is hard to do. Talking to the dog was easier.
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Reminds me of ‘I Am Legend’.
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I really ought to try “third man” syndrome in something one day. The ghostly presence that helps someone out. (It may work well in a storyboard I have going.)
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Great answers, Craig!
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Pingback: Fictional Bad Boys – Joan Hall (Blog)
Learned of this through Staci. Decided to play along. Here’s a link to my answers. https://joanhall.blog/2019/07/06/fictional-bad-boys/
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Thanks.
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Pingback: Fictional Bad Boys – Jessica Bakkers