From the Vampire Diaries’ Damon Salvatore to Maggie Stiefvater’s dark and dirty Ronan Lynch, bad boys have found a lasting home in teen/YA fiction. Here are Vendetta author Catherine Doyle’s very favourite bad boys with good hearts
For me, it all boils down to potential. Where there is a whisper of redemption in a character, there is allure. I don’t fall over myself for the Voldemorts of these stories because I want bad boys who have the capacity to change, who can feel empathy, and love. I want characters that toe the line between good and bad, not villains who seek nothing higher than their own personal gain.
An effective bad boy has layers, and beneath those layers there’s a good heart. For me, it’s getting to that heart and watching it come alive that drives the story. I want to know whether the protagonist will coax a softer side from him or if their spitfire dialogue and romantic tension will take the plot to dizzying heights. I’m in it for the long haul ― the conflict, the roguish behaviour, the transformation and all the swoon-worthy moments in between. And, sure, it helps to be entertained along the way, because one thing’s for certain, a good bad boy is never boring.
Damon, leather and silk and fine chiseled features. Mercurial and devastating. ― LJ Smith, The Vampire Diaries.
“I don’t want to be a man,” said Jace. “I want to be an angst-ridden teenager who can’t confront his own inner demons and takes it out verbally on other people instead.”
“Well,” said Luke, “you’re doing a fantastic job.” ― Cassandra Clare, City of Ashes
But let me tell ya, spend every day living only for yourself, every day indulging in little sins that aren’t that big of a deal, and one day I may be showing you the ropes in hell. Amen. ― Victoria Scott, The Collector
And Ronan was everything that was left: molten eyes and a smile made for war. ― Maggie Stiefvater, The Dream Thieves
“Wait.” I began to pull off his jacket. “You forgot this.”
“Keep it,” he said without looking back. “I’ll get it from you on Monday. When we discuss tutoring.”
He looked good, like sin in a suit.― Melissa Marr, Wicked Lovely
This was the boy I loved. A little bit messy. A little bit ruined. A beautiful disaster. Just like me. ― Michelle Hodkin, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
I knew that the more powerful Grisha were said to live long lives, and Darklings were the most powerful of them all. But I felt the wrongness of it and I remembered Eva’s words: He’s not natural. ― Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone
“I have no one to impress,” he says. “No one who cares about what happens to me. I’m not in the business of making friends, love.” ― Tahereh Mafi, Shatter Me
Dumbledore watched her fly away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of tears.
“After all this time?”
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