They'll take any wrong direction, it's in their blood, you know

[valarltd]

Let's talk about bad boys. Not villains, that's another subject. But bad boys. James Dean, Han Solo, Malcolm Reynolds, Starbuck, Spike, Jack Sparrow...you know the archtype.

Tell me why you love the one with a twinkle in his eye, a quip on his lips and a heart of gold under the callous exterior.

Tell me who your favorites are: any media, or in your own writing.


ETA: I'm an idiot. This was supposed to go to torquere_social

Comments

[kadath.livejournal.com]

I actually prefer villains, but Han Solo has a special place in my heart from my childhood. Jack Sparrow is a favorite, because Johnny Depp is hot and talented. In print, I like Bleys from the Chronicles of Amber, and going classical, Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing.

[thefannishwaldo.livejournal.com]

Hm... John Sheppard, Shawn Spencer, Malcolm Reynolds, Starbuck (the new one, if we can count 'bad' girls), Michael Garibaldi...

Why? Because they all have a tendancy to be *good* at heart. They're just unorthodox in how they go about being 'good'. They may buck up against a less-than-good authority. They may do for themselves while helping others. They may do things *just* for themselves when they aren't busy helping others...

[winterknight.livejournal.com]

Tyrone Slothrop. Because. He's Slothrop and he's a bad, promiscuous, fragmented man out to save the world. (Thomas Pynchon)

Jerry Cornelius. The anarchic, fratricidal, incestuous antihero of my youth. I adore him. (Michael Moorcock)

Random of Amber. Bastardy little ratfink, absent father, gambler, sneak, and devil. Still ridiculously sexy. (Roger Zelazny)

Corwin of Amber. Amnesiac rebel and would-be usurper of his brother's throne. Silver gloves, steel fists, magical sword, and a poet/bard on top of it all. A scoundrel and a killer and a hero. (Roger Zelazny)

In my own writing:
Significant Washington. She's a bad boy, but she's a girl... for some value of it. A shotgun-toting cab driver who moonlights as a pimp. Sarcastic, ruthless, but with her own sense of justice.


Why, because I love moral relativity. Law breakers can be on the side of justice, terrible fathers and children can be heroes. People who do what others look down on and scrap in the gutters are the ones with what it takes to come across and set the world right, usually so they can go back to what they were doing when someone else buggered it up.

[kadath.livejournal.com]

Corwin always struck me as more anti-hero than bad boy, but I think the categories definitely overlap.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I love Jayne from Firefly, he's just so adorably dim, but the best man to have in a firefight. And he's SO Mal's bitch...

I also have a soft spot for Captain Jack from Dr Who, although we never really got to see his "bad" side, he was smuggling and ducking and diving when we met him.

[eyeless-angel.livejournal.com]

Mmm... yes. A topic near and dear to my heart. Some of my favorite "bad boys" *are* villians, though. Evil ones are *so* misunderstood.

Media:

The Kurgan, my first love, and the king of all HL baddies. The way he butchered along with that insane grin plastered on his face, and that beautiful, beautiful gruff voice.

Jack Sparrow, the daft one. But what's an act and what's real madness? He knows exactly that there's value in being underestimated. It gets him out of every manner of trouble, doesn't it?

Jayne Cobb. Soft mind and strong back. And a sex drive that just never quits.

My own writing (and these I created without a specific media figure to base them on):

Greg Anderson, ex-CIA. Manipulative. Cold. Is there a human inside that unreadable shell or not?

Cary Dunne, vampire hunter, rogue, ladies man, cowboy. Ulitmately fights for good, but in the most unorthodox way he can.

And... hehehehe Nathaniel Collins. Who is more an anti-hero than anything else. But still, a very bad boy.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

*snerk* I do love Captain Collins. Very much an anti-hero

[creatorschilde.livejournal.com]

hmmmmmmm......

Riddick... without a doubt, Riddick.

Norrington is shaping into a bad guy, more then a bad boy.... but *damn*... specially after seeing the second one a second time...

Panamon Creel. From Sword of Shannara. Id probably kill him in seconds, but...*sighs*.

Did I mention Riddick?

Jayne... yes, I have to mention Jayne. I married him, more or less...

The Punisher, and Wolverine.

from personal fiction?
Misha benJedi. The ultimate. no one else compares.
if I ever had a thing for one of my own muses though, it would be Corban/Elisha/Paul. The man really does embody evil, but does it so damn sweetly.

And yes, Ill agree with Star - Greg and Cary... the only two men on the earth I would ever have to worry about becoming real. If they did, I'd be in *so* much trouble... and I doubt they would share.

[eyeless-angel.livejournal.com]

Mmm.. Riddick. How could I forget Riddick?

[barbarakitten-t.livejournal.com]

i must be getting old...but i have to say clark gable as rhett butler.

...and kevin smith.

[lordindra.livejournal.com]

Jack Harkness.

Check out the Doctor Who two parter "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances" for his introduction, and "Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways".

The D-Man checks in

[(Anonymous)]

While my tastes usually run far more strongly towards the villains, bad boys have a certain soft spot for me too. My Top 10 would have to include, in no particular order:

Ned Land (played by Kirk Douglas) -- 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
Captain Nemo (played by James Mason) -- 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
Deathstalker (played by Rick Hill) -- Deathstalker (1983)
Riddick (played by Vin Diesel) -- Pitch Black
Mad Max (played by Mel Gibson) -- The Road Warrior
John Milton (played by Al Pacino) -- The Devil's Advocate
Eric Draven (played by Brandon Lee) --The Crow
Arthur Fonzarelli (played by Henry Winkler) -- Happy Days
Sinbad (voice by Brad Pitt) -- Sinbad: Legend of The Seven Seas
Harry Callihan (played by Clint Eastwood) -- Dirty Harry

Why? Because they stand up for what's right (as they see it) and what they believe in, even when nobody else will. They live by their own code, but they stick to it. They aren't necessarily rebels because they want to be, but because that is what works for them and those they would champaion, and/or that is what others have made of them. They are survivors whom you can count on to be who they are, and who aren't afraid to stand tall & take a hit for it.

[elisabeth.livejournal.com]

Michael Garibaldi got mentioned above; his willingness to use out of bounds methods without hesitation is legendary, as is his loyalty and strength of spirit. It doesn't help me much that Jerry Doyle is just dedseksay to me - the bad boy motif goes over so very well with someone who's on the craggy side of good looking.

The other is likely going to be considered weird (if anyone else has eve -HEARD- of him before): Sam Hell. [IMDB Film Ref HERE]
He's a womanizing smart-ass who just can't bring himself to be totally evil. Instead he gets roped into saving the world (and the girls... well, most of them), and never manages to quite lose the arrogant smirk. Cocky, headstrong, and extremely unconventional, he just seems to lure me in. A pity that Piper is so damned short; it makes it hard for those of us in the 6'+ set. :p