We are all fascinated by Bad Boys and Anti-Heroes in literature and film. For centuries many of the leading characters in culture have been the larger-than-life, dark, moody, seductive, good looking, charismatic, brilliant, Romantic and gothic hero. Many readers have adored the Byronic bad boy that is a true romantic passionate lover who idolizes women and treats them as equals in love and intellect. This literary archetype was used by many writers and clearly defined by 19th Century British poet Lord Byron.
The Byronic Hero is usually troubled by a mysterious past and is driven to seek an impossible love which he, or she, cannot attain.
Byronic hero or heroine, an archetype of the extreme Romantic hero that has both incredible strengths and talents but with significant critical flaws. A complex character trait with the following characteristics:
- Bad Boy or Dark Lady
- Dark, brilliant, complex
- Mysterious past
- Driven for love, wealth, or social status
- Good looking, sexually attractive, seductive
- Charismatic, larger-than- life, appealing, inspires others
- Rebel, rejects social norms and conventions
- Self-centered, solitary
- Alienated, cynical, flawed, self-destructive
- Wounded, tortured, secretive, moody
- Capable of deep and strong affection and passion
Some contemporary fictional characters in film and TV today that fit the image include: Loki, The Crow, Batman, Wolverine, Hans Solo Star Wars, Tony Stark Iron Man, Pirate Jack Sparrow, Twilight’s Edward Cullen, Dr. House, vampires Bill and Eric in True Blood, and Severus Snape of Harry Potter.
Some celebrities that have developed a Byronic persona include: Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Madonna, Jack Nicholson, Kurt Cobain, Robert Downey Jr., Johnny Depp, Jim Morrison, Alice Cooper, Frank Zappa, and others.
Lord Byron
Gabriel Byrne as Lord Byron in the movie Gothic.
The British poet Lord Byron who developed the Byronic Hero archetype has become a fictional character himself. Byron created his bad boy image and self-imposed exile to sell his poetry to adoring female readers. He was a superstar and sex symbol for 19th Century British women who loved his erotic bad boy poetry, along with his friend fellow exiled poet Percy Shelley. Several of Byron’s epic poems with a Byronic hero include Don Juan, Child Harold, The Corsair, Manfred, and others.
Byron fits his own Byronic hero image. Aristocratic gentleman, brilliant, cultured, educated, talented, charming, charismatic, seductive, attractive, athletic, adventurer, soldier of fortune, British spy. Rebel, mysterious, brooding, disregard for social customs and rules, bad boy persona, hypersexual hedonist, libertine, exotic tastes. Involved in numerous scandalous romantic affairs. Called “mad, bad, dangerous to know,” by his former lover Lady Carolyn Lamb.
Edward Rochester
Jane Eyre gothic novel 1847, by Charlotte Bronte, character Edward Rochester. Michael Fassbender as Rochester.
Set in Victorian England, orphaned Jane Eyre becomes a governess. She is drawn to her employer, the wealthy Edward Rochester, believing they are kindred spirits and intellectually equal but they are of different social positions. She discovers that he has a wife who is mentally ill and is secretly hidden upstairs.
Rochester is one of the original Byronic heroes in literature. He is handsome, tall, dark, charming, cultured, educated, and wealthy. He is secretive, brooding, can be rude mannered, and with a mysterious past.
Sherlock Holmes
Jeremy Britt as the Sherlock Holmes character developed by Arthur Conan Doyle.
The ever popular Victorian private detective, with his sidekick Dr. Watson, solving the most challenging crimes and mysteries that baffle the police. Highly intelligent and well educated in culture, history, chemistry, geology, astronomy, philosophy, ballistics, cryptology, and forensic science. He is a violin virtuoso, athletic and skilled in boxing, sword fighting, sharp shooting, horsemanship, and sailing.
Holmes is driven to gain acknowledgement of his accomplishments. He has a moral code to defend society against evil and to achieve justice. But, he is flawed with a troubled past, ambivalent towards women and romance, arrogant, eccentric, and avoids casual company.
Becky Sharp
Vanity Fair, 1848, William Thackeray, character Becky Sharp. Reese Witherspoon as Becky Sharp.
The anti-heroine, femme fatale in Thackeray’s novel is the quintessential social climber who will do anything to achieve her goals for wealth and social status in British society. Rebecca “Becky” Sharp is beautiful, intelligent, fluent in English and French, a pianist, singer, actress, and dancer. Charming with a gift for satire, wit, and conversation.
A dark and secretive past, she was orphaned as a child and had to rely on her wits alone. Becky is completely amoral and without conscience. Unable to have normal relationships, shows no kindness to others, and never develops love of her child. Calculating in her ambition, she easily lies and uses people to get her own way and then casts them aside. Her hubris leads to a tragic end.
Heathcliff
The gothic novel Wuthering Heights, 1847, by Emily Bronte, character Heathcliff. Tom Hardy as Heathcliff.
Heathcliff is one of the darkest Byronic figures, a tormented soul with a passionate nature. Orphaned he is brought to Wuthering Heights manor. He is dehumanized and abused by his step-siblings and becomes bitter, cruel, and violent.
The novel is a moving, turbulent love story that unfolds against the haunting background of the Yorkshire moors. Full of romance, passion, and revenge.
Merteuil and Valmont
Dangerous Liasons, 1782, by Pierre Charerlos de Laclos, characters Merteuil played by Glenn Close and Valmont played by John Malkovich.
The very popular French novel has been adapted for numerous stage, opera, ballet, film, TV, and radio productions. It is a story of seduction, revenge, and malice among the corruption and depravity of the French nobility in pre-Revolution Paris.
Lady Marguise de Merteuil and gentleman Vicomte de Valmont are former lovers who are socially popular in French high society. They are wealthy, cultured, fashionable, good looking, and appear to be upstanding moral figures. Secretly they amuse themselves in working together to achieve revenge on their enemies and to seduce and corrupt young, innocent women. Their complex plans backfire and they ‘go to war’ with each other, leading to their mutual destruction.
Dorian Gray
The gothic novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1890, by Oscar Wilde. Ben Barnes as Dorian Gray.
A Faustian style gothic novel set in Victorian London. Dorian Gray is a handsome, narcissistic young man seduced into a life of depravity by the amoral Lord Henry. A portrait is painted of Dorian where the figure in the painting ages but he stays young. He sells his soul for eternal youth. He denies morality and lives a life of hedonist pleasure, seduction, sex, and drugs. He becomes a cruel blackmailer and murderer who destroys people around him. He comes to a horrible end.
Edmond Dantes
The Count of Monte Cristo, 1844, Alexandre Dumas, character Edmond Dantes. Jim Caviezel as Edmond Danres.
A very popular Byronic hero in the French novel. Count Edmond Dantes is intelligent, attractive, loyal, passionate, cultured, adventurous, and charming, with a troubled, secretive past. He is falsely accused of treason and is sent to prison, losing everything and his fiance. In prison he gains contempt for society and becomes obsessed with the need for revenge. In prison he is told of a hidden treasure and escapes to become very wealthy enabling him to plot his complex trap for revenge.
Count Dracula
Gothic novel Dracula, 1897, by Bram Stoker. Frank Langella as Dracula.
The most famous vampire, the wealthy aristocratic Count Dracula of Transylvania. The popular anti-hero in numerous horror books, plays, films, and TV. Dracula is physically powerful with psychic abilities. He can fly and transform into an animal or a cloud of mist. He is daring, adventurous, seductive, charming, intelligent, cultured, and charismatic. He is also the embodiment of evil who preys on young ladies. He is dark, mysterious, secretive, arrogant, and defiant.
Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac, 1897, play by Edmund Rostand. Gerard Depardieu as Cyrano de Bergeras.
Cyrano is an exciting larger-than-life figure who lives with panache but is a tormented soul. He is a nobleman serving in the French army for adventure. Cyrano is multitalented, intelligent, charming, and witty who is an expert swordsman, poet, playwright, satirist, and musician. He is brave, bold, strong willed, and disdains custom and rules. But he has one major flaw, he is insecure about his very large nose and believes that no woman could love him. Secretly he loves Roxanne from afar, an impossible love in his eyes. He meets a tragic end, he only tells her that he loves her on his deathbed and she admits that she has always loved him, but too late.
Erik the Phantom
The Phantom of the Opera, 1910, Gaston Leroux, character Erik the Phantom. Gerard Butler as the Phantom.
A tragic love story set in a Paris opera house. A timeless story made into plays, musicals, and movies. It is about deformed Erik who ‘haunts’ the opera house as the masked Phantom and is secretly paid by the owners for his musical compositions. He secretly voice tudors singer Christine to be a star. He is obsessed with her but it is a love that is impossible for him to attain. The story ends in tragedy.
Erik was deformed at birth and has been dehumanized and abused as a freak act in carnivals and circuses. He traveled the world and learned music becoming a genius composer, stage magician, and ventriloquist. He lives secretly under the opera house. A social outcast and extremely ugly, he is dark, mysterious, brilliant, arrogant, vengeful, disregards rules, and easily provoked to violence.
Jay Gatsby
The Great Gatsby, 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald, character Jay Gatsby. Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby.
A great tragic drama considered by many as the best U.S. novel. The story is about self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby in the 1920s who seems to have everything, good looks, charming, and wealthy. He holds deep secrets and tells lies about himself, he is a ruthless criminal bootlegger with beginnings in poverty and therefore cannot join upper class society, and is obsessed with socialite Daisy Buchanon, a married woman. He created his own persona to gain wealth, all to win back Daisy.
Gatsby is arrogant believing he is superior to others and is not bound by moral or legal authority. He believes he is godlike destined for glory. His excessive pride leads to his ruin and for those around him.
Rhett Butler
Gone With the Wind novel 1936 by Margaret Mitchell, characters Scarlet O’Hara and Rhett Butler. Clark Gable as Rhett Butler.
Rhett Butler is a worldly, dashing, good looking, and charming Southern gentleman before the Civil War. He is educated, intelligent, and has gained great wealth. A rebellious outcast who does not like southern planters and mocks them. He has a mysterious past, his family has disowned him and he is a shady businessman and a smuggler. Rhett seeks an impossible love and is desperate to gain social respectability.
James Bond
Ian Fleming spy novels, character James Bond. Sean Connery as James Bond.
Commander James Bond secret agent, code name 007 in British intelligence with a license to kill is one of the most popular action figures in fiction and film. Sean Connery is considered by many as the best Bond, but the role has also been played by Roger Moore, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, Pierse Brosnan, and Daniel Craig.
The ultimate spy – dark, mysterious, dangerous, intelligent, independent, strong, athletic, and resourceful. He is highly educated and cultured, enjoys Saville Row fashion, gourmet food, wine and cocktails, tobacco, sports cars, sailing, cards, and gambling. Extremely smooth, good looking, seductive, and romantic, both a lady’s man and a man’s man.
With a traumatic childhood, he is elusive, ambivalent to life and love, sees himself apart from society, embittered, cynical, and hardened.
Maxim de Winter
Maxim in the gothic novel Rebecca, 1938 by Daphne de Maurier. Laurence Olivier as Maxim.
The British aristocratic Maixim de Winter is a high society gentleman living in the Manderley country estate. Wealthy, charismatic, cultured, handsome, and dapper who is very alluring, women easily fall in love with him. He is also mysterious with a dark past of personal tragedy. Maxim’s first wife Rebecca died in a freak boating accident. He feels responsible and is tortured by guilt. Maxim marries again but he is suspected of murdering his former wife and is caught up in a complex plot to destroy him and his new wife.
Hannibal Lechter
Dr. Hannibal Lechter from the crime horror series of novels by Thomas Harris. Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal.
Actor Anthony Hopkins created a cultural icon by playing the frightening genius serial killer Hannibal who eats his human prey. Hopkins has been named the greatest villain in cinema and won an Oscar for the role. Several movies have portrayed the killer based on Thomas Harris novels: Manhunter, Red Dragon, The Silences of the Lambs, Hannibal, and Hannibal Rising. Plus a TV series, 2013-2015, starring Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal.
We are fascinated by the highly intelligent, well educated, and sophisticated psychiatrist. He is a cultured and refined aristocrat, charming and amusing with impeccable manners, a gourmet chef, a connoisseur of art and classical music, multilingual, and wears designer clothes.
But he is flawed, he is an insane monster and one of the most evil and testifying predators in literature and film. Sociopathic with no remorse, deficient in emotions and lacks moral sense. He had a traumatic childhood making him who he is. He is purging society of his victims that are people that are offensive, rude, bad mannered, and have bad taste.
Lestat de Lioncourt
The vampire Lestat in The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. Tom Cruise as Lestat.
Anne Rice used the Byronic hero model to create the larger-than-life superhero vampire Lestat. A French nobleman in the mid-18th Century who continued to support his family after being turned into a vampire. He is given super powers and great wealth by ancient vampire elders to become the most powerful vampire on the planet with incredible psychic abilities.
Lestat is attractive, bold, vain, seductive, dark, brooding. He is fond of literature, philosophy, music, plays the piano and violin, acting, fluent in many languages. He is also an outlaw who takes whatever or whoever he wants. Lestat is a rebel against both vampire and mortal authority who disregards moral codes, laws, rules, and conventions.
Honorable Mentions
- Beowulf, Germanic-Saxon folklore, 10th-11th Century
- Robin Hood, English folklore, 13th-14th Century
- Sir Lancelot, Le Morte d’Arthur, 1485, Thomas Mallory
- Don Juan, 1665, Moliere
- Tom Jones, The History of Tom Jones, 1749, Henry Fielding
- Heinrich Faust, Faust, I. 1806, II. 1831, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Dom Claude Frollo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1831, Victor Hugo
- Eugene Onegin, 1833, Alexander Pushkin
- James Steelforth, David Copperfield, 1850, Charles Dickens
- Captain Nemo, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, 1870, Jules Verne
- Charles Foster Kane, Citizen Kane, 1941, Orson Welles
References
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