He cold, he dope, he might sell Coke
He always in the air, but he never fly coach
He always in the air, but he never fly coach
—Nicki Minaj, "Super Bass"
I think...I think when it’s all over, it just comes back in flashes, you know? It’s like a kaleidoscope of memories. It just all comes back...but he never does. I think part of me knew the second I saw him, that this would happen. It’s not really anything he said or anything he did. It was...the feeling that came along with it. And...crazy thing is, I don’t know if I’m ever going to feel that way again. But I don’t know if I should. I knew his world moved too fast and burned too bright. But I just thought, ‘how can the devil be pulling you towards someone who looks...so much like an angel when he smiles at you?’. Maybe he knew that when he saw me. I guess I just lost my balance. I think that the worst part of it all wasn’t losing him...it was losing me.
—Taylor Swift, "I Knew You Were Trouble"
"He was guilty of robbery and murder, industrial espionage and several attempts at terrorism...It was obvious to Kitty that he'd steal the money out of the church hat, if he ever went to church.
So why exactly was she drawn to him? He certainly wasn't a nice man. Not like Superman. He could be cruel, callous, and unthinking...But there was still something about that bald head and those smoldering eyes.
If his confidence was electric, the power she saw burning in those incredible eyes was nuclear. When you were drawn into his circle you believe he could make anything happen.
Where most people saw smiley faces in the moon, he saw worlds ripe for conquest. It was sort of thrilling."
So why exactly was she drawn to him? He certainly wasn't a nice man. Not like Superman. He could be cruel, callous, and unthinking...But there was still something about that bald head and those smoldering eyes.
If his confidence was electric, the power she saw burning in those incredible eyes was nuclear. When you were drawn into his circle you believe he could make anything happen.
Where most people saw smiley faces in the moon, he saw worlds ripe for conquest. It was sort of thrilling."
— Superman Returns novelization
"He's a bad, bad man and you like it!"
— Mao describes Lelouch and Shirley's relationship, Code Geass
"Listen, Coop, last night was really great. You were incredibly romantic and heroic, no doubt about it. And that's great. But I've thought about it, and my thing is this: Andy is really hot. And don't get me wrong, you're cute too, but Andy is like, cut. From marble. He's gorgeous. He has this beautiful face and this incredible body, and I genuinely don't care that he's kinda lame. I don't even care that he cheats on me. And I like you more than I like Andy, Coop, but I'm 16. And maybe it'll be a different story when I'm ready to get married, but right now, I am entirely about sex. I just wanna get laid. I just wanna take him and grab him and fuck his brains out, ya know? So that's where my priorities are right now. Sex. Specifically with Andy and not with you."
— Katie, Wet Hot American Summer
Sky Masterson: Who do you wanna marry? Nathan? Or what you wanna make out of him?
Adelaide: I wanna marry and live normal like people! I wanna have a normal home, with wallpaper and book ends!
Sky: Well, then, fall in love with people! Not with gamblers!
Adelaide: I wanna marry and live normal like people! I wanna have a normal home, with wallpaper and book ends!
Sky: Well, then, fall in love with people! Not with gamblers!
"I'm ashamed to say it. But while I admire Ashley, understand him and like his sense of principle, in the end, it's Rhett that I'd want."
— Olivia de Havilland, discussing Gone with the Wind
"I hope I never see Dallas Winston again...I might fall in love with him."
— Cherry Valance, The Outsiders
Picard: What does a woman like you see in a man like Professor Moriarty?
Countless Bartholomew: He is an exciting man, Captain. Brilliant, incisive... ruthless. He has an almost irresistible appeal.
Picard: He is also an arch criminal.
Countess Bartholomew: Only because he was written that way! I see him much differently, Captain — he is not a villain.
Countless Bartholomew: He is an exciting man, Captain. Brilliant, incisive... ruthless. He has an almost irresistible appeal.
Picard: He is also an arch criminal.
Countess Bartholomew: Only because he was written that way! I see him much differently, Captain — he is not a villain.
"That Tompkins is such a renegade!"
— So and So, Teen Girl Squad Issue 8
"You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life."
— Han Solo to Princess Leia, The Empire Strikes Back
Shepard: "Some women like dangerous men."
Kelly: "Commander, that is a dirty, dirty stereotype! In my case it happens to be true, but still!"
I want a devil in skin tight leather
He's gonna be wild as the wind
And one fine night I'll be holdin' on tight
To a cool rider, a cool rider
If he's cool enough he can burn me through and through
If it takes forever, then I'll wait forever
No ordinary boy, no ordinary boy is gonna do
I want a rider that's cool
He's gonna be wild as the wind
And one fine night I'll be holdin' on tight
To a cool rider, a cool rider
If he's cool enough he can burn me through and through
If it takes forever, then I'll wait forever
No ordinary boy, no ordinary boy is gonna do
I want a rider that's cool
— Stephanie Zinone, Grease 2
"I'll make a rich woman beg, and make a good woman steal
I'll make an old woman blush, and make a young girl squeal
I wanna be yours pretty baby, yours and yours alone
But I gotta tell ya honey, that I'm bad to the bone!"
I'll make an old woman blush, and make a young girl squeal
I wanna be yours pretty baby, yours and yours alone
But I gotta tell ya honey, that I'm bad to the bone!"
— Music/George =Thorogood, "Bad to the Bone"
Teen Bubbles: (On the Rowdyruff Boys) "Oh. We shouldn't talk to them. They're bad."
Teen Blossom and Teen Buttercup: [Smiling wickedly] "I know!"
Teen Blossom and Teen Buttercup: [Smiling wickedly] "I know!"
"Honestly though, I thought he was cuter when he was evil."
— Tokine, Kekkaishi
"I don't understand. Do women like being treated like crap?"
— Stewie Griffin, Family Guy
"All good women have a missionary streak, sir; convince her that her orifice will be your salvation and she's yours."
— Puss-in-Boots, The Bloody Chamber
"I actually don't think girls like a guy who treats them bad. But I do think they—we—get off a little on the idea of changing someone for the better, or the idea of having the power that someone loves us so much that he'll change or sacrifice something for us. ... A nice guy doesn't need to change, and, most importantly, he's already nice to everyone. How do you know that you're special if he treats everyone else with as much kindness and respect as he treats you? The "bad boy" type, though? He may range from simple, garden-variety jackhole (hello, Sawyer!) to appalling psychopath (hello, Dr. Lecter!), but you know he loves you because he's completely different around you. You are an exception to his very nature. This is how "villain" ends up drifting towards "antihero"—Dracula, The Phantom of the Opera, Spike on Buffy, fanfic!Draco Malfoy—but you even see it with straightforward heroes: Mr. Darcy and Mr. Rochester are both cold, prickly, withdrawn types until Lizzie Bennet and Jane Eyre arrive, respectively, to bewilder and melt them. That's the fantasy."
"He's a rebel and he'll never ever be any good
He's a rebel and he'll never ever be understood
And just because he doesn't do what everybody else does
That's no reason why I can't give him all my love
He is always good to me, always treats me tenderly
'Cause he's not a rebel, no no no
He's not a rebel, no no no, to me"
He's a rebel and he'll never ever be understood
And just because he doesn't do what everybody else does
That's no reason why I can't give him all my love
He is always good to me, always treats me tenderly
'Cause he's not a rebel, no no no
He's not a rebel, no no no, to me"
— The Crystals, "He's a Rebel"
"Anyway, I was reading an article in the paper about Ted Bundy
being on trial in Florida. In the article it said the courtroom was filled with women waiting to give him flowers, love letters and wedding fucking proposals … and I'm afraid to say that the first thing that entered my head was: "And I'm not getting laid." What am I doing wrong? I read another article, a woman is suing the state of Wisconsin. Here's why: She married a fella. He's on death row. Why is he on death row? He killed 8 women … he has AIDS, and she's suing the state for rights of conjugal visits. And I'm afraid to say that the first thing that came to my head was: "And I'm not getting laid."
Okay, what exactly are you ladies looking for in a man here? They must have been heavy on the old sense of humor that you always talk about in your little women's polls. "Ted Bundy, that old whip, he's hilarious. Some of the things Ted would do, he kills me. I overlooked the whole mass murder things 'cause he kept me in stitches." It's just depressing. Michael Bolton, Garth Brooks — achey breaky fucking dick this guy is — Ted Bundy getting wedding proposals.
You know, we're fucked up here. I tell you, Satan's going to have no trouble taking over here 'cause all the women are going to say: "What a cute butt." "He's Satan!" "You don't know him like I do." "He's the Prince of Darkness!" "I can change him."
Aw, man Oh, Hitler had Eva Braun, Manson had "Squeaky" Fromme,
Ted Bundy got lots of dates, I wonder what I'm doing wrong.
I don't pretend to understand women's little quirks
Just one thing I know for sure — chicks dig jerks, yeah.
being on trial in Florida. In the article it said the courtroom was filled with women waiting to give him flowers, love letters and wedding fucking proposals … and I'm afraid to say that the first thing that entered my head was: "And I'm not getting laid." What am I doing wrong? I read another article, a woman is suing the state of Wisconsin. Here's why: She married a fella. He's on death row. Why is he on death row? He killed 8 women … he has AIDS, and she's suing the state for rights of conjugal visits. And I'm afraid to say that the first thing that came to my head was: "And I'm not getting laid." Okay, what exactly are you ladies looking for in a man here? They must have been heavy on the old sense of humor that you always talk about in your little women's polls. "Ted Bundy, that old whip, he's hilarious. Some of the things Ted would do, he kills me. I overlooked the whole mass murder things 'cause he kept me in stitches." It's just depressing. Michael Bolton, Garth Brooks — achey breaky fucking dick this guy is — Ted Bundy getting wedding proposals.
You know, we're fucked up here. I tell you, Satan's going to have no trouble taking over here 'cause all the women are going to say: "What a cute butt." "He's Satan!" "You don't know him like I do." "He's the Prince of Darkness!" "I can change him."
Aw, man Oh, Hitler had Eva Braun, Manson had "Squeaky" Fromme,
Ted Bundy got lots of dates, I wonder what I'm doing wrong.
I don't pretend to understand women's little quirks
Just one thing I know for sure — chicks dig jerks, yeah.
"Chicks Dig Jerks"
"Witnesses said the sexy and oh-so-single Jeffries — best known for his role as daredevil test pilot Johnny Spade in the blockbuster G-Force movies — committed the murders 'for no apparent reason,' mowing down his terrified prey 'with cold-blooded precision, deaf to their desperate pleas for mercy.'" Ouch!"
Jonas Armstrong: He's a murderer!
Lucy Griffiths: Yes, but he's a nice-looking murderer!
— From the DVD commentary of the BBC's Robin Hood, the actors who played Robin and Marian (both of whom undergo serious Ron the Death Eater syndrome in certain portions of the fandom) try to understand Guy of Gisborne's appeal.
"Woman's heart and mind are insoluble puzzles to the male. Murder might be condoned or explained, and yet some smaller offence might rankle."
— Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client"
"Be my bad boy, be my man.
Be my weekend lover, but don't be my friend."
Be my weekend lover, but don't be my friend."
— Cascada, "Bad Boy"
"Yeah the bad boys are always catching my eye
I said the bad boys are always spinning my mind
Even though I know they're no good for me
It's the risk I take for the chemistry
With the bad boys always catching my eye"
I said the bad boys are always spinning my mind
Even though I know they're no good for me
It's the risk I take for the chemistry
With the bad boys always catching my eye"
— Alexandra Burke, "Bad Boys"
Solange: What is it about bad men? You... my husband. I had so many chances to be happy, so many nice guys. Why can't nice guys be more like you?
James Bond: Because then they would be bad.
James Bond: Because then they would be bad.
"Why do women do it? Leave their damned brains in neutral when the bad guys start to sweet talk? Why couldn't she have married some straight up and down dullard who would have taken care of her?"
— Rufus van Alden, The Mystery of the Blue Train
"It’s that air of helpless ruin. He’s desperately attractive. He may well be a killer too, of course, so that’s a bit worrying. But maybe that’s what’s attractive, I don’t know."
— Lennox, The Mystery of the Blue Train
"You're such an asshole... that's so charming."
— Lily Evans, A Very Potter Musical
"As if a woman ever loved a man for his virtue."
— Kitty Fane, The Painted Veil
"Now you're in love, and why shouldn't you be?
I'm everything you'll never be."
I'm everything you'll never be."
— Queens of the Stone Age, "Ode to Clarissa"
Manny Calavera: You know, you have a really bad taste in men.
Olivia Ofrenda: No, I have a taste for really bad men. There's a difference.
Olivia Ofrenda: No, I have a taste for really bad men. There's a difference.
"The whole 'quiet and stoic' thing must get you a lot of action, huh?"
— Oghren, Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening
"Doc, I’m not here to fill your ear with a load of crap about rules, or making wise choices or wasting your potential or any of that crap. You got on the pill; that tells me you’re trying to be responsible. Now, let me clue you in on something about bad boys. Most bad boys aren’t a project, honey; they’re not fixer-uppers. They won’t fall for the right girl and mystically be cured of their faults while keeping that cool edginess. And, sadly, most of them need a cop with a gun and the threat of a jail sentence hanging over their heads to wake up and figure out which way the world spins. I know because I was one and that’s what it took. More to the point, Trish and I would rather chew ground glass than see you hurt."
— Mr Donner, Whateley Universe
Bart: What do you like about him (Jimbo)? He's just a good-looking rebel who plays by his own rules.
Lisa and Laura Powers: [Sighs wistfully]
"Who's that guy? The guy with all the tattoos who just punched that other guy in the gut and stole his car keys? The guy who called me a bitch and told me to stay out of his business? I want him to get me pregnant."
"Oh Jet, you're so...bad...."
— Actor Katara:, Avatar: The Last Airbender ("The Ember Island Players")
"It is not vertue, wisdom, valour, wit,
Strength, comliness of shape, or amplest merit
That woman's love can win or long inherit;
But what it is, hard is to say,
Harder to hit,
(Which way soever men refer it)."
Strength, comliness of shape, or amplest merit
That woman's love can win or long inherit;
But what it is, hard is to say,
Harder to hit,
(Which way soever men refer it)."
— Samson Agonistes, 1010-1015
"He's a tramp
But they love him
Breaks a new heart
Ev'ry day''
But they love him
Breaks a new heart
Ev'ry day''
"You got style, You got grace. But kid you try so hard, she just laughs in your face. Yeah, you're a nice guy with the wrong attitude, She want a bad boy."
— Cobra Starship, Nice Guys Finish Last [1].
."Women love a sick child or a healthy animal; A man who is both itches them like an incubus."
— Marilyn Hacker, She Bitches About Boys
"She wants fire, and Dorne sent her mud. You could make a poultice out of mud to cool a fever. You could plant seeds in mud and grow a crop to feed your children. Mud would nourish you, where fire would only consume you, but fools and children and young girls would choose fire every time."
— Barristan Selmy, A Song of Ice and Fire
"It's always the bad boy that makes the good girl's heart beat just a little bit faster."
"It amuses me. It honestly amuses me. People have been waxing lyrical [in letters] about Draco Malfoy, and I think that's the only time when it stopped amusing me and started almost worrying me. I'm trying to clearly distinguish between Tom Felton, who is a good looking young boy, and Draco, who, whatever he looks like, is not a nice man. It’s a romantic, but unhealthy, and unfortunately all too common delusion of — delusion, there you go — of girls, and you [nods to Melissa] will know this, that they are going to change someone. And that persists through many women's lives, till their death bed, and it is uncomfortable and unhealthy and it actually worried me a little bit, to see young girls swearing undying devotion to this really imperfect character, because there must be an element in there, that 'I'd be the one who [changes him]'. I mean, I understand the psychology of it, but it is pretty unhealthy. So, a couple of times I have written back, possibly quite sharply, saying [Laughter], 'You want to rethink your priorities here'."
— J. K. Rowling, from an interview
Fred: Women don't love men for their goodness.
Mary: Perhaps not. But if they love them, they never think them bad.
Mary: Perhaps not. But if they love them, they never think them bad.
"Rose and Valerie, screaming from the gallery
Say he must go free / (Maxwell must go free)
The judge does not agree and he tells them / So"
Say he must go free / (Maxwell must go free)
The judge does not agree and he tells them / So"
"... [T]he seduction community is today rediscovering politically incorrect truths about female sexuality that everyone knew and took for granted before 1830 - albeit the old account was that women tend to make self destructive sexual choices, so need male kin supervising their sex lives, while the new seduction community account is that women tend to make self destructive sexual choices, so here is how to take advantage of them."
— Random internet forum poster on "Pick Up Artists"
"For some unknown reason, they draw you in despite the fact that they are jerks."
— Alexis Bledel
Mabel: [Robbie V.] is such a jerk.
Dipper: Yeah, but he's a jerk with tight pants and a guitar.
Dipper: Yeah, but he's a jerk with tight pants and a guitar.
Mermando: [after Mabel asks him out] I'm afraid I cannot, for I have a terrible secret! [swims away]
Mabel: I'm upset...but also intrigued.
Mabel: I'm upset...but also intrigued.
"You know, it's very strange. You're really horrible, and cynical and shallow and selfish and immoral and completely worthless—and I like you. I like you very much."
— Patty, to David Slater in The Moon is Blue
Ilana: I don't get it.
Octus: Dark hair, bedroom eyes, moody demeanor. I totally get it.
Octus: Dark hair, bedroom eyes, moody demeanor. I totally get it.
"Girls don't want a gentleman
If you want to get to them.
Girls don't want a gentleman,
They want a loser like me."
If you want to get to them.
Girls don't want a gentleman,
They want a loser like me."
— Theory of a Deadman, "Gentleman"
Claudia: He’s just sucking up because he wants in your pants. Once he moves his toothbrush in, he’s gonna abuse your house husbands, take over the TV remote, and max out your credit cards.
Anita: But he’s a tough guy!
Claudia: A great bodyguard. An awful house husband.
Anita: But he’s sexy.
Anita: But he’s a tough guy!
Claudia: A great bodyguard. An awful house husband.
Anita: But he’s sexy.
— Anita Blake parody here
"I know, I have to get away from that bad boy thing. There's no good there. But I can't help thinking — isn't that where the fire comes from? Can a nice, safe relationship be that intense? I know it's nuts, but... part of me believes that real love and passion have to go hand in hand with pain and fighting. [vampire leaps out at Buffy; she stakes him without pause] I wonder where I get that from?"
Stewie: S'up babe, we going out Saturday night?
Olivia: Stewie what are you doing here? I told you, I'm just into a different type of guy.
Stewie: Oh yeah? I'll tell you what you're into— being ugly!
Olivia: [hurt] Stewie, you're being mean.
Stewie: No, if I was being mean when you opened the door I would have said "Oh hey Ray Liotta, is Olivia home? Oh wait, you're Olivia!". You see I thought you were Ray Liotta because your skin has the texture of a decorative autumn squash.
Olivia: [weeping profusely]
Stewie: So I'll pick you up at seven?
Olivia: [through tears] That sounds wonderful.
Olivia: Stewie what are you doing here? I told you, I'm just into a different type of guy.
Stewie: Oh yeah? I'll tell you what you're into— being ugly!
Olivia: [hurt] Stewie, you're being mean.
Stewie: No, if I was being mean when you opened the door I would have said "Oh hey Ray Liotta, is Olivia home? Oh wait, you're Olivia!". You see I thought you were Ray Liotta because your skin has the texture of a decorative autumn squash.
Olivia: [weeping profusely]
Stewie: So I'll pick you up at seven?
Olivia: [through tears] That sounds wonderful.
Detective Jake Peralta: I did something really stupid, I need your help. You know how I'm a sexy bad boy who rides motorcycles to work and is always breaking the rules in the name of justice?
Detective Amy Santiago: I don't like where this going...
Detective Jake Peralta: Well, I also maybe sometimes bring home case files to work on them after-hours and might not be that great about returning them.
Detective Amy Santiago: [horrified] Oh God...
Detective Jake Peralta: [slightly hopeful] Are you aroused because of what a bad boy I am?
Detective Amy Santiago: No!
Detective Jake Peralta: [thinly-veiled disappointment] No...
Detective Amy Santiago: I don't like where this going...
Detective Jake Peralta: Well, I also maybe sometimes bring home case files to work on them after-hours and might not be that great about returning them.
Detective Amy Santiago: [horrified] Oh God...
Detective Jake Peralta: [slightly hopeful] Are you aroused because of what a bad boy I am?
Detective Amy Santiago: No!
Detective Jake Peralta: [thinly-veiled disappointment] No...
Hendricks: Shit, John, try to make a little sense! You've known her since less than six days! She is eighteen!
Johnny Marcone: I already checked. Totally legal in Missouri.
Hendricks: OH, FOR GOD'S SAKE! She is a juvenile offender who burns cars!
Johnny Marcone: I already checked. Totally legal in Missouri.
Hendricks: OH, FOR GOD'S SAKE! She is a juvenile offender who burns cars!
"Someone told me that women might be attracted to the bad boys initially, but they don't stay with the bad boys. So... there's a double benefit!"
— Comedian Glen Foster
"It's hard to resist a bad boy who's a good man."
"You see the glass half empty
(Never enough for this bad boy)
I see the glass half filled
(She sees some good in this crazy fool)
I've only got myself to blame
(Well, you should have known better)
But Cupid's a real good liar"
(Never enough for this bad boy)
I see the glass half filled
(She sees some good in this crazy fool)
I've only got myself to blame
(Well, you should have known better)
But Cupid's a real good liar"
— Girlfriend, cover of Laura Branigan's "Bad Attitude"
Winston: What's your take on why women go out with the wrong type of guy?
Florence: I see it as a genetic gamble. It's harder to raise a child alone. But if the child is a boy who grows up like his father, the mother's half of the genetic code is disseminated far wider than if she had followed the monogamous model.
Florence: I see it as a genetic gamble. It's harder to raise a child alone. But if the child is a boy who grows up like his father, the mother's half of the genetic code is disseminated far wider than if she had followed the monogamous model.
I was reading [a women's magazine] on the plane ride up here, and there was this thing in there where these women, nationwide, had sent in their responses to this survey, and one of the questions was, they were asked to name their number-one type of "fantasy man", and do you know what the number one answer was? A "dangerous man". See, I thought about that one. When they wrote that they must have been thinking about somebody like James Bond or something, no, that's why it's a fantasy. Because in reality, when you get a dangerous man, you're on an episode of COPS in a tube top hanging out a trailer door going, "Lock his ass up! LOCK — HIS — ASS — UUUP!"
Darkness: The type I like is the polar opposite of such a competent man! He's not particularly attractive and can be either scrawny or fat. He needs to be weak-willed enough that, despite my love for him, he's easily strung along by another woman's affection. Someone who's in rut all year round— the more perverse, the better! A failure at life, who tries to take the easiest route possible! And if he's in debt, that'd be even better! Then he could drink all day and never work, and complain that it's society's fault he's a loser! He'd throw an empty bottle at me while saying... "Hey, Darkness. Why don't you use that nasty body of yours to earn us some cash?" [audibly moans]
Kazuma: Damn it all! This girl is completely hopeless!
— Konosuba
I've got a fever, Come check it and see
There's something burning and rolling in me
We may not last but we'll have fun till it ends
Come on baby be my bad boyfriend
I want to hear you call out my name
I want to see you burn up in flames
Keep you on ice so I can show all my friends
Come on baby be my bad boyfriend
There's something burning and rolling in me
We may not last but we'll have fun till it ends
Come on baby be my bad boyfriend
I want to hear you call out my name
I want to see you burn up in flames
Keep you on ice so I can show all my friends
Come on baby be my bad boyfriend
— Garbage, "Bad Boyfriend"
"What don't you get about this? Britta likes guys who are mean to her. She doesn't like herself."
— Troy Barnes, Community
Dick: And this one at the head of the pack, he's gaining on me with eyes ready to kill. It's Jason Todd— you know, the lifer? The kid raised in the gang?
Kara: Yeah, we've met. He's cute.
Dick: I'm cute. He's the kind of scum who thinks the word scum is a compliment.
Kara: Yeah, we've met. He's cute.
Dick: I'm cute. He's the kind of scum who thinks the word scum is a compliment.
Nancy: Pig.
Arnie: Yeah.
Nancy: You're scum!
Arnie: Yeah.
Nancy: You're slime!
Arnie: Yeah.
Nancy: You're vermin!
Arnie: Yeah.
Nancy: Kiss me!
Arnie: Okay!
— Roseanne, "Vegas, Vegas"
My one and only shining star said, stick with me and I'll take you far
Your eyes are sparklin' with teenage fire
I'll satisfy your mad desire
Your eyes are sparklin' with teenage fire
I'll satisfy your mad desire
'cause I love playin' with fire
And I don't wanna get burned
love playin' with fire
Don't think I'll ever learn''
And I don't wanna get burned
love playin' with fire
Don't think I'll ever learn''
—The Runaways, "I Love Playin' With Fire"
You are wanted and you're hunted
You're the bad guy but I feel for you
You're a danger, a fallen angel
But I like you
You're the strongest of them all
You're the bad guy but I feel for you
You're a danger, a fallen angel
But I like you
You're the strongest of them all
"I know there are women, like my best friends, who would have gotten out of there the minute their boyfriend gave them a gun to hide. But I didn't. I got to admit the truth. It turned me on."
— Karen, Goodfellas
Sasuke didn't see himself as a charming person. He had no idea what all those girls saw in him, to be frank. He was bitter, asocial, wrapped in darkness and scarred by grief. The phrase "damaged goods" surely existed solely to describe people like himself.
He was not the kind of person that he thought a smart or self-respecting girl should pursue. Couldn't they see how messed up he was? How dangerous a path he would have to walk?
It galled Sasuke that so many girls should be so smitten with him. It felt insulting, somehow, like their infatuation devalued the tragedy of his clan's destruction, romanticizing his pain and frustration into an unrecognizable caricature of the person he really was.
Their smiling, giggling, blushing, and cooing all angered him. Like they saw it all as one big game, like they didn't take anything seriously. They didn't get it. They refused to understand.
He was not the kind of person that he thought a smart or self-respecting girl should pursue. Couldn't they see how messed up he was? How dangerous a path he would have to walk?
It galled Sasuke that so many girls should be so smitten with him. It felt insulting, somehow, like their infatuation devalued the tragedy of his clan's destruction, romanticizing his pain and frustration into an unrecognizable caricature of the person he really was.
Their smiling, giggling, blushing, and cooing all angered him. Like they saw it all as one big game, like they didn't take anything seriously. They didn't get it. They refused to understand.
Valerian: Little Goody Two-shoes with an Ivy League education are always attracted to galaxy-hopping bad boys like me.
Laureline: My Ivy League education taught me to steer clear from bad boys like you.
Laureline: My Ivy League education taught me to steer clear from bad boys like you.
Juni: Gary's a bad guy, Carmen.
Carmen: Maybe I know that. I think I can change him!
Juni: I do not understand you.
Carmen: And you never will.
Carmen: Maybe I know that. I think I can change him!
Juni: I do not understand you.
Carmen: And you never will.
"Chick-bots dig brooding loner bit."
—Waspinator/Thrust, Beast Machines
"The thing about Carlos is... he doesn’t lose himself with a woman. A lover is not different to him. He might have a use for them, so he has to seduce them properly, make sure they're so crazy about him that they'll do anything for him. It's not...not pleasure, it's a sick kind of conquest. He'll do anything... he is the perfect lover. He'll do it all not to please you, but to excite you, to make it dangerous for you. (starts to stroke herself between her thighs) It's very sexy too, to a woman that danger, like he could kill you in a second but instead he makes you come. And it's like he's killed you and there isn't anything left of you and... he makes you be reborn again the way he wants you to be, so there isn't a thought in your brain that he hasn't put there. Not a feeling in your body that he hasn't put there."
— Carla, The Assignment (1997).
The more of an asshole a guy is, the more girls he's got lining up to give him blowjobs. It's a scientific fact.
— Dennis, Skippy Dies
I'm a good looking teenage girl. I love it when boys treat me like crap.
— Bum!Bella, Bum Reviews: New Moon
He's a bad boy with a tainted heart
And even I know this ain't smart
But mama I'm in love with a criminal
And even I know this ain't smart
But mama I'm in love with a criminal
— Britney Spears, "Criminal"
"I am so tired of being good."
— Allison Vernon-Williams, Cry-Baby
[Paul de la Fosse]'s house at Shalford was a den of profligacy and vice. No woman could cross that threshold and depart unstained. In some strange fashion, inexplicable and yet common, the man, with all his evil soul and his twisted body, had yet some strange fascination for women, some mastery over them which compelled them to his will. Again and again he had brought ruin to a household, again and again his adroit tongue and his cunning wit had in some fashion saved him from the punishment of his deeds. His family was great in the county, and his kinsmen held favor with the King, so that his neighbors feared to push things too far against him. Such was the man, malignant and ravenous, who had stooped like some foul night-hawk and borne away to his evil nest the golden beauty of Cosford.
"A goody two-shoes, headed to the cleric... she's not your type!"
—Mephisto, Faust
Women can accept the fact that a man is a rotter, a swindler, a drug-taker, a confirmed liar, and a general swine without batting an eyelash and without its impairing their affection for the brute in the least!
—Dr. Reilly, Murder in Mesopotamia
"Being as cold, cruel, and selfish as you can... that's what I call a real man!!"
—Mariko Konjo, Ranma ½
Derek Cowley: Hey, uh, why do you think we never hooked up in high school?
Sam Marche: Cuz you didn't treat me like shit. You were too nice. Still are.
Sam Marche: Cuz you didn't treat me like shit. You were too nice. Still are.
Star: Skeeves, who is that fresh of breath air?
Principal Skeeves: Oh, that degenerate is Oskar Greason. I'd stay away if I were you, that boy has a record.
Star: (swoon) Oh, a record!
Principal Skeeves: Oh, that degenerate is Oskar Greason. I'd stay away if I were you, that boy has a record.
Star: (swoon) Oh, a record!
So why do good girls like bad guys?
I've had this question for a real long time
I've been a bad boy and it's plain to see
So why do good girls fall in love with me?
I've had this question for a real long time
I've been a bad boy and it's plain to see
So why do good girls fall in love with me?
— Falling in Reverse, "Good Girls Bad Guys"
"And there are few women who care for a kind, gentle husband. They'd sooner have a handsome, blustering brute like Sobek- he's the one to take a girl's fancy."
"Kyril did not understand why that was happening. He killed people on a daily basis and already women were trying to line up at his door."
Young women like bad lots. They always have. They fall in love with bad lots. They are quite sure they can change them. And the nice, kind, steady, reliable husbands got the answer, in my young days, that one would be "a sister to them" which never satisfied them at all.
Why the worst type of man can always be relied upon to please and interest the nicest of women has long been a problem beyond me. I knew instinctively that Allerton was a rotter — and nine men out of ten would have agreed with me. Whereas nine women or possibly the whole ten would have fallen for him immediately.
—Captain Hastings, Curtain
Everyone, my friend, demands a spice of danger in their lives. Some get it vicariously — as in bullfights. Some read about it. Some find it at the cinema. But I am sure of this — too much safety is abhorrent to the nature of a human being. Men find danger in many ways — women are reduced to finding their danger mostly in affairs of sex. That is why, perhaps, they welcome the hint of the tiger — the sheathed claws, the treacherous spring. The excellent fellow who will make a good and kind husband — they pass him by.
—Hercule Poirot, Curtain
I’ve had multiple friends of both genders who shared the affliction of being attracted primarily to people who are unreliable, disinterested, or dangerous. It often strikes me as odd that some evolutionary drive propels certain people to try to reproduce with people that they would never consider hiring as a babysitter. That seems to me to be one of evolutions ways of gently removing people from the gene pool.
"You're such a nice guy!" means "I'm going to be dating leather-wearing alcoholics and complaining about them... to you".
—Chandler Bing, Friends
"My dear Mr Jeffries, you do not understand women. If a woman has to choose between a mug and a Don Juan, she will choose Don Juan every time. Your wife, Mr Jeffries, is a charming, innocent, high-minded girl, and the only way she is going to get any kick out of her life with you is to believe that she has reformed a rake."
—Parker Pyne, Parker Pyne Investigates
"You admire a tiger until he turns on you and you feel its true fucking nature!"
— Andrei Sator, Tenet
"It's never any good, is it, telling young girls that men have a bad reputation? It—it just spurs them on!"
"Frank has lost a good many jobs and he hasn’t been, perhaps, what most people would call very steady. But it will be different now. I think one can do so much by influence, don’t you, M. Poirot? If a man feels a woman expects a lot of him, he tries to live up to her ideal of him."
Poirot sighed. But he did not argue. He had heard many hundreds of women produce that same argument, with the same blithe belief in the redeeming power of a woman’s love. Once in a thousand times, he supposed, cynically, it might be true.
[...]
It was not as though he had any particular belief in, or liking for, Frank Carter. Carter, he thought dispassionately, was definitely what the English call a ‘wrong ’un’. He was an unpleasant young bully of the kind that appeals to women, so that they are reluctant to believe the worst, however plain the evidence.
Poirot sighed. But he did not argue. He had heard many hundreds of women produce that same argument, with the same blithe belief in the redeeming power of a woman’s love. Once in a thousand times, he supposed, cynically, it might be true.
[...]
It was not as though he had any particular belief in, or liking for, Frank Carter. Carter, he thought dispassionately, was definitely what the English call a ‘wrong ’un’. He was an unpleasant young bully of the kind that appeals to women, so that they are reluctant to believe the worst, however plain the evidence.
"I would like someone who will break my heart into pieces and stomp it into the ground, please."
Joyce, y'do know that all those sparkly vampire stories 'bout findin'somehot asshole an' changin' him into softboi husband material were, like, fictional Wish-Fulfillment, right?
"What you want, in the dream scenario, is the sexy bad boy who's only a bad boy to other people but is lovely to you. And unfortunately that Jekyll & Hyde is quite unusual. That's a great romantic hero, but not that common in in the real world."
—Louise Perry, Maiden Mother Matriarch, episode 6
Why doesn't he understand the only way to devote himself to me is by being aloof and severe?
the only way to devote himself to me is by being aloof and severe?—Jennifer, Dumbing of Age
“Herein lies the Darcy myth. The fantasy that the person who at first seems arrogant and insulting will in fact become your soulmate once you put in the work, and might in fact ultimately be more of a catch because you had to convince them.”
— "The Darcy Myth: Jane Austen, Literary Heartthrobs, and the Monsters They Taught Us to Love."
