Brokenhearted Badass

In most fiction the protagonist is likeable, endearing, and someone to who the audience is sympathetic. This can include a broad range of characters, but specifically, here, I want to explore the stereotypical steel-hearted male lead.

They're all more-or-less the same character: sometimes a smart ass, sometimes overcome with anger, always possessing an indomitable will in the face of danger, and, on occasion, brooding over their dark past. This character, simply put, is an amalgamation of all the qualities that most men wish they had (or secretly believe they do have). What I find interesting about this is that, yes, men truly envy these characters their tragic backgrounds.

Think of the role that this tragic background plays in developing the character. First, it allows them to be short and impatient with people and, in general an asshole, without the audience losing sympathy for them (Sympathy? check). Second, we, for whatever reason, are drawn to characters that are rude and sarcastic, especially towards women; this, however, requires the dark background to ultimately explain their behaviour (Likeability and endearment? check). Finally, it gives the character a very personal secret which the love interest will eventually tease out of him in a heart-felt moment (maybe right before the sex scene) in which he learns to trust again. It's the best when the main character dies right after, making his death all the more saddening (he was finally learning to live again).

And it's all as easy as saying "my parents were killed by robbers" or "I was the product of a horrible government experiment" or "I was wrongly imprisoned for 'x' amount of years". See if you can guess which characters I'm referring to.

An interesting sub-genre of the tragic background, is the character who had his heart broken by a women in his past. In this case, either she died and he was seconds away from saving her, or she betrayed him and joined the enemy. The beauty of this is how well it justifies misogynistic character traits, allowing the character to generally hate women without losing the audience. And what's cooler, really, than a guy who is openly mean to the ladies. I should point out, though, how this character in real life would be seen as mentally unstable and in in dire need of therapy. In the movie world, the idea that "he found his true love and now she's gone, and he can never love again" makes sense, but think how ridiculous this actually is.

What message, as well, is this sending to kids who look at these characters as role models? I know that when I was a kid this always brought about a certain conflict in me. Obviously I would never actually want for something tragic to happen to my family, but how else would I ever go on an awesome quest for vengeance? Maybe, I would imagine, they'd just get kidnapped or something, and then I'd rescue them before anything really bad happened to them. But I mean, do you see how fucked up that is?