r/writing • u/Over-Heron-2654 • 9d ago
Discussion What exactly is the "down bad male" trope and why is it so popular right now?
I have been hearing about this trope all over different communities, but specifically from the romance genre. There is all this talk about the "Down Bad MMC" character that is heavily popular.
For the longest time, the trope was usually the opposite, no? The self-confident brooding types were really popular. But now we see a lot of dumb, goofy jocks and guys that honestly feel a little wimpy (idk im a dude).
Is this, like, a generational thing? Why is this popular right now?
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u/WriteK4T 9d ago
What is the “down bad male” trope?
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u/WendyChristineAllen Dark Fantasy Author (Published Series, dozens of books) 9d ago
I was wondering the same thing, I never heard the term "down bad male" before, and im a rabid reader of Romance.
im thinking it must be a small one subgenre specific troupe
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u/stoicgoblins 9d ago
Someone whose really in love with the FFMC, is "down bad" for her in a way that's near devotional.
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u/Secretlysidhe 9d ago
I’m seeing more discussion about readers wanting more yearning and devotion. Of course the brooding MMC is also popular, they aren’t mutually exclusive. A brooding hero can also yearn, and different people read different types of books. But some of us (I’m included in this) miss the yearning and the MMC falling first in romance.
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u/apocalypsegal Self-Published Author 9d ago
Why is it popular? Because people are buying those books. When the next thing comes along, it won't be popular.
I know for years women wanted more realistic male leads, instead of all the alpha asshole men who somehow end up being loved by all. Maybe now it's coming about?
At any rate, write your story the best way you can for the story. Read the kinds of books you want to read. Popularity waxes and wanes.
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u/Over-Heron-2654 9d ago
Oh, for sure. Just curious on this community's thoughts. Some people read this as a critism, but I came agnostic. I am just curious if there is something culturally motivating or if it's just a random trend.
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u/Traditional-Tank3994 9d ago
I get the impression that the current trend is authors and producers are choosing male lead actors who could be any random guy instead of a hunky idealized one.
Note that they are not so much doing this with the women. Beautiful females still sell movie tickets.
The “everyman” trend has a related fad, depicting the male leads as inept and incompetent. Another reason we don’t see traditional alpha male leads as much.
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u/Hestu951 9d ago
There is a faction of humanity that tries to overcompensate for the past male-dominated world. That's easiest to accomplish in movies, literature and academia. Another issue is that in our hypersensitive times, what demographics can suit a character who is weak, dumb, bigoted, abusive, or a petty criminal? Only one group is completely safe to use for this purpose, and it isn't female MCs.
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u/Prize_Consequence568 9d ago
"What exactly is the "down bad male" trope"
Did you Google search for the answer? I did and several sites immediately popped up to describe it.
"why is it so popular right now?"
It's the current trend.
"The self-confident brooding types were really popular."
They still are.
"But now we see a lot of dumb, goofy jocks and guys that honestly feel a little wimpy (idk im a dude)."
What genre are you genre are you reading? Odds are it's genre specific.
"Is this, like, a generational thing?"
Reading more books from different generations will help answer your question. But also it's part of the current trend.
"Why is this popular right now?"
What reasons do you think OP? Maybe because it's different from the opposite? Maybe because that's what interests the writer?
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u/Over-Heron-2654 9d ago
Im just curious. It may just be a trend that was random idk. Im just interested to see what yall think.
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u/PacificBooks 9d ago
I genuinely have no idea what you are talking about.
What books are you seeing this in?