What makes a bad boy? Some may say “a bad attitude and a great head of hair.” They’re right, but there can be more. While there’s certainly a type, the qualities that make up the iconic “Bad Boy” can come in a plethora of blends. Personalities can range from stoic to devilish. Aesthetics can range from rugged to refined. Attitudes can range from charismatic to jaded.
The range for the “Bad Boy” really has no end: From bare-skinned to tattooed-up, and from heroes to criminals. They can be decent men with an edge or edgy men with some decency. The quintessential bad-boy is a fan-favorite trope that only finds more modern ways to expand.
10 Kyo Sohma Is Jaded
Fruits Basket
Kyo Sohma is a product of his environment. Having been socially ostracized at a young age by the Sohma clan, Kyo’s interactions with others are abrasive and awkward. Despite this, he has an inherent confidence that’s been suppressed through years of social displacement and solitude.
Kyo finds comforts in the companionship of his Shisho, Kazuma Sohma, the only driving positive in his life for a long time. Like many of the greatest bad boys, Kyo has an attitude problem, a killer talent for combat, and he’s got that great scruffy hair.
9 Bakugo Isn’t A Bad Guy, Just A Bad Boy
My Hero Academia
Bakugo has proven himself to be a good guy, but his bad boy qualities leave even the villains of My Hero Academia wondering if he’s bad enough to be a villain himself. Bakugo demonstrates some classic bad boy tropes. He’s haughty, impulsive, and has great hair.
Bakugo is so bristly he tries to be a loner. Ironically, he ends up attracting people to him regardless of his standoffishness, such as his unofficial best friendship with the honor-bound Kirishima. His bad attitude and explosive power certainly give him the edge of the classic bad boy, but in the end, the guy is still a hero.
8 Spike Is Mostly Unbothered
Cowboy Bebop
Spike Spiegal is yet another rugged, dreamy bad boy. Ruffled hair? Check. Cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth? Check. Former criminal? Check. Can often be found lying on the couch and flipping through magazines? Check.
Spike has all the personality traits of your classic bad-boy: An aloof, devil-may-care attitude; a dark, mysterious past; a long-lost love — the list goes on. He was previously known as one of the strongest hand-to-hand combat fighters of Red Dragon Syndicate but now leads the life of a humble bounty hunter living on the fringes of the galaxy.
7 Jet Is Hard To Pin Down
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Jet’s a good guy who’s a little bad — or, he’s a bad guy who’s a little good, depending on who is asked. Whether he’s ultimately a good guy or a bad guy, he’s 100% a bad boy. He’s got the ruffled hair and a rugged wardrobe, and he chews on a stalk of wheat — for what? No one knows, but it makes him look cool.
Jet is an orphaned teenager who learned how to fight and survive in the wilderness, putting together a village of young orphaned kids who live in the trees. There’s not much arguing to be done on this one. Jet is a self-made, self-sustained, self-motivated young man and one of the dreamiest bad boys out there.
6 Chisaki Is A Dirty Dude
My Hero Academia
Chisaki’s bad-boy appeal lies in his looks and rich contradictions. His extreme violence is counterbalanced with a gentle demeanor. He’s a germophobe with long eyelashes and a slender build, and he’s also a narcissistic egomaniac with a powerhouse Quirk that earns him the name “Overhaul.”
Chisaki fails to exhibit any sort of moral compass alongside his well-crafted decorum. He renders the man who saved and raised him comatose over a disagreement on the future of the Yakuza. He torments and psychologically destroys a young child for the advancement of his own goals. He’s undeniably bad. But even when he loses, fans kind of still want to see more of him.
5 Light Is Mighty Bad
Death Note
Light Yagami is unique as a villainous type playing the main character. Fans don’t necessarily agree with Light’s ethos and a large percentage want L to be victorious, but Light holds onto a fair amount of fans nonetheless. Light has the pull of an effective bad-boy.
Light is a clean-cut, handsome teenager with a genius IQ. He’s also got a God complex and the slightest taste of power makes him drunk with it. The break-neck speed with which Light becomes a murderer once acquiring the Death Note suggests his arrogance was always present, if not yet fully expressed.
4 Greed Is The Poster Child For Bad Boys
Fullmetal Alchemist
Greed is the quintessential bad boy. He likes women, money, and power. He’s got no interest in the humdrum serious side of life, and regardless of the situation, he keeps a snappy, rascally, and mischievous spirit.
Greed parallels the bad boy Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen in a few ways, namely his charismatic and scoundrelly personality, his status as “not-quite-human,” and the cohabiting of another person’s body. Greed is also after power, but his bad boy ways soften up a bit by the end of his arc when he finds value in his friendships with Ling and Edward.
3 Draken Is Bad In A Good Way
Tokyo Revengers
There’s no denying that Draken is cool. He’s a mentor to the most powerful gang leader in Tokyo. He grew up in a brothel, has an edgy haircut, can fix motorbikes, andhas a dragon tattoo on his head. Draken is also an able fighter and relishes a challenging match.
Draken has a pretty stoic demeanor and a deep voice, all of which should result in a pretty intimidating individual, but this bad boy has a soft spot. He doesn’t like showing too much outward affection, but he’s got a lot of love and loyalty for Mikey and the other founding members of Toman.
2 Sukuna Is The King Of Bad
Jujutsu Kaisen
Sukuna is muscular, he’s charismatic, he’s got tattoos up and down his body, and he’s the King of Curses. He takes residence in the body of Yuji Itadori, acting like a powerhouse landlord and occasionally taking over Yuji’s body. Being part of Yuji’s body, he keeps Yuji’s basic physical attributes but adds on some truly bad boy aesthetics when he takes over.
When Sukuna is not the fronting personality, he’s found sitting on a towering throne wearing a loose kimono that somehow elevates his already impressive masculinity. His knack for switching from a cheerful (if arrogant) disposition to being more severe is the pinnacle of his bad boy behavior.
1 Eren Gets A Bad Boy Makeover
Attack On Titan
Eren’s development into a bad boy is a slow burn, but it really hits viewers in the season 4 opening animation. Sporting a new messy man-bun, a trench coat, a revenge body, and some lifeless eyes, the fiery, sputtering, firecracker spirit of Eren’s youth is replaced with a muted, silently simmering, trauma-fermented soul.
Eren’s high-tension energy evolves into stillness. He berates and abuses his friends. He doesn’t act himself. Although fans don’t want to see him become the villain of the story, the edge he’s given increases his fan appeal for many. Eren may become the monster he’s spent his life fighting, but the emerging aesthetic of a famous punk-pop rockstar satisfies bad boy lovers everywhere.