Discussion: Are You Over the “Moody & Arrogant Love Interest” Trend?

Ok, you can’t say that you don’t know what I’m talking about. The whole “kickass main female character meets the dark & brooding male love interest who just so happens to be agitating but then they fall in love and he’s suddenly romantic and charming” thing?

Give me a male character, and they’ll probably be like this. (Kylo Ren, I am kind of talking about you here.)

So, are you over it or do you still like these YA romances? Tell me  below, and chat with others. Welcome to my second discussion!!! : )

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(And yes, that IS you cringing at movie Jace.)

24 thoughts on “Discussion: Are You Over the “Moody & Arrogant Love Interest” Trend?”

  2. Ignifex, anyone?

    Is it the bad guy with a good heart or the bad guy bad guy like… the Darkling? Because tbh I’m over those brooding YA guys I used to like them but now I’m all about villains. Like the we thought they were nice but really just plain evil villains. Too bad they die in the end though 😢

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  3. I HAVE been over this trend. I have ALWAYS been over this trend. My favorite relationship dynamics are usually when both characters are full, flawed characters. Though, if I’m honest, I do really like the dorky idiot type of main male characters.

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  4. HAHAHA Kylo Ren. So true. He’s probably the definition of dark and brooding. And I totally agree, it’s time we see a change.. what about the cute nerdy boys? Or just the nice boys?

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  6. I’d argue, though, that Kylo Ren doesn’t exactly fall into this category because (1) please DON’T ship him with Rey didn’t the world see Luke/Leia go down in flames and (2) I’d argue he’s more the moody and arrogant child, since the parent-child relationship with respect to him is more important but I’LL STOP TALKING BECAUSE I COULD GO ON FOREVER ABOUT PROBLEMATIC KYLO BUT WHY I STILL ENJOY HIS CHARACTER.

    I think that what’s so compelling about this kind of love interest is that there is constantly internal conflict in the relationship. But of course, that’s no excuse for blindly following this trope — I simply argue that there ARE places where it can be used well, but there are also many other substitutes when looking for conflict (secrets! dwindling interest! rivalries!).

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    1. Kylo Ren is definitely an exception, now that you point it out! I’d say that he definitely has some problems, and actually I guess I could even say issues at this point (??) but YES! With the whole “dark side member but then your father is — —-” and everything it makes it much more complicated. OH MY GOODNESS DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED I’M DYING LUKE x LEIA IS A JOKE I AM DYINGGGG (besides, I ship her so hard with the one other guy she falls in love with anyway.) And, I must agree that that’s EXACTLY it. Stab worthy, moody hot guys are such a terrible story conflict that is becoming quite cliche. I once again, only like this trend if it’s actually done well. Your opinions are spot on!!!!! : )

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  7. This trope IS rather overused in YA. I can only think of one male love interest in YA that doesn’t fall into this category (who ends up with the main girl anyway): Peeta Mellark. I’d love to see more characters like him 😀

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  9. That GIF is so HOOOOOOOOT!! I love it and it makes me . . . Anyway, yes! I sometimes love those kinds of love interest but sometimes its overrated? UHM. Or, it’s more like it s EVERYWHERE and it’s not cute anymore.

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  10. I’m so over it! However, I call it the asshole with a secret heart of gold trope. We usually learn later on that there’s a reason why he’s so cold and mean. I just want something new. I’m so tired of seeing it used.

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