->'''Molly:''' "JD, you just don't have that edgy mean streak that I'm attracted to." \\
'''JD:''' ''Shoves Turk into the bushes as he walks by'' "You were saying?" \\
'''Molly:''' "Sorry. I’m attracted to damaged, dysfunctional people, and you’re just too normal."
->-''{{Scrubs}},'' "My Last Chance"

A hottie, usually in high school and usually male, whose first name is spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e, often expressed through fondness for leather jackets and antisocial behavior. Has [[EstrogenBrigadeBait fangirls]] in both his own universe and the real one because AllGirlsWantBadBoys. They may be revealed to have [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold a heart of gold]] or a [[FreudianExcuse difficult home life]]. The female counterpart of TroubledButCute is the BrokenBird.

See also: TheWoobie, DracoInLeatherPants, EvilIsCool, EvilIsSexy, DontYouDarePityMe, JerkassWoobie.
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'''Examples:'''

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* Harima Kenji from the anime ''SchoolRumble'' takes a lot from this trope. Being rather antisocial and a juvenile delinquent, with a liking for wearing a leather jacket and riding a bike, beating up Yakuza goons, and all around good-looking ... except that beneath all that, he's an oaf with a heart of gold who likes drawing manga and is too scared to confess his love for a classmate. All while obliviously gaining the attention of several other girls.
* Hayato Gokudera from ''KatekyoHitmanReborn'' - a smoker, a [[{{Delinquents}} delinquent]], and a lover of [[StuffBlowingUp high explosives]]. Naturally, the girls go wild for him. The only break in his TroubledButCute personality is that he [[HoYay turns all mushy and affectionate]] for [[ButtMonkey Tsuna]].
* Soul from ''{{SoulEater}}'' can be considered as an example for this trope.
* Sasuke of ''{{Naruto}}''. Completely misses the look (or at least the [[HollywoodDressCode dress code]]), though - that turtleneck, shorts and kneesocks fairly scream "scrawny kid". Then again, {{Ninja}} are ''supposed'' to cultivate an unassuming personal appearance, even if in fiction [[HighlyVisibleNinja they usually don't]].
** [[spoiler:He gets ...better? when he gets an [[BadAssLongCoat Akatsuki trench coat]] and a KillEmAll attitude later on.]]
* Fakir from ''PrincessTutu''. He even has a fanclub at his school, although it's likely none of his fangirls have ever talked to him, given his anti-social nature.
* Ikuto from {{Shugo Chara}}. Though his only fangirl appears to be his sister.
* Seto Kaiba from ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}!''
** ...and at least half the cast of ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh GX}}'' (Manjyome, Ryo, Edo, [[IneffectualLoner Judai]]...)
* Sachiko from ''MariaSamaGaMiteru'' arguably counts.
* Kyo Sohma from ''FruitsBasket'', an [[DontYouDarePityMe antisocial]] [[ArrogantKungFuGuy martial artist]] who's [[FoeYay obsessed with beating Yuki]]. Tohru seems to genuinely like him, though, and in his defense he ''does'' have a good FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler: his mother was DrivenToSuicide, his father rejected him completely after that, and being the cat of the Sohma clan has brought him lots of unhappiness, Akito's scorn, and an uncertain future.]].
* Joe "The Condor" Asakura in ''ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman''.
* Both Ryoma Echizen and Akaya Kirihara from ThePrinceOfTennis.
* Every last protagonist student character in the LiveActionAdaptation of ''{{Gokusen}}''.
* Sagara Sousuke from ''FullMetalPanic''. Although he's not "troubled" in the normal rebellious sense, and more just plain troubled. It's pretty obvious that the poor boy has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and an automatically violent personality that he can't control. His extreme paranoia has him doing things like bombing his school, planting land mines everywhere, and pointing guns / shooting at people. Of course, all of this is [[ComedicSociopathy played for laughs]], and he [[AngstWhatAngst tends not to angst]] (considering his past and current situation, he angsts ''remarkably'' little). And despite all this, ''any'' girl (or [[EvenTheGuysWantHim guy, even]]) who has watched him or gotten to know him well enough seems to [[ChickMagnet fall for him]].
* Ciel Phantomhive from ''{{Kuroshitsuji}}'' is a {{Hollywood Atheist}} in Victorian England. Check that page for his {{Freudian Excuse}}, if you don't know his backstory already. The result is a stubborn, bitter teenager who honestly believes that once something is lost, you can't get it back (a plot point in the anime) and has a serious issue with showing his real emotions unless it's anger. Despite this, there are still girls ([[EvenTheGuysWantHim and two or three men]]) in universe who like to fawn over him, and aside from Sebastian, has an extremely large fanbase out of universe.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* Billy Costigan in {{The Departed}}, to Madolyn.
* Roger Davis from {{Rent}}. The guy has HIV and is really, really cranky, but is still beloved by any straight girl.
* John Bender in the mid-1980s BratPack film, ''TheBreakfastClub''
* Jason Dean from the film ''{{Heathers}}'' fits this trope, though he eventually reveals himself to be a psychopath.
* The ''{{Film/Spider-Man}}'' movies' James Dean-esque version of Harry Osborn. [[spoiler:At least before he was scarred in ''Spider-Man 3''.]]
** YourMileageMayVary. In [[GwenStacyWannabe my]] opinion, he was ''still'' cute with [[spoiler:half his face scarred.]]
* Danny Zuko ([[NamesTheSame The Other Zuko]]) from the film/musical ''Grease''
* Warren Peace of ''SkyHigh'', proving you can never go wrong with [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything a Firebender with father issues]].
* This trope is mocked through Zeke in Disney Channel's movie ''Minute Men'', when girls come up to him and ask, "You know, you're kind of scary and unapproachable... can we sit with you?"
* Fans of ''[[RepoTheGeneticOpera Repo! The Genetic Opera]]'' are divided over whether or not Grave-Robber is actually troubled or just a sociopath with a sense of humour, but there's no denying he's incredibly foxy. The fact that he canonically lives out of dumpsters seems like it would be enough to make him the former.
* Patrick Verona from ''TenThingsIHateAboutYou''.
* Billy Tallent and Joe Dick of ''{{Hard Core Logo}}'' are what happens when examples of this trope hit their thirties, with emphasis on the "troubled" (especially in Joe's case).

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Most of the main cast of ''TheOutsiders''.
* Edward Cullen, in ''{{Twilight}}''. The actor who plays him in the movie certainly believes this, describing him as "self-loathing" and a "108-year-old virgin".
* Sirius Black in ''HarryPotter'', though rather than being antisocial he is represented as inexplicably popular despite various acts of cruelty. At least as an adult though, he is a good person at heart.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Spike and Angel! From Buffy. I can't believe no one added them. Bad boys. Leather coats. Troubled by their love for a pretty slayer. hearts(well souls) of gold!
* Some might argue that Dr. Cox from ''{{Scrubs}}'' is an example of this. Troubled? He perpetually sees a shrink, regularly abuses the people he cares about, and is in love with a woman that he hates. Cute? He appears to be the only doctor in the place that regularly exercises, plus he's very proud of being forty and retaining all of his hair.
** Both The Todd and Turk have been shown as regularly working out at the hospital. That said, Cox is rather studly.
* Jordan Catalano on ''MySoCalledLife.''
* Gabriel (and arguably most of Claire's love interests) on ''SixFeetUnder.''
* Logan on ''VeronicaMars.''
** Not to mention Weevil, a gangster who loves his grandma and fell for a certain blonde.
* Dylan on ''{{Beverly Hills 90210}}''.
**Liam is another textbook example on ''90210'', especially as they're now setting him up for a fling with good-girl protagonist Annie.
***I believe Liam is a cross of Dylan McKay and Ryan Atwood.
* Titular character from {{House}}. Both in-universe women and fangirls seem to adore him. Well, he is played by Hugh Laurie, who seems to fit this trope in real life as well.
* Ryan Atwood on ''TheOC''. A bit of a subversion, as he was both the main character, and occasionally the OnlySaneMan.
* Michael on ''{{Roswell}}''.
* Jess on ''GilmoreGirls'', who never actually got around to having a heart of gold.
** Jess got to heart of bronze-silver alloy, but its a rather subtle thing.
*** He probably would have gotten the heart of gold if they hadn't [[PutOnABus put him on a bus]] to California to live with his biological father in order to set up a spinoff that never happened. Ugh.
* Christian Troy on ''NipTuck''. He's shallow, sex-obsessed, and in the habit of treating his sex partners like dirt -- but he's also handsome, successful, and ''really'' good in bed, not to mention the [[FreudianExcuse unexpected vulnerable streak]].
* Fonzie, from ''HappyDays'', of course. Leather jacket? Check. Bad boy? Check. Heart of gold? Check. Three for three.
** Fonzie was a JerkassStu caricature of 1950's thug stereotypes, including his absurd control over women. (Also speaking of Fonzie, that "check" stuff "jumped the shark" the first time.)
* Dean from ''{{Supernatural}}''. Sam is also getting there.
* Jo from ''TheFactsOfLife'' is a rare female example.
* Shawn Hunter in BoyMeetsWorld. The rampart trailer park trash jokes started as innocent and one dimensional character traits. Then for a good while from season two onward, it seemed like every other episode was a Shawn pity-party fest. And he got girls to boot.
* Tim Riggins, drunkard and resident EstrogenBrigadeBait on ''Series/FridayNightLights''.
* Daniel Desario from ''FreaksAndGeeks'' is a James Dean looking, scholastically challenged heart breaker from the wrong side of the tracks.
* Ricky from TheSecretLifeOfTheAmericanTeenager, who has one of the biggest [[FreudianExcuse Freudian excuses]] This Troper has ever seen.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

*[[TheAtoner JJ Sturn]] from ''SurvivalOfTheFittest'', naturally only before he ''became'' TheAtoner.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Squall Leonhart from ''FinalFantasyVIII'' (although he actually graduated early in the game).
* Atton in ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic II''.
* Inui Arihiko in {{Tsukihime}} until Shiki [[TheUnwantedHarem stole all his luck with girls away,]] which made him a little bitter. Instory, Shiki himself might actually count despite practically being a paragon of virtue. However, he actually tends to ''scare'' people due to familiarity and closeness to death. Yet the same people find themselves falling in love with him (Satsuki, Arcueid, Akiha etc.) regardless.
* [[TheLibby Renee]] of ''ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlrevis'' cites this as a reason why she puts up with her partner Tony's "quirks".
-->'''Renee''': Ugh, you're so stubborn... I kinda like that.
-->'''Tony''': Now's not the time for that!

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* Rumisiel from ''{{Misfile}}''. Semi-Fallen [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angel]], check. History with [[TheStoner Drugs and Alcohol]], check. PermaStubble, check. [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Strangely attractive]] to the opposite sex, [[http://www.misfile.com/?page=1298 check]], Master of the IndyPloy, frequent [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Crowning Moments of Awesome]], seeking [[TheAtoner redemption]] and JerkWithAHeartOfGold, check, check, check and check.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Subverted in ''KimPossible'': Ron tries to ''become'' this character, to get a date. It doesn't work, and through a little accidental [[AppliedPhlebotinum A.P.]] he becomes a full-on supervillain.
* Zuko of ''AvatarTheLastAirbender''. The leather jacket wouldn't fit the medieval Asian "look" of the show, so he makes up for it with a [[GoodScarsEvilScars facial scar]] linked to his tragic BackStory.
** What about [[WellIntentionedExtremist Jet]]?
*** Considering how [[TeamMom Katara]] [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys was goo gaa over him]] until his plan was revealed, ''yes''.
* Roger Klotz in ''{{Doug}}''. He and Doug even get along once in a while, to show that he's not just a horrible jerk.
* {{Batman}}, as epitomized here in JusticeLeagueUnlimited, where he's trying to convince Wonder Woman why they they wouldn't be good together:
-->'''Batman:''' "You're a princess from a race of immortal warriors. I'm a rich kid with issues. ''Lots'' of issues."
* In one episode of ''The Simpsons'', Millhouse temporarily became one of these, complete with anti-socialness, a leather jacket and fan-girls.
* Terry McGinnis ''a la'' BatmanBeyond seems to be this in the first couple of episodes before he opens up and reveals that he's actually a responsible, altruistic young man.
*Johnny 13 of ''DannyPhantom'', complete with rebel bike and all. He already has a girlfriend whom he loves despite his flirtatious nature and her constant nagging nature to keep his eyes focused on her at all times.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Hollywood actor James Dean is pretty much the definitive example here.
* Ted Bundy was very adept at courting the opposite sex. Too bad he was [[CompleteMonster evil]].
** Seeing as how Bundy came off as an all-Amercian boy (handsome, smart, charming, successful), he probably doesn't fit this trope.

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