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alt title(s): Cute But Troubled
He's just a pouty jerk. A lovely pouty jerk!
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.
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 fangirls in both his own universe and the real one because All Girls Want Bad Boys. They may be revealed to have a heart of gold or a difficult home life. The female counterpart of Troubled But Cute is the Broken Bird.
See also: The Woobie, Draco In Leather Pants, Evil Is Cool, Evil Is Sexy, Dont You Dare Pity Me, Jerkass Woobie.
Examples:
Anime and Manga
- Harima Kenji from the anime School Rumble 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 Katekyo Hitman Reborn - a smoker, a delinquent, and a lover of high explosives. Naturally, the girls go wild for him. The only break in his Troubled But Cute personality is that he turns all mushy and affectionate for Tsuna.
- Soul from SoulEater can be considered as an example for this trope.
- Sasuke of Naruto. Completely misses the look (or at least the 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 they usually don't.
- Fakir from Princess Tutu. 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!
- Sachiko from Maria Sama Ga Miteru arguably counts.
- Kyo Sohma from Fruits Basket, an antisocial martial artist who's obsessed with beating Yuki. Tohru seems to genuinely like him, though, and in his defense he does have a good Freudian Excuse: his mother was Driven To Suicide, 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 Science Ninja Team Gatchaman.
- Both Ryoma Echizen and Akaya Kirihara from The Prince Of Tennis.
- Every last protagonist student character in the Live Action Adaptation of Gokusen.
- Sagara Sousuke from Full Metal Panic. 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 played for laughs, and he tends not to angst (considering his past and current situation, he angsts remarkably little). And despite all this, any girl (or guy, even) who has watched him or gotten to know him well enough seems to fall for him - even the series' resident Tsundere.
- That barely scrapes the surface how whacked he is. On one occasion, Kaname was kidnapped by a group of thugs who planned to back him into a corner. He retaliated in a way so nightmarish that particular episode wasn't aired for a while because of a similar incident in real life. Then when she got kidnapped AGAIN by the Yakuza, Sousuke gone after her with a rival gang clad in theme park mascot suits converted into powered armors. I SHIT YOU NOT, here it is
 (he's the yellow suit). Seriously, who the hell would convert theme park mascots into powered armor and try to sell it to the military and law enforcement sector then wonder why didn't it sell?!
- 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 (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.
- Code Geass, oh dear God, Code Geass! Many of the show's famous male characters are: 1) insanely and inhumanly good-looking, 2) less-than-rosy in their moral leanings, and 3) suffering horribly (one way or another).
- Game X Rush has Yuuki, who also has shades of Broken Bird from time to time.
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 Brat Pack film, The Breakfast Club
- Jason Dean from the film Heathers fits this trope, though he eventually reveals himself to be a psychopath.
- The Spider-Man movies' James Dean-esque version of Harry Osborn. At least before he was scarred in Spider-Man 3.
- Danny Zuko (The Other Zuko) from the film/musical Grease
- Warren Peace of Sky High, proving you can never go wrong with 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 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 Ten Things I Hate About You.
- 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).
- Kovu from the second Lion King movie definitely fits this trope - if he wasn't, you know, a lion, he would definitely wear leather jackets and ride a motorcycle.
Literature
- Most of the main cast of The Outsiders.
- 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 Harry Potter, 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.
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 My So Called Life.
- Gabriel (and arguably most of Claire's love interests) on Six Feet Under.
- Logan on Veronica Mars.
- Not to mention Weevil, a gangster who loves his grandma and fell for a certain blonde.
- And Duncan, who had to go through being told his girlfriend was probably his sister and a mental disorder, and at least for a while thinking he had killed his sister. Then, in Season Two...
- Given that Veronica herself falls into the female version of this trope, as well as most of the cast, let's just agree that the show RUNS on this trope, plus a good helping of Break The Cutie.
- 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 The OC. A bit of a subversion, as he was both the main character, and occasionally the Only Sane Man.
- Michael on Roswell.
- Jess on Gilmore Girls, 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 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 Nip Tuck. 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 unexpected vulnerable streak.
- Fonzie, from Happy Days, of course. Leather jacket? Check. Bad boy? Check. Heart of gold? Check. Three for three.
- Fonzie was a Jerkass Stu 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 The Facts Of Life is a rare female example.
- Shawn Hunter in Boy Meets World. 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 Estrogen Brigade Bait on Friday Night Lights.
- Daniel Desario from Freaks And Geeks is a James Dean looking, scholastically challenged heart breaker from the wrong side of the tracks.
- Ricky from The Secret Life Of The American Teenager, who has one of the biggest Freudian excuses This Troper has ever seen.
Tabletop Games
Video Games
Web Comics
- Rumisiel from Misfile. Semi-Fallen Angel, check. History with Drugs and Alcohol, check. Perma Stubble, check. Strangely attractive to the opposite sex, check, Master of the Indy Ploy, frequent Crowning Moments of Awesome, seeking redemption and Jerk With A Heart Of Gold, check, check, check and check.
Western Animation
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 evil.
- Seeing as how Bundy came off as an all-American boy (handsome, smart, charming, successful), he probably doesn't fit this trope.
- Can you say Lord Byron?
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