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Main Byronic Hero Discussion
According to this troper's understanding, a Byronic hero must also be a sex magnet and socially dominating, a Chick Magnet bordering on Even The Guys Want Him. Howver, because of his cynicism and self destructive nature, he doesn't really care about his conquests and has trouble forming long term bonds.
Should this be added? I think it's pretty important to the trope.
It seems that the examples to some large degree confuse Byronic Hero with Villain Protagonist or just plain Villain. I'm too lazy to go clean it all up, but I wish someone would.
So the Byronic Hero is the middle ground between the magnificent bastard and the guile hero? It's possible for type IV and above anti heroes to come across as magnificent bastards but these are human flaws and they're on their way to becoming Guile Heroes.
The magnificent bastard is a villian and rightfully should be stopped but you have to admit that he's good. Also people love to hate this guy because well even the guys want him.
The appeal of the byronic hero is kind of like the appeal of a scary movie. It's not real but it fulfills a need to be scared without being put in real danger. Like Lady Caroline Lamb said. They are mad, bad, and dangerous to know.
This trope appears to be a almost perfect opposite for Noble Demon - they're basiclaly "a self-proclaimed hero/villain who does/possesses little heroism/villainy". Thoughts?
There seems to be some confusion over what constitutes a Byronic Hero, but how can Tara Chace possibly qualify? Granted, she has character flaws (notably, she drinks), and she isn't a pure white-hat (she is a secret agent, after all), but she's basically a good and decent person who tries to do the right thing.
The problem is that many believe the Byronic hero is very poorly defined.
- some examples seem to be rather Villain Protagonist, the Byronic hero still has qualities that save him from being Villain Protagonist.
I haven't got around to watching the third Pirates Of The Caribbean movie yet, but ... Jack Sparrow? Really? He doesn't seem to do nearly enough brooding, and seems to be far too comedic a character.
Don Draper of Mad Men has to be the most obvious example in modern culture. Why isn't he here
Rorschach?
"Byronic Heroes are charismatic characters with strong passions and ideals, but who are nonetheless deeply flawed individuals who may act in ways which are socially reprehensible, and whose internal conflicts are heavily romanticized."
Yeah, he's charismatic as hell, isn't he?
I understand the urge to add him, but like a lot of the discussion topics above (which I agree with), I don't think he fits. I think too many examples on the list are focusing on "deeply flawed individuals who may act in ways which are socially reprehensible" who happen to be cast as (or one of) the protagonist(s). The Byronic Hero (as mentioned above) is more than that - it's the whole package.
EDIT: Reading the list further...
Tony Montana?
"...their bad actions may be as numerous as those which are heroic, but never are they evil for evil's sake."
He's a criminal. He is not unaware of this. He "murders and betrays his way to the top of the Miami drug lord heap." There's literally nothing heroic about him. Had somebody accidentally spoiler-tagged the "Hero" portion of "Byronic Hero" in the title when this example was added? (Among many, many other examples. Some which I may not even know, not being familiar with the stories.)