Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

So here's the deal. I like my heroes strong, mysterious and brave. And if he happens to be good looking, well that's cool too.
But I have to be honest here, there's nothing better than a sexy bad guy.
You know the one. He's powerful and intimidating and if he wanted to he could crush your puppy with the simple motion of arching his eyebrows. But he doesn't. In fact he wouldn't even consider doing that. You wanna know why? Because the sexy bad guy is in love with you. He's the big bad wolf dressed in black leather with a splash of vulnerability cologne. He can't resist you. You are his one and only weakness. And that subtle difference will turn the average bad guy into something so much more.

Instead of wishing him dead we find our interests are conflicted. We're torn. Sure he's sucked every last drop of blood from your best friend's lifeless body but when he looks at you with those eyes and he tells you he's sorry you find yourself believing him and wondering what it might feel like to let your guard down for one teeny, tiny little minute.

But you don't, because that would be wrong. Or would it?

And that's why the sexy bad guy is so compelling.

My first example of a SBG (sexy bad guy) is Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. His character is scary and intimidating and he makes me laugh. (SBGs that can make you laugh are a plus.) He's mean and evil but heartbroken so we feel bad for him, especially when he starts getting all nicey-nice to Elena.





Since we're on the subject of vampires, now is a perfect time to mention Spike. Now I have to be honest with you, it took me a while to get into Spike. I like my SBGs dark. But he grew on me. In the end he was a pretty amazing character. If you don't believe me, go watch yourself some Buffy.

And last, but certainly not least, is Jack Devlin from that Sandra Bullock movie, The Net. I know. Y'all are thinking, where the crap did that come from? But, seriously. As difficult as it was to watch Mr. Knightly get all mean and vicious with Sandy I have to say, he was one pretty cool SBG. You knew he was trying to kill her but at the same time he didn't want to because he was falling for her. In the end one of them had to go.

Poor, poor Mr. Knightly.





So I know you're all raising your hands, waiting for me to call on you, so that you can tell me about your favorite SBG. Please! Share them with me!

Sexy bad guys rock!










Shari Arnold is the author of MYSTIQUE coming Fall 2012 from Chronicle Books. Check out her blog or follow her on Twitter.