 | 6 Sep 10 |
This weekend some colleagues and I were talking about what makes a hero dark.
What was funny to me is that the author who was fretting over her hero is hugely talented and published over a 100 books. She’s an USA Today Bestseller and one of her single titles was made into a movie and yet…every single book she agonizes. Every single time. It makes me feel a little better that even she doubts herself.
Because me and doubt? We are BFFs. Just saying…
Okay let’s try to get back on topic, shall we? What makes a dark hero? And why do we love him?
For my opinion on dark heroes, let’s look at Axel Locke in BLOOD MAGIC. The back-story for the series is that for centuries witches and witch hunters worked together to shield earth from demons. Witch hunters killed the bad (demon) witches, while protecting the good (earth) witches. Then thirty years before the story opens, a blood and sex curse brutally shattered their trust and ability to work together. It caused witch hunters to crave the blood of witches and if they kill an innocent witch to get her blood, they go rogue and lose their souls. Hunters are fighting to hold onto their souls, while witches have lost their high magic and now hide from the men who once protected them.
So what makes Axel “dark but still sexy?”
MOTIVATION.
That is the determining factor for every decision the character makes. Axel, for instance, in the book will kill someone who once was a boyhood friend. Someone he grew up with. Some might say he’s murdering a close friend. There’s nothing sexy, nothing redeemable about that, or is there?
Well let’s see what his motivation was:
First Axel runs into this old friend, Holden, at a house, and realizes that he’s “gone rogue,” meaning that this old friend has killed innocent witches and his soul is gone. He’s a soulless killer. But Axel doesn’t kill him then. Later, Holden shows up at the club Axel owns and orders his accomplices to an innocent woman. Axel thinks:
Axel hated that they had come to this, but he would not let anyone, not his father and not an old friend, murder in cold blood.
That is his motivation and he kills the man. What makes Axel dark, sexy and alpha is that he makes the hard decision and follows through with the required action regardless of the emotional pain it causes him.
Later, Axel shields the heroine and is stabbed with the knife meant to kill her. By this point, I don’t even explain Axel’s motivation. The scene speaks for itself. This man will protect the innocent with his life. He sees the danger and takes action regardless of the physical pain it causes him. His motivation is clear.
So our hero is dark, sexy, well motivated, and we’ve also demonstrated that he’s a competent, take action kind of guy.
Watching these dark heroes fall in love is captivating. For the first time in their lives (at least their adult lives) they are helpless. They have no idea how to attack this “problem.” The heroine gets under his skin and he must protect and care for her at all costs…but he knows she has the power to destroy him emotionally. Giving anyone that power is foreign to these guys. But seeing the dark heroes brought to his knees by his heroine—and eventually loving her for it—is a true and powerful love story.
So what do you think of dark heroes?
© 2010 – 2011, Jennifer Lyon. All rights reserved.
Award winning author, Jennifer Lyon, always wanted to be a witch. Since her witch-powers never materialized, she went onto Plan B and now she creates magic in her books. In her new series, the author of the acclaimed Samantha Shaw Mystery Series (written as Jennifer Apodaca) introduces the Witch Hunters, legendary men who must overcome a curse to team up with witches and fight evil.
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Dark heros are among my favorite kind to read. They usually have some type of emotional damage to go with all that sexy alphaness. Not only does that one woman make him vulnerable but she also seems to soothe something inside him, making him more.
by Rory G September 6th, 2010 at 5:32 amRoryG, your so right! And the love of his hero helps heal him
by Jennifer Lyon September 6th, 2010 at 10:33 amGod, I love this explanation, Jen, and it relays exactly why I love dark heroes! In writing mystery I love to write guys who are a little on the edge, their darkness is obvious. In writing romance, I like that darkness to be hidden, beneath the good guy facade is a guy who likes it a little…kinky
Umm….that’s what you meant, right?
by Lori Armstrong September 6th, 2010 at 8:17 amLori, you read my mind–of course I was thinking kink, LOL!!! You know, these guys sometimes have serious control issues
That “hidden beneath the good guy facade” is totally awesome, by the way.
by Jennifer Lyon September 6th, 2010 at 10:35 amI guess it depends on how dark their past is. I mean, I never saw the attraction to the character Dexter (the serial killer from the TV show) because how redeemable can he really be – he killed people and he enjoyed it.
Thinking about it now, though, I guess I have a double standard that applies to supernatural heroes. Lestat, for instance, is a monster in Rice’s first book, but by Queen of the Damned, he’s the hero and totally hot.
I guess I need to ponder the dark hero a little more. Thanks for the thought provoking post, Jen. =o)
by B.E. Sanderson September 6th, 2010 at 8:18 amB.E., I never watched Dexter, and I was perplexed and slightly alarmed by the allure. I’m not going to get into why because it’s a rant
Paranormals like Vampires are a different species operating on a different moral code, so that actually works for me.
Dark heroes are complex and will give you much to ponder!
by Jennifer Lyon September 6th, 2010 at 10:38 amI LOVE the angst-ridden hero, whether he’s ‘dark’ or not. Watching them deal with having to open up that soft underbelly to the heroine is my favorite part of both reading and writing.
Terry
by Terry Odell September 6th, 2010 at 9:18 amTerry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Terry, well said!
by Jennifer Lyon September 6th, 2010 at 10:39 amHi Jen,
by Laura Griffin September 6th, 2010 at 9:50 amI love dark heroes. I like seeing a character caught between two less-than-ideal choices. That is what makes a dilemma and a riveting story, IMO.
Laura, yes! Firing up the plot conflict that forces them to make choices they’ve avoided at all costs (internal conflict) is so much fun to read. And darn hard to write (for me anyway!)
by Jennifer Lyon September 6th, 2010 at 10:41 amOh, how I try to write dark heroes, but, to me, they very rarely are. They’re tough, in control, alpha to the core and helpless for the heroine, but I just can’t seem to find that something that makes a hero truly tortured. The closest I’ve come is Zach in my upcoming EDGE OF SIGHT, but I’d call him wounded (inside and out) more than truly tortured. Maybe because I know their inner goodness, I don’t see my own heroes as dark.
Great blog topic, Jen! I loved it. xo
by Roxanne St. Claire September 6th, 2010 at 10:50 amRocki, I’m going to have to get your book when it comes out to see how really dark Zack is! Plus I really love “wounded” heroes!
by Jennifer Lyon September 6th, 2010 at 11:40 amJen, great post! =)
I love a dark hero, but he’s got to have shades of gray in him too. Not completely dark…….I guess what’s needed is a reason for the darkness.
Axel was a fabulous hero… but then, I love your Wing Slayers.
by Maureen Child September 6th, 2010 at 11:43 amMaureen, aww thank you!
A big YES to the shades of gray! That’s what makes characters multi-dimensional and interesting.
by Jennifer Lyon September 6th, 2010 at 11:52 amDefinitely shades of gray and revealing the reason he became dark.
by Holly S September 6th, 2010 at 12:13 pmI also like when a hint of the dark or darker gray remains.
Great blog.
Abbie
Oh yeah, I like that too when some of the dark remains!
by Jennifer Lyon September 6th, 2010 at 4:02 pmI love dark heroes. There were some things about Trevor that were very very dark, but because of the genre, we really only get hints of those things. But there is a point in book 3 that if he knew he could get away with murder…
I’m writing darker people in this current series, and I love where it’s allowing me to go. It’s satisfying to get to explore what makes someone so dark, and to know that they’re not going to suddenly change, that they’re going to always have that edge of darkness about them–it means they’re not predictable.
by toni mcgee causey September 6th, 2010 at 1:19 pmYes!
by Holly S September 6th, 2010 at 2:49 pmThere is a difference between dark and tormented. I don’t do tormented – read or write. You can be dark and still have a soul. You can be dark and still have morals and values, they are just a little different from everyone elses.
I love dark heroes who for whatever reason shouldn’t be with the heroine, yet that is who they ache for, yearn for, must be with.
by Jill James September 6th, 2010 at 3:40 pmJill, I love it to when the ache for that one woman they can’t have. Well said!
by Jennifer Lyon September 6th, 2010 at 4:03 pmDark heroes are great. You get to see them struggling with the concept of relationships, be it friends or lover, and with trust issues. And then you see them make it through with no idea how they did it. But did it!
by Diane Sadler September 6th, 2010 at 5:03 pmDiane, those trust issues are usually at the heart of it all.
by Jen Lyon September 6th, 2010 at 9:59 pmI love dark hero’s as long as they have some redeeming qualities. Books with a dark hero can be some of the best stories if they can at least show feelings sometimes. I love to find out why they are that way. If they had a bad childhood or if they’re that way just because they think everything is about them.
by Sherry S. September 6th, 2010 at 8:58 pmSherry, I’m with you, I like have their past revealed to so I understand them, and see what they’ve overcome.
by Jen Lyon September 6th, 2010 at 10:00 pmI love writing dark heroes. for me their darkness comes from their tortured past. the more tortured and traumatic their past, the darker my hero.
by Karin Tabke aka Harlow September 7th, 2010 at 12:09 amKarin, you write great tortured heroes!
by Jen Lyon September 7th, 2010 at 8:34 ami think you hit the nail on the head when you said he makes the hard decision and follows through… *despite the emotional pain it causes him*. That latter part is where we fall in love with him, IMHO.
I think about Robert Crais’ Joe Pike character. For years readers knew he was mysterious, violent, and silent…but I believe they suspected there was motivation behind him (probably since the main series character, Elvis Cole, was well and properly motivated). Female readers especially were thrilled when Pike finally got his own book, partly because his backstory – and the source of the pain that everyone assumed/”knew” was brewing beneath the surface – was brought into the forefront.
by sophie littlefield September 7th, 2010 at 10:30 amDark heroes are mysterious, intriging and simply fabulous. I look at my favorite dark hero, Eric from True Blood and I say, “YUM.”
by Lisa G. September 7th, 2010 at 9:00 pm