Thursday, May 8, 2014

My Love for Emotionally Damaged Bad Boys




               Whenever I watch a TV show I always crush or focus on the character who is the most emotionally damaged bad boy of the cast. These bad boys are entertaining to watch with their snark and their swagger, but they also have that fear of being alone so they do bad things sometimes. So I'm going to list my favorite bad boys from TV for you.


        1. Sebastian Monroe: Revolution's Sebastian Monroe (played by David Lyons) wasn't always bad or a cold blooded killer. He was a decent person (besides sleeping with his best friend's girl - Emma then Rachel). Then his whole family died in a single car crash leaving him devastated. Anyone would have fallen apart too if such a horrible thing happened to them. Bass is the kind of guy who feels with his entire soul making him very loyal to his friend. He attaches himself to people and stands beside them with such intensity that anyone would be glad to have Bass watching their back. But that intensity is also his weakness. Bass can come off as a jerk. He's not into the whole hugging it out or mercy stuff. He's a hardened Marine and a soldier who doesn't mind being the bad guy. Miles lets Monroe be the junkyard dog that will gladly tear someone apart if that meant winning. 


         Bass lost his family but discovered that he had a son (I'm surprised he doesn't have more kids given he's slept with a lot of women). When it comes to family, Bass is ready to kill without mercy. He murdered an entire family when Miles was still his friend because they bombed a cafe they were in. Miles was horrified but Bass didn't see anything wrong with that, which bothers us a little. Bass can also be possessive. If he sees a threat to his relationship with Connor or Miles he verbally attacks that person relentlessly. With Rachel he's also a little attracted to her. He's that boy on the play ground who pulls a girl's pig tails because he likes her and doesn't know how to just say that. So this makes him a bit immature.  


         Regardless of Bass's LONG list of sins, we still see that there's a man inside that monster somewhere. We see it when he's with his son and when he saved Charlie's life. He doesn't care what strangers think but he does care about the people close to him and that little glimmer of humanity keeps us hoping that maybe Bass will change.


         2. Dean Winchester: Supernatural's Dean Winchester (played by Jensen Ackles) has a lot of emotional baggage; starting with Daddy Issues. He was always the good son, he kind of idolized his dad even though we saw that John wasn't really the best father in the world. John put a lot of pressure on Dean to take care of his little brother, Sam. Whenever Dean lost Sam, it was Dean who suffered his father's wrath. Once John died, Dean decided that he should start making his own decisions. Before John died, he told Dean that he should kill Sam because of the demon blood he's been fed, but Dean kept that from Sam because he cares about his brother. John told Dean to protect Sam but now Dean does that because he realizes he loves his brother enough to never give up on him. Still having these abandonment issues can seem suffocating sometimes. 


         In Season 6, Dean was upset that Sam didn't come to find him the minute he got out of hell. He wanted his brother more than he wanted a normal life. Then in Season 9, Dean let Gadreel possess Sam, tricking him into saying yes when Sam was ready to die. Then in Season 7 he was devastated when his surrogate father, Bobby died from a head shot. He looked about ready to kill someone. Dean told Bobby that he was like a father to him. Dean realized that he romanticized John and that Bobby was the man who showed him that there was a life outside the Hunter's Life like just throwing a baseball around in the park. 


         Dean is a hardened killer but after a while we see that Dean has a conscience and when someone dies he believes it's his fault. Self-loathing and self-sacrificing is basically Dean's way of protecting people. He doesn't mind doing what needs to be done. He's the first to volunteer for a suicide mission but that kind of scares us. We see in Dean that he wants to settle down and have a family but he doesn't believe he can obtain it as something will go wrong or his loved ones would die from a monster attack. This leads him to be over protective. 


          Dean's kamikaze nature makes us fear for him and lately he's been especially reckless. He has the mark of Cain and the First Blade, which is turning him into a cold blooded savage killer that will lead to his destruction but we still see that Dean has a loyal heart and is ready to go down fighting when no one else will. We still hope that he'll stop being so afraid of happiness and that he's not really alone.


         3. Damon Salvatore: The Vampire Diaries's Damon Salvatore (played by Ian Somerholder) is the number 1 bad boy vampire in Mystic Falls. He doesn't mind being the monster, he's selfish and doesn't care who he has to hurt to get what he wants. He's basically a serial killer who terrorized and wiped out entire families. He also likes to flip his humanity switch from time to time. And yet we see there's a reason for his monstrous behavior. Damon is the sort of guy who feels with his entire being. He maintained his love for Katherine Pierce for over 100 years but it turned out she was just a manipulative bitch that played with his heart. Damon doesn't handle rejection well. Whenever he goes through a heart break he goes on a homicidal rampage. 


         When Elena rejected him, Damon killed Jeremy not aware that he had the magic protection ring on him. Damon also retreats into alcohol to help numb his pain. He hates and loves with the same intensity but that also makes him a good ally to have. Damon protects the ones he loves. He's the bad guy for a purpose. He's willing to risk his life for his brother and those he loves. What Damon really wants is a drinking buddy that he can talk to. Alaric was that drinking buddy despite their rough start (turning Alaric's wife, Isobel into a vampire). Then Alaric died leaving Damon without a friend when he really needs one. He still has Stefan. No matter how much they fight, Damon will look out for his brother. True loyalty.


          As we've watched Damon throughout the series we see a change in him. They started out small. When Elena was turned into a vampire and was sired to him, Damon did the honorable thing and let Elena go. He wanted her love honestly. Then when he started dating Elena he tried his best to be the boyfriend she deserved. He made serious efforts to be a good person for her sake but after 100 years changing habits is harder for a vampire. So we see Damon try to be selfless. He saw how his horrible habits were were Elena into a person he knew she didn't want to be. He believed their romance was toxic as they would do bad things for each other so to spare Elena her good, compassionate soul he broke it off. 


          Damon continues to make an effort to change for the better. When he found out that Stefan inadvertently killed his best friend, Enzo, he didn't go on a violent rampage. Before Damon was willing to sacrifice anyone for his own ends but now he does a bit of self sacrificing for the sake of others. He still maintains old habits but we know there's more to him than that.


         4. Klaus Mikaelson: The Originals' Klaus Mikaelson (played by Joseph Morgan) has the mother of all Daddy issues AND Mommy issues. When he first came on the scene, he was a sociopathic killer who loved to kill and torture people. He wiped out Katherine's entire family because she ran away from him (well he was going to kill her and anyone in her shoes would have done the same). Klaus is not above murder to get his way. But we soon discover that he's a lonely guy.


          Klaus's father, Mikael was an abusive jerk who hated Klaus the day he was born. As it turned out Mikael was not his biological father making their relationship even more violent. Klaus's own mother, Esther did little to stop the abuse of her son and what's worse she suppressed his werewolf side. Klaus finally snapped and ripped out his mother's heart leading him down a road flooding with blood and littered with bodies. Klaus felt that his father's method of ruling by fear was the way of the world and what was needed to survive although that behavior has done more to push people away than to draw them close. He always felt that he couldn't earn anyone's love despite the fact that his brother Elijah and sister Rebekah were always there for him not because of fear but because they loved him. So Klaus would try and buy people's loyalty and love instead of trying to earn it. Still when Klaus does care for someone he becomes territorial and possessive. 




         Every time Rebekah finds a new boyfriend or when Elijah shows interest in someone else, Klaus immediately gets jealous and lashes out. Klaus has killed many of Rebekah's boyfriends, then daggered her and put her in a coffin. It was Klaus's jealousy that led to the death of Elijah's second true love, Celeste. It's always been Klaus's rule that if he couldn't have you no one else could. But then there was Caroline. Klaus showed us his romantic soft side that so wants to be loved. He's an artist at heart and loves the beauty in life. He wants to let someone in but he's afraid of being rejected so there were times when Klaus would do something evil or mean that made Caroline turn away from him in disgust. Yet Klaus's love for Caroline made him merciful. He let Tyler live and didn't really hunt him down. 


          When someone does a favor for Klaus he makes sure to show how much he appreciates it and also offers his protection to those he allies himself with. What Klaus really wants is to have a loving family; people to share his life with and little by little we see Klaus settle into the idea of being a father. He doesn't want to be his father, Mikael. He just needs to start taking more risks with his heart. 



        5. John Kennex: Almost Human's John Kennex (played by Karl Urban) is a detective in the year 2048. His girlfriend was really a spy for a criminal organization called Insyndicate. He lead a raid on Insyndicate but it turned into an ambush where all his men were killed and he lost his leg then was put in a coma after a bomb thrown by his girlfriend went off. So now John has deep trust issues making him avoid people and androids until he is forced to be partners with a DRN Dorian. 


            John suffers from PTSD and this cuts him off from people mostly I think because he carries a heavy burden of guilt that he projects into his hatred of synthetics even so far as refusing to accept his synthetic leg. He resents that he needs a robotic leg when he blames a robot for his partner and best friend's death but really he blames himself. Understandably he found out that his girlfriend was working for a criminal organization and tried to kill him. Still we wished he would try and break from his misery and self loathing.


            John's obsession with finding the answers to his questions has done more harm to him than good. His rage and frustration over Anna's betrayal and the failed raid was starting cost him his health. In "Perception" John kept taking pills that were to help him remember things but they were affecting him severely to the point where Dorian almost lost an ear. But that dark part of John was not so deep that he couldn't see the light.


            Even though Dorian is an android, John began to depend on him. John's the sort of man who trusts his gut and being that Dorian was programmed to feel human emotions, it allows him to help John solve cases; piece the puzzle together through empathy not logic. The darkness John has does not consume his life. We see that John although a morose malcontent badge number he really loves doing his job. It eats away at him when someone gets away with doing something wrong especially when someone is hurt because of it. He's also not afraid to bend the rules to get justice. When he flouts authority he's not afraid to flaunt it in the open. There was a time in "The Bends" when instead of arresting his best friend's murderer he instead killed him. 


         Somehow we don't mind John taking the law into his own hands. In fact it's because of it it's the reason we love him. He's a loyal friend and he is fearless. John isn't afraid of taking a bullet for someone. He's the one who runs into the fray instead of in the opposite direction. I wish there was a season 2 but I hope there's a movie. I would love to see more of what John Kennex is capable of and if he can confront his own demons.


         6. Bellamy Blake: The 100's Bellamy Blake (played by Bobby Morley) is the alpha dog who takes charge. He rules by instinct and because he was raised in a society where capital punishment was a regular thing, he believes that it's survival of the fittest and that one should look out for their own. He has done bad things: shooting the Chancellor, leaving his friend in the wilderness because he was hitting on Bellamy's sister Octavia, and there was a moment when he thought about letting Clarke die when he was holding her from falling into a pit spikes. Yet down the road we see that he's not all ruthless.


          Bellamy loves his little sister Octavia. He made it his duty to protect her. When she was to go down to Earth, Bellamy shot the Chancellor in order to get on board the pod. He didn't think of doing it himself but when offered all he thought about was his sister's safety. Yet that love for his sister and the desire to protect her blinds his judgment. Despite Octavia's protests, Bellamy continues to do violence in her name. He didn't listen to her when he was torturing the Grounder Lincoln, which has damaged his relationship with her considerably. 


            Yet Bellamy also has a big brother attitude with the younger ones of the 100. Bellamy comforted young Charlotte, teaching her how not to be afraid but to slay her demons. However that back fired, leading to murder. But although Bellamy encouraged a totalitarian regime with no rules but his own, leading to people begging for Charlotte's blood, he refused to give her up. Bellamy is not a cold blooded killer. He couldn't bring himself to kill his friend who was in agony and begged to die and his assassination attempt failed. 


           Bellamy suffered from hallucinations that projected his guilt for the death of over 300 people on the Ark. He was just afraid of what would happen if the Ark came down. Most likely he believed he would face the death penalty. But in his subconscious there was a part of him that wanted to fight for his life; to survive and face the future. Bellamy chose to live and made sure the 100 had weapons that would help them stand a chance the Grounders. 


            Bellamy has done some horrible things but he's coming to a point where he's not fighting for himself or his sister anymore but fighting for the 100's survival. This may still lead him down a dangerous road but I think his budding relationship with Clarke is helping him considerably.


            7. John Ross Ewing: Dallas's John Ross (played by Josh Henderson) is the biggest play boy and most cut throat business man in the oil industry. He doesn't care who has to sleep with or betray or ruin to get to the top. John Ross is a despicable character but he's not all serious business.

              John Ross didn't have much of a role model in his father JR and his mother Sue Ellen struggled with alcoholism. He grew up in the middle of the family feud with Bobby vs JR and given that JR wasn't around much, John Ross began to model himself after the Ewing Junk Yard Dog. So John Ross can come off as selfish (although he would call it ambition). But there are times when John Ross will throw his heart into business especially where pleasure mixes in so many times. 


            John Ross loved Elena but his cut throat ways pushed her away. It broke his heart and made him turn to JR to help him take over Ewing Energies. But he fell in love again with Pamela 2.0, Christopher's ex wife. Even though he was sleeping with Pamela for business reasons he came to care about her. They had a lot in common after all. Both had distant fathers who cared more about business than their own family and both try to impress their fathers by being just like them. But in time these two threw away their old mans' grudge match. John Ross even went behind JR's back by meeting with Cliff to help Pamela. Then when Pamela was in the hospital John Ross didn't even care about Emma. John Ross took care of Pamela when she was mourning the loss of her babies.


              Of course, John Ross getting hitched to his power partner did nothing to stop his philandering ways. John Ross continues to sleep with Emma who is more into the relationship than John Ross. John Ross stringing Emma along is not a noble thing to do and it will hurt him in the end. Yet John Ross also doesn't sleep around with just anyone. He rejected his secretary who threw herself at him constantly and he even fired her because of that. John Ross doesn't want to be like his father but be the business man he was but being constantly told that you are your father's son in every way (in business and in personal life) John Ross began to do more dirty handed things because he started to believe it. He went so far as to put his mother in a psychiatric ward for her alcoholism. 


             John Ross may fight with his family but when the family is attacked by an outside source, John Ross is ready to step in the line of fire to protect them. At first he didn't believe this policy but the one good thing JR taught his son was when the family's in trouble, feuds are set aside until the threat is dealt with. John Ross does love Pamela and he would do anything for her. I just wish that he would see his blind ambition may cost him more than he thinks.

         I know in real life if these characters existed I should stay away from them but that's what fantasies are for. Besides without characters like these the story wouldn't really be interesting. 
       

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