For me, it all boils down to potential. Where there is a whisper of redemption in a character, there is allure. I don’t fall over myself for the Voldemorts of these stories because I want bad boys who have the capacity to change, who can feel empathy, and love. I want characters that toe the line between good and bad, not villains who seek nothing higher than their own personal gain.



An effective bad boy has layers, and beneath those layers there’s a good heart. For me, it’s getting to that heart and watching it come alive that drives the story. I want to know whether the protagonist will coax a softer side from him or if their spitfire dialogue and romantic tension will take the plot to dizzying heights. I’m in it for the long haul ― the conflict, the roguish behaviour, the transformation and all the swoon-worthy moments in between. And, sure, it helps to be entertained along the way, because one thing’s for certain, a good bad boy is never boring.

Here’s a list of my top 10 bad boys with good(ish) hearts in young adult (YA) fiction:

1. Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries by LJ Smith

Damon, leather and silk and fine chiseled features. Mercurial and devastating. ― LJ Smith, The Vampire Diaries.

Damon Salvatore bursts into character as the main antagonist and all-round snarky anti-hero in The Vampire Diaries. With his drop-dead good looks, rapier wit and struggle to get-good-to-get-the-girl, it’s hard not to be enthralled by the darker Salvatore brother, and the conflict that follows him. Playing Devil to brother Stefan’s Angel, Damon really comes into his own when his feelings for Elena Gilbert begin to chip away at his selfish, morally-unhinged behaviour. Damon’s latent humanity is brought to light when those he holds dear are threatened, showing precious glimpses of the person he is capable of becoming when he allows himself to love and care for those around him.



2. Jace Wayland in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare



“I don’t want to be a man,” said Jace. “I want to be an angst-ridden teenager who can’t confront his own inner demons and takes it out verbally on other people instead.” “Well,” said Luke, “you’re doing a fantastic job.” ― Cassandra Clare, City of Ashes

Arrogance personified, Jace Wayland is an absurdly handsome combination of sarcasm and aloofness. Raised as an orphan who becomes a talented and lethal demon-fighting Shadowhunter, Jace is a first-class pain in the ass. But boy, does he pull it off. His bravado cracks unexpectedly when he meets Clary Fray. Still sassy and at times irritatingly egotistical, it takes falling in love to soften the edges of Jace’s bad boy demeanour, and even then, he’s still lovably annoying. The cheeky banter between Jace and Clary, and, well, Jace and pretty much everyone, adds a welcome touch of humour to this bad boy’s progression throughout such a well-crafted series.







3. Dante Walker in the Dante Walker series by Victoria Scott



But let me tell ya, spend every day living only for yourself, every day indulging in little sins that aren’t that big of a deal, and one day I may be showing you the ropes in hell. Amen. ― Victoria Scott, The Collector

Dante Walker is about as bad as they come. Sinfully attractive, this boy is, quite literally, bad to the bone. Hailing from hell and on a mission to bring good people down with him, he collects souls for the Devil himself, and Dante definitely doesn’t care about where they come from. That is, until he encounters Charlie Cooper. Dante’s cavalier attitude to morality meshes seamlessly with both arrogance and charm, but when he meets his new good-girl target, he gets more than he bargained for. For the first time, being bad doesn’t feel so good, and unassuming, selfless Charlie Cooper is the only person who can show him that.







4. Ronan Lynch in the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater



And Ronan was everything that was left: molten eyes and a smile made for war. ― Maggie Stiefvater, The Dream Thieves

My all-time favourite bad boy in YA, Irish hell-raiser Ronan Lynch has a razor-sharp smile, a dirty mouth and a dark past. Son to a dead gangster and a dazed mother, Ronan lives inside his own anger, and he has no trouble giving it out in bursts, either. One member of a group of private-school boys chasing the legend of a dead Welsh King, Ronan is a cheeky, tattooed spiral of adrenaline and chaos. Loyal to his friends and his family, he’ll do whatever he wants to wreak havoc on those who get in his way. But beneath his carefree façade of danger and ice, there is a world of secrets locked away that whispers of a tender heart and a hidden ream of desires.

Jace Wayland (Jamie Campbell Bower) and Clary Fray (Lily Collins) from the movie version of City of Bones, part of This Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare.

5. Noah Hutchins in Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

“Wait.” I began to pull off his jacket. “You forgot this.” “Keep it,” he said without looking back. “I’ll get it from you on Monday. When we discuss tutoring.” And Noah Hutchins ― girl-using stoner boy and jacket-loaning savior ― faded into the shadows. ― Katie McGarry, Pushing the Limits

Leather-wearing, apathetic loner Noah Hutchins has had a rough time growing up in foster care. He doesn’t care about much, and he certainly doesn’t care about girls beyond what he can get from them. He’s just one big bundle of angst ― throw in a bad attitude and a truckload of trust issues and you get a boy with one giant chip on his shoulder. Until he meets Echo Emerson, and an unexpected surge of empathy bubbles to the surface, catching both Noah and Echo by surprise. They are pulled closer together, united by the pain in their lives and searching for a sanctuary in each other. Noah’s worst critic is himself, yet beneath all his perceived badness, there is honour and loyalty, traits which come to the fore as his relationship with Echo progresses.

Pushing the Limits





6. Irial in the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr



He looked good, like sin in a suit.― Melissa Marr, Wicked Lovely

Irial is the Faerie King of the Dark Court AKA a bunch of trouble-making, ruthless faeries. He’s a bad boy with a big title and even bigger wings. Irial has his share of heartless moments, making strategic but cruel decisions in order to keep his court strong. Being otherworldly makes Irial’s swag a little larger than life ― he is smug in the knowledge that mere mortals find him stunningly attractive and highly addictive. In other words, he’s a gift, and he knows it. Then he meets unassuming human Leslie, and everything changes. Irial connects to mortal Leslie by ink exchange to feed his emotion-hungry court, but he is not prepared for the effect she will have on his own emotion-hungry heart until it’s too late.





7. Noah Shaw in The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

This was the boy I loved. A little bit messy. A little bit ruined. A beautiful disaster. Just like me. ― Michelle Hodkin, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Seventeen-year-old English teenager Noah Shaw comes from a wealthy background, though having an inattentive father and a deceased mother hasn’t made for plain sailing. To go along with Noah’s intriguing powers ― the ability to see through the eyes of someone else and the ability to heal ― there is a sizeable bad-boy reputation, too. He is a lethal combination: casual and unconcerned, but deadly attractive and promiscuous. Then there’s Mara Dyer, equally imperfect and enigmatic, and when she comes along, Noah loses his sure footing. Whispers of a softer side ― a love of animals, respect for the environment, and a growing devotion to Mara ― shed light on the darkness that once followed Noah everywhere. A little damaged, but not completely broken, there is beauty in Noah and it’s his relationship with Mara that reveals this to us.

Shadow and Bone





8. The Darkling in the Grisha series by Leigh Bardugo



I knew that the more powerful Grisha were said to live long lives, and Darklings were the most powerful of them all. But I felt the wrongness of it and I remembered Eva’s words: He’s not natural. ― Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone

The Darkling is just about as bad as it gets before crossing that line into pure-evil-territory. He is the mysterious and fantastical force that leads the Grisha, which makes him ancient, extremely powerful and definitely dangerous. He’s got a dark Phantom-of-the-Opera vibe, and is definitely the sinister edge of a very potent love triangle, which includes Alina, and her safer choice, Mal. On the surface, the Darkling is sociopathic and lacking in morals but he happens to be other things too: charismatic and magnetic, and in Alina, he seems to encourage a passion that has been missing from her life. Hints of the Darkling’s goodness emerge throughout the Grisha trilogy, though admittedly, the reader may have to dig deeper than usual to uncover the redemptive qualities in this particular bad boy.







9. Aaron Warner in the Shatter Me trilogy by Tahereh Mafi

“I have no one to impress,” he says. “No one who cares about what happens to me. I’m not in the business of making friends, love.” ― Tahereh Mafi, Shatter Me

Aaron Warner is the 19-year-old commander of Sector 45 and an all-round ‘bad guy’ in the beginning to Mafi’s dystopian thriller. Manipulative, cold and handsome, Aaron is a ruthless leader among his soldiers, but exhibits a softer side with Juliette, the one person who knocks him off kilter and makes him believe in a better version of himself. Regarded by everybody as an obsessive liar with a streak of cruelty, it falls to Juliette to look beyond the careful mask of impassivity to find the vulnerable boy who has been burned by people in his dark and terrifying past. Throughout the trilogy, increasing moments of intimacy between Aaron and Juliette make it easy for the reader to root for this bad boy.





10. Snape in the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling



Dumbledore watched her fly away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of tears. “After all this time?” “Always,” said Snape. ― JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

OK, maybe Snape doesn’t exactly qualify as a typical “Bad Boy” ― he’s more “misunderstood” and “okay, kind of old, I guess” but what’s a list about badness and redemption without a little Severus Snape? After all, his story is one of the best examples of a misunderstood character peeling away the darkness that shrouds them to reveal a heart of gold. Snape’s revelation of his undying love for Lily Potter, and his subsequent sacrifice to save her son (and the world… pretty much) is the stuff of goosebumps and quiet tears and long bouts of dramatic reflection. To take a character that was so inherently charmless, seemingly cruel and ruthless for six books ― someone so hated, he paled only to Voldemort as adversary to Harry Potter ― and flick a switch that re-mastered him in the eyes of every single reader is no easy feat. But Rowling is a master, and the transformative power of true love and its enduring influence on courage and will is perhaps one of the best lessons she’s ever taught. So for that reason, I think he deserves a place here.

Catherine Doyle’s debut novel Vendetta, the first part of the Blood for Blood series, is available at the Guardian Bookshop

Who do you think is the baddest boy in YA? Join the Guaridan Children’s and Teen’s Books site and send us your thoughts! Or share them on Twitter @GdnChildrensBks.