9 Fictional Bad Boys You Can't Help but Love

What is it about bad boys that we can't get enough of? You've got your average hot high school jerk (who hasn't crushed on this guy at some point?), and then you've got your truly screwed-up baddies, whose dark pasts are just begging to be brought up and analyzed. Fictional bad boys have this dark, handsome, intangible quality that lures in their female counterparts and hooks them before they even know what happened.

Maybe it's the excitement of the challenge that keeps the ladies coming back for more, or the desire to find the good they know lies beneath the tough exterior. Either way, we can't say we blame them. Here are nine fictional guys who had us at their first snarky hello:

01
Patrick Verona
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Patrick Verona

When this 10 Things I Hate About You bad boy wasn't busy making bets about a girl with the most popular guy/biggest jerk in school, he was sexily smoking cigarettes, lighting stuff on fire for no reason, and screwing with Kat Stratford's heart. With his hidden sensitive side and those deep, soulful eyes, well, let's just say that she never stood a chance (and neither would we).

Best bad-boy line: "Who needs affection when I have blind hatred?"

02
Mr. Darcy
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Mr. Darcy

For many, Mr. Darcy is what dreams are made of. Good looks, plenty of money, and a ridiculously pompous (yet somehow attractive) superiority complex. The romantic back-and-forth ride between Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice is a love train we don't ever want to get off of.

Best bad-boy line: "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me, and I am in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men."

03
Severus Snape
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Severus Snape

Where to begin with this difficult, guilt-ridden, and amazing man? Snape spent most of his Harry Potter days finding ways to make Harry's life hell, only to reveal that everything he did, he did for the love of a woman who never loved him back. But he still did it anyway — and died still trying to right his past wrongs. That's love!

Best bad-boy line: "Avada kedavra."

04
Jess Mariano
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Jess Mariano

Oh, Jess. The quintessential high school bad boy who stole Rory from Dean while simultaneously stealing our hearts. Jess is your standard kid from the wrong side of the tracks, whose background toughened him up and gave him his signature sarcasm. Enter Gilmore Girls sweetheart, Rory Gilmore, the nicest and most innocent person on the planet. Sparks fly, drama ensues, and we loved every single minute of it.

Best bad-boy line: "I wanna be good. Life's just not letting me."

05
Christian Grey
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Christian Grey

Christian Grey is a piece of (dirty) work. This Fifty Shades of Grey leading man is really, really into sex. Unfortunately, he is not all that into developing a loving and healthy relationship with Anastasia Steele, a naive student who learns the hard way where getting involved with a bad boy gets you.

Best bad-boy line: "It's about gaining your trust and your respect, so you'll let me exert my will over you. I will gain a great deal of pleasure — joy, even — in your submission. The more you submit, the greater my joy — it's a very simple equation."

06
Logan Echolls
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Logan Echolls

Logan Echolls — the most charming, snarky schmuck known to mankind — gave us no choice but to hop on the roller-coaster ride that was his life and relationship with Veronica Mars. He played his part in what was probably the best first-kiss scene of all time and consistently jumped from jerk to gentleman in five seconds flat — needless to say, we could totally see why Veronica just couldn't seem to let him go.

Best bad-boy line: "No one writes songs about the ones that come easy."

07
Heathcliff
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Heathcliff

This Wuthering Heights bad boy's story is told in bits of puzzling and disturbing pieces. He is known for his quick temper and vengeful nature, and arguably, his only redeeming quality is his love for Catherine. Apart from that (and also because of it), he is quite unpleasant, but we love him regardless.

Best bad-boy line: "I have no pity! I have no pity! The more the worms writhe, the more I yearn to crush out their entrails! It is a moral teething; and I grind with greater energy in proportion to the increase of pain."

08
Spike
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Spike

Our favorite Billy Idol look-alike goes from a one-dimensional vampire badass to one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's most dynamic characters. He enters the scene, out for Buffy's blood like any other respectable demon in Sunnydale, but ends up falling in love with her. Because of this, he seeks redemption and a soul — which he manages to get. Oh, then he saves the world from Ubervamps. So, yay Spike!

Best bad-boy line: "What can I tell you, baby? I've always been bad."

09
Mr. Rochester
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Mr. Rochester

Dark, mysterious, and tortured with a disturbing secret: check mark by all three. Jane Eyre's Mr. Rochester is a complex and somewhat unreadable character, but who doesn't love a challenge? One of the best parts of the relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester is their personal evolutions as they discover each other and their love, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

Best bad-boy line: "Since happiness is irrevocably denied me, I have a right to get pleasure out of life: and I will get it, cost what it may."