by Arsheen Kaur SahniBuzzFeedBuzzFeed StaffI work as a Writer at BuzzFeed, creating and curating quizzes, listicles, and articles that cover everything from pop culture chaos to food trends I immediately want to try and fashion moments I can’t stop talking about.

People of the internet, we need to talk about our very questionable taste in fictional men. Because if I really trace it back, my origin story starts on Wattpad, and not in a cute, innocent way.

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> teenager me reading wattpad all night knowing that i had school in the morning pic.twitter.com/eq58HTOgBy

— Nora❦ (@hiscoraline) April 15, 2025

Via Twitter: @hiscoraline

I’m talking peak Wattpad era, when everyone was secretly reading smut under their blankets like it was some kind of forbidden ritual. I was 13 and every night, I’d tell myself, “Just 15 minutes.” To no one's surprise, really, it turned into three hours, a dead phone, and emotional attachment to a man who had more red flags than a parade.

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And before you judge me—don’t worry, I’ve already done that (extensivelyyy, no lie). But also… that app did introduce an entire generation to plotlines we didn’t even have names for back then. Enemies to lovers? Bad boy with a soft side? An emotionally unavailable man who ruins your life, but somehow you root for him anyway? Wattpad said, "Here, have all of them at once," and that’s probably where the obsession began.

> Me in 6th grade using https://t.co/Fg6L2LxE2I and quora and wattpad to read fanfic pic.twitter.com/q4cUdxvGpu

— julia (@fairytalemaid) March 17, 2026

Via Twitter: @fairytalemaid

It was after that phase that I had a bit of a realization: toxic fictional men were not just a Wattpad problem, they were literally everywhere. Suddenly, I started spotting them in films too, because now I had the vocabulary for it.

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I could actually name the trope instead of just vaguely sensing something was off. My earliest memory of clocking it on screen was The Wolf of Wall Street, and that was a moment because once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

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Of course, this doesn’t mean the brand of storyline magically started existing then. After going back and watching older films, it’s very clear that it was always there. I just didn’t have the words (or the self-awareness) to call it out yet.

Leonardo DiCaprio did an amazing job playing Jordan Belfort, no doubt about that—but the character? Sheeesh, I have some thoughts. He’s charming, smooth, and can literally talk his way into (and out of) anything. You almost get why people were drawn to him… almost. But cheating on both your wives??? Sir, at that point, it’s not even a red flag anymore, it’s a full red carpet.

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To understand why we are obsessed with toxic fictional men, I think it is also important to look at the psychology behind it. A study called The Attraction of Evil by Holger Schramm and Annika Sartorius basically breaks down why we keep falling for these walking red flags.

According to the study, being with a bad boy (even if he's fictional) can feel like a self-esteem boost, which comes with the underlying thought that only you could understand him, or get the version of him that no one else does.

Offspring Entertainment / Via imdb.com

Then there's the thrill of it all. The fact that these characters are intense, highly unpredictable, and just very messy can feel more exciting than a stable, green-flag relationship ever could.

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And then there is also the, and this one's my personal favorite, "I can fix him" instinct. The study points out that people with a strong helper urge are more likely to be drawn to these needy and damaged characters.

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One user on Reddit wrote, "So many romances are about a bad boy who gets reformed by the love of a good woman."

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from discussion

AskIndianWomen

The fourth reason is the freedom that comes with it, because to the people involved, these relationships feel less about rules and more about passion, which can be weirdly appealing when it's safely happening in fiction and not ruining your actual life.

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I truly believe this 'toxic hottie' thing is never going anywhere. It just keeps shape-shifting and coming back in newer formats, like it has a personal vendetta against our peace. Sometimes it really feels like there’s a secret society dedicated to toxic fictional men that meets every Monday to brainstorm fresh ways to throw this trope back in our faces and keep us hooked. And I think I’ve found their latest project: vertical dramas.

Inside Job / Via netflix.com

Also

Why Toxic Fictional Men Dominate Pop Culture: Explained