Discussion Which comic, novel or drama actually started this trope...?

Everyone knows the trash movie trilogy '365 Days' and the typical plot where the Mafia Alphahole falls in love/is getting obsessed with his bland NLOG Female Lead...

I've seen this toxic overused cliché/trope 'Good Girl Heroine finds a wounded hot dangerous powerful gangster loan shark (either he was stabbed or shot in the stomach) hidden in the alley, nurses him back to health at her home (instead of calling the ambulance & police), she refuses any gifts from him, he thanks her by stalking, harassing + love bombing her until she is coerced, she gets more in danger because he has so many enemies, and then they are happily married with children' countless times in plenty of Asian Dramas, Mangas, Manhuas and Manhwas.
I really despise romanticizing these sadistic violent murderous bad boy man child criminals who can abuse their power to mistreat/torture anyone!!!

But out of curiosity, I really want to know:
Does anyone here know which story actually started/popularized this mainstream trope?

 

You have the wrong house villain
The regressor and the blind saint

 

Sorry, my mistake!
I wanted to delete the one thread and putting it in the I'm Looking For Section.

 

I too am curious to know who started it... It feels like propaganda, because I've seen a lot of novels and movies promote such toxic relationships. I mean we aren't all capable of changing such 'maphia Alphahole' men as @CreativeCriticalThinker said. So it feels to me like they're promoting this kind of relationships to normalize them.

 

Thanks, but this specific trope is older than these two stories.

I am assuming that the Harlequin Romance Novels also started very likely this propaganda about mob bosses as ideal exciting desirable romantic leads.

The 2015 K-Drama NOBLE, MY LIFE made me realize how many Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Thai female authors had been perpetuating or imidating the tale of a poor pretty caretaking NLOG FL saving/nurturing the life of a cruel inhumane mafiosi Killer ML.
Even the BL authors have been reusing the same archetypes and plot all over again!
The dynamic of abusive dominant scary Byronic Hero and his suffering pure special love-interest victim is still very much in demand to this very day..... Still never gets old enough for any consumers loving bizarre toxic contents.

 

I think it's a way to convince themselves that their past toxic relationships were not gone in vain or that they were really loved by their abusers.

 

Just discovered the term Mafia Romance Books...
https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/mafia-romance-books/

It's an unhealthy escapist fantasy...

 

Scary..... And very unhealthy indeed

 

Right, it's so annoying to see characters/stories like that :/

In fact, aren't these characters part of what's nicknamed "trashlit"? I think that's the nickname?

I think I remember reading someone who said that "trashlit" is basically the fastfood of literature, and peoples read it just to spend time

It's also annoying to see toxic stories, and right, I've heard that harlequin's books are mostly comprised of that kind of crappy story...
It reduce the number of books we can read, because there's more bad books than good ones, and it makes it harder to find the gem/what we're looking for...

These stories are so unoriginal, cliché and boring

To believe that it's harder to create a fluffy story without drama/not much drama
Or maybe they think that kind of lighter story would be less interesting

When I saw the word "alphahole" for the 1st time a while ago, it gave me the idea for a nickname for that kind of character: "alphasshole"

 

I honestly think that this is one of those age-old tropes that has existed ever since women started reading/writing stories about romance. It's not like one person wrote it and then everyone jumped on the bandwagon, it's just a premise for a story that keeps popping up organically. The idea of a dangerous, powerful guy sweeping you off your feet and introducing you to a new and exciting world away from your boring life just seems like a fantasy lots of women have and like to read about at some age or another. The woman finding and nursing back to health the guy is just one natural way to kickstart said relationship.

Of course, that's just my speculation and could be completely wrong.

 

https://villagepipol.com/opinion-the-bad-boy-good-girl-trope-is-problematic/

Someone with same opinion like you.

 

bad boy is so bad they look so cool~ so dreamy~

or stuff like that~
imo it variation or evolution of such stuff~
the exciting adventure into the wild but the wild become a character~
so imo it doesn't matter which book start it~

 

This particular story is pretty easy to trace back to "Fifty Shades of Grey". It's a very popular book that features a not so borderline abusive relationship and it sparked a revolution in popularizing erotic fiction. Before then, erotica had always had a following, but it didn't become mainstream until this book came out. One funny fact about "Fifty Shade of Grey" is that it is straight out fanfiction based on Twilight characters.

 

Do you actually mean "Trash Culture"?

Like to help to debunk the myth that Healthy Cathartic Love Stories are not dull and uninteresting. There will be always tension and conflict.

Any kind of Fast Food always have been very profitable, safe and cheap to produce. It's just corporate capitalism.

A nice alternative name to ALPHAHOLE would be TRASHOLE

Oh yes, I know about the backstory and controversy of FSOG (The spiritual successor the 1986 erotic drama movie 9½ Weeks).
Christian Gray & Anastasia Steele are really not that sexy and interesting, just cringy, embarassing and conservative.

The Best BDSM Film ...is Korean| Kat Blaque

https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/love-and-leashes/list?title_no=3919&page=1

You are not wrong. This trope existed since the 19th century where Lord George Gordon Byron inspired the Romantic Anti-Hero:
The Byronic Hero

Thanks!
I was also educated by these videos:

 

Nope, I really did mean trashlit, it means "trash literature" and I remember that person was specifically talking about the books, hence the name

Ooh, I like that alternative nickname too

The videos sound interesting too, maybe I'll try and look at them if I have time ^^

And damn, the article linked was so disturbing with the summary of the movie talked about

I'm so glad I prefer fantasy over romance, it helps dodge that kind of disgusting things
And spoilers help avoid that kind of stories too, be it books, movies, games or the like. It's one of the reason I love spoilers

And yeah, I know I read romance, but it's because fantasy with a female lead is basically tied with romance, so I try my best to find some that are good and not overly concentrating on the love story of the characters

 

There is one Epic Isekai Novel/Anime that has no Romance, is very thought-provoking mature and is better than Fuushigi Yuugi:
The Twelve Kingdoms

 

This is a story that is an exemplar of how good old fashioned isekai could be. The sad thing about Twelve Kingdoms is that it makes all the modern isekai look like unmitigated garbage. Even the best of them have incredibly weak characterization, themes, and worldbuilding in comparison. The books for this series are good but I think that the anime is even better. Admittedly this could just be a matter of how the translations feel.

 

Can't agree more with you.
The 12 Kingdom aged incredibly very well compared to the other Japanese Isekai Classics for girls.
For example: Can't enjoy Inu Yasha that much anymore because of Rin x Sesshomaru.
Probably my favourite Isekai Movies: Disney Alice in Wonderland 1951, Return to Oz 1985, Labyrinth 1986 and Spirited Away 2001

The German Fairy Tale Frau Holle is also an old Isekai Story.

The true original message of Isekai Tales is that the protagonist always learns/matures in the Otherworld and then return home as a better version of themselves or die as a mortal human being. And if the MC really wants to stay, they have to adapt, aknowledging the rules and make real lasting positive changes in their new Homeworld.
Nowadays Mainstream Isekai is often just made of cheap primitive trashy Escapist Power Fantasy about Otakus, Salarymen, Dull Everymen, Harem, Being Effortless Superheroes, Girlbosses, Toxic Fangirls, Grandios Wealth Porn, Dark Edgy Angsty Melodrama etc.....
Currently No real challenges + nuances anymore...

And how do you feel about W.I.T.C.H., INFINITY TRAIN, THE OWL HOUSE + AMPHIBIA?
Still pissed that most of the titles I've mentioned where prematurely cancelled for being too dark + queer for Kids!!!