The tortured hero is always a popular topic in Romancelandia. They certainly appear to have the strongest hold on reader hearts, to the extent it’s rare to find a hero who is not tortured in some way.
But why?
Part of it is probably that it ups the stakes. Tortured characters don’t make for easy relationships, and well, reading easy relationships with little conflict would be boring.
I think a more important reason is their strength. After all, someone who has lived through hell and survived, battered though they may be, has a strength that has been tested.
Likewise with tortured heroines.
There is some escapism in reading a heroine who can kick-butt physically. A woman who’s an expert in half a dozen martial arts, is a crackshot with any gun and can kill a man in close-range with a knife.
Yet on another level, I’d rather read about a woman who’s pulled herself together after a disaster’s befallen her, dealt with it and moved on, because in life, you have to keep going forward.
Healing can be like cutting oneself up again, poking around inside to find that damn bullet, digging it out and then stitching it to hold the flesh together while it knits back up. Without the Novocaine, I might add. So it takes courage to make the choice to cut.
This veers slightly off-course, but is it just me who’s a little tired of having the heroine swing in to catalyze the hero’s healing? I recently read Megan Hart’s Dirty, and it’s the reverse for a change.
Of course, there are several problems with my theories. For one thing, I don’t recall reading any heroes who are not tortured, and therefore I cannot make a comparison. It might be because I read mostly paranormals, and you know, there’s no such thing as a vampire who isn’t tortured. *g*
Besides, I’m just one person, and as we all know, books and things related to books are terribly subjective, so what’s your point of view?
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I think a lot readers (not all) put more focus on heroes in the books they read, so that’s why I don’t find it unusual to see the tortured hero being the one in need of love and some type of redemption.
I read “Dirty” and enjoyed it very much. I liked Elle, and seeing that she was the one who needed to heal. Another example, though not quite like Elle, is Eve Dallas. Sure she’s tough and brave, but she has lots of scars from her life that she still has to deal with – finding love was not an easy fix for her. She still struggles.
I don’t know that I’d rather read about tortured heroines all the time, but I do like it when the pendulum swings the other way from time to time. No self-respecting reader wants to read about the TSTL heroine, but to see one struggling and not being some type of superwoman is compelling to me.
I think it’s more common for the hero to be the tortured one because women are more often perceived as the healers and redeemers. If the heroine is tortured, it’s usually in conjunction with a hero who’s had it at least as bad, and reciprocal healing ensues. Hook her up with a guy who’s happy and well adjusted, and all those male nurse jokes I’d never say out loud start going through my head. I prefer tough guys with a softer side, not the softer side 24/7.
Why do some of us like damaged characters so much? Other than giving them experience and depth, I think the HEA means a little more when it’s coming after a trip through hell. If you start out happy, slapping “ever after” behind it is just the same old, same old.
Frankly I get sick of “tortured” heroes all the time–especially the vamps who’ve had centuries to work through their problems and have just gotten more and more angsty. I just want to shake them and say “Get over yourself. You sound like a teenage girl on a hormone rollercoaster!”
Heroes and heroines need problems, internal conflicts, obstacles to overcome. But I prefer to see a troubled but functional character, who has some problems, but is getting on with life and has some capacity for joy on his/her own. But a lot of those really dark, damaged, tortured characters who seem to suffer from PTSD or worse? Sorry, I don’t buy their happily ever afters. Love is healing, sure…but some of the heroes I’ve read lately need medication and therapy as well as love and support!
Great post, and I’m with you on all counts. Let’s face it, as humans, we’re all survivors of something–a family tragedy, being ill or poor or divorced…whatever. Reading about a character slogging through pain is somehow…healing to me.
Stacy, I’ve heard much the same from authors, that most readers are ‘hero readers.’ It’s not that I want to read about tortured heroines all the time, I’d just like to read some, and the truth is, I’m not finding this in romance. I’m finding it elsewhere, especially in urban fantasy.
Kerry, I do think that the ‘women nurture’ thing is a factor, and I see that upping the stakes makes for a much better read. But as a reader who’s read hundreds of romance, the multitudes of tortured heroes is also same old, same old. (I saw on your blog that you’re going to pick up your first Lynn Viehl, and I just know you’re going to love it!)
Teresa, too funny! But you’re right, they should have grown up some during all those centuries. Your preferences must be making it rather difficult to find books, no?
Thank you, Ciar. I absolutely agree. I do have a question for you: In this case, wouldn’t you want to read tortured heroines instead of tortured heroes?
Wow, this post is timely… I have a story on the burner in which it’s mainly the heroine who’s tortured, and the hero has to help her work through this. He’s got his own issues, but she’s the one with the *big* problem… I hope I can make this work!!!
Wendy, I’ve just read The Tutor, and I have a lot of faith that you can make it work.
Thanks, May K! It’ll be a challenge, but I love those…:smile:
I, for one, am getting decidedly sick of tortured heroes and am beginning to yearn for a few strong, silent types upon whose manly and muscular chests one can cast one’s maidenly form.
[...] My post at RTB, the not very well-titled Moulded By Adversity. Originally, I approached the topic from another direction, and it didn’t occur to me change it afterwards. [...]
One of the reasons I loved Loretta Chase’s Lord Perfect and Mr. Impossible is that neither hero was tortured.
If you want to read some tortured heroines, check out the last two Jo Goodman books, One Forbidden Evening and A Season To Be Sinful. Actually, quite a few of her books feature a tortured heroine and a not-so-tortured hero, which may be one of the reasons I love her books so much.
Dirty was fascinating, wasn’t it, because Dan turned out to be a good guy, but he was pretty pushy with Elle at the beginning. Was he just reading her well or did he have a bit of the bully in him? Of course his tenacity pays off, and I suspect it’s partly his more controlling dimensions that actually made him stick with Elle, but it’s interesting how he’s the one to keep pushing the relationship to the next level (kind of like Roarke in the In Death books, although presumably not as emotionally fractured himself and IMO less bullying).
The thing is…the characters are never TRULY “tortured”. I’ve never seen a h/h with a cutting problem, or anorexia, or drug addiction, or emotional issues, or psychological troubles, or being a victim of emotional/sexual/physical abuse,etc. They’re characters with stock backgrounds that make them brood and be nasty and whiny(most often the hero to the heroine)–and the novels end with stock resolutions. I completely understand that fiction must have a dose of fantasy(and in the romance genre, it’s fairly punch-drunk with it), but I’d like to see tortured characters have a more realistic character arc and reasons for being “tortured”.
I’m tired of the “my mommy was an evil whore and I hate women” or the “my father was cold and ignored me all my life so I must be cold and imperious as well” spiel when they aren’t done very well or unique at all.
I’m drawn to aspects of the “tortured” h/h because yes, it does amp the stakes and creates more emotional turmoil, but if I wanted the inherent fluffiness that goes along with storylines featuring “tortured” protagonists, I might as well read a non-tortured romance–the arcs and resolutions tend to mirror one another.
I’m drawn to aspects of the “tortured†h/h because yes, it does amp the stakes and creates more emotional turmoil, but if I wanted the inherent fluffiness that goes along with storylines featuring “tortured†protagonists, I might as well read a non-tortured romance–the arcs and resolutions tend to mirror one another.
If you want a seriously tortured heroine, Camilla, I recommend Megan Hart’s Dirty. I think it’s safe to say that she really IS tortured, and her problems do not magically disappear after a dose of True Love. The book is published under Harlequin’s Spice imprint, but IMO it also fits into Romance; in fact, I’d read way more contemporary Romance if it had the same edgy quality of Hart’s book.
Bernita, I wouldn’t go that far, personally, but I haven’t seen any of those recently either.
Robin, I’ll pick up Chase again, and I was given orders by Sybil to pick up Goodman again. I think that Dan was so pushy was one of the things that ratcheted up the suspense so well. Was he pushing too hard? Should he lighten up some? Would Elle kick him out? Even, is he a bad guy or a good guy?
Camilla, yep, yep, yep. And you know one of the things that got to annoy me? Even when it’s because of what the h/h didn’t do, it’s always a case of them taking too much onto themselves or similar. Like Robin, I strongly recommend Megan’s Dirty.
I’m too sick to form any coherent response, but I just wanted to suggest one of my favorites if you’re looking for a truly tortured hero: The Shadow and the Star by Laura Kinsale. He wasn’t just misunderstood or betrayed by his ex or something. He came from an awful background that colored all his actions.
Thanks for the recommend, Devon! And please do come back to comment when you’re better.
Ah—I’ve been hearing so many great things about Dirty. I’m going to have to pick it up now! Thanks for the recommendation.
I’m late to the party here.
I don’t read as much paranormal as you, so this isn’t something I see so often I’m sick of it. In my last book, a WF, I have 3 main women characters and the men were just secondary. I had to give the men a few problems in the revision because I didn’t bother in the first draft. In my wip, I’m torturing the men and the women right from the beginning. 
DIRTY sounds like a good book. I’ll have to read it.
You should, Camilla!
Torturing is good. Keep at it, Edie! And do pick up Dirty. It’s definitely one of my favorite books for the year.