10 Fantasy Book Boyfriends We Would Actually Hate In Real Life

Some boyfriends/fluctuating love interests in fantasy books seem great on paper with all their mystery and intensity, but would probably be hated by most people in real life. The secondary stars of books that perfectly blend romance and fantasy are appealing in a story that is most often related through the eyes of a fierce heroine. However, some of these male characters would be terrible partners in real life (if they aren’t already in the book itself) or just plain unlikable.

In fact, great fantasy books without romance are hard to find; the two genres seem to go hand-in-hand when catering to an audience that seeks the adventure and relationships in fiction they would like to have in real life. This phenomenon is intertwined with the rise of some popular yet problematic supernatural romance tropes, such as the immortal who is centuries old falling in love with an 18-year-old. However, even the best Sarah J. Maas love interests might irritate people in real life due to some of their ingrained character traits.

10 Xaden Riorson

From Fourth Wing

Xaden is arguably not in the best place in his life to be beginning a serious romantic relationship, let alone with the daughter of the general with whom his family has a bloody history. He is leading an underground rebellion, with many young soldiers depending on him for survival, and hides a lot from Violet for security reasons. She acknowledges that this is necessary, but still feels like the secrecy fosters a lack of trust which strains their relationship.

In general, Xaden is a pretty intense person, which is partially due to the tragic circumstances of his childhood and partially his natural personality. His relationship with Violet involves a lot of combat training and his pushing her to fight her way through dangerous situations, which makes sense in the context of a brutal military academy but would be infuriating in real life. It is a dynamic that arose from similar popular books and adapting it is one of the biggest challenges for the Fourth Wing TV show.

9 Damon Salvatore

From The Vampire Diaries

Damon’s persona as seen in the Vampire Diaries TV show has arguably developed a much bigger presence in pop culture than who he is in the books. Differences between Damon’s Vampire Diaries books and show iterations include him killing fewer people in the book, being less reckless and prone to lash out because of his emotions, and being feared more by the rest of the cast. However, the Vampire Diaries novels are true to the negative characterization Damon is given, especially at the start of the show, as Stefan’s malevolent counterpart and villain of the series.

Damon is vain, cruel, and willing to destroy everyone to get what he wants. After Stefan parted ways with Damon following Katherine’s alleged death, Damon follows his brother to the small town where the story takes place to continue to make his life miserable. However, Damon is also charismatic and seductive, leading to the advertised love triangle with Elena. Ultimately, Damon demonstrates too many traits to ever be a likable or even long-term boyfriend — arguably in the show as well.

8 Anton Makusa

From Immortal Longings

Immortal Longings is the first book in Chloe Gong’s trilogy reimagining of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, with Anton Makusa being the corresponding character to Mark Antony. Anton and Calla’s fraught dynamic where they are attracted to each other but refuse to let go of their personal goals makes for an intriguing story, but it is not a relationship anyone wants to actually be in. They are true to their Shakespearean predecessors, whose relationship is infused with themes of political power and jealousy from which they are never free.

Anton arrogantly tries to get on Calla’s nerves, when her approach is usually to cut her way through any problem. He rapidly changes faces (literally) and proves to be alarmingly stubborn in the first book. From Calla’s perspective, Anton’s biggest problem is that he can’t let go of a previous, toxic love who is as good as dead. Being in a relationship or friendship with him would be completely exhausting if not outright dangerous.

7 Nikolai Lanstov

From Shadow And Bone

Nikolai is confident in a way that is supposed to be charming on a fictional character but is annoying to Alina and possibly even to the reader. He understandably prioritizes the political benefits of an engagement to Alina over her current relationship with Mal — but could still be more polite about it. Nikolai and Mal having a friendly relationship is one of the better changes the show makes to the source material, showing the main characters acting like mature adults rather than being characterized by petty rivalries.

However, Nikolai controlling the situation and withholding information for the sake of dramatic effect would get on anyone’s nerves. He is a character who is a little too detached from reality to imagine knowing him as a person. Part of the reason Nikolai’s relationship with Zoya works later on is because she also has a very strong personality and a taste for theatrics, so they match each other.

6 Jamie Fraser

From Outlander

The premise of Outlander sounds romantic in theory, and the series has a lot of time to develop Claire and Jamie’s relationship. While his personality works for her, he still holds a lot of outdated views about gender and sexuality that wouldn’t sit well if he were interacting with anyone reading the book. He really doesn’t see any way of life other than him and their other male characters handling the heavy labor and fighting while their wives stay at home. Jamie would drive anyone from the 21st century crazy and generally has a narrow-minded worldview.

His opinions about women’s agency notwithstanding, Jamie tends to charge headfirst into any situation, which creates problems with Claire and Brianna. He grew up with a strict moral code, and the result is that he is usually pretty confident that he is in the right. Jamie is rigid in a lot of what he does and believes, which would make him a very frustrating person to interact with. At one point in the first novel, Claire says that she likes the directness of the people from the 18th century, which is probably why she can make it work with Jamie.

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5 Cardan Greenbriar

From The Cruel Prince

Cardan is so ill-equipped to deal with his emotions that he torments Jude to cope with hating how he feels about her because he thinks she is below him. His treatment of Jude and her sister Taryn is so awful that even after he becomes more sympathetic from details about his childhood being revealed, it is surprising that Jude would forgive him for everything. However, many fantasy heroines tend to do this in service of enemies-to-lovers storylines.

After Jude tricks Cardan into becoming High King, their relationship is still very tumultuous. Things between them get more friendly after a rescue mission and a wedding for political purposes — but then Cardan exiles his new wife from the kingdom. Except for he meant for her to come back, so they eventually get past this. Cardan is deeply manipulative and tends to only come through when Jude’s life is in danger, rather than at any other time when he causes her pain.

4 Ron Weasley

From Harry Potter

Being in a relationship with Ron would take a lot of work; because of his own insecurities, he is prone to jealousy and in need of validation. Ron is a beloved component of the Golden Trio and the Harry Potter series as a whole, who acts as a foil to both Harry and Hermione and balances out their collective skill set. However, there are definitely times when Ron is just a bad friend, usually because he can’t deal with Harry getting more attention or Hermione having dated other people.

Ron completely cuts off Harry and Hermione at different points and lashes out at them during their darkest hour — admittedly while affected by a Horcrux. Ron and Hermione almost start dating in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince before he gets together with Lavender; given his established relationship with Hermione, he might have been more careful with their friendship. Ron is a flawed character whose best traits are cut out of the movie, but it might be better to form a close bond with someone more consistent.

3 Achilles

The Song Of Achilles

The Song of Achilles shows the human relationship between Achilles and Patroclus but still emphasizes the fact that Achilles is a larger-than-life figure with a destiny that overshadows almost everything else. Part of the reason that their relationship works is that Patroclus recognizes that this has always been the fate of the person he fell in love with. Patroclus is willing to follow Achilles to wherever his destiny may lead him because he doesn’t believe there is any life for him without his partner.

However, Achilles is selfish and violent, although not as much as his son, who appears in the final chapters of the book. Even when Patroclus pleads with him, Achilles is willing to let others die for the sake of his pride, which leads to Patroclus’ death. Achilles is not great at taking advice or working with others, primarily because he is a legend and not a down-to-earth person with whom any real person could understand how to interact.

2 Rhysand

From A Court Of Thorns And Roses

Rhysand is beloved by A Court of Thorns and Roses fans and would probably at least be interesting to meet in real life, if having him as a close friend or partner would be very contentious. Rhys exhibits some of the problematic tropes of the genre regarding the male love interest putting the female protagonist in danger and withholding information from her for the sake of mystery. Rhys is excused for most of it by the fandom because of the strenuous circumstances of surviving Amarantha and him being framed as indisputably preferable to Feyre and Tamlin’s relationship.

However, Rhys hiding the dangers of Feyre’s pregnancy in A Court of Silver Flames suggests that this is a bad trait of his and not just circumstance. Furthermore, while some people might find Rhys’ characteristic arrogance and sarcasm engaging, others might prefer it remain contained within fiction. Rhys is a complicated example because of what a popular character he is, but it is safe to say that he would be a lot to deal with in real life.

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1 Edward Cullen

From Twilight

Edward and Twilight as a whole originated a lot of supernatural romance tropes that would actually result in some extremely detestable love interests if they manifested in the real world. Edward and Bella’s relationship is toxic; there is always the chance of him accidentally harming her, and he dictates who she can spend time with, going as far as to disable her truck so she can’t see Jacob. Despite talking about wanting Bella to be free to live a human life, he dictates a lot about their relationship.

Bella’s world revolves around Edward, when there isn’t really that much that makes him interesting. Edward is moody, and his entire personality comes down to being in love with Bella and trying not to hurt her. The story tries to give him some intellectualism with his musical talent but doesn’t properly explore this. However, only die-hard Twilight fans truly like Edward, while the rest would consider him the epitome of a bad fantasy boyfriend.