Romance 101 - Dangerous and Brooding Heroes (Gammas, Deltas, Sigmas, and Thetas)

Have you heard of gamma, delta, sigma, or theta heroes? Want to know more these alternate options for romantic leads? We’re breaking them down today.

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[lexibiondi]

Loved this video!! I didn’t know about these archetypes at all. It was interesting learning about them!

[ELPages]

Well, the Gamma and Theta don’t bother me (as long as the Theta has an arc where he gets better in a safe way). But the other ones really give me the creeps most of the time. They’re often used to romanticise abuse and it’s a No No.
Now that I think about it, if the arc of the Theta is to cure his addictions and deal with his trauma, is he still a Theta at the end of the book? Damn...

[storywelder]

"Healing power of love"🤣 this sentence just makes me laugh I don't know why😅 Love the video as usual!💕💞

[JoeyPaulOnline]

Not sure I'm a fan of the dangerous ones, but haven't seen many of the others!

[dianalanmu]

I think it's all under the guise of fantasy. There's so many romance heroes that do not fall under these categories but I would still consider them unfit for actual society or the society they live in like Regency or historical romance societies in general. But it is about fantasizing, about the damaged guy, thinking he could love you and thinking what it would be like to be with them. Living that fantasy out. Kind of the same reason why Alpha heroes are loved but most of us readers admit that we would not put up with that kind of crap in real life. It is an outlet, it is an imagination, an adventure, an escape; I don't think we are meant to take it seriously. Of course like everything in media, it can have real life ramifications and unfortunately it is largely up to the consumer/reader to make that distinction and it's great as a community to have conversations about it so nobody is left to think that certain things are okay when they're not okay.

[caseygibson]

You leave my Dean Winchester out of this! 😭

(You're totally right tho 😂)

[Lilas.Duveteux]

I am an aspirering writer, and when I make up my characters, I don't really think for fitting tropes. So, the male love interests are quite...strange.
Jean-Baptiste, for exemple, is someone who is both priviledged (he lives quite a wealthy life) yet at the same times comes from an extremely abusive family and was forced to become an executioner at age...SEVEN. No doubt it will leave him quite depressed. Also, growing up in isolation did make him more socially awkward, although his natural temperament is quite suave, and he eventually grows out of said awkwardness. He is a born leader, headstrong, cold and emotionally distant, occasionally lacking empathy but is extremely generous, with a hint of mischief. He is also, when not in his "freeze" mode, quite kind and suffers extreme trauma from the things he was forced to witness and do, and seem to have quite decent morals. While he would seem bigoted and cruel by modern standards, he is overall a pretty decent guy. Also, when it comes to his childhood friend, Madeleine, his feelings for her only started to become sexually charge after they knew each other for a long time. He is not a perfect boyfriend, far from it, but he tries his best to protect her, and when the relationship starts becoming a threat for her, he initiates the break up so that she can be safe. The reason he didn't fallow through is because Madeleine already sacrificed her reputation, making her quite vulnerable without him, as a woman of bad reputation at the time was at high risk of being raped. However, he still does plenty of morally questionable things to her such as enabling her masochism, both at a means to help her cope, but also so he can enjoy power over her.
For him, caring about what someone will think of them is an act of love and devotion he only shares with people he considers family. She is also like that, so they are a perfect match for each other in that sense.
I think having a stigma hero can work if they don't care about what other people think of them, exept for a very small number. Wanting to please someone is their way of saying: "I love you".

[wilde.reader]

Me counting the cuties in this video: H&P, Hera, Miss Willow, HaS, Snowbie, and of course YOU

[thea]

For my book, I think Aaron is a Gamma hero and Kai is, I am pretty sure... a theta? In one draft he was using drugs but I took that away because it made my betas uncomfortable, and now I imply that he uses casual sex to deal with his self-esteem issues.

[Garrison_the_Barbarian]

An example of a Delta Male that sticks out to me would be the guy from 365 Days who kidnaps the lead heroine in an attempt to give her Stockholm Syndrome. Yes, this is what passes for romance even in the year 2020. Yuck. Thankfully, the only reason I know about this movie is because my favorite You Tubers have reviewed the hell out of it. Amanda the Jedi, Hannah Lee Kidder, and Casey Aonso are all examples of You Tube heroes who suffer so that the rest of us don’t have to. No wonder they draw Jesus-like comparisons. Hehe!