12 Dramas Where The Male Leads Were Jerks But We Fell For Them Anyway

There is a fairly large trend of rude or brusque male lead characters in dramas; and even though it might not be very logical to fall for a cold person who acts like a jerk, we usually end up falling for these rascals anyways. Maybe the term “jerk” is a little harsh for some of the characters on this list, but most of these main men either have a “tsundere” personality (Cold outward behavior while actually warm and caring), or they have a straight up bad personality that changes throughout the story.

Here are just a few dramas, in no specific order, that have the bad boys who shamelessly stole our hearts!

Not believing in love is one thing, but opening a divorce agency because of a crushing breakup is another! Thankfully for us, that is exactly what Ji Jia Wei (Danson Tang) decided to do when his love leaves him with nothing but an ice-cold heart, and no desire to fall in love.

In this popular Taiwanese romantic comedy, it is hard not to fall for this character as he realizes that his heart might not be as irreparable as he once thought; especially if he meets the right person!

Being the only son of a ridiculously rich CEO, Yoo Jung (Park Hae Jin) grew up watching everyone approach him for his connections rather than to value him as a person. Struggling with the reality that others would seek his acquaintance for personal gain while they couldn’t care less about him, severely warps his personality and trust in others. However, his charm lies in the way that no matter how much he tells himself he doesn’t need the affections of others, he has never truly stopped looking for someone who would treasure him.

This Korean romance drama had us rooting for Yoo Jung every step of the way, especially as we watched him overcome issues he never realized he had!

This Taiwanese romance suspense drama is not for the faint of heart, as it deals with a lot of serious and nonfictional mental conditions.

Chen Ling (Vic Zhou) is the classic playboy who might as well be at school to play instead of study. Popular and surrounded by the shallow admiration of others, he lives with a facade he has put on to avoid being hurt by others. Ever since he witnessed his twin brother commit suicide while the two of them were in high school, he has kept all of his relationships skin-deep, for the fear that he will hurt someone else. His only redeeming quality is that he can’t stand to see injustice and people’s vulnerabilities being exploited. This quality eventually leads him to a few genuine people, who help convince him of why we fell for him so hard; and that is that he is not the terrible monster that he has always believed himself to be.

This Korean romantic comedy contains the perfect example of a character who is actually a jerk when we first see him; and that is Kim Joo Won (Hyun Bin)!

Pompous is a nice way to phrase what his acquaintances call him, as he goes about his days of being the rich CEO of a department store. Others are ordinary and he is not to be bothered with them, is one of his firmest beliefs. He absolutely refuses to indulge in whimsical things like love at first sight; but if K-dramas have taught us anything, we know that meeting the right person can change everything!

Money seems to have a part in ruining peoples personalities; and it is as unrelenting as ever while it crafted the persona of Goo Joon Pyo (Lee Min Ho)! From an affluent family, with practically endless wealth, he has only made three friends. Sadly, these three do not improve upon his character, but instead help him terrorize the school his family practically owns as the infamous F4! His mother is a calloused businesswoman who couldn’t care less about her son as long as he will be the heir to the empire of business she has formed at the cost of her family’s love.

A popular Korean romance drama; we couldn’t help but enjoy Joon Pyo’s character development when he encounters others from the “real” world in this classic!

Gong Gi Tae (Yeon Woo Jin) is a successful cosmetic surgeon with an abrasive personality, and he couldn’t be happier to spend his life in solitude. His parents, on the other hand, are desperate to get their content bachelor married despite his adamant protests.

This Korean romantic comedy stole our hearts as we watched Gong Gi Tae fall in love with one of the schemes that was supposed to help him avoid marriage! Of course he won’t admit it, at least not right away…

A cold and calculating psychotherapist, Choi Soo Hyun (Sung Joon) is another successful bachelor that doesn’t believe in true love. Numerous life experiences, plus his time studying women’s psychology, has left him determined that true love doesn’t exist, and he wants to prove it. Abandoning his ethics, he likes to say that psychology is science and not about morals to justify his meddling in others’ love lives.

Thankfully this Korean romantic comedy doesn’t let him get away unpunished, and he even begins to change his theories when his own heart is stolen!

Oh Soo (Jo In Sung) is an orphan who has turned his back on the world of romance since his first love died in this classic Korean melodrama. He is not successful, but instead struggles to keep himself out of debt as his gambling lifestyle catches up to him. However, he robs himself of having fulfilling relationships as he uses his charming playboy persona to cheat wealthy women out of their money.

It takes a while to warm up to Oh Soo because of his hard exterior, but eventually one of his scams reveals his longing heart and it only seems fair to hope that he finds a fresh start.

This Korean thriller melodrama is a very dark but enthralling drama, as it explores the pain and happiness love can cause. Min Hyuk runs of with our affections before we can stop him in this powerful story!

Min Hyuk (Ji Sung) is a cold second-generation chaebol with an indifferent countenance. He eventually begins to open his heart to his girlfriend, who tragically dies in a hit-and-run accident, leaving him set on revenge. Stopping at nothing to give her “justice,” Min Hyuk finds himself closer to finding out about her killer than he ever hoped to be when he starts to fall in love again.

Someone who spends their days investigating the most violent crimes that even the police can’t handle is bound to have an unusual personality. Simon Bo (Wallace Huo) is a brilliant criminal psychologist that spends his days solving crimes. He is a gifted investigator that can put himself into the minds of criminals, but there is somewhere that he is lacking. Blunt and no-nonsense, he struggles to interact with others around him, especially when it comes to women. So, when he falls in love, he will have to push his mind to the limits, as he is also pursuing the brutal criminal who was the reason he decided to become an investigator!

This Chinese romance drama is a treasure for drama fans who also appreciate classic detective stories like Sherlock Holmes.

Being kidnapped at a young age has left Joo Joong Won (So Ji Sub) distrustful and guarded against the world. Despite his troubled childhood, he is a successful business man, and loves money more than anything in the world. Well, he might love himself more, seeing that he is very selfish and haughty when we first see him. He is determined to find his mother’s necklace that was used to pay for his ransom before the statue of limitations runs out, and will do almost anything to find it. Eventually, his search leads him to the spiritual world and he might even end up opening his heart for the first time!

This Korean romantic horror drama is a fun alternative to the usual romantic drama, and you wouldn’t want to miss watching Joo Joong Won try to fight love when it comes for him.

Je Soo Ho (Ryu Jun Yeol) is a genius with an exceptionally high IQ, who spent his childhood with equations and books instead of with other kids his age. Torn between his mother, who practically made him into a child celebrity, and his dad, who wanted him to be normal, he suffered when he was young and ended up disconnected from both of them. Not only is he scientific and logical, but he also suffers from panic attacks from his overexposure as a child. With the odds stacked against him, he is forced to rethink everything when he is suddenly asked out; but will this callous CEO be able to open his heart and find romance?

Our hearts are being won over we watch Je Soo Ho learn how to love others in this currently airing Korean comedy!

Watch the trailer below and catch the latest episode on Viki!

[viki]http://www.viki.com/videos/1103137v-trailer-2?utm_source=soompi&utm_medium=drama&utm_campaign=12-dramas-where-the-male-leads-were-jerks-but-we-fell-for-them-anyway&utm_content_id=864061wpp[/viki]

Which of these harsh characters is your personal favorite?

t0ky0nights is a K-Pop enthusiast, whose interests include many forms of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean entertainment. She can be found dancing or writing articles, and lyrics, most of the time. You can find her on Instagram here.