Discussion Trope Talk: The Second Male Lead Syndrome

Let's talk about the Second Male Lead Syndrome.
So what do we know about the 2nd ML so far?

According to the crowdsourced website Urban Dictionary, Second Lead Syndrome is when "you start to ship the female lead with the second male lead” or “when you like the second male lead more than the male lead".

He is usually an important Supporting Character / Free Emotional Support + a potential Love-Interest for the Heroine and a rival for the Leading Man competing for the 'prize/trophy'.
In many Shoujo, Josei, Rofan Novels, Telenovelas, Melodramas or any Soap Operatic Plots the Romance Authors very too often feature a potential healthier better option for the struggling suffering Female Lead.
But as we all know no matter how well he treats and respect the FL, he never gets the Special Girl.
His main purpose is to make the Female Protagonist very desirable for the public and to make the Asshole Male Lead Manchild more jealous + making him realize the worth of his mistreated woman. Difficult People want always what they can't have.
A cheap cliché love triangle about some Useless Damsel Girl or Girlboss Bitch that confirms her obvious hidden genius/talent, beauty, popularity and high value.
The Sub Male Lead will always lose against the True Male Lead that is favoured by the narrative.
It's kinda ironic that the FL always choose the Problematic Chauvenistic Man who looked down on her over someone with a benevolent soul who already accepted her the way she is.......

Types Of Jealous Boyfriends In Kdramas Part-1 || Cute,Creepy, Funny ♡ (MY GOD; THEY ARE ALL THE SAME TYPE!)

Articles:
Diagnosed with Second Male Lead Syndrome
https://mydramalist.com/list/32AwAjOL
Most Painful Second Lead Syndrome
https://mydramalist.com/list/4a6ENG21
10 K-Drama Second Leads We Still Root For
https://www.tatlerasia.com/lifestyle/entertainment/10-k-drama-second-leads-we-still-root-for
14 K-Dramas That Will Make Your Heart Ache With Second Lead Syndrome
https://elle.com.sg/2021/07/29/k-dramas-that-will-make-your-heart-ache-with-second-lead-syndrome/
Soompi & Viki Staff Talk: Which K-Drama Character Gave You Second Male Lead Syndrome?
https://www.soompi.com/article/1539...-character-gave-you-second-male-lead-syndrome

I really get tired of hearing this common popular saying:
"The (Toxic) Male Lead is for the Female Lead and the (Precious) Second Male Lead is for the Fans/Audience."


Bridgerton - JUST MARRY THE DAMN PRINCE!!!!!
7 Lessons Feminists Should Take From Bridgerton by The Financial Diet
@friimunya8488
“Never settle for a guy who only hangs out with you at home”. Period.
@lucilasandoval3084
Yes MARRY THE NICE PRINCE, they were compatible, wanted the same things out of life and she goes with the emotionally unavailable fuckboy... loving the vibes of the new filming space btw
@misspiggy1517
The duke was one big flag. Yo, when he tells you he's not into marriage and kids, believe him and move on. And brother wanting to marry Daphe off to some creepy dude and scaring off all potential suitors? Wow, I don't wish to have such brother to anyone( Also, I'm so happy that you watch Karolina's videos too. She's amazing)

Here is the very quintessential Second Male Lead:
Rui Hanazawa
https://boysoverflowers.fandom.com/wiki/Rui_Hanazawa



And the quintessential Very Toxic Problematic Super Rich Jerk Male Lead who always deserves the NOT LIKE THE OTHER GIRLS FL:
Tsukasa Domyoji
https://boysoverflowers.fandom.com/wiki/Tsukasa_Domyoji

Note: Second Male Lead Rui Hanazawa is far less harmful and more friendlier + reasonable than Male Lead Tsukasa Domyoji but he still also an elitist ass who participated in lots of humiliating bullying and didn't care about the victims of his group F4 who are not the Shoujo Heroine Tsukushi Makino. Just like the ML he needs a special girl/woman that can heal him...

Here is a very funny video why it sucks to suffer under Second Male Lead Syndrome
EVERY KDRAMA 2ND MALE LEAD EVER

It sums up pretty much what is like to be the 2nd ML.
@vedikasharma1063
"I m going to be crying but in the arms of the male lead" so accurate
@stormrobinson5318
“This is k-drama , not Alabama” I swear that line got me dead
@theirbrotherhoodandfriends6101
the male lead: is actually a narcissist. the female lead: i'll pretend i didn't see that as well as all the kindness and efforts of the second male lead.
@pazongthor8211
IM DYING. "What are you going to do? Cry in the rain again? You think I didn't see that when I was making out with the main lead?" I CANT-
@user-eo2th2lf6f
I usually always root for the second male lead and get my heartbroken
@jannat_bhyn4490
"I'm so flattered!... but your 2nd male lead I think you should know your place" HAD ME IN TEARS
@cipher_13
Female lead be like: Even if I meet the 1st male in the last 10 mins of the last episode then also it's going to be a love at first sight for both us and we'll fall in love and live together happily ever after....

The Dumb Female Main Character really takes the 2nd ML for granted. It is often the case that she either treats him like shit, is very ignorant of his romantic feelings for her or can't imagine to be with someone that unconditionally kind, gentle & supportive in a loving healthy relationship.
How many times have we seen the 2nd ML getting friendzoned by the FL.....?!

It's always have to be the Bryonic Hero.
The one who is so bored & sad, brooding, cold, emotionally unavailable, full of rage, has parental issues and is an immature misogynistic manchild with a superiority complex and a very grandios mission.
The stupid FL can't help it but to love, take care of and reform this kind of man.
And she probably always want to choose the Bad Fuck Boy over the Genuine Real Mature Nice Guy because the one who is depicted as the Leading Man is usually the most powerful, richtest, popular or hottest Elite Heartthrob Husband Material in the whole (Fantasy) Romance World.
She the typical Fairytale Heroine can't be satisfied with a man who isn't on top of the world or doesn't own one the highest position in high society.
And even if the 2nd ML has officially the highest rank in a monarchy or is equally famous as the ML, he would be too perfect and boring for our romantic FMC.

KDRAMA SECOND MALE LEADS That GET THE GIRL

Kdrama Love triangle is an element that never fails to make us groan in pain. And most often, us viewers are left distraught with a handsome, charming, and kind-hearted second male lead left alone without love. Think of Cheese In The Trap’s Baek In Ho, Boys Over Flowers’ Yoon Ji Hoo, True Beauty’s Han Seo Jun, and many, many more - all perfect boyfriend materials that lost out to the male lead. But what if the table turns for once, and the male lead is the one to lose?
@mumtahanadider7958
FUN FACT : when the female lead chooses the 2nd ML he becomes the male lead and the og ML becomes the 2nd ML. Hence ,we yet again suffer from second male lead syndrom


Some Rofan examples I still remember:
2nd MLs who are not good enough for the FL because they are either poorer, less powerful, less handsome and less talented + special than the ML:

• May I Ask For One Final Thing?
• Welcome to Sylvia's Garden
• The Newlywed Diary of a Witch and a Dragon
• Flowers Are Flowers, Leaves Are Leaves / Bloom of Vengeance
• I Got Pregnant with the Tyrant's Child
• I Raised an Obsessive Servant
• Ashtarte
• Sigrid
• Elskar
• Belle and The Beast
• My Ray of Hope
• Doctor Elise
• Reminiscence Adonis
• As You Wish, Prince
• I Choose the Emperor Ending
• My Lord, the Wolf Queen
• I Failed To Abandon The Villain
• I Tamed The Tyrant and Ran Away
• The Tyrant's First Love
• The Lady and The Beast
• Queen Cecia's Shorts
• He’s Not Just a Pretty Face
• The Abandoned Empress
• I Don't Want To Be Empress
• The Duchess' Lewd Invitation
• Everything Was A Mistake,
• I'm Divorced, But I'm a Chaebol
• I Politely Decline The Male Lead
• I'm Living with my Mother-in-law
• Since When Were You The Villain?
• The Justice of Villainous Woman
• Shadowless Night
• The Elegant Sea of Savagery
• The Price of Breaking Up
• The Tyrant Wants To Live Honestly
• The Maid With A Dictator On A Leash
• The Grand Duchess of the North Was Secretly a Villainess
• Devil Brings Up a Lady / The Devil Raises a Lady
• How to Clear a Dating Sim as a Side Character
• Death Is The Only Ending For The Villainess
• The Stereotypical Life of a Reincarnated Lady
• I Became the Villainess in an Anticlimactic Novel
• The Second Male Lead is Actually a Girl
• The Heroine Had an Affair with My Fiance
• I Thought It Was a Common Isekai Story
• The Runaway Lead Lives Next Door
• Materialistic Princess
• The Wicked Sacrifice's Happy Marriage - Waking up After 8 Years, She's Not Used to the Duke's, Her Former Guard's, Doting!
• I Was A Fan Of Second Male Lead, But Male Lead Followed Me
• There Are Too Many Second Male Leads!

Some of them are done very dirty and some of them just came out of nowhere and their presence were unnecessary.

2nd MLs becoming the ML because the transmigrated FL is either a huge devoted fan of his or has great sympathy for him:

• Side Story (Novel)
• I'll Protect the 2nd ML's Love
• I Picked Up a Second Lead After the Ending
• The Lady's Butler
• For My Derelict Favorite
• I Didn't Mean to Seduce the Male Lead!
• He's a Supporting Character but I Love Him Anyway
• It's Been A While Since the Original Novel was Completed / Long After the Ending
• I Am The Commander Of The Second Male Lead’s Knights
• The Obessesive Second Male Lead Has Gone Wild

서브남주가 주인공? 내 최애캐를 지켜라ㅣ서브병 치료 웹툰 추천


Special Mention:

• What Happens When the Second Male Lead Powers Up / When the Third Wheel Strikes Back (Nobody can leave the Isekai Central Protagonist regardless of his original role alone.)

• The Second Lead Syndrome by Batusawa

Insufferable 2nd MLs:

• The Tragedy of the Villainess
• I’m the Wife of the Yandere Second Male Lead
• Regrets Of A Second Male Lead

And sometimes the Sub ML is depicted as an bigger asshole to make the already shitty or dubious ML the lesser evil / better choice...

2nd MLs that are in a way worse than the ML:

• Shadow Queen
• The Lady Wants To Rest
• I'm the Ex-Girlfriend of a Soldier
• I Don't Love You Anymore
• Priscilla's Marriage Request
• The Villain Discovered My Identity
• The Raven Duchess
• The Tragedy of the Villainess
• I Treated The Mastermind And Ran Away
• I Don’t Need a Trashy Sub-Male Lead
• Marilyn Likes Lariensa Too Much!
• The Villainess Lives Twice
• Resigning as the Villainess
• Charming and the Beast
• A Saint Who Was Adopted by the Grand Duke
• My Body Has Been Possessed by Someone
• I am the Male Lead's Ex-Girlfriend
• The Price of Breaking Up
• I Became the Ugly Lady
• Untouchable / Solitary Lady
• It's Okay Even Without A Male Lead
• I'm a Martial Art Villainess, but I'm the Strongest!
• When I Reincarnated, I Was Doted on by the Demon King
• Wendy The Florist
• Hello, I'm the Gardener!
• I Thought It Was Time!
• The Villain's Match Is Too Perfect
• Don’t Mess With My Duke Dubless!
• Bring The Love - The Lady of the Hildebrandt Family
• I Became a Sitter for the Obsessive Villains
• I've Reincarnated into a Handmaiden!
• The Banished Villainess! Living the Leisurely Life of a Nun Making Revolutionary Church Food

I have the theory that a 2nd Sub ML only gets introduced so we can see two shiny hunky boys/men catfighting over a girl.

The Lady and the Beast Ch.71


The Villain Discovered My Identity Ch.14


I’m a Villainess, Can I Die? Ch.56


I Met the Male Lead in Prison (2nd ML is her adoptive villainous Brother.....)


The Fake Was Thrown Away Ch.20

Spoiler: A Divorced Evil Lady Bakes Cakes Ch.43 IMAGE

Spoiler: The Runaway Lead Lives Next Door Ch20 IMAGE

Spoiler: Ashtarte Ch55 IMAGE

Spoiler: Serena IMAGE

Spoiler: He’s Not Just a Pretty Face Ch.10 IMAGE

Spoiler: He’s Not Just a Pretty Face Ch.44 IMAGE

Spoiler: My Villain Fiancé is Interfering With My Flowery Path Ch.12 IMAGE

Spoiler: The S-Class Hunter Doesn't Want to Be a Villainous Princess Ch.23 IMAGE

Spoiler: The Perks of Being a Villain Ch.31 IMAGE

Personally I don't want to see characters with the Second Male Lead Syndrome anymore.
This trope is just too frustrating and makes the FL Heroine only looks bad.

 

I can understand him falling in love with FL, who is in love with someone else (i guess) but I can't understand him trying so hard, struggling for FL. I mean, he's not stupid, he knows he's being used as a tool BUT HE KEEPS ON WITH IT... HOW? Is he insecure? No, absoluletly no. This seems very unreasonable to me

 

Maybe he is or becomes just plain stupid when it comes to the Female Protagonist With Main Character Syndrome.

 

Maybe but it makes me hate it even more. I'm not looking for realistic books, but I need the emotional development of the characters to be realistic.

Also, this means that FL is not worth falling in love with. then why should I read?

 

And what would be actually a realistic human behaviour?
In Melodramaworld pretty much everyone is braindead or lack any basic common sense...

 

Characters with feelings that deepen over time, maybe change, and despite all these feelings, he does not throw away his logic. This is realistic enough

 

I believe the FL is way too busy at appearing as universally likable and becoming everyone's type.
It would explain why she doesn't really aknowledge the generous efforts of the 2nd ML who is so close to her.

 

Trope Talk: Love Triangles

@small_juice_box
I feel like the most painful kind of love triangle is when A/B are meant to get together but A/C have way more chemistry and literally everyone else agrees that A/C are the better couple. A/B are basically lovestruck and "destined/ made for each other" but A/C actually get to know each other and their growth together is noticable. Love at first sight is cute but I wanna see growth along with it too!
@VioletEntropy04
Every now and then, I think of a quote I read somewhere about this trope: "Most of what we call Love Triangles are actually a Love Corner. And most of the time, the woman is backed into it." (I'm might be paraphrasing a bit, but that was the gist)
@kore_quinn
To this day, the most creative and hilarious solution to a love “triangle” was in The Kane Chronicles series by Rick Riordan. One of the protagonists, Sadie, had a crush on two different guys. One she couldn’t be with because he was an immortal god and the other because he was slowly dying. However, in the last book of the trilogy, the god takes the dying guy as his host, keeping him grounded in the mortal world and keeping the dying guy alive so Sadie can be with both of them.

Solving YA Novel Love Triangles - Iron Widow Trailer (no

@WhiteRaven696
I mean, as a reader, I’m definitely here for a bisexual love triangle. But as a gay, I’m also here for both of the boys to escape to the woods and be blissfully domestic while Zetian burns down the patriarchy.

 

I have no problems with the presence of second or even third male lead but I hate it when they're too hung up on the MC to ever get married or get into a relationship. Why can't they be happy with someone else?!

 

Universal Melodrama Novel Rule:
Everybody has to hate and then love the Female Lead / Heroine.

 

I absolutely almost always love the second male lead, so I'm curious to see where more of this discussion goes.

My favourite where I was very conflicted about the second and first male leads is the manga Daytime Shooting Star, I don't want to say anything more so I won't spoil it.

 

Camping.
I'd like to see a bit more of folks opinions before inserting my own.
There's quite a bit to dissect already.

 

I find many Second Male Leads are quite pitiful since the narrative/authors only made him to push the NLOG FL & The Bad Toxic ML into love relationship.

 

I don't like second leads in stories and never had "second male lead syndrome". They are as annoying as "the villainess" obsessed with the ml. I understand why they are used, but I think stories do well without one. I actually prefer when stories have a second couple rather than a second lead.

 

I agree with all the options. In the end of all this he still stays single and most of the authors show that he is true to the Fl which is very annoying most of the time they are really but like why are you chasing someone that really doesn't like you and has a partner?! Also most of the time the Ml is always like the cold duke or something like god I don't like this trope a lot of good manwhas or novels are like this

 

give me the sauce

 

The Brothers Love Triangle Trope Is WEIRD...

07.02.2024 #thesummeriturnedpretty #mylifewiththewalterboys #lovetriangle by imuRgency
Hey Rummates, today we're going to talk about the brothers love trope as seen in The Summer I Turned Pretty and My Life With The Walter Boys. We have a lot to get into so let's talk about it.
Timestamps:
0:00 intro 2:06 what is the brother love triangle 3:19 why do ppl like it so much 5:19 bro love interest examples
7:04 love triangles vs sibling love triangles 10:30 how they usually play out 12:20 responding to y'alls thoughts 15:40 my spicy take on it all
@hoe4steveharrington
I've always found this trope so weird...because why is the female MC finding it hard to pick between TWO BROTHERS?? There are billions of people on this planet and they pick the siblings, I miss the normal love triangles when it just involved two boys that literally don't share the same parents
@alysiaknox1972
I blame the vampire diaries especially with the good brother and bad brother characters
@LizzieHunterPaul
I also don't like the lowkey purity politics with this trope because they always have the girls who were with the bad boy before seem sl***y while the main female lead isn't like that, and he learns how to value women by his love for her. Like can't he just treat women well from the jump?
@NickNelsons_bigsis
The weirdest part for me is the potential "I once hooked up with my brother-in-law" weirdness should two of the three get married. Way to make family get-togethers awkward for everyone.
@Butterfly-ll7mm
It’s annoying, especially when one brother is the “bad” boy and one is the “good” brother. And it almost always consists of the girl choosing the good brother but then realizes she loves the bad brother. Also, almost always the girl is coming in between the brother’s relationship so that makes the girl hated by the audience. It’s just pointless.
@LizzieHunterPaul
The tried-and-true outcome of every romantic love triangle is the girl choosing the more broody, emotionally unavailable, "bad" brother.
@debbietv6972
I had a high school classmate who dated a guy, cheated with the older brother and married him. She had his baby not long after. Their family get togethers were hella AWKWARD. The younger brother eventually distanced himself from the family cause he felt that everybody just accepted it as she gave the parents grandchildren. Like they just moved on even when he was struggling to. It was really sad. I understand that it makes interesting TV, but I could never defend this behavior in real life!

Sibling Triangle
"Two brothers. One woman. Trouble."
— Flakita, The X-Files, "El Mundo Gira"
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SiblingTriangle

 

I have read QT where second male lead is very toxic to his partner/wife but only good to his crush [ female lead ]. So QT female mc transmigrated into his wife, she divorce him and leave that mess and toxic out from her life. To be honestly you may feel pity for second lead because he didn’t get female lead. But he is only good to her cause he like her, not other. But If you were his wife/fiance or woman that he don’t like you. you may get cold treatment from him. So I don’t think he is that nice. he is just like female partner who can’t get FL/ml love. I remember reading where second male lead abuse his wife badly that she love him so much in past and present. Poor girl, her soul is shattered, he just regret at end because he found he love her, not MC. It’s like if you love her, you regret/sad to see her died, if you don’t love her, you will be happy.

I have read QT where second male lead is so horrible as male lead. Perhaps we reading from heroine pov, we may feel pity for him. But if we read from other pov, he is not nice. I use to have second male lead syndrome before, but reading to much novel, I realize second male lead is not that great and have flawed.. Our Pity arise because he didn’t end up with mc. I remember reading novel where some idiot second lead syndrome transmigrated into book and want to save second male lead, lol she got her body chop up from him.

 

The Nice Guy Trope, Explained

22.02.2020
@dakotahale1788
My parents would tell me don't be a "nice guy" be a "good man."
@cheesecakelasagna
Golden rule, if a person is only nice to you and not to everyone else (especially to service crew, and the likes), they're not genuinely nice.
@syren4731
Sylvia Plath puts it elegantly: "Girls are not machines that you put kindness coins into until sex falls out"
@rameji-chan737
I'm still laughing about the fact that my ex send me "500 Days of Summer" to show me how much he loved me and how much I had hurt him by rejecting him when I had no capacity for a relationship. Like, bro, this movie is literally about how the guy really couldn't take a "no" for an answer.
@Vampirefreak2282
I think society is finally recognizing that sometimes the most abusive people are the ones that were "so nice" in the beginning. This is how so many people get trapped in abusive / toxic relationships with the "nice guy". It's all roses, and sweetness, until jealousy, projecting etc kick in.
@gizemalarasoyleyici581
I think How I Met Your Mother sums it up perfectly. Ted is the 'nice guy' who always pursues wrong women, doesn't take their feelings into consideration and is self-obsessed. Barney is the guy who isn't the nicest but doesn't pretend to be one either. And Marshall is the actual nice guy. He is kind, polite, caring. He doesn't point out 'he is a nice guy' every second and doesn't expect to be rewarded for it.
@poissony
A real nice guy would never say he's nice. He'd just, be nice, without drawing attention to it.
@seb4189
i'm just going to say this I bet Keanu Reeves has never once said "i'm a nice guy"
@packnetadaija
It’s always interesting that the “nice guys” tend to be upset about how girls don’t like them, but it’s like they go after girls who are clearly not interested in them. Like my bf made a good point, while the “nice” guy is upset over his crush not liking him, there’s another girl looking at him who is interested in him who’s upset that he doesn’t like her
@taylorgayhart9497
“Thinking that if a girl doesn’t like him, she just doesn’t like being treated well...” OMG THANK YOU for putting this into words!!!! I’m so sick of this bullshit, just because your nice to a girl, it doesn’t mean she owes you anything but to be nice back!!!!!!
@SoulfulVeg
I was so indoctrinated with this thinking, and it took my daughter to snap me out of it. We were watching The Notebook, and what I thought was romantic, she found to be stalking. After I considered it, she was right. I'm watching these movies with new eyes! Millenials for the win!

 

X-MEN: Love Quadrangle By Nick-Perks on DeviantArt


Love Triangle of Cyclops x Jean Grey x Wolverine SOLVED by @Sho_Guru on Twitter