Bespectacled Bastard Boyfriend

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

A Bespectacled Bastard Boyfriend (in Japanese fan terminology, Kichiku Megane, literally "brutal glasses") is a male love interest whose defining traits are that he is cold, cruel, and abusive to his romantic partner in a manner intended to be kinky and appealing to the audience, and that he wears glasses, which indicates that he is also smart, sophisticated, and successful.

This trope runs on Fetish Fuel, so don't expect anything close to a realistic depiction of abuse. This is purely a fantasy of a strong, very desirable, dominant male who has (or wants) complete control over his partner, especially sexually, and the domination and emotional abuse is intended to be sexy (and usually an expression of romantic feelings). Thus, if you are a good-looking male character who wears glasses, some fans will turn you into this, regardless of your personality.

The character type requires that the character be a possible Love Interest; if there's no hope that the opposite party will ever reciprocate, he's probably just a Stalker with a Crush or a Jerkass.

A Bespectacled Bastard Boyfriend typically has a cool, sophisticated, or commanding way of speaking, an evil little smile, and an expensive suit. Expect lots of Victim Falls For Rapist or the PG-rated equivalent. They are popular in media directed at a female audience.

The parent trope is Bastard Boyfriend (the "kichiku" part of kichiku megane). See also Evil Is Sexy and All Girls Want Bad Boys, which are the foundations of this character. For calm, sweet guys with glasses, see Stoic Spectacles. For nasties in glasses minus the kinky romance angle, see Four Eyes, Zero Soul. Occasionally exhibit Scary Shiny Glasses, but also has a high chance of having Sexy Spectacles.

The Japanese version is also the name of a visual novel.

No real life examples, please; calling real-life people "bastards" is a bad idea.

Examples of Bespectacled Bastard Boyfriend include:

Anime and Manga

  • Hideaki Nakajima in Gakuen Heaven. Although this was seriously toned down in the anime, the manga version followed the spirit of the original game more closely.
  • Michio Yuki, MW's Villain Protagonist, torments his lover, Garai, quite extensively. It's debatable whether he's actually in love with Garai, however.
  • Takehito Koyasu plays these a lot. He was the voice for Jade Curtiss from Tales of the Abyss, played one in the Otome Game Tokimeki Memorial: Girls' Side, and was the first seiyuu for Seishirou Sakurazuka.
  • Ono in Antique Bakery, when in "predatory gay guy" mode. He's quite nice, otherwise.
  • Parodied on Keroro Gunsou with Kururu.
  • Ryuji from Night Shift Nurses plays this straight.
  • The Student Council President of Suzumiya Haruhi plays one solely to provide Haruhi with an "antagonist" to keep her from being bored.
  • Class President Yuichi Hajitsume from Scandalous Seiryo University is a standard-issue BL example, played for screwball comedy.
  • Ryoki from Hot Gimmick, especially early in the series.
  • Kurt Godel from Negima! seems to be shaping up to be this. His backstory with Ala Rubra and his unrequited love for Princess Arika does nothing to explain his callous cruelty.
    • OTOH, it's later explained why he acts like this (it's...VERY complicated), and upon being defeated by Ala Alba, he has a Heel Face Turn.
  • Satoshi from D.N.Angel is very much like this trope when he's first introduced, although it's later revealed that he has a reason for being cold.
  • Muraki in Yami no Matsuei: A Complete Monster Stalker with a Crush who has a definite thing for Tsuzuki; unfortunately for Tsuzuki, his hobbies include rape, murder, and cutting people up while they're still alive, and Tsuzuki is willing to pull a Taking You with Me to get rid of him (they both survive). He is, however, very pretty and sexy as long as he styles his hair correctly, so there is much Fan Fiction where he is this trope instead.
    • Tatsumi certainly looks the part, although, in practice, he is actually a decent person (if quite the Frozen Flower). And since he cares a lot for Tsuzuki, Tatsumi is most unhappy about Muraki's little fixation with him.
  • Another comedic Boys Love version: Student Council President Azuma from Love Is Like A Hurricane expresses his affection for Mizuki by molesting him relentlessly.
  • Extremely angsty and disturbing Boys Love version: Wakae from The Night's Dew On Those Lips (published in French as Réminiscences) takes Victim Falls For Rapist to a whole new level.
  • Ritsu in Loveless proves to be one of these to a young Soubi, sexually abusing him and generally being a dick because Soubi's mother married another man over him.
  • Nawahara Bakurou from the H-Doujin Escape Creator. Every girl that shows up with him ends up being tied, raped, and liking it, and returning for more in the last chapter.
  • Ichinose Takumi from Nana.
  • The final character design of Ogata from Hikaru no Go looks like one of these, especially when wearing the white suit he apparently uses for all formal occasions, and is, at best, a Deadpan Snarker. Since he gets obsessed with the lead's connection to 'Sai', the netgo star who's really a ghost playing through the kid, he also gets pedo vibes, and that's enough for large segments of the fandom to see him as this.
    • He's actually visibly a very proud, deeply socially awkward, and highly selfish geeky guy in his thirties, whose personal life extends to his old sensei and his tropical fish, but as the only living, attractive, fully-adult male in the show, he became a bit of an Mr. Fanservice piece, and the fans invoked this trope.
  • Ah! My Goddess: Toshiyuki Aoshima.
  • Another Boys Love example is in Kawabata's behavior towards Misaki in Hana no Mizo Shiru. He had a quasi-relationship with Misaki in the past, but left him for a woman - and afterwards, proceeds to call him constantly, interrogate him about any acquaintances he makes, taunt him about his sexuality, and nearly choke him at one point (though accidentally). And then in Chapter 11 he narrowly stops himself from forcing himself on Misaki. And yeah, sure enough, he wears glasses.
  • Sugou Nobuyuki from the "Alfheim Online" arc of Sword Art Online. He was selected by Asuna's father to marry her, and is not only delighted to, is also responsible for keeping her trapped in VR -- and trapped in a literal Gilded Cage inside the game.


Comic Books

Music

  • Vocaloid's Kagamine Len, though usually shota, sometimes gets this trope thrust upon him by the fandom. Probably has something to do with the PV(s) for his song SPICE!


New Media


Video Games

  • The Boys Love game Kichiku Megane, of course.
    • The game is named after the Japanese trope name and specifically invokes it in the most literal sense possible: a clueless dork who can't get a date receives magic glasses that turn him into a commanding Seme who gets whatever he wants, especially in bed. Check out the trailer (slightly NSFW) to see them in action.
    • While the main character, Katsuya, is the most prominent example, anyone who wears glasses in this series counts. Next best example is resident incubus Mr. R (who created the titular glasses) and, later, Sawamura, Katsuya's former childhood friend.
      • Also, it should be noted that the original game will punish you for crossing the Moral Event Horizon (it even has a very basic Karma Meter), in some cases, by having the abused lover kill Katsuya. The sequel Kichiku Megane R drifts in the other direction, with the best endings for Megane!Katsuya being those where he softens up and treats his lovers in a gentler manner.
  • Silver Chaos 2 Artificial Mermaid feature Brad Hiruma, who is added even further by using test tube as...and Love Redeems.
  • Spray, the creators of Gakuen Heaven and Kichiku Megane, really love this trope. (Or, in these cases, scenario writer Tamami who wrote both games really loves it). It also appears in their other Boys Love games Piyotan and Steal.
  • Kristoph Gavin from Apollo Justice, in lots and lots of fanfic. In Canon, he's the Big Bad.
  • Shizune from Katawa Shoujo is one step away from being a Bespectacled Bastard Girlfriend.


Web Original