List of dark romance novel tropes
If you've stumbled across this list looking for general romance tropes, please go here.
Content warning: This is a list of dark romance tropes so it may contain themes or ideas that are uncomfortable to read or think about. If this wasn’t what you had in mind, why don't you explore a different blog post instead?
What are tropes?
Tropes are common themes, plot devices or motifs. In other words, they are common scenarios and patterns that take place in your novel.
For example, a common trope in contemporary romance novels the “meet cute” moment. That’s when the love interests meet each other, often in a “cute” way such as them bumping into each other on the street or if one of them has a flat tyre and the other offers to help change it.
List of dark romance tropes
Profession tropes
Boss/employee
Student/teacher
Drug lord
Mafia
Hitman
Bodyguard
Priest/parishioner
Serial killer
Corrupt cop
Ex prisoner
Motorcycle
Royalty
Billionaires
Secret boss
Secret identity
Age tropes
Age gap
May-December – a drastic age difference between the love interests
Silver fox
Relationship tropes
Power imbalance
Rich/poor
Captor/captive
Anti-hero / Anti-heroine
Stalker
Taboo romance
Morally grey
Touch her and die
Who did this?
Primal alpha male
Beauty and the Beast
Hades and Persephone
Fairytale retelling
Secret admirer
Rescuer
Fated mates
Falling in love with the wrong person
Trauma bonding
Pregnancy
Affairs
Cheating/infidelity
Enemies to lovers
Good girl/bad boy
Forbidden romance
Soul mates
Repressed desires
Emotional intensity
Hidden agenda
Amnesia
Broken memory
Fabricated backstory
Dark past
Blackmail
Obsession
Possessive
Strategic seduction
Emotional intensity
Promised to the heir
Protagonist and love interest tropes
Tortured hero
Joker
Sugar daddy
Obsessive interrogator
Cursed soulmate
Reincarnated lover
Vigilante justice
Masked stalker
Hero fakes vulnerability
Femme fatale
Who hurt you?
Unhinged
You are the only one that matters
I will destroy the world for you
All grown up
Rake – a "loveable scoundrel", often a rich playboy who invests his money and time on women, drinking and gambling
Mary Sue – one love interest, often female, is unrealistically flawless
Protective
Outcast from society
Loveable rogue
Pretty boy
Alpha hero
Possessive
Anti-hero
Tortured lover
Playboy
I can fix him
Innocent
Ending tropes
Not so happy ending
Happy ever after
Happy for now
Sexy and steamy tropes
BDSM
Kink clubs
Public play
Primal play
Breeding
Torture tropes
Gaslighting
Sleep deprivation
Knife play
Using the heroine's trauma
Deliberate isolation
Mind games
Non-con – non-consensual intimacy
Bloodletting – intentionally causing someone to bleed
Caring for the injured after hurting them
Drugs
Punishment
Tied up
Sensory deprivation
Locked away
Captive pet
Forced obedience
Breaking her will
Forced servitude
Punished for escape attempts
Situation tropes
False identity
Kidnapping
Stalking
Forced proximity
Forced servitude
Stalker in disguise
Spying on the heroine
Tampering
Gaslighting
Revenge / Vengeance
Captivity
Paying off a debt
Paying for protection
Caught committing a crime
Forced into committing a crime
Blood debts
Rival gangs
Relationship tropes
MMF – male, male, female
MFM – male, female, male
MM – male, male
FF – female, female
MF – male, female
MFF – male, female, female
Polyamory
Ethical non-monogamy
Bisexual hero(ine)
BDSM
Polygamy
Family relations tropes
Stepsiblings
Sister's boyfriend
Best friend’s sibling
Best friend’s parent
Preacher’s daughter
Ex’s boyfriend
Guardian/ward
Parent's best friend
Stepparent
The in-laws
Family feuds
Disowned for love
Controlling parent
Parent trades daughter
Repeating parent's mistakes
Secret family connection
Surprise baby
Unexpected inheritance
Evil stepmother
Secret lovechild
Estranged parent
Marriage tropes
Contractual relationship
Manipulated into marriage
Arranged marriage
Forced marriage
Marriage to save someone else
Marriage to pay off debt
Marriage for inheritance
Location/setting tropes
Prep school
University
Small town
Big city
Countryside
Outsider – one love interest is new to town
Secret society
Bars
Clubhouse
Communes
Troubled past tropes
Dark past
Secret past
Rejected past
Shared past
Scars of the past
Physical scars
Paranormal
Magic-induced obedience
Love potions
Shape shifters
Time travel
Monster
Vampire
Werewolf
Demons
Witches and demons
Faes
Reaper
Immortals falling for a mortal
Ghosts
Necromancers
Enhancements
Eternal torment
Lover trapped in another realm
Magic-induced obedience
Fallen angels