Alpha Male Heroes - Obsession or Oblivion?

 "The alpha hero is a strong, dominant, aggressive male brought to the point of surrender by a woman.”

- Author Doreen Owens Malek 

Alpha males are dominant and influential. They hold the top position in the social status hierarchy with great power and money. Attracting women by their charismatic personalities, alpha males are the leaders with their confident and extroverted nature.

In earlier times, alpha males were believed to be aggressive, controlling and fearless. But with time, their characteristics evolved. The alpha males push away their insecurities, showcasing themselves courageous. In fact, they thrive when life throws curve ball on them. They like to face challenges and conquer their foreboding. 

They have a purpose in life and are always filled with a sense of determination and motivation. They are very clear about what they want in life. Setting a goal for themselves in both professional and personal front, they work hard to achieve it by all means. They make every decision and take every step by keeping the consequences in mind. Every move they make, they think about the end purpose of it.

Alpha men are always well aware of their flaws but that does not handicap them; instead, they work towards vanquishing their shortcomings.

The dominating bully who leads by daunting may often be accredited with the alpha male, but he doesn’t have the peculiarities to qualify. 

Media has always loved it's Alpha male characters. Men are showcased as the personification of strength and pride. And audiences have always loved such characters, but now are on the look out for the opposite, as they have started understanding how stifling such expectations are from men. 

We don't wish to shame anyone for liking such characters, as not all alpha males are a bad thing, especially not if they motivate the audience to work hard to earn success. 

Let’s have a look at some male characters who the audiences have loved and some other characters who break this norm of fitting into the "ideal" man.

"Appearance is for Handsome. Attitude is for Alpha."

The industry is full of Alpha Heroes -  whether it's television, web, movies, books; whether it's Bollywood or Hollywood, Alpha Heroes can be spotted everywhere because of the characteristics they portray!

These are some of the most well-known Alpha Heroes who all of you must have heard of, or even obsessed over at some point:

Arnav Singh Raizada (Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon, Star Plus, 2011-2012)

A business tycoon who made Khushi miserable at every opportunity he got, hence he married her forcefully using blackmail. But later fell in love with her. When you think of "Alpha Hero", this is the first name that comes to mind. Arnav Singh Raizada is probably the most well-known and iconic Alpha Hero of Indian Television. Though the show aired over ten years ago, his fans still remember it like it was yesterday. They still obsess over ASR and re-watch the show over and over again.

Kabir Singh (Kabir Singh, 2019)

Kabir Singh is probably the biggest romantic Alpha Hero in Bollywood. He was obsessed with Preeti ever since he laid his eyes on her, he controlled her life and was willing to do anything to get her. When he couldn't get married to her, he resorted to physical abuse, alcohol, and drugs. Yet in the end she still forgave him and returned back to him because she felt their love was the truest of all.

Munna (Mirzapur, Amazon Prime, 2018-Ongoing)

Another obsessed character who only cares about money and power, and will stop at nothing to inherit everything that his father owns. His unworthiness, his greed, and his selfishness often lead to disputes with his father. 

Shamsher Dilawar (Kaisi Teri Khudgarzi, ARY Digital, 2022-Ongoing)

After the huge success of Deewangi, where Danish played the role of Sultan Durrani who was obsessed with troubling and taking revenge from Nageen, Danish went a step further with the character of Shamsher in Kaisi Teri Khudgarzi. Shamsher is obsessed with Mahek after she rejects him, he goes to the extent of breaking her engagement, and even kidnapping her in order to make her his wife.

Christian Grey (Fifty Shades Of Grey, 2015)

Fifty Shades Of Grey was originally a novel, which was later made into a movie due to it's high success and popularity. The movie also became a blockbuster in no time. Christian Grey was a troubled dominant hero due to his dark past, and he needed Ana as his submissive to keep him sane. Ana was reluctant at first, but eventually agreed to his ways and started getting pleasure by pleasing him, thus reforming him into a better man.

Harvey Specter (Suits, Amazon Prime, 2011-2019)

Harvey Specter is a former lawyer who is very courageous, sharp, and confident. He handles challenging situations in his own way, he always gets what he wants, and his word is the final word. He doesn't really care about the opinions of others.

These are just a few examples to get you thinking, of course there are many more well-known alpha heroes who audience obsess over. But where there is a dark side, there is also a light side. There are many characters who also prove that you can become a legendary and loved hero without showing traits such as aggression, violence, and ego.

"Patriarchy dehumanizes men, it makes them less human" 

-Kamla Bhasin (Feminist Icon, Poet, Social Worker)

While the patriarchy may love its Alpha men, the audience has evolved and are now preferring male characters who are written with more sensitivity and this is a post to celebrate 6 such characters. We hope to see more of such fabulously written characters. 

Neil Khanna (Naamkaran, Star Plus, 2016-2018) 

While other male leads have a trope of hating women because their heart was broken in the past, Neil Khanna broke this norm by accepting the pain that his girlfriend's death brought with it. Neil understood not just what Avni went through, but what Neela went through because of Dayawanti Mehta. He stood up for the right, even if it meant standing up to his family. He respected every woman in his life, be it his wife, or even Rhea, who almost destroyed his marriage with Avni. But when harm came Avni's way, he was there to protect her, to uphold their marriage vows. He reminded Avni of the beauty of life and taught her to love, again. Neil is a break from the angry young cop. 

Iqbal Syed (Raazi, 2018) 

Written by Meghana Gulzar, this character is the definition of empathy. Iqbal Syed married Sehmat and was there for her, even when he didn't realize it. He fell for her, probably the second he saw her. He respected her and loved her, beyond the boundaries of nationality. He respected her choices, even when she broke his heart. But his love for his country was above all and he wanted to prevent as much collateral damage, as he could, even if that meant standing up to his wife.

Nikhil Nair (Asur, Voot, 2020-Ongoing)

Nikhil Nair believes in doing the right thing, but sometimes, the right thing isn't the just thing, or the lines are blurred. He let his emotions lead him. He is a good leader to his team and doesn't believe in going gun blazing. When life threw him a difficult situation, he didn't "man up", but instead broke down and his emotions poured out, he let his pain show. 

Hamza Raees (Mere Humsafar, ARY Digital, 2021-2022)

After he witnessed Hala's abuse by his own family, Hamza Raees stood up for her. But when they objected to still give her the love and respect that a family member, or in Hala's case, even a human deserved, Hamza married her. His kindness and sensitivity helped a shy Hala bloom into a confident woman. Their relationship suffered a lot of complications, but in the end, love conquered all. 

T'Challa (Black Panther, 2018)

Raised around the Dora Milage, T'Challa is the opposite of an Alpha male stereotype. He is wise and empathetic. He had strong women around him, be it his mother, Queen Ramona, or his girlfriend, Nakia. They taught him and reminded him to be a wise king. He respected their wisdom and didn't go guns blazing in a fight, instead chose to do the right thing, like not killing Zemo but handing him to the authorities, and then decided to pay heed to Nakia and Erik's advice and be open about Wakanda's resources to the world. 

Otis Milburn (Sex Education, Netflix, 2019-Ongoing)

While American TV shows and movies have their high school stereotypes, Otis Milburn is a particular case. Son of a sex therapist, he understands the complexities of humans, their emotions, and their sexualities. Though just a teen, he has such good emotional intelligence, that he starts therapizing his schoolmates. He is a bit slow to understand his own emotions but Otis doesn't judge people. He understands that people around him are more complicated than him, and doesn't let judgment or prejudice blind his perception. 

Did we miss any characters? What do you think of movies and TV's obsessions with Alpha men? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.

Credits:

NSKay | MinionBoss | WildestDreams |  Yuvika_15

I prefer breaking the norm like Neil Khanna

I didn’t like the aggressive and chauvinist males. Some of them were good looking though 

I prefer breaking the code of Alpha male characters.

Who respect the wishes of woman and treat them as equal individuals.

Manhandling whether physically or mentally is highly intolerable.

One of my favourite Alpha male characters though have been Sujal Garewal from KTH.

His complexities were different and he evolved as he completely surrendered himself in love.

It was a treat to watch.

The way he his growth was depicted in the show.

I am strictly talking about Rajeev Khandelwal here as Sujal Garewal.(till he played this character).

He had a terrific growth as an Alpha male character.

One of my favourites till now.

Growth is realizing ASR was a toxic af character, constantly manhandling Khushi, cutting her off, being rude as hell to her. That isn't 'cute', 'hot' or 'romantic' like it was portrayed to be. IPKKND did not age well imo.

Kabir Singh? Shitty through and through.

I think the Alpha male character is the favorite of masses regardless of the disturbing behaviour, especially the young ones. 

Talking about Kabir Singh he was toxic, abusive and a menace to everyone around him still he was well liked by a section of society; guys who hailed him as an Alpha, girls who wanted a possessive boyfriend like him 

The character was simply unredeemable for me, he wasn't a good professional, nor a son or brother, not even a friend. Not a single aspect or relationship in his life was normal, he was selfish, toxic, self- centred and arrogant to the end of the film. Yet people justified his behaviour as some tragic hero...

Ironically Shahid has also played the complete opposite character of Kabir Singh but it didn't garner much of the popularity to him.

Aditya in Jab We Met was everything Kabir can never be. He was sensible, caring, never tried to impose his love on Geet, always supported her even though she was choosing the other guy. He was this thoughtful and sensible guy who is difficult to find and hailed in the pop culture. 

My Only Favorite

Was Hamza Raees (Mere Humsafar, ARY Digital, 2021-2022) I Liked His Character

Though Out The Series

Since Aditya Kashyap was mentionned, here he comes.😎

The movie itself is very close to me in every way.

https://youtu.be/MjWw7H5ig2I

Honestly, the idea of an alpha male is hot af. Someone who is confident, ambitious, determined. He's a grey character because he stops at nothing to get what he wants; he's used to bending the rules to his advantage.

I don't like the manhandling that alpha males are associated with. I prefer it when they use their power more intelligently. The shrewdness is what makes it so thrilling. Why do you like to see a tiger or an eagle hunt? Sure you feel bad for the prey, but it's the planning and the sheer power displayed by the hunting animal that gets you awestruck.

But yes, at one point it gets boring. There's too many alpha males in media rn; it feels suffocating 😪 There's a different kind of charm to caring, sensitive males, and right now they feel more refreshing than ever. When life gets tough and you wanna sit down and enjoy a show, these are the type of males who make you feel hope and comfort.

So yeah, this is a girl who will continue to love ASR but whose favourite will always be Neil Khanna from Naamkaran ❤️❤️