For the love of Second Leads

***contains minor relationship spoilers***

While the female and male leads are the most prominent part of any drama love triangle, the other sure-fire characters are the second leads, sometimes there’s both a male and female counterpart, or sometimes they come alone. But without a doubt come the second or third episode of any formulaic drama and they’ll pop up. I’ve found after much drama watching and drama agonising that there are four different kinds of second leads that we can come to expect from drama land. I’ll start with the most common.

The Ever-Caring Bystanders

For some reason these characters annoy me. I go from hating them at times to feeling sorry for them at others; I go back and forth until I’m confused to what I actually want. The characters in this category are predominantly male, and they stand by the heroine’s side through thick and thin. They don’t openly pursue her but rather hope that eventually she will fall for them or that the hero will mess up allowing them to step in. The reason I go back and forth is because they often tend to step in a moment sooner than the male lead which can be annoying. Then at other times you feel bad when they lose the girl they so obviously love. It’s a harrowing journey. The top three culprits of this group in my opinion are:

3. Yoon Pil Joo the doctor from The Greatest Love

For me he never really stood a chance next to the brightly burning Dokko Gin, but he was earnest in his attempt to woo Goo Ae Jung.

2. Shin Woo of You’re Beautiful

He was behind Go Min Nam every step of the way, the silent bodyguard.

1. Yoon Ji Hoo from Boys Before Flowers

He is the prime example of this character. He’s never invasive or damaging to the main characters' relationship. I debated between Ji Hoo and Shin Woo who to put as number one, but in the end Ji Hoo won simply for the fact that he follows Jan Di right to the very end. I didn’t particularly appreciate it, but nevertheless it guaranteed him the number one spot in this category.

Honorable mention – Sungkyunkwan Scandal

The Vindictive Plotters

Now here are the characters who make you want to pull your hair out from sheer frustration. Their acts are often juvenile and create various infuriating misunderstandings between the main couple. I don’t really understand their position. Their actions are extremely unlikely to help them achieve their aim, because they often show their true colors in their spiteful endeavors. I guess it’s an "if I can’t have them, neither can you" sort of thing.

3. Oh Yoon Jo - My Princess

I never truly understood what this character actually wanted to achieve. She seemed to have a very personal vendetta against the princess. Her malice and hate was pretty clear throughout, and her coldness was extreme.

2. Kimura Shunji -The Bridal Mask

I had a love/hate relationship with this man. It was so obvious that his actions were never going to get him the girl, but he was so blind sighted he continued on his destructive path regardless. He truly went beyond the boundaries of bad for what he wanted.

1. Byun Hak Do – Delightful Girl, Choon Hyang

This guy made my skin crawl from the moment he came onto the screen. He takes the number one spot, because where many of the others never succeeded in their missions to split the couple up, this man does.

Honorable mention: Shin Se Yeon – Secret Love

The Uninterested

These are the types who are actually part of the drama for reasons other than a love triangle, and they are generally romantically uninterested in the female or male lead. They serve as part of the plotline and often have their own romantic storyline.

3. Oska – Secret Garden

2. Eun Shi Kyung – King2Hearts

1. Kim Young Joo –City Hunter

The Endearing Losers 

These are my favorite kind of second leads, but there aren’t that many of them around. When they first appear on our screens, they can be at first mistaken for the ‘bystander’ or ‘plotter’ but as you watch them you realize they’re different. These types of second leads are honest and open about their attempts to woo the main character. Though they do engage in sneaky tactics they are never evil or vindictive and by the end, I normally find them endearing and hope for their happy ending too. 

3. Bong Joon Goo of Playful Kiss

He was just adorable. The main lead himself wasn’t the best, and it could be one of the reasons why I thought Joon Goo actually deserved the female lead more. He was open and honest about his feelings, never using sabotage. What makes him different from the bystander is that he didn’t wait until the last minute to show his affections, and he was always actively trying to win Ha Ni over.

2. Seo Na Yoon of Protect the Boss

I don’t think I could love this girl any more than I do. She was such a breath of fresh air. She was pretty, classy, and spoiled. She had all the makings of the vindictive plotter. Instead she was actually, dare I say it, adorable. Just because she was rich she didn’t think it meant she could cross the line between right and wrong.

1. Lee Han Se of Smile, You

I was so ready to hate this guy. It’s a shame, because I spent at least half the drama waiting anxiously for when his antics would go from childish and funny to evil and have real effects. I found him so endearing that he actually spurred me to write this article, because I got to thinking why he was different than all the other second male leads. He wasn’t underhanded, but instead he made a believable and appealing opponent for Kang Hyun Soo.

Honorable mention - Choi Kang Hyeok from Flower Boy Ramyun Shop

So that’s it from me.  I hope you enjoyed reading. What category do you like best and do you think there are more than the ones I described?