Shadow Daddy Meaning: Breaking Down the Romantasy Archetype

If you romance novel readereven casual, you are familiar with this character. He's a special type enemies to lovers male love interest: a morally gray bad boy with a heart of gold, deadly to his enemies but sweet to his lover. He is one of those who asks: “Who did this to you?!“He's tall, dark and handsome. He could be a faerie, a god, a vampire, or some other supernatural being. Most importantly, he has the power to wield shadows. What more could a beautiful (though she doesn't realize it) heroine between the ages of 18 and 22 want?

This archetype has been lovingly nicknamed the “shadow dad,” and it’s everywhere. Most notably, he spent significant time at the top of the New York Times bestseller list as Xaden Riorson, the male love interest in Rebecca Yarros's Empyrean series (that's The Fourth Wing, The Iron Flame, and most recently The Onyx Storm).

Xaden is the son of the rebel leader who was executed before the start of the series, making him the sworn enemy of Violet, our heroine and the daughter of the general who ended the rebellion. (Of course, when he and Violet meet in their youth, sparks fly and an enemies-to-lovers storyline begins.) Xaden has gold-flecked onyx eyes, black hair, and tan skin, and his signet, or unique signature power, is summoning the shadow.

Shadowfathers like Xaden combine violence and love, outer darkness and inner light. One Redditor per r/fantasyromance offered this poignant definition: “Shadow Daddy is OLD, about 500+ years old but looks young, has scars and tattoos, usually has darker skin and darker hair, has shadow powers i.e. name like can control darkness or shadows, HOT,…morally grey, has *issues* and always falls in love with the main female character.” (It should be noted, however, that not all shadow daddies fit this particular profile. Xaden, for example, is in his twenties, but hits all the other marks.) The most popular answer adds another important line: “Don't forget that said shadow daddy can also do certain things with these shadows.”

Xaden is no exception. Throughout the series, he uses his shadows to kill enemies and fondle Violet, sometimes at the same time. In the second chapter of Onyx Storm, Xaden comes to rescue Violet in the midst of battle, and this happens: “Shadows explode around us, instantly consuming every speck of light in a sea of ​​endless blackness that I instantly recognize as my home. and I know without a doubt that any threat to my life has been eliminated.”

Romance fans will be familiar with these sexy and deadly shadows. In fact, there is another shadow daddy book that also made the New York Times bestseller list: A Court of Thrones and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. The series' trio of male characters fit the archetype: Rhysand, Cassian, and Asriel. The main love interest, Rhysand, doesn't actually rule the shadows, but he is grumpy, immortal, and ruler of the Night Court. There is also Asriel, Rhysand’s main spy and “shadow singer” – it is he who has the power to control the shadows. Asriel hasn't yet been a male love interest in any of the ACOTAR books, but fans suspect it will be the topic of the next one. (For those waiting for the sixth book, it is obvious that Maas finished the draft in July.)

In fact, there have been dozens and dozens of shadow daddy books released over the past 15 years: Callie Hart's Fae and Alchemy series, Jennifer L. Armentrout's Flesh and Fire series, Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone series, and J. Bree's The Ties That Bind series. Want more? A Goodreads bookshelf entitled “Shadow Daddies Books” contains 347 titles.

Haters may imply that all romance authors copy each other, but strong and sexy characters associated with darkness are present in many different mythologies and folklore. Think death gods like Hades, Pluto and Odin, and even the fallen angel Lucifer (at least in the Paradise Lost version). Many romance novel authors consider mythology a source of inspiration: “I love all kinds of world mythology,” Maas said in the 2022 book. Good reading interview. “There's Norse and Celtic mythology in there, as well as a bit of Greek and Roman culture.”

There's a reason I said Hades and Odin but not Anubis. Descriptions of “dark” or “bronze” skin mean that many shadow daddies can be considered racially ambiguous. On Reddit there is frequent discussions about whether the shady daddy is Asian, Middle Eastern, black, Mediterranean, or just a white guy who's spent some time in the sun. (Yarros said that Xaden is a person of color, but did not specify what that is.)

However, when it comes to the most successful authors in the romance genre, including Yarros and Maas, the vast majority are white. The exception is N.K. Jemisin. Although she is best known for her science fiction series The Broken Land, her first novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, is a shadow-father romance: the protagonist, a warrior named Yeine, falls in love with Nahadoth, the god of chaos and change. Jemisin has often spoken about the barriers black writers face in the world of fantasy. “It's still easier for a white person to write a book with an all-black cast set in fantasy Africa and get it published than for a black person,” she said. Guardian in 2020.

While there are authors who repeat the shadow daddy character type (for example, the later books in Jemisin's Legacy trilogy reveal that Naadot can change gender and has even given birth), some romance readers are starting to get tired of all these variations on the theme. Some fans even complained about shadow daddy burnout. But there's a reason this archetype keeps popping up: it sells. In its first week alone, “Onyx Storm” sold nearly 3 million copies, making it best-selling adult novel in 20 years. And with that much money on the table, it's safe to say the shadow daddies won't be going away anytime soon.