The Depressive Demon Nightmare Boy: 2021's Hottest Relationship Trend

Perhaps, over the course of the last year, you have looked at an image of a smiling, glowing, beautiful woman and noticed that behind her lurked a man who seemed mere moments from an untimely death. Behind his eyes was a dead stare, his skin near translucent, tattered band t-shirt hanging from his gaunt frame. 

The unlikely coupling of A-List ladies and grungy men has taken off and the trend shows no signs of slowing down, not with Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's wedding on the horizon. These men are sometimes referred to as "Manic Pixie Dream Boyfriends"—a gender-swapped reference to the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope that is defined by a quirky young lady sweeping into the life of a sad, emotionally immature man to show him that better days are ahead—but we prefer the term "Depressive Demon Nightmare Boys," or DDNBs for short, as the Internet has coined them.

Unlike the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, the DDNB is a slightly tortured but generally affable man that enters the life of a strong-willed, successful woman and becomes a welcome reprieve from traditionally masculine jerks who attempt to steal her shine. Pete Davidson could be credited with beginning this movement. While he's know linked to Kim Kardashian, it all started when he famously became engaged to Ariana Grande in 2018 and in doing so, Grande signaled to women of her caliber everywhere that it was time to start looking at men like the accessories they truly are. 

Decades prior, Cher uttered the now-infamous words, "Mom, I am a rich man," during a 1996 interview, making clear her intention to remain the breadwinner and matriarch of her home. Megan Fox, bombshell of the 2000s, is now telling everyone that her and rapper Machine Gun Kelly are having sex "that would make Lucifer clutch his rosary." How wonderful for her.

Some may ask how these men are landing these women. Well, the DDNB is pretty, trendy, simple, and complements her lifestyle. One could also ask, "Why do rich women want Birkin bags?" The answer seems obvious. 

But why the punk man at this moment? There is a resurgence of all things Y2K right now, including the early 2000s pop-punk movement. Travis Barker and Machine Gun Kelly are riding that wave in their own careers, most recently with Kelly's number one album Tickets To My Downfall. Even before Y2K mania reached its peak, the e-boy/e-girl was a dominating presence across social media, donning a look heavily inspired by their emo predecessors. 

The DDNBs, with their pink, sparkly getups and beaded necklaces, also eschew aspects of toxic masculinity that become tedious after only a few years of marriage. Kourtney Kardashian is happily ignoring her ex Scott Disick's meanspirited callouts and string of barely-legal girlfriends. Instead, she is getting spoiled by her new beau on trips to Italy. Her sister, Kim Kardashian, has traded navigating ex-husband Kanye West's presidential bids for rollercoasters with Pete Davidson, whose greatest ambition seems to be eating Chinese takeout at home while riding a pleasant high. 

Once girls reach a certain age, becoming "the rockstar's girlfriend" replaces the dream of being a princess or ballerina for many. It's great that these women have achieved such a status, with all its backstage passes and drunken flash photography, especially if the heightened exposure for Fox increases our chances of receiving another queer slasher film.