A popular trope for male love interests within the romance-fantasy (romantasy) book genre. It is a common phrase found on BookTok.
A Shadow Daddy often has the following characteristics: 1) tall, dark, and handsome, 2) a tortured and traumatic past, 3) a “tough guy” exterior that terrifies most people (with the exception of the female interest usually), and 4) the ability to wield some type of shadow/darkness/night magical power.
A “Shadow Daddy” often begins a story as a misunderstood character that initially comes off as cocky or intense, and the female love interest usually dislikes him at first. But eventually the Shadow Daddy’s true personality ends up shining through — honorable, selfless, kind, protective, a willingness to be seen as a villain for the greater good, and LOYAL to a fault — and through this he eventually wins over the female love interest. Bonus points if he ends up worshipping the ground the female love interest walks on.
He’s almost always dominant in the bedroom, but never so dominant that he disregards the female main character’s agency. Extra bonus points if he uses his shadow powers in the bedroom as bondage, or he loses control over his shadow powers when he climaxes.
Some popular examples of characters that embody the “Shadow Daddy” trope:
Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses
Azriel from A Court of Thorns and Roses
Dorian Havilliard from Throne of Glass
Xaden Riorson from Fourth Wing
Nyktos from Flesh and Fire
A Shadow Daddy often has the following characteristics: 1) tall, dark, and handsome, 2) a tortured and traumatic past, 3) a “tough guy” exterior that terrifies most people (with the exception of the female interest usually), and 4) the ability to wield some type of shadow/darkness/night magical power.
A “Shadow Daddy” often begins a story as a misunderstood character that initially comes off as cocky or intense, and the female love interest usually dislikes him at first. But eventually the Shadow Daddy’s true personality ends up shining through — honorable, selfless, kind, protective, a willingness to be seen as a villain for the greater good, and LOYAL to a fault — and through this he eventually wins over the female love interest. Bonus points if he ends up worshipping the ground the female love interest walks on.
He’s almost always dominant in the bedroom, but never so dominant that he disregards the female main character’s agency. Extra bonus points if he uses his shadow powers in the bedroom as bondage, or he loses control over his shadow powers when he climaxes.
Some popular examples of characters that embody the “Shadow Daddy” trope:
Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses
Azriel from A Court of Thorns and Roses
Dorian Havilliard from Throne of Glass
Xaden Riorson from Fourth Wing
Nyktos from Flesh and Fire
My favorite Shadow Daddy is Rhysand from ACOTAR. Instead of hiding the darkness that exists inside of him, Rhys weilds it as a weapon for the greater good. He’s also handsome, devoted to Feyre, and good in bed. He’s my Shadow Daddy.
by Booktokkie August 7, 2024
Get the Shadow Daddymug. 
A person with dark hair (usually brown or black) and a face full of freckles. They are like the mysterious, night-dwelling cousin of the classic ginger — still rocking the freckles but with a darker, cooler twist. Often mistaken for vampires who got a bit too much sun.
Whoa, I thought gingers were rare, but then I met a Shadow Ginger — like if Batman and a ginger had a freckle-covered love child.
by A.Wo September 18, 2024
Get the shadow gingermug. by ShadowPlemenc February 20, 2021
Get the Shadowmug. 1. A hero plant in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes which is your starting hero as the Plants, and has many powerful abilities such as Precision Blast and Big Chill. She is in the Mega-Grow & Smarty class in PvZH.
2. An upgrade plant in Plants vs. Bloons for the Peashooter which heavily upgrades the damage, pierce and attack speed so as the Ability of the Peashooter to deal extreme bloon damage.
2. An upgrade plant in Plants vs. Bloons for the Peashooter which heavily upgrades the damage, pierce and attack speed so as the Ability of the Peashooter to deal extreme bloon damage.
"I really think that Green Shadow is a decrnt starter hero for everyone since you can make some plays with your abilities and your power plants."
by Otheruser325 January 21, 2023
Get the Green Shadowmug. “I've come to make an announcement: Shadow the Hedgehog's a bitch-ass motherfucker. He pissed on my fucking wife. That's right. He took his hedgehog fuckin' quilly dick out and he pissed on my FUCKING wife, and he said his dick was THIS BIG, and I said that's disgusting. So I'm making a callout post on my Twitter.com. Shadow the Hedgehog, you got a small dick. It's the size of this walnut except WAY smaller. And guess what? Here's what my dong looks like. That's right, baby. Tall points, no quills, no pillows, look at that, it looks like two balls and a bong. He fucked my wife, so guess what, I'm gonna fuck the earth. That's right, this is what you get! My SUPER LASER PISS! Except I'm not gonna piss on the earth. I'm gonna go higher. I'm pissing on the MOOOON! How do you like that, OBAMA? I PISSED ON THE MOON, YOU IDIOT! You have twenty-three hours before the piss DROPLETS hit the fucking earth, now get out of my fucking sight before I piss on you too!”
by Not_eggman September 13, 2023
Get the Shadow the Hedgehogmug. by Gubbe August 25, 2020
Get the Shadow Realmmug.