When Will Sharpe’s character Felix showed up in Too Much, something shifted in the universe. Sporting a black leather coat, shaggy pitch-black hair, and a sardonic deadpan wit, the London emo rocker perfectly exemplified a cultural shift in what makes an ideal guy. Cool and collected, he wasn’t into grand displays of puppylike devotion, but his detached exterior masked a deeply emotional side underneath. And Felix isn’t the only heartthrob making the Internet swoon over mysterious and troubled hotties this year — proving that the era of black cat boyfriends is officially in full effect.
From his first meeting with Jess outside a dive bar in London, Felix provided the understated reassurance that kept her grounded. But his love wasn’t easy; he pushed her away in an effort to protect her as the dark and painful parts of his past began to surface. By working through all these obstacles, Felix and Jess develop a much deeper connection than an untested, surface-level love.
While he may have fans thirsting over him now, Felix is a total 180 from the type of partner that has been loudly idealized over the past few years. Golden retriever boyfriends have been put on a pedestal thanks to TikTok trends, fandom ships, and Taylor Swift’s romance with Travis Kelce. These are the lover boys who endlessly dote on their girlfriends, whose tongues roll out of their mouths whenever she dresses up for date night, whose tails start wagging whenever she’s nearby. But, as Felix and several other black cat boyfriends are demonstrating, these charming characteristics may not go any deeper than that outer layer of golden fur.
Look no further than The Summer I Turned Pretty, which puts a black cat boyfriend and a golden retriever boyfriend side by side. Fans have watched Belly go back and forth between the brooding Conrad and his party boy brother Jeremiah for two seasons now. While there have been hints that the show might alter the books’ ending, most fans are excitedly tuning into the final season to witness Belly and Conrad profess their love for one another after years of push and pull.
For TSITP devotees, Conrad has always represented a deep and undeniable soulmate for Belly, whom she can’t help but think about even if he has distanced himself from her. Jeremiah, on the other hand, is an easy person for her to love — but should love be easy? In the real world, maybe it can be. But in the realm of romantic fantasy, there’s one word that sums up why the black cat boys will always edge out the competition: yearning. Nobody does it like them.
It’s the very fact that Felix and Conrad can’t effortlessly give themselves over to a relationship that makes each act of service a million times more meaningful, each subtle grin more heartwarming than a full-toothed smile, each stolen glance charged with overwhelming electricity. You can see how hard the black cat boy is trying; it’s not easy or natural for him to always be the snuggly, carefree companion, which makes it truly special when he is.
Another black cat boyfriend of the moment who practically invented romantic longing is curmudgeonly chef Carmy from The Bear. Ever since Season 1, fans have feverishly shipped him with inventive newbie Sydney. It’s impossible not to see the bond that has deepened past the point of a mere friendship between the two cooks, which has extra heat because of Carmy’s black cat tendencies to push people away when his trauma resurfaces.
Little by little, Carmy begins letting Sydney into his world, and this rocky but deliberate progression has injected mundane-seeming moments with deeply intimate yearning. (Season 2’s infamous table scene is the prime example.) It’s because Carmy isn’t constantly showering Syd with compliments that when he tells her her scallops are “better than perfect” in Season 4, she knows he really is in awe of her. Sure, it’s nice to hear how great you are all the time — but wouldn’t one well-thought-out, specific piece of praise from a black cat boyfriend be worth tens of similar-sounding yaps from a golden retriever?
No one knows this better than Ginny from Ginny & Georgia, who falls for black-clad recluse Marcus and simply cannot move on from him, even after they’ve broken up. In the latest season, Marcus’ depression drives a wedge between himself and Ginny, but also allows the former couple to open up new, deeply personal sides of themselves to one another. It’s a fractured relationship that allows them to reveal more than they ever could before — and it goes without saying they’ll have more romantic tension in Season 4.
Contemplative sadboys are having their moment in 2025, but it’s impossible to talk about black cat boyfriends without acknowledging the leather-jacketed forefathers that paved the way. Jess from Gilmore Girls is the patron saint of these brooding lovers, but there was also Angel from Buffy, Chuck from Gossip Girl, Jughead from Riverdale, and so many other misunderstood “bad boys” who just wanted a deeper connection. Now they’re back in our lives, proving that yearning never gets old (especially when it has a hot and mysterious exterior). Sure, golden retrievers may have brought the feel-good energy over the last few years, but when every day is sunny, a little black cat edginess is a much-needed thrill.
