Let’s take a real guy who’s a real ‘bad boy.’ He’s muscular, wears ‘bad boy fashion,’ drives a sports car and a motorcycle, is arrogant, sarcastic, and an asshole to his friends, family, and kids, and very clearly doesn’t love or even like his friends or girlfriend. Is it true he’s more likable than a ‘nice guy’?
I have to suspect that these guys have a little more depth than you give them credit for.
If they were assholes to everybody all the time, nobody would like them, so in order for this bad boy to be popular, there must be something that all these other people find appealing.
There could be another side to them that you haven’t seen because they only show it to certain people.