These novels focuses on world building, fighting enemies, bonds, families, kingdom building, hierarchy, adventure and action and a little bit of romance.

I really wanted to create a list with novels in which the main character plays some kind of acting role and pretends to be a different person, and also novels with MC, which are misunderstood or all of the above together.
I will sort the novels according to these criteria:... more>>

First novels (#1-10) – MC is female. Then (#11-20) MC is male. <<less

Novels I've read and re-read countless times. I like HE but this also contains novels with tragedy tag and BE.  ... more>>

Note: Only the first five are added in order of my favorites, the rests are added as I read them.  <<less

Novels that I’ve read and enjoyed, exclusively for brain dead readers. I read without using my brain so take it with a grain of salt.... more>>

[Open to recommendations]

(Not in order; Possible yaoi and shounen ai warning)

Continued:  https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/49132/ <<less

My personal list for this niche genre of novels - will be adding as I read. Charisma and leadership do not come easy, but they sure as hell come naturally for these protagonists. Charismatic MCs with significant focus on character and ability growth, kingdom / army / career development & management, and/or wholesome friendships / brotherhood. Romance (if any) will only be subplots, not the main focus. I've put short descriptions and summaries of every novel, plus my thoughts on them.... more>>

Arranged from best > worst > boring reading experience. I change my ratings often. Feel free to recommend more or point out any mistakes in my sorting of this list. Cheers!

*[CC] - Collecting Companions, aka collecting and raising loyal companions. Brotherhood, friendship, blablabla. [CC] focuses more on picking up and raising companions without necessarily having to develop a full kingdom/empire.

*[KB] - Kingdom Building. I'll use this abbreviation as a general umbrella term for anything to do with (insert noun)-building and management. [KB] by association would also include raising the people in that empire/kingdom, but the novels focus more on the development/management part. <<less

These are my favorite BL novels.... more>>

I love them so much.
(Numbers-for convenience, not for ranking)

◆Best couple : 

1.Lan Zhan-Wei Ying
2. Hua Cheng-Xie Lian
3. Fu Shen- Yan Xiaohan (Golden Stage)
4. Zhao Yunlan-Shen Wei (Guardian)
5. Lin JingHeng -Lu Bixing (Imperfections)
6. Xi Ze-Ming yu (Rebirth of a supermodel)

◆ Great Chemistry

1. Lan zhan-Wei Ying
2. Fu Shen- Yan Xiaohan (Golden Stage)
3. Xi Ze-Ming yu (Rebirth of a supermodel)

◆ Best Boyfriend

1. Lan Zhan
2. Yuan Zong (Advance Bravely)
3. Tsuzuki Ushio (Yes, No, or Maybe Half?)

◆ Cutest kid: Kid from Rebirth of a Movie Star; Pastel Colours

◆ Gentleman Boyfriend: I have made a separate list for them.

◆ Novel Couple who taught me that communication is key : Rebirth of The Golden Marriage 

◆ Best Side Characters : 

1. Record of the missing sect master
2. Mr. Melancholy wants to live a peaceful life

◆ Most handsome MC and ML :

1. Lan Zhan (ML)
2. MC, Record of the missing sect master
3. Ling Xiao (ML, The Legendary Master's Wife)
4. Ming Yu (MC, Rebirth of a supermodel)
5. MC of Tattoo

◆ Cutest ML: Qi Feng (The daily life of being the campus idol's fake boyfriend)

◆ Cutest MC : 

1.Xie Lian (Heaven official's blessing)
2.Lu Bixing (Imperfections)
3. MC (Worship me, I can make you rich)

◆ Hot Couple :

1. Are you addicted?
2. Rebirth of a supermodel

◆ Smartest MC : 

1. Guardian
2. Record of the missing sect master <<less

Essentially, either a weak or strong protagonist has subordinates or people who are all very loyal and protective/possessive of him. Most of them are stronger than the MC. There are mainly male protagonists, but female protagonists are included.... more>>

HAREM OR ROMANCE-FOCUSED ARE INCLUDED! I will write comments of how slow or fast the pacing the romance of each novel is. For explicit novels, please check the tags yourself.

This list is part of the other list I made; https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/30627/ <<less

A list with characters who are fond of plotting against their enemies, are uncovering great schemes and/or of characters who are caught in the schemes of their enemies. ... more>>

Stories with big schemes that will make your mind blow and your head dizzy.

Top 17 are some of the most scheming protagonists imo, only the first three are ranked according to whom I belive are the most schemming of all, the other ones were hard to decide qwq, though they are more or less ranked too. Those guys are really cunning...

The ones more at the bottom are, either not soooo schemming or not really schemming at all, they were caught in other people's schemes and conspiracies, don't know if it would be convinient to point them out to differenciate. <<less

It's a list where the MC is the strongest in the world... more>>

He may be evil or friendly, he may have OP subordinate or not, he may conquer the world or hide his strengt, he may be male or female.

For each novel, I will describe a few things about the MC

I may spoil a bit, be aware <<less

Novels that are in this list mainly have to do with some sort of territory management or kingdom building. The BL romance in these novels might be a subplot or play a bigger role in the story. If I find some novels that have these things outside of NU I will include them here.... more>>

Rankings ;

Active ; Novels that are featured in this list, are still being updated regularly 

Hiatus ; The group that's translating a novel puts it on hold for awhile

Inactive ; If a novel hasn't been updated for more than two months, It'll be labeled as Inactive but I'll still keep it within the list. <<less

Surrounded by loyal protective companions? Good stuff. Platonic harem and bonds? Heck yeah. MC smartly planning ahead and sometimes humorously misunderstood?  Dig it. Bromance? YES!... more>>

This is my jam~ ✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧

I like stories where the MC is loved and cherished by his people (but not romantically, not into harem).Though I still ship MC with other characters sometimes (〃'▽'〃). 

Some are more of a slice-of-life, with little actions, but more focusing on the deep bonds of the main characters.  I only put series that I've actually read, with my little comments on it, I'm definitely up to recommendations for similar trope.  

Top best three asides, the rest are in no particular order. Enjoy! <<less

For novels that look like BL but aren't actually. Also for fun.
~
So the real reason I made this is because I thought it was quite interesting how many BL shippers there are for no-romance and minimal-romance novels I've collected in my other lists. As you can imagine, most of these are novels that prominently feature male characters and their relationships with one another.... more>>

Although I do read BL, I'm not much of a shipper myself, so most of the stuff on here is here because there really are people out there shipping the MC with one of the male characters that's not canonically a love interest. Yes, I confirm these ships by searching for fanarts, fanfics, and forum articles asking if it's BL. Think of it as my weird hobby.
~

I'm not going to rate or review the novels here. It's more of a compilation than a rec list. Note that I haven't read many of these, and that it is in no particular order.

There has to be an uncommon degree of fujobait going on. I'm not going to add just any series where male characters have a significant friendship. Although series with exceptionally thirsty fandoms will leak into this list anyways since, like I said, I'm not actually reading some of these. I will occasionally ramble in the description.

I'm well aware that there are plenty of other similar lists out there, so I'll link them below as I find them.
(insert after the "viewlist/" in the URL): 30062, 1733, 64324 <<less

A list of every novel where the main character lead a powerful secret organization.... more>>

The MC is OP and the subordinates aswell.The organization may be evil or friendly, but it's always quite hidden and secretive.

Don't hesitate to give your opinion about my list or to ask me to make another list with another theme :D

Also, tell me if you know any other similar novel that I forgot or didn't know about it (I would love to read it aswell :P) <<less

This List will include the novels that I have enjoyed throughout the years. It includes Japanese, Chinese and Korean.... more>>

Before I start, I will give a brief description of what I think is a good novel. Due to these reasons a lot of "popular" and "famous" novels may not be included in the list.

1. No Dense Protagonist. He has to have a brain and a sense of awareness.

2. Good plot and storyline. There can be plot holes but it should not be overpowering.

3. Good character development. Important characters should not be forgotten.

4. Decent romance. It can be harem, but the female protagonists should be more than just Dolls that the MC have collected.

5. It can even be ero, as long as it clears the above mentioned criterias.

6. Most important of all, the novel has to keep me interested till the end. <<less

the ones w/o a rating are ones i haven't read yet 
(not in any order) will update regularly 

what it says on the tin. ... more>>

personal thoughts do not correspond with the ranking. 

feel free to recommend other similar novels as well!  <<less

↷ ·˚ ༘ s e t t i n g : historical / ancient times .°୭ ˎˊ˗↷... more>>

male empress, concubine, wife, wangfei, consort <<less

Follow the link for Part 1 of this list.... more>>

https://www.novelupdates.com/viewlist/32294/?ft=yes

*please recommended more like this to me. SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME AND WANTED!*

Korean Novels about men who have either reincarnated, got a second chance, transmigrated, or woke up in another body; into noble sons, side-characters, villains, or extras. They sometimes have animal companions, and definitely have loyal followers.  <<less

Essentially, either a weak or strong protagonist has subordinates or people who are all very loyal and protective/possessive of him. Most of them are stronger than the MC. There are mainly male protagonists, but female protagonists are included.... more>>

NO HAREM OR ROMANCE-FOCUSED NOVELS! Contains mainly friendship or comradeship-focused Novels.

Other Novels/Mangas that can't be found on novelupdates: Eleceed (Manhwa), How to Survive as a Terminally-Ill Dragon (Manhwa) <<less

No description.

It's a list of all my favourite Korean novels with male protagonist that I'm recommending you for reading . So I hope you like it!!! 

Vomiting blood? Overworking yourself? Self injury? Always choosing the self sacrificial route as plan A? Misunderstanding? Of course.... more>>

Anyways, here's a compilation.

PS: Self sacrifice that I mean in this list doesn't necessary mean it's for other people. Can be MC just constantly putting themselves at risk. <<less

I'm gonna sort this list from gaeey-est to straight-est/ "brotherhood" level lol (except of course those novels which I haven't read yet, just recommended by many . I will just put them on the bottom, in accordance with their NU ratings) - you may also recommend some below if I ever missed one or anything. This is all for our quest on finding these types of novels anyway lmao.... more>>

.

EDIT: On second thought, I won't put the ships anymore cuz some readers may put off reading it because they're spoiled as to who to focus on or that they're already suggested as to which relationships between 'bros' to invest on so yeaahh~~ Just gonna put some of my thoughts and its synopsis instead.  <<less

Heya , I'm here with Harem Chinese Bl background, Check it out . If you interested, don't forget to check my other list＼(^o^)／

Romance is not really my cup of tea, but I love me some good ol bromance. That's it.... more>>

All of these are just *chef's kiss* but I'm too lazy to write a review, so just try it for yourself.

It's mostly action-fantasy genre with no romance (i think).

Enjoy~ <<less