History Main / AdaptationalHeroism

* In ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' Hammond was a typical Jerkass with plenty of NeverMyFault moments and he suffers a KarmicDeath. His movie incarnation is a relatively decent man and gets to survive too.
* ''ResidentEvilApocalypse'' turns game villain Nicholai Ginovaef into a good guy.
* The ''Tekken'' film changes Heihachi Mishima from a CorruptCorporateExecutive to a much more sympathetic character who is revealed [[spoiler: to have saved Jun Kazama from Kazuya]].

* The film version of ''{{Kick-Ass}}'' makes both Big Daddy and Red Mist much more sympathetic than in the original comic. Film Big Daddy is profoudly messed up but very much a TragicHero (as against the liar who is a vigilante [[JustforPun for kicks]] he is in the source material). The film version of Red Mist strips him of his DirtyCoward personality from the comic and plays up [[LonelyRichKid his lonelieness]].

* The original story of ''{{The Scarlet Pimpernel}}'' has Marguarite send the Marquis to his death in revenge for his attack on her brother; the 1982 film adaption has her innocent of this crime, framed by Chauvelin instead (for whom this trope is {{AdaptationalVillainy inverted}}).

* One of the specialties of ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' was lending depth to villain whose comics incarnations were essentially doing things ForTheEvulz. The Mad Hatter has no backstory in the comics, but was introduced in the series as a victim of LoveMakesYouEvil; minor gimmick crook Mister Freeze's sympathetic reimagining was so successful it was later [[CanonImmigrant imported into the comics]], albeit with DarkerAndEdgier elements.

* In ''GameOfThrones'' Jaime's sister Cersai was outright evil in the books but is an AntiVillain in the series.

** The most notable is [[TheArcher Artemis Crock]], who, in the comics, is the child of [[UnholyMatrimony Paula and Lawrence Crock]], all three being unrepentant supervillains. In the show Artemis is ashamed of her criminal lineage and Paula does a HeelFaceTurn after [[WheelchairWoobie being crippled]] and spending six years in prison. [[DarkActionGirl Cheshire]], who is Artemis' sister on the show (but not the comics), is introduced as a villain but [[CharacterDevelopment evolves]] into an AntiVillain or AntiHero by season two. In the comics she once nuked an entire country and is often ([[DependingOnTheWriter but not always]]) portrayed as a CompleteMonster.

** The most notable is [[TheArcher Artemis Crock]], who, in the comics, is the child of [[UnholyMatrimony Paula and Lawrence Crock]], all three being unrepentant supervillains. In the show Artemis is ashamed of her criminal lineage and Paula does a HeelFaceTurn after [[WheelchairWoobie being crippled]] and spending six years in prison. [[DarkActionGirl Cheshire]], who is Artemis' sister on the show (but not the comics), is introduced as a villain but [[CharacterDevelopment evolves]] into an AntiVillain or AntiHero by season two.

** The tie-in comic does this both to [[ManiacMonkeys Gorilla Grodd]] and [[AuthorityEqualsAssKicking King Sha'ark]]. Both are borderline TokenEvilTeammates for their respective groups but are set up as adversaries of greater villains.

* WesternAnimation/YoungJustice: Has this trope and AdaptationalVillainy. Cheshire, who in the comics killed a country, has several Antiheroic tendencies, Neutron, a PsychoForHire, is really just a guy who was brainwashed and became [[TheAtoner in the bad future he created]]. In the Tie-In comics, Gorilla Grodd of all people falls under this trope, being a primate who was forcibly mutated, and wants to save his family.

* YoungJustice: Has this trope and AdaptationalVillainy. Cheshire, who in the comics killed a country, has several Antiheroic tendencies, Neutron, a PsychoForHire, is really just a guy who was brainwashed and became [[TheAtoner in the bad future he created]]. In the Tie-In comics, Gorilla Grodd of all people falls under this trope, being a primate who was forcibly mutated, and wants to save his family.

* The Disney villain {{Pete}} had his evilness dramatically toned down in ''GoofTroop'', going from sadistic bully and (usually) criminal to a grumpy JerkWithAHeartOfGold neighbour.

* {{Garfield}}, while remaining largely the same character in all medias, is hit with this to some extent. The comic strips usually revolve around quick gags involving Garfield's snarkiness or cruel sense of humor. The {{Animated Adaptation}}s however, likely due to their longer more depthful stories, keep most of Garfield's nastier qualities but also more frequently show his redeeming side, leaning him more into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. This is especially prominant in ''TheGarfieldShow'' where he is occasionally toned down to the point of being outright altrustic.

* In the anime version of ''[[YuGiOh Yu-Gi-Oh]]'', Yugi's SuperpoweredAlterEgo is generally played as a noble hero; in the original manga, especially early on, he's somewhere between a Heroic Sociopath and a barely-controllable SuperpoweredEvilSide.

* In the second of the SamRaimi ''Spider-Man'' films, Doctor Octopus is rewritten a good man turned into a monster by an accident, and he earns redemption in the films' climax. The Green Goblin is less sympathetic, but gets a [[spoiler: dying]] moment of decency that would be utterly foreign to the comic-book version of NormanOsborn.

* The 1990s ''Spider-Man'' animated series actually rewrote Kraven the Hunter and Calypso entirely, with both becoming ''heroes'' once Spider-Man resolved the issues with their PsychoSerum-derived powers. Similarly, minor villain the Spot was recast as a PunchClockVillain whose episode shows him going through a HeelFaceTurn after committing a few ill-advised bank robberies. The comics version, by contrast, is an unrepentant petty criminal with a sideline in contract killing.

Here's the flip side to AdaptationalVillainy. While some adaptations make a character TookALevelInJerkass, this is the opposite. A character is villainous or just not very nice in their original medium, but when the time comes for the adaptation, things change. Perhaps many insignificant scenes that establish their Jerkass nature are cut? Perhaps they are a CompositeCharacter with someone who was nice in the original? Perhaps the original suffers from ValuesDissonance and a cookie cutter villain back then comes across as an AntiVillain or a JerkassWoobie? Another common route is to expand the character's backstory, giving them HiddenDepths and CharacterDevelopment. Contrast AdaptationalVillainy and compare Villain Decay.

* Happens inadvertently to Narcissa Malfoy in the ''HarryPotter'' film adaptations. The films keep her worrying for her son's life and [[spoiler: betraying Voldemort]] at the end but leave out scenes showing her haughty racism and general RichBitch attitude before her HeelFaceTurn.

* The 1991 remake of ''TheNightOfTheHunter'' has the kids' father murdered in his cell by the BigBad rather than hanged for a bank robbery gone wrong, making it possible said robbery that it didn't go as wrong as in the original book and movie.

* The 1991 remake of ''TheNightOfTheHunter'' has the kids' parent murdered in his cell rather than hanged for a bank robbery gone wrong, making it possible said robbery that it didn't go as wrong as in the original book and movie.

* Judah Ben Hur from ''Film/BenHur''. In the novel, the plot is kicked off when Judah accidentally knocks a roof tile on the head of a Roman centurion and gets arrested. In the movie, Judah's sister is the one who dislodges the roof tile, but Judah deliberately takes the blame in an attempt to spare his sister. In the novel, when Judah is on a sinking slave ship, and finds himself unchained, he gets the hell off the ship. In the movie, Judah takes the opportunity to punch out a guard, steal his keys, and free all the other slaves on the ship, before escaping himself.

* In ''JurassicPark'' Hammond was a typical Jerkass with plenty of NeverMyFault moments and he suffers a KarmicDeath. His movie incarnation is a relatively decent man and gets to survive too.

* In the film version of ''TheGrinchWhoStoleChristmas'', the title character gets a sympathetic backstory for his hatred of Christmas thanks to the feature-length film needing to indulge in a lot of AdaptationExpansion. Interestingly, his sympathetic backstory results in a bit of AdaptationalVillainy on the part of the Whos of Whoville.

* In the anime version of ''[[YuGiOh Yu-Gi-Oh]]'', Yugi's AlterEgo is generally played as a noble hero; in the original manga, especially early on, he's somewhere between a Heroic Sociopath and a barely-controllable SuperpoweredEvilSide.