History Main / AdaptationalHeroism

** Franchise/{{Godzilla}} in ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' was portrayed in a similar manner to the original Godzilla of ''Film/{{Gojira}}'', a TragicMonster lashing out because of his mutation. The ride uses the Godzilla from ''Shin'', but portrays him in a manner similar to the later Showa and Franchise/MonsterVerse incarnations as his fight with Shinji, Rei, and Asuka is the result of Godzilla [[spoiler:coming on land to head off King Ghidorah]] and surprising NERV in the process.

** AdaptationalHeroism/TheDCU
** AdaptationalHeroism/MarvelUniverse

[[caption-width-right:350:Poison Ivy: From heartless and vindictive eco-terrorist to friendly and well-meaning activist.]]

A subtrope of AdaptationPersonalityChange. Compare AdaptationalNiceGuy and AdaptationalSympathy (with which this trope can overlap), HistoricalHeroUpgrade (when this is done to a historical person in a work), DracoInLeatherPants (when fandom does this to a canon villain), RousseauWasRight (for when the story is LighterAndSofter [[ReverseCerebusSyndrome compared to its original incarnation]]), and EverybodyLovesZeus (when this is done with gods associated with light and the heavens). Contrast AdaptationalVillainy.

[[caption-width-right:350:ComicBook/PoisonIvy: From heartless and vindictive eco-terrorist to friendly and well-meaning activist.]]

* ''Literature/CthulhuArmageddon'': Joseph Curwen was a CompleteMonster and never showed any redeeming qualities in ''Literature/TheCaseOfCharlesDexterWard'' while Alan Ward (his reincarnation) is a WellIntentionedExtremist.

** In Greek mythology, Ares was always the spirit of bloodlust and is portrayed as a vicious brute, primarily a destructive and destabilizing force. The Romans' Mars began as a god of agriculture, and even as a {{war god}} he was seen as defender of the land, a paternal figure who fights first and foremost to secure peace.

** Hades often gets this treatment in modern media due to the fact that he only abducted and raped ''one'' person, compared to either of his brothers.

** The story of [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Frankenstein and his Monster]] (introduced in ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'') was much more {{Black and White|Morality}} than what the novel portrayed. Originally created to be the [[GenderFlip "Eve"]] to the Original Human race, the Creature was a genuine success and had a childlike innocence, though not without her anger issues; a far cry from her scheming, embittered literary counterpart. Frankenstein on the other hand was turned into a [[AdaptationalVillainy pettier man]] who still broke his promise to create a partner for her even though she never [[spoiler:killed several of his family]] like in the book, to the point she goes berserk just thinking about him. In fact, all the more unsavory bits were [[DirectLineToTheAuthor written up by Mary Shelley]] when Frankenstein commissioned her.

** Saturn/Cronus is one notable example. In Roman mythology, Saturn ruled in a golden age and was still worshiped as a patron of agriculture, even sacaping to Rome after his overthrow by Jupiter to continue his golden age. Greek mythology, on the other hand? Cronus ''EatsBabies''.

A subtrope of AdaptationPersonalityChange. Compare AdaptationalNiceGuy and AdaptationalSympathy (with which this trope can overlap), HistoricalHeroUpgrade (when this is done to a historical person in a work), DracoInLeatherPants (when fandom does this to a canon villain), and EverybodyLovesZeus (when this is done with gods associated with light and the heavens). Contrast AdaptationalVillainy.

[[caption-width-right:350:ComicBook/PoisonIvy: From heartless eco-terrorist to awkward activist.]]

-->-- ''{{Website/Cracked}}'', [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-movies-that-got-source-materials-point-exactly-wrong/#ixzz30P6hR45A "4 Movies That Got the Source Material's Point Exactly Wrong,"]] about the ''Film/MenInBlack'' movie and the ''ComicBook/MenInBlack'' comicbook

[[caption-width-right:350:ComicBook/PoisonIvy: From sexy eco-terrorist to awkward activist.]]

* ''Machinima/DarkSecretsOfGarrysMod'': [[Videogame/HalfLife1 G-Man]] is AmbiguouslyEvil with [[BlueAndOrangeMorality varying degrees of morality]] in his source material. In this series however, he has the innocence of an immature child.

* In ''Machinima/MinecraftDiaries'', Zane is a CardCarryingVillain with zero redeeming qualities. In the more lighthearted spin-off ''Machinima/MyStreet'', he starts off antagonistic but ends up undergoing a HeelFaceTurn; now he's a loyal friend of Aphmau and an AntiHero on his worst days.

* ''Machinima/ZsdavAdventures'': [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Maul]] appears as the [[Literature/AChristmasCarol ghost of Christmas present]] to teach Zsdav the true meaning of Christmas in ''[[YetAnotherChristmasCarol Karácsonyi külön kiadás]]'' (''Christmas special'').

** In Greek mythology, Ares was always the spirit of bloodlust and is portrayed as a vicious brute, primarily a destructive and destabilizing force. The Romans' Mars began as a god of agriculture, and as a war god he was seen as defender of the land, a paternal figure who fights first and foremost to secure peace.

* ''Theatre/LesMiserables'': Like in its film adaptation (see above), Eponine is considerably more sympathetic (and saner) than she is in the original novel.

** Here, Ramses actually demurs from attacking the Hebrews at the Red Sea. Hotep, on the other hand...

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': In ''Literature/{{Wintersmith}}'', the Summer Lady is callous and uncaring, and it's made very clear that eternal summer would have been just as bad as eternal winter; it's just not what happened. The song "The Summer Lady" in the Music/SteeleyeSpan ConceptAlbum ''Wintersmith'' is about how wonderful she is for ending the cold. (Although the earlier "Fire and Ice" correctly portrays both the Summer Lady and the Wintersmith as neither good nor evil, just balanced.)

* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' due [[HypotheticalFightDebate the nature of the show]], usually has the [[AdaptationalVillainy inverse]] of this with perfectly heroic and nice characters willingly to kill their opponents over minor disputes or for no reason at all, but ''[[Recap/DEATHBATTLES02E21IronManVSLexLuthor Iron Man Vs Lex Luthor]]'' has this in regard to Tony. His line ''"Being a god can't be that hard. I'm the most intelligent, capable person on the planet. I'm not playing god. All this time... I've been playing human"'' comes from ''ComicBook/SuperiorIronMan'' where Tony being a VillainProtagonist says it to Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} after curing his blindness without consent, showing how megolomania has gotten to him. In the context of the good vs evil Death Battle however, Tony says it during a HeroicSecondWind after SmugSnake Lex (thinking he's beaten Iron Man) [[EvilGloating gloats]] that ''he's'' the only human worthy of [[AGodIAm playing god]], the ''"I'm not playing god. All this time... I've been playing human"'' line instead comes off as a heroic ShutUpHannibal putting Luthor in his place.

* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' due [[HypotheticalFightDebate the nature of the show]], usually has the [[AdaptationalVillainy inverse]] of this with perfectly heroic and nice characters willingly to kill their opponents over minor disputes or for no reason at all, but ''[[Recap/DEATHBATTLES02E21IronManVSLexLuthor Iron Man Vs Lex Luthor]]'' has this in regard to Tony. His line ''"Being a god can't be that hard. I'm the most intelligent, capable person on the planet. I'm not playing god. All this time... I've been playing human"'' comes from ''ComicBook/SuperiorIronMan'' where Tony being a VillainProtagonist says it to Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} after curing his blindness with consent, showing how megolomania has gotten to him. In the context of the good vs evil Death Battle however, Tony says it during a HeroicSecondWind after SmugSnake Lex (thinking he's beaten Iron Man) [[EvilGloating gloats]] that ''he's'' the only human worthy of [[AGodIAm playing god]], the ''"I'm not playing god. All this time... I've been playing human"'' line instead comes off as a heroic ShutUpHannibal putting Luthor in his place.