History Main / CivilianVillain

* Moloch from ''{{Watchmen}}''. Unfortunately for him, Rorschach never forgives a former villain, and even breaks Moloch's finger when he tries to defend himself from Ror's unjustified home invasion.

* Lex Luthor in the Cadmus story arc of ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' does this as part of a XanatosGambit to discredit Superman.

* Dr. Cortex in ''CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack'' pretends to be reformed, so that Crash will collect gems for him so that he can "save the Earth".

** Things went in a bit different order; Sauron was implied to have genuinely regret his decision of siding with Morgoth after the first time he fell, if for no other reason than that it lead to such a humiliating defeat, but was too proud to beg for forgiveness, and soon fell into villainy, once again. The forging of the One Ring took place a millennia later, and at that time Sauron was an all-out villain, forced to disguise himself, and work under a false identity to get the elves trust him for awhile.

* ''102 Dalmatians'': Cruella is let out of custody after being 'reformed'. It turns out she really '''is''' reformed... that is, until she starts seeing spots...

* Parodied by Legendary Frog's "[[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/105053 The Return of Ganondorf]]", in which Ganondorf from ''TheLegendOfZelda'' comes back after his defeat claiming to have stopped being evil. Link doesn't believe him, of course, and keeps trying to spy on him to catch him being evil. In the end, [[spoiler:it turns out he isn't evil after all, Link's just nuts]].

* ''{{SpongebobSquarepants}}'': Plankton pretends he changed in a convoluted charade to get Mr. Krabs's secret formula.

* In ''BatmanBeyond'', Mister Freeze was subjected to this after he was given an honest shot at redemption and a normal life. Few people believed he was willing to change, with the exception of Terry, as a twist (elderly Bruce seems to have witnessed this trope being averted a few too many times to believe in Freeze's reform). Couldn't make good on it though, as the technology used to heal his body...wasn't that good. He was doing fine until [[spoiler:the doctors treating him wanted to [[TheyWouldCutYouUp vivisect him]] to see why the treatment wasn't permanent.]]

----> Sideshow Bob: You can't do this! I saved the children!
----> Cecil: Tell them they'll live to regret this.
----> Sideshow Bob: You'll live to regret this! Oh, thanks a lot, now I look crazy.

** Also, in ''SonicColors'':

* In ''BatmanBeyond'', Mister Freeze was subjected to this after he was given an honest shot at redemption and a normal life. Few people believed he was willing to change, with the exception of Terry, as a twist. Couldn't make good on it though, as the technology used to heal his body...wasn't that good. He was doing fine until [[spoiler:the doctors treating him wanted to [[TheyWouldCutYouUp vivisect him]] to see why the treatment wasn't permanent.]]

* The plot to ''Game/MegaMan 3''. Dr. Wily claims to have reformed, and works with Dr. Light to build a giant "peacekeeping robot" which Megaman has to go out and get the components for. The components, oddly enough, are guarded by 8 robot masters... and once they've gathered them all, Dr. Wily steals the new robot and plots to use it to take over the world, of course.

** Of course this brings up the topic of Morgoth, who was let out from imprisonment and seemed to be an allright guy? Until he destroyed the trees, stole the Silmarils, and murdered Feanor's father.

** The guy used his alter ego to ''make sure'' Casanova got out of the asylum so he could have someone who would provide just enough of a fight, be famous enough to please the sponsors and be smart enough to escape for later battle.[[GenreSavvy He chose a good opponent,]] [[WrongGenreSavvy but apparently]] [[spoiler: [[WrongGenreSavvy this particular foe was just a little]] ''[[WrongGenreSavvy too]] ]]'' [[spoiler: [[WrongGenreSavvy good.]]]]

** This Subverted ''again'' when the the Simpsons find Bob as the Mayor of a small town in Italy who has once again reformed and started a family. It doesn't stick as Lisa accidentally ruins it, and Bob's new family want in on revenge.

An important part of this plot is that everyone else will usually believe the villain right away, it's the heroes who are made to look like fools by their paranoid suspicions. This can veer into ThroughTheEyesOfMadness territory. The villain may set up a situation that looks like he's up to his old tricks, so that the heroes will come barging in to stop his... perfectly lawful activities -- thus [[WoundedGazelleGambit making him look like an innocent victim]] of [[WhatTheHellHero petty harassment]].

* One ''[[{{ptitlet75odacb}} T.U.F.F. Puppy]]'' episode has Snaptrap claim to have reformed, and everyone buys it except Kitty. He even does some good deeds for the city, but Kitty thinks he's up to his old tricks and ruins them, [[WhatTheHellHero turning everyone against her]]. Then Snaptrap reveals he's still evil as he captures everyone in a death trap.

[[folder:Web Originals]]
* Parodied by Legendary Frog's "[[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/105053 The Return of Ganondorf]]", in which Ganondorf from ''TheLegendOfZelda'' comes back after his defeat claiming to have stopped being evil. Link doesn't believe him, of course, and keeps trying to spy on him to catch him being evil. In the end, [[spoiler:it turns out he isn't evil after all, Link's just nuts]].

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* In the comic ''[[BobandGeorge Bob and George]]'', Dr. Wily does this by faking amnesia to become Dr. Light's assistant again.
** Bob and George is (just loosely enough) based on the actual plot of the games. Thus, this happens only because of association with them.
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* Eggman of ''SonicTheHedgehog'' does this from time to time. (And in lots of incarnations, whether he's Eggman or Robotnik, not just the games.)
** In ''SonicChronicles: The Dark Brotherhood'', he claims to have "completely reformed". ''Nobody'' believes him, but ''they [[EnemyMine work with him]] anyway'' for a good stretch of the game since they legitimately need his tech. No prizes for guessing how ''that'' turned out.
** Also, in ''SonicColors'':
--->'''Dr. Eggman:''' "This amusement park was constructed entirely out of a sense of remorse for my past transgressions, and [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial is in no way associated with any sort of evil plot or premeditated misdeeds]]."
--->'''Sonic:''' "[[SarcasmMode Well, that's a relief.]]"
* The plot to ''Game/MegaMan 3''. Dr. Wily claims to have reformed, and works with Dr. Light to build a giant "peacekeeping robot" which Megaman has to go out and get the components for. The components, oddly enough, are guarded by 8 robot masters... and once they've gathered them all, Dr. Wily steals the new robot and plots to use it to take over the world, of course.
** Wily does it again in '' 9'', when he gets out of jail, having apparently reformed. He then frames ''Dr. Light'' as plotting to take over the world, and asks all the people of the world to send donations to his {{Swiss bank account}} so that he can build a new fighting robot to stop Light and his eight robot masters.
** All of this when [[HijackedByGanon everything is Wily's fault]].
* Ultros in ''FinalFantasyVI'' eventually becomes the receptionist at the Coliseum. Subverted in that he never attacks the party again. On the other hand, his pet Chupon is now your only opponent in the arena, ever. [[ThatOneBoss Dammit]].
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* Moloch from {{Watchmen}}. Unfortunately for him, Rorschach never forgives a former villain, and even breaks Moloch's finger when he tries to defend himself from Ror's unjustified home invasion.

* 102 Dalmatians: Cruella is let out of custody after being 'reformed'. It turns out she really '''is''' reformed... that is, until she starts seeing spots...

* Count Olaf pulls this trope multiple times over the course of ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents.
* [[TortallUniverse Duke Roger]] is one of these for the last two books of the Lioness quartet. Before he died the first time, he ''tried to kill the crown prince as well as the queen'', among others. After he came BackFromTheDead, people just kind of [[TooDumbToLive accepted his word]] and the word of his necromancer that Roger wasn't dangerous anymore.
* HarryPotter: after Voldemort was defeated trying to murder baby Harry, some Death Eaters claimed to have been bewitched or unwilling participants and tried to go back to living a normal life. This was most successful in conjunction with ministry connections and large bribes. Of course, in most cases it was only a lie to keep them out of Azkaban.
** Of course, it's implied that at least some of those who ''were'' sent to Azkaban really had been coerced or mind-slaved, and simply didn't have the money to bribe people. Not many people ''really'' cared about the truth as long as they got paid.

* No mention of Gil from KimPossible? Everybody bought it except for Ron, which ended up being the key to his defeat.
* In BatmanBeyond, Mister Freeze was subjected to this. He was given an honest shot at redemption. Few people believed him, with the exception of Terry, as a twist. Couldn't make good on it though, as the technology wasn't that good.
** He was doing fine until [[spoiler:the doctors treating him wanted to dissect him alive to see why the treatment wasn't permanent.]]
*** [[spoiler:[[CompletelyMissingThePoint Actually, that would be a]] [[GrammarNazi vivisection.]]]]

* In the comic ''[[BobandGeorge Bob and George]]'', Dr. Wily does this by faking amnesia to become Dr. Light's assisstant again.

** In ''SonicChronicles: The Dark Brotherhood'', he claims to have "completely reformed". ''Nobody'' believes him, but ''they work with him anyway'' for a good stretch of the game. No prizes for guessing how ''that'' turned out.
** To be fair, this was more a standard EnemyMine. They legitmiately needed his tech.

** Wily does it again in '' 9'', when he gets out of jail, having apparently reformed. He then frames ''Dr. Light'' as plotting to take over the world, and asks all the people of the world to send donations to his {{Swiss bank account}} so that he can build a new fighting robot to stop Light and his 8 robot masters.

* Ultros in ''FinalFantasyVI'' eventually becomes the receptionist at the Coliseum. Subverted in that he never attacks the party again.
** On the other hand, his pet Chupon is now your only opponent in the arena, ever. [[ThatOneBoss Dammit]].

* In the exceptionally dark storyline "[[Series/DoctorWho Revelation of the Daleks]]" Davros takes to calling himself the Great Healer [[spoiler:and offering a solution to galactic famine. Thanks to this, Davros can truly call himself [[ImAHumanitarian humanitarian]].]] (Somewhat subverted in that Davros somehow thinks that he can remain anonymous, despite his unique appearance. The story itself does not address this.)
** In "The Curse of Peladon", where ProudWarriorRace the Ice Warriors claim to want to have given up their militaristic ways, which the Doctor does not believe. [[spoiler:In fact, they have. Though as the next story, "The Monster of Peladon", as with humans and Time Lords, you can trust some Ice Warriors but not others.]]
** The first Second Doctor episode, "The Power of the Daleks". ''I AM YOUR SER-VANT!''

-->-- '''Various Daleks''', ''[[Series/DoctorWho The Power of the Daleks]]''

Compare HeelFaceTurn, where the villain becomes an out-and-out hero. Also compare ReformedButRejected, where the villain really does give up his evil ways -- but the hero still doesn't believe it. Likewise compare ChronicVillainy for when a villain sincerely attempts to reform but cannot get over his old obsessions.

*** [[spoiler:[[GrammarNazi Actually, that would be a vivisection.]]]]