History Main / FaceHeelDoubleTurn

* At the beginning of ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Lelouch leads the Black Knights in the resistance against the Britannian Empire. [[spoiler:In Episode 44, the Black Knights mutiny against him after learning his past as an exiled Britannian prince, leading him to seize control of the Britannian government two episodes later. Thus, the Britannians become the protagonists while the Black Knights become the antagonists.]]

* In ''Film/FastAndFuriousSix'', Riley is revealed to be TheMole right around the time Letty pulls a HeelFaceTurn. This leads to Letty going two for two in their HeroicRematch.

* In April 2015, Wrestling/TheNewDay, a face tag team, began showing heelish tactics in their tag team matches like having Xavier Woods hide under the ring and cost opponents matches, while their opponents, Wrestling/TysonKiddAndCesaro, began using high-risk exciting moves (such as the Cesaro Swing) while feuding with New Day. [[Wrestling/TysonKidd Kidd]] and [[Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli Cesaro]] may have lost the tag team titles due to New Day's cheating, but they are gaining a fanbase.

* In April 2015, Wrestling/TheNewDay, a face tag team, began showing heelish tactics in their tag team matches like having Xavier Woods hide under the ring and cost opponents matches, while their opponents, Wrestling/Tyson KiddAndCesaro, began using high-risk exciting moves (such as the Cesaro Swing) while feuding with New Day. [[Wrestling/TysonKidd Kidd]] and [[Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli Cesaro]] may have lost the tag team titles due to New Day's cheating, but they are gaining a fanbase.

** This actually began before Trish went down with her injury. The fans turned against Lita after her affair with Edge became public knowledge. If you watch their in-ring segment from Raw on 4/18/2005, the fans are unmercifully chanting "You screwed Matt!" and "We want Matt!" at Lita, who was supposed to be the face. Trish tried to take the heat on herself, but it didn't work.

* In April 2015, Wrestling/TheNewDay, a face tag team, began showing heelish tactics in their tag team matches like having Xavier Woods hide under the ring and cost opponents matches, while their opponents, Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, began using high-risk exciting moves (such as the Cesaro Swing) while feuding with New Day. Kidd and Cesaro may have lost the tag team titles due to New Day's cheating, but they are gaining a fanbase.

* A triple change occurred with Wrestling/BeckyLynch, Wrestling/CharlotteFlair and Creator/RondaRousey. Initially, Becky turned heel at ''[=SummerSlam=] 2018'' and betrayed Charlotte. However, due to Becky's popularity with the crowd, and Charlotte's [[DesignatedHero poor portrayal as a Face]] as well as her status as a CreatorsPet, the fans refused to boo Becky, no matter how vicious her actions became. By ''Survivor Series 2018'', Becky returned to being a {{Face}} while still keeping her anti-heroic persona, while Charlotte returned to being the arrogant {{Heel}} she once was. Meanwhile, Ronda, who joined the company portrayed as a fan favourite, was also booed during the feud due to poor booking and, like with Charlotte, her poor portrayal as a face. Because fans refused to turn against Becky, Ronda eventually lost her patience and turned heel in March, leading up to their three-way dance at ''Wrestlemania 35''.
* On Raw June 2022 after '''Hell in a Cell''', both Finn Balor and Edge switched spots. Edge, the leader of the villainous Judgment Day, invited then-face Finn Balor to be part of the group. Balor accepted, but the members of Judgment Day attacked Edge, with Balor using the chair pipe for a crossface on Edge, turning heel in the process.
* On the ''[[Wrestling/WWENxT NXT]]'' after Stand and Deliver 2023, the new NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes, who was a heel but showed some respect to his opponents, was celebrating his victory while the former champion Bron Breakker, at that point firmly a face, came out to congratulate Hayes before laying him and Trick Williams out with brutal clotheslines, cementing himself as a bad guy while establishing Hayes as a face.

* Wrestling/{{Carmella}} and [[Wrestling/BellaTwins Nikki Bella]] in August 2016. At ''Wrestling/SummerSlam'', Carmella (the face) was scheduled to compete in a 6-woman tag team match, teaming with Wrestling/BeckyLynch and Wrestling/{{Naomi}} and the opponents were {{Wrestling/Natalya|Neidhart}}, Wrestling/AlexaBliss and Wrestling/EvaMarie. Then Eva got suspended for violating the Wellness Policy a few days prior to the event. Because of this, Nikki returned to action following career-threatening neck surgery to be Eva's replacement. However, Nikki was cheered wildly and Carmella had been getting mostly lukewarm reactions since her main roster call-up. So two nights later on [=SmackDown=] Nikki is interviewed and behaves like a face, and Carmella attacks her unprovoked. She does it again on the Network-exclusive followup talk show ''Talking Smack'', confirming the double turn.

** Essentially happened with Angel and Drusilla before the show's continuity. Angel, as Angelus drove her mad and killed all her family before turning her into a vampire. However now he's good with a soul while she's evil and crazy.
** This applies to Angel and Spike in the second season. For the first half of the season Spike is the main villain while Angel is on Buffy's side. Then come the halfway point and Spike is heavily injured and forced to sit on the sidelines while Angel loses his soul and reverts to Angelus, taking over as the main villain. Spike grows sick of being mistreated by Angelus and eventually betrays him, and after learning that he plans on destroying the entire world forms an EnemyMine with Buffy.

* ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'': A {{downplayed}} version occurs between The Joker and Dr. Psycho. They both start off and end as unrepentant villains, but their relationship with Harley definitely changes compared to how they previously started. The Joker is Harley’s abusive ex-boyfriend who becomes her main enemy in Season 1 around the time Dr. Psycho joins Harley’s crew as her ally to better his image. However, in Season 2, Psycho decides to betray Harley and carry out his EvilPlan around the time The Joker decides to help Harley stop Dr. Psycho after having a LoveEpiphany for his new girlfriend while parting with Harley on (somewhat) better terms.

* The RedHerring version occurs in ''Film/AlienS''. [[spoiler:At the start of the movie, Burke is the only one who appears sympathetic to Ripley. Bishop is a [[AdmiringTheAbomination creepy]] [[CreepyMonotone android]] who Ripley and the audience are immediately distrustful of due to [[AIIsACrapshot Ash]]'s antics in the previous film. Bishop turns out to be [[BigDamnHeroes absolutely]] [[CreepyGood loyal]], while Burke turns out to be an [[CorruptCorporateExecutive amoral]] [[TheSociopath sociopath]].]]

** Another one happens in the episode "The Rumble for Ragnarok!", as an hommage to the trope's use in pro wrestling. Throughout the episode, Jormungandr, the Viking wrestling champ, is seen as the face (and even identified as one by Launchpad), while the entirety of team Earth (and Dewey's alter ego, "ChamPopular", in particular) are all seen as heels. However, during the final round, Jormungandr repeatedly attacks ChamPopular while he's down, losing him the respect of the audience, while ChamPopular gains the audience's favor due to his determination to keep on fighting. This leads to ChamPopular receiving a strand of Strongbeard's beard, which gives him enough strength to defeat Jormungandr. He is, then, immediately challenged by the Millionaire Miser (Scrooge's heel alter ego) to cement their statuses as face and heel respectively.

** Likewise, Kazuya and Heihachi [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor zig-zag through this all the time]]. In the first game Kazuya was the face as Heihachi had thrown him off the cliff as a child. At the end of the game he threw Heihachi off a cliff and took control of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Except he was a far worse leader than Heihachi was and the organisation became more corrupt, thus making Heihachi a face by default (at best an when he returned in ''Tekken 2''. Though then he threw Kazuya into a volcano at the end of the game and became a heel again. In ''Tekken 3'', Jin took over Kazuya's role as the main face, with the latter coming back as a tweener in ''4''. At the end of ''5'', Jin had taken over the Zaibatsu and became a corrupt military dictator and Heihachi, presumed to be dead, was part of the resistance trying to stop him (although more for self-serving purposes than anything else).

* On the '[['Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT]]'' after Stand and Deliver 2023, the new NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes, who was a heel but showed some respect to his opponents, was celebrating his victory while the former champion Bron Breakker, at that point firmly a face, came out to congratulate Hayes before laying him and Trick Williams out with brutal clotheslines, cementing himself as a bad guy while establishing Hayes as a face.

* On the post-''[=WrestleMania=] 39'' episode of ''Wrestling/{{WWE NXT}}'', the new NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes, who was a heel but showed some respect to his opponents, was celebrating his victory while the former champion Bron Breakker, at that point firmly a face, came out to congratulate Hayes before laying him and Trick Williams out with brutal clotheslines, cementing himself as a bad guy while establishing Hayes as a face.

In another variant, it can involve a villain [[HeelRealization seeing the error of his ways]] and [[TheAtoner wants to turn a new leaf]], but the hero [[ReformedButRejected doesn't trust him]] or [[RejectedApology holds a bitter grudge against him]] and [[AccuserOfTheBrethren is bent on punishing the villain for all he did]], which leads to him turning into a villain [[HeWhoFightsMonsters consumed by revenge and hatred for the former villain.]]

* ''Fanfic/CardcaptorRad'': A bit of an interesting variation as it's more that both were double agents already, but [[[[spoiler:Sideways' reveal as a Decepticon prompts Scavenger to reveal he's actually an Autobot]].

* In ''Total Drama'' fan-fiction ''Fanfic/UnbreakableRedSilkenThread'' Heather and Gwen. The two characters were rivals during Total Drama, especially in Total Drama Island. Heather was the typical QueenBee bully while Gwen was the most emotionally compelling force opposing her. By the time they meet up years later in college, the roles have almost reversed; while not a bully, Gwen has for sure become the more antagonistic of the two while Heather has obtained greater emotional depth.

* The RedHerring version occurs in ''Film/AlienS''. [[[[spoiler:At the start of the movie, Burke is the only one who appears sympathetic to Ripley. Bishop is a [[AdmiringTheAbomination creepy]] [[CreepyMonotone android]] who Ripley and the audience are immediately distrustful of due to [[AIIsACrapshot Ash]]'s antics in the previous film. Bishop turns out to be [[BigDamnHeroes absolutely]] [[CreepyGood loyal]], while Burke turns out to be an [[CorruptCorporateExecutive amoral]] [[TheSociopath sociopath]].]]

* ''Film/ThePrestige'' has Angier portrayed in a sympathetic light after Borden inadvertently gets his wife killed. In their ongoing rivalry we root with Angier initially until [[[[spoiler:he frames Borden for his own murder and intends to raise his daughter after her father is hanged]]. Then comes the reveal that [[[[spoiler:Borden and Fallon are identical twins]].

* In ''Film/WitnessForTheProsecution'' the third act reveals that [[[[spoiler:Christine was actually protecting Leonard, who was guilty after all.]]
* ''Film/XXXReturnOfXanderCage'': CIA Agent Jane Marke recruits Xander to infiltrate a team of four individuals named Xiang, Talon, Serena and Hawk. Xander claims that he and his team are [[[[spoiler:also xXx agents]] having been recruited by the [[[[spoiler:not actually]] dead [[BigGood Agent Gibbons]] to steal the [[MacGuffin Pandora's Box]] in order to keep it out of the wrong hands. [[[[spoiler:Marke is revealed to be the true villain of the movie, having wanted the Pandora's Box for her own ends.]]

* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' has the RedHerring version. Sirius Black is, for most of the book, presented as an evil mass murderer who [[[[spoiler:betrayed Harry's parents]] and murdered his childhood friend Peter Pettigrew. Then comes TheReveal that [[[[spoiler:Peter betrayed Harry's parents and framed Sirius, and that the latter was in fact trying to protect Harry]].

** ''Half Blood Prince'' - Malfoy goes from heel to face and Snape goes from face to heel, though [[[[spoiler:Snape is revealed to have been good all along in the next book]].

* Dark Willow in ''Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}'' caused the previous big bads (Jonathan and Andrew) to become sympathetic as they were humans being punished by Willow for [[[[spoiler:Tara being killed by their friend]] and Willow to become the new BigBad.

* ''Series/{{Chucky}}'': Lexy and Junior. Both start as bullies towards Jake, with Junior being somewhat more sympathetic towards him. As Chucky's killing spree goes on, however, Lexy becomes nicer and friendlier as she tries to help Jake stop Chucky, while Junior becomes more aggressive as he comes to blame Jake for everything that's happening [[[[spoiler:and is ultimately manipulated by Chucky into killing his own father]].

* In the pilot episode of ''Series/MacGyver2016'', the reboot, [[[[spoiler:Nikki Carpenter fakes her death and betrays [=MacGyver=] and the entire Phoenix Foundation, and is portrayed as a fugitive on the run, while Patricia Thornton, the head of the Phoenix Foundation, states that Nikki's betrayal caused the DXS to become compromised. However, in the episode, "Screwdriver," Nikki turns face and reveals that she was actually in deep cover for the CIA, searching for the mole who had been working against Phoenix. Patricia turns heel and is revealed as the mole, and is later arrested by Nikki.]]

** Likewise, Kazuya and Heihachi [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor zig zag through this all the time]]. In the first game Kazuya was the face as Heihachi had thrown him off the cliff as a child. At the end of the game he threw Heihachi off a cliff and took control of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Except he was a far worse leader than Heihachi was and the organisation became more corrupt, thus making Heihachi a face by default (at best an when he returned in ''Tekken 2''. Though then he threw Kazuya into a volcano at the end of the game and became a heel again. In ''Tekken 3'', Jin took over Kazuya's role as the main face, with the latter coming back as a tweener in ''4''. At the end of ''5'', Jin had taken over the Zaibatsu and became a corrupt military dictator and Heihachi, presumed to be dead, was part of the resistance trying to stop him (although more for self-serving purposes than anything else).

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', during Tali's LoyaltyMission, you meet Admiral Gerrel, a friendly man who is sympathetic to Tali and believes in her innocence, and Admiral Koris, a {{jerkass}} who is openly distrustful of Tali and accuses her of treason. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', when the two return during the Quarian/Geth arc, Admiral Koris is the OnlySaneMan trying to negotiate peace with the Geth once and for all while Gerrel has a [[GeneralRipper bloodthirsty obsession]] with wiping them out [[[[spoiler:to the point of opening fire on a Geth ship while Commander Shepard is still on board it]].

* Zig-Zagged in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' where the stoic mentor, Julius, ends up betraying the Playa and leaving him for dead, while the undercover cop, Troy Bradshaw, works day-in and day-out to keep the Playa on life support and exonerate every member of the Saints.

* ''WesternAnimation/SolarOpposites'': One occurs between [[[[spoiler:Tim and The Duke. Tim started off as a NiceGuy who led a LaResistance against The Duke who was a selfish EvilOverlord of The Wall who many have suffered and died under his rule. Once Tim drives The Duke out of The Wall however, Tim betrays Cherie and leaves her to die before he takes over The Wall, while The Duke and Cherie work together to survive outside The Wall where The Duke saves Cherie's life and dies regretting having been a tyrant.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'', [[[[spoiler:in life, Captain Moonscar and his crew were vicious pirates who had Simone and Lena's family and friends fed to alligators, and Simone and Lena cursed the pirates in revenge. Fast-forward two hundred years, and Simone and Lena have become murderous werecats who suck the life force out of innocent people to keep themselves alive, while the zombies turn out to be desperately trying to atone for their sins by chasing people away from the island so they won't fall victim to Simone and Lena, too.]]

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' : Sasuke and Gaara are an interesting example. Naruto and Gaara’s fight is the one that is the beginning of Gaara’s turn to good while demonstrating to Sasuke how Naruto has surpassed him and thus spiralling his turn to betrayal/ joining the bad guys in search of power. Contrasted by Gaara-Sasuke fight in Chuunin exams where Gaara is the psychotic villain about to invade Konoha and Sasuke the good guy protecting his comrades, and by Gaara-Sasuke face-off at Kage Summit Arc where Gaara is reformed and a Kage protecting his subordinates while Sasuke is an international criminal, and how the two have in meantime exchanged their roles of AxCrazy and TheStoic. Lampshaded in how the first time during their fight the still evil Gaara was mocking (loyal-to-Konoha) Sasuke about how his hatred wasn’t strong enough to overcome him, and the second time as a wiser and more compassionate Kazekage was imploring (wants-to-destroy-Konoha) Sasuke to turn away from that hatred - like Gaara himself has - to no avail.

* ''Fanfic/CardcaptorRad'': A bit of an interesting variation as it's more that both were double agents already, but [[spoiler: Sideways' reveal as a Decepticon prompts Scavenger to reveal he's actually an Autobot]].

* The RedHerring version occurs in ''Film/AlienS''. [[spoiler: At the start of the movie, Burke is the only one who appears sympathetic to Ripley. Bishop is a [[AdmiringTheAbomination creepy]] [[CreepyMonotone android]] who Ripley and the audience are immediately distrustful of due to [[AIIsACrapshot Ash]]'s antics in the previous film. Bishop turns out to be [[BigDamnHeroes absolutely]] [[CreepyGood loyal]], while Burke turns out to be an [[CorruptCorporateExecutive amoral]] [[TheSociopath sociopath]].]]

* ''Film/IRobot'' has a robot suspected of murdering his master by the cop investigating the case only for TheReveal to show it was actually [[spoiler: VIKI, the seemingly benevolent super computer in the man's office]], and the robot was innocent all along.

* ''Film/ThePrestige'' has Angier portrayed in a sympathetic light after Borden inadvertently gets his wife killed. In their ongoing rivalry we root with Angier initially until [[spoiler: he frames Borden for his own murder and intends to raise his daughter after her father is hanged]]. Then comes the reveal that [[spoiler: Borden and Fallon are identical twins]].

* In ''Film/WitnessForTheProsecution'' the third act reveals that [[spoiler: Christine was actually protecting Leonard, who was guilty after all.]]
* ''Film/XXXReturnOfXanderCage'': CIA Agent Jane Marke recruits Xander to infiltrate a team of four individuals named Xiang, Talon, Serena and Hawk. Xander claims that he and his team are [[spoiler: also xXx agents]] having been recruited by the [[spoiler: not actually]] dead [[BigGood Agent Gibbons]] to steal the [[MacGuffin Pandora's Box]] in order to keep it out of the wrong hands. [[spoiler: Marke is revealed to be the true villain of the movie, having wanted the Pandora's Box for her own ends.]]

* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' has the RedHerring version. Sirius Black is, for most of the book, presented as an evil mass murderer who [[spoiler: betrayed Harry's parents]] and murdered his childhood friend Peter Pettigrew. Then comes TheReveal that [[spoiler: Peter betrayed Harry's parents and framed Sirius, and that the latter was in fact trying to protect Harry]].

** ''Half Blood Prince'' - Malfoy goes from heel to face and Snape goes from face to heel, though [[spoiler: Snape is revealed to have been good all along in the next book]].

* Dark Willow in ''Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}'' caused the previous big bads (Jonathan and Andrew) to become sympathetic as they were humans being punished by Willow for [[spoiler: Tara being killed by their friend]] and Willow to become the new BigBad.

* ''Series/{{Chucky}}'': Lexy and Junior. Both start as bullies towards Jake, with Junior being somewhat more sympathetic towards him. As Chucky's killing spree goes on, however, Lexy becomes nicer and friendlier as she tries to help Jake stop Chucky, while Junior becomes more aggressive as he comes to blame Jake for everything that's happening [[spoiler: and is ultimately manipulated by Chucky into killing his own father]].

* In the pilot episode of ''Series/MacGyver2016'', the reboot, [[spoiler: Nikki Carpenter fakes her death and betrays [=MacGyver=] and the entire Phoenix Foundation, and is portrayed as a fugitive on the run, while Patricia Thornton, the head of the Phoenix Foundation, states that Nikki's betrayal caused the DXS to become compromised. However, in the episode, "Screwdriver," Nikki turns face and reveals that she was actually in deep cover for the CIA, searching for the mole who had been working against Phoenix. Patricia turns heel and is revealed as the mole, and is later arrested by Nikki.]]

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', during Tali's LoyaltyMission, you meet Admiral Gerrel, a friendly man who is sympathetic to Tali and believes in her innocence, and Admiral Koris, a {{jerkass}} who is openly distrustful of Tali and accuses her of treason. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', when the two return during the Quarian/Geth arc, Admiral Koris is the OnlySaneMan trying to negotiate peace with the Geth once and for all while Gerrel has a [[GeneralRipper bloodthirsty obsession]] with wiping them out [[spoiler: to the point of opening fire on a Geth ship while Commander Shepard is still on board it]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SolarOpposites'': One occurs between [[spoiler: Tim and The Duke. Tim started off as a NiceGuy who led a LaResistance against The Duke who was a selfish EvilOverlord of The Wall who many have suffered and died under his rule. Once Tim drives The Duke out of The Wall however, Tim betrays Cherie and leaves her to die before he takes over The Wall, while The Duke and Cherie work together to survive outside The Wall where The Duke saves Cherie's life and dies regretting having been a tyrant.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'', [[spoiler: in life, Captain Moonscar and his crew were vicious pirates who had Simone and Lena's family and friends fed to alligators, and Simone and Lena cursed the pirates in revenge. Fast-forward two hundred years, and Simone and Lena have become murderous werecats who suck the life force out of innocent people to keep themselves alive, while the zombies turn out to be desperately trying to atone for their sins by chasing people away from the island so they won't fall victim to Simone and Lena, too.]]

* The entire Chorus Trilogy in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': Felix appears to be the good guy with Locus as the bad guy for the first act [[spoiler:but the second act reveals them both to be the villains working for the BigBad, then the third act focuses on Locus's own HeelFaceTurn, making Locus the good guy and Felix the bad guy near the finale.]]

* On Raw June 2022 after '''Hell in a Cell''', both Finn Balor and Edge switched spots. Edge, the leader of the villainous Judgment Day, invited Finn Balor to be part of the group. Balor accepted, but the members of Judgment Day attacked Edge, with Balor using the chair pipe for a crossface on Edge.

* At the climax of ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'', Shulk gets the chance to kill Egil, the leader of Mechonis who was hell-bent on destroying the Bionis, which happens to be the homeworld of Shulk and his companions, and who is inadvertently responsible for a lot of bad things happening to Shulk and co. Shulk instead stays his hand and lets Egil explain his motives, which gives the two parties to reconcile for the greater good. However, this is cut short thanks to a gunshot from Dickson's gunblade, who until now acted as Shulk's mentor and father figure, said gunshot hitting Shulk in the back. It's here when Dickson reveals himself to be a servant of the destructive god, Zanza, who awakens the Bionis and starts to tear the Mechonis apart. This is a double-dose of this trope, with not only Egil pulling a HeelFaceTurn (and subsequent HeroicSacrifice) and Dickson being EvilAllAlong, but drastically changes the dynamics of the two titans Bionis and Mechonis, and how they relate to the heroes.