History Main / FallenHero

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%%%% This trope is represented in the Pantheon/TropePantheons by Katsumi Daido/Kamen Rider Eternal of ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'', in the Hall of Pantheon/AlignmentChanges.
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%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[Film/RevengeOfTheSith You were the Chosen One!]] It was said that you would ''destroy'' [[BigBad the Sith]], not ''join'' them! Bring ''balance'' to the Force, not leave it in ''darkness''!"]]
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(( Hawkfrost was originally a noble, if flawed, cat who defended Reedwhisker. Being failed by a Clan which hasn't abandoned Tigerstar's ideology and encouraged by that Clan to be his father's heir in upholding [[ANaziByAnyOtherName "Thistle law"]] leads to his descent to villainy.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'': Ethan Bennett is an honest cop and a close friend of Bruce until (after already under stress due to an argument with Chief Rojas) he becomes the victim of MindRape by the Joker and is then exposed to the villain's Joker Putty, turning him into a clay-like monster. The whole experience drives him mad and turns him into this continuity's version of Clayface, who is more than capable of murder.

* A dark version in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is [[spoiler:Hama]], a [[CoolOldLady seemingly nice old woman]] from the South Water Tribe living in the Fire Nation. In her youth, she was one of the best waterbenders of the tribe and fought unceasingly to protect it from the Fire Nation invaders. After repeated skirmishes to capture the waterbenders, [[SoleSurvivor she was the only one of them left in the tribe]] and ultimately got captured and thrown into prison with the rest, [[TailorMadePrison kept away from any water source]] and [[PoWCamp left to rot for the rest of her life]]. While imprisoned she [[EurekaMoment discovered a simple but revolutionary truth]]: [[spoiler:living things are made of water and [[PowerUp during full moons]] [[PeoplePuppets she can use the empowered bending to control them]]]], and improved her bending in secret until she was ready to escape and [[HeWhoFightsMonsters terrorize the people]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds of the nation that]] [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil made her life hell]].
* Ethan Bennett was a similar character on ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman''. He was an honest cop and a close friend of Bruce until after already under stress due to an argument with Chief Rojas, he became the victim of MindRape by ComicBook/TheJoker, and was then exposed to the villain's Joker Putty, turning him into a clay-like monster. The whole experience drove him mad and turned him into this continuity's version of Clayface, who was more than capable of murder.
* ''Two-Face'' again, this time in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. Before his [[FaceHeelTurn transformation]], Harvey Dent was a regular character on the show -- an ally of Gordon, and [[TearJerker Bruce Wayne's closest friend]]. In the series' final episode, Dent becomes [[spoiler:an AntiVillain known as The Judge, and actually tries to kill The Penguin, Killer Croc, and various other hardened criminals... including himself (of which his two previous personalities are unaware)]]. Thus does he (somewhat) gain his redemption.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ChallengeOfTheGoBots'', Cy-Kill was once one of the High Protectors of Gobotron and Leader-1's best friend.

** [[CreepyChild The Delightful Children From Down The Lane]] are recurring antagonists who serve [[BigBad Father]]. [[spoiler:They're formerly the members of Sector Z, but they were captured and delightfulized by Father into what they are today. What makes this tragic is that the delightfulization process was so thorough that they could only break out of it temporarily before reverting back to their brainwashing]].
--->'''Delightful Children From Down the Lane:''' *As they’re reverting back* Tell the Kid’s Next Door…we miss them.

** In fact, the KND seems to have a problem with traitors ''a lot''. That may be the whole reason they inflict LaserGuidedAmnesia on operatives when they retire. On a positive note, [[spoiler:both Chad and Maurice were [[FakeDefector Fake Defectors]], subversions of this trope, although, in Chad's case, the revelation didn't make Numbuh One like him again.]]

** The Justice Lords, following the death of their Flash, became {{Knight Templar}}s and transformed their earth into a metahuman-ruled {{dystopia}} where dissidents and supervillains were lobotomized. [[Quotes/FallenHero The Superman quote]] from the episode "A Better World" is given just before the Superman of this parallel world crosses the line and kills his Lex Luthor, who was responsible for the death of this world's version of The Flash, with his heat-vision:
---> '''"I did love being a hero. But if this is where it leads, I'm DONE with it."'''
** Shayera Hol, [=AkA=] Hawkgirl was considered this after it was discovered she was TheMole during the Thanagarian Invasion, which caused her to leave the League, though Alfred begged to differ. However, upon rejoining the Justice League, she became a hero again, but discarded the name "Hawkgirl", due to the lies, disgrace, and treachery that the name carried. Therefore as of ''Unlimited'', Shayera considers her alter ego to be a fallen hero.

** ''Series/KamenRiderGeats'': Keiwa Sakurai starts out as the most heroic and selfless member of the main cast, yet due to experiencing several events that erode at his optimism and which culminate in the death of his sister Sara he abandons his heroic qualities in favor of pursuing vengeance, even to the point of antagonizing his former allies.

* ''Fanfic/AllForLuz'': Luz's VigilanteMan persona, All For One, becomes this to her town Gravesfield when [[she becomes CopKiller in front of horrified witnesses when squad led by a DirtyCop sheriff try to perform PoliceBrutality on her and turns them in to LudacriousGibs when BlindedByRage.]]
--> ''They saw her kill police officers. Whatever attempt to be a hero there was for her was now gone. No one liked or routed for a CopKiller, even if that cop was a DirtyCop.''

* ''Fanfic/AMothToAFlame'': Thanks to MoreThanMindControl by Andrias and the Core, Marcy is fully onboard with their plans to [[MultiversalConqueror conquer the multiverse]], and is even willing to violently attack her friends when they defy those plans.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' has Kuvira, the BigBad of the final season. Originally Suyin's protege who helped save Korra's father, she leaves to attempt to help stabilize and unite the weakened Earth Kingdom following the events of Zaheer's anarchist uprising. Over the next three years, she rose from her position as a city's guard captain to a highly respected and [[TheDreaded feared]] public figure. Desiring to keep the Earth Kingdom safe and united, and seeing the monarchy as obsolete, she usurped the Prince and reestablished the Earth Kingdom as the Earth Empire, which she ruled with an iron fist. [[spoiler:Once Korra saved her life, she was able to make Kuvira see just how far she'd fallen from her previously noble intentions, convincing her to surrender willingly]].

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Princess Luna, the very first villain of the series, is an Alicorn goddess who, alongside her older sister Celestia, once co-ruled Equestria, managed the day-night cycle and fought to defeat the MadGod [[RealityWarper Discord]] and the tyrannical King Sombra. A combination of perceived ingratitude on the part of her subjects and a vaguely-defined dark force corrupted her into the vengeful "[[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nightmare Moon]]", and Celestia was forced to [[SealedEvilInACan seal her away in the moon]] to prevent her from [[OmnicidalManiac bringing about global extinction]] through TheNightThatNeverEnds, but when she escapes, she's ultimately redeemed rather than killed. The second season's HalloweenEpisode focuses on her attempts to [[TheAtoner atone]] -- it's difficult to be accepted as good when you represent TheSacredDarkness in a society which you yourself helped to convince that DarkIsEvil.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': {{Implied|Trope}} to be what happened to Rick Sanchez in the past. When talking to Beth (or a clone of Beth?), Rick states that he had a 'hero phase' that he grew out of.

** ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'': Katsumi Daido and his allies in NEVER are presented as straight villains in their first appearance as the antagonists of the ''Forever A to Z'' movie, aside from some dialogue indicating that they were driven mad by their RevenantZombie status. They eventually got their own sidestory movie which details how they used to be a group of antiheroes, and the events that led Katsumi to descend into villainy.

** ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'': The final arc deals with Aruto falling into despair after his closest friend is murdered by a villain he'd tried to reason with and redeem, which leads him to accept the Ark's offer to become its successor. As Kamen Rider Ark-One, he embarks on a campaign of vengeance that almost plunges both humans and robots into an inescapable CycleOfRevenge.

** ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'': Daiji Igarashi/Kamen Rider Live initially resolves his JekyllAndHyde situation by shooting his Hyde in the head, which leads his remaining Jekyll personality to become an increasingly unstable KnightTemplar. In this state it requires barely any pushing from the BigBad to get Daiji on his side, and he turns against his former allies with zeal.

* ''Blog/BetterBonesAU'': Hawkfrost was originally a noble, if flawed cat who defended Reedwhisker. Being failed by a Clan which hasn't abandoned Tigerstar's ideology and encouraged by that Clan to be his father's heir in upholding [[ANaziByAnyOtherName "Thistle law"]] leads to his descent to villainy.

* The Fierce Deity is stated to be this in ''[[Fanfic/BoundDestiniesTrilogy Blood and Spirit]]''. It is revealed that he was once the chosen hero of Termina's guardian goddess, Terminus, just as Link is to Zelda/Hylia. He fought Majora and won, only to end up being corrupted into what he is now. Terminus has Din, Nayru, and Farore send Link and Zelda to Termina to help and after Link has weakened the Fierce Deity, she and Zelda use the Song of Healing in an attempt to restore him to his former self; unfortunately, by that point, he has been far too corrupted by Majora to be saved, and is instead converted into the Fierce Deity's Mask. Though heartbroken over the loss, Terminus is nonetheless comforted by the knowledge that at least her hero is finally free from Majora's control.
* Of course, there's ''Fanfic/CupcakesSergeantSprinkles'', a notoriously DarkFic that features Pinkie Pie. The same pony who represented the Element of Laughter and helped to defeat Nightmare Moon and Discord is now a homicidal maniac with cannibalistic intentions.
* One of the CanonWelding elements of ''Fanfic/DigimonTrinity'' has [[CheerfulChild Takeru "TK" Takaishi]] from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure''/''[[Anime/DigimonAdventure02 02]]'' grow up to take over the role of [[WellIntentionedExtremist Mitsuo Yamaki]] from ''Anime/DigimonTamers''.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' alternate continuity ''Fanfic/TheEquestriaChronicles'':
** This role is filled by Princess Celestia, who slowly goes mad from the anxiety of having to constantly watch out for threats to her reign, and the psychological trauma of [[spoiler: her internal struggle with the dark magic she accepted in order to live forever and create the cutie mark spell]].
** Princess Luna also falls victim to this, as she becomes the KnightTemplar Nightmare Moon, hoping to put an end to the excesses and abuses of freedom that her sister has caused. In the end, [[spoiler: Celestia decides to eliminate her sister rather than accept her help with ruling the kingdom]].

* In ''Fanfic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed'', [[WellIntentionedExtremist General Thunderhide]] qualifies for this as a well-loved war hero who joins Nightmare Moon's Civil War after [[NecessarilyEvil believing no true change can come while Celestia remains in power]]. He knows what he's doing is wrong, but sees it as the only option available to him.

** Also [[spoiler: Red Eye]]. Everything we see of his backstory points to him being an expy of the Lone Wanderer, but by the time he appears in the story, he's fully into WellIntentionedExtremist territory and willing to do absolutely anything to save the wastes.

* Harry Potter in ''Fanfic/HarrysMadness'' who razes Hogwarts to the ground, and turns the DA into an army for world domination, all because he didn't get enough support in fifth year.
* Gentaro in ''Fanfic/HorseshoesAndHandGrenades'', having been placed into a MoreThanMindControl situation from Ophiuchus. [[spoiler: Ryusei also becomes this, due to Tachibana brainwashing him and converting him into a cyborg in an 'attempt' to fix all the mistakes he did.]]
* [[Characters/JauneArcLordOfHungerDarthNihilus Darth Nihilus]] in ''Fanfic/JauneArcLordOfHunger'' was once a Jedi who helped Revan defeat the Mandalorians. As he fought in more and more battles, his hatred of the Mandalorians grew to the point where he fell under the influence of the Dark Side. Then, when the mass shadow generator was unleashed during the Battle of Malachor V, almost all of Nihilus's comrades-in-arms were killed and he was irreversibly transformed into a PowerParasite, forcing him to feed off the LifeEnergy of the few survivors. He was later found and rescued the Sith, who offered to help him control his new powers and gave him the name "Nihilus".
* In ''Fanfic/KaijuRevolution'', [[spoiler:King Ghidorah once helped Godzilla in protecting the world from various malevolent Kaiju, but went insane and turned on him due to Ghidorah's hatred of chemical-based life]].
* In ''Fanfic/KarmaInRetrograde'', Touya Todoroki was an aspiring hero student at U.A. with the potential to surpass his father, the current number one hero. He was a gentle and caring older brother to his siblings and wanted nothing more than to rescue them from his father's influence. But somewhere down the line, he underwent a FaceHeelTurn, vanishing off the face of the Earth before reemerging as the villainous Dabi who gleefully participates in murder and arson to tear down hero society. When reverted back to his sixteen-year-old self by a [[FountainOfYouth deaging Quirk]], he's [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone horrified by his actions]] and doesn't understand why he turned out the way he did.

* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', the Nana Shimura of Earth 2014.50 was once a staunch adherent of the ideology that would shape All Might's and generations of Heroes to come. But after the deaths of her husband and her protege, she decided that people needed a powerful figure to look up to in order to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans create the World of Smiles]] she dreamed of, taking over the world and ruling it with an iron fist while culling anyone who opposes or even [[DisproportionateRetribution annoys her]]. She even admits that All Might would have never approved of what she's done, but she feels those ideals are outdated and can only cause further suffering.
* In the ''Pokémon'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Pedestal}}'', [[spoiler: Nick]] becomes one of these after [[spoiler: learning that his brother was killed.]]
* The ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' has a number of them. The first we see is in "Epilogue", a BadFuture [[TheBadGuyWins where Discord won]]. The Mane Six have been turned into his immortal CoDragons and now do his bidding, at ''best'' having no idea they were once heroes like Twilight Tragedy and Rarigreed and at worst knowing they were but [[BeingEvilSucks having no way to escape their fate]]. Though Liarjack still remains somewhat heroic, as she does her best to save lives, she still has done horrible things like [[spoiler:helping kill [[HeroAntagonist Queen Cadance]]]]. Thankfully, the Dark World Series finally sees them [[HeelFaceTurn rise again.]]
** Then there's the second BigBad, [[spoiler:Nightmare Whisper, [[BewareTheNiceOnes Fluttershy's]] SuperpoweredEvilSide born when she couldn't bare the cruelty in the world and tried to fix it, turning into a WellIntentionedExtremist and trying to conquer the world and ''force'' it to be nice. In the end, she's purified with the Elements and becomes TheAtoner.]]
** [[spoiler:Nightmare Mirror, Applejack's AlternateSelf who became a Nightmare after her Applebloom didn't escape the events of VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks, turning into a truth obsessed MultiversalConqueror intending to rid the multiverse of deceit. Thankfully, Applejack manages to team up with five other alternate versions of her (including Liarjack, now back to Applejack) to purify her with the Elements of Harmony, then Applejack and Orangejack convince her to turn good again. The same journey also shows Nightmares of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie called Nightmare Manacle and Nightmare Granfalloon respectively.]]
** One alternate universe shows the Harmony Queens, a version of the mane six who went KnightTemplar, overthrew and [[SealedGoodInACan imprisoned Celestia and Luna]], and took over the world eradicating anything they viewed as Disharmonic and brainwashing ponies in mass with the Elements. According to WordOfGod, they're based off the Justice Lords from the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''.

* In ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' stories that are part of ''Fanfic/ProjectDarkJade'', Jade either becomes an example of this trope or is in the danger of becoming one.
** In ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'', Jade becomes this after a spell reawakens her Queen of the Shadowkhan persona. And then in the second half of the story, [[spoiler: Jade kidnaps Viper and performs a ritual that transforms her into [[TheDragon Hebi]], the new General of the [[EliteMooks Samurai Khan]], and [[BrainwashedAndCrazy conditions her]] to be [[UndyingLoyalty utterly loyal]] to Jade.]]
** The same thing happens in ''Fanfic/{{Webwork}}'', which is then compounded by Jade spending several years (courtesy of NarniaTime that makes it only a few hours on Earth) in [[EldritchLocation the Emptiness]] with only [[ManipulativeBastard Tarakudo]] and [[EvilMentor the Old Queen]] as company, while being further transformed into a Shadowkhan/[[SpiderPeople Jorogumo]] hybrid. By the time she returns to Earth, her morality has been completely twisted.
** In ''Fanfic/AgesOfShadow'', this has already happened [[DownerBeginning by the time the story starts]]. As flashbacks show, the J-Team and Section 13 were overwhelmed by a villain called [[TheChessmaster the Magus King]], leaving Jade with [[GodzillaThreshold no other option]] but to put on Tarakudo's mask in order to use the Shadowkhan in order to win. This worked, and Jade even defeated Tarakudo and his Generals in a mental battle, but in the process was consumed by the shadow magic, permanently becoming a Shadowkhan and being twisted into wanting to TakeOverTheWorld. This ultimately led to Tohru having no choice but to [[SealedEvilInACan seal her away]].
%%* Franchise/HarryPotter in ''Fanfic/TheDarknessSeries''.
* In ''Fanfic/TheShadowWars'' Story Verse, this is true of Grey Hoof (originally from ''VideoGame/StoryOfTheBlanks''). He was a heroic leader and loving father, whose StartOfDarkness came when plagues ravaged Sunney Towne and he could do nothing to protect his Ponies from them. He became increasingly frantic in his desire to prevent these plagues from returning. Eventually, he [[OffingTheOffspring kills his most beloved daughter Ruby Gift]] in the delusion that she had the Mark Pox and would die horribly anyway -- setting in motion the events leading to the Curse.
* Rainbow Dash in ''Fanfic/RocketToInsanity''. She was the Element of Loyalty who helped defeat threats like Nightmare Moon and Discord, but being constantly tormented by nightmares eroded her sanity. [[spoiler:Pinkie Pie offering her cupcakes was the final straw that caused Rainbow to snap and made her go against her Element by killing one of her best friends]].
* In ''Fanfic/StarWarsFruitsOfBetrayal'', Ahsoka Tano takes the Jedi Council turning on her much more personally, to the point that she is in [[DespairEventHorizon complete emotional and mental anguish]]. Palpatine, sensing that she is on the verge of breaking, has her kidnapped and has her brought to Count Dooku so she may be turned to the dark side. She only manages to hold out for about three months until she finally turns, after which she is given the sith name Darth Cyrin and takes Anakin's place as Palpatine's right hand.

* Avengers member (and most-hated one, both with the fandom and even in-universe among members of the team itself) Dr. Druid had a 1995 series, ''ComicBook/Druid1995'', that was about him becoming all about this. When it opens, he'd become washed-up and essentially a cult leader with some people staying at his penthouse, and starts to go mad with his new powers, giving into his anger and lust for power until Damion Hellstrom murdered him. Then during ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme2015'', he became a tyrant on Weirdworld upon discovering that he could manifest a body there. That said, when he was seen in 2019, ''Dr. Strange, Surgeon Supreme'', he ''seemed'' to be back on the side of the angels, but the series ended before it could be confirmed to be the case or it was merely a ruse.

** [[spoiler:Simon Petrikov/The Ice King]]. As a human, he was a scholar, a loving fiance, and a ParentalSubstitute to a little girl who had been abandoned during the middle of WorldWar3. But [[spoiler:[[ArtifactOfDoom the Ice Crown]] [[TheCorrupter mentally warped him]] until he was unable to remember himself at all, leaving the insane husk that Finn and Jake know presently.]]
** {{Subverted|Trope}} with Finn who is turning into this in later seasons after losing both Princess Bubblegum and Flame Princess and finding out that his DisappearedDad has become a bumbling old fool. But aside from all that, he's staying on the path of good.
** Billy is a fallen hero by the time Finn and Jake find him, hiding passively in his cave.
--->'''Billy:''' All my life I've beaten on evil creatures, but new evil keep popping up! Kicking their butts was a hopeless effort!

* ''Fanfic/VengeanceOfTheStar'', which is an alternate take on ''Fanfic/TheAssassinationofTwilightSparkle'', has Twilight, who survives an assassination attempt. However, Spike is instead killed by the assassins. The resulting grief makes her more ruthless and she turns into Midnight Sparkle, an evil version of herself.

* In ''Fanfic/KaijuRevolution'', [spoiler:King Ghidorah once helped Godzilla in protecting the world from various malevolent Kaiju, but went insane and turned on him due to Ghidorah's hatred of chemical-based life]].

* ''Fanfic/ACrookedMan'': Tony Stark and Reed Richards are publicly exposed of using very unethical methods to enforce the SRA and leading to the Civil War, and they are treated as pariahs by the public. Even Doctor Doom lampshade to Reed that the public despises fallen heroes far more than villains and monsters.

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* Sleekwhisker starts out as an idealist who has important, if scattered ideas about reforming the Clans' approach towards outsiders, but she gradually becomes a ruthlessly loyal member of Darktail's cult.

Not all {{villains}} [[RousseauWasRight are born]]. Some are made, and none are more {{trag|edy}}ic than the Fallen Hero. As the name implies, the Fallen Hero used to be a {{hero|es}} before doing a FaceHeelTurn. They may even have been an IdealHero or another equally optimistic {{archetyp|alCharacter}}e, up until the moment when they [[TraumaCongaLine suffered]] [[FreudianExcuse something bad enough]] for them to [[DespairEventHorizon lose all faith in good and idealism]], be it [[CynicismCatalyst the loss of a loved one]], too many [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished good deeds]] coming back [[BeingGoodSucks to bite them hard]], [[EtTuBrute betrayal]] by [[BigBadFriend someone they trusted the most]], too much [[DividedWeFall distrust from those who should have been allies]], or some other faith-shattering event. It might even be a drawn out process of seduction to TheDarkSide or fall from grace. Some EvilOldFolks happened to be this type in their younger days.

->'''Delightful Children from down the Lane:''' *As they’re reverting back* Tell the Kid’s Next Door…we miss them.

* Avengers member (and most-hated one, both with the fandom and even in-universe among the team itself) Dr. Druid had a 1995 series titled simply ''Druid'' that was about him becoming all about this. When it opens, he'd become washed-up and essentially a cult leader with some people staying at his penthouse, and starts to go mad with his new powers, giving into his anger and lust for power until Damion Hellstrom murdered him. Then during ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme2015'', he became a tyrant on Weirdworld upon discovering that he could manifest a body there. That said, when he was seen in 2019, ''Dr. Strange, Surgeon Supreme'', he ''seemed'' to be back on the side of the angels, but the series ended before it could be confirmed to be the case or it was merely a ruse.