History Main / HelplessGoodSide

* A {{Batman}} villain known as the Ventriloquist has this... sort of. He seems like a decent-but-timid person, but he expresses his sociopathic side through a ventriloquists' dummy he carries called "Scarface." Scarface is dressed and acts like a miniature version of Al Capone, often giving the impression that he's actually holding his Ventriloquist hostage. However, if Scarface is destroyed, the Ventriloquist will usually surrender, often expressing relief that the dummy he was talking through and manipulating is gone.

* ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'' had a variant of this when Rachel morphed starfish and was split into two Rachels. Her 'Nice Rachel' side was this trope, weak, scared, freezing up under stress, not good for much of anything.
** Unlike most examples of this trope, her 'Bad Rachel' side was just as big a liability because she couldn't think of anything more complex than [[AttackAttackAttack "hit it till it falls over"]].

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* Animerica's [[spoiler: BigBad Kiyone is revealed to be this, having been intelligent but physically weak compared to his older, stronger, and much favored twin Kasuse, which made him vulnerable to his SuperpoweredEvilSide. He is so much so that he is put in a DrivenToSuicide state, believing that he has no chance of redemption after all his actions in Season 2, and his now EnemyWithout demon sees this as an opportunity to attempt to take him over again.]]

** Making matters worse, [[spoiler:C.C. was 10 in the Dark Ages, so she's not just a child, she's a child who doesn't understand things like television or modern sensibilities.]]

* Lunch/Launch of ''DragonBall'' spends half her time as a hyper-competent, incredibly violent criminal specializing in dramatic robberies. The other half of the time, she's a ditzy, gullible, physically weak woman who is so different from her counterpart that it's hilarious.

* Lucy of ''ElfenLied'' is a psychotic murderer who can kill things with telekinetic "hands" called vectors that she can extend in a two meter radius around her. However, after taking a bullet to the head, she becomes Nyu, an innocent amnesiac girl who initially doesn't even know how to use a restroom. However, as time goes by, they start switching back and forth.

* ''CodeGeass R2'': After the first showdown at the Sword of Akasha, [[spoiler:the immortal C.C.]]'s personality reverts to that of herself at the age of ten. Complete with all the skills and confidence of a ten year old.

* Emil in ''TalesOfSymphonia: Dawn of a New World'', who spends the entire game resorting to his SuperPoweredEvilSide for ''every single random encounter''. [[spoiler: Until the very end, anyways.]]

* ''{{Series/Animorphs}}'' had a variant of this when Rachel morphed starfish and was split into two Rachels. Her 'Nice Rachel' side was this trope, weak, scared, freezing up under stress, not good for much of anything.

* [[SplitPersonalityTakeover Orion]] in [[ArtemisFowl ''The Atlantis Complex'']], [[spoiler: up until he saves everyone.]]

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* Bakura from ''[=~Yu-Gi-Oh!~=]'' the spirit of the Ring uses Bakura as a part time body parasite, Bakura generally has no clue what's going on. Bakura is friends with the heroes, while the spirit of the ring is trying to kill them.

* {{Buffy the Vampire Slayer}}'': Ben's presence almost saved their lives as they transformed back into him just before Buffy would have dealt the killing blow and she leaves him alive instead. Too bad for him that Giles is GenreSavvy enough to just take care of the DirtyBusiness and ShootTheDog.

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Contrast SuperpoweredEvilSide, which sometimes goes hand in hand with this. Sometimes appears as a result of EasyAmnesia.

* Bakura from ''[=~Yu-Gi-Oh!~=]'' the spirit off the Ring uses Bakura as a part time body parasite, Bakura generally has no clue what's going on. Bakura is friends with the heroes, while the spirit of the ring is trying to kill them.

* Bakura from ''[=~Yu-Gi-Oh!~=]'' the spirit off the Ring uses Ryuu as a part time body parasite, Bakura generally has no clue what's going on. Bakura is friends with the heroes, while the Thief King is trying to kill them.

* Lunch/Launch of ''DragonBall'' spends half her time as a hyper-competent, incredibly violent criminal specializing in dramatic robberies. The other half of the time, she's a ditzy, gullable, physically weak woman who is so different from her counterpart that it's hilarious.

* ''{{Animerica}}'''s [[spoiler: BigBad Kiyone is revealed to be this, having been intelligent but physically weak compared to his older, stronger, and much favored twin Kasuse, which made him vulnerable to his SuperpoweredEvilSide. He is so much so that he is put in a DrivenToSuicide state, believing that he has no chance of redemption after all his actions in Season 2, and his now EnemyWithout demon sees this as an opportunity to attempt to take him over again.]]

* Bakura from ''[=~Yu-Gi-Oh!~=]'' the spirit off the Ring uses Ryuu as a part time body parisite, Bakura generally has no clue what's going on. Bakura is friends with the heroes, while the Thief King is trying to kill them.
** To a lesser extent Yugi and the Pharoh, until they come to an agreement.

Contrast SuperpoweredEvilSide, which, ironically, sometimes goes hand in hand with this. Sometimes appears as a result of EasyAmnesia.

* Glory, the BigBad of Season 5 on ''{{Buffy the Vampire Slayer}}'', is a nigh-unstoppable ChaoticEvil Hell God (that looks like a glamor model and talks like a vapid ditz). Good thing she's stuck time-sharing a body with puny mortal Ben. Only one is present at a time, they don't share memories, and can't communicate directly (at least not until the very end of the season, when the barriers between them start breaking down and they can feel each others thoughts and feelings and even have a weird out-loud conversation by switching back and forth quickly).
** Ben's presence almost saved their lives as they transformed back into him just before Buffy would have dealt the killing blow and she leaves him alive instead. Too bad for him that Giles is GenreSavvy enough to just take care of the DirtyBusiness and ShootTheDog.

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* Animerica's [[spoiler: BigBad Kiyone is revealed to be this, having been intelligent but physically weak compared to his older, stronger, and much favorited twin Kasuse, which made him vulnerable to his SuperpoweredEvilSide. He is so much so that he is put in a DrivenToSuicide state, believing that he has no chance of redemption after all his actions in Season 2, and his now EnemyWithout demon sees this as an opportunity to attempt to take him over again.]]

** Also from Code Geass, Chigusa, the side of Villetta Nu that arises as a result of amnesia.

* Bakura from ''YuGiOh!'' the spirit off the Ring uses Ryuu as a part time body parisite, Bakura generally has no clue what's going on. Bakura is friends with the heroes, while the Thief King is trying to kill them.
** To a lesser extent Yugi and the Pharoh, until They come to an agrement.

* In the Rockman Zero manga, Zero has this in the form of an energy conservation mode. It also takes away his helmet and weapons.
* Glory, the BigBad of Season 5 on BuffyTheVampireSlayer, is a nigh-unstoppable ChaoticEvil Hell God (that looks like a glamor model and talks like a vapid ditz). Good thing she's stuck time-sharing a body with puny mortal Ben. Only one is present at a time, they don't share memories, and can't communicate directly (at least not until the very end of the season, when the barriers between them start breaking down and they can feel each others thoughts and feelings and even have a weird out-loud conversation by switching back and forth quickly).
** Ben's presence almost saved their lives as they transformed back into him just before Buffy would have dealt the killing blow and she leaves him alive instead. Too bad for him that Giles is GenreSavvy enough to just take care of the DirtyBusiness and ShootTheDog.
* Ed Norton's character in PrimalFear is at first revealed to have a (not super powered) SuperPoweredEvilSide that was probably the one responsible for the murder. After their stunt in the courtroom, with the trial finished, Richard Gere's lawyer character suddenly suspects it was the other way around, that the psycho killer in fact had a HelplessGoodSide and he's now helped that psycho use his good side to get out of real jail time. Turns out that's not quite right either as [[spoiler: there never was any good side at all, the whole thing was just the psycho doing an act and playing everybody (including a mental health professional)]]

** Ben's presence almost saved their lives as they transformed back into him just before Buffy would have dealt the killing blow and she leaves him alive instead. Too bad for him that Giles is GenreSavy enough to just take care of the DirtyBusiness and ShootTheDog.